Perhaps the best part of the Guadalupe Monastery was the drive to it. It’s a pleasure to be on the twisting country roads climbing into the hills, and monasteries always seem to be in the hills. In this case a 13th Century shepherd discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary that had been buried by Christians fleeing from the Moors. He built a chapel to house the statue and things progressed from there.
Today you must visit in a group with a Spanish only guide who meticulously unlocked and relocked each room we visited. No photos were permitted inside, a shame because there were so many beautiful embroideries and some interesting paintings.
Driving in these old town mazes with their narrow, twisting streets and having no idea of the way out has become my new nightmare (replacing the one where it’s final exam week and I haven’t been to class.) Once again we were hopelessly confused and the clutch was slipping on the steep inclines. Our side mirrors were tucked in because of the narrowness of the lanes so when I reversed I scraped the right rear wheel well. My bad.
I was really pissed and nearly shaking as we finally found our way out of Guadalupe. We were headed for Avila where we planned to base for a couple of days. We got a great deal on a 4-star hotel for only €40 a night and as it turned out we could get the damage to the car fixed if we would stay until Monday. It’s a no-brainer – good accommodations, not far from Segovia and damage control.
