Historic Spain

We’ve just got back from a week in ‘historic Spain’ starting in Madrid and then spending time in el Escorial, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca and Toledo. It was a full on experience and I reckon it could usefully have been split into two: a long weekend in Madrid and then a week in the other cities.

However we stayed in excellent hotels and enjoyed the expertise of several local guides. It rained when we were in Toledo otherwise we enjoyed sunny weather although it was not too warm when you were out of the sun.

It was really good to experience Spain away from the tourist belt and to meet the Spanish people on their own terms. Perhaps surprisingly many of the people with whom we engaged did not speak English well. However this did not mean that we could not communicate and everywhere it was possible to enjoy good local food served efficiently and with humour.

It’s often the small details which make a difference and here’s my list of five that did:

• Coffee and wine at sensible prices: we got coffee for EUR2 or less and decent glasses of Ribero del Duero for EUR3-4. It would be nice to enjoy the same in the UK
• Coffee and a croissant in el Escorial: we were early for our entry to the monastery so that for once we had time for a decent coffee which we enjoyed at the cafe Alaska. Unfortunately there were no croissants but a fellow traveller procured a couple from a neighbouring establishment to complete the experience.
• Good food and good humour at la Tostado in Avila: we were perhaps surprised how little English was spoken in the shops and restaurants but it didn’t seem to matter. Staff did their best to communicate and understand and this was certainly true at la Tostada where we dined twice. Service there was also very prompt and our food the second time was excellent
• Our guide Fernando in Toledo: with the exception of the one at the Grand Palace our guides were pretty good. Fernando, who also had to deal with the rain in Toledo, was excellent. He deconstructed el Greque’s The Burial of the Count of Orgaz for us and gave us a clear overview of Spanish history from pre-Roman to the present day.
• Art nouveau in Madrid and Salamanca: we chanced upon the opulently upmarket Art Nouveau arcade round the back of the Four Seasons where I’d have happily paid EUR18 for a Negroni just for the ambiance. And then there was the Art Nouveau Museum at Casa Lys in Salamanca.

It was a good trip but once again I was reminded once again that Spain is not Italy. They are both super countries to visit but they are different: the food’s different and the people are different and no doubt much of this is down to their respective histories. Italy was a trading nation which looked east and although it experienced multiple incursions from the north and the east it did not experience the prolonged occupation which Spain did from 711 until 1492 when the Moors were in charge of much of the country. Spain then dominated trade with the Americas and did so as a unified country whereas Italy still comprised multiple city states. I know it’s more complex than this but it’s surely part of the explanation.

And finally: I’ll never complain about Heathrow again. The departure experience at Madrid Adolfo Suarez airport is not pleasant. Lots of walking, a crowded train journey and long queues all enhanced by the Brexit experience at passport control.

Click here for an album of photographs.