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!

León visit continues

 Across the cobbled street that runs along the old city wall we found a gem of a restaurant (well, Michelin helped 🤣) A creative menu of traditional fare and nice wine selections. Excellent service. Menu items marked.

Friday arrived and so did the rain... so we had a relaxes morning and started with coffee at a shop nearby and then went to lunch at a local taberna.  We had the menu del Dia - with mixed salad, then roast goat and then PHil had a custard dessert (nata.) C&E joined for the salads, alone. We went off for a walk on wet streets but the rain had stopped. So we took advantage of the chilly but dry weather. 

I went to the Casa Botines, an early Gaudi commission which was very interesting. Showing signs of what would come to fruition in Casa Batlló in Barcelona. Some really. brilliant engineering to create the light and airy space on this building which pays homage to both the Cathedral here in León and St George the dragon slayer. Claus, Evi, and Phil went on to other sites while I took my time in the exhibits  of Casa Botines. They went for afternoon coffee and I strolled home along streets (many marked with the bronze footprints 👣 of the Camino de Santiago.) Our friends leave tomorrow morning and we leave tomorrow afternoon. So great getting to spend time together.

Some of the apartments were occupied until 1994! And one side of the building on one floor has been restored to show the daily life at different times between 1893 and 1994... several businesses had homes on the lower two levels over the century before the building became a museum.

I went back to the hotel for a nap and the other three returned shortly after- we decided to meet for a drink before what turned out to be a mediocre dinner with extremely poor service - oh well - can't win them all. Took some photos on the way back to the hotel. 

 

by the following morning this plaza will be full of market goers and also sunny and cold but our hotel looks like "no one is home" on this rainy afternoon. 

A photo Evi took of us for their son Conrad - in the pub where we had drinks!

The restaurant had one redeeming feature - it was just across the plaza form our hotel so the walk home was very short!

We arranged to meet for breakfast and good byes in the morning.