Toledo, Spain - Saturday October 11, 2014

We woke this morning to a great buffet breakfast and then we were  on our way out of Segovia to the famous walled city of Avila.  We were lucky to find a great parking spot and walked around the wall and into the city to a get a flavor of Avila.  Avila is a very old and interesting city with the wall built around 1100 AD.  We had a nice lunch across from Cuatro Postes, which offered us a spectacular view of the walled city.  I want to thank Señor Tony Orza, a good friend of mine for over 40 years, who taught Spanish in Rhinebeck High School. Señor Orza has been to Spain dozens of times with students from Rhinebeck High School, including both of my children.  Tony has been sending me daily emails of great places to visit and eat.  His recommendations have been superb and has immensely helped Gail and I find the best of the best.  Thank you Señor.  After leaving Avila, we headed to the city of Toledo.  The ride was quite pleasant across many hills, through olive orchards, farms, etc.  Prior to leaving the states, I purchased a new GPS with Europe on it, and it has been great so far.  I could not imagine traveling through the backroads of Spain or any country without such a GPS.  In the GPS we turn off "highways" and therefore take all the back scenic roads to wherever we are going.  It makes the trip that much more enjoyable.  The Skoda car has been wonderful......the five speed manual transmission makes driving the backroads great, as I feel I have a greater feel of the road with much more engine control than I would if I was driving an automatic.  We arrived in Toledo at about 4:30 PM.  We are staying at the Parador de Toledo which is a government run hotel.  The Paradors of Spain are luxury hotel accommodations that were once castles, palaces, convents, monasteries, fortresses or other historic buildings.  The Toledo Parador overlooks the city of Toledo with a spectacular view.  We relaxed here for a bit and had a wonderful dinner at the Parador.  Tomorrow we are heading into the city of Toledo for the day to check out many of the historic sites.