Contemplations and Ruminations

The next day after an early breakfast we set out to visit Avila, which is about an hour's drive from Madrid. A video of the landscape in Spain... Here, we've just reached Avila... these Walls of Avila were completed between the 11th and 14th centuries and they are the city's defining image. We had a lovely guide, Maria, and she took us around this quaint city explaining about the fortress and the cathedrals. Another video depicting the welcoming sounds of Avila... the constantly chirping birds over the walled city of Avila are quite captivating, they seem to beckon you in. Avila's charm...  The sun, spilling her beams...  The church of St. Teresa of Avila Inside the church, mass was just getting over... The chapel dedicated to St. Teresa The main square in Avila So after checking out the church of St. Teresa and the museum where her finger is displayed, we started on our way to Fatima in Portugal which is about a five hour drive fr...

Our flight from Chennai was at 4am, so after a small midnight prayer in church, after all the airport drama and the waiting, we finally settled into our seats for the four hour flight to Qatar. I was instantly asleep, and in Qatar after going through a security check again, we boarded the transit flight to Madrid. This was also mostly spent in a sleep daze... except when the food arrived.   This was some good breakfast: eggs, mushrooms in some gravy, sausage and hash browns.  A mid day snack: a calzone kinda roll which wasn't that great and an almond cake.  So we landed in Madrid (which was an quite an ordeal, it was like one of those autorickshaw rides, where everything bounces and careens out of control, I almost started panicking and thinking 'just because I wrote this article , doesn't mean it has to come true, Lord...' it was one scary landing) and the airport here is quite interesting. We follow the crowd and reach these doors that say baggage claim ...