Madrid and Toledo

We drove on a wide street in Madrid, looking for a store where Emmy hoped to have her hair “done.” We saw the store on the other side of the street, so continued to the next large intersection and made a very wide U-turn and went back the direction we just came from. We double-parked and Emmy went in the store to ask if they had time for an appointment.

In the rear view mirror, I could see a couple of Madrid policemen strolling down the street toward us. Emmy hurried into the camper, but with the traffic problem we could see the police were gaining on us. After they “caught” us a couple of blocks later, they tried to explain our problem and their solution. They indicated they could fine us 5,000 “whatevers.” Just in case it would work, I shook their hand and thanked them, then drove off with no other comment from the police.

One of our best remembrances of Madrid was the great bakery we found, and a box of goodies we bought. That’s right, in Madrid we found the only Winchell’s donut shop we found in all of Europe. Delicious. We found tiny donuts, made while we waited, in Sarlat, France, but found no other Winchell’s. Well we did find the famous Prado Museum, with its Van Dyke, Rubens, Goya, and El Greco paintings, to be exciting also.

When we got to Toledo we found a campsite, then toured the old town. We visited the house where the painter El Greco lived and worked for years. Many of his paintings were on display. In one set of 12 pictures, each of the Apostles had small parts of each picture unfinished. For example, there would be a hand, but no fingers. While we were there, some important looking officials arrived for a tour of the museum. They rode in a large limousine, complete with guards and guides.

We drove down a street into a small plaza and found several narrow streets came into the area, but only one seemed to go out. The sign said this Toledo street is two meters wide, building to building, not curb to curb. Our Dodge Cobra Van was two meters plus mirrors. As we were trying to decide what to do, a small truck about our size went through, so we followed, then found we had plenty of room. That is, about 2 inches between each mirror and the buildings.

People had to step into doorways as we passed, there was no room for them on the sidewalk or street.