I can’t believe how far behind I am on my travels! I’ll have to really get moving to catch up before I leave Spain completely.
I guess first I need to finish with getting back from Eastern Europe…
After leaving Budapest I had a long bus ride back to Prague. My plans were originally to do a bit of sightseeing but I was super low on energy so I pretty much just stayed in the hostel and hung out. I also got to meet some girls from all over- Canada, Chile, Australia. Too bad I didn’t get to spend more time with them but I’m glad I took some time to rest and pull myself together because I wouldn’t get much rest when I got back to Madrid.
That night I had a short 2 hour flight to Madrid and I was welcomed back by E and Alex (American girl we met in Morocco) Of course we had so much to catch up on so we were up talking for a bit. We eventually went to bed and got right back up early in the morning to make a day trip to Toledo. I had been there last year with Mike and had a fantastic time so I only figured the girls would also love it. And they did. We had a blast walking through the narrow streets of this historical town that used to be the capital of Spain.
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| in front of the cathedral |
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| the view from Toledo (center) looking out |
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| Alex practicing Sevillanas in the plaza |
Toledo has a rich history and one of the things they’re known for is making swords. You can find them in all shapes and sizes at every third store so OF COURSE they would also have a weapons museum. And that was our first stop. Since we only had one day in Toledo we just went to the parts that seemed most interesting to us…the weapons! They had everything, canons, guns, swords…you name it, they had it. And they were so antique too so nothing like what you would see in modern day shops. We weren’t allowed to take any pics inside but we did manage to take plenty in the courtyard area!
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| the courtyard area |
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| E being a cool kid |
Next stop was food!!! I was starving so we stopped at a cute little restaurant before we moved on to more sightseeing.
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| the clouds were SO beautiful! |
After filling up our bellies with Spanish tapas we wandered towards the cathedral and down some other side streets. I find the best way to visit Toledo is to just get lost it in. Plus it’s almost impossible to actually get lost since it’s such a small town and the streets only go so many places.
Eventually we had to leave but before heading out we grabbed some tradition marzipan from a local shop. We also got educated on the different traditional sweets from Toledo as well as the quality difference between them. The most interesting thing I learned was that the marzipan they sold is made daily and is 80% almonds and 20% sugar WHILE the cheap stuff is usually 20% almonds and 80% sugar! Good to know!
After taking one bite of the daily made marzipan we knew it was the good stuff. Within about 2 blinks of an eye, our treats were gone and we were all smiles heading to the train station.
The next day was meant to pack and leave but there were some changes of plans so I needed to figure out a place to go. Where would that be? Only my favorite stop in Spain but let’s get to that in a minute. I still had another day in Madrid before I headed down south to the “secret location.”
Instead of just sitting around the house for two days in a row I decided to be productive and take a visit to a town nearby. Since last year I’d wanted to visit Ávila but there was just never time. What a coincidence that I had a day to kill and Ávila was oh so close.
I caught a bus in the morning and hung out there for about half a day. It’s a pretty small town so you probably only need a few hours there but I enjoyed all the time I was there. This small town is known as the “walled city” because it’s literally surrounded by a wall. I ended up walking all around the wall (it only took about an hour to do) and taking a million photos. Here are a few:
Other than that I just wandered around the town passed by some of the landmarks (churches) and enjoyed the beauty. I also made a stop into the cathedral which was one of the top 3 things to see in Ávila (says tripadvisor). It was nice inside and had some unique features but the coolest part was that there was a basement we could visit! I have no idea what it was used for but it was the first cathedral basement I’ve ever visited.
The is just a side of the cathedral...
Since I had pretty much seen everything I wanted to in the town I had some time to kill. I decided to find a bench and read a bit. I ended up finishing my book (I was almost done when I sat down) and moseyed back to the wall through a different set of streets. And of course that meant I would run across some other gems of Ávila…a monastery, the large plaza with a beautiful statue…and then I was right back at the wall.
I'm only assuming this is another large church... not sure which however
This is the random religious building I ran across...maybe a church
I believe this is the monastery but im not 100% sure
This is a quote next to the statue below...
Looking out from one point along the wall
This hotel was just too nice not to take a picture of it
This is another church...maybe a cathedral as well
After walking around for a while I was headed back to Madrid to get packed and head to….
GRANADA!
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