Amazing gate with a lot history, we love the history and the old building of Toledo, the garden…read morealso was amazing and the beautiful revere between the old city and hills. The structure was constructed in the 10th century, in the time of the Moorish Taifa of Toledo in Islamic Al-Andalus. It is also called 'Bisagra Antigua' to distinguish it from the Puerta de Bisagra Nueva which was built in 1559. The gate was the main entrance to the city and dates from the Moorish period.

Retiro Park is an oasis in the center of Madrid. Is a gorgeous, immaculately maintained green space…read morein the heart of the city. There are numerous entrances into the park and walking paths throughout. On a pretty day, it's hard to find a better place to spend the afternoon. The people watching is fantastic, and there are multiple things to see and do inside the park, including the crystal Palace. I love to go sit by the lake and watch the people on the boats. They are often musicians playing, kids riding their bikes, and families enjoying all that Madrid has to offer.

So if I lived in Madrid, I'd run Parque Del Retiro daily. We wandered in for a stroll but I had my…read moreheart set on a little mermaid moment, l was ready to row a boat, minus any kissing the girl. We meandered through the park a bit and eventually found ourselves to the row boats. After a little coaching from bestie, I sort of had it down. We'll just say I won't soon be rowing on any Olympic team and I managed to splash a good amount of water up on us but we were going places! This has got to be a must do if you're visiting. The weather shaped up rather nicely and we had the boat in by sunset. I loved seeing how many runners were out at different times of the day here. Beautiful park to spend some time.

Really, REALLY strange Tourist center…read more.. It's got like, 3 very empty levels. You must follow the stairs and/or elevator and/or escalators to get to the bottom level, just to find someone with directions and maps. TIP: print your own map of Avila, because maps are .50 centimos! WTF? Granted, that's only like, 70 American cents here, but...what tourist center charges for a map?? The girls there will show you where to go on the map, they circle it, they mark it...then they hand it to you and say its price....no thanks. This place is also NOT where museum/attraction tickets are bought (WTF #2)...they point you where to go to buy them...If these are all government-sponsored, what is the point of this??

TOLEDO SPAIN: While we were in Madrid we took a guided 1/2 day trip to Toledo Spain through Julia…read moreTours. I would highly recommend the guided tour for the information provided. The other issue is the meandering city streets could get incredibly confusing & too easy to get lost (also my GPS was practically non existent). Toledo is located about 1hr from Madrid. The city has an incredible history dating back over 2,000 years. The time span & empires that existed in Toledo are many & varied. Visigoths, Romans, Moors, Emirate of Córdoba, Christians to name a few. The city was an important center for many generations. The different empires, religions & architectural styles helped to develop Toledo's over 2,000 years into a unique city. In 1986 Toledo was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its many works of art and architecture are the product of three major religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Walking through Toledo is like walking through a time warp as the city sits surrounded atop a hill w/the river wrapping around it providing a natural defense & fortification. While there are many churches in Toledo the highlight of Toledo for me was the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Santa Maria de Toledo. This Church is mix of Gothic, Renaissance & Baroque styles. The construction started in 1226 & was completed in 1493. This church was absolutely stunning

We booked a full day Segovia and Ávila tour with this company. It was very disappointing. 50 people…read morewith one guide, who was doing the tour in both Spanish and English, which we expected. However, the Spanish commentary was two or three times as long as the English commentary. I do speak some Spanish and I knew that we were not getting all of the same information in English. We spent more time waiting around for the group to assemble then we did actually getting to see things. At every stop, we had to wait for people who were late showing up for the meeting time. They really need to have two guides for a group this size (50 people). I would not use this company again.