Avila, Spain

I decided to take advantage of the late checkout time at the hotel and ended up sleeping in until 11:00. I then showered, dressed, packed, and stored my bags behind the reception counter; I also left my key at the desk and told the receptionist that I would return much later in the night. After 12:00, I exited the hotel and walked around the town of Avila. First, I walked mostly on the outside of the old town, along the walls, but then I made my way back inside (passing through a farmer’s market set up in Plaza del Mercado Chico) and to the old cathedral. The Avila Cathedral was originally constructed in the twelfth-century AD and had a number of modifications since then; the original structure around the altar and apse (before the cathedral was elongated into a Latin Cross styled church) was built with “bloodstone” (stones with large, prominent iron veins, giving it blood red blotches), which gave the cathedral a unique and beautiful look (also fitting). I entered inside the cathedral, bought my ticket, received my audio guide, and the walked around, visiting every station for the guide. At the end of my tour, I walked through the museum, viewed the different paintings, reliquaries, ecclesiastical objects and vestments, and a large silver monstrance, and then it walked around the cloister. After exiting the cathedral, I walked out of the old city through the eastern gate, and then walked to the nearby Burger King at the Plaza de Santa Teresa for a late lunch (around 15:00); I had an iced tea, French fries, and a barbecue bacon crispy chicken sandwich. After lunch, I walked back in to the old town and paid for my ticket to enter up on to the old city walls. I first explored the southeast corner and its towers (which had great views); then I walked back down the steps and to the tourist visitor center north of the cathedral (the cathedral is built in to the walls and the apse actually projects out beyond them), where I climbed upstairs to enter on to the northeast part of the walls. From there, I passed the Basilica de San Vicente, followed the north side of the walls, passed the northwest corner, and made my way to the end of the route at the western gate near the Puente Adaja Bridge. After climbing down from the wall, I walked through the old town and back to the a Plaza de Santa Teresa, where I returned to the convenience store I had visited the night before; this time I bought a large Aquarius bottle to quench my thirst. I then walked to the southern side if the walls and found a quiet place to sit in the shade. There I read some more of Orde Wingate’s biography (which I started yesterday) and I typed out some journal entries on my iPhone. Around 20:00, I walked back through the old town and came out on the western side; I crossed the Puente Adaja Bridge and made my way to the Four Columns (an old pilgrim site that is believed to be where Saint Teresa and her brother, Rodrigo, were found when they fled from home to go to the land of the Moors). From here, I had an excellent view of Avila’s old town and walls as the sun was nearly finished settling for the day. I took many photographs before finishing up and walking back in to the old town via a pedestrian bridge and the northwestern entrance. Next, I stopped at the hotel, grabbed my bags (luckily no one else claimed them since they go by the honor system here), and walked to the Avila Railway Station. I made it there after walking for about twenty-two minutes, had the ticket office print out my ticket (that I bought online), and then treated myself to a beer. I then waited for the Lisbon-bound train to arrive. The train arrived at 11:16 (five minutes late), I got on board, found my cabin (shared with a Peruvian and Argentinian), and it soon took off westward. I then read some more before finally going to sleep around 01:00.