Amy goes to Spain

Posted 6/16/2006 By Joshua and has no comments yet.

Hey all,

Just a quick note. Amy arrived safely in Spain today. We’re catching up on sleep and then taking the Night Train to Barcelona for a couple of days.

I hope to post this trip and my trip to Segovia when I get back.

I placed some pictures from Segovia starting here. Take a look at this quaint town that just happens to have a fortress, one of Spain’s largest cathedrals, and a Roman aqueduct.

Ciao,

Joshua

(PS I know Ciao is Italian, but they say it here too.)

Categories: European Summer 2006, Spain, Travel

El Escariol & the Valley of the Fallen

Posted 6/7/2006 By Joshua and has 1 comment.
Took a day trip to El Escariol and the nearby Valley of the Fallen.

El Escariol is a huge monastery that was built to celebrate a victory of the Spanish in the Netherlands.  It was later turned into a palace and then back into a working monastery.

The most impressive part was the library.  It contained over 15,000 original, ancient tomes displayed in a room covered in frescoes depicting kings of Spain and Roman embodiments of Philosophy, Arithmetic, etc. and the famous philosphers and scientists who were instrumental in their development.
I want to own this room.  And once again, I curse my inability to read Latin.  I really need to remedy this soon.
Following that, I went to the Valley of the Fallen.
This is a basilica and monument that the Spanish dictator Franco commanded to be built to honor his supporters that fell while overthrowing the democratic government of Spain in the 1930′s.
It’s also the first instance of facist architecture I’ve ever encountered.
The church was literally bore into the mountain by 20,000 “political prisoners.”  It’s scale is intentionally overwhelming.  Tapestries depicting the end of the world cover mammoth walls.  Extremly large statutes of faceless angels bearing mighty weaponry loom over parishoners.  The lighting consists of more shadow than actual light.
It may be the most evil church I’ve ever visited.
The darkness also prevented my pictures from turning out.
On top of the moutain, towers a 150 foot cross that is visible from miles away.  The base is surrounded by representations of the four authors of the gospels.
Visitors are able to walk to the base of the cross and look out at the view over the surrounding countryside.
Even with the amazing view, the air seemed tainted by the history that led to such a monument.
There are several more pictures from this visit.  They start here.
Categories: European Summer 2006, Spain, Travel

Parlimentary Pictures

By Joshua and has no comments yet.

Starting here are some pictures from the infiltration of Parliment

Categories: European Summer 2006, Spain, Travel

Parlimentary Procedure

Posted 6/2/2006 By Joshua and has 1 comment.

Okay, good news – bad news kind of moment.

The bad news is that I broke into the Spanish Parliment.

The good news is that they gave me a comemorative totebag and candy to mark the event.

I’m leaving Retiro Park – where I saw the Grand Basin, Placeo de Vasquez, and Placeo Cristal.

Wandering back behind the Palace Hotel, I see a stage with a light orchestra setting up.

I stick around and soon the Police orchestra is playing a fun mix of Bach and Beatles.

Behind me is the Spanish Parliment. According to my guidebook, it’s closed on weekdays and only open to visitors by appointment.

I do see a group of elderly tourist people being sheparded through security though.

So I join the line.

Turns out – as near as I can figure out – these folks were meeting their representative.

I followed along, nodded gravely when anyone spoke to me, and took lots of pictures.

(My favorite is a badly-taken one of me sitting in what I think is the head of the Senate chair.)

As the group was leaving, security officials gave us all totebags with the Parliment’s logo on them and lemon candy.

Not a bad haul for an afternoon.

That night, I attended a jazz concert with Prof. Thayman and several other students.

I post the pictures from Retiro Park and the Parliment soon.

Categories: European Summer 2006, Spain, Travel

Going Postal

Posted 6/1/2006 By Joshua and has no comments yet.

Who all want’s a postcard from Spain?

Email me your addresses and I’ll ship them right out.

Categories: European Summer 2006, Spain, Travel