A mini pilgrimage

I'm for sure going to heaven - I visited Avila, home of St. Teresa. Ok, so I really have no clue who she is or what she did. Twelve years of Catholic education and I have no idea (sorry mom and dad). But whoever she is or whatever she did, she must have been good to have become a saint. And she's brought fame to her little beautiful town of Avila.

Saturday, Tess, Sara and I decided to take a mini-trip to Avila. It's only about an hour and a half by train from Madrid and it's small enough for a day trip. Rosa, Tess' friend, met us at the train station. She's studying in Madrid but grew up in Avila - she was visiting her grandmother for the weekend. She showed us around town and told us about its history. The town dates all the way back from medieval times, hence the famous wall that surrounds it. And of course, Sta. Teresa de Avila was born and lived there.

We really weren't able to do much since we arrived just when everything was closing for siesta hours. We wanted to go up the wall and walk on it, but we just didn't have enough time. So we just walked around a lot, enjoyed the sights from the outside, and savored the silence in the streets - it's just nice to get out of loud, busy Madrid every once in a while.

We also spent a long time eating lunch. Since we couldn't go in any sights, we had a nice long lunch with typical food from Avila. One was patatas ravolcones (sp?). It was like peppery flavored mashed potatoes with a little bit of bacon as garnish. We also ordered churrasco, which is like a steak or something, but the restaurant ran out of it, so we had to settle for a giant pollo asado.

After we finally finished our hearty lunch, we only had an hour left. So we went to St. Teresa's church, which was very small and cozy inside. We then bought some yemas (a typical food of Avila made of egg yolk and sugar), and some corazones (marzapan like cookies) from a store who sold baked goods made by secluded nuns from a nearby convent. I've always wanted to go to one of those convents where the nuns make wonderful baked goods and sold it through a little hole in the door so people don't see them. This wasn't quite what I've seen on travel shows, but it was good enough for now. Someday, I will find one of those convents. As for the yemas and the corazones, we had mixed reviews. The yemas were a bit strange...very eggy...not as good as the Filipino yemas. As for the corazones, they are amazing. I have a box of them in my house and I really, really need to stop eating them. I wanted to take some home for Christmas but unfortunately, they have an expiration date.

Avila was beautiful and very serene. I wouldn't say it was my favorite city in Spain, but it's nice nonetheless...probably more for the religious crowd than a heathen like me.

Avila