LACruiser88

Today we made a day trip to the former capital of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal), Toledo. The city sits atop a steep-sided mountain surrounded by the Tagus River. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was built in 500 BC by the Romans. We spent quite awhile inside their extremely impressive Cathedral. Having been inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican numerous times, it takes quite a bit to impress us. We were impressed! There are at least a dozen Cardinals entombed inside the Cathedral. No one has an exact number. The Cathedral's spire between the foreground buildings. The front of the Cathedral. The famous ‘Monstrance’, the Custodia de Enrique de Arfe; an extraordinary priceless work of art dating from 1515, made of gold, silver, pearls and other precious gems and weighing in at over 160 kilos! The double organs, on both sides of the photo, and where the choir would sit during mass. The horseshoe shaped choir seating dates back to the 1500's.

So far, we have been in four El Cortes Ingles stores. They are huge! That is where I bought the Turron and my black hat. I have kept Debbie off the level with the high-end bags! 🤣 See you onboard! 🛳

After our food coma tour today and 5 miles of walking, we choose to have dinner tonight at our hotel. We both had grilled octopus in a mole sauce and a very nice tempranillo. Tomorrow, we go to Spain's former capital, Toledo.

Thank you! I no longer travel with a camera. Photos taken with my Samsung Galaxy S21 phone.

A few more photos from today. Plaza Mayor in the background. Plaza Mayor.

Today we had a fantastic time with our Devour Tapas Tour! We visited ten different locations and ate our way throughout. We started with hot chocolate and churros. The chocolate is very thick and not too sweet. The churros were piping hot. This is a typical Spanish breakfast. At Moega, we had traditional Spanish empanadas. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo. 🤷‍♂️ Next stop was the Mercado Anton Martin which has been around for over 100 years. In the Mercado, we started with an olive tasting consisting of 8 different types of olives. Next, Iberian ham. For us pescatarians, it was Manchego cheese. The top end ham was only 189 euros per kilo! Next stop was Casa Gonzalez for a cheese and wine pairing. Luckily for our next stop we walked for about 30 minutes thru Plaza Mayor to the very popular and crowded Casa Revuelta for Spanish tortilla and beer. We needed to walk for awhile to shake off the food coma that we were experiencing! Another 10 minute walk took us to the La Campaña, for their famous calamari sandwich. There were two lines here, each with at least 50 people in each one. Our guide had pre-ordered and brought the sandwiches out to us. We each shared a sandwich, they were DELICIOSO! Our final stop was at El Riojano bakery. The original owner (over 100 years ago) was the private baker for the King of Spain at the Royal Palace. He convinced the King to allow him to "share" his Royal deserts with the masses. The total tour took 4 hours and we had a total of 8 people. Our guide, Andrea, was extremely knowledgeable and shared lots of history as we walked. I would highly recommend Devour Tours. They now have tours in many European cities.

Vines, our favorite! 🍷 Enjoy!

Yesterday, while Debbie was shopping I did some shopping of my own. Whenever in Spain, I stock up on a traditional Christmas treat from my childhood. My maternal grandparents emigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands in the early 1900's. They always made sure to have "Turrons" available during the Christmas holidays. My parents did the same. Turrón is a southwestern European nougat confection (hard and soft), typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Turron always brings me right back to my early memories of Christmas. Thank you for indulging in my Happy memories!

No extra suitcase needed as of yet! 🤣 I'll keep you posted on the remainder of the week!

Hola Vines amigo! That is exactly where we got off the HO-HO bus for the Royal Palace. Amazing location!

Tonight, we had a spectacular tapas dinner! Based on the recommendation of Madrid expert/food critic, James Blick, we dined at La Casa del Abuelo, established in 1906. It is a seafood Lover's paradise! The shrimp in garlic & chili peppers (the house specialty) was truly amazing. As were the grilled baby langostinos, aged Manchego cheese, and house red wine. I would highly recommend this restaurant!!! Debbie was hiding in this photo, behind the wine glass. Btw, even Debbie ate the langostinos whole, tails and heads! I was very proud of her!

Today was a chilly, but fun day. We caught the hop-on/hop-off bus right across the street from our hotel. After staying on through all 17 stops, we decided to get off to visit Madrid's Royal Palace. Directly in front of the Palace, is the Almudena Cathedral. This is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. Front of the Palace. South side of the Palace. Rear of the Palace. Views from the north side of the Palace. The next two photos are of the Cathedral. The following three photos are from the park surrounding the Royal Palace. As we were walking back towards our hotel, Debbie just happened to find a six story Zara's! Well, you can imagine what she did for the next 90 minutes. I sat out front and people watched. I had as much fun as she had! Directly across the street from our hotel is a 4 story H&M store. I bid my farewell to her at the store entrance and returned to our room. That was almost two hours ago. I hope we don't have to buy another suit case! 🥺

@NoWhiners We had a similar night. We fell asleep at 9:30 and have been awake since 2 am! Hopefully, tonight our body clocks will be more adjusted. Today, we are going to get on the hop-on/hop-off bus to get the lay of the land. We plan on doing LOTS of walking. Enjoy the Vatican, it is truly an amazing place!

We had some tapas and a very nice bottle of Rioja. It is amazing that on a chilly Sunday night at 9 pm, the streets are full of people, the stores are all open and folks have lots of large shopping bags. Now back to our hotel, a shower and buenas noches to All!

We have made it to Madrid! We are checked in to our hotel, Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid, and are unpacking. The streets were busy with tons of people. Reminiscent of Las Ramblas in Barcelona at rush hour! Photos coming soon... Going for a walk and a bite to eat before we turn in and pass out from lack of sleep! 🙄

That will be our challenge too! 😄

We have arrived in Paris on time! We now have 3 hrs to kill before we board our flight to Madrid. I checked our air tags and our luggage made it here too! Interesting boarding at LAX, no boarding passes required. Boarding was via facial recognition. I do not recall doing that before??? The flight crew and food were fantastic. Even though we took "sleep aids" no sleeping occurred on this flight. Feeling a bit punch-drunk! 🤪 Here are dinner photos, we went with the asparagus ravioli as our main. I almost forgot to take a photo of the cheese course! They also served breakfast as we were approaching Paris, I passed. I've had enough food for one flight.

Menu's For the flight...

Nice large screens and nice headsets! And a little "real" Champagne to set the mood!

We will also be onboard for the April 2025 voyage.

We have boarded our Paris bound flight and Debbie has made herself comfortable!

The Promenade deck was not designed as a walking track. The original concept was that of a viewing and relaxing deck. We have a close friend onboard with you, she is having a fantastic time!

Tell me about it!!! 🤣

Check-in was a breeze, as was the TSA Pre-check security line. We checked out the food selection in the Amex Centurion lounge and Air France's lounge. We settled in at Air France.

We have been picked up and we are on our way!!!