Avila was not on my itinerary and sometimes those are the best adventures. Stevens friend, Ana, assured us we would not be disappointed and driving away from Madrid was both a relief and a wonder. The landscape changed from the wild city to rolling ochre hills and trees. We drove toward El Escorial and La Comuna past miles do stone walls across acres of countryside, up, up and up some more until the sights of Avila and the fortified wall stunned us into silence. It was built in 1100 on ancient remains. The wall is the oldest, most complete and best preserved in Spain. It has 4 entrances and we plan to walk 3/4 around the wall tomorrow. The wall is massive and the stone nearly breathes its history around us.
Ana found us a very quaint, clean and quite beautiful hotel just within one of the archways and we walked miles around the courtyards, old streets and the city before she left on the train back to Madrid.
We are now on our own for tomorrow's explorations and the view of the surrounding... countryside shows us miles and miles of Spain beyond comprehension.
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