¡Hola!
Having enjoyed Ávila Cathedral, our next project in the medieval town was to walk the town walls - or a portion of them, anyway.
I was slightly reluctant. While I loved walking the Walls of Girona, it was now late afternoon and the sun was of the late evening type in which Europe specialises, which is not that bright but which makes your eyes itch and burn no matter in which direction you look.
I would therefore rather have done something indoors until the sun set; however, the Walls were part of the excursion. So, I followed the group up past a scale model and onto the Walls themselves. The walk turned out to be more fun than I had anticipated and we saw some interesting sights.
Lots of wind turbines
The green star is the University of Mysticism
Freshly-mown grass!
So, despite the sun, the Ávila Walls experience was, on the whole, a success. Being just a little bit above everything and everyone can feel very peaceful.
However, my favourite part of the trip was about to begin. On descending from the Walls we walked quietly through the streets as the sun set, admiring flowers, giraffes and colourful houses.
The Plaza Mayor - very different from that of Salamanca
I like how it looks like the houses are wearing the rosaries!
Santa Teresa de Jesús, the beloved writer and nun of Ávila.
We were given a tiny bit of free time and I went to gaze upon the gorgeous panorama that can be seen from the egde of the old town. There were some treats in store: a stork, windmills, bickering but photogenic pigeons, bulls and the almost-full and therefore almost-blue moon.
I settled in an open, lively square and bought an ice-cream which I took on a Collioure-esque tour (ie, photographing it against various town backdrops). It was nice to chill for a few minutes before I had to rejoin the group to catch our bus home.
We began the walk back to the bus station - perhaps the local buses had stopped by this time or perhaps the guides just fancied some exercise. The route wasn't very photogenic until we reached a perculier zip scuplture, stretching into the sky.
As darkness fell we hopped on our bus and began the journey back, which seemed to pass much more quickly than the journey out. We were back in Salamanca by around 11pm and enjoyed the blue moon in all its glory - it actually looked blue.
As usual the kids were playing in the streets by moonlight, watched by parents, as it is simply too hot during the day. Life in Spain can be so different to what I'm used to yet can seem totally normal.
I hope you've enjoyed discovering Ávila with me!
Thanks for reading,
Liz x
No comments:
Post a Comment