The Iberian Peninsula

Hello All,

As you all probably know, Fr. Beaver and I made quite the European Trip just prior to J&J's Wedding and I have been meaning to write a bit on the experience and show you all a little taste of Spain, Portugal, France and Andorra. Each of those four countries is beautiful and different in their own ways, ie: languages, foods, people, and they are all much more different that I had thought (well a bigger difference than going from Washington to Idaho anyway). Being my first trip to Europe, I was not sure what to expect. The "main reason" for Fr. Beaver's visit was to see the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela which is the 2nd most visited pilgrimage site after St. Peter's in Rome (supposedly) but when we went there, I think there might have been five other people in the church. I didn't have a "main reason" for going. I just wanted to see Europe since it was going to be new, different and exciting. There were definite highlights, but no lowlights (is that a word?).

Anyway, we flew from Seattle to Paris to Madrid. In Madrid we rented our chariot (a 2007 Citreon C2) and we were there for a night before heading to Toledo and Cordoba. However, before we left I went to the Prado in Madrid to see some Rembrandt and El Greco (Uncle Dan see below:)


After leaving Madrid we headed south to Cordoba where we saw quite the old mosque tht was taken over during the inquisition and turned into a Catholic Church. It was quite incredible inside with all of the "candy cane" arches:

Once leaving Cordoba we headed to Seville to celebrate the last day of my existence as a 22 year old. While there we saw the Cathedral that holds the corpse of Christopher Columbus. Across town we also went to see the Madonna Macarena. While at the church of the Madonna Macarena I saw a lady lighting her cigarrette with one of the prayer candles. I think that this pretty much sums up what my impression was of what many Europeans think of religion, as in "nothing is sacred." Europe is chock full of these churches and yet nobody fills them. We had to pay to get into the majority of these religious sights because there are no devotees giving money for their upkeep. I have digressed.

Anyway, we headed to Portugal on my birthday and it was quite the drive - beautiful, very warm, and many sleepy towns along the way. We wandered through farmland and forests seeing storks on lightposts, pigs in pastures and castles on top of hills. But, once we hit the wide open, brand new European Union funded toll highways, I went 150 kmph on cruise control with Volvos, BMWs & Porsches passing me like I was standing still.

We stayed in Portugal for three days, the last two being in Porto. While there I took the time to visit the wineries and get nice and learned up on the intracacies of Port Wine. I brought back a few bottles for special events and had a great time hiking the narrow streets with the great views of the river and the city:

So I left Porto, Portugal with a heavy heart and headed for Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I would put a picture of the Cathedral here but the three pictures that we had people take of us turned out horribly. So, just check it out on wikipedia. It was here that I experienced my the best Paella that I have ever had in my life, to date (sorry dad) and it is deserving of a picture:


After Santiago de Compostela we went to Finesterra which is the real end of the pilgrimage to Santiago and is the westernmost point of Europe.

The next day marked probably the longest drive that we made in a day and we ended up in Bilbao for the night. This was a very beautiful city full of vibrant nightlife, beautiful buildings and the brand new Guggenheim. I went in for a little tour of the artwork, which was strangely enough '300 years of American Art' which I guess I had to go all the way to Bilbao, Spain to see.

After having seen not even a fraction of Bilbao, we quickly left to get a little taste of France and to see Lourdes:

I washed my feet in the miracle working waters in the grotto. No immediate effects, however, Fr. Beaver said that it is probably the "crock-pot" healing that I am going to experience as opposed to the "microwave" effect. My generation was not blessed with the virtue of patience, however I am not giving up on our Lady and the frigid healing waters of Lourdes. Also, Boin I got you something there, so ask me for it before I lose it.

Having left the Frenchies, we drove over to chat with the Andorrans for a night. This place was amazing and would not exist if not for the natural high mountains and extreme inaccessibility. This picture is an example of what must be done these days in Europe to prove that you have been to a country. They didn't even stamp my passport when I flew into OR out of Europe. I have no proof of even being there except for pictures: So leaving Andorra, we headed over the pass instead of going through the tunnels and ended up in Barcelona. Barcelona is amazing. Everyone should go there. Everyone should visit La Sagrada Familia. Everyone should look at this picture of it:














So, this temple is dedicated to the Holy Family and construction began in 1882 and is slated to be completed in 2025ish. Those three tower cranes are usually at work, it was Saturday when we went though so we didn't have to deal with construction noise. Uncle Tere, this temple is amazing, it kind of reminds me of St. Joe's in Kennewick, WA. I would have liked to walk around with you on this construction site to answer quite a few questions that I had re: construction methods, load bearing columns, materials, beauty vs. functionality and hyperboloids.

If anyone has not heard of this Temple, or its sheer proportion or Gaudi's intentions for its design they have been living in the dark. This is probably the last old, large Gothic-ish style church that will ever be built, so it is worth knowing about. Again, check out wikipedia for a bit more detail.

So Barcelona was the last stop on the trip and I just happened to stumble upon a ticket booth for a Barcelona Soccer game. I bought Fr. a ticket and he reluctantly went/I dragged him to the game where we sat way up high and and took up 2 of 98,000 seats. Barcelona won, which made the game that much better. Here is a pic of us at the Camp Nou Stadium:
The next day I drove from Barcelona to Madrid, we stayed in a hotel for four hours, flew to Paris, flew to Seattle and were back in the States in time for Julie & Joe's Wedding.

Never a dull moment.

Thanks to Fr. Beaver for making this whole thing work out, it was a lot of fun and once you've cycled through all of the other 43 cousins I'm ready to go again.

Eamonn