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The dullness of a foggy day in Mordor

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  Toledo is steeped and crammed together and so we will take this easy.   First we will cross the Puente de Azarquiel. I’m not sure the 4.7 stars are for the perky nature of the bridge and more for the view.  I wasn’t the first person to have this thought as the first review to pop up was that of the three stars of Sveto.  ‘ An ordinary bridge for vehicles and people, below is a river with a not-so-well-maintained bank. People review the bridge reviewing the view of old town Toledo, which I think dont makes sense. ‘ We will spend today working our way up through a tiny slice of suburb which is squeezed between the road, river and walls. My memory of it, twenty years ago, was that it was it was a little tired and quite comfortable. It has a somewhat overlooked child’s park which a small boy made some use of.  It has grown and smartened itself up a bit and the Air BnB has moved in. Bar baobab seems the sort of place that will serve us well.  The most re...
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Saint James and the early closing kitchen

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  If we were actually about to do this walk I feel we would just spend it slack jawed and staring in wonder at the glorious views we are about to see.  No matter. On we fictionally trudge. We deserve a rest and the Restaurante La Ermitana is one of those places which exists because it has the most splendid view of Toledo. https://laermitana.es/   Google reports an average spend of 40-70 euros and the website is lush and so let us indulge.  1742 reviews people found it meet that they should leave their thoughts.  Nine hours ago santiago declared ‘ We made a reservation for dinner on Sunday and were given a 10:00 PM time slot. We called to see if we could move it to 9:00 PM, but they said no (we figured they were fully booked and couldn't change tables, which is understandable). To our surprise, when we arrived the restaurant was empty; there were only two other tables. We don't understand why we couldn't move the time. But after we sat down, they came and told us...
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In the realm of the Tolkienesque

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  A quick bit of doubling back and off we go to find a foot route to Toledo. We will have to take to the tracks and then walk alongside CM-40 before heading north. Toledo is one of the many places I have said I said I want to go back to.  It is one of the fewer I really intend to and one I really mean it. If you want to conjure up the idea of a Fighting Fantasy city Toledo it.  Walls, Towers, a river surrounding steep lanes and cliffs, churches, a cathedral and a looming tower.  All this was enhanced when, as new time visitors, and with a child who had finally decided he would try out the English Language saw yet another giant gate and said ‘More-door.’ When we visited Toledo, once terribly butch capital of all that was aggressive and ‘Christian’ was having a moment and thinking how it should sell itself focused on its water past. People don’t seem much bothered about the inhabitants until the Romans turned up about 193BC when the chaps from Italia beat the local Con...
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Welcome to Tiny Town

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  We are heading out and towards Burguillos de Toledo.  We will go off piste for some of this.  Burguillos has 3872 inhabitants, all of whom live in somewhere which may mean ‘tiny village’ in Visigoth. So, welcome to Tiny Town. Roads are wonderful things. I remember seeing some of the wonderful structures opening up the villages of Asturias. Well, it appears the same is going on here.  A population of about 500 from the 1850s to the 1980s began to rise and rocketed after the year 2000. Politically it was a bastion of Socialism between 1983 and 1999 - when Anselmo de la Cruz Garcia was PSOE Mayor.  Julian Turrero Garcia-Patos then held the post for the PP from 1999 to 2011.  It has then been turn and turn about - with Jose Castro-Sanchez of ‘Let’s Win’ in charge from 2015-2019.  Currently Sergio Diaz Garcia of the PP is the man of the moment. Heading into town the Cobisa Restauracion SL . It opens 9am to 8pm everyday.  No one has reviewed it. ...
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Land of the forgetful Sergio

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We are following the road and so avoiding several towns by accident, not by design.  Better have a few diversions La Bachata, by Manuel Turizo, is Spain’s best selling single - having shifted 1,140,000 copies.  Manuel is a Colombian chap who released this ditty on 2022.  It did very well across much of the Spanish speaking world. It only made 68th in Italy in 2022 and 23rd in Italy. According to surveys Palma, Mallorca, is the most dangerous city in Spain.  Well, it has 62.5 crimes per 1000 people.  Apparently violent crime is low but pickpockets are to be found in the nightclub region. This is what Travelsafe abroad website says.  I am not convinced at this ranking. Outside the Black Death, Great Plague and Covid the worst outbreak of disease, according to wiki [and I’m not convinced by this ranking either] was the 3-8,000 dead in the 1870 Barcelona Yellow Fever outbreak.   Apparently Yellow Fever struck in 1803 and 1821 as well. The wiki page on this...
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The town of the splendid butcher

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  Welcome to Orgaz and straight to the castle. https://www.ayto-orgaz.es/rutas.php   The current castle is very intact and 14th century - with 15th century renovations. It was built on the site of a 12th century affair.  To be fair, it has not been all joy. During the 1520 Revolt of the Comuneros it was burnt down by Royalist troops. It is not, generally speaking, an easy place to visit. Weekdays you can get in from 1pm to 2pm. At weekends it throws the gates wide between 9am and 1pm. A month ago Marta said ‘ We loved the tour; they shared very interesting details, and the guide (whose name I can't remember, was it Luis?) was very friendly. It's great that they make the tour enjoyable; that's essential for a good experience. We booked a week in advance by phone, which I highly recommend. ‘ Orgaz is one of those places which has profoundly crowded old streets which are really easy to fall out of and into a scattered countryside. The Ermita de la Concepción. Is a well reno...
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