Day 56: Avila

Another day, another World Heritage site! After our hotel breakfast we checked out around 10:30 and got back on the road. Short drive today, only about an hour to the south-west as we headed for the old town of Avila. This place is mainly notable for the enormous medieval walls still surrounding the town, so we decided to check it out.

Had a bit of difficulty parking at first as there were lots of people around, but managed to find somewhere eventually. Wandered into town and started exploring, though neither of us felt particularly taken by the place. The walls are very impressive and in great condition, though the cleanliness of the stone and perfect condition made it feel a bit fake, weirdly. And that plus the hordes of tourists, people selling fairy floss and balloons etc made it feel almost like a theme park rather than a historic place. Alas.

We had a good look around and filmed some stuff before stopping for some tapas on the main square. Checked out the various parts of the city before returning to the car and driving to our accommodation. We'd actually booked into a small hostel for the night and it was quite nice; only six rooms so not the usual hordes of drunken backpackers. There was a group of 8 Chinese priests which was a little odd! It also made me realise we've seen almost no Chinese tourists at all in Spain.

Headed back into the old town for dinner and things had quietened down a fair bit, which was quite nice. Walked over to a market square rather than the main plaza, and as expected the venues here were aimed more at locals than tourists. Shandos had a fish dish while I had a chicken club sandwich.

Back to the hostel and off to bed!Read more