Toledo Just south of Madrid is Toledo which we reached easily and quickly by the motorways. The motorways have been extraordinary whenever we have used them - though we tend to drive on small roads and back roads most of the time. When Spain was riding high financially, before the GFC, it seems to have ploughed an enormous amount of money into infrastructure and motorways seem to have been the biggest recipients of pots of money. Our recent map doesn't ...

Madrid Onwards to Madrid through a range of mountains called the Sierra de Guardarrama. We reached nearly 1900 metres past the treeline to see ski-lifts looking quite forlorn on the bare snowless ground. Every available piece of ground by the sides of roads, every small clearing that could be parked on was filled with cars. It was Saturday and it seemed that half the population of Madrid was out in walking boots and hitting the hundreds of walking trails ...

Segovia Sometimes luck goes our way...sometimes not. You'd think we'd be a bit more careful catching the right bus after the last episode... We were directed to the bus stop but not actually told that we need to catch the no 4. So when a no 5 came along headed towards the city we hopped on. All went well until at the last minute outside the city walls the bus veered away down a long, long hill. Bus stops, we have noticed, are few and far between, and ...

Avila We continued on to Avila through yellow grass plains with very few villages, much the dry Spain that we had imagined. Avila is another town with amazing Roman walls that surround the old town completely. We parked just outside the walls in a 'Pay and Display' area to discover just how cheap parking can be! For about 4 hours, it costs only a euro or so. Wishful thinking that Sydney's parking charges could be so low! A wander through the town and to ...

Salamanca We had headed further south than we had initially planned in order to visit Salamanca. We had intended to travel due east towards Barcelona, but now having dipped this far south, our plans are to continue to Madrid before swinging north again. We arrived at Salamanca early so hopped on the local bus to the old city. Salamanca is a stunning place - there is no better word for it. We followed the walking tour suggested in the Lonely Planet guide w...