Anne’s View 2018-7

What have we been doing since leaving France, you ask??

Well, in Spain, you see cathedrals/basilicas galore and churches by the hundreds, and to go with those you see monasteries and convents by the ??? Wonderful country side and I always imagine that I will run into Don Quixote, especially when we drive through La Mancha, vineyards, paddocks of bulls—and I mean big black handsome bulls with wonderful sets of horns, they are magnificent and they know it!!

I love Spain and everything about it. It has really changed since our first visit here in 2002. We have watched it grow and compliment its magnificent past with all of the new building since it became part of the EU.

Spain does not do things by half measure —when it builds roads it builds super highways.  The traffic in Spain is much less that other parts of Europe (they are building for the future) so when sailing down these new autopistas and autovias you feel like you own the road.

We stayed in condos in Burgos and Salamanca and they were wonderful new builds. A real joy to stay in and experience the new Spain. In Avila, we are in an old family house similar to the two we use in France. This one is 5 bedrooms and 2 baths with courtyard and barbeque. Love the marble floors in the old houses and buildings. We love learning how the people in other countries live!!

When Spain built in the past, they built it to last. They also wanted to make things beautiful. This they did with all of the best artists and craftsmen at the time. They also used lots of that new world “gold” that they helped themselves to in what is now the ‘Americas’. We always get chuckles out of that, especially when chapels and interiors were restored and adorned with the gold around that time period!!

The city of Burgos is wonderful and its cathedral takes the cake (or so we thought until we went to Salamanca). It is huge but not the largest (Bryan with a “Y”—check the internet). It does rank right up there though. One thing it is famous for is 8 pointed stars. Glass 8 pointed stars  in the tops of the domes, which I did not know the meaning of but here it is. The eight-pointed star, or octagram, has a variety of different meanings based on the interpretation of the culture or spiritual system that is using the symbol. From the Judeo-Christian perspective, the eight-pointed star represents new beginnings or as they said in the info, the entry to heaven!! So when you see an eight pointed star you know you are in heaven!! 

Salamanca took the cake on everything, especially the cathedral and the university. Students of the University of Salamanca, the oldest in Spain and third oldest in the world (celebrating its 800th anniversary this year), are greeted with the old legend of the frog on the skull. It is presented as a challenge, that the students must spot the frog on the skull on the façade of the University, otherwise they will not be able to graduate as doctors. Another theory on the  skull with a frog on top follows. Serving as a warning to students, this iconic frog on ‘La Puerta de Salamanca’ represents the lazy ease of youth whilst the skull reminds them of their mortality…urging them to study hard rather than just party hard.  So who really knows?? All sorts of speculation. Every tourist must leave Salamanca with their frogs!! 

Salamanca Cathedral is actually two cathedrals attached, the old built in twelfth century and the new in the fifteenth century. We were witnesses to two Spanish weddings, one in each cathedral. The cathedral also has two mysterious sculptures on it, an astronaut and a gargoyle. It turns out both the astronaut and the gargoyle are details added by the craftsmen in charge of doing some restoration work on the Cathedral in 1992. It seems it’s a regular practice of these workers to “sign” their works with some interesting details. Jerónimo García, chief restorer chose the astronaut as a symbol of the 20th century and it’s said that the gargoyle represents the students. 

Avila is another wonderful medieval city. Its medieval walls are still complete and in wonderful condition. Robert will give you a better description of them since he walked the entire wall. The thing that fascinated me was how beautiful the stonework is in them and the fact that we have seen what we think is our first fortified cathedral. There are many in Europe but this one is spectacular the way the church was built as part of the THICK defense walls and the city. Just amazing. 

Avila is also the home of Saint Theresa of Jesus or Saint Theresa of Avila.. She was born in 1515 to a wealthy family and the convent cathedral was built to include the family home.  So those of you raised in the Catholic church will know about her. She was born, raised and educated there in Avila. You can see the room she was born in which is part of the cathedral at the convent,  a relic of her right ring finger, her books, etc.!?!

Well, it might be time for me to close this epistle to the Romans?? I think I got a little carried away.

A few pictures for this one,  as Robert will post more of all I talked about. Boo!! I know it is more fun to see pictures than do all of the reading??