So after too much drama, we arrived to Toledo. Usually we walk from the train station to our inn. Noting the height of the old city, we hired a taxi to drive us to Plaza Zocodor and then walked from there. We wanted to see Toledo from the other side of the river so we hired a taxi the next day to drive us to some view points and wait for us to take pics. It cost about 7 euros and well worth it. I think a bus for two would have been close to that and the price of the tourist bus was crazy. Had we thought of it, we could have had the taxi from the train station, take a scenic route around the river before taking us to Plaza Zocodor. We stayed at Hotel Santa Isabella. Great view from the roof patio and out our room window. It was CHEAP, basic and clean. Included a very basic breakfast. Staff was helpful. We were close to the hotel but were a little puzzled where the entrance was. A man who I think was affiliated with the nearby convent walked over and asked if he could help. All over Spain, the people would offer to help. I noticed that if anyone "walks through" a photo shot, its usually tourists, the locals will walk around. I can't stress enough, the locals are friendly, nice and I think appreciative of tourists. We ate at El Trebol and loved it. Great inexpensive local wines, tapas. A couple free tapas came with our drinks. We returned there the next day for a snack before we left for Madrid. We really enjoyed our visit to the cathedral especially the art! We paid the 2 euro extra to climb the tower for remarkable views and were given a lot of time for pictures. We also went to Santo Tome to see the El Greco. Other than that, we wandered around town taking in the views.
The train back to Madrid was uneventful and we got to Hotel Europa on Puerto del Sol easily. What a great location and hotel! The room was very nice and we had a juliette balcony with views of the activity on Sol. It was fun. We asked the hotel if there was some holiday/festival/celebration. Nope just a typical Tuesday eve! The next morning my husband took a train to the airport and I took a train to Segovia. The Chamartin train station in Madrid is pretty big and confusing. I had to transfer from Cercanais train to I think an AVANT train. There really wasn't great signage. I think the AVANT trains have their own set of tracks. Once again, someone walked over and asked if I was having difficulties. From the train station in Segovia, you need to take about a 20 minute bus ride (#11) to the old town. I went into the TI and said, "mapa de la ciudad". She said huh? I said, "a map". She laughed! I said, I tried! She pulled out a candy dish and said, "your prize!" Sweet and funny. I really enjoyed the beautiful town and the views off into the countryside. I did not go to the cathedral. I was "churched out" and RS seems to say that the outside is interesting/lovely while the inside doesn't really have anything interesting. I did spend time on the Plaza Mayor and walked along the entire roman aqueduct.. I enjoyed my walk thru the Alcazar (about an hour) and the views from it. I visited Corpus Christi Convent. RS says it was a mosque, then a synagogue, then a catholic church. I enjoyed the resulting interesting architecture but there was no discussion that it ever was a mosque unless I missed it. I enjoyed RS's walk and stopped for ponche segoviano at Limon y Menta. Delicious. I also splurged for suckling pig and didn't care for it. Not sure if it was the particular restaurant. I thought the skin tasted "gamey". Probably just me. I got back to Madrid around 7:30 and still Puerto del Sol was wild! I had fun walking from Hotel Europa to the royal palace and walked around the area. Is was beautiful in the evening.
It was a great trip to Spain. Will likely return for time in Madrid and in addition to other places I haven't seen in Spain, I'd like to visit the white villages some more as well as get to Jerez, Cadiz and then spend a week in Morocco.