Tag Archives: history

Azkuna Zentroa

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Azkuna Zentroa

Azkuna Zentroa (exterior)

Azkuna Zentroa (interior)

Azkuna Zentroa (interior)

This building, built as a bodega or wine warehouse in the 18th century, is unassuming from the outside. Blends right in with the rest of the neighborhood. But the inside is something else altogether! In the early 20th century they gutted the building and built three brick buildings inside it, each so simple in design yet so striking in comparison to their outer shell. And they placed the inner buildings on 43 unique columns constructed of wood, brick, ceramic, stone, and metal. The collection is intended to represent “the infinity of cultures, architectures, wars, and religions man has gone through over history.” Each is beautiful in its own way.

one of 43 columns

one of 43 columns

The three inner buildings house auditoriums, concert halls, art space, restaurants, cafés, and – best of all – a three-floor media center. I used to work in a library that called itself a media center in an effort to sound more grandiose and forward-thinking. We had a few videos and books on tape. But this is a media center in the truest sense of the name. In addition to books, it contains a plethora of films and television, video, and audio recordings to browse through and listen to. The place was packed with people tucked into nooks and crannies and taking advantage of this amazing resource. Can’t blame them. If I lived in Bilbão, this is where I’d be.

Bilbão

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the stained glass window that welcomed us at Bilbão-Abando train station

the stained glass window that welcomed us at Bilbão-Abando train station

Here we are in Bilbão, the heart of Basque Country, or El País Vasco in Spanish and Euskadi in the Basque language Euskara.

random brickwork on a derelict building

random brickwork on a derelict building

I don’t know about you, but I used to mentally connect the Basque Country to terrorism. There was so much of it in the news in the 1980s. At that time, I knew the Basque Country was sandwiched between Spain and France in the Pyrenees Mountains, but I thought it was an independent country. What I learned in reading up for this trip is that the Basque Country is comprised of four Spanish Basque provinces and three French Basque provinces that want to become one country of seven Basque provinces. Hence their political equation: 4+3=1. Makes sense; many cohesive ethnicities existed before today’s political boundaries divided them. Borders continue to shift and change accordingly.

The Basque provinces have wanted independence since the time they were incorporated into Spain and France centuries ago. After the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 and Generalísimo Franco declared himself dictator of Spain, he didn’t want to hear anything about separatist movements from either the Basque Country, Catalonia, or any other provinces. Politically, he came down on them pretty harshly.

After his death in 1975, Spain reverted to a monarchy. The Basques, not knowing what line the new king, Juan Carlos I, would take, made their bid for independence loudly and clearly. That was the tumultuous ‘80s. But Juan Carlos handled the situation well, in my estimation. Although he had been taken under Franco’s wing and educated here in Spain (while his family was in exile in Portugal), he surprised everyone by having his parliament outline a plan for autonomy for all the provinces of Spain.

the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art

the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art

Bilbão is the capital of the Basque province of Viscaya. It has always been an industrial city – not much to look at until the Guggenheim Foundation came to town. They were searching for a site to build a European art museum and had visited several candidate cities, including Madrid, but weren’t finding what they were looking for. As the story goes, they reluctantly accepted an invitation to visit Bilbão, not expecting much.

Love this crazy architecture!

Love this crazy architecture!

But once here, they discovered the site of a former steel mill on the river, and the notion of a metropolitan conversion from industry to art appealed. The Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim opened in 1997, and other notable architects followed. A brilliant coup on the part of city planners: Soon afterwards, millions of tourists flocked to Bilbão to take it all in.

The local cuisine has flourished along with the growth of the city. In addition to the many Michelin-starred restaurants, pintxos (peent-chos) prevail. A slice of baguette topped with an infinite variety of deliciocities, the creativity of which is left to the many talented chefs. Each bar has its specialties.

Bilbão is the pintxo capital of the world

Bilbão is the pintxo capital of the world

the Zubizuri pedestrian bridge

the Zubizuri pedestrian bridge

The Basques also have an interesting language, Euskara. Quite different from Spanish, it’s a riot of crazy letter combinations. They are extremely fond of x’s and z’s and repetitive syllables. Take the national white wine, txakolitxakoli, for example, and the Zubizuri pedestrian bridge. Sounds like something Dr. Suess would come up with. One of their signature dishes, bacalao al pil pil, is named for the sound of the cod juices and olive oil bubbling in the pan. How fun is that? We ate in the Café Txirimiri. I don’t even begin to know how to say the name, but the food was delicious!

Tilting at windmills

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wind turbines in Asturias

wind turbines in Asturias

As we drove from Santiago, in the northwest of Spain, along the northern (Atlantic) coast to our next destination, the terrain gradually changed from fogged-in mountains to open, rolling green hills and sunny skies. The landscape reminded me of Switzerland, although without the Alps towering above the foothills, with little stone farmhouses and placid, milky-brown cows tucked into valleys between the hills. To our left (north) we could see a line of steel-blue on the horizon – the ocean. Ahead (east), along the ridges of this increasingly mountainous terrain, a phalanx of wind turbines congregated.

I don’t know what it is about wind turbines that thrills me so much. The most dramatic were the ones we saw in Greece. Greece can be such a dry, barren, and impoverished country in parts; the sight of these colossal machines harvesting the wind’s power left us hopeful that the country was on the right path and just might survive its financial woes.

The wind turbines in Portugal – yet another EU country in need of modernization – were also impressive; the sound of the ginormous blades cutting through the wind at “o fim do mundo” (the end of the world), the tempestuous southwest coast of Europe at São Vicente, was exhilarating.

Don Quixote and his sidekick, Pancho Sanza

Don Quixote and his sidekick, Pancho Sanza

But in Spain, these dynamos give an entirely different sensation. I can’t help but think of the beloved Spanish literary character, Don Quixote, and wonder what he would make of them. Much sleeker, taller, and awe-inspiring than the squat little plugs of windmills in his day, would these have been as threatening to him – or more so?

I don’t know about Don Quixote, but when we drove round a bend and suddenly found ourselves in the midst of them, I felt the urge to reach for my lance. Instead, I grabbed my camera and tried in vain to capture their majesty. These gentle giants, rather than responding to the wind, seemed to be moving their magnificent arms of their own volition, waving us through the pass with approval and on to further adventures.

Santiago de Compostela

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Las Médulas

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the collapsed mountains of Las Médulas

the collapsed mountains of Las Médulas

We drove into the mountains on our way from León to Santiago to see Las Médulas, the site of an old Roman gold mine. The Romans had a unique way of mining gold; they’d dig tunnels into the mountainside and flood them with water until the mountains collapsed, then they’d dig through the rubble for the gold. Made for some interesting countryside, but it was too rainy and foggy to see much.

pilgrimage by horse

pilgrimage by horse

We did see these pilgrims on El Camino, however. It turns out that Las Médulas is on the The Way to Santiago, at least on the Horse Way.

 

 

 

 

a marker for El Camino de Santiago (The Way)

a marker for El Camino de Santiago (The Way)

Note the marker that marks the trail. We’re seeing them everywhere now as we get closer to Santiago. What looks like the rays of the sun is actually the modern symbol for the scallop shell that represents St. James (Santiago). I feel the anticipation building!

Wandering in León

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León's cathedral

León’s cathedral

Sometimes you make an itinerary only to ignore it. Yes, you want to have some idea of what to see in a city, but you don’t always feel inclined to follow it to the letter. León is one of those cities that just begs you to wander through it, and this is what we discovered:

Of course the huge cathedral (how can you miss it?), but next to it is a little sign inviting you to please descend the stairs to see the Roman ruins. As recently as 1986, they discovered some Roman artifacts that launched a massive archaeological project.

 

 

Roman ruins under the street

Roman ruins under the street

While wandering some back alleyways, Marcus noticed the quick-release on a guy’s bike appeared loose. His attempt to help resulted in a dialogue that started with travel and concluded the next day in a small cafe with world politics. It was very insightful to hear a Spaniard’s take on Spain, the European Union, and the world at large. Gracias, Julio.

Cindy & Antoni Gaudí discussing architecture, no doubt

Cindy & Antoni Gaudí discussing architecture, no doubt

The Casa de Botines, a building designed in his early career by Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect we will see much of in Barcelona. I had no idea it was just down the street from our apartment.

A cool shop called Tiger that sells everything from craft supplies to kitchen gadgets. I could have spent all night in there.

 

 

 

 

The symbol of the Camino de Santiago, to keep pilgrims on the right path

The symbol of the Camino de Santiago, to keep pilgrims on the right path

The Camino de Santiago. For those of you who have not seen the movie The Way, find it and watch it and you will understand why we sought out this extraordinary pilgrimage route that extends over 450 miles from across the Pyrenees mountains in France to the cathedral of St. James (Santiago) in Santiago de Compostela. (Thank you, Dorothy Liss!) The 2010 movie stars Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez; Emilio wrote, directed, and had a small role in it. León is our first contact with El Camino as we head to Santiago. We were intending to seek it out at some point, and it turns out we had been walking on it all night! It runs right through the heart of León, and right past our apartment. The path is marked by bronze scallop shells (the symbol of St. James) imbedded in the cobblestones.

Four Lions Brewery

Four Lions Brewery

On our way home, I saw a sign for Four Lions Brewery, one of the few craft breweries in Spain. It makes an honest-to-goodness IPA. I wanted to cry – a beer, made right here in Spain, that tastes of hops! I offered one of our stools to the woman next to me. Too tired to speak Spanish, I spoke in English. She answered back in perfect English, but with a slight Spanish accent. I was surprised but didn’t say anything. Later she stopped to talk. She’s an English professor at the local university and has lived in New York and New Jersey. So warm and welcoming, she offered to help us if we needed anything.

 

Not bad for a night’s exploring. What a great city! I felt a connection when we first arrived. I sensed it was the type of place that would open up its arms and welcome us in, and it did.

Feria in Salamanca!

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concert in the Plaza Mayor

concert in the Plaza Mayor

Getting to Salamanca was easy because we are staying across the river from the Old City. This is a university town and I like to sleep at night, so we opted for a hotel away from all the fracas. And what a good decision it was!

To begin with, it was so nice to have a lot where you can park for free. And the accommodations were so clean and spacious – plush linens, a king-size bed, two sinks in the bathroom, and a fantastic view of the old city! Thank you, hotels.com! Salamanca skyline from our hotelWe were a little concerned about the prospect of breakfast, however, since we couldn’t fix our own and breakfast is often ignored in Spain. We opted out of buying breakfast at the hotel (coffee, tea, and a few rolls for about $20 each). We called room service and asked how much for just coffee and tea: $6 for the both of us. And it came with churros. (More on churros later when I have a chance to try the national drink: hot chocolate, which always comes with churros for dipping.)

It turns out that there is a feria, or festival, going on in Salamanca now. All throughout the Old City food booths sponsored by local restaurants are offering their signature tapas and beverages at a nominal cost. Normally we avoid crowds, but we were hungry, so we headed across the ancient Roman Bridge to get to the old city.

The food booths were everywhere, but most were closed as it was still siesta (yes, they still close most businesses from about 1:30 until 4:00). We explored the city a bit, found the center – the Plaza Mayor – and sat and had a snack while we watch the sound check for a concert setting up on a stage at one end of the plaza. After watching many of Ben’s sound checks, we were amused at this one. It took them forever to check the mics for each instrument, and when they were done with the individual checks and put them all together, there were several instruments you couldn’t hear.

the feria food booths

the feria food booths

We got bored with that and took off through the city again. This time most of the food booths were open and we enjoyed several. When we could hear the music start up again in Plaza Mayor, we went back. The music was great, after tweaking the monitors a bit! It was traditional Spanish music (everyone knew all the words) with a bit of Gypsy or flamenco influence – very strong on the fiddle and accordion, as well as acoustic Spanish guitar. People were clapping in the syncopated rhythm that is so characteristically Spanish, and many were dancing. We had a great time, and didn’t get back to the hotel until around 11:00 – the latest we’ve been out so far. Maybe we will adjust to the Spanish clock after all! Regardless, it was wonderful to go back over the river to a hotel where we had the quietest night’s sleep since we’ve been in Spain. zzz….

Parque Natural de las Hoces del Rio Duratón

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Hoces del Rio Duratón Natural Park

Hoces del Rio Duratón Natural Park

We thought we’d spend our last day in Segovia at a nearby Natural Park. I had read that there is a beautiful hike down to the Hermitage of San Frutos. From the surface, the land looks just like the rest of Castilla y León, the state we are in: dry, brown, and flat. But then we got to the ridge overlooking the gorges (hoces) cut out of the limestone by the River Duratón.

Rio Duratón

Rio Duratón

We could see the Hermitage on a point overlooking the river….

Ermita de San Frutos

Ermita de San Frutos

ermita bells…and had a picnic lunch in the abandoned monastery. Frutos and his two brothers, from a wealthy family in the 8th century, sold all their family belongings when their parents died, donated the money to the church, and went to the Rio Duratón to live solitary lives (separate even from each other) in the caves of the limestone cliffs. They were later recognized as saints and are the patron saints of Segovia. The Benedictine monks built a monastery here in the 11th century to commemorate San Frutos; they occupied it until the 19th century.

vulture

vulture

But the most amazing thing to me were the birds. The land has been declared a natural park to protect a population of vultures who nest here. They flew so close overhead at one point (maybe 40 feet above us) that we could hear the air rushing through the feathers on their wings and see their heads turning from side to side as they looked for food.

This is why I travel

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the aqueduct to Old Segovia

the aqueduct to Old Segovia

Every once in awhile you stumble across a place that’s not at all what you expected. Sometimes your expectations are high, and the place is a dud. And sometimes you visit a place not because the guidebook’s description moved you especially but because you needed a place to stop for the night. You may have chosen to drive right past it in the daylight. But fate stepped in and put an opportunity smack-dab in the middle of your path, and this bit of happenstance turns out to be an unexpected delight. This was the case with Segovia.

Yes, I knew about the Roman aqueduct. I read about it in Fodor’s and saw photos of it in the listing of the apartment we rented. You can see it from our apartment window. But all that only registered in a subliminal way; I was too focused on finding an apartment between Madrid and Santiago de Compostela.

We arrived in Segovia, found the apartment, met our host, got the tour of the apartment, unloaded our bags, the host left, and finally we took a deep breath and looked around us. And there it was – the aqueduct, literally larger than life. At first we observed that it went from our apartment down a few blocks to a remote part of the city where we parked the car and found a restaurant to get a bite to eat. Then we walked back to the apartment, walked round a bend, and – Holy cow! – the thing extends way past the apartment to this fantastic fortress upon a hill – the old, walled city of Segovia. The old city is surrounded by an amazing crenelated wall that encompasses the Plaza Mayor (the main square, an integral social component of any Spanish city), the Cathedral, and, most magnificently, the Alcázar – the Royal Palace/Moorish fortress/Roman outpost at the top of the hill. All of this visible from where we were standing with our mouths wide open.

Segovia aqueduct

The ancient city itself would have been jaw-dropping, but that aqueduct! Almost half a mile long, it’s made of over 25,000 granite blocks with no mortar to hold them together. And it’s been standing for over 2000 years! It has more than 170 arches. What we had seen earlier was the short part of the aqueduct, only about 45 feet high with one tier of arches. At the tallest point, the aqueduct is almost 90 feet tall with two large tiers. And did I mention that it’s stunning?

Segovia's cathedral

Segovia’s cathedral

Before I go any further I have to explain a bit about Spanish history, as I understand it. To keep it brief, I’ll start with Roman times. The Romans came to Spain around 260 BCE and thrived here for about 600 years, until the Western Roman Empire came to a grinding halt. (The Eastern Roman Empire continued for another thousand years.) About this time the Visigoths (or Goths) and other European tribes came into the Iberian peninsula through France and pushed out the declining Romans. The Goths lasted for about 300 years until one non-Christian splinter tribe, feeling persecuted by the Christian Goths, traveled into North Africa (the Strait of Gibraltar is only nine miles wide) to ask for support. 7000 Berbers (a tribe from North Africa) returned with the Goths to invade Iberia. In a few years they had conquered almost the entire Iberian peninsula beginning an almost 800-year Iberian civilization. These African Muslims, called Moors by the Europeans, tolerated other religions and, unlike the Christians who ruled before them, allowed the indigenous Jews and Christians to remain without conversion to Islam. For 800 years all three religious groups lived together harmoniously, until the Christian king and queen in northern Spain, Fernando and Isabel, decided to reconquer Spain for the Christians in 1492. Yes, they were the king and queen we call Ferdinand and Isabella who sponsored Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World. Later the same year, they also “expelled” any Muslims and Jews from Spain who wouldn’t convert to Christianity, otherwise known as the Reconquista, or Reconquest – the polite name for the Inquisition.

a blend of history

a blend of history

Okay, back to Segovia…. The aspect of the city that most intrigues me is the blend of history. The Roman influence is obvious in the aqueduct, but historians believe that the Moorish fortress, the Alcázar, at the highest point on the hill, is built upon an earlier Roman fort. And when los Reyes Católicos (as Fernando and Isabel are known in Spain, as if they were the first or only Catholic monarchs) expelled the Moors, a Catholic palace/church was built on the site. One of the things that excites me most about European history is the layers of history that can be observed in any one location – one civilization built on top of another. Archeologists must have a field day here!

I am thrilled by the history, but I’m also enchanted by what I am seeing. They say that the Disney logo is based on the slate-turreted towers of the Alcázar here in Segovia. (I’ve heard that about other European castles as well.) True or not, the important thing to take away from this is that the fortress is extraordinary, as is the aqueduct, the walled city, and the rest of ancient Segovia.

the Alcázar

the Alcázar

Marcus commented within the first few hours that we were in Segovia that he could spend at least three weeks exploring and enjoying the incredibly welcoming people, and so could I. We are so fortunate that this amazing town serendipitously fell into our path as we made our way to Santiago.