Last of Spain// Madrid + Toledo

Read part one- Itinerary for Spain, Portugal, and Morocco HERE.

Read part two- Barcelona HERE.

From Barcelona, we took a fast train to Madrid! 

We arrived in Madrid and immediately purchased a tourist transportation ticket just as we did in Barcelona. We made sure it was also good for our day trip to Toledo. We then took the Metro super close to our hotel! We stayed at the Hostel Acapulco which I would highly recommend. It was an old walk-up style with a fun elevator. The rooms were cozy with a nice bathroom. It was also very affordable. Just what we needed. We had two full days to spend in Madrid. Scroll through the photos, then find our recommendations at the end before we get into Toledo..xoxo

Our recommendations in Madrid:

*First things first, take a free walking tour through the tour company Sandemans. (You'll need to tip your tour guide.) They start in the Plaza Mayor (which is also a must see) and it lasted about three hours. They share some highlights to visit in Madrid and we were able to learn much of the history around Madrid. We loved it!

*Palacio Real de Madrid. Very beautiful!! Visit the park around the palace as well. You can also walk down to the river from the Palace. We enjoyed exploring the area.

*Puerta del Sol. This is another large square. Be careful of pickpockets in the squares. xoxo

*Taller Puntera. This is an amazing leather shop! All handmade right in the shop itself. Alan got a little leather coin pouch and I purchased one of their bags. It is my absolute favorite I own. Expect anywhere from $10 to $200 prices.... Well worth the splurge and well worth more than what they ask. A beautiful, local, small business to have a memorable, Spanish souvenir you can have forever!!!!

*We are LDS and really wanted to see the temple there so we took the metro to do so. Well worth the trip to feel a beautiful spirit and see the breathtaking building! We also got to meet a handful of missionaries because the Spain MTC is right near the temple. Some from the USA even. That was a treat. 

Food:

*La Mallorquina- This is an amazing little bakery with the most delicious pastries. We went here the morning we did our free walking tour.

*Takos! (That is spelled correctly.) Yes, I'm saying tacos in Spain. haha. This was one Alan and I came upon. In fact, it was on the corner by our hotel and we walked by it every day we were there! And every single day there was a line around the corner. One night, we came home early and I sent Alan to go grab us some. Nope, two hour line. So we decided on our last night, we would wait in the long line to see what the hype was about. One hour in line....IT. WAS. WORTH IT!!! The best tacos we have ever had. Go! 

*Mercado de San Miguel. You can find fresh juices and Jamon here.

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Our last day in Spain, we used our transportation ticket and took a bus from Madrid to Toledo! It was about a 40 minute bus ride. This is where we had our first stressful run in. The tourist ticket must be a new thing because people kept directing us to needing to purchase new tickets. We knew we had already purchased them. In our broken Spanish, we finally convinced a bus worker that our tickets were valid and he scanned them for us. When using this ticket, you need to be on a bus with a ticket scanner. Same thing happened to us in Toledo, but we were able to explain what we needed and everything worked out great. Feel free to email me if you have questions about this. The minute we got to Toledo, it was absolutely magical. Toledo is a must visit. It's a small, old town with old charms. 

We only spent the day in Toledo but were extremely happy with our time there. Here's our recommendations:

*Must must must visit the Cathedral of Toledo. It was absolutely beautiful. It was one of our highlights of the trip. It was built in the 15th century. The detail and thought that went into it was so impressive. 

*Walk everywhere. This town has amazing streets, shops, doors, and details. Everywhere you turn. It has so much charm.

Food:

*Virtudes. This is the cutest little cafe tucked in a little corner. They were super friendly and had the most delicious food. Order the Carcamusas Toledanas. It's a traditional Spanish meal and it was DIVINE!!! 

To be continued....