Water, water, everywhere

At the very outset we encountered the problem that, because our host had incorrectly entered us in her diary, we could have only 13 of our planned 14 days at Finca Manolo.   Luckily we were at home in Anglesey when we picked up the initial email.   We were not best pleased but since we have pulled back the problem and we shall have 14 days here.   The answer was to drive straight here via an overnight stay in Toledo.   This means Pauline will get her full quota of relaxation  that she craved.   However, it was a case of good news - bad news.   The bad news was that there was a water leak in the bathroom when we got here and our host's father was already dealing with it.   The reason he was here to discover the leak was that we had phoned to say we were on our way.   The good news was that if we had not arrived early the whole house would have been flooded.

Just before we left Hotel Chateau La Roca in Santander I told the owner how pleased we were at the welcome we get at the hotel.   Our room and bathroom absolutely sparkled with cleanliness.   We filled up at the filling station next door to the hotel and set off for Toledo.   The journey was fairly uneventful and with such quiet roads it was easy to keep clear of stress.   However, one noteworthy fact was the number of La Vuelta a Espana support vehicles we passed on the early part of our journey south to Toledo.   One section of the motorway network was a toll road between Madrid and Toledo.   When we reached the toll booth with its single operator we realised why it was a one person operation.   We had been the only car on the road!

 

We rolled into Toledo mid to late afternoon on Thursday and quickly found Hotel Martin.   Once more we dealt with a very friendly and helpful reception clerk.   We settled in and later went to Plaza Zocodover to have a beer and people-watch.   It is an excellent place for this.   After this we went over to a restaurant in a street, El Trebol,  where we had enjoyed Tapas last year.   It was just as good!

 

This morning we set off to drive the final 289 miles to Colmenar and thence to El Romo a few kilometres on the other side.   On arrival I elected to be the bucket emptier as the friendly plumber fixed the leak.   It was soon fixed and we stripped off to enjoy the pool.   Absolutely fabulous!   After some essential shopping after siesta time we barbecued some sausages and cooked rice salad.   It went down well with a glass of beer!

And so to bed.