Welcome to Segovia

Today was one we had been dreading, because handing back the car with damage can cost quite a bit of money, with no comeback. We had 1400 Euro excess and the damage I found on the left back panel just after we had picked it up could easily cost quite a bit, if they hadn’t picked it up beforehand. Then I found that I had actually done a little damage on the right back door when I turned too sharply in a lane in Tavira, PLUS there was a small bumper scratch that I had not seen before, no doubt inflicted in a car park while we had it parked there for a few days.

At least we had a hearty breakfast waiting for us. We were the only customers who had booked breakfast as part of their package, and there on a table was our room number reservation. Quite quaint really! It was the usual sort of European continental breakfast, with toast, ham, other meats, cheese, yoghurt, fruit, etc, with juice, tea and coffee. By the time we had finished we were really ready for the road.

We had 200 kms to go to Madrid and all went well until Robyn misunderstood the GPS and sent me, urgently, up the wrong street. It took about 15 minutes to get back and around, and then ... when we arrived at Chamartin station there was a group of signs for hire car - Avis, Sixt, Thrifty etc. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, was there an arrow pointing to their drop off points. We drove through the station, and ended up going away from it. A good old traditional Aussie U-turn and we were back at the station, but still with absolutely no idea where to go. I “parked” while Robyn went looking and asking. Ages later she came back and pointed to the area we had to go to. We had drive past it, but it was tucked away before the aforementioned signs! Another U-turn and we were illegally parked in front of the Avis office. After only a few minutes the chap I was dealing with came out, asked how we liked the car, walked around it, and hopped in and checked the fuel and mileage. He then gave me the key and pointed to an area in the paid parking lot and asked me to take it over there and bring the key back. I left Robyn with all our luggage in the office and did so. When I came back he told me we would get our fuel money back and that was all there was to it, handing me back my contract. Whew! I am still not sure we will get away with it, but if our luck holds as well as it has so far, we should be right.

We lined up for tickets at the office and asked for two tickets to Segovia on the AVE, or high speed train. The lady said she couldn’t understand why so many people were going to Segovia for the weekend, but the next two trains were full. We would have to wait until 3.40pm, a 2.5 hour wait. Even on the slower trains there were so few spare seats that we would have been in different carriages. We waited as we had no choice, and eventually, at 3.41 pm the train pulled out. We did hit 250 kph at one stage during the half hour journey, and while it was much better than anything Australia has to offer, it was not up to the Japanese standard.

On arrival we took a taxi to our accommodation, Hotel La Casa Mudejar. What a pleasant surprise it was! It was in a really old building but was lovingly renovated and of quite a high standard. We went for a brief walk before dark and then headed out for something to eat and drink. The Hotel restaurant opens at 8.30 pm, much too late for us under the circumstances, so we had tapas and wine in one small place, and then more drinks in another one just around the corner. Nice way to finish the day.Read more