Vip Trip Madrid Day three

An early morning, the earliest we would wake up this week and we have a really good reason for that. We have planned to ride a HOT air balloon. Not only is Segovia in the top 5 of most beautiful spots in the world to do a hot air balloon flight, we are also only 1- minutes away from the landing site. The past 2 days we had a lot of rain here in Spain and we are watching the weather like a hawk. It’s not raining, good, let’s go!We are warmly greeted by Jose from Eolofly, everyone is wearing their thickest jacket and the wind is strong… Will we get a green light to lift off or will the weather rain on our parade?After meeting the crew and other travellers, we get a closer look (feel) to the basket of the balloon. Imagine that you have never seen a hot air balloon before, people have described it to you… But still, how does it work? How big is it? What is it made of? So many questions get answered. We learn that the basket is actually a Basket, breaded out of thick straw. The huge basket fits 16 people! The balloon is tethered to the basket and we step the parameters of the size of this thing. It’s gigantic. The basket is tethered to the jeep, because once we start filling the balloon with hot air, it could take off too soon and that’s not really what you want.While we are socialising, sharing stories and getting to know the people behind this initiative, Jose checks the wind. After assessing what felt like an hour, we get the thumbs down. We are not flying today, although it doesn’t rain, the wind is just too strong and it would even drag the jeep forward if we would make an attempt. We are slightly disappointed, but still excited about the people we met, the explanation and the chance to get close to this hot air balloon and basket. Mike tells me he has a better idea of what it looks like and can’t wait to take a flight like this when another opportunity occurs. 

Avila!! We do a small day trip to Avila, It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m above sea level, the city is the highest provincial capital in Spain.

Distinctively known by its medieval walls, Ávila 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 per capita in Spain.

It’s about an hour drive from Segovia and we would return back here at the end of the day. I wanted to insure to have as minimal hotel changes as possible. As it takes time to get to know the hotels lay out each time. It just makes travelling with low vision a little easier.

While driving towards Avila the city walls dominate the view. The city is small and cute, build up a hill (after climbing the streets of Segovia, I guess we can do it for another day) Our main plan for today is to go ON the medieval walls. Yes, on them! This is a unique experience as usually you are either not allowed, the walls are not in good shape anymore or it was never meant to walk on. We walk the walls for about 1,7km. Which is about half of the city. The walls are still complete and hug the whole city core. With on top of the hill a stunning Cathedral.

After all this walking (mainly up) We are down to sit and have a coffee, a small strong one (not a weak watery americano) We walk through the narrow streets and notice a small cafe around the corner. It looks so authentic, with wooden doors and stained glass. As we walk in we get surprised by the delicious smell of coffee and pastries. The cafe is packed, we are overwhelmed by a full cafe and Spanish chatter all around us. We are clearly in a very local spot and it fills us with joy. That is why we came to Spain for to sit, eat, drink and live like the locals.

We make our way back to Segovia. The lovely vibes we felt there yesterday, we want to experience at night. We reserve a table in a beautiful restaurant right on the main Plaza. Time to indulge into Spanish cuisine again. Eventually we will eat Spanish every day without getting tired of it. We’ll soon share our favourite meals with you in another blog post.

Good night!