Santander to Tordesillas
The overnight ferry from Plymouth got us into Santander at lunchtime in beautiful early October weather.
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| "El Astral" camping is on the far side of the river, a little way downstream: very quiet on a Monday evening in October, we had it pretty much to ourselves. |
Roads have improved tremendously over the years and an easy afternoon's drive, first through the Cantabrian Mountains, and then past Palencia and Valladolid in the Duero Basin, got us to Tordesillas to camp the night.
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Must be a lovely place to stay in summer: plenty of shade trees around the pitches.
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| The town itself is on a slightly higher area on the north side of the river and reached by a very elegant multi-arched bridge. |
Tordesillas to Toledo
Although the drive across Spain can be done in little more than a day, we had purposely allowed plenty of time to give us a chance to explore more along the way. First target was Toledo which we reached around lunchtime .
We crossed granite mountains where we were treated to the sight of cloud on the far side spilling over a ridge towards us
We passed the delightful walled town of Avila without stopping: we'd spent a day there during an OUGS "Sierras on a Shoestring" trip to the Sierra de Guadarrama some years earlier, so we pressed on towards Toledo.
Spain has an interesting attitude towards ancient monuments - they repair them regularly so that a "Roman" bridge for example might consist entirely of more recent stones!
Toledo city
We got here at lunchtime and found a very convenient parking spot just below the walls on the west side of the city. Parking was free between 2 - 5 pm - an additional bonus!
The cathedral and the massive block of the Alcazar on the right, dominate the skyline.
The city is built in a look of the River Tajo
The Tajo Gorge below Toledo.
San Juan de los Reyes - we wondered why the walls were hung with iron manacles - apparently they are from Christian prisoners released at the time of the Reconquista.
Artesano Maldonado, where I did my Christmas and birthday shopping! Lovely shop with "proper" damascene jewellery and nick nacks, not tourist tat. Damascening is when base metal items are decorated with gold. There are two main styles - arab and renaissance.
Narrow streets are typical of the Juderia, west of the Cathedral.
Toledo Cathedral
One of Spain's great Gothic cathedrals, built in the 13th-15th C. Entry fee. Lots of lovely El Grecos
Pedestrianised St Martin's bridge crosses the Tajo to the "Cigarrales" area - country houses with large gardens around them. I first heard about them reading the thriller by Ann Bridge, "Episode in Toledo".
St Martin's bridge is medieval, and unusually has defensive towers at both ends.
After a pleasant couple of hours looking around we headed down to the Camping "El Greco" (what else?!) which is west of the town, alongside the Tajo. A nice site with the usual hedged and shaded pitches and free "wiffy".
Tablas de Daimiel National Park
I'd seen this wetland reserve from the air the year before on a flight back to the UK and was keen to visit it. It was a major hunting area in the old days as vast flocks of waterfowl inhabited it, or passed through on migrations.
There are several signposted routes from the Visitor Centre and as we were a little short of time we took a short one. Even so it gave us some good vantage points and visited several hides.
We came across this Hoopoe almost as soon as we started out
I spent a long time watching this Egret fishing. Not a soul around, so peaceful!
In the background is "dehesa" the cork oak pastureland of Central and Western Spain, where cattle and pigs graze.
The walls of the visitor centre were of a tufa like stone.
Andalucian interlude
We had a week in hand to spend enjoying La Paz before we headed north again. One day we needed an Ikea and Carrefour fix, so went down to the coast where we were stranded in Carrefour car park for half an hour or so in a massive storm - torrents of rain, noisy overhead thunder, the works!
No way we were going anywhere until it stopped! Then the drive home was magic - clouds slowly clearing as we went up over the mountains
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| Going over the watershed |
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| Near Trabuco |
Finally as we came down towards Loja we could see little clumps of cloud still nestling in folds in the hills
Part 2 ... back north again....
Too soon we had to set off again: we wanted another look at Toledo (OK I had some ideas for Christmas and birthday presents I wanted to get), and target number 2 was Salamanca. There is some lovely geology in the road cuts as you travel north through the External Zone of the Betic Cordillera: feat your eyes on these!
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| Limestone folded into a syncline and eroded before more was deposited unconformably on top |
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| More of the same |
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| Sandstone, eroded into vertical crags by a river, is easier to go through than around |
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| Delightfully rainbow coloured sediments turned up on end |
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| Hey, Toro! |
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| More crags and tunnels |
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| I hope they have rock bolted that little lot! |
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| Hombre! |
The route we take turns north at Granada, past Jaen, and then over the mountains (no longer so spectacular now that the Desfiladero des Despenaperros road has been bypassed and then north past Valdepenas to Manzanares where we turn off towards Toledo, avoiding Madrid.
This is "windmills and castles" country - but so flat in places that it is also known as "MAMBA" country ... miles and miles of b all!
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| Traditional windmills on a ridge |
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| The ridge at Consuegra, with around a dozen windmills and a castle, is a real landmark. We visited this a few years ago: there is a restored windmill to be visited there. |
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| Another castle |
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| Like all the best Spanish cities, Toledo has a substantial set of walls |
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Walls at the top of a glacis.
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We parked in the same place as before, just outside the walls on the SW corner. From here there was a view down the Tajo toward the El Greco campsite
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| Walking up towards the Cambron Gate |
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| The walls are a lovely mixture of bedrock and various types of stone |
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| Roughly squared granite blocks for the quoins and a mixture of other blocks and cobbles from the river fill in between |
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| Puerta del Cambron. This is probably one of the oldest gates of Toledo, from the Visigoth period, though almost entirely rebuilt in the16th C |
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| The gates themselves are covered with metal sheeting to strengthen them |
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