Banking and credit cards in medieval Toledo

OK, here's a word of warning. This was back in August 2006. When we went to Toledo for a day trip from Madrid, we had a great time! However, we hit one major snag:

The restaurant we ate at did NOT accept our credit cards, nor our travelers' checks, and we had run out of cash.

I asked the waiter where I could find the cash machine, he pointed up the hill.

It turns out there are pretty much no banks in the medieval section of Toledo. There was only one cash machine that I could find (tucked away in an alleyway away from the main streets) but for some reason the cash machine was closed between noon and 3:00 p.m. just like the bank!

I wasn't the only one with this problem. Criss-crossing the medieval section of Toledo I repeatedly ran into several families with the same frustrated look on their faces, all asking "Where is the cash machine?".

When I finally made it back to the restaurant about a 1/2 hour after leaving my partner alone in the restaurant with an unpaid bill, I showed the waiter my bank machine receipt (which said 'closed' in Spanish), and guess what? He accepted our credit card!