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You are right Laurie, great albergue, stayed there in may. Only issue, road out of Avila could be a little busy until you get to the turnoff, and more importantly you will struggle to find a bar open for morning coffee for the next couple of days.
Regards
George
If you like castles and wide open spaces, with a few days of gorgeous mountain walking thrown in, head for the Levante. Buen camino, Laurie
Hi Laurie,
Re electric coil, great idea! What extension lead do you favour, the 8km standard or the 10km lightweight?
Re equipment, just given my new boots a quick workout (Scarpa Boltero) seem OK, walked in Merrells last time, just not up to the rougher tracks of the Levante\Sureste.
Regards
George
Hi, George,Sorry Laurie,
A poor attempt at a joke. An extension lead is a length of electric cable with a plug each end that you could use to extend the distance you could use your coil from a wall socket.
Regards
George
Hi, George,
Just so you know, it's not that I don't have a sense of humor, it's just that I am so uninformed about electronics and technology that any question is likely to go straight over my head.
I heard that a property owner has closed access to pilgrims
For the first time ever, the Avila albergue (which is a great albergue) has surpassed the "400 pilgrims a year" mark. On December 12, 411 pilgrims had spent the night in 2014
I was quite happy on the Levante\Sureste in my Merrells, especially early on when it was still really hot (35+ for several days from Alicante) and boots would have been a bit muchwalked in Merrells last time, just not up to the rougher tracks of the Levante\Sureste.
As you say, footwear is very personal, and the heat I hit this October was very exceptional. I did have a few moments when I wished I was wearing boots, but not all that many - and if I ever walk it again it'll be in shoes.Hi Alan, The Levante/Sureste sure is a great camino, and while I had a few hot days, nothing like 35+ that temprature must have been difficult to deal with. The main problem I had with the Merrells was that the sole unit didn't provide enough protection from the rougher tracks, still footwear is a very personal thing, what suits one ....etc.
Next year I plan to walk from Malaga to Finnisterre, there's something special "from sea to shining sea"
Regards
George
Re path by the river, the route outlined on the "walking pilgrim" site takes the road option, and while I can't remember for certain, I'm fairly sure when I went through there in May this year the arrows took the road option as well,
I assume that the entrance ramp, like the autopista itself, is prohibited to pedestrians.
Yes, I saw camino signals on the road on a visit to Ávila so I was aware that was the official route. What I didn't (fully) understand was why they didn't choose the route along the river that albeit a bit longer would be nicer but peregrina2000 gave me a clue that make sense as a (possible) explanation: a land owner against it. Of course, other explanations could make sense too so it's just an (educated) guess.
The autopistas and autovias are forbidden to pedestrians. Not sure about the entrance ramps. In fact, an even worse exit is the exit out of Medina del Campo on the Sureste where you don't have only to use the entrace/exit ramp to the autovía but you have also to cross over the autovía using the same elevated pass that use the vehicles to enter from and exit to the autovía and once you are on the other side of the autovía (but not yet in the autovía itself) you cross the ramp (in a curve; i.e.: with little visibility) to get out to the camino that runs parallel to the autovía. Even the signs posted to mark the route warn you that that short part is risky. Traffic is lower than on the Ávila exit but on the Ávila exit you don't get so close to the autovía (or so I think) and on the Ávila exit there are zebra crossings to cross from one side of the road to the other when needed. BTW, I was wondering if when you walked the Levante there were already zebra crossings to go from one side of the exit road in Ávila to the other as they are nowadays.
What I would like to know is whether anyone has actually tried the river way exit of Avila. I know that one is dissuaded from going that way but can one actually get past any attempted blockage. On the via de la Plata there was such a closed off way but I just climbed two gates and went through an abandoned farmyard. I was told that if you were a bond fide pilgrim the police would not interfere in such an 'incident'. By the way I stayed in the youth hostel as you come in to Avila and it was great. Quiet and I had a room to myself with bathroom. It seemed much friendlier to get into that the Albergue. At a large roundabout about 5kms before Avila, a group of us went into a multi starred hotel on the roundabout, had drinks and were allowed to use the pool. Soul Kitchen in Avila was a brilliant restaurant...
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