Improving the Shining Hour

Saturday, August 1

[About Aug 2nd I think tho she didn't date the letter -- and this is from Madrid]

Last night on the train I shared a compartment with a Spanish couple, a Spanish man (who spent 3/4 of the night in the corridor) and a couple of California ladies named Kelly and Dolores. Kelly was Spanish and Dolores was American. They have apparently been over here for several months. They were traveling with just a large handbag apiece. I hope I can offload some of this stuff at my sisters. We had tea with their teabags and the RR hot water and rolls in the morning for breakfast. I lent (gave) them wash n' dries to clean up with. I think I persuaded them to go to Lisbon. They were on the morning tour (in Granada), but didn't like it

Crosswalk in Madrid August 1st

Sunday, 2 August

Well you can see by the letterhead where I am, so I'd better begin here - backward. This afternoon I finished up my Spain shopping. I looked at little girls' dresses again and decided I had already bought the best of the lot. I also looked at Toledo work. I bought about $25.00 worth of gifts, including a $5.00 ashtray with inlaid gold. The girl told me that the man who does this work only gets 60 pesetas ($1.00) a day.

Toledo ware factory

The Nacional gave me a room with no fuss, and I am now having a lemonade in the lobby. I also got Bob's letter which arrived here for me on the 22nd. Sis, I've found out that nino is for a boy child. A girl is nina (Ed note: I thought THAT was elementary!)

Card from Toledo of the Alcanara bridge and San Servando castle

Dear Daughter.

I was here in Toledo all day today and we saw the Cathedral, churches, synagogue, Alcazar, hospital (now are a museum), El Greco's house and museum and had lunch. Altogether it was a full day. I bought some slides for the first time, of the cathedral where picture taking was not allowed. We had a nice, but strenuous day. I am now on my way to fly to Barcelona. I didn't buy a picture of myself looking fat and harassed that they took of me coming out of the El Greco Museum.

Love Mummy

Improving the Shining Hour

I didn't write much about the tour of Toledo other than the post card I sent to my daughter. We took a bus to Toledo and we had time to view the city from across the river. Unfortunately, many of these photos of mine were over exposed.

View of Toledo as a pencil sketch

View of Toledo

View of Toledo with Alcazar

Toledo from across the river

River

The streets were too narrow for the bus, so they let us out and we walked - first to the Cathedral

Top of cathedral over roofs

Steeple of cathedral through an alley

Rose window in Cathedral

Door of old hospital - now a museum

Tour group in old synagogue

Alcazar stairs

From inside the Alcazar

Army Museum across from the Alcazar

Door of El Greco museum

El Greco house detail

Toledo Wall - Gate

City from restaurant

I found out from the girl in the shop that women in Madrid wear their wedding rings on the right hand, but that she was from Barcelona and would wear hers on her left hand.

As far as food goes, the place we went in Valencia had the best food I've eaten in Spain. Below that I would rate this hotel restaurant and below that the Washington Irving in Granada, which also was the most expensive ($42.00 for dinner). The hotel restaurant in Valencia was really not too far below that.

I suppose I should have gone to the Royal Palace this morning, but I just rinsed out my clothes and ate an orange and a roll in my room and took a long siesta.

The one picture I want to get now is one of those men in patent leather hats. I have an hour before dinner and I'm going out to see if I can find one.

Love RosalieAnn

I never got a photo of those men in the patent leather hats

Charles V fountain at night from the hotel

Flying Madrid to Barcellona August 2-3

Police on motorcycles near airport

Since I got to Barcelona finally at 4 am, I didn't go to a hotel, but just to a train station. [Another thing I did not write to my mom. The taxi driver in the taxi that I got at the airport to go to the train station was extremely concerned about my safety in the station, which he said was overrun with gypsies, and the ticket windows wouldn't open until about 6 am. He had me stay in his cab until the ticket windows opened and I don't think he charged me anything extra for that. He was right about the gypsies]

Railroad station Barcelona

About Aug 3 en route to Marseille.

Dear Mother

Well I am safely over the Spanish border and have two remaining hurdles. One is to change trains at Narbonne, and the other is finding accommodations in Marseilles.

Coast between Barcelona and Marseilles

There was no dining car on either the French or Spanish trains, so I bought a box lunch at the station. For 9.50 NF I got a chicken breast, 4 slices of French bread, a large slice of ham, an orange, banana and a lemonade. Changing at Norbonne became very simple. As our train pulled in and I got out (haven't seen a porter since I left Spain) another train pulled in on the other side of the platform and that was our train.

Aside from a few minutes confusion provided when a conductor said the train was "complet", everything went smoothly. (There were plenty of seats). I had a compartment first with a mother and two children --French, who had obviously just come from the seaside, and then with two old ladies. Another daughter also came later. I slept a lot on the trains as I didn't get much the night before.

Next - Arriving in Marseille