on to Ávila

 My first gate in the wall that rings Ávila. My hotel is just beyond it to the right.  Arrived mid afternoon and walked from the train station, intended to take a cab but they were few and far between and the people waiting were a good number. I figured I could walk there in about 20-25 minutes and I could easily wait that long for a cab.  My room is very nice and I have a whole walking tour route planned for tomorrow. Rain this afternoon but it's expected to end around sunset so I might get some evening photos before seeking St Teresa's famous finger (per Megan & Christian worth seeking out!) 

my hotel to the left of the gate - San Vicente gate

View from the hall windows of the wall.

 nicely appointed room

 

In the early evening I walked to to the Cathedral (another post) and then came back to the hotel for dinner there. A nice tuna tarare and a righ sized dessert of tarta de abuela with a custard sauce and warm chocolate to top it!

that night I laid out a plan of attack for my one and half days in this lovely city. Meanhwile a few photos along the way- 

the Pincipe Pio train station where my train to Ávila departed from Madrid.

 

I was on a regional "middle distance" train which made eight stops along the way - here is one of them- taken from the train window (which was not very clean LOL)

and then on my walk to the hotel I came across this (and a nmuber of others) on the side wlak along the park. I am from Ohio soI recognize a buckeye when I see one. Here their chestnuts are not exactly the same as ours in Ohio were I think ours were called Horse Chestnuts. These are a lot less hard than buckeyes are - quite squishy actually. But it caught my eye- 

and as I approached the hotel and the gate into the old city I came across an fabulous romanesque church- and the hermitage right on the property 

so plenty more to see in Ávila - come on back!

Peterhof without "the public"

So LOL as I said in my last post - we were headed to Peterhof on a Monday the day it is closed to the public... except the public who are willing to pay double to go on the day it is closed (read this as every cruise ship in town on Mondays LOL) - so despite being up early and arriving basically at opening time we are still behind hordes of Asian tour groups LOL

The deal has changed dramatically here since our last visit- NO PHOTOS indoors AT ALL- and NO LOITERING IN ANY ROOM - the room attendants move it along like a conveyor belt - although without anyone stopping for photographs things do tend to move in a more orderly fashion anyway.

so here are a few photos from the inside from the last trip -

you may want to make note of the dearth of people on the terrace in the photo below- and compare with the photos from this trip-

this photo was exhibited in the palace both times but now is in a gallery where you cannot take pictures-  this was the shell they worked with that was reconstructed to the lavish palace of today

now on to our most recent visit- all exterior photos only- notice the number of people on the terrace awaiting the fountains start up -

We headed out from the grounds and to save us time so we can have more free time in the city we eat lunch at what can only be termed a banquet hall (likely owned by Russian Mafia) an extremely mediocre meal but it WAS pretty quick.... we headed into town and were given many options for things to see and do- we had already decided we wanted to visit the Church on Spilled Blood since it was under renovation  the last time we were here and we had never been inside.

even the fence surrounding the property is magnificent!

at 6PM we set sail for Helsinki Finland - through the Gulf of Finland - from our dock on the Neva right in front of the first bridge.  We have had a terrific front row seat to the city - and we leave you with two views of the river banks, one to the port side and one to the starboard side - both lovely- and etched in our memories of St Petersburg - the city as a museum

onward- we are closing in on the end of our journey. We have only two more nights aboard ship and four more on the trip before returning home... but still many great things were seen and done so don't miss out on the upcoming posts on Helsinki and Stockholm.... the weather held for the remainder of the trip so we have much more to show you! stay tuned....