I thought I'd share some more photos with everyone from my travels in Spain. It is rainy here today - which is rare, so it's nice to see the beautiful blue sky in these photos.
The first group of photos is from the historic city Avila. About Avila:
"Avila is well-known for the amazingly intact wall surrounding the city, for being the birthplace and home of Santa Teresa of Jesus (a devout Catholic nun famous for writing poems dedicated to Jesus to in which she expressed her devotion to Him) and for sweetmeats made by local nuns and sold in small shops throughout the city. Especially '
yemas' made with egg yolks and sugar."
via Guide to Avila
The walls have been amazingly resorted, and are, "One of the finest remnants of Europe's medieval era, the walled town of Avila was sacred to an ancient Celtiberian culture long before the arrival of the Romans or Christians. The city was captured by the Arab Moors in 714 AD,
recaptured by the Christians in 1088, and had its protective walls built in the 12
th century."
via Avila, SpainChris and I were lucky enough to walk along the top of a section of the walls, giving us some great views. It costs a few euros but is worth it!
This cathedral was simply amazing
A typical square - outside seating is a real treat in the beautiful weather
Views from atop the city walls
I was under the impression that Spain wasn't big on sweets and pastries. Boy was I wrong. Does anyone know what this delicious marshmallowy, meringuey, graham cracker encased morsel is called? Even with the dollar at 14 month low against the euro - I had to have it. Chris joked that of course I had to pick the most "impractical" pastry, but that didn't stop him from devouring half of it.
These photos are from the beautiful La Granja. "The Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso is an eighteenth-century palace, formerly the summer residence of theKings of Spain since the reign of Philip V. The palace is in the small town of San Ildefonso in the hills near Segovia.... The palace is in a restrained baroque style surrounded by extensive gardens in the French manner and sculptural fountains."
via Wikipedia
The grounds are extensive- over 1,500 acres.
The fountains are all based on mythological themes. Unfortunately the fountains are not on. "Today, only a few fountains are active each day. Twice a year, on the feast days of San Fernando and Saint Louis), all twenty-six fountains are set to play, providing a memorable show."
via Wikipedia
All photography by Chris!
A close-up
Does the door above look familiar? Remember the chest from the Castle Alcazar in this post?
A close-up
So - over the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and take pictures of all the gorgeous doors around the city so you can compare for yourself!
The lovely collage she made of images for Decorology
Read the rest of my answers here!
The walls have been amazingly resorted, and are, "One of the finest remnants of Europe's medieval era, the walled town of Avila was sacred to an ancient Celtiberian culture long before the arrival of the Romans or Christians. The city was captured by the Arab Moors in 714 AD,
This cathedral was simply amazing
A typical square - outside seating is a real treat in the beautiful weather
Views from atop the city walls
I was under the impression that Spain wasn't big on sweets and pastries. Boy was I wrong. Does anyone know what this delicious marshmallowy, meringuey, graham cracker encased morsel is called? Even with the dollar at 14 month low against the euro - I had to have it. Chris joked that of course I had to pick the most "impractical" pastry, but that didn't stop him from devouring half of it.
The grounds are extensive- over 1,500 acres.
The fountains are all based on mythological themes. Unfortunately the fountains are not on. "Today, only a few fountains are active each day. Twice a year, on the feast days of San Fernando and Saint Louis), all twenty-six fountains are set to play, providing a memorable show." via Wikipedia 
Pictures of the famous castle here, Alcazar, taken by Chris. If it looks familiar it's because people speculate it served as inspiration for Walt Disney world!
The doorway to the master bedroom!
Detail of some castle furniture
The gorgeous castle chapel ceiling.
This chair was beautiful - a simple structure, but the detail was ornate.
At one point the castle was an artillery school - these were some jars on display, I believe they hold materials of some sort.
Some of the original wall in the castle.
The famous aqueduct - it's been immaculately restored - and absolutely no mortar was used in it's construction.
A cultural festival took place this weekend.
I just thought these were cute.
