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Well folks, that about wraps up our trip to Madrid. For our final night in the city we called into one last art gallery, had drinks under the stars, revisited our favourite tapas place and found the city still going strong long after midnight.

Coming out of Atocha train station after our Toledo daytrip, we popped into the Caixa Forum, an art collection sponsored by a local bank housed in a eye-catching building. The gallery’s exteriors walls are crowned with a weathered metal skin

and there is a vertical garden growing up the south face. Much of the ground floor has been pared away, leaving the building teetering atop a dark undercroft popular with skateboarders.

The temporary exhibition at the time was about Fellini’s films and instead of paying €2 to stash my camera bag we contented ourselves with a look around the shop and admiring some of the odd architectural features inside, like the main stairwell which was sheathed in sheet metal.

Come nightfall we headed to the rooftop Gaudeamus Café in the lively Lavapies district. The café is owned by the university and was packed with students, so we had to wait about a half hour before being able to sit outdoors on the open-air terrace. By now the sun had set and the air was cool. We didn’t have the best of views because the neighbouring tower blocks meant we had a dusky panorama of TV aerials and satellite dishes. I didn't have my camera on me but found this photo.

It wasn’t far from here down some busy back streets to Los Gatos for tapas. It was a Thursday night, but as far as ‘the cats’ were concerned the weekend was well underway. We were greeted at the door and guided through the lively crowds to the barrel which had a streetlamp poking out the top. We stuffed ourselves on olives, bread and other tasty tidbits before staggering towards our hotel on the city’s main square, Puerta del Sol.

Along the way we had to stop and take a photo when we noticed the time and temperature on a bus stop. Nearly midnight and still 90F!

The heat had driven everyone out into the streets. Puerta del Sol had hundreds of people sat on the cobbles and around its fountains, the air buzzing with their chatter and the splashing water. An army of gypsies and immigrants kept the crowds refreshed, selling cold beers out of plastic carrier bags, while children played games like it was a neighbourhood barbecue party.

Puerta del Sol is officially the centre of Spain; so no wonder that night it felt like the beating heart of Madrid.

Toledo practicalities

 

Return tickets to Toledo on the superfast AVE train from Atocha station in Madrid were €18 at the time, when bought the day before (be prepared to queue). The journey takes 30 minutes. Travellers on the train are required to have a seat and this is a very popular daytrip, so advance booking is recommended.

You might prefer to take a bus instead; this page has suggestions on making the trip.

The train station is a 1-hour walk from the old town (uphill all the way). Ignore the tour coaches waiting outside the station. Follow the bus symbol to the right (don’t cross the road) and catch a scheduled commuter bus from the road going past the station. Timetables are at the bus stop, but most routes head into the old town. At the time, a single bus ticket from the station to the Alcazar cost 95 euro cents.

 

Toledo is more exposed than Madrid and on a lower elevation; it’s therefore much warmer and usually boiling hot in summer. The religious sites do not allow entry if you have bared shoulders or legs, so dress comfortably but modestly and don’t forget a hat.

At the time, admission to Toledo’s cathedral cost €7, or €10 with an audioguide. The El Greco in Santo Tome, Antigua Sinagoga Santa Maria la Blanca, San Juan de Los Reyes monastery and Jesuit church each charged the same €2.30.

 

Check yourself beforehand, but the main sights should all be open daily, usually from 10-6.

In addition to the places we visited, tourists might be tempted to visit:-

Alcazar – the immense fortress is a completely modern reconstruction housing an army museum;

House of El Greco – the painter never actually lived in the building and the paintings on display aren’t his best;

Hospital de Tavera – this 16thC hospital and church has a collection of paintings by Titian, Zurbaran, El Greco and Ribera. Regular tours in English take visitors to room that are usually locked away such as the pharmacy and library. It sounds lovely, but we couldn’t make it in time because it sits away from the town’s other sights.

 

If you want to visit these sights as well and have more time to wander the medieval streets, you can easily fill two full days exploring the city.

A full Toledo photo gallery with more images of mine can be found here.

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Toledo’s old town deserves its UNESCO World Heritage status by virtue of its network of medieval streets: a dense labyrinth of cobbled alleys, stepped streets and dead-ends. It’s a confusing jumble to navigate, compounded by hilly terrain and the heat of the sun.

The only way to gain an overview of the entire city is to climb one of the few towers that poke above the tiled rooftops. For the postcard view of Toledo seen in all the brochures, be sure to find Iglesia de Los Jesuitas (the Jesuit church).

The church’s whitewashed baroque interior is of no great interest, but climb the stairs and you’ll find yourselves on the city’s best balcony, where all of Toledo spreads out below you. The panoramic view allows you to admire the bulk the Alcazar, the cathedral tower and the hills that surround the city.

The view is at its best near dusk, after the feverish heat of the day has broken and when the light of the setting sun rakes across the rooftops. We had to settle for the mid-afternoon glare.

We had time enough before our train to call in at the Santa Cruz museum, the municipal art collection. At the time of our visit most of it was shut for renovation, with ‘only’ a dozen El Greco paintings of saints on view, plus some tapestries.

The building used to be a hospital and still has its cloister, these days lined with Roman sculpture. The rooms around it held a large exhibit of antique tiles and some contemporary art. It was all free and allowed us to wander around one last lovely old building.

A few steps away and past the statue of Cervantes,

we found the town’s main bus depot and caught our ride downhill to the train station for our return to Madrid and our last night in Spain.

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Toledo is a bit like Jerusalem in that Jews, Muslims and Christians all endowed the city with prominent religious sights. Sometimes a single building shows influences of all three, like Santa Maria la Blanca which was initially a synagogue (albeit one built by the Moors for the local Jewish population at the time) that since 1405 has been a church (St Mary the White).

Despite its long and complex history the building most closely resembles a mosque, with delicate columns topped by Arabic arches, the simple rhythms of their arrangement enlivened by complex geometric carvings in the stonework.

Like the Jews, Muslims do not allow any representation of God. Muslims also forbid any depiction of the human form in their art, so unlike the overblown extravagance of the Catholic cathedral, decoration is limited to shapes and words.

Despite its modest proportions, the building gave me an idea of what Cordoba’s Mezquita must look like inside (that will have to be another trip). Leaving behind this small but interesting building, we soon found a massive monastery which turned out to be the highlight of the day.

San Juan de Los Reyes (St John of the Kings) does not look like much from the entrance but after buying our tickets, going down a flight of stairs and heading through a door overlooked by a reclining skeleton we emerged into a sunlit cloister.

A cloister is the garden of a monastery and here the square colonnade surrounds a courtyard scented by the blossoms of the roses, limes and oranges growing here. There were many delightful features to admire while strolling under the arches – decorative tiles, a painted wooden ceiling and exquisite stone carving. Unlike the overwrought cathedral, the decoration appeared much more restrained and cohesive.

This unified approach continued as we entered the sanctuary, an enormous space that easy to take in thanks to the limited use of colour and gilt. Without these distractions it was easy to admire the beauty of the stonework and interpret the clear Biblical messages of the altarpiece.

If the two-headed eagles adorning the sanctuary look familiar it’s because this religious symbol was adopted by General Franco after his fascist forces overran the city during the Spanish Civil War.

Heading up some steps took us to the upper level of the cloisters, for a bird’s eye view of the gardens to cap off our visit to this lovely, tranquil place.

During our visit we saw maybe four other people the entire time in a building nearly as large and impressive as the cathedral (for a fraction of the admission price to boot). Highly recommended!

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The fascist dictator General Franco left one admirable legacy to Spain: the cheap three-course lunch. Come midday and practically every eating establishment in the country advertises their menu del dia, a filing lunch with wine on the side.

There were many different restaurants competing for our attention when we left Toledo's cathedral and we chose one that offered a bit of shade on a pedestrian street. This provided plenty of people-watching opportunities while we enjoyed our long lunch.

To start we had a green salad with plenty of sweet sun-ripened tomatoes and bread on the side.

For the main course we had a thick pork stew with garden peas, spiced with smoked paprika.

Dessert was only a pot of ice cream and the white wine accompanying the meal was a bit astringent, but for €11 a head it was a bargain.

Around the corner we found the church of Santo Tome which is famous for its massive painting by El Greco showing the Count of Orgaz’s funeral. It’s one of his more accessible and cohesive works.

Certainly his largest!

Again, no photos were allowed so I’ve had to find these images elsewhere.

The painting dominates the church, covering the first wall you see as soon as you enter. The rest of the small church is surprisingly plain, but with a few interesting details like a modest painted altar.

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For someone who spends most Sunday mornings making pancakes and brewing decaff coffee, on my travels I always make a point to have a look inside the local church. They have free wine!

I’ve ticked off quite a few German doms, Italian duomos and English minsters, but I can report that Toledo’s cathedral ranks as the most extravagant place of worship that I have seen to date. Every inch of the interior has been decorated, carved, gilded or embellished over the centuries.

It felt like a million pair of eyes looked down on us sinners: cherubs jostled with saints, while any gaps between angels were filled with bodiless faces. A fair few thousand earthbound eyes stared back up at the heavenly host. I’ve no idea what the floor is like, it was impossible to see for all the hundreds of other tourists milling about!

Regular announcements in several languages insisted ‘silence – no photos’ so the images for this entry are ones I’ve had to crib from elsewhere.

Several coachloads of tourists of were being marched around and the herds caused jams in the choir stalls, so it was hard to appreciate the wooden carvings here.

Most panels were dedicated to the Christians laying siege to the Moors occupying the city, but there were also the more imaginative flights of fancy that you often find in this part of a church.

The altar, both front...

...and back,

was an astonishing exercise in over the top glamour in the name of God. It was hard to tell if there was a Biblical message to be gleaned from the cavalcade of bejewelled bishops and other men wrapped in satin.

The sacristy houses a Prado in miniature with paintings by El Greco, Bassano, Van Dyck, Goya and Ribera. Most canvasses though were dull portraits of church leaders and interchangeable idealised saints.

Caravaggio’s St John the Baptist (one of several versions he painted) was pick of the bunch, dramatic and effective, but like the rest in need of a clean.

I suppose you can expect a bit of dust and grime in a 785-year-old building. Work on the present structure first began in 1227 atop the foundations of a 6thC church which had been used by the Moors as a mosque.

According to the brochure, ticket sales help maintain the building as well as the ‘charitable goals of the church.’ Standing in the Treasury and looking agog at the gold reliquaries...

...illuminated manuscripts and jewel-encrusted goblets all locked up behind glass, the thought occurred that perhaps the bishops could sell off a couple trinkets to tend to the sick, house the poor and feed the hungry.

Speaking of hungry, let’s go find somewhere to eat!

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As well as all the tasty food, good beer and free museums that Madrid can offer, the city is surrounded by plenty of diverting places that would make an ideal daytrip. Whether you want beautiful mountain scenery, lavish palaces or historic old towns you can be sure to find a worthwhile excursion.

The only problem we had leaving Madrid was buying advance train tickets, at least for the high-speed AVE trains which are the only practical way of having adequate time in a place like Segovia. After the bum start to that particular outing, we set aside an afternoon to buy our tickets for Toledo. We called in at Atocha station, made our way to the ticket office and took our ticket to reserve a place in the queue. There were 60 people ahead of us. Thankfully Atocha is a splendid station, with a rain forest on the concourse, plenty of shops and ample seating.

One hour and 15 minutes later we were called to the ticket counter. One minute and €36 later we had two tickets to Toledo for later in the week. At the appointed hour, we returned to Atocha, went through the airport-style security check-in and found our seats. The 40-mile journey south was not particularly interesting, as the landscape is flat and barren and largely covered by suburban Madrid. After only about 20 minutes we rounded a corner and caught site of Toledo, which sits on a sheer bluff in a river bend.

This defensive site has been inhabited for thousands of years, attracting the Romans, the Moors and everyone else in between. Because of the topography, the train cannot approach very close and the station is well outside the city, below its walls. The old station provides a lovely welcome to the city. It's a gorgeous Moorish fantasy of tiles, stained glass, Arabic arches and polished woodwork that hints at wait awaits in the city above.

A fleet of tour coaches waited outside the train station's doors, with a crew of touts ready to take the trainload of tourists in tow. We spotted a small sign pointing to a bus stop on the main road out front and within a couple minutes we had flagged the next bus and were on the way.

The views along the way were gorgeous as we crossed the river and followed the city walls, catching the occasional glimpse of a clocktower or church. We were deposited outside the fortress (alcazar) which has been rebuilt after being obliterated during the Spanish Civil War and is now an army museum (yawn). The narrow streets did mean it was hard at first to tell where we wer  in relation to anything else, but then we spotted the spire of the cathedral beckoning through a cleft between the tall buildings. 

Click back next time for a trot around the cathedral and other monuments scattered around beautiful Toledo!

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Cats and food are not an appetising mix. How often have you drank a glass of cheap white wine and thought to yourself: 'how does the cat manage to balance on top of a bottle long enough to fill it?' And we all know about the lost kitten posters you supposedly see near Chinese restaurants. So most people might think again about ordering the lager in a place literally called 'The Cat Beerhouse'!

Don't worry, because Cervecerias Los Gatos is named in honour of the Madrid citizens who frequent it. The Madrileños call themselves 'cats' possibly because they sleep in the afternoon and stay out all night, caterwauling.

Los Gatos came recommended to me as a decent 'pick and point' tapas joint. Yes, I can still remember a bit of Spanish from university and had a phrasebook tucked in my pocket, but sometimes you just want to point at what you want and be eating it as soon as possible, without trying to remember the Spanish for 'is that fried in beef tallow or vegetable oil?'

Sure enough, in about two minutes flat we were feasting on the tapas we'd pointed at (4 for €10) and knocking back some reassuringly ice-cold beers (€2.40 each). Each tapa was a thick slice of chewy bread with a different topping (a cold slab of egg & potato tortilla on one, anchovy on another, crabmeat on the third and then tomato with mozzarella). These came out on a platter with potato crisps piled in between the gaps.

In between bites we absorbed the wacky interior of the place. We were stood at a marble countertop in front of an antique mirror, with an old-fashioned streetlamp stood in the middle of the room behind us.

Above us was a copy of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, albeit one where Adam was holding out a pint of beer towards God and the angels were sat on kegs. In another mural, skeletons were getting sh*t-faced. Behind the bar, what may what once have been reliquaries or other repositories for religious artefacts were now filled with liquor bottles. Very fun and inventive!

It was quiet that time of afternoon, but the server was busy slicing paper-thin pieces of ham off the leg of pork kept at the bar. About half the ham slices went onto small plates to be served later, the rest she was eating. We were full ourselves for the time being, so headed back to the hotel via some gift shops along the way.

A few hours later and we were out on the tiles again after our siesta. As I have mentioned before, there is a fork in the middle of Madrid and of an evening the tourists go down one way while the Madrileños head the other. For a change this evening, we took the tourist trail through the Huerta district, but none of the touts could tempt us in. Before we knew we were back at Los Gatos, which is on the outer fringe of Huerta, past the point where most tourists probably poop out.

This time it was heaving, but a chap greeted us and found us some space at the counter near the server, who was still slicing away at the ham. This time we had only the two tapas (one slice of bread with salmon, the other with goats cheese). The server handed over a slice of ham gratis and we agreed it was delicious (melt-in-your-mouth soft and not at all greasy), so she started assembling a large plate of ham for us. 'That is going to cost at least €5 alone,' Christian said at the time.

The ham came with toasted bread smeared with tomato and some crackers. Needless to say all this bread was filling after awhile, so we asked if we could pay. While waiting for the bill we finished our second (or third?) round of beers. The server put down her carving knife, took our glasses off of us and filled each one up about halfway. She indicated we didn't have to pay for this and commented it was early for us to leave already: Que temprano! It was only midnight, after all and the cats were only starting to come out to play.

With tip, the bill came to €40. Although we were stuffed and had lost count of the beers we'd had, Christian was agog we had spent quite so much. I confirmed that according to the receipt, our big platter of ham alone cost €18. 'Yes, ' I said, 'we just paid £15 for a plate of lunchmeat.'

But it was the best baloney we've ever had! If you want to know where the cool cats hang out, make your way to Calle Jesus 2.

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MORE freebies? Of course! You can never have your fill of freebies, so take my tip and make the trip to Madrid's finest art gallery in the evening when it's free. That's right, the Prado is free after 6pm, giving you a couple hours to look around one of the world's best art collections. You'll save yourself €12 and have plenty of time for the highlights.

I took a couple of university courses in art history so I can tell my Vermeers from my Van Goghs, but I don't agree with people who say 'you'll need at least a half day to see a gallery properly.' Doing what exactly? It's not like you can take rubbings. A painting either speaks to me or it doesn't.

This particular one says 'hold me, thrill me'!

As much of southern European art consists of interchangeable fat babies and various pious virgins, it all starts to blur after awhile. While the Prado is large and comprehensive, it's not completely unmanageable and you can trot through in a couple hours.

Be warned though every single other tourist in town will have the exact same idea and when you show up a few minutes before 6pm you may find thousands of people queuing up literally around the block. Don't worry, once the doors are flung open the line moves quickly, with attendants dishing out free tickets as fast as they can.

I admit the paintings by Bosch and Brueghel do demand a lot of your attention, so it was good to have a brief spell to admire them again. Although we also revisited our favourites by the likes of Cranach and Velazquez, we had time to see some paintings which we'd not spotted before, mainly 19thC Spanish canvasses. Some of these were immense, with an easily-followed narrative.

For instance, in one a Jewish leader approaches the king and queen, offering to give them money towards their military campaign to fight off the Moors, but only in exchange for being allowed to stay (both the Moors and the Jews were being expelled from Spain at the time). With a dramatic flourish, a priest witnessing the scene intervenes and throws down his jewel-encrusted, solid-gold crucifix. Seemingly without any irony, he appears to warn the royal couple that they risk selling Christ to the highest bidder.

I believe the priest depicted is the Inquisitor himself, Torquemada.

This painting is also from the same period and gives you an idea of the story-telling quality I mentioned.

The title And They Still Say Fish Is Expensive explains everything. What's hard to convey is the massive scale; this one for instance is about 5 feet high and the figures seem almost life-size. By this time of evening we had massive appetites, so we headed around the corner to a tapas place I'd heard about. To hear more about what turned out to be our favourite tapas hotspot in town, click back again soon!

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Leaving behind the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano we made our way to one of Madrid's main thoroughfares, the Paseo de la Castellana which eventually becomes Paseo de Prado further along where it passes the city's three major art galleries.

At this end of the boulevard and near the junction with Calle de Juan Bravo is the rather grandly named Museo de Escultura Al Aire Libre, or Open Air Sculpture Museum.

To you and me though, it's a few lumps of stone and metal strung along an underpass, but it's a free diversion if you find yourself in the neighbourhood.

Honestly, I was more impressed by the reflections that a nearby office block was making on the pavements.

Further along and the National Archaelogy Musem was closed for a complete refurbishment, so we'll have to leave that for another trip. This did however give us a chance to admire in the plaza next door what must be Spain's largest flag which flies over a rather lumpen monument to the country's 'golden age' of discoveries.

 Evidently the flagpole is 150 feet tall and the flag is 60 feet long so it's hard to miss.

The last stop on our day of freebies was to return to the royal palace to see if the crowds had eased off a bit (they hadn't). And who can blame them? Admission is usually €10 a head, but free on Wednesdays.

Although there were probably 100 people in front of us the queue went fairly quickly. Also, the place is so massive (33 acres!) that the crowd dispersed - there are 2800 rooms here in Europe's largest palace.

All I managed to put in my journal at the time was that these were the most sumptuous rooms I'd ever seen, so the sheer vastness and vulgarity of it all must have knocked me speechless because that's all I had to say about our visit! Visitors are only allowed to take photos while in the courtyard, so I have had to crib a few photos of the interior which are below to give you a taste. 

 

 

I did sneak this snap from a window that overlooked one of the internal courtyards:

Back outside and there is a finely framed view of the Almudena Cathedral, the foundations for which were laid in 1879.

Not completed until 1993, it's one of the least interesting places of worship I've ever visited and nearly featureless inside.

Elsewhere in the palace complex there is large hall of armour to round off a full day of freebies. Click back next time for more photos, more places to eat and a trip out of town to beautiful Toledo.