MICHELE'S MUSINGS

Spain...land of Don Quijote, Dali, Columbus (ok he was probably Italian, but he got the OK and moola from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinan), Don Juan, Anthonio Gaudi ...Our first stop in Spain was Salamanca...the evening we arrived we spent freezing, seated on a wire bench at the train station, hoping daylight would come quickly so we could find a hotel. Now and again the guard would come by and push sleeping peoples feet off the benches...we were not the only 2:30 am arrivals. Here I saw my name everywhere...the biggest bank in the area is called Caja Duero, and even the man hole covers said Duero on them. Salamanca is a beautiful stately university town. The buildings are built from golden sandstone. It has the usual necessary elements of a Spanish city-you have the plaza mayor (main open plaza often with a fountain) which becomes packed in the evenings with strolling locals of all ages; there is the obligatory catholic cathedral which in this case dated back to the 1100's (there was a new cathedral built in 1513, it actually wasn't completed till 1733); the university dates to 1230-oldest in Spain. The old city is surrounded by the remnants of a medieval wall, built in the days when people had to worry about attacking band of thieves and soldiers. From Salamanca we went to Madrid. We stayed in the suburbs with Carlos, a UCSD pal of Drew's who is now teaching at the University in Madrid. We spent an entire day exploring the Prado museum, an impressive testimony to Spain's prominent place in world history at one time. Spain once ruled the Netherlands Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Austria, Italy, France, Bohemia, Germany...not to mention the Philippines, and Americas. Carlos I was nominated holy Roman Emperor at age 19, and controlled all the area aforementioned (1519). The Museum houses something like 30,000 exhibits. Via books and art we slowly were gaining an understanding of Spain's legacy. We took a day trip to El Escorial where a palace built by king Phillip II (son of Carlos I) was built 1563-1584. Most of the money Spain made from the new world in gold, and silver went to fund this palace (as well as into fighting wars on 3 fronts)...At this point in history Spain was thick into the Inquisition. Spain, despite all its incoming money was going broke! The palace was coldly immense, with over 100 miles of winding passages. Nearby we visited the Valley of the Fallen. This is Franco's fascist monument to himself really. A 150 meter cross entombs the bodies of over 50,000 people who died in Spain's civil war 1936-1939. Franco had his prisoners dig the memorial out of solid rock. The creepiest thing happened while we were there; 8 Nazis came to the tomb of the fascist general next to Franco's, performed a ceremony including laying roses on the tomb, and giving the Nazi salute (hail Hitler). They weren't skin heads...they looked as innocuous and harmless as could be (to me this made it more horrifying). This shook us all up...a week later we heard that a bomb had been planted and exploded here. In Segovia, a few hours from Madrid, we were snowed on (end of March). This was a special site in this lovely Medieval walled town. We spent hours there, being entertained, fed and given much to drink by a very enthusiastic bar tender. my Spanish improved exponentially with each sangria. This town boasts a 2000 year old Roman aqua-duct, which is 2500 ft long, 100 ft high, with 118 arches- made without mortar! They say it still works. Toledo, the old capital before Madrid , has a rich history. It is also 2000 years old, and was home to Moors, Jews and Christians alike (they actually got along quite well...for a while anyway). It is typical of many Medieval towns in that it has a maze of narrow winding cobbled streets. The cathedral in Toledo is the most amazing cathedral I have yet to see. Yes, this must be where the expression "holy Toledo" comes from. Here we found Drew's face in an El Greco painting (a narrow, long face with eyes looking up to the heavens...or to some rock face that looks tempting to climb). An interesting fact to me was learning that during the Moorish occupation (the Moors of course were Muslim) of Spain, the Jews and Moors got along swimmingly, and the Jewish society flourished. The Jews were the doctors, interpreters, pharmacists, and money changers. The Moors were the tailors, barbers, masons, shoemakers and architects. The Christians farmed the land and tended animals. While the rest of Europe was going thru the dark ages, Spain was prospering. It wasn't until the Christians (Catholics) gained control that all hell broke loose...many Jews fled to Muslim North Africa where they felt they would be excepted better (ironic). We headed south for Granada, the last Moorish strong hold. We arrived during the santa semana, which is the holy week before Easter. In southern Spain they really take their expression Catholic faith to the limit! Here we saw thousands of men women and children dressed in outfits that look like KKK members would wear...long robes, pointy hats, holding huge candles and walking thru the streets in parade fashion for about 6-8 hours (some bear footed as penance I suppose). Many women wear black lace veils with huge Spanish hair combs...I suppose they are mourning the death of Christ. Others were carrying the massive carved and gilded effigies of Christ on the cross, or Mary dressed like a queen (imagine the huge floats at the Rose parade, except instead of being on wheels, 50 people are underneath carrying it!). This went on every night of the week...energy building towards Easter. In Granada we also saw the famous Alhambra- the last bastion of the Moors which they held for almost 200 years after the Christians had taken back the rest of Spain. The Moorish fortress had palaces and gardens remarkable for their ornateness and attention to detail rather than size. The Moors loved nature and water. They built channels of water that ran thru their court yards which were narrow and shallow. They basically turned an arid environment into a garden of Eden paradise. It is now turning back to desert. In Sevilla we also experienced the processions building up to Easter. Sevilla was full of mainly Spanish tourists. We had some difficulty finding a room, as prices double, and places fill up fast. We got lucky. I stopped to peel off a layer (gets hot with the pack on) when a man asked if we were lost and looking for a particular hotel. I told him in Spanish of our difficulties finding a room...he said wait here...and came back a few minutes later with a neighbor who rented her extra apartment to us for the price of a room. We enjoyed Sevilla's beautiful architecture. The tile work that covers the walls inside and outside of buildings is exquisite, and the nicest in all of Spain and Portugal in my opinion. The city was bursting with color....flowers, and lush greenery. Most memorable in Sevilla is the Alcazar- the palace built by Moorish workmen for a Christian king who was called Pedro the cruel by the nobility and clergy, and Pedro the just by the commoners. He had all the aristocracy, pope and bishops, even his own mother against him because he did not feel those people deserved all the money and privileges that they got from their status. In the end he had his brother and wife offed for screwing around behind his back. He did not have a nice life despite the paradise he created for himself. We easily could have found more to do in Sevilla, but wanted to be in Barcelona for Easter. Barcelona has really cleaned itself up in the last 10 years. It used to be scarey to walk around at night in certain areas downtown- typical seedy seaport town. Not so now. It is bustling with people promenading down the Ramblas at night. The Ramblas is a Pedestrian blvd that is lined with street performers, portrait artists, scam artists, bird sellers, and loads of craft booths. The seaport area had changed a lot since the olympics and expo came to Barcelona...lots of infrastructure was built, and to this day is much used by the locals and tourists alike.We visited the man architectural wonders created by Gaudi , including the Sagrada Familia cathedral, park Guell, Palace Guell, and several private residences. He was a man with amazing vision and creativity. His other worldly designs have never been equaled. It's even more amazing that he was so successful in the early part of the century when architecture was still fairly conservative. The place oozes with creativity...the street performers range from mimes, living music box dancers, human water fountains...painted white and spewing water from her jug which fell into the little kiddie pool then somehow recirculated back to the jug, knights in shining armor who salute and twirel a spear for change....The locals are Catalonians, and at one time were seeking independence from spain. They have their own language, but they also speak Spanish. We watched locals of all ages perform the Sardana, a dance in which they pile all their belongings in the middle of their circle, and then dance on their toes, holding their arms up high. It reminds me a little of Celtic dancing. A highlight was staying up late talking to our friendly hotel manager in the evenings in Spanish...it was a struggle, but special and worth the effort. Barcelona has a totally different feel than the rest of Spain. It's far less religious feeling...no big Easter processions, museums open on Sunday. We visited the Dali museum in a nearby town...a wacky place, but a bit over-hyped and expensive. We also visited the Picasso museum. Both are big tourist draws for Barcelona...in retospect I could skip these two museums. We stayed 5 days in this wonderful city, hard to leave this lively, lovely place. Off to france...new money, new language, new adventures.

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