Ávila

Just an hour-and-a-half long bus or train ride away, Ávila is a popular side trip from Madrid. It is famous for its perfectly preserved medieval walls, for being the birthplace of Saint Teresa, and for a sugary yellow pastry called yema.

I had Thursday off from work, so I took a train there from Chamartín Station in Madrid. From the train station in Ávila, I walked straight ahead and followed that road for ten or fifteen minutes to arrive at the city wall (la muralla).



It was odd seeing the cars and motorcycles up against the backdrop of an ancient city wall, like being in some weird vortex where the past and present collide into coexistence. The muralla is an anachronism, a piece of history left over from around 1100. According to Rick Steve's Guide to Spain, it is the "oldest, most complete and best preserved" fortified wall in Spain.



From the entrance, it was just a five or ten minute walk to the cathedral and Plaza de la Catedral.







Next, I stopped at a bakery on Calle de los Reyes Católicos to try some yemas (see below).



Yemas are pastries made from sugar and egg yolk. As you can see, only one of the pastries in the box is missing, because I didn't like them very much. (More on this later.)

My next objective was to get to the convent: El Convento de Santa Teresa. But my touristic instincts told me to stop at the plaza below and pay two euros to climb the stairs up to the top of the muralla to get more a better view of the city.





It was definitely worth it!









I also noticed a lot of storks nesting on the top of the cathedral.



Next stop: the convent and its adjacent museum and gift shop. It was a scenic five-minute walk to the convent.







Here is el Convento de Santa Teresa.



There was something in a display case at the gift shop next to the convent that I was dying to see. It's bizarre and kind of gross, but fascinating nonetheless. The ring finger of Santa Teresa! Complete with a fancy emerald ring. I'm not kidding. But photography is strictly prohibited.

So anyway, that's Ávila in a nutshell. I went back to work the next day and talked to one of the other teachers about it. A native of Madrid, she asked me if I tried the yemas while I was there and if I liked them. I said that I had but that I didn't like them.

Her reply was "Es cómo MacDónals." In other words, the yemas are like something from McDonalds. Yes, it's true; They are sugary and full of cholesterol. Kind of like sugar-coated Egg McMuffins without the bread.