The Walls of Ávila

As I posted last week, my biggest disappointment during my two weeks in Spain was thanks to Ávila, and its walls, and the people in charge of selling tickets to them. That said, while I didn't get to experience the walls as I'd imagined - by walking along top of them - I did get to ~commune with the walls~ in a few other ways.

1. Photographing the Wildflowers

While this is part of what made me miss climbing the walls - arriving a whole 35 minutes before closing time, but 10 minutes too late - the wildflowers in front of the walls as I drove into Ávila for the first time was one of the most gorgeous sites I saw in Spain. And I was able to photograph them to my heart's content.

2. Watching the Sunset

After allowing myself to mope a bit and having a restorative dinner (complete with wine), I walked past the Parador and out the gate to sit on the grassy hillside in the shadow of the walls as the sun set. Swifts swooped overhead as the sky went from pink to a deep, velvety blue. The walls glowed gold as an almost full moon rose over them.

3. A Morning Walk

I had a ticket out of town early-ish the next day, but I was determined to not let the disappointment of being unable to climb the walls ruin them for me. I left my hotel fairly early - definitely before anything was open in Spain - and headed for the Convento de Santa Teresa. Of course, it wasn't open yet, so I hung out with Saint Teresa's statue in the Plaza for a bit before heading out the nearby gate and down around the walls. I passed plenty of joggers, dog walkers, and even more swooping swifts on my 1 kilometer walk, enjoying views of the surrounding countryside before returning to my hotel and grabbing a taxi to the station.