Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar Trip 2024 - Day 4 - El Corte Ingles (Shopping)

After all the walking and sightseeing, we arrived at El Corte Ingles, biggest department store group in Europe and ranks fourth worldwide.

We were give VIP cards allowing us 10% discount and free tapas at one of their restaurant.

We mostly shopped at the supermarket, getting snacks and souvenirs. 

We bought some chocolates and cookies.  They did not melt as our coach is air conditioned and at night the coach is parked near the hotel and being winter soon, the night is very cold so we just left our chocolate and cookies in an extra bag in the coach so we dont have to carry up and down to our hotels as we do not stay in same hotel all the time.

Seems like preserved ham are favourite during the winter.

I bought some dried figs for my chinese soup to cook at home.

After all the shopping, we rested our feet at the restaurant where we had our free tapas with our vouchers

The voucher entitled us to a free drink (soft drink or coffee or tea) and tapas(small snacks)

Our free tapas (small snack) for four of us. 

My brother in law being a huge fan of football, use this opportunity to walk to the nearby madrid stadium (about 15 mins walk) and bought a lot of Madrid jerseys and caps, etc

 

Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar Trip 2024 - Day 4 - Toledo City (Part 2) - Toledo Cathedral

Continuing with our walk, we visited the Toledo Cathedral. It was late autumn and almost winter, was really a nice walk in the cool weather. This is a walking trip, lots of walking to be done. I love how the narrow alley leads to a lot of nice architectural buidlings and the cathedral is so beautiful. 

Walking into Toledo Cathedral, it has its own charm and beauty, different from the previous few cathedrals we visited previous days. Each cathedral had their own history and charms. 

There's no windows in the cathedral but lights shine through the beautiful stained glass.

Stepping into the cathedral, there's huge wave like ceiling that's very high and gigantic.

At the heart of the cathedral is the breathtaking main altarpiece in the Capilla Mayor. Crafted in the Gothic Catholic cathedral style with influences from Flemish artists, it is adorned with gold leaf and vibrant colors. Scenes from the Bible are depicted in great detail, showing the skill of the artisans who worked on it. (source)

After exiting the cathedral, we visited the square to have out lunch.

There's a christmas market at the square.

We had our lunch at Mcdonald's in the square but first thing first was to visit the toilet in Mcdonald hahaha. It is free to use the toilets in Mcdonald if we were patronising its outlet while public toilets need a fee. Most of the time, we tried to use restrooms in restaurants or rest stops.

Had pulled pork and beef patty burger and ice cream and some fries for lunch. It was nice feeling to eat ice cream in cold weather.