Seniors in Spain 2018: 8/10/2018-Toledo-Puerta de Bisagra, Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, breakfast at Restaurante Scorpions, train to Madrid, TACH hotel, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Mercado de San Anton, dinner at La Cocina de San Anton

Up to catch the end of the sunrise. Can't get enough of these amazing views! We are packed. Check out is great. Our luggage will be held for us while we do some sightseeing before our train to Madrid. I tell the staff how much we have appreciated their kindness and report that my husband is feeling a bit better this morning and wants to go sightseeing with me. Hopefully the medicine is doing its job. I say we will return to Toledo as we had to cut our time short. Cost for our 2 night stay, telephone charges, breakfast was $397.17. I can't say enough about the Parador. The superb views but most of all-the staff who went out of their way to help us when my husband was sick.

Taxi to old town from our hotel

Puerta de Bisagra. City gate built by Arabs. 10th c. rebuilt 15th c. Resembles a castle with 2 towers. Triumphal arch-Toledo coat of arms. 2 headed eagle. 2 large stone semicircular towers on each side. Only had time for a quick look. If I had had the time I would have explored the other side of the gate.

Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. Grand, impressive. Late Gothic. Intended as burial site for Isabel and Ferdinand. Facade famously adorned with 500 year old chains that the Moors used to shackle the Christians in Granada until 1492. It's said that the freed Christians brought those chains to the church as a symbol of their Catholic faith and of their victory. Entrance to the monastery is by a side door. Cost €5.80 for the 2 of us, no senior rate. Monastery built to celebrate the 1476 Battle of Toro which made Isabel the queen of Castile. Her husband Ferdinand was already the king of Aragon and now this made Spain the country that could defeat/drive out the Moors. In the chapel the coat of arms of the monarchs is repeated over and over. Eagle with a halo disc represents St. John protector of the royal family. The yoke and arrows are symbols of Ferdinand and Isabel. The lions for the power of the kingdoms joined under Ferdinand and Isabel. Over the door is the Franciscan coat of arms-with the 5 wounds of the Crucifixion/stigmata-which Francis earned through his great faith. Walking around the cloister fine detailed carvings. In one spot there's a small monkey (insulting symbol of Franciscans) on a toilet reading an upside down Bible. We've spent a little over an hour here.

Entrance by side door

Entrance into chapel area

Main altar

Ferdinand and Isabel coat of arms with Franciscan coat of arms underneath directly above the door

Ferdinand and Isabel coat of arms

Ferdinand and Isabel coat of arms repeated and repeated

Franciscan coat of arms-5 wounds of the Crucifixion

Chapel of St. Anthony

Chapel of the Holy Sacraments

Chapel of Mary Immaculate

Baptismal font

Chapel of St. Francis

Ceiling detail

Lovely ceiling

Ceiling

We see a place right across the street where I think we can get a breakfast of sorts or at least something to drink. As we are about to cross over to the restaurant Richard calls my attention to something really cool. In this first picture which shows the restaurant you will see the black car stopped because in front of the car on the street are pole like obstructions which prevent the car from driving forward. When it's time to let the cars go those same poles sink into the street so the cars can drive!
Restaurante Scorpions. Cute place and we can get breakfast here. Yay! I order coffee. We get 2 glasses of orange juice. Richard opts for scrambled egg and toast with tomato spread. I just get toast but later Richard shows me that by the counter there is a selection of donuts and pastries!! Oh well. Cost without tip €12.00.

Poles up

Poles down

Scrambled eggs with toast and tomato spread

My plain toast

Tasty orange juice

Now I need to find an ATM as I'm low on money. Walking to Plaza de Zocodover which is where we have to get a taxi I see an ATM and withdraw €140.00/$166.15. We start walking faster as we need to return to the hotel, get our luggage, and get to the train station. We secure our taxi and explain that we need him to take us to the hotel, then the train station. Fine. At the hotel we get our luggage and load it into the taxi. We are at the train station by 12:56 PM. The taxi driver gives me a receipt! Cost €13.40. I think I may have given him €15.00 because he also loaded and unloaded the luggage.

Walking from the Monastery to Plaza de Zocodover

Driving from town to our hotel

This train station is a beautiful building. Early 20th century. Neo-Moorish. Tickets booked on 8/9/18 through Loco2. Cost $29.98 for the 2 of us. We depart 1:25 PM and arrive Madrid Atocha 1:58 PM. Then we have to make our way from Atocha over to the airport T-4 for the shuttle to our hotel in Madrid. Our train leaves from platform 2 which is easy to find. We find our coach and seats 5B and 5C. They are very comfortable and roomy as have been the other train journeys we've had. Nice way to travel in Spain. Nothing unusual or widely interesting about the scenery on this very short train ride. We had been to Atocha train station in Madrid before at the beginning of our trip so were somewhat familiar. Found the machines where I bought 2 cercanias tickets for €2.60 each which will take us to T-4 of the airport. This train is slow and takes a while before we arrive. At T-4 we look for the shuttle we need to take to get to our hotel. We finally find it. The shuttle takes us to our hotel and we get there by 4:30 PM.

Toledo train station

Train ticket Toledo to Madrid

Our train leaves 13:25

Our train is leaving from platform 2

Our train-we are in coach 1

Comfy seats

Not so interesting scenery

ATOCHA train station in Madrid

Need to get to Aeropuerto T-4

Cercanias tickets to get to the airport from ATOCHA train station

Our train to the airport T-4

Shuttle to our hotel from the airport

taCH Madrid Airport. Found on booking.com and paid for 1 night 8/10/18. Cost $88.90. Entering the hotel there is a reception check in/check out counter. A small seating area. We are told our room has been paid for so at check out we just need to hand over the room key. We are in room #120. It's not bad for a room under $100. There's 2 single/twin beds safe. Bathroom has a shower, toiletries, hair dryer. It's fine for 1 night. It's clean and suits our purpose. The hotel states we can get to the museums I want to see by public transport but it's been a long day so we opt for the more expensive taxi which does give us the opportunity to view some of the sights of Madrid. She also calls the restaurant Botin which is the oldest restaurant in the world and a favorite of Ernest Hemingway's. Known for roast suckling pig. Nothing available until around 11:00 PM. Much too late for us. Another time perhaps.

Reception

2 single/twin beds

View from our room

Shower

Bathroom toiletries

Room safe

Taxi from our hotel to Madrid center

Plaza de Cibeles

Atocha train station

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. I'm here to see Picassos's Guernica. No time to really explore the museum. There's a longer line than I expected and it's not moving so Richard goes to ask what's going on. He returns and tells me to get out of line. These people are waiting for the free admission from 7:00-9:00 PM. However there is free admission for ages 65+. So I show our passports and we get in right away-no waiting. I inquire as to the location of Guernica and am told it's on the 2nd floor. This area there is no photo or video allowed. The painting is huge. 1937. A piece or art and history. Story of the 4/26/1937 bombing of the Basque market town of Guernica. At the time it was the civil war of democratically elected Second Republican government vs. fascist general Francisco Franco. The town was an important Republican center. Target of the world's first saturation bombing raid on civilians. Franco gave permission to Hitler to try out his air force. The raid leveled the town. News of the bombing reached Picasso in Paris who had been to work on a painting commission from the Republican government. He ditched his plans and created this masterpiece. Franco won the civil war and Picasso was in New York City with Guernica and vowed never to return to Spain while Franco was in power. Picasso named MOMA (NY's Museum of Modern Art) as Guernica's home. After Franco's death in 1975 Guernica arrived in Spain in 1981 and is currently one-if not the most-impressive pieces of art in Spain.

Our tickets are free because we're over 65

Line-waiting to get in

Pictures not allowed of Guernica or any of the 1930s exhibit 😞

Story: Bombs are falling, woman looks up at the sky, horses scream, a man falls from his horse and dies, a wounded woman drags herself through the streets trying to escape but her leg is too thick and drags her down, bull which is the symbol of Spain wonders about it all, a mother and her dead baby, a woman sticks her head out to see what's going on, and the whole scene appears to be lit from above by the light of a bare bulb. Black and white tones very gritty. The painting made such an impact on me causing me to tear up a bit which I believe is what Picasso was aiming for in this painting. I think he wanted the world to see the horror of war and this painting hits you in the face with that. I buy a postcard but it isn't the same as seeing the painting in person-something I will remember for a long time.

Postcard I bought

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Taxi from Reina Sofia to here. I suppose it's walkable but we're just too tired and don't have much time. I'm here to see the temporary Monet exhibit. Monet is my favorite painter and I've seen exhibits of his paintings in Chicago, Toronto, and even my hometown of Buffalo, NY. When we arrive we are told at the ticket office that only the temporary exhibit is open for a visit. That's fine with me. Cost senior rate €8.00 each. The exhibit is Monet/Boudin. I had never heard of Boudin before so this was an education for me. He and Monet were good friends even though he was 16 years older. He became his mater/mentor. They both were foremost French landscape artists of the second half of the 19th c. Unfortunately no pictures allowed. Bummer. I really liked Boudin's work which was a nice surprise. Lots of Monet paintings I had never seen before. Great! There were paintings of picturesque landscape, marine views, beach scenes, pastels.... I bought postcards of a favorite from each artist.

Taxi from Reina Sofia to Thyssen

Tickets

Monet-El deshielo en Vetheuil/The Thaw at Vetheuil, 1880 Oil on canvas

Boudin-Venecia, la Dogana y Santa Maria della Salute, 1895

Mercado de San Anton. Our daughter Dorie had requested that if we went here to see about picking up a jar of Sal de Ibiza. I had no idea what this is but here we are. Since I've been getting the Hard Rock shot glasses for my step daughter I think it's only fair to get something my daughter wants. However, my husband and I search, ask workers, and no one knows what this is. We've looked through the first and second floors with no luck. I'm disappointed but what else can I do?? We go the the 3rd floor for dinner.

La Cocina de San Anton. No outside seating left. We get a nice table inside. The menu has a good selection. I have fallen in love with Spain's sangria so I decide to get the pitcher thinking maybe there's 3 glasses worth in it?? But OMG the pitcher is huge and there's no way I can drink all that. Richard is sticking to water so he's no help! I'll just do my best. Richard loves salmon so he orders the roasted salmon with noodles and soy sprouts. He's got an appetite. Yay! I get the spicy red curry chicken with rice. No dish of olives. We get 2 slices of some kind of cheese which was very good. I'm sure our server told us what it was but I didn't write it down. I enjoyed my meal and was happy that it wasn't too spicy. Richard said his salmon was fantastic. Service was friendly and efficient. Cost without tip $60.92. Unfortunately I could only drink 3 glasses of the sangria and that was pushing it. There had to have been at least 2 more glasses left if not more. On the way out of the market I see heladera. My last chance for good gelato/ice cream. Small cups with 2 flavors. Have no idea what flavors we each got but it was so good. We sat outside the market enjoying our dessert. Taxi back to our hotel as we have an early flight. The hotel shuttle is taking us to the airport at 6:00 AM!!!!!!!