Sooner or later the expectation of idyllic past memory is bound to be confronted by the cold hard edge of the present. Madrid was one such awakening. This place is nothing like we remember. Nothing seems the same. It's like the infrastructure giant dropped his bowl of spaghetti all over the map. There are more junctions here than street corners in Manhattan. The 21st Century has not treated Madrid well. The centre of town is gaudy to put it mildly and sitting at a pavement cafe enjoying a beer and wine on the Grande Via while the local hookers plied their trade was only part of it. It's sad as it was such a beautiful city – well that's what we remembered. The camping ground was ancient and it showed. The giant wasn't the only one to drop things from above. It took over an hour and some cast iron swearing to remove the bird shit from the solar panel and roof of the van the day we left. Not happy Juan.
Toledo was the next stop and we were going to stop overnight but after finding the city much like Madrid were having reservations. The pseudo “local market” full of tourist rubbish and the dozen bus loads of touristas was enough to spoil the day. So we headed west for Portugal and ended up in one of the best kept secrets in Europe.
The place is called Caceres. It lies directly north of Seville in the centre of Spain. A 600 year old city left untouched by the rabid dogs of time. It's roots go back to the Romans in 45BC and has been inhabited by both Moors and Christians. You can walk around the Old City and barely see another soul, except for the main square Plaza Mayor were locals and a handful of unexpected tourists sit under shaded umbrellas and sip coffee or something a little stronger during siesta. We wandered the narrow streets and marvelled at the melding of Eastern and Western styles. If your lucky you'll find someone has left the front door open and you get a glimpse of the interior.
We are now ready to head south. We have decided to give Lisbon a miss and head for Seville and the South Coast – the Costa del Sol.
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