For us it was the breakthrough experience, the chance to live
and work in Europe. Beginning with an early morning telephone
call from a European contract employment agency in October 2000,
our tour in Spain officially started the following month when
Greg arrived in Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque province
in northern Spain and location of GAMESA Aeronautica SA where he
was to work. Lana and Ann followed in December arriving just in
time for Christmas and the two week holiday break customary in
the aircraft industry. Greg had already rented a new furnished
chalet in a village called Mendoza near Vitoria so there was
nothing to do but set off on the first of several sightseeing
expeditions.
The Christmas trip took us to Barcelona on the Mediterranean
coast and then along the southern French coast through Cannes,
Monaco, Monte Carlo into northeastern Italy, Pisa, Florence and
eventually to Rome. Along the way there were several learning
experiences including how to negotiate the many toll stations
along the French and Italian motorways. At one station Greg's
only working plastic bank card was ingested by an Italian toll
machine. Of course it was raining torrents and the machine was
neither permitting us to move forward nor giving back the card
and there were several impatient drivers stuck behind us. Finally,
an Italian service person came to the rescue, but we had to wait
for over an hour while he disassembled the machine to retrieve
the card. The rest of the trip was better, but we used only cash
in the toll machines from then on.
Most of our exploration consisted of weekend trips. Spain while
not a small country has excellent motorways which encourage
speedy travel (cruising at 100+ mph) so it takes less than a day
to drive top to bottom or side to side. Typically we would target
a location during the week and then hit the road early Saturday,
see the attraction, and return for dinner that evening. Nearly
every city/town dates back to medieval times so there is
something to see in all of them. For those interested in Roman
architecture, you'll see some of the finest examples outside of
Rome in cities like Segovia where there is an aqueduct built
completely from closely fitted stone, no mortar, 100 feet high
and six miles long. Doesn't sound like much compared to the Great
Wall but considering it has been in place for nearly 2000 years,
could still function if needed and was built without any machines,
just block and tackle and a lot of slaves it is remarkable. Not
more than a mile from our house in Mendoza we found an
archeological dig of a roman outpost along the local river. At
one time there had been a fairly extensive village built inside a
surrounding wall some of which still remains. Below the village
stands a roman bridge. A beautiful piece of stonework, it is
unmistakable in origin having five distinctly roman arches and is
wide enough for a modern vehicle (one way). We drove our car
across the same stones that carried roman carts and chariots.
Spain probably has more structures from the middle ages than any
other European country, many of which are nearly intact. Having
escaped the devastation of both world wars and having been the
most powerful European country prior to the ascendance of England
in the later half of the 16th century, Spain is full of ruins, a
legacy of the powerful aristocrats who dominated Spanish society.
And there are the churches, nearly one for every hill top. Most
were constructed over eight hundred years ago. Early gothic is
word which best describes them. Most are built from limestone
ruble which litters the farm fields surrounding the villages. All
sit atop the highest locations so are distinctly visible. Most
now have been equipped with night lights aimed to illuminate the
exterior walls providing a pleasant and dramatic effect.
It has always been a place of castles, knights, ladies-in-waiting,
and things medieval. Many of these castles still stand, some in
ruins but others remarkably intact or at least maintained. We
visited one such castle near Bilbao where the Baltron family
dominated the locale for several hundred years. Their castle has
been vacant for at least two centuries, and is now a museum. Not
a large structure it has most of the elements that one associates
with castles: a moat, a well, a draw bridge, porticos with
vertical iron grates which could be lowered to keep out attackers,
two rings of crenellated walls, and a keep under which was a
store room and dungeon. Apparently the castle was only besieged
once and never defeated. While under attack from a local rival
carrier pigeons were successfully used to summon help from nearby
allies who managed to drive off the besieging army. Nowadays the
invaders carry cameras and some push baby strollers across the
draw bridge and through the portal into the vestibule where the
guards once checked all visitors. Today you can gain entrance
with a few Euros.
Our small village, Mendoza, has a small fortified tower dating to
1100AD and is now maintained as a museum of heraldry. The tower
is about 20 meters high and surrounded by a single wall
approximately 4 meters tall and 1.5 meters thick at the base.
Inside the wall is lined with the crests of the aristocratic
families of the area some dating back a millennium. The entire
site has been restored with the first work being done in the late
1960's. Not far away is our landlord's house which by Mendoza
standards is relatively new being only 300 years old. We show
some of the photos of the village and tower in our photo page.
Spain is much more than medieval buildings and museums. The
coastlines of the country are varied and sometimes dramatic. It
is also a mountainous area with snow capped peaks some to nearly
3000 meters. The southern regions are arid not unlike the SW
deserts of the US. The Mediterranean coast is a renowned summer
playground with thousands of kilometers of beautiful sand beaches.
And although Spain no longer has the worlds largest empire as
once did, it still rules a number of islands in the Mediterranean
and Atlantic. The Canary islands lie a several hundred kilometers
west of Morocco well to the south and have an eternally spring
like climate. They are volcanic in origin and now support one of
the largest tourist industries in Europe. Similarly but much
nearer are the Balearic islands including Majorca, Minorca and
Ibiza. Just an overnight ferry ride or an hour by air from
Barcelona the Balearics are very popular with the northern
Europeans looking for a close, exotic escape. Although these
islands are owned by Spain they have taken on their own character
due to the large number of non Spanish inhabitants many of whom
are German and British.
Finally we must mention some of the famous cities including
Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Granada. Each has centuries of
history and distinctive character which can be better described
by the numerous guides and pamphlets available on the Internet,
travel guides, tour books and on the link we have provided on our
web page. Here we will just skim the cream from each. Madrid is
of course the capital city with many many statues, edifices,
fountains, famous buildings, and the national palace which
currently is the official residence of Spain's current king, Juan
Carlos I. Like most other European monarchs Juan Carlos is
primarily a national symbol having relatively little political
power. The last real "ruler" of Spain was Generalisimo
Francisco Franco whose fascist party overthrew the constitutional
democracy which followed the abdication of Spain's last ruling
monarch to become a life long dictator. Franco's iron rule is now
generally accepted as the main reason Spain is still one of the
poorer European nations; however, he was never seriously
challenged during his nearly 36 year rule dying naturally in 1975.
Since then Spain has begun to reconnect with the rest of Europe
and is fast becoming a first world country. More about Madrid
here: http://www.nova.es/~jlb/english.htm
Barcelona is a city full of mischief and old world charm. Long a
famous sea port on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona's
waterfront is one of the most impressive anywhere with an
extensive promenade, old sailing ships, sidewalk cafes, chic
boutiques, aquarium, and the famous pillar of Christopher
Columbus. The mild climate supports palms and other semi-tropical
plants as well as giving the city one of the best night life
environments in Spain. The Spanish come alive after 9PM which is
when the restaurants and bars get ready for the nightly crowds of
locals looking for something good to eat and drink. Earlier one
can find a huge selection of the petite open face sandwiches
known as tapas. Many folks simply walk and talk the streets until
near midnight and the younger set often stays out dancing and
partying until the sun comes up. How they manage to make it in to
work at 9AM is still a mystery although the two or three hour
lunch/siesta beginning at 1PM is one explanation. See this link
for more on Barcelona: http://www.barcelonaweb.com
Our brief visit to Seville was a bit of a disappointment. We
weren't expecting the crumbling nature of the city center nor the
dirty streets. Even so the past splendor of the city is evident
in the Torre de Oro (tower of gold) and pomp of the horse drawn
carriages decorated in the style of 17th century Spanish nobility.
Spending only a day we obviously missed many of the attractions.
The visit was on a Sunday and the local gentry was either just
going or coming from church. Many ladies were wearing the
traditional costumes which include a shawl over the head and
shoulders and the distinctive hair comb. Men were attired in
traditional dark suits with ruffled white shirts and some wore
the bolero hat. At first we thought that these folks were just
hired actors but after seeing them appear around every corner it
became obvious that this is their Sunday routine. Another little
event which colored our opinion happened outside our hotel. A
young street gent noticed as we pulled into a parking space on a
side street. He gave us a long, hard look, and I began to wish we
could put the car someplace else. Unfortunately parking was
scarce so we made sure we removed everything even the contents of
the glove box. The next day I half expected to find a window
smashed and the CD player gone, but the car was untouched. The
gent however was at his usual post and approached us as we packed
to leave. He was friendly enough and made a proposition that I
might pay him for watching the car the previous evening. At first
I was going to tell him to get lost, but then I softened and gave
him 500 pesetas ($2.50). I'm fairly certain that he did not watch
the car all night, but then he didn't break into it either.
Patience has its rewards. For a much better description of the
town check out the following link: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/sevilla.htm
Grenada hardly needs an introduction being probably Spain's most
popular destination for tourists. The town itself is quite
interesting, but the crown jewel is the Alhambra. In fact it was
the only place we visited that required a reservation. Not
knowing that thwarted our first attempt. Getting a reservation is
fairly easy by calling one day ahead to the ticket office.
Apparently the Spanish feel that there is a need to control the
number of visitors to that attraction although the Alhambra is
quite large. Perhaps it is because the real essence of the
Moorish period for which the Alhambra is the best and last
remaining location is concentrated in one magnificent complex in
which it is entirely possible to imagine you have jumped back ten
centuries to the time when the Moors invaded Spain and
established the northern most region of their empire which
included most of north Africa, Spain and for a short time part of
southern France. The Moors brought their Arabic culture to Spain
in the form of religion, architecture, art, weapons and the
characteristic swirling script of their writing. The Alhambra
embodies the elements of all these cultural features and more.
After all these years you can still feel the presence of the
people who created this place. There is a solitude, a simple
elegance to all they left behind when they were finally driven
out of Spain by the conquering Christian armies of Isabella and
Ferdinand. It is to the credit of the Spanish that they realized
the value of preserving this man made wonder. While most other
Moorish fortresses and mosques were destroyed, the Alhambra was
spared. If you go to Spain you must visit the Alhambra. For more
about Grenada and the Alhambra try:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/The_Alhambra.html
It is time now to move on to other countries and adventures, but
we certainly only skimmed some of the cream from Spain for this
web page hoping that it has given some clues to what is there
waiting to be enjoyed. Of course we have omitted most of the
disappointments and frustrations during our seven month stay. Why
dwell on negatives when there is so much more excitement and
adventure than bad experiences. Each country has its pace. In
Spain one must adapt to enjoy. We never quite made the transition
to the afternoon siestas and late night dinners, but even so we
had a great time. Someday we will return to continue the tour.
Until then we can only say Bien Viajes Amigos.
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