The Ham Nomads

26 Jan 2015. <ES> Madrid; Toledo, Castile-La Mancha —

Today we decided to take our leave of Madrid — but we may return here later on! We drove a little southwards, to Toledo. The aim was to get there, and drive slowly around the Ctra. de Circonvalación, a road that runs round the city on its southern side, on the opposite side if the Río Targus. The views from here are reputed to be spectacular. Well, in this case the reputation almost understated the spectacle! There are at least 8 viewing points from this road, and each one is well worth a long stay. And the sun was in the perfect position for photographing the old city! We even flagged one of these points as a possible stopping point for the night, if we didn't find anything better.

After touring the southern side of Toledo, from a distance, we drove around to Parque de la Vega, in front of the Bisagra Gate into the old city. There is a tourist information centre right there, and we were able to park for a short while in the street opposite while we sought advice.

The girl was most helpful, and told us of a free carpark we could use, just a couple of hundred metres away at Parque de Safont — and we would be able to stay there overnight! What a great solution, as we could walk into the old city quite easily from there.

So we drove out a couple of kilometers northwards, to a McDonald's we had noticed on the way in, had a few coffees and did a little computer catchup (not much left to do after yesterday's effort)! Then we came back in and parked in the Parque de Safont, carefully arranging the van so it was facing southeast, to catch the rising sun where Susie sits in the front seat when she gets up! Perfect!

Distance driven — today, 59 miles ( 95 km ); to date, 11,957 miles ( 19,243 km )