Saturday, October 1, 2016

Day 14: Villacastin to Avila, Spain, 26 miles; 394 miles total

Our last day of riding offered a choice:
  • The N-road with a wide shoulder, many trucks, shorter distance, and likely fewer grades
  • The quieter, longer route that ran south of the N road, only 10 km longer
We are here to tour, so the southern route was chosen. In short, it was quiet, good road surface, beautiful open country like eastern Montana, about  2000 feet of climbing, and a great view of the string of ridge-top windmills. For bike geeks, my Bike Friday has an 18 or 20-inch low gear, so climbing is just spinning. Most of this 3 miles grade was 6-8 percent. When combined with living at nearly 5000 feet, altitude here is not an issue. That's not so for others that live at 0 to 1000 feet. 

John is our best room booker; he had made a reservation in Avila inside the old town city walls. It turned out to be a great find for the cost. As usual, his Garmin directed us to the hotel, but in an odd and less direct manner. My Garmin would have been worse, as it likes to divert to every know path independent of surface. I'll have to update my posts regarding the Garmin Edge Touring model for touring. What were they thinking? Has anyone at Garmin ever toured on a bike? They seem to think touring involves fat-tired mountain bikes on paths, trails, and occasionally hard-surfaced roads. 

Avila is worth a visit for anyone with the slightest interest in medieval history. You will enjoy walking more than 1 km of high walls surrounding the old town—open to the public with a modest charge. The entire wall circumference is nearly 3 km, and the walls must be 40 feet high. (Will check this later.) Stuart (our human google) says that no fortified city was every captured by storm until gunpowder and cannons were invented. 

Upon arrival, I promptly showered and walked the walls, then back through the old town city streets, stopped for pizza and cerveza, napped for 30 minutes, then explored outside the old town. About the Avila town walls, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Ávila

The work was started in 1090 but most of the walls appear to have been rebuilt in the 12th century. The enclosed area is an irregular rectangle of 31 hectares with a perimeter of some 2,516 meters,including 88 semicircular towers. The walls have an average breadth of 3 metres and an average height of 12 metres. The nine gates were completed over several different periods. The Puerta de San Vicente (Gate of St Vincent) and Puerta del Alcazar (Gate of the Fortress) are flanked by twin towers, 20 metres high, linked by a semicircular arch. The apse of the cathedral also forms one of the towers. The fortifications are the most complete in Spain.

You can walk upon the walls for roughly half the circumference of the old town. While some of the walls will never be navigable in this way because of their integration into other structures, there is a large stretch of the walls that have yet to be made safe for pedestrians.


Per the hotel's excellent recommendation we enjoyed an excellent dinner at 8:30, then behaved like old men and retired to our hotel  by 9:45 pm. While most Spanish towns are just getting started at this time on a Friday evening, this area is so touristy, the streets were strangely empty. No one else wanted to venture into the city, a 2-3 block walk, so old men acted like old men. Back to our rooms. Sheesh! I'm writing this text, as our web connection is so limited that I cannot upload any photos.

Tomorrow we plan breakfast at 8 am, catch the 10 am train to Madrid, explore Madrid, and then the other will fly home on Sunday. I depart Monday, allowing an extra day to catch up with Mariano Parades, our Shipley Office president in Madrid for Shipley Spain. 

If anyone is thinking of visiting Spain, mid-September to October is ideal. The crowds are mostly gone, the temperatures are perfect (50 low to mid-70s for the high) and minimal rain. I highly recommend the people, sights, and food. 

Regarding cost, Spain offers great value. Here is a contrast: 
  • Carlos, Montblanc, charged us 75 euros each, two to a room, for bed, breakfast, and dinner, a                               single bottle of wine, including his 9-step toast preparation lecture
  • Jose at his casa rural changed us 12 euros each, including 2 cervesas each on arrival, dinner with beer and two bottles of wine, and breakfast. 
That's quite a range, but the usual is in the 25-40 range per night per person. Last night was 20 euros each with out dinner or breakfast, and 25 when including our pasta dinner with beer and wine.

On the whole, even numbers are best when sharing rooms. Two travelers offer the ultimate flexibility, but four (requiring two rooms per establishment) was never an issue. Previously, 6 or more becomes increasingly difficult. 

Regarding mileage, our total was meagre, but it's not about the miles. As long as the group stays together, no one gets hurt or overly exhausted, then it's about the experience. In the end, we will have taken a few trains, minimized time bicycling into or out of major cities, and simply enjoyed good times.

— Our Villacastin Lodging Host

—Shepherd, Two Dogs, and Flock Encountered on our Early morning Climb

—Top of the Climb

—On the Way Up

—John at the Top

—Stephen at the Top

—On the Way Down #1

—Welcome Warning Sign. We saw few cars on the climb up and down, but a surprisingly large number on the road into Avila. Sure would be nice if Montana drivers observed the same rules.

–Ranch Entrance

—Ranch from Above

—On the Way Down #2

—Dog of the Day #1

—Low Village Shed

—Dogs of the Day #2 & 3

—Avila Cathedral

—Avila Cathedral Side Entrance

—Avila Cathedral. Shows how the cathedral was incorporated into the Avila city walls.


—Avila Cathedral Floor Plan

—Avila CIty Walls #1

—Avila CIty Walls #2

—Avila CIty Walls #3

—Avila CIty Walls #4

—Avila CIty Walls #5. Abbey Road (not)

—Tile Rooftops

—Renault

—Lunch
—Preparing to Enter the Avila Band Contest. The bands form in different areas of the city, then stop at various intersections as they march to the contest plaza. 

—School's Out. Avila Old City.

—John Admires a Poster















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