Our day started with a free walking tour of Madrid, led by a young Englishman who had established residence in Madrid eight years ago. Enrique found his English accent difficult to understand. He’s most used to us Midwesterners and our flat/nonexistent accents.

This was a history tour, so let’s get started. The first modern humans occupied the Iberian Peninsula about 32,000 years ago . . . “Oh come on Jon, we’re not going to read through the complete history of Spain, of which you know little or nothing.” You’re right; let’s skip the history thing.

I would like to add a bit of additional information I learned today to what I reported yesterday. Remember Charles II, the last of the Hapsburg kings? The one who failed to leave an heir, leading to the 14-year War of Spanish Succession? Turns out it wasn’t his fault. The four immediate ancestors of Charles II’s father married first cousins. His dad married a niece. Charlie II was drawing from the shallow end of the DNA pool and was beset with terrible physical deformities. No wonder he couldn’t sire a kid despite trying with two wives. It was time to send the Hapsburgs packing.

And remember the first Bourbon king of Spain? The grandson of the Sun King (Louis XIV) of France? King Philip V? He didn’t spend all of his time at the hunting lodge at San Ildefonso. He did show up occasionally at the office in the royal palace in Madrid. The palace burned down during his reign: cause unknown. The most popular conspiracy theory is that Philip V himself set the fire. After the smoke cleared, he rebuilt it in the style of his boyhood home(s) in France. It turned out to have more rooms than any European royal palace. The circumstantial evidence is strong pointing to his guilt. But then again, who’s going to prosecute a sitting king? “Off with his head!”

Our guide showed us many of the popular sites in downtown Madrid. We started in the Puerta del Sol, walked to Plaza Mayor, Plaza de la Villa and a whole bunch more in two- and one-half hours. He talked quite a bit about food: we saw the oldest restaurant in the world that is still operating, a really neat food market (Mercado de San Miguel) and learned about tapas.

Did you know where the idea of tapas came from? A king (I forget which one) stopped at an inn for a drink. The waiter, serving in a fly-infested room, feared to serve his king a glass of wine (or whatever) with a fly in the soup. Thinking quickly, he placed a slab of ham over the glass. The king said, “What’s that? And why is it so small?” Hence today’s custom in Madrid is for drinks to be served with a free small plate of food of some sort. Of course, the establishment’s hope is that you will buy more plates of food to improve the profit margins. The smart way to go drinking in Madrid is to buy one drink, eat and drink, then move on to the next establishment and repeat. By the end of the night (or by dawn the next morning) you will be well fed, assuming you can still walk after all that drinking.

Our guy served up lots of other fun facts including the three forms of execution: beheading (reserved for members of the aristocracy), hanging (for commoners; cheaper but more painful) and the most gruesome, garroting. The last garroting was performed in 1974 under Franco.

This day, our last, was once again warm but not excessively hot with blue skies and a nice breeze. But after our walking tour we were getting hungry. It took us a while, but we found a very nice restaurant serving traditional food with a modern twist. We ordered asparagus with a cheese sauce and ham croquettes to start and then traditional paella for two to finish. They brought us two nice other tapas while we waited.

I always thought paella was a seafood dish. Enrique corrected us: paella came from his father’s home town of Valencia (yes, they grow oranges in Valencia). Traditionally, it contains chicken and rabbit (tastes just like guinea pig), vegetables and sometimes sausage and of course rice with saffron. We ordered enough for two; Judy and Enrique nibbled. The pan was pretty much empty when we finished. You do the math.

Next, we drove out of town to the village of Chinchon. I really like the town, especially the Plaza Mayor, which reminded us somewhat of the square in Siena, Italy. It was late afternoon with a warm sun. We sat at an outside café and had our postres and tinto Verano (summer red wine). Very pleasant indeed.

The thing I liked most about Chinchon is that it totally lacks any important historical significance nor is it the hometown to anyone famous. That means I don’t have to google up some facts to impress you all. The town does make good use of its Plaza Mayor: there’s a wine festival, a Good Friday reenactment of the crucifixion and in October they build a temporary bull ring. In fact, Chinchon, its citizens and its bull ring were featured in the movie Around the World in Eighty Days.

Enrique then drove us to what turned out to be a most fitting final attraction for this 19-day trip: Cerro de Los Angeles, a shrine to Jesus. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the republican factions revolted and overthrew the king. Republicans were opposed not only to royal rule but also the influence of the Catholic church. One of their actions was to blow up the shrine to Jesus on top of Los Angeles hill. Franco overthrew the republicans in the Spanish Civil War and, being a strong Catholic, rebuilt the tribute to Jesus in even more grander style. You can see the towering statue topped by Jesus in tonight’s pictures. The tribute reads: Spain under the heart of Jesus. Los Angeles is at the geographic center of both Madrid and Spain, so it is fitting that Jesus should be stand here.

Visiting Cerro de Los Angeles caused me to reflect. Franco, who did so much as a dictator to trample on human rights was a Catholic believer who made great efforts to protect the church. And the republicans, dedicated to restoring human rights suppressed by royalty and the church, made great efforts to destroy religion in Spain. No one’s perfect, I guess; everyone has a good side and a bad side.

So tomorrow we leave. We’re anxious to get home to see the grandkids and the rest but leaving is going to be hard. Not only have we had a good time, but these last three days we’ve had the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with Enrique. Mom and Dad loved Enrique as a son so that makes him like a brother to us. He’s shown us such a good time, instructed us in Spanish culture, has been so gracious as a host in his home and has served us such great food. Now it’s his turn to come visit us again, which will then make it our turn to visit him in Spain another time. Thank you, Enrique!

And thanks to all of you for suffering through our daily ruminations and reports. We’ve appreciated your kind comments as we’ve gone along on our journeys.

The Trip Across Northern Spain 2019

By Judy Rick

May 25 – June, 4, 2019

The scenery across northern Spain was beautiful! I was surprised by the rolling hills and mountains all the way across.  At one point the rolling hills had small hills – almost like large moguls – on them. I have never seen anything like it!  Also, along this route we followed the Atlantic Ocean; it was pretty fun to think of you Easterners being on the other side of it.

The first city we visited was Santiago de Compostela, which is a town people make pilgrimages to from as far away as France.  We met a girl who had hiked about 700 km starting in France. Some of the pilgrims hiking to the cathedral would collapse in the square in great joy and relief upon achieving their goal.  People were just sitting around all over the square every time we walked through, day or night.  It was clear most of them had been hiking. 

The disappointing thing for us, and I am sure it was for the pilgrims, was that the cathedral was closed for repairs. But then we happened on an open door and we went in and saw the construction.  It was very interesting to see everything covered and hear the construction noise.  A different way to see a cathedral!

When we first went up to the cathedral, we continued on to a market area, but it was just closing so most stalls were closed. There was a cheese stalls still open, so we stopped, tasted and purchased three kinds of cheese to eat on the rest of our trip.  We have been eating it for many lunches and once we used it for breakfast.  We especially had a fun time with the women who ran the stall.  One spoke English and the other women loved Jon’s I-phone and wants to buy it on line.  We were trying to help her figure out the site she might be able to do it from.  We spend a long time with them and took pictures with them.  It was fun for all of us.

The place we stayed was one of my favorites, it was a block from the square and we had our own private cottage in a quiet garden that even had a hammock.  This place also had a combination washer and dryer so of course I could not let that go without using it.  This city was my least favorite so far and it could be because we were unable to find the places our hostess had suggested to eat. While wandering the streets looking for dinner, we did come onto an outdoor rock concert. It was fun to watch the concert goers and the atmosphere all around the event. 

The next city was Gijon and it was a nice smaller city right along the Bay of Biscay.  The reason for stopping at this city was that Jon’s mother had written her doctoral thesis on Jovellanos who was from this city.  There is a museum in the house where he was born so we headed for it as soon as we got there only to learn that it, as they frequently do in Spain, was closed from 2:00 – 5:00PM.  Everything closes down and walking the streets it was like a ghost town. 

Next to the museum was a small chapel where Jovellanos was buried so we spent time there before walking all around the waterfront. As we ate our ice cream before the museum opened, we noticed people gathering in the square.  School kids, parents with kids, older folks. There was a building, maybe a store, where people were gathering and waiting to get in. 

Dinner here was very good.  At the museum we asked about a sculpture of bottles we had seen.  We were told it was a sculpture made of cider (sidra) bottles, that is produced in Gijón.  We were told it is poured holding the bottle as high as you can into a glass being held almost sideways and as low as you can.  You need to drink it all at once to get the best taste. The museum attendant recommended a good restaurant for local food and sidra. At the restaurant I did as we had been told and Jon teased me about drinking it so fast. We had a very nice dinner along with a bottle of Sidra.  Sidra is a hard cider, maybe a little like beer to me.  I enjoyed the small town feel of Gijón.  There was very little English spoken there.

Next, we went on to Bilbao, the home of the Guggenheim museum.  We stayed at a very nice hotel that looks at the Guggenheim.  Well, our room didn’t have a view of the Guggenheim but others did. , Here we were able to drive to the front of the hotel and they parked our car in their garage for a price but it was worth it! 

The Guggenheim Museum was designed by Frank Gehry, the same person who designed the Weisman museum in Minneapolis.  He has a very unique style of architecture.  The art works in the Guggenheim were all modern.  There were films and one was the tearing down of a building.  It was making a political statement but that was days ago, and I can’t remember the details.  The Guggenheim Museum was for me mainly about the building and its architecture, which is very unique and spectacular. 

For dinner we took the elevator outside our hotel down to the river level where we had a pleasant walk to the old town. There we found the recommended restaurant and we had a very nice tapas meal.  After dinner we walked back along the river and went on so we were across from the Guggenheim so we could take pictures.  I would say the bridge next to the museum was designed as part of the Guggenheim architecture.  It was a red H structure and then a little later it has a strobe lighting on the H structure. It really looked pretty neat at night. We took the elevator up on the other side of the bridge and walked across to our hotel. I enjoyed my day in Bilbao.

The next day we headed out for France where we stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast in Souraide, France.  On the way we were traveling in Basque country and we stopped along the way to see a few of the towns.  We first stopped in Baskio where we got out and walked around the town.  We mainly walked down the walkway along the beach and watched the surfers.

We then went on to Gaztelugatxe where there is a hermitage out on a small island in the ocean. We were hiking to it and we kept going down and down and down. I was stressing with every step down because I knew I would have to go back up.  We got finally got down to the water and I could see the long walk up to the building at the top. I was stressing so Jon said I did not have to go.  I said if there was water and something to eat was up there it would be worth it but if it was just the building it would not.  I saw a man with a Boston tee shirt on and asked if they spoke English.  They were not from Boston but from Madrid.  They said there was nothing out there but the building I could see from the bottom of the hill.  That did it!  I watched Jon start the climb and took pictures from there until I had cooled down and then I took a leisurely climb back up to the restaurant.  Jon was maybe 20 minutes behind me, and we were both happy.  He accomplished the climb and I enjoyed picture taking and being leisurely.

Back on the road we drive on to Guernica where Jon had discovered a museum he thought would be interesting. We found a parking space and walked the block to the museum only to discover once again it closed 2:00 – 5:00PM and it was 2:15. So we had the opportunity to walk the streets around the pretty Assembly Hall where sessions of the Biscay parliament are held. The streets were deserted.

Back in the car we continued our drive through the Basque countryside.  The villages were beautiful with every house painted white house and all with red shutters and trim pieces.  The signs were all in both Spanish and Basque languages and then French and Basque when we crossed into France.  I really enjoyed that when you left the town there was a sign with the names crossed out.  I would wonder what town we were in and then, oh yes, that was the name.  Another thing: we knew we had left the Basque region when the towns had only one name and the houses were no longer white with red shutters.

We stayed in Souraide which was in beautiful farm country with rolling hills.  We found our B & B and we were met by a small barking dog and an older lady sitting outside. The lady, who spoke only French, made a phone call and invited us to sit on the porch.  In a few minutes her daughter-in-law and her grand-daughter’s boyfriend arrived.  The boyfriend spoke English so acted as interpreter. 

The region is known for making a red pepper and their family grows the peppers.  Before we left the next day, we purchased some so you may have a dish using it when you visit us sometime. 

As is our usual practice we asked for a place to have dinner and they recommended a restaurant in the next town and made reservations for us for 8:00 PM.  Both towns were very small, and the restaurant was in a small hotel that might have also been fun to stay at.  The next morning, we had a lovely breakfast with everything homemade and the granddaughter was there to be our interpreter. I loved our time here in the Basque region with its beautiful farms, cows, sheep and rolling hills.

The next morning, we drove out of Basque country and into the Pyrenees Mountains.  What a beautiful long day we had as we drove up and down the mountains on windy roads!  Jon keep choosing routes that would put us on these more picturesque roads rather than the four-lane A-1 that is their fast highway.  If we had gone that way it would have taken about 4 hours, instead it took us 9 hours, with lots of pictures and videos, to arrive at Bielsa. Jon was very tired, but I think he was happy to have done the drive. 

We stayed two nights in a lovely parador in the mountains with the sound of waterfalls coming in our window.  While there I met a couple who were taking a packaged tour and staying only at paradors for 24 days.  As lovely as it was, I would not like it, it would just be too boring.  I added my comments to Jon’s blog entry the day after we took off from picture taking and blogging. 

Next, we were on to Barcelona to get rid of the car.  All went well and we were sure we were getting there without a hitch when GPS told us to turn left and Jon saw some poles that appeared to him to block the road so he drove by turning at the next street that turned out to be one way.  He saw all these cars honking and people yelling at him.  I saw all the pedestrians yelling and not sure where to go because they did not know what we were going to do.  He finally got the car turned around and we drove around looking for the car rental place.  We found it but it is just a store front so where does the car go? I had seen a parking garage door just before the rental car place, so we drove back around, Jon drove onto the sidewalk in front of the garage and I went running to the store to ask what to do.  Down and across the street, crossing three lanes of traffic, we pulled into the garage and followed signs down three floors.  By then we were very happy to say goodbye to our trusty VW. 

We got our bags out, cleaned out the car, worked our way up three floors and walked a block where we found a taxi stand that took us to our hotel, El Avenida Palace.  We were happy to have the bell hop come out and take our bags.  What luxury after finding parking garages, usually not close by, and carting our bags to the hotel with no help! Most of the time we did use backpacks, but it was nice to be waited on.  

Who needs Netflix? Certainly none of King Philip V’s household. Philip and his family could binge on any one of the Greek and Roman mythological stories represented in allegorical form through numerous painting, sculptures and tapestries scattered around his hunting lodge at San Granja San Ildefonso. That was our first stop on a busy day in and around Segovia.

A little historical background. You remember the War of Spanish Succession from high school history, don’t you? No? Me neither. Here’s a quick refresher. Spain’s golden years occurred under the role of the Hapsburgs. The first Hapsburg, King Charles I, became king of Spain in 1516, aka Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and was THE man in Europe. From then on, the 16^thand 17^thcenturies were marked by conquests in South America (Incas, Aztecs and Mayans) and the related extraction of gold and silver. It was also a cultural golden era: Velazquez, El Greco, Cervantes’ Don Quixote and so on.

Things were on the decline (too many wars, too little tax revenue, weak kings) when the last Hapsburg, Charles II, died in 1700. His biggest boo-boo: he didn’t leave an heir. The chair was open and everyone wanted to fill it. For reasons that escape me, France and Spain fought an alliance of England, Portugal, Netherlands and assorted others. It lasted for 14 years. France lost but somehow France’s Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) had his grandson crowned as King Philip V. My sense is that Philip ruled fairly successfully from 1714 until January of 1724. Philip then said, “You know, this king thing’s been great but I’m getting on in years and I’d really like to retire to my hunting lodge up at San Ildefonso. I hereby abdicate in favor of my eldest son (by my first marriage).” Unfortunately for all involved, the son died in September and Philip had to climb back onto the throne. He kept going until his death on July 9, 1746, just 226 years to the day before Judy and I were married. The rest of the Bourbon dynasty is, to me, a blur and for today’s adventure has no relevance.

Philip and his second wife didn’t give up on the idea of spending at least the summers up in the hills of San Ildefonso and they continued to fix the place up to become the palace we toured today. It’s about an hour and a bit from Enrique’s place to the palace. Once there, we rented a really nice audio/visual guide (ear piece plus a tablet with pictures) and toured the interior of the palace. Fortunately for all involved, they wouldn’t let me take pictures, so I’m spared processing the files and you’re spared from having to view them. We also toured the attached chapel, which is an amazing piece of architecture and interior decoration in its own right.

After, around 2 PM, we broke for a traditional Spanish lunch: the big meal of the day. We found a nice little restaurant and had a first course (mine was a bean soup; Judy and Enrique had some other traditional soup); a second course (ham and pork with potatoes), bread, wine/beer/coke plus bread and dessert for 40 Euros. Not a bad deal for a great lunch.

After lunch we toured the external gardens. Philip, as Louis XIV’s grandson, had grown up playing at Versailles and Louis’ various other palaces, so he had a good idea what he wanted to do at San Ildefonso. While vaguely patterned after Versailles it reminded me more of Russia’s Peterhof with an amazing array of fountains surrounded by peaceful and shade-providing woods. At 5:30 PM they fired up first one, then another and eventually four different fountain complexes. We, along with hundreds of other visitors, trouped from one to the next, covering hundreds of meters between each.

Philip’s second wife, Isabel de Farnasio is an interesting character in her own right. She was from Parma, Italy. Her marriage, by proxy was arranged to bring Italian interests to Spain and because her handlers thought she was simple and hence easy to control. Not so; she apparently exerted great control during Philip’s reign. Together they decorated the palace with the dazzling array of artwork I mentioned earlier. And as I mentioned yesterday, much of the artwork is slanted in such a way that it reflects favorably on the king and his queen.

For instance, in one room there are eight statues of Diana’s nymphs. “But wait,” you say, “I thought Diana had nine nymphs.” Yeah right, I didn’t have a clue either until the audio guide explained it. Isabel would seat herself in front of the eight statues, thereby becoming the ninth nymphs. Doesn’t that beat binge streaming Game of Thrones?

A fountain display outdoors depicted what is, according to the Greeks, the three characteristics of ideal beauty: Affability, Joy and Charm who happen to be the daughters of Zeus.

By now it’s 7:30 PM or so and we’re off to Segovia, just 15 minutes away. I don’t have all the historical facts, but I can tell you that Segovia is one amazing and amazingly beautiful city.

The first thing that smacks you between the eyes is the amazing Roman Aqueduct, a 17-mile-long construction that provided water to Segovia into the 18^thcentury. It was patched up once by Ferdinand and Isabella and again in the 16^thcentury, but there it stands today. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Segovia has a beautiful cathedral (mid 16^thcentury) and a very nice-looking castle (called the “Disneyland Castle” by some), dating from 1120. Enrique says it isn’t as grand inside as San Ildefonso. We didn’t go into either one.

We grabbed a bag of churros and headed back to town where Enrique put on the traditional Spanish supper: Spanish tortillas (scrambled eggs with potatoes and onions mixed in – looks like a pie), sausage, cheese and bread. That ought to hold us until morning.

We have a walking tour scheduled in downtown Madrid at 10:45. We’ll see where we go after that.

And guess what? Tomorrow is our last touring day. We fly back on Monday. If it weren’t for those four grandkids, we (I at least) would stay and keep on touring. Maybe I’d just settle down and continue eating; touring is secondary!

Just a quick note tonight since it’s late.

Our Ave train trip from Barcelona to Madrid went smoothly. We hailed a Cabify car – just like Uber – and arrived at the Sants station an hour early. The 375 mile trip took 3:10 with six or seven stops. Google says it takes almost seven hours to drive. The Ave is fast, smooth and convenient. The price is less than $100, about the same as flying.

Enrique met our train and took us to his apartment in suburban Madrid – a 20-minute drive from the train station. His place is small but very nice in a newly developed section of Madrid. We’re staying with him while we’re here. This is a B&B and then some. You should have seen the tapas lunch he had ready for us: gazpacho soup, bread, cheese, sausage and a spread that is delicious but whose name I’ll have to report later. A traditional Spanish breakfast is on tap in the morning.

The Prado, Madrid’s main art museum, opens to the public for free on Friday afternoons. Not being ones to pass up a freebee, we arrived in line about 5:30 PM. The line was long but at 6:00 it moved quickly. Judy and I hadn’t been in the Prado for the better part of 30 years. Our recollection of the building was hazy at best but seeing the El Grecos, Valezqueses, Goyas, Morillos, etc., brought back for me at least a flood of memories.

I’m no art expert but my impression of these 16^ththrough 18^thcentury masters is that they can be viewed on two levels. Of course, they are works of art, with masterful use of color, light, technique, personification, perspective and so on. I was also struck by the subject matter, which always seems to have an audience – a target market – in mind. For royalty, it’s a flattering depiction of the person or people, designed to enhance the person’s image when viewed by others. Philip IV always looks dashing on the back of a rearing steed. Sometimes the target is a religious story from the Bible or from the Catholic pantheon of saints. Many of the paintings were commissioned to hang in a church; telling the religious story in a reverent and inspiring manner was important. Other times the message was to reflect on a historical or mythical story. Now the emphasis is providing entertainment and diversion. It seemed to me that the masters had to work their art around the intent of the painting, which was often dictated by whomever was paying the bill.

Next, dinner at a very nice tapas restaurant. We shared some mushroom croquettes and had two individual plates for ourselves. Plus, of course, postres/dessert.

Then, to cap the evening, Enrique drove us through the central part of Madrid to a park where an Egyptian temple is on display. Egyptian? In Madrid? Turns out that Spain helped Egypt repair the Nile river during the construction of the Aswan Dam. The Temple of Do\ebod from the second century BC was in danger of being lost by the flooding behind the dam.

We’re now back at Enrique’s, more than ready for bed. Tomorrow we’re off to Segovia.

Today we put our fate in the hands of a random tour group picked from the Internet to take us on an all-day tour of the Monastery of Monserrat, about an hour’s bus trip north and west of Barcelona. It worked out just fine.

On the way, our guide gave us a thumbnail sketch of Barcelona’s history, with which I will of course bore you. Barcelona was settled by the Romans 2,000 years ago. It was a relatively minor military outpost, but they did at least build a wall, which defined the boundaries of Barcelona until the Industrial Revolution in the 19^thcentury. The German Visigoths, etc. took over after the Roman Fall.

Barcelona escaped for the most part domination by the Moors who were contained in southern regions of Spain and Portugal. The locals pushed the Moors out of Barcelona; Charlemagne’s son pushed them out of Monserrat.

Tragically, in the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution hit Barcelona and hit it hard. All industry was established within the Roman walls. And as happened elsewhere around the world workers streamed to the city from the hinterlands. The result: extreme overcrowding and human misery. Remember Dicken’s description of London during this same time period? Barcelona had it worse. The average life expectancy dropped to 26 years of age.

The citizens of Barcelona did, according to our tour guide, what Catalans do best: they protested, demanding, “Tear down that wall!” It took ten years but when they did the territory outside the walls went from danger filled forest and fields to what we see today. The wall existed not more than three blocks from our hotel.

The fortunes of Barcelona peaked in the 11^thand 12^thcenturies when it was a major Mediterranean trading port. The Black Death in the 13^thcentury cut the population in half; recovery took hundreds of years.  In 1469 Isabella, Queen of Catalonia, married King Ferdinand of Castile. We all know what happened next (In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue . . .).

Napoleon did his thing in the early 1800s, invading and conquering and destroying Monserrat in the process. Most of what we saw today was the 19^thcentury reconstruction of what had been there since the 16^thcentury. The first hermit monks are thought to have come to Monserrat (Catalan for jagged saw blade) the mountain in the 8^thcentury. It grew in importance, adding the boys’ choir in the 13^thcentury. Today it is home to some 50 or so monks and about the same number of private school boys. To enter the school, the boys must be proficient at playing the piano and their parents must pay a hefty sum in tuition. The boys are asked to leave at age 14 or whenever their voices crack, thereby rendering them useless for the choir.

The basilica is home to the Black Madonna, a statue of the Virgin Mary that is much revered by Catalan people. All Catalans make a point of touching the Black Madonna at least once in their lives.

The Black Madonna legend is a good one. It seems that angles came down to heaven with a golden saw and created the distinctive saw-shaped mountain range we see today as a throne for the Madonna. Shepard’s saw a celestial light and followed it to a cave where they found the statue. People thronged to the cave, depleting attendance at mass at the local church. The priest decided to move the Black Madonna from the cave to his church but the more he tried to lift it the heavier it got. Another miracle! The priest gave up and built a church around the statue.

We spent several hours there, first touring the basilica. I once again flashed back on my trip 50 years ago with Mom to Monserrat. I didn’t recognize the exterior but immediately recalled seeing and even touching the Black Madonna once inside. Today tourism is much greater, so it takes hours in line to touch her now.

We initially used our free time to take the funicular up to the site of some of the hermit monk’s chapels. Upon reaching the top Judy decided to go back down because otherwise she’d miss the boys’ choir at 1:00 PM. So we divided to conquer: she went down and I stayed up to see what I could see. I had to cut my hiking short, however, to meet up with the group at 1:20 PM. Check out the pictures to see what I saw. Judy taped the choir and she’ll post it soon, I’m sure.

Our tour continued to the Oller de Mas winery where we were served a nice, multi-course meal, including a glass or two of the local wine. We then had a three-wine tasting session with generous pours so by the time we were back on the bus it was siesta time for much of the 1:15 trip back to Barcelona. The winery’s owner is the 37^thgeneration of his family to own the property. It started out in the 12^thcentury as a pottery making business. It transitioned to wine but that came to a screeching halt when the wine industry in Spain and across Europe was decimated from a fungus imported from America. The current owner’s father resumed wine making only in the past 30 years.

The weather today was partly cloudy. At the monastery the mountain peaks were in the clouds and it was windy and thus chilly. While waiting for the bus in Barcelona I actually felt two drops of rain, the first rainfall of our trip so far!

We wimped out on dinner tonight. It’s windy and chilly and we’re still full from the luncheon spread so we’re staying in with our supply of cheese, crackers and oranges. Maybe/probably/#youcanbetonit we’ll have another hit on the port wine and the candy bars we’ve paired with it.

Tomorrow we pull up stakes, make our way to the train station and take the Ave (high speed train) to Madrid and our friend Enrique who will be our guide and protector for the next three days.