Blog Six – Avila

Published by Alastair Reid on September 25, 2018September 25, 2018

Avila [23rd-25th September]

Avila, one of Spain’s walled hilltop cities, is the shortest stop on our trip, and it was me who insisted that we stay here. Fiona suggested missing it out, and allowing more time elsewhere, but I wanted to stay in at least one of the walled cities, and Avila was the most convenient, as it’s on the train route to Madrid, and then down to into Andalucia, and our next stop Sevilla.

Initial impressions were that perhaps I should have listened. A greater contrast to Salamanca is hard to imagine – Avila is a day trip destination from Madrid, and it feels like it. The folk we initially encountered seemed dour, especially the chap we dubbed “Snotter Man”, who came to take our order in the first café we stopped at for lunch. He had such a heavy cold he could barely speak, and he continually deposited the products of his mucus membranes into his hand. We left without ceremony.

From what we could see, restaurants seemed to serve up unappetising looking fare, at somewhat inflated prices, and when the dog under the table, gnawing a bone, seems to be having the best time, its best to move on. The saving grace was that the hotel Fiona had booked was excellent, if a little old-fashioned – a beautifully converted palacio, with a covered courtyard containing café/restaurants, which features the original carved columns and an almost Andalucian ambience.

Having surveyed the outside restaurants, we decided to eat in a small new café attached to the hotel. The waiter took us under his wing and suggested that Fiona should not order a half bottle of wine, but instead a glass. He then told us that the tradition in Avila was to give complementary tapas whenever people ordered two drinks by the glass. So each time we ordered another beer and wine, we also got two lovely hot tapas, which were excellent. Four rounds later, we actually had to decline the food offered, as we were too replete. As an added bonus, first Real Betis v Athletic Bilbao, then an excellent game between Barca and Girona, were live on TV. What’s not to like?

The main attraction in Avila is its fortress-like city walls, into which the cathedral is built, so naturally we climbed the precipitous steps and walked along sections of the, admittedly beautifully restored, defensive structures. As usual, the temperature was around 30C, and we were happy to enter the cool of the cathedral, via listening to a busker playing the Avilan version of the bagpipes. We are both a bit churched-out by now, but the interior of the cathedral is undeniably impressive, and it rambles on confusingly but interestingly, including a long secret passage, helpfully signposted “SECRET PASSAGE”.

In the heat of the afternoon, we decided to wander down to the other side of the City Walls and to Avila’s Parador (government run hotel), which looked very nice inside, had shady and relaxing gardens, and the worst coffee of the trip so far. A climb back up the hill was then required, to the sanctuary of our air-conditioned room.

A lovely, and enormous, dinner consisting of local dishes and wine, in the hotel’s internal courtyard, rounded off our stay in Avila, before an early start for the three train trip to Sevilla. Avila was an interesting enough brief stop, but not somewhere either of us would feel the need to re-visit any time soon.

My dozen favourite images from our stay in Avila are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image.

Image Gallery