The Plain in Spain

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Ola,

So I finished up working at the Mission on August 14th, and I felt like a vacation was necessary. I decided that I would head to Spain for a couple of weeks. I flew into Madrid on Sunday morning, and then took the train to Zaragoza.

Zaragoza is located in the north east of the country on the Ebro River and it was founded by Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar. I arrived in town and checked into the hostel. The hostel was cool, especially the basement bar. The basement bar is the only surviving part from the Inquisitor’s house when he lived there during the 16th century. It was made of brick and consisted of vaulted ceilings and was a great place to enjoy a drink.

I walked around town for the rest of the afternoon, as it was only 37 degrees at 6pm at night! I walked past some of the Roman walls and a statue of Octavian before walking into Plaza del Pilar. The Plaza is a massive square with a cathedral at one end, a fountain at the other and one side is completely composed of the Basilica de Nuestra Señora Del Pilar. I had not seen a church that size since I was in Rome. I walked passed it, deciding to visit it the next day, and I went to the Roman Port, which is no longer adjacent to the Ebro as much of the land has been filled in over the years. I then went to the Cathedral which had a gorgeous interior, but was even more beautiful on the outside. The façade was a brilliant example of Mudéjar architecture, which is the name for Moorish style architecture outside of Andalucia. I wandered around town, past the Roman amphitheatre and bath-house, both of which were pretty much ruins, before grabbing some food and heading back to the air-conditioned bliss of the hostel.

I woke up early the next day so I could avoid the majority of the heat. I went to the Plaza de Toros, but there was no bull-fight on at the time. I continued along further until I got do the Palacio de la Aljafería. It was very imposing from the outside, but it did not seem that impressive so I did not bother going in. I continued along until I got to the riverfront where I saw many of the buildings that had been built for Expo 2008 in the city. They were semi-interesting, but my favourite ones were the two bridges over the water. One looked a bit like a Chinese finger trap while the other was a graceful, white arched road bridge. After marvelling at them for a while, I went to the train station where I bought my ticket to Spain before walking over the most seemingly redundant foot-bridge I think I’ve ever been on the way back to the Plaza del Pilar. En route, I decided to go into the Palacio de la Aljafería. I made a good decision. Much like the Alhambra in Granada, the Palacio looked like a fortress from the outside but had incredible courtyards and lush gardens hidden on the inside. The stalactite-like ceilings were particularly cool, as were the facades on the walls. I really hope the photos provide some idea of what the building looked like. I got back to the hostel, decided it was to hot and decided that since I was in Spain, I do what the Spanish do so I took a nap in the middle of the day.

After resting for two hours and avoiding the 42 degree heat, I went out walking again. I headed down to the university and past one of the old city gates. The Gate was the only one to survive when Napoleon’s troops sieged the city in 1808. It has French bullet holes in one side and Spanish bullet holes in the other as it has been left untouched as a reminder of the time. I then headed down the main street and right into the Plaza del Pilar. I finally decided to go into the Basilica and I was not disappointed. As I said, the building was absolutely massive, and that is due to the fact that there are many domes and towers that the walls and foundations have to support. There are chapels lining both sides of the Basilica and there is the largest organ I have ever seen at one end of the knave while there is a massive Baroque alter at the other. The reason the Basilica has its name is because in 40AD, Mary is supposed to have appeared to St. James while standing on top of a tall pillar. The Basilica was eventually built around the column and now you can kiss the base of it. There was a large line-up to kiss the base of it, and seeing as how there are so many illnesses spread through close human contact, I decided that it was not in my best interest to kiss a piece of marble that thousands of Spanish people had kissed before me.

I walked back to the hostel and met Julien and his friend (from France) and Steffen (from Switzerland. Julien and his friend were going to be on Erasmus in the city in the fall and wanted to find a place to live and Steffen was on his way to go hiking in the Pyrenees. When asked why he was hiking there, rather than in the Alps, he replied that the mountains were “different”. It was to gratifying to hear someone else agree with me that mountains are different depending on where you go. We all went out for dinner and some drinks before going back to the hostel.

Hasta Lluego,

Pedro

Things I learned in Zaragoza:
-Spain is slightly warmer than Brussels
-Siestas are awesome
-The Spanish know how to build an incredible religious structure

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