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Here for a week on my own (until the 27th of April) and am desperately looking for stuff to do. Rented a car, which proved a deeply stupid idea - downtown Madrid hates cars, while anything worth visiting would take most of the day driving back and forth. Got tickets to the Warner brothers park for tomorrow (kinda, gotta get in touch with their support staff) but otherwise, I'm not sure what to do here. Edit - nope, I'm an idiot. Lost a day travelling and forgot the week starts on Monday here, so I spent the only day the park was open hanging out in Toledo. I'm interested in basically anything except museums. (I'd give Goon Meets a try, but it doesn't look like there are a lot of Spanish goons) Xander77 fucked around with this message at 08:33 on Apr 24, 2023 |
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Apr 23, 2023 10:00
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 07:53 |
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If you like smaller towns, check out Avila and Segovia. There’s a huge old palace as well at El Escorial though I didn’t find it super interesting personally. I know you said no museums but the Prado and the Reina Sofia are genuinely great art galleries, probably among the world’s best.
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Apr 24, 2023 12:55
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webmeister posted:If you like smaller towns, check out Avila and Segovia
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Apr 24, 2023 19:33
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Went to Valley of the Fallen (closed, even though it should be open according to the website) El Escorial (has some amazing mansions in the town itself. Or MacMansions? What's the difference, anyway?) and finally, Segovia (didn't have time to check out Aviilla. The road to Segovia is hella winding (annoying to drive at night) through a thick forest (major change from the prairies and fields elsewhere around Madrid). Checked (or rather didn't, because it's always closed) the bullring, the aqueduct (meh) the cathedral (got the belltower tour - a bit of a chore with my poor fitness, but nice views) and Alcazar (meh compared to the cathedral).
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Apr 25, 2023 23:19
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I am gonna be in Segovia in a few months, driving, didn't know the roads were winding  Are they sealed roads at least?
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Apr 30, 2023 22:53
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Chewbecca posted:I am gonna be in Segovia in a few months, driving, didn't know the roads were winding Sorry, mostly dirt roads in Spain. Only a few rich areas of Madrid have running water and electricity. The most dangerous issue is not really the winding dirt mountain roads, but rather the donkeys and wild dogs that might stray across the road and cause you to crash into them. Get an update on your rabies shot too. Less snarky: yes, every road in Spain that is not a dead-end road to a private farmhouse is sealed, as of like 1985. You can also google streetview around the entire country pretty much. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.814...!7i16384!8i8192 If you don't want winding roads at all (imho they are not that windy, but depends what you're used to) you can just pay a few euros to use the toll highway.
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May 2, 2023 15:45
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Xander77 posted:Went to Valley of the Fallen (closed, even though it should be open according to the website) El Escorial (has some amazing mansions in the town itself. Or MacMansions? What's the difference, anyway?) and finally, Segovia (didn't have time to check out Aviilla. I was going to suggest Valley of the Fallen, but it sounds like it was closed.  Similarly, I didn't love El Escorial itself.Chewbecca posted:I am gonna be in Segovia in a few months, driving, didn't know the roads were winding Yeah, the road to Segovia is better than you're going to find almost anywhere in the US.
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May 2, 2023 16:22
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Saladman posted:If you don't want winding roads at all (imho they are not that windy, but depends what you're used to) you can just pay a few euros to use the toll highway. Of course, a better car and driving during the daytime would have helped. Xander77 fucked around with this message at 19:42 on May 2, 2023 |
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May 2, 2023 19:26
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Saladman posted:Sorry, mostly dirt roads in Spain. Only a few rich areas of Madrid have running water and electricity. The most dangerous issue is not really the winding dirt mountain roads, but rather the donkeys and wild dogs that might stray across the road and cause you to crash into them. Get an update on your rabies shot too. Gonna uhh ignore the snark cos I wasn't implying whatever you think I'm implying lol How do you pay for toll roads in a rental car? Do they just add it to your fee?
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May 2, 2023 20:39
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Residency Evil posted:I was going to suggest Valley of the Fallen, but it sounds like it was closed. Another problem for me is I am a filthy  eater and will be driving on the opposite side of the road
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May 2, 2023 20:41
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Chewbecca posted:Gonna uhh ignore the snark cos I wasn't implying whatever you think I'm implying lol "Are they sealed roads at least" -- did that mean something besides "I hope they're not dirt/gravel roads"? I thought "sealed" and "paved" are synonyms, but maybe not always? You pay for the tolls at the toll booths, cash or credit -- most highways are free in Spain, but unfortunately not the Madrid-Segovia one. Looks like the toll is €1.75 each way. There are a very few "invisible, booth-free" toll roads in Europe, but none of them in Spain as far as I know. By this I mean the toll highways where you can't tell it's a toll road (except by reading some small sign in a foreign language), where your plates are photographed tracked and you have to go online and look for your car plate number and pay within 72 hours after the fact or get a huge fine. The only one I actually know about is in Italy, north of Milan and it is all of the bullshit, even though I know about it.
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May 2, 2023 22:09
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Saladman posted:"Are they sealed roads at least" -- did that mean something besides "I hope they're not dirt/gravel roads"? I thought "sealed" and "paved" are synonyms, but maybe not always? Yeah I meant that specific road, not the whole of Spain or anything lol It's cool if the toll road has a physical booth/thing to stop at. I know with rentals if you drive on a toll road they charge an additional fee on top of the toll itself, which may or may not be an issue but drat I am getting owned by exchange rates at the moment!
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May 2, 2023 22:13
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Was the windy road scenic? Or just frustrating? I might do the windy road if there's views to be had/stuff to see
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May 2, 2023 22:14
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Chewbecca posted:Was the windy road scenic? Or just frustrating? I might do the windy road if there's views to be had/stuff to see Google Street View around and decide for yourself, it's this road: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.776...!8i8192!5m1!1e4 If you live in the Australian Outback then it's stunning mountain scenery, if you live in Canberra, it'll probably be "alright" (although I've never been to Australia so I don't really know). I've done the drive both ways (highway, non-highway) 8 years ago and I still remember the drive back, but only because it goes by the littlest ski resort I've ever seen, the Puerto de Navacerrada. It's very wooded so you don't see much, at least not from Segovia -> Madrid. I haven't done the other direction but looking at how forested it is, and checking out a few spots on Google Street View, I don't think you'll see much either. Segovia is really neat though, I liked it a lot.
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May 3, 2023 09:43
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