Ávila

This morning, I opened the shutters to reveal nothing but grey cloud, completely obscuring the mountains but not the sound of the accompanying rain. Looking at weather forecasts for places within a reasonable distance, nowhere looked likely to offer a rain free day, especially places in the north west quadrant of the country. My intention had been to go to Salamanca today for a couple of nights so that I could have a good look around but I reckoned rather than spend two wet days in one place, I would spend them in different places so I set off down the mountainside in pouring rain and a mere 4 degrees, for Ávila, a walled city only about 50 km from my Parador where I decided to spend tonight as well, to save the bother of finding somewhere in Ávila.

Dropping some 500 metres onto a flat plain - farming country, the temperature rose somewhat and mercifully, the rain stopped as I headed towards the city. The first and probably the most lasting impression of Ávila is its wall, or walls. The city is completely surrounded by walls almost the colour of Cotswold stone. I include a photo taken from Wikipedia that gives a better impression than any of mine of just how extensive these walls are.

I rode into the city on my bike, assuming that if it were not allowed, someone would soon tell me. No-one did but parking looked problematic until I spotted a Parador and cheekily went inside to ask the receptionist if - since I was staying at a sister establishment - she would let me park in her Parador's car park. She lived up to one of the words in the Paradors' motto (Calidad, Amabilidad, Leyenda) as amabilidad means kindness, or friendliness and she happily allowed me a great space close to reception. My first port of call was the tourist information office which provided me with a city map, list of sights etc. and was also the access point to walk along the walls. It looks as though a ton of money has been spent on maintaining and/or restoring these walls which are 12th century in origin. A headset supplied by the tourist office worked well to describe what was what, as I proceeded along the walls and ascended various of the many towers that are built at frequent intervals along the walls. 

The cathedral was my next port of call and was well worth the €4 asked for entering as a tourist. The stonework inside was wonderful and made more interesting by dark red streaks in many of the stones used. A marble screen on the back of the choir, facing the entrance was carved in intricate and delicate detail - a real masterpiece, or more likely, the work of several masters. The museum of the cathedral was a cut above many such museums in terns of the quality of its exhibits. Religious vestments were of course on display but in well lighted  display cabinets and it was possible to examine the detail of the gold embroidery - another set of masterpieces.

Ávila is very much alive inside its walls and made an interesting contrast to Évora. I only wish I had had the same weather as I did in Évora, to look around, because after visiting a couple more tourist sites, the rain started again and I ducked into a café for a few tapas and some coffee. There I met a couple of bikers - Harley riders, a Welshman and his friend from New York. They had arrived two days earlier on the ferry from Plymouth to Santander and were making their way in a loop toward Barcelona. Rather foolishly, they had ignored the weather forecast that predicted rain on the journey and were sitting a bit disconsolate looking very cold and damp. Still they seemed happy to have a bit of a chat but they didn't seem too inclined to look at the wonders of Ávila, rather they wanted to get warm and ride on to somewhere warmer. I couldn't blame them really but I told them they were missing a lot. 

Ávila is definitely a place to see if you are anywhere near it, or not - worth the journey as Michelin say.