Spain

Hey All,

So an update is long overdue. After 10 days in France, I met my parents and sister in Spain for 16 days. It was wonderful getting to spend time with them and see a new place at the same time. We rented a car and went where ever the road could take us, so we were able to see a nice cross section of the country in a relatively short period of time. I could go on and on about the trip, but I don't want to bore you to death. So instead I'll just say a few words about each place...

Toledo: An old little town that's perched up on a hill and surrounded by a medieval wall. The architectural cohesiveness is picturesque, but it's not the most exciting town. Lost of old retired rich people live there.









Cordoba: The old mosque is amazing. A must see! The combination of Islamic candy-striped arches mixed with Renaissance christian architecture is quite unique. It's huge. It could 40,000 back in it's day.

Seville: The Alcazar is the prettiest from all the one's we saw. The gardens make you forget you're in the middle of a big city. The Plaza de Espana was wonderful as well, because it was not over run with tourists. We attended Christmas Eve mass at the cathedral, and it was the first Catholic high mass I've ever been to before. There was a cardinal and lots of other official people. If you're going there in the winter, try to get a room with heat.

Tarifa/Gilbralter: If I ever decide to become a windsurfing bum, I'll keep Tarifa on my list of places to chill. Gibralter is weird. It British, but not. They use pounds instead of euros, and they have a funny accent. It also has the only wild monkeys in Europe. I can now say I've physically seen Africa.

Granada: The most eclectic town. The culture is a mix between traditional Spanish (castellano), Islamic, and gypsy. The art and local crafts are the most interesting. There's people that still live in caves (and have for centuries). The Alhambra is stunning! It's like taking a step back in time and witnessing what it was like before Spain reconquered the area. The monasteries have monks with unusually strict lifestyles.

Valencia: The Arts and Sciences Park is like the Chicago Museum campus of the future. The architecture is truly unique. A roundabout actually has giant fishhooks in the middle of it. The cathedral has a relic that is the left arm of Saint Vincente. But, if you look closely, it's clearly the right arm of someone. Either that or Saint Vincente had his thumb on the outside of his hand.




Barcelona: The works of Gaudi are inspiring. The Sagrada Familia is the largest and longest ongoing project I've ever seen. But compared to the rest of history, almost all of our buildings go up in a eye blink. Many of the ancient palaces and churches that we now admired all took hundreds of years to become what they are today. Anyhoo, Casa Batllo and Parc Gruell are so innovative that I don't know how one man came up with everything. We also took a day trip up to Figueres to see works by Salvador Dali. His ink drawings are amusing but very graphic.

Montserrat: A monastery tucked up in the mountains. I wish we had more time to hike around up there, but we still got some good views. The Basilica has a statue of a black Virgin Mary that according to legend was carved by St. Luke and brought there by St. Peter.

Madrid: Many things (including the palace) were closed. The Museo del Prado has a wonderful art collection. Unlike the Louvre, this museum is actually manageable and not totally overwhelming.

Segovia: Our home away from home. We ended up there twice (not planned that way). It's got a 2000 yr old aqueduct that's huge! The Alcazar is also beautiful, but more like a fortress when compared to the one in Seville (a palace). We also celebrated Three Kings Day there. They had the most lively parade I've ever seen! There was not a dull moment, or any organizations or politicians marching. Just people dressed up and throwing candy.

El Escorial and La Granja: Two palaces. El Escorial is the most impressive. All the kings and queens for the past couple centuries are buried there. Normally royalty is scattered around, but the close family ties are definitely evident. There are also princes, princesses and other members of the royal family buried there as well. And let's just say they've planned ahead. Valle de los Caidos is a giant basilica dug out of a granite mountain. It's impressive, but has an creepy vibe. It houses soldiers from the civil war, Franco is buried there, and it was built by forced labor.

Salamanca: This city has an architectural cohesiveness that rivals Toledo. My favorite cathedral(s) are there. Normally, old cathedrals are torn down to build new ones. But the Medieval cathedral is still standing next to the newer Gothic one. The old paintings and grotesques were definitely my favorite part. The cloister has little side chapels that also date back to the middle ages, and it still feels like you're taking a step back in time. Convento de Santa Clara is also interesting, because you can walk above the current church ceiling but below the original medieval ceiling. It's not everyday one can see the ceiling decoration as the artist saw it 700 years ago.

I'll try to get some more pictures uploaded shortly, but daily life is going faster than I can. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and ya'll are ready to the Bears to win Superbowl XLI!

Julie

P.S. The best part: The Sun! I quickly earned the nickname "Sunflower" because I was always oriented towards it.

Sunrise: 8:55am
Sunset: 4:11pm