MADRID & TOLEDO

She couldn’t stop admiring this capital city. It was a big city, but very unlike Barcelona. Something about this city was very warm, and alive. It didn’t look all business and money over here. Somehow this city, sort of exhibits the European life – the four working days a week, long weekends spent in adventures or pursuing hobbies or just reading under the warm sun in the park, getting together with friends and small expeditions to nearby woods or villages, or just pub hopping. This city seemed to be all about living.

They were put up in a quaint hotel in a bustling part of the city. Unlike the room in Barcelona which was all chic, modern and purposeful, this room had an antique touch – right from the elaborate curtains, to the rusty bath tub and the rickety beds. It smelled different too. They walked to the nearby Canalejas Square, and stopped to admire the place, the sculptures and people lazing around over there. Madrid had this wonderful mix of the old and the new in its architecture. It portrayed the gradual change over the past few centuries. There was an entire street, Gran Via which housed beautifully designed buildings of the previous century. Not to speak of the Royal Palace and the amazingly well maintained rooms which were open to public. She learnt there that the monarchs had been quite instrumental in beautifying the city in their times. Though her world history knowledge was close to zero, she could make out just from the landscape of the city that it was quite an important place in the past. 

Taking in the sight of the wonderful architecture, she wasn’t surprised to know that Madrid was one of the top European cities for art museums. Both of them quite well remembered their weird feeling after the visit to the Picasso museum and wondered whether they should venture into any of Madrid’s famous museums. But they had really admired the frescos on the roof of every room in the Royal Palace. Maybe they would be able to appreciate older forms of art and paintings better. They were right; the trip to the Prado museum took their breath away; literally. There were scores of rooms, each housing paintings from some very famous artists – names even ignorant people like her knew. The first few rooms completely awed them, and made them wonder at the artist’s skill and talent. After that everything went hazy, and the paintings merged with each other. Soon they were so tired that they could barely take a step. If museum wasn’t so classy, they would have just plonked themselves right there on the floor. However, they walked gingerly out, having seen barely half of the paintings.

Once out, they sat down on the beautiful lawns of the museum and rested their tiring feet. There were so many other people who were doing so. Now they knew why the museum didn’t provide any seating inside. They had provided acres of beautifully manicured lawns, for the visitors to relax and reminisce about their art collection. That was the thing about Madrid – its manicured lawns adorned with beautiful flower beds – they were everywhere, even right next to the busiest streets. They added to the beauty of the city greatly. That evening, they decide to have a look at a Spanish food market and had one of the most interesting times ever. That was the only place she had seen so crowded – with people from all ages and regions. The market sold everything – right from pulses and grains to strange looking sea creatures, from all kinds of meat and sausage to wines and tapas. It was fascinating to watch people in their elements and she realized that if one really wanted to know a place and its culture – they should go to its market!! Along with dinner they planned their next day – their last day in Spain. It seemed that it would again involve cathedrals, museums and palaces. She was beginning to feel she had seen them all and wondered what else to do to make it memorable. That’s when her friend suggested a trip to Toledo; a nearby world heritage site. That was one of the best decisions they had taken in their trip.

Next early morning, they reach the train station to catch the train and managed to get seats for the one which departed after an hour. With an hour to kill, they wandered around the station, and found a beautiful park after a while. It looked quite dreamy and fairy tale like in the morning sun, and they sat admiring nature’s best under a huge old tree. There were hares and peacocks wandering around without a care. It felt so peaceful - they never realized how long there sat there. A casual glance at her watch showed that there was just five minutes for the Toledo train to depart. She jumped to her feet and started running towards the exit, without any explanation. Her friend didn’t need it, he already knew the moment she started running. They had done it again; managed to get late for the train, despite being there much so much before time.  She hadn’t run like that for ages. Pretty soon out of breath, they reach the platform, with people staring at them all along the way. Luckily the train had not yet departed, but it did the moment they stepped on to it. 

Catching their breath, they settled down to a quite, fast journey, with her admiring the cleanl and very modern looking train. It was a short journey, and once in Toledo, they couldn’t stop admiring the beautiful view. It was by far the best looking town she had seen in Spain. It was old, quaint and had a rustic beauty which couldn’t be defined. Even the train station was wonderful, with its red brick watch tower, the intricate carvings and Spain’s specialty – the painted and carved ceilings. A sparkling river flowed softly around the city – it had an old creaky water wheel which looked like it was from another century. The city itself was on the hilltop and looked magnificent and picturesque.

 As they walked through the lanes of the city, they admired the beautiful, rustic looking houses which were all in different shades of brick red and stone. There were pretty plants and flowers peeping from the window sills and balconies of the buildings – the only life beings in those inner lanes. Everywhere they encountered narrow and winding lanes going up and down; they got lost pretty soon. They enjoyed being lost and letting the mysterious looking lanes take them anywhere.  Pretty soon they were were quite shocked to see a car racing down to them, there was barely any place for them to stand when the car passes them. After a while they got used to it. Every time a car would pass, people would lean flat on the walls – to let it go. It didn’t trouble anyone, and they found pedestrians guiding some cars through the difficult turns and stretches. Once again, she admired people’s nature – they don’t seem to get angry or irritated with things like this – so unlike India. The cars were very different too – they were small, all hunchbacks and looked quite posh. She would have been terrified to take such a lovely car in those narrow, winding lanes. 

They made their way to the Alcazar fortress – the highest point in the city, and spent some quite moments enjoying the view of the city and the river from there. They could make out three of the four entrances to the city and imagined the history of the city. From there they could also see the famous medieval bridge across the river. It looked so quaint, old and beautiful that they decided to walk down to it, but had to give up halfway down as they were quite tired. Toledo was quite hot, almost felt like they were back in India. Instead they walked around the local market and ventured into the souvenir and jeweler shops. Before long the day was over and they made their way back to the train station – in time. They sat quietly on their way back and relived the moments in Toledo. They knew that that sunny day in one of the most beautiful places on earth would remain with them forever.

Once in Madrid, they had an entire evening to while away, before they caught flights to their respective destinations the next morning. They decided to follow the young crowd of Madrid, and went pub hopping. It was quite fun, and exciting – to sit among them and sip a drink. She drank in the sight of people having fun with their friends and enjoying the young ambience in the clubs they went. There was not much dancing as there were conversations, and she couldn’t stop staring and listening to the beautiful people. But as they walked back to their hotel, they became quite again. The trip was over and very soon, all of that would just be in their memories – and photos. They would back to their respective work places to resume normal life and after some time, Spain would look like a dream. To her especially – she knew there wouldn’t be a trip like this for a very long time. They had also come to like each other’s company quite a lot in the past week and relived their school days during that time. She knew she would miss her friend and wondered if they would ever do such a trip again. 

Maybe….Maybe not…..