Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Spain - buses, day trips, etc useful links

buses from Madrid:
http://www.lasepulvedana.es

day trips from Madrid:
http://gospain.about.com/od/madri1/qt/madriddaytrips.htm

Tren Medieval a Sigüenza

http://gospain.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=gospain&cdn=travel&tm=173&f=10&tt=13&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.renfe.com/ofertas/oferta_tMedieval.html

21-Sept-2011 - Cuenca

TODO












20-Sept-2011 - Toledo

TODO

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Avila - 17-Sept-2011

A long stop on my way back to Madrid
city walls are really impressive!

Salamanca - 16-Sept-2011

staying overnight
TODO

Thursday, September 15, 2011

El Escurial - 15-Sept-2011

yep, I should have went there using the free entry possibility on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the evening instead of paying 10e for visiting the palace. compared to Aranjuez - it has much more to offer to the visitors - collections of fine art paintings - why I get dizzy every time when I visit a gallery; panteon de los reyes - chambers where Spanish kings and other noble persons are buried - if somebody finds it interesting; a cathedral and a library
but still - beside visiting the palace there is not much to do; taking pictures was not allowed at all, although that according to Lonely Planet at least in the museum it should be allowed to take picture; yep forgot to mention the museum displaying according to the guide book how the palace-monastery was built - but in my opinion all these plans are of interest to architects only
didn't see much in the town centre - it was again siesta time; the restaurants and cafeterias were open and full of people though; I harried up to catch the train - there is one train per hour only
time to pack and prepare myself for the trip to Salamanca and Avila
it was a mistake to book only one night in Salamanca... and I will catch siesta time in Avila...
will see

maybe the most interesting thing this day was - seeing all those students - it seems that school years starts here also on September, 15th. so, there were many many students, dressed in uniforms, playing in front of the palace

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Alcala de Hernares - 14-Sept-2011

actually the plan was to go to Toledo
could sleep well because of a group of Polish girls who think they are the only persons in the world
so arrived late at the train station, I saw again that it is not possible to buy a ticket from the vendor machines with Visa Electron card; also the train to Toledo is AVENTI - it requires a registration for the way to Toledo and back; couldn't risk to pay the ticket and then to miss the train; so I went back to Cercanias and bought a ticket to Alcala de Heranes instead
I had read that this city is a small Salamanca; it was a nice surprise though, especially after the previous day in Aarnjuez where there is nothing to do (beside the castle of course). In contrary, Alcala de Heranes is a very pleasant small city full of life (not exactly true at siesta time when almost everything is closed); very good tourist information - map + working times of all sites; guided tours; almost everything is possible to be visited for free; had a breakfast for the first time on this stay in Spain - cafe + tostada; had a guided tour at the university (55 min in Spanish) and another one in the Palace of Laredo (I was the only tourist at Laredo Palace) - combined ticket 5.50e; climbed the tower of the cathedral for 2.50e - again the only tourist; visited the birth house of Cervantes for free; visited the archeological museum for fee - this is the best archeological museum I've been to; actually it doesn't have much to do with archeology - it is a mixture of archaeological museum + museum of human history + history of Spain; but it is very interactive, lots of multimedia materials; Archbishop's Palace is not open to public but it is where Christopher Column was introduced to the Queen for the first time from what I read; a lot of colleges, churches, beautiful buildings; almost everything is in red and the sky was very spectacular
an amazing tour!

Aranjuez - 13-Sept-2011

a day trip from Madrid
beside the palace there is no much to see though
have walked out Isla park
back to Madrid visited Retiro park

Monday, September 12, 2011

Madrid - 12 Sept 2011

a walk - Palacio Real, Calle Alcala, Calle Cervantes, etc
siesta
Caixa Forum, Botanic Garden, Reina Sofia

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Madrid - 11 sept 2011

Museo de Americas
Templo de Debod
walking - Placa de Espana, Puerta de Sol, Grand Via, Plaza Mayor
Museo Prado
walking
walking,dinner

Sunday, August 28, 2011

around Madird: Cuenca

research
day trip from Madrid
trains:
there is regular train connection, but most of the trains are AVE or ALVIA, extremely expensive
the only acceptable one is regional Madrid - Valencia:
REGIONAL (Nº 18160)

ESTACIÓN LLEGADA SALIDA
MADRID ATOCHA CERCANIAS
08.25
VILLAVERDE BAJO 08.28 08.58
ARANJUEZ 09.24 09.25
OCANA 09.42 09.43
SANTA CRUZ DE LA ZARZA 10.01 10.02
TARANCON 10.12 10.13
HUETE 10.39 10.40
CHILLARON 11.11 11.12
CUENCA 11.19 11.40

 18160 REGIONAL 08.25 11.19 2 h. 54 min.

precio Turista: 12,25EUR

Cuenca - Madrid: the last train:
 18769 REGIONAL 18.55 21.41 2 h. 46 min
(Cuenca is the first stop)

Toledo - Cuenca is not an option - there is no direct train, one must go to Madrid

no accommodation found in Cuenca with hostelworld.com

found this one - reduced price to 25e for a single room:
Hostal Cortes - Ramon y Cajal nº 45, 16004 Cuenca
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/hostal-cortes.html


around Madrid: Toledo

research:
day trip to Toledo from Madrid
every 30 min there is a train from Madrid to Toledo; travel time 30 min in 1 direction; costs 10.60e in one direction
MADRID-PUERTA DE ATOCHA
AVANT 06.50 07.23 33 min.
 08072 AVANT 07.50 08.23 33 min

Toledo - Mardid - last trains:














 08193 AVANT 19.25 19.58 33 min.


 08213 AVANT 21.30 22.03 33 min.


in Toledo:
Zoco Tren - a small train that does a 45-minute loop up the hill and through Toledo. The train leaves hourly and tickets are available from the tourist office.

cheapest accommodation found:
Hostal Toledo - 33/37 e
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Hostal-Toledo/Toledo/42258

web site:
http://www.t-descubre.com/es/portada/
(there is an interactive map)
http://www.t-descubre.com/images/plano_casco.pdf

main sights:
Alcazar - temporary closed (temporary since 2007 at least ;-) )
Cathedral de Toledo - 10:00-18:30, Sundays and holidays 14-18:30h; admission: 7 EUR - l Greco, Rubens, Zurbarán, Lucas Jordán, Vand Dick, Tristán, Goya…
iglesia de santo tome - 10.00h - 18.45h - 2.5EUR - late Wednesdays gratis
Museo de Santa Cruz - admission free - outside former Arab walls, 10-18:30 (Sundays closes at 2pm) - El Greco, Goya,... El Greco - La Asunción de la Virgen
Museo de El Greco - Mo-Sa 9:30 - 18:30h
Plaza de Zocodover



preps for Madrid

booked 2 weeks in Madrid: 10-24 of September, 2011


booked hostel:
Hostal Pacios
Calle Atocha 28 2nd floor A, Madrid, Spain
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Hostal-Pacios/Madrid/29700

other options:
Hostal Machin
Calle Valverde 9, 4, Madrid, Spain


Casa de Huespedes Dolcevita
Calle de San Bartolomé, 4 - 3° plan, Madrid, Spain
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Casa-de-Huespedes-Dolcevita/Madrid/5606

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Hostal-Condestable/Madrid/34075/

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011