¡Buen Viaje!

We're here! At last, the dream has become a reality. We arrived in Madrid this morning (Spain's morning) at 9:30am after a long, cramped nine hour flight. It was only 3:30am Atlanta time. All slightly dazed from the time change, we went to retrieve the van and headed down the expressway toward Toledo!

Those of us who weren't driving dropped off as soon as the car started moving. The drive in reality (from Madrid to Toledo) is 40 minutes to an hour, but it seemed only 15 minutes.

There are two parts to Toledo, the new and the old. We're staying in Pensión Arrabal, a little inn/hostel type place ("pensión" is the word for a cheap inn). The people who run it also operate a little restaurant (Restaurante Arrabal). The pensión is inside of old Toledo, which is surrounded by a giant stone wall. Old Toledo was once a large fortress as it is prime land for military stronghold (on top of a hill, surrounded by a river, you get the picture).

So, as we were arriving, there was some confusion about where the pensión actually was. The main control for traffic in Spain appears to be traffic circles and we circled around a couple of them many, many times before realizing we'd passed the place (and parking) twice. However, we made it, and are now safe, sound, and sedentary.