Back in the Car Once Again!

Hola!

 

We’re now in Avila, about an hour and a half northwest of Madrid.  But to start from the very beginning … a very good place to start … anyway, we were up this morning about 7:30 am.  There wasn’t really too much to do, as we had packed up almost everything last night.  So, showers and a bit of breakfast, and we were ready to get back on the road.  We got all the luggage downstairs and to the street, and I requested an UberX to get us to the long-term parking lot near the airport, where we had left the car.  (I have to admit that I was a bit concerned, as we had received an email from the parking folks saying we hadn’t checked in yet – which came a day after we left the car, but I figured that as long as we had the receipt (which we did) we would be fine.)  It took about 15 minutes for our driver, Splendour, to pick us up in his Hyundai.  I was a bit worried that we might not all fit in, but we did, and on the way we went!  As it was just on 9 am, there was more than a bit of rush-hour traffic, but Splendour made excellent time, and he was even familiar with the area of the parking lot.  As he circled around to let us out, I could see our little car from the entrance, so while R went to check us out, I got started loading the luggage.  Again – surprise! – everything fit, and in just a few minutes we were on our way out of town! 

 

We really didn’t experience much if any traffic, which was lovely, as was the drive.  We were heading up into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains; such a change from fairly flat Madrid!  We did drive past the Valley of the Fallen, Franco’s monument to the Civil War of 1936-1939 (constructed using prison labor) which we could see from the highway. Basically, there is a huge 500 foot cross, the largest in the world, made out of stone excavated for the underground basilica. It took 10 years to construct the basilica, as 220,000 tons of granite were taken out of the hill.  Interred behind the high altar and side chapels are the remains of approximately 34,000 people, both Franco’s Nationalists and the anti-Franco Republicans (about 12,000) who lost their lives in the war – and Franco, himself!  A very somber memorial, indeed.

Valley of the Fallen

Mountains!

Beautiful countryside!

 

From there, it wasn’t long to get to Avila – which, if you don’t already know is a WALLED city with some very narrow streets!  Robert always cautions me about finding places to stay in very old areas of town – first off, because they are often impossible to drive to, and secondly, there is usually NO parking at all!  And, we encountered both these things today!  

 

So, first pass in, we decided to park in a large underground parking structure in the middle of town.  Problem was, that when we entered, we didn’t have to get a ticket.  I think we’ve finally figured out that everything parking wise in this area at least, revolves around your license plate number.  I had had to remember it when we went to Cadiz, so thought it was Portugal plate, A 156 UF; sounds easy, right?  Well, WRONG!  Turns out, it is actually AI 56 UF.  Huh???  Up into the square and I messaged Borja, our host.  (I had actually contacted him a couple of days ago, to see if it might be possible to get into the apartment earlier than the standard check-in time of 4 pm, and he said that 1 pm would be fine!  (Apparently, he works within short walking distance of the flat.) Well, even though it was now only 11:30, I messaged him again, and he said he’d meet us there!  Problem is, we couldn’t exactly find out where “there” was with the car!  So, back to the parking lot and this time, taking our backpacks with us as we walked through these truly massive walls!  After one wrong turn, we managed to find the place, and meet Borja.  He’s delightful!  Very, very nice man!  

 

View from our bedroom balcony!

More "view"

Cathedral from our balcony!

The person R calls "the mad blogger..."

That's actually a DRYER on the left!

Beautiful, spacious and comfortable living room!

And the apartment is – truly – and I really mean this – stunning!  There are two bedrooms and 1½ baths!  You enter into a vestibule and then there are all these doors!  R still can’t find the kitchen yet!  About the bedrooms – one double bed in one and twin beds in the other, both with doors that open onto small balconies.  Then comes the kitchen – complete with – wait for it!  An absolutely unheard of amenity – a clothes DRYER!  Except for laundromats around the world, I’ve never seen a dryer in an individual space! WOW!  Clean and DRY clothes, here we come! 

 

Borja showed us around the flat, and gave us instructions where to park the car (again, outside the walls…) and he was gone!  Our first priority was to once again, get out of parking garage #1, get as close as possible to the apartment to drop the luggage, and then get to new parking garage #2.  Of course, somehow, I ended up in a public plaza that didn’t allow cars, but R took out the luggage, and I tried my best to look as inconspicuous as possible (which is tough with a car, let me tell you!) until he got back.  Then we wound around and up and over and finally exited the walls and actually found parking garage #2.  Parked the car and walked back and back and back – and actually found the flat again. (Always good!)

 

By this time, it was probably going on 1 or 1:30, so R went to work setting up the computer, while I unpacked and got things organized.  (There is SO much space in this apartment, I’m thinking we may never remember where we put everything!!). I was pretty tired by that time, and lay down on the very comfy couch with a tennis match on TV, and fell asleep!  So … up an hour or so later, with definite need to get to a grocery store.  We needed, at least, paper towels, water and things for breakfast … but as R was checking out local grocery stores, for the very first time, we ran into something VERY Spanish – Siesta!  Grocery stores were CLOSED in the middle of the afternoon – and we did NOT want to walk back to the car and take it to the suburbs just for a few things … incredible, for sure!  However, we needed at the very least some bottled water, so out we went, shopping bags in hand.  (We usually keep forgetting to bring them along with us, resulting in a surfeit of shopping bags…) We walked for a couple of blocks, and came across something called Primaprix – which was OPEN!  It wasn’t the very best grocery store we have visited, but it did have everything we needed to get through the night – and we now have things for breakfast like ham, cheese and salami, and I can start laundry!  Yeah!

 

Such a contrast between Avila – a quiet, walled city steeped in tradition – and Madrid – a vibrant, hectic, 21^st century metropolis – and Toledo – very much a tourist destination (reminiscent of Carcassonne).  Such a change!  We have been here only a few hours but already sense the more relaxed pace.

 

So, one load of laundry done and it’s now heading towards 6 pm; just about time to figure out what we’re going to do about dinner!  R really likes the look of our new kitchen and is thinking we may do some cooking – just not tonight!  So!  More later and sending much love!

 

m

xxx