The students have classes every day from 9:30 to 2. Then they have every evening free. Last week, we took trips to Avila in smaller groups. It is about an hour train ride from Valladolid. In Spain, they have a very good public transportation system. You can easily travel to any destination by train or by bus. The main highlight of Avila is the "muralla" which is the 12th century stone wall that surrounds the city. It was used as a medieval defense perimeter and stretches for 2.5 kilometers around the city, with 88 watchtowers.
With the first group, we took a “tourist” train though the city. It took us around the city walls and through the main part of town. It was a good way to see the main sights and learn about the history of the buildings.
With every group, we bought tickets to climb to the top of the wall. Over a kilometer of the wall is accesable to the public, so we were able to go to the top and walk around.
With every group, we bought tickets to climb to the top of the wall. Over a kilometer of the wall is accesable to the public, so we were able to go to the top and walk around.
After walking the wall, we walked through the city and walked to the cathedral. Avila’s cathedral was built in the 12th century and has Romanesque origins. It was finished 400 years later in a Gothic style and was the first Gothic church built in Spain.
With the second group, we ate some tapas at a local restaurant, and then finished the night having paella for dinner. Paella is one of Spain’s most popular dishes, and it takes at least 30 minutes to make. We had a little under an hour until our train was leaving, so we had to eat fast and practically run to the train. We made it just in time! The train was already on the tracks when we got to the station, and it left about 30 seconds after we got on it! It was the last train leaving that night, so if we would have missed it, we would have been stuck in Avila for the night!
We had dinner on the third night too. We sat on a patio of a restaurant that was right in front of the stone wall. We all ordered something different. I ordered patatas braves, one of Spain's popular tapas, and shared them with the table. Gabrielle and Amanda Evans both ordered tortillas con camarones, which was a fried potato cake with shrimp. They were both really enjoying them until Scott found a shrimp head in one of them (with it's eyes, tentacles, and all!) Although this is very different for us, this is actually very typical in Spain.