View of Toledo's river from the hill.
Today we would leave Rome and fly to Madrid. Since most airplane flights leave too damn early, we rolled out of bed, packed, and met our taxi driver. He fortuitously took us right by the Appian Way outside of Rome - the remains of what used to be Rome's incredibly efficient and revolutionary road system, still littered with tombs, buildings, and other archaeological treasures. We blazed by it at the usual nose-bleed pace of an Italian taxi-driver but at least we saw it, which was good enough for me. We arrived at the Rome airport and proceeded to hang out in the bare-bones terminal for a while - everyone jockeying for position over plastic and backless chairs. One would think Rome would have a fancier airport (well, it is the second airport) - but it does fufill its purpose, which is getting tourists the hell out of Dodge, and so it goes.
We boarded our Easyjet flight for Madrid and enjoyed a fairly non-eventful two and a half hours or so. I think I saw Sardinia and Mallorca from the plane, but I could be wrong - have not been awarded a degree in geography yet. Flying in over Madrid was an immediate reality-check about Spain and its peculiar-in-Europe terrain - dry and yellow and rocky, immediately reminiscent of California. (This would become a theme during our time in Spain - we spent a lot of money to vacation in California with bullfights.)
Getting our bags and our rental car was startlingly easy. The Madrid airport is a tremendous beast of an airport, possibly the largest I've ever been in, but things seem to work reasonably well and we were in and out. We could not figure out how to open the trunk of our cute little VW, forcing the attendant to half-jokingly comment, "Oh, you can't figure out how to open it. Americans! Typical Americans!" Chastened, we drove off in the direction of Toledo.
My first impression of Spain from the roadway was that it is dry. No wonder the Spanish so comfortably colonized the Western USA: it looks exactly like home, down to the cacti, scrub brush, and rocky outcroppings. I am partial as anything to dry big-sky places and I immediately liked it, although the route from Madrid to Toledo is about as desolate as it gets, reminiscent of the mildly soul-destroying shot from New Braunfels to San Antonio in Texas.
But our destination was Toledo, one of Spain's most historic and interesting small cities. An important Spanish city since Roman times, Toledo enjoyed a golden age under the Moors, served as a translation center and capital Alfonso VI, and served as home and inspiration for the justifiably beloved El Greco. A traditional and incredibly well preserved place, it retains much of its antique flavor - walking the dusty and hot streets is a true exercise in time travel. More on that.
We checked in at the Toledo Hilton. The property is outside of town and rather new, but it's a pleasant self contained place - very luxurious and posh, with an antique vibe. The room was extremely large and had a good view of Toledo's Tagus River, and I immediately showered and went for a (very welcome) gym visit. (Some people self medicate with cigars, illicit sex, and crack rocks - I self medicate with workouts. I'm not very fun). My parents adjourned to the downstairs pool. Where we stayed.
The Spanish have odd eating hours, at least compared to most of the world. The typical Spanish person would not even consider eating dinner until some point after 8:30.(8:30 sharp is early bird grandma hours, you will look very dorky indeed if you eat then). Lunch is consumed at 2:00 if you are extremely busy, and later if you are not. It's difficult to get accustomed to if you are a 7:00 sharp dinner sort, but the good aspects of the system quickly become apparent, especially in summer - you spend the afternoon lounging around in the hot-ass sun and finally get around to eating when the heat slackens off and your appetite returns. Other differences between Spanish eating habits and those of America: lunch is the primary meal of the day and generally consumed in a sit-down and stationary fashion. Dinner, meanwhile, is more casual - many people simply amble from one tapas bar to another, enjoying a small nosh and some booze at each locale and sampling various local specialties. It's a very humane system, once your body clock is reset.
The concierge recommended two tapas places to us for our inaugural eating adventures in the city. First was...
La Abadia
Plaza de San Nicolás, 3
45001 - Toledo
925 25 11 40
Located in an extremely atmospheric old brick and wood building, La Abadia is a characterful bar and restaurant. Tapas, booze, and snacks are served in the congenial upstairs area, which only begins rocking around 10:30 (in typical Spanish fashion). New Spanish cuisine is served downstairs in the rocky and atmospherically lit dining room. This being a tapas crawl, we stayed upstairs, watched the Michael Jackson funeral, and had some eats.
One of Toledo's typical dishes is carcamusas, a flavorful stew of pork chunks, tomato, and spices. It's reminiscent of Spanish carnitas and is an excellent and meaty accompaniment to drinks. The Spanish are also besotted with fried potatoes, which appear in various guises all over the peninsula. In Castile and Leon/Toledo, free snacks, often quite substantial, appear with every drink - if you're not very hungry, this could be a great way to eat cheap.
A tapas serving of various grilled meats. At 7 euros, this was a substantial serving and quite a deal. It was all good, but the morcilla, Spanish blood sausage, was particularly interesting. Morcilla may sound pungent, but there's no discernable "blood" flavor, but rather a complex, meaty, and smoky flavor profile. The chicken was also tender and good, notable as it is real easy to botch a plain old grilled chicken breast.
This is a layered dish of cream cheese, smoked salmon, and caramelized apple, with a balsamic vinegar drizzle. Rich as hell but very delicious, and the crispy and candy-like apples provided a unique and interesting touch.
Our next stop was Alfileritos 24 (Calle Alfileritos), a contemporary and evidently hip tapas bar within easy stumbling distance of La Abadia. The tapas menu hits all the classics and is served in a bodega-like interior space - a nice place to hang out. The upstairs features a more formal contemporary-Spanish menu, and I think it would be well worth a look.
The Spanish dearly love fried snacks. These were good specimens of the genre: shrimp rollitos, crispy and soft on the inside, and croquettes - fried dough balls with shrimpy delights inside. We didn't actually order these but the server brought them anyway. Since they were good, we did not particularly mind.
Tuna belly with red pepper pistou. I thought Italian tuna was good but Spanish tuna is better - fully flavored and addictive, will probably give me Iodine poisoning from over-consumption. The sweet pepper pistou was a great accompaniment to the fish. This would make an excellent sandwich.
We also tried the gambas al ajillo (prawns with garlic and olive oil) - very nice here, plump prawns in garlic and olive oil sauce. It's a Spanish classic and you are pretty much required by Spanish law to order it if you come, just so you know.
Full and happy, we took a taxi back to the hotel, enjoying the night-time view of Toledo glimmering on the hill.
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