TRIP REPORT: Toledo with a 5 year old

Trip prep:

• 1 year out: I got an Iberia Plus credit card ($100 annual fee with an 85k points signup bonus).
• Mom got a 1 year subscription to DuoLingo to learn basic Spanish, and highly recommends it.
• We bought the Rick Steves snapshot guide for Madrid/Toledo, obviously. It fits nicely in a jeans back pocket.
• Got Rick’s “100 Great Art Masterpieces” book, and watched his recent “Art of Europe” season. Yes, I’m fully in the cult of Rick!
• I recommend “España: A Brief History of Spain” by Giles Tremlett, and “The Complete Don Quixote”, a graphic novel adaptation by Rob Davis.
  
• I also grabbed “El Greco” by Davies, David and John H. Elliott. This is a museum book published to accompany a MET exhibition from 2003. The writing is dry and I only got halfway through, but it’s full of big beautiful pictures. Grab it cheap on AbeBooks.
• YouTube uploader “Great Art Explained”: I watched all his Prado stuff. I particularly recommend his series on Goya’s dark paintings.

• We watched the 1988 dramedy “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”. It’s a fun and silly romp.

• Phone plan: I bought a Guay Mobile 15 day 2GB data only ESIM on https://www.airalo.com/ for $7. This was the first time I tried this, and it worked flawlessly. I set it up in the USA the day before my flight, then easily clicked it on upon touchdown in Spain.

• I carefully built custom google maps for Toledo and Madrid.

• I also made this map and scavenger hunt to be filled in with stickers.

Ok, let’s goooo!!!

*** Day 0, Logan Airport ***

Had a big diner breakfast and ran the kid ragged at a local playground. Surely he’ll be so tired he’ll sleep on the plane, right?

Our flight was 4:40pm via Iberian Air out of Logan airport in Boston. There was some kind of computer glitch that caused the bag check to take over a full hour, but this was only a minor speed bump as we’re chronically early people and had arrived 4 hours early. The airport was otherwise efficient, much less chaotic than JFK/Newark, and bland. No architectural big swings, just plenty of low suspended ceilings.

And here we met our nemesis: auto flush toilets. We knew there was zero chance we could convince the kiddo to go on the plane, so we had to do the deed. They did have companion bathrooms which helped a lot, plus we always carry painter’s tape to cover the sensor, and noise canceling headphones. Despite all this, this was still 100% the most difficult moment of our entire trip. It was ugly, but we got it done.

If anyone takes Iberia Air, be excited for the safety video because it is EXCELLENT. A showcase of stunning Spanish vistas and outdoor locations, repeatedly and abruptly being interrupted by a silver fox flight attendant. Great stuff.

So I booked a 4:40PM 7 hour flight hoping we’d get some sleep: this did not work out. I got 30 minutes sleep at one point, mom and kid got zero sleep. Next time, I’d probably shoot for a departure around noon, or try 8PM or later for a true red-eye. This all said: the kiddo sat and played quietly the entire flight like a pro, and was excited to see the stars from the plane.

The Madrid airport with its soaring wavy ceilings is immediately impressive.. yes! This is how you do an airport! We were shot through customs, the people-mover from 4S, and bag check quickly and painlessly. I had hired a private car from https://madridairporttaxis.com/ and the driver was waiting for us with a name card. This was $185EU and worth every penny. There was some weirdness with their pre-payment, but on the ground this was an otherwise flawless experience. For a car seat for a 5 year old, they only offered booster seats, which kiddo is kind of too small for. We bought a strap adjuster on Amazon and this successfully kept the shoulder belt out of his face.

Kiddo was somehow still wide awake and asked nonstop questions for all 70 minutes, as I awkwardly and unsuccessfully tried to make small talk with the Spanish speaking driver in the front seat. I expected to be dropped off at Zocodover, but he folded in the rear-views and somehow maneuvered his Lexus all the way to our BNB on Calle Sinagoga. We stumbled up to our room and hit the pillow as the sun was coming up.

*** Day 1: Time and space has no meaning ***

So as many recommended, we hoped to deftly shift ahead our circadian rhythm to match the Spanish style of sleeping and staying up late. While we technically did this, it was far from deft. After 7 hours of day sleep, we got out our door at 4PM and wandered into the labyrinth in a dreamy lethargic haze. What a magnificent city. Every inch dripping with character, and every winding side street begging to be explored. But not yet: it’s food time.

Taberna Skala is lively tapas bar full of locals and tucked away far enough on a side street to be easily missed by the tourist hordes. Being the bar-averse introvert that I am, I had some anxiety so back home had watched multiple YouTube videos of how to order tapas in Spain. I knew that I’d want to bypass the noisy bar up front to grab a quieter table in the back. I felt ready and boldly walked in the front door! And realized I didn’t know how to get a table! Like, should I wait by the entrance? Go to the bar? Wait in the back room? The end result of this paralysis was me standing directly in the middle of the room with my orange backpack, folded up stroller, and a goofy smile for a solid 45 seconds, futilely trying to catch the gaze of any employee. The kiddo was intimidated by the kinetic energy of the room, and the wife snapped me out of my stupor by marching us to the back. I’m the planner but she has more real time instincts.

So there was a guy in the back that was maybe an employee? Kiddo sensed our anxiety and was teetering towards a breakdown, so we just sat down. Still not 100% sure if this was the correct process but it seemed fine. The maybe employee eventually did bring us some menus, and I goofily exclaimed (in English) that this was my first time getting tapas and was super excited. The guy didn’t know what to do with this enthusiasm and in retrospect I think I came in a bit hot.

Mom’s first crack at communicating in actual Spanish was stressful. She did fine on the speaking and asking part, but he talked too fast for her to follow the answers. She gradually got used to the speed and it probably would have been no problem had we gone there a couple days in. We eventually landed on Carcamusa, Patatas Skala, and Croquettes. All 3 were awesome, I ultimately enjoyed the culture shock and awkwardness, and we highly recommend this restaurant.

We wandered north to the nearest playground on my map, which was within the Plaza Del Padre Juan de Mariana. I ducked into the adjacent Jesuit Church, which was not on my radar and was surprisingly lovely. Low crowds at 6PM, bright and pretty interior, and million dollar views from the roof. It closed on my way out and we looped back later in the week so mom could do it too. The playset was really only for younger kids so kind of a bust, but we did grab ice cream two doors down, so kiddo was appeased. I also at this time unveil my secret weapon, the scavenger hunt. It’s a big hit with the kiddo and he spends the rest of the vaca pointing things out.

On our way back to the room we stopped at Carrefour Market for some fruit, but also because on Google maps I had found mention of a cool looking old stone well in the basement. Except I had my wires crossed and it’s actually at the gift shop next door. I didn’t know this yet so I asked some poor unsuspecting kid working there in English if there was a door to a secret ancient well in the basement of his convenience store. There was not.

Back to our room for a quick break. Given that we’re at the peak “take lots of breaks” stage in our child rearing career, we splurged on a room that was both as central and spectacular as possible. Mom and dad got a 45 minute nap, and kiddo got to play with magna tiles.

*** TO BE CONTINUED ***

Now 8PM, the sun is setting, and I guess it’s time we head out again. Our bodies are very confused. We wander all the way past Santo Tome to a playground on the western wall at San Cristobal. I was hoping the streetlights would illuminate the playset, but they did not. But it is an excellent viewpoint so not a waste of time.

At age 5 we weren’t sure whether to even bring the stroller or if it would even make sense on cobblestoned hilly streets, and we quickly realized it was absolutely indispensable. I can’t imagine accomplishing even half of what we did without it. The cobbles were worn down enough for them to be mostly a non-issue, and it was easier than expected to walk halfway across town. The only problem is that the streets being mostly traffic free lulls you into a sense of complacency, but when the occasional car does come, it will be BOOKING IT. This, combined with countless blind turns and narrow streets often with no sidewalk, was the most challenging part of our exploring. We’d often need to have the non-stroller pusher walk ahead to be a spotter.

Also of note: the kiddo refers to the cobblestones as “dribble stones”, and terra cotta roofing as “tree bark”, so this is what we will now call them forever.

By 10PM we arrived at Taberna Trinidad back near our room, peered in from the street, and decided it looked a bit too convivial for us; it was basically the raucous front of a bar, without the quiet back. We continued north and ended up at Arabian Touch: yup this was more our speed. Intimate, quiet, relaxing, highly thematic, excellent service, with a delicious and familiar menu. Kiddo still references the restaurant “with the fountain inside”. We head home and get to bed at midnight.

*** Day 2: Bomba time ***

Awake at 9AM, out the door by 10AM. Breakfast tea and sweets at Cafe Montana, a cute hidden family-run Columbian coffee stand in a hidden moorish courtyard. Off we head to Zocodover, by way of the Guinness book of world records “smallest window in the world” on Calle Sillería. Is it possible to even prove this? Does this window have any actual historical significance? Did we take a corny selfie next to it? No, no, and yes!

We checked out the bustle of Zocodover and read through Rick’s walking tour commentary. Been 6 years since our last actual RS walking tour: feels good to be back! We don’t actually walk through all at once but I would read the later blurbs later in the week.

We rolled into Santa Cruz hoping we could keep the stroller: we could not. I read online it was free this year and we found out why: the wing with the El Grecos was closed. No matter: the price was right and the cloister was beautiful. The kid had fun running laps in the middle area. We spent 25 mins there and moved on. This drew me to Toledo: the abundance of cheap, quick, and manageable sites, as opposed to all day affairs like the Prado which is just too huge and intimidating. So far so good!

We get our first taste of Mazapan at the Santo Tome shop, then grab some Trainvision tickets on Zocodover. The fact that it kind of looks like a train perked the kiddo’s interest, we correctly sat on the right as Rick commanded, and it was a great experience.

Lunch at another Rick pick, El Trebol. It was 1PM and we only had a 5 minute wait (we were sure to always avoid the high Spanish lunch crowds of 2-3PM, though this probably mattered less for tourist filled places such as this one). We had great weather to eat outside and it had a great relaxed vibe. We chose the tapas sampler, and the waiter informed us that we need to additionally order the “Bomba Trebol”. And he was correct: I did need this. Do not miss this ridiculously good dish.

Back to the room for nap time. This was in theory so kiddo could nap, but turns out he played while we did. For the evening we headed out for the one thing I told my wife was my personal “must-do”, the Burial of Count Orgaz. I’ve read so much about it that I was my own audio tour. Carried the kiddo in my arms and he wasn’t into it. We had pitched him the idea of “we take turns and now it’s daddy’s turn to do a thing” which mostly did work (he thrives on structure and knowing what to expect).

We rolled back to the San Cristobal playground: this was a hit, it was fun to play adjacent to local families, and we spent a good 45 minutes there. Next up was the Jewish quarter. On the way we met a few hundred folk in the road with bullhorns and protest signs, and we were immediately concerned that it could be anti-tourism (I’m still personally working this one out ethically). It thankfully wasn’t: looks like covid vaccines are being privatized instead of provided for free by the government and they were protesting that. Right on! We pushed our way through the crowd and it was loud but interesting.

*** TO BE CONTINUED ***

The Star of David was one of our scavenger hunt items, and there were of course a lot of these to find big and small. We convinced kiddo to check out the Sinagoga Transito. He was running on fumes and I carried him most of the way.

Across the park outside Transito was another excellent playground, he got one more hit of energy and played there another 30 minutes. The park and views here are absolutely stunning; what an awesome place to linger. One thing on my list was the Victorio Macho Museum, and I wanted to check out the view from the pack patio as recommended by Rick. I never made it there, but this park is next door and has the same commanding view of the Tagus.

It was 8PM and we were all running on fumes. I’ve reached my quota of Carcamusas, and head back for Pizzaria Comes back near home. Average food, very compatible with kids, the inside was mostly a quiet respite, except for bumping music playing a little too loud. The kiddo got patatas fritas with nothing on them, his favorite. He hasn’t taken to tapas like we hoped, and never would. We pack a lunch box with familiar sandwiches and fruit for every meal and this was his primary food throughout the trip. Average pizza, but I was happy that Machengo was a topping choice. Didn’t think I was hungry but I gobbled up an entire pie myself. We went back to the room, read books, and to bed at midnight.

*** Day 3: Birds and Ziplines ***

I awoke at 8AM today and stepped out to our rooftop terrace for sunrise. Could hear a pin drop, pretty wild to see the city in full sunlight and fully asleep. We got out the door by 9AM and headed back towards Santo Tome for breakfast. What a lovely street to stroll before the crowds get there. Churros at “Churrería Chocolatería”: this is a hole in the wall with only locals. Narrow and claustrophobic, in a good way, with cheap and perfect churros. The kiddo’s mind was blown and churros instantly became his favorite thing in Spain.

San Juan de los Reyes was not our planned destination, but I noticed there’s zero crowd there and couldn’t resist. Kiddo calls me out with “daddy it’s not your turn”, and we go in anyways. We did get him to briefly enjoy a “jumping on the tiles” game mom made up in the cloister, but for the most part he was pouting. Rightfully so: I still feel a little bad for “cheating”. At this point he’s figured out that things that daddy picks are usually boring, a reasonable conclusion for a 5 year old. We cut our losses and bypassed the sanctuary on our way out.

Back out on the sidewalk it was now 11AM, and we encountered a strong tide of tourist groups marching across from the bus stop across the bridge. With much effort we were able to swim upstream and make it to Fly Toledo, a zipline experience apparently run by teenagers. I can’t understate how cheap and quick this is. No reservation necessary, no line, $12EU, and they had me ready to jump before my wife could walk to the bridge to take my pic. In the USA this would be $75 and they’d have 45 minutes of safety training. Not to say this didn’t seem safe: all the gear seemed high quality, and there was a primary + safety tether. I’ve done a few of these before, but never at such a stunning location: this was a total blast. As I walked back across the bridge in my gear, random locals passing by were telling me how cool I looked. I can only assume.

Next we rolled down to our main destination of the day: the Toledo Ecological trail. This is part of a larger network, and I chose to walk counter clockwise on the segment from San Martin to the San Sebastian bus stop. And yes we were able to take the stroller the entire way, and the last third is paved. There were plenty of rocks along the trail for kiddo to hop out and play on. Mom is a birder and she got her fix: she found almost 10 species that were common to the area but completely new to us. The valley itself was super interesting, with crumbling remains scattered about which reminded me of the Argonath scene from Lord of the Rings. This was juxtaposed with more recent eclectic mix urban remains, sculptures, and graffiti. Zero tourists down there, and tons of locals doing local things. Many fisherfolk with full on deep sea poles, a few dozen sport climbers impressively scaling the sheer cliffs across the valley, and lots of other families with kids. We took our time and spent about 90 minutes on the trail.

I had plans of grabbing the San Sebastian bus back up, but on weekends it’s only hourly, and we missed it by 5 minutes. Without the kiddo we would have brought a book and enjoyed the river, but kiddo’s attention span was waning, so we decided to hoof it. This climb was not for the faint of heart. We kept a good pace, took breaks, as we zigged and zagged through countless evocative residential streets.

*** TO BE CONTINUED ***

I can’t tell you how much I love this! I am heading to Spain in less than three weeks and my first stop is Toledo. I am looking forward to the next installments! You have such an engaging writing style.

At the final crest and drenched in sweat, I see it. A nondescript monastery with no signage, an open door, and a small poster with colorful pictures of sweets. My Mazapan nirvana.

I walked through a small flowery courtyard to an inner door. Inside was a small room, and an empty glass booth full of boxes of cookies and candy. There were not a lot of clues and a button on the wall. I pressed it: a bell rang. Waited a full 3 minutes: nothing. As I got back to the curb where mom and kid were resting, I finally heard a door creek open, and I snapped my head back around to see a smiling nun peering back at me. Sublime! I bought four boxes.

I didn’t see signage to identify what this place actually was so I looked it up later on Google Maps: it was Convento de Santa Isabel de los Reyes.

After some playtime back at San Cristobal, we went for lunch at another pick from the book, Placido Restaurant. I was hesitant to try this as it has lots of mixed feedback on Google. And I learned my lesson: always trust in Rick. Super evocative, fast and attentive service, refreshingly elevated menu in contrast to the tabernas, and a holy relic behind a glass cabinet: the 2014 Rick Steves tour book. Mom is now on cruise control with her Spanish, and we have a great time.

Back to the room for a break. Once again, the kiddo plays the whole time instead of napping. This will unexpectedly work in our favor. Our next stop was our 5PM reservation for the Cathedral (booking this late avoids most of the day trippers). Thankfully, they allow strollers. Kiddo is bored after 5 minutes, starts a chorus of displeasure with the situation, and promptly falls asleep for a solid 90 minutes. This could not have worked out better. Rick’s walking tour is extensive and excellent, and we took our time. Some highlights: the choir stall misericord carvings depicting lewd and bizarre behavior (high unintentional comedy). I love me a good baroque sculpture, and El Transparente behind the altar is absolutely spectacular. And of course the paintings. In particular: the disrobing of Christ became my favorite El Greco. Its striking location in situ was to me more pleasing than Santo Tome.

Kid woke up but was still out of gas and we’ve had a long day, so we headed right back to the room. He does like exploring the city, but playing quietly inside is his happy place. For dinner: having every other meal alternate between familiar and unfamiliar was working for us. It’s hard to figure out take-out in Spain, but I did find Dragon Kitchen down the street had an online ordering system. Unlike the Arabian touch and the pizza place, which was similar in quality to what I’m used to back home, their fried rice dish blew my socks off. Good stuff.

Kiddo asks “why do we do what daddy’s friend Rick Steves tells us?” before happily singing himself to sleep with lyrics based on “The Hungry Caterpillar”, set to a musical mashup of Taylor Swift and Chappel Roan.

*** Day 4: flop day ***

The past 4 days have been so full and intense: it’s time to do nothing. I’m usually bad at this, but we were all super exhausted and there was also a PM 2.5 air quality warning. We got more Churros at the nearby “Chocolate Experience Toledo”. It got the job done, but was touristy and decidedly inferior to yesterday morning’s vibe.

We hunted for overpriced souvenirs, read some books in the room, and successfully did nothing. Late afternoon we went back to the Jesuit church for mom to do the tour, then we grabbed dinner next door at Ave Fenix. They had a price fixe menu which was a decent deal, and was overall “fine”. Easily the weakest quality taverna food vs Skala and El Trebol. We’re not big meat eaters to begin with, and this put us over the tipping point: it was just so.. much.. meat.

Kiddo went to bed early. By now it had rained so the air quality had cleared up, and I took a final late night solo ramble after dark. I grabbed some convent cookies and headed out. Never really got to explore around the Alcazar so I walked around the outside: it wasn’t a very good walk. Lots of buses and exhaust. Made a beeline back to the Cathedral as a heavy rain started, ducked into an archway at town hall, took some of the best photographs of my life, and I hung out in that spot for a full hour as I watched folk scurrying by with their umbrellas.

*** Day 5: Madrid ***

We grabbed some excellent breakfast croissants at Panadería Benipan and made it back to the Cathedral one last time. We were ahead of the crowds and had a peaceful final munch on the steps of the Bishop’s palace.

We checked out at 11AM, dragged out luggage to Zocodover and caught a bus to the awesome train station. We were of course super early for our 12:30PM ticket (bought 2 weeks ago via the Trainline app). Kiddo and I played games racing around our luggage. I’ve been hyping up the high speed train with him and that was indeed a hit.

We had at first planned our entire 7 nights to be in Toledo, and I ultimately backed off on that as I wanted to simplify our final trip to the airport as much as possible so I grabbed an AirBNB near Atocha station at the last minute. 4 nights in Toledo was just right.

At Atocha, the arboretum area was under construction so it was a bit ugly. But 100 toilets was cool (shout out to Mary’s trip report for tipping me off to this)

One block from our room was a square with FOUR playsets: we went there as we waited for our AirBNB check in. While the kiddo played, I got lunch next door at Kavovar, which is run by a super welcoming Ukrainian couple who spoke good English. They served pastries and all of the standard Spanish stuff, but we couldn’t resist ordering off the small and even more interesting Ukranian menu: Borscht for me and two orders of Pelmeni con Carne o Varenyki con Papa, which they explained were “how Ukraine does pasta”, and it was fantastic. The kid didn’t like the pasta so I ate two meals.

They gave us free homemade ice tea while we waited, and invited us to eat inside their tiny shop. I told them our kid didn’t like the high chairs, but they insisted, brought out lower chairs from the basement, and pushed tables aside to make a place for our many bags. Problem was, these were high tables designed for high chairs. The guy said, no problem, these tables adjust! He puts them down a foot and we sit down again, and it’s hilariously still not low enough, as the top of the table is roughly flush with our chin. He begs us to let him adjust again, but we’re hungry and wave him off, and we proceed to enjoy the optimized fork to mouth traversal time.

After checking in, unpacking and some quiet inside playtime, it’s about 5PM and we head back out for one more quick round on the playground quad. There’s an adjacent school that was getting let out, and all 4 playsets are now chock full of local families doing their thing. It’s quite rambunctious, kiddo is intimidated, but is able to face his fears after a good mommy hug. He plays for about 20 minutes and a random Spanish boy keeps sticking his butt in his face.

We take the metro to Sol for the Rick walking tour, random costumed copyrighted characters, and lots of chaos. Kid is overwhelmed and is asking to go back to the room, but we lure him out at Plaza Mayor for some running around the benches and high fives. We dip into Mercado San Miguel and I’m dying to try some things, but I’m too full from all the Borscht (said no one ever). There is one door with a ramp and we did maneuver the stroller up and down the rows, but it is not ideal. The wife grabs a few smoked salmon crostini things for herself and we head out. Cold winds and light rain are putting a damper on the evening, so we call it a night.

*** Day 6: Camels? ***

I wanted to leverage being close to Atocha by doing a day trip, and after much thought landed on Alcala de Henares, an easy 40 min ride out via the regional Cercanias train. It’s on the map for being the birthplace of Cervantes, and what drew me to it in particular was that it is said to be an authentic Spanish city with good food, a compact walkable historic core, and a decidedly slower place vs the big crowds of Madrid. First stop was the playground down the street from the station, but it was closed, and we were about to find out why.

Hey here’s a definitely unrelated fun fact: did you know that Cervantes was confirmed on October 7? Today. So much for the slower pace: this was the day of Mercado Cervantes, a massive and long running regional annual celebration. Every street was spilling over with booths, banners flapping in the wind, reenactors in period garb, rows of shiny meat, artisans, animals, puppet shows, and shoulder to shoulder Spanish tourists. It was awesome. Also I rode a camel.

To escape the commotion, we ducked into “La Rollerie”, an excellent cafe with tables in the back in a cute private plaza and French-inspired menu. Despite ordering a Cinnamon roll, we were then immediately lured into the bakery next door for a 2nd dessert, where we snagged the two signature sweets of Alcala: Rosquillas and Costradas. We originally had plans to stop into the Cervantes and archeological museums, but today these were packed to the brim, so we just enjoyed the festival. After a good 4-5 hours, we headed back to the station.

Quick crash course on the Cervantes line: you don’t buy specific tickets at advance like for the high speed, you buy generic tickets at the gate like the metro. In both Atocha and Alcala, there are 5-10 different platforms, and you’ll need to watch the central board to see when and where your next train is. They don’t always show the train number, but they do always show the terminating station, so this is the most important info to get from the map. In theory they’ll let you know 15 mins ahead of time, but we had occasions at both where we got 5 minutes warning. At Alcala, two of the platforms were through a tunnel and on the other side of the tracks. It’s hard to fight the influx of parking passengers in a narrow tunnel when you have a kid and a stroller, and missed the train twice because of this. We still only waited 30 minutes total so not a huge deal.

Back at home: given the fact that the kiddo was tired and just wanted to play in the room, the wife and I made a deal to each have a night on our own. I went first and set out for the Prado, a 20 minute walk from our room. I was hoping to fit this in but didn’t expect to, so I was ecstatic.

Power walked over and by chance arrived right at 6PM, which is the starting time for the nightly free entry. I would not recommend this, and as expected there was a big line. The holy father Rick Steves seems to indicate that I needed to buy a ticket ahead of time even for the free line, so I freak out. All times were grayed out on the prado web site, and my Spanish is too terrible to actually ask anyone. Turns out my fears were unfounded: I eventually got to the ticket booth and there was a guy just handing out paper passes.. Then on to a 2nd line, and finally made it in after 45 minutes total. OK: party time.

Made a beeline to the Garden of Earthly Delights. Actually, first I got distracted by Pieter Bruegal’s "The Triumph of Death”. Dang, those Dutch are hardcore. Rick’s walking tour was excellent as usual (this one was actually a guest writer from Madrid). Given my limited time I skipped ahead to the El Greco room, then finished out with the highlight for me, the extensive Goya collection. I took my time during this part and it was incredible.

*** Day 7: Retiro ***

Today we play the hits, nothing but the kiddo’s favorite things: churros and playgrounds.
First stop, Churreria Camu, 3 blocks from our room. This tiny place is smaller than a bedroom, with barely room for a churro fryer and the counter. I stood outside as there was a “only one per party” sign. When the kiddo realized what he was getting, he was literally jumping for joy and yelling “I love churros!!”. The woman behind the counter smiled back and immediately gave him one for free.

We took the metro to the Retiro stop at the north end of the park, and got in at 10:30AM. And we have arrived: playground valhalla. We started with a boat ride in the lake, then walked back to twelve o’clock, and slowly explored clockwise over the course of a few hours, hitting every playground on the way. Wife and I agreed this was probably the best public park we’ve ever been to. I saved this for our best weather day, and it was beautiful.

We walked back to the room and on the way grabbed a late lunch at “La Nueva Tabernita”. Similar to Taberna Skala, we were surrounded by locals. Except instead of a beer drinking clientele, this was all families and old men. The waitress was delightfully frank and gruff. Excellent tapas, and I tried the fried squid sandwich. I don’t even like seafood but forced myself to try it, as this is a Mardid specialty. Surprisingly came with no dressing, just the squid and a roll. But: I loved it! Maybe it was the magic of travel. Salted heavily, and this just worked for me. Patatas fritas and a cherry smoothie for the kid, and patatas alioli with croquettes for the wife, which were delicious and very filling (it’s honestly hard to have croquettes twice in a week, they’re a lot). Wife’s Spanish was in top form, and we’ve come a long way since Skala; this was essentially our victory lap.

For the evening: mom heads out for her turn, and chose the Reina Sofia, a 15 minute walk from our room. This also has free tickets by the end of the day, but she intentionally went earlier to avoid the crowds. The obvious highlights were the sheer amount of paintings from Dali and Picasso, and the ability to appreciate how their style progressed over their careers. She also especially enjoyed these jaunty horses!

Went to bed early as we had to head out by 8AM the next morning. We again took the Cercanias train, as it conveniently dumps out right at terminal 4. I didn’t realize there was a necessary transfer at Chamartin, but this wasn’t a big deal as we were of course super early.

*** Final Thoughts ***

The Madrid airport was a joy, as it had multiple playsets for the kids at every terminal, and even special lines at security for families with strollers. This was a theme for Spain as a whole: it was refreshing to see a society built around families. In America we perhaps specialize in dedicated overtly kid things (Chuck-E-Cheese, build a bear workshops, warehouses full of trampolines, etc), but the Spain difference is that families with kids were ubiquitously welcomed everywhere, and kid friendly things were integrated with adult life. I doubt we’ll ever find another place with so many little playgrounds scattered about.

Toledo delivered in all the ways we hoped it would. Staying 4 nights let us for the most part completely avoid the day-tripper crowds. All the museums and churches were free or cheap, and were small enough to be largely manageable for a 5-year old’s attention span. And most of all, it was a blast to be totally immersed in a grand old city frozen in time since the middle ages.

Thanks for reading!!

Wow I have taken so many screen shots of places you mentioned that I hope to see on a hopeful trip in the near future. What great parents you are

Have only gotten through a few of you days since work calls but looking forward to reading the rest. Thank you for taking the time to write this

Great report! I very much enjoyed reading it!

I read most of this last night, hoping to wake up this morning to the rest - and I was rewarded! Your report was a delight to read, for your descriptions of where you went but also for your descriptions of how you traveled successfully as a family. I am still smiling.

What a charming and delightful read, hiciste un muy buen trabajo!

What a wonderful and engaging trip report!

What a fun read!

We also love Toledo and have visited a few times. We travel with my son, who, although older than yours, likewise has some special needs and tires easily after walking. So we also travel with a stroller for him. Our strategy in Toledo is to have lodgings at the top and then over the course of the day, wind our way downhill, ending up at the bottom near one of the escalators. My son gets his escalator ride (loves, loves, loves escalators) and we don't have to heave the stroller back uphill.

I know exactly the playground you visited near the Sinagaga del Transito with the views! I have some gorgeous photos taken there. It was also helpful to find public restrooms after our long (downhill) stroll that morning. We had leisurely made our way down to the museum with the intent of visiting, but for some reason it was closed that day with a handwritten post-it on the door. Oh well... off to the playground and more meandering.

Thank you for taking the time to write up your adventures!

Superlative trip report! Have bookmarked it for a possible trip, and just wanted to add that you obviously took your son's needs into major consideration rather than deal with (more) meltdowns. Sounds fantastic!

I really think, especially now that Rick is a grandfather , that his next series of books should be European travel through the eyes of young children. This is a frequent topic of questions here.
And-
His other next series should be Xmas markets. Ok, I'm off topic.

This was a very enjoyable series of reports. Thanks.

Bravo. Excellent report!!

What an engaging writer and storyteller you are! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the reminder of the pure joy of travel- the planned and especially the unplanned that turn out to be memorable highlights.
The fun you had as a family is palpable and the way you carefully planned for your child's interests and needs is an inspiration! (I found it really interesting and agree with you that the social framework enables families to be more easily out and about.
So very glad you had a wonderful vacation and saw and experienced so much!

What a fun trip report. LOL @ my toilet rec. (they have a website! https://onehundredrestrooms.com/public-restrooms/spain/atocha-cercanias/)

I really enjoyed your report and was impressed by how you managed traveling with your son and still had so much fun. My three kids are grown now but when they were younger with their own challenges I never considered such a trip. I always thought of international travel with children was for parents of “easy kids”, which I did not have.

What a great trip report, so engagingly written. Thank you.

Your report was so much fun to read! Thanks for sharing. You are a gifted writer and awesome father.