Salamanca, Avila, Segovia and Madrid

Today was busy. We were up early taking some photos around Salamanca when fewer people were about. We were up at the new cathedral when we saw the procession that was in the photos for yesterday’s blog entry. A bit surreal seeing all that in the pre-dawn light.

We then headed to our next stop the medieval fortress town of Avila. This town had similar history to many others on the Iberian peninsula, it was settled by the Romans, declined when the Roman empire declined but then came back after the Black Death in the 14th century.

The walls are mostly intact with 88 round turrets and the walls are over 2.5kms long. They were built over the few hundred years from the 11th to the 14th centuries. They are sandstone and so have a yellow glow when the sun is on them. Most of the old buildings in the town are intact so it was a great place to wander around.

After Avila we headed to the next town of Segovia. The amazing thing in Segovia is the 2000 year old aqueduct which runs through the middle of town. This really is spectacular. See the photos.

There is also a stunning gothic style cathedral built in the 16th century and a fortress called the Alcázar which was started in the 12 century. All these ancient buildings make this a very interesting town.

We wandered around looking at the sights before scoring lunch - churros dipped in chocolate!

We then headed for the largest city in Spain and the capital, Madrid. We arrived quite late so didn’t have time to do much. We went for a bit of a walk around town and keeping in mind it was about 8pm on a Saturday night the city was packed! There was even a protest happening against bull fighting (I think!) down at the Puerto del Sol.

We scored dinner in the Plaza Mayor (built in the 1600s) and people watched for a while.Read more