:: Wog Blog ::

:: WHAT AM I THINKING ABOUT? ::

:: Wednesday 20 September 2006 ::

WOGFROG06 DAY 5 BURGOS TO TOLEDO

Holy Toledo!, that is.

What a drive! To get down to absolutely gorgeous Toledo - and whoa, that cathedral simply wonderful - from Burgos there was no choice but to get down to Madrid and the further south. The countryside of Castilla y Leon where Burgos is, is mostly flatlands of absolute brownness and dryness, very blasted, not much growing, not much to see, except of course the one major sight that my fumbly fingers managed not to capture.

But it's an icon so here it is anyhoo for youse.

El Toro Nero.

Pretty fab, really.

Which is a noice thing to observe about this part of Spain cos Madrid - well, what the hell? That was the most hair-raising part of the drive to date. There is a major building boom going on and the signage is just shot to pieces as a result. I have seen some shows in the Discovery Channel about huge building works in Madrid and that's all well and good from the comfort of my loungeroom. But from the comfort of the Mazda it was not well and good. There are loads of bollards everywhere, and sheets of ripped fabric that appeared to be staped to chickenwire, obscruing the turns. Add concrete borders to roads that have lanes that are way too thin for cars like the little MX5 and certainly too thin from the hundreds of craazy trucks on, and then thrown in Spanish leadfooted drivers and you have got yourself one heck of a terrifying drive.

So, finaly signs start to appear for Toledo and I join leadfooted fray and get the hell southbound as quick as possible, and then start to go through yet more brown and blasted landscape, this time in Castilla-La Mancha. Nothing to see really, except there is another Toro on the other side of Madrid - fumbly camera work missed that one too. Sheesh. Gotta stop pressing the off button instead of the shutter button. That would really do my camera work a load of good. G'uh.

Still, at 120 kilometrokos per hour - very civilised - it's prolly best not to do too much car-camera work, eh?

So, Toledo. What a delight. On a hilltop. Tiny streets, far too much touristcrap of swords and knives, but balanced by loads of El Greco art - not sure what I think of his works, you know. There is something vaguely velvet-painting about them, if you know what I mean. They are definitely beautiful, but so....odd for the 17th C. There is something really quite modern about them. Cheesy nearly.

Another thing about Toledo is
they really lerv their marzipan.

And Toledo tourism magnates sure did fall for
Segway silliness for tourists to get around town.

...

See what I mean about a sense of cheese to the place?

Not this but.
Coolest name for a hotel ever.

So, tomorrow, orf to Sierra Nevada country. See if I can fumble the shutter on some of Don Quixote's famous windmills that are south of Toledo, on the way to my destincion.

...

And see if I can get goshdurned Procul Harums "Conquistador" outta my head. Urgh. Which is Basque for "What drugs were the boys of Procul Harum on, anyways?"

Out.
:: WB 12:16 am [link+] ::