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| Overlooking Plaza Mayor in Chinchon |
So of course I live in a big city which I have come to realize has its pros and cons but for a country girl like me it is always nice to get out of the city. So I was in Madrid this past weekend with no real travel plans so I decided to take some day trips to Avila with my co worker and Chinchon with my roommate and her co worker. They were perfect escapes from the city. One is just north of the city with the weather being a little bit cooler and the other is just south of the city with just warmer weather. So two opposites for the weekend.
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| On the walls in Avila |
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| City Walls in Avila |
Avila is an old town that has one of the most well preserved city walls in the world. It's located north of Madrid and closer to the mountains so it was a little chilly but not bad. There isn't much to see but it is a very calm and quite town so it was nice to just walk around and experience the small town life. We did get to walk along the tops of the city wall which was really cool and well worth it. It had some amazing views from the top of the wall. We visited some churches and tried to find the convent that had their patron saint's real finger in it but failed. Avila is still bigger than Hickory (which isn't saying much) but I'm glad I got to see it especially since a lot of my professors at my school are originally from Avila.
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| View from the wall in Avila |
The next day I hopped on a bus to Chinchon which was only a short ride away. It is just south of Madrid and the weather was absolutely
perfect. This town is very small and is actually smaller than Hickory
(believe it or not) This town is known for its Plaza Mayor which they
turn into a bull fighting ring in the summer. One of the teachers at my
school told me that a lot of people come here to get married (which I
still find a little strange... I could pick prettier places in Spain).
This town is even smaller than Avila so I wasn't really sure what we
would be doing all day but we discovered that Chinchon is known for
having wine caves. So as a wine drinker I enjoyed visiting 2 caves with
Melissa and Maria. At the first cave we sat at a small table and
enjoyed some tapas and wine in the cave which was very cool. This cave
was the largest and went very deep underground. The second one also had
a restaurant and the food looked and smelled delicious (when I go back I
will eat here). We had a little picnic overlooking the city and
discovered an amazing shop with ceramic dishes. I will be going back
just to get a ceramic dish! Also in the Plaza Mayor they give donkey
rides (tempting I know) but there were only little kids on them and
let's be honest I would probably break that poor donkey's back. But
there is always next time!
Overall very peaceful
and relaxing weekend with another one to follow! 38 days until I'm home
for one of my best friend's wedding. I can't wait to see how beautiful
it will be and share it with some amazing friends. See y'all soon!
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| View of ChinChon |
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| In one of the wine caves |
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