Madrid goes on and on and on etc... I have been to Madrid several times, parts of it hasn´t changed in years but there is a whole lot of it that is growing and changing all the time. They are adding neighborhoods the size of The Dalles but in 20 story apartment building, so it is much more compacted. Madrid is adding subway lines to reach these new "barrios", and it is already one of the largest subway systems in the world. In every city I visited there was new construction of houses, condos and apartments, Spains economy is one of [View Full Entry]

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On the day I went to Segovia I also took a bus to "La Granja" about 10 miles away. La Granja was built by Phillip V, the first monarch of the Spanish Buorbons. He was born at Versailles in 1683 and enjoyed the gardens there so much he wanted to model La Granja after Versailles. The palace built was modest and he put most of his effort into the gardens. Because La Granja was on a hill you can´t see all the garden like you can at Versailles but it still is a place of beauty and a farvorite weekend get [View Full Entry]

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Went to Segovia on Friday, I´ve been here several times and have always enjoyed it. Segovia´s history starts with the romans conquering the land in the first century and building a military out post here. After the fall of the Roman empire people from northern Europe settled in Segovia until they were conquered by the Arabs sometime in the 7th of 8th century. Segovia then became the capital of Moorish Kingdoms until 1088 when it was conquered by Alfonso the IV king Castile. Segovia was the was home of the Royal Court and an economic power until the 16th century, then [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday Beltran took me to Mejorada del Campo just south of Madrid to see a Cathedral that Justo Gallego is building. OH MY GOSH!! very very impressive the guy has done an unbelievable amount of work all for the love of the Virgin Mary. Justo was studying to be a priest in the 1940´s when he encountered turberculious and had to leave the monastery. All his life he has been in awe of the Virgin Mary and wanted to build a chapel in her honor, then he thought why not a cathedral. So he bought books on "How to build [View Full Entry]

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Apologies - currently unable to restore. If you have a backup please edit this entry and save/publishI´m in Madrid visiting Beltran, Eduardo and their families. Beltran and I went to the Valle do los Caidos, Valley of the Fallen. Its an amazing place and has two very different stories to it and history hasn´t decided yet which will endure. FAUST / old ways After Franco won the civil war in 1939, he "hired" the losing side, the Republic, paid each person one pesta a day to carve a church in to the side of a mountain, all solid stone. The "employees" [View Full Entry]

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The train from Paris doesn´t cross the border into Spain because they made their tracks narrower so invading armies couldn´t enter by train, must have got that from George Bush´s play book. Anyway I had to get off in Irun and board another train for the last 10 miles; took for ever, tons of people going to San Fermins, late on thursday evening and to really complicate things lots of people didn´t speak Spanish or English. Finally got to San Sebastian and decided to stay, I´d been traveling on trains for 30 hours, asked a taxi to take me to a [View Full Entry]

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Trondheim is another beautiful city. The nice thing about all the places I visited is the livability factor; great public transportation, helpful tourist offices, everyone speaks English and most things are with in walking distance. I did a quick tour of the town and then met up Idun, Claire and Carleigh Ryan and their friend from Monica. Spent an enjoyable after noon with them before I caught the night train to Oslo. Arrived in Oslo in the morning, sleeping on the train saves a paying for a room as long as you don´t mind missing a shower or two, and it [View Full Entry]

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Untitled I arrived in Narvik on a Monday at 7 pm thinking I wouldn´t have any problem getting a room. Now that I´ve become more accustomed to traveling, the first thing I do is grab a hotel brochure at the train station and start calling for a room. Well I run out of Norwegian money before I find a place to stay, then I look at the map of Narvik and realize the hotels I haven´t called are all with in 10 blocks. I set out with my back pack to track down a hotel, the only one that has [View Full Entry]

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Off to Norway Europe » Sweden » Kiruna By Chipwood July 1st 2007 Untitled Hopped on the train this morning with the idea that I would stop and play golf a Abisko. I got off the train with my pack and walked a half a mile up hill (eveything seems to be up hill from the train depot) to the golf course. It was a beautifu [View Full Entry]

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Above the Artic Circle Europe » Sweden By Chipwood June 30th 2007 UntitledOn Sunday I set from Storuman on the Inlandsbanan train again, this time to Gallivare above the Article Circle. Did I mention that most the train route is lined with trees and the view is very limited. Every once in a while you would cross a river and be able to see farther. When we arrived at Gallivare [View Full Entry]

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