Kyran and Mercedes Findlater travel the world: Avila, Segovia and a little around Madrid

Hello and welcome to the next installment of Traveling with the Findlaters.

In this episode we visit Avila for a medieval market festival and then onto Segovia to see one if its famous landmarks.

Towards the end of the adventure we headed into Madrid to celebrate my aunty's birthday and finished it off with a cycle down the river side.

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But first a comment: The image above and to the right are of the giant wind turbines that seem to cover the ridges of the hills and mountains throughout the inner road areas of Spain. The image to the bottom right are of what appears to be a solar farm in the unused farmlands of inner Spain. Overall 23% of Spain's electricity was generated from wind and solar in 2010. Spain has set the target of generating 92% of its energy needs from renewable energy sources. Spain is the world's third biggest producer of wind power, after the United States and Germany, with an installed capacity of 20,661

First up Avila.

Avila is notable for having complete and prominent medieval town walls, built in the Romanesque style.

It is sometimes called the Town of Stones and Saints, and it claims that it is one of the towns with the highest number of Romanesque and Gothic churches (and bars and restaurants) per capita in Spain.

Below are a series of photographs of birds that were on display for the Medieval Market. What start off as being a novel thing (despite my disagreements on the topic of caged or restrained animals) soon turned into something of an animal well fair issue as completely nocturnal birds were tied to posts in full sunlight in the middle of the day.

I obviously kicked up a stink to anyone who would listen and could help the birds,

Kyran dragged me away before anything could escalate further.

Needless to say i was not impressed.

But moving on!

Tickets to climb the wall that surrounds Avila were 5 euros each and as we were limited by time this seemed like a good way to get a good scope of Avila while learning it's history and see its views.

The walls of Avila

The work was started in 1090 but most of the walls appear to have been rebuilt in the 12th century.

The enclosed area is an irregular rectangle of 31 hectares with a perimeter of some 2,516 meters, including 88 semicircular towers.

The walls have an average breadth of 3 metres and an average height of 12 metres.

The nine gates were completed over several different periods.

These fortifications are the most complete in Spain.

Some of the sights around Avila

To the right: a medieval obstical course for children that can be seen in the back ground dressed as horses.

SEGOVIA

Segovia was first recorded as a Celtic possession, with control eventually transferring into the hands of the Romans.

During the Roman period the settlement belonged to one of numerous contemporary Latin convents. It is believed that the city was abandoned after the Islamic invasion
of Spain centuries later.

Segovia's position on trading routes made it an important center of trade in wool and textiles.

The end of the Middle Ages saw something of a golden age for Segovia, with a growing Jewish population and the creation of a foundation for a powerful cloth industry.
In 1764, the Royal School of Artillery, the first military academy in Spain, was opened.

In 1985 the old city of Segovia and its Aqueduct were declared World Heritage by UNESCO

The Aqueduct of Segovia (or more precisely, the aqueduct bridge) is a Roman aqueduct and one of the most significant and best-preserved ancient monuments left on the Iberian Peninsula.

The actual date of the Aqueduct's construction has always been considered a mystery although it was thought to have been during the 1st century AD,

The aqueduct transports water from Fuente Fría river, situated in the nearby mountains, some 17 km (11 mi) from the city in a region known as La Acebeda. It runs another 15 km (9.3 mi) before arriving in the city.

The water is first gathered in a tank known as El Caserón (or Big House), and is then led through a channel to a second tower known as the Casa de Aguas (or Waterhouse). There it is naturally decanted and sand settles out before the water continues its route.

At its tallest, the aqueduct reaches a height of 28.5 m (93 ft 6 in), including nearly 6 m (19 ft 8 in) of foundation. There are both single and double arches supported by pillars. From the point the aqueduct enters the city until it reaches Plaza de Díaz Sanz, it includes 75 single arches and 44 double arches (or 88 arches when counted individually), followed by four single arches, totalling 167 arches in all.

The construction of the aqueduct follows the principles laid out by Vitruvius as he describes in his De Architectura published in the mid-first century.

As the photo suggests we also visited the cathedral of Segovia.

It is located in the main square of the city, the Plaza Mayor, and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The Cathedral of Segovia is one of last Gothic cathedrals built in Spain and Europe. It was built in the mid-sixteenth century, when in most of Europe, Renaissance architecture it was the new reference.

Left: What happens when choir boys eat to much

Below: Some final images from Segovia

Birthday celebrations took us into Madrid on Sunday and ended with a crazy fun filled ride along the banks of the highly regarded Rio Manzanares. below are the resulting photos