On the flight to Madrid I made friends with my seatmate, Luís. He has lived for many years in San Francisco, where he is in the restaurant business, but he is a native of Extremadura and travels to Spain every year to see family. He was intrigued by my quest after St. Teresa, and asked about my itinerary, which I intended to start with two days in Avila. He gave me a flavor of what to expect from travel in Spain. He also gave me the number where he was staying in Madrid so that we might link up for an evening when Annette arrived. Until then, he would be at a family cottage in the mountains near Segovia.

I was so enchanted with Avila I couldn't leave and stayed an extra day and a half. The last morning I was there, I took a last stroll. I wandered outside la Muralla toward the Plaza de Santa Teresa, and coming through the gate, in front of the statue of La Santa, I heard my name called. It was Luís, as surprised to see me as I was to see him. He had just been telling his brother about me. The three of us spent the afternoon together walking around the old city.

We took photos of each other at the beautiful statue of La Santa. Luís wanted me to see the inscription carved in the curving wall flanking La Santa. It replicates her distinctive and elegant handwriting. He translated it for me: "It is God's power to bring souls by many different paths to meet in this place." This was to be only the first chance meeting La Santa brought about during my journey.


"El Poderoso es el señor de enriqueser las almas por muchos caminos y llegarlas a estas moradas."

- Santa Teresa de Avila

Chapter 5: La Fiesta, Part II, List of Chapters, or Back Home