A Trip to the Capital

Saturday was another exciting day. In the morning Leah and I went to the train station to catch a bullet train from Barcelona to Madrid, Spain’s capitol city. The train travels at an average speed of about 275 km/h with a top speed of 300 km/h which is equal to 180 mph. With a few stops included, it took 3 hours to arrive. In Madrid, we took our stuff to the apartment and then went back to the center of the city to stroll around. First we took in the splendor of the Royal Palace and the Cathedral Almudena. We wandered around and ended up visiting a few more churches that we located by walking towards the steeples towering above all other buildings. When trying to decide what to see next we stumbled upon a little bar that specialized in selling craft brews so of course we went inside. After drinking a good beer we found ourselves back in front of the Royal Palace which was very beautifully lit up. Leah picked a spot on a fountain and we soaked up the atmosphere and people watched while listening to a guy play the same Led Zeppelin song over and over on the harp. Then we got tapas for dinner and headed back to the apartment on the metro. Sunday was just as relaxed. Leah found a breakfast place that was highly recommended then we spent a few hours in the Prado, one of the best art museums in the world. By the time we finished lunch it was almost 4 PM so we strolled over to the park El Retiro to take in a little natural beauty. Upon arrival we discovered the most beautiful park either of us had ever seen inside a large city. In the center there is a large pond (about the size of Krodel) with rowboats that could be rented. I decided to put my rowing merit badge to work and insisted on going out in a boat. For the next 45 minutes we floated around with about 60 other rowboats, occasionally bumping into one another, while the sun was setting. When our time was up on the boat, we wandered through the park a little more before it was too dark. The night ended with us walking back into the city center and eating at a restaurant called La Catedral (cathedral). The inside had religious paintings and wooden beams like an old church. I had THE BEST salmon and broccoli ever and it was a pretty awesome ending to an already awesome day.

Monday morning we got up early, checked out of the apartment, and went to the train station to catch a train to Toledo. Unfortunately we couldn't get a train until two hours after we had hoped to, leaving only 3 hours in Toledo, but we decided it was worth it anyway. To kill time we stumbled across a street full of little used book stores and browsed the selection before going back to El Retiro to relax. The train ride to Toledo was only 30 minutes by bullet train. Leah and I stepped off the train to discover a beautiful city positioned on a hill and surrounded by a medieval castle wall. It looked like it was straight out of a fairy-tale. Toledo immediately became my favorite Spanish city.  We really only had time for lunch and a few pictures. Leah was disappointed that we had to skip to El Greco museum and I was sad that we couldn't visit the castle on the neighboring hill. Lunch has a pretty long back-story, but the general idea is that I wanted to go to a restaurant that I had given a presentation on a few years ago in college. The dish they specialize in can only be found in Toledo and occasionally my kitchen. After killing an hour and a half eating lunch, we frantically ran around Toledo, trying to snap as many scenic pictures as possible. Once back from Toledo we only had an hour of free time before the train back to Barcelona. Somehow we got lucky and accidentally chose a train that went nonstop to Barcelona, cutting our return ride from 3 to 2 ½ hours.