Third
post of the day, here we go! I think we're almost to Granada now
lol. Okay, so Friday came and I felt much better, so I woke Leo at
10 a.m. when
I wobbled out of bed. We
were cleaned up and headed out for the Metro to the bus station by
11:00 a.m. as
we planned. I figured since Toledo was only a 45-minute
bus ride away and I was feeling better, it was “kind of” like
staying put in Madrid.
By
the way, although the train is faster (only 15 minutes),
at €5
and less crowding, the buses are the way to go. This was also a good
intro for me on the buses in Spain, as I'll be using them a lot in
the next few days. Anywho, we arrived at 12:30 p.m., grabbed a map
and walked up into the city center. EVERYWHERE you look, tourists
and buses, my God! I guess Rick Steves wasn't kidding when he said
that Toledo is mobbed with tourists during the day and more fun at
night. Well, I only had a day now, plus the cold weather kept the
city still fairly quiet.
Sarah
had reached Toledo the night before, but unfortunately the lack of
free Wi-Fi made it too hard to meet. Have fun in Sevilla Sarah, I'm
sorry we missed each other, you were such a great buddy to have on
this trip! Leo and I wandered from one side of Toledo to the other
(not hard to do), stopping at the Cathedral, one of the synagogues
and several other sites along the way. We made a point of checking
out the jewelry
shops, which are known for their thread-woven silver and gold that is
pounded into earrings
and necklaces by
hand.
So many cool pieces, especially from the one shop owner who barely
spoke English and whom we debated various pieces and styles with;
always a treat to hang with a local!
As
we headed back, I realized that my minor aches and tinges were not
really going down. That, along with the fever overnight made me
suspect a possible minor infection still
from the previous day.
Now, I didn't want to go back to ER just to get meds (which the doc
said I could do) and everybody was wondering why they didn't just
given them to me, so I took matters into my own hands. I walked into
a pharmacy in Toledo
and explained as best I could with my ER papers that I might have an
infection and needed some “antibióticos”.
Luckily, the pharmacist had Amoxicillin
and was willing to give me an 8-day supply for €2.50
so I jumped
at
it. Better safe than sorry, right?
We
skipped the Santa Cruz and Military Museum, which I originally wanted
to see, but oh well. I'll be back. We took the 6:30 p.m. bus
back to Madrid, Leo nodding
off
from being dead tired. After getting back to Madrid, I grabbed my
bags from the hostel and headed to my hotel.
I
admit, the hotel was a nice mid-trip treat, even for such a short
time. It makes me wonder how long I'll be doing the noise/discomfort
of the hostels, but we'll see. I repacked all my bags, called the
parents to check in, planned the trip to Granada and settled a bunch
of my itinerary snafus. After 10 p.m., Leo and I met up to head to
the
Mercado
de San
Miguel
once
more (honestly, it's the
best price and the only busy place) to grab
more tapas. Feeling great, I decided to toss my eating restrictions
and try a variety of tapas I hadn't had yet, including more sangria
from me
and Sarah's
guy; the stuff's great, man! He even added some extra port
for my €1
tip (the first I've given) lol.
I
parted ways with Leo where we met, wishing him well. Maybe we'll see
each other in Morocco, man! I lounged at the hotel, working on
pictures and emails before crashing for my morning train.
Which
brings me to now...whew! That said, my 48 hours were up this morning
and I'm feeling pretty good, just some minor aches and a little
sleepy, so in 20 minutes I'll be in beautiful Granada! Check back in
soon, with the smaller towns, I might have more time to catch up and
write. Until then, hasta luego!
-
Mateo
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