Day 21 to Madrid

From Toledo to Madrid is only about 50 miles but we took the long route. We wanted to see three sites north and west of Madrid.

Our first stop was Avila. The old town is completely enclosed by a huge 11^th century wall. It is one mile long about 60 feet high and 10 feet thick. It had 88 towers and 9 gates. It has all been restored. They also have a Gothic cathedral/castle that is part of the wall. We walked most of the wall and visited some more shops.

Then we went to Segovia. The town dates back to the 1^st century AD. The Alcazar castle was built in the 14^th century. It was used in the film Camelot and is everything you would envision a castle to be. They also have a Roman aqueduct that is one of the highlights of our whole trip. It is almost a half a mile long and it crosses the main plaza 90 feet in the air. It is still used to move water to the city. The structure was built with huge granite blocks and no mortar. It is beautiful and still there after 2000 years.

On the way to Madrid we wanted to stop and see El Escorial. It was built by King Philip the second. It has a monastery, mausoleum, chapel and palace for the royal family. It was completed in 1584 and has 340,000 square feet. It was closed when we got there but we walked around and took photos of the exterior. It was impressive but you really can’t call it beautiful.

We did not get to the outskirts of Madrid until about 7:30 pm. We had some Google maps but no Madrid city map. The traffic was terrible and we got lost. I stopped and bought a map and stopped for directions twice. I like to stop and ask as no one speaks English but they all want to help. More people just keep joining in trying to help. We ended up driving through the entire city in heavy traffic for about an hour after dark down narrow dark streets. Jan does not like big cities and this adventure did not help. She has a lot of experience navigating however and we got to the hotel. She said it would have helped if they had signs with the names of the streets. 

Our hotel is simple yet expensive. $50 to park the car for 2 nights.

A view from our window.