Fireside Chat

No, not like FDR's, but a fireside chat, nevertheless.

We are sitting by a piñon fire in our kiva fireplace in Santa Fe and contemplating where we go from here. I've been saying that we only know our plans when we execute them, but we know that the direction is toward Spain and away from SF and the US. How we get there and when is still up in the air. We have become quite accustomed to turning around on a dime (less than 10 cents these days) and happily traipsing off to new ventures. I am happy with this nomad life and as long as health holds out I expect that we will be out there somewhere, exploring and soaking up experience.

I've begun to hatch a plan (who said we can't plan) for some writing projects geared to our travel to interesting places. I'm preparing a series title for several short books called "Powerful Places in . . . " You fill in the blank. Over the years we have come upon some wonderful places, some known to the world at large (Glastonbury, Carnac, Mont St. Michel) and others that we find quite by accident. I think it will be fun to document some of these findings in a series of short books. The writing (which will be shared with Elyn), production, and publishing will keep me from boredom and some of these places we've found are really worth a visit by others. Well, everyone needs a hobby and this publishing business is mine. It's great to have a hobby that at least breaks even and this one does about that.

So that is my pipe dream this morning as I sit in front of the fire.

In the Crown Club in Atlanta

We just got a free one-day pass to the Crown Club here in Atlanta—just what weary travelers need after a 9+ hour flight from Madrid. We have a five hour layover here and will go on to ABQ tonight and Santa Fe tomorrow. So far the travel has been relatively painless. We spent the time during the flight marking up some final corrections on Elyn's book. We will do the computer work over the next two days and get it out in time for a gathering of American Friends on the Camino annual meeting in ABQ next month. We'll be in the US for this meeting, then, hopefully back to Spain in time for Holy Week festivities early in April. Much to accomplish in this brief month and a half.

Preparing for the US

We are in final preparations for our trip back to the US. We are not looking forward to this trip, partly because we love it here and partly due to the work that awaits us in Santa Fe. There are many details to take care of while we are in the US—filing income tax returns, submitting Elyn’s book for printing, clearing the house in preparation for either sale or rental, etc. We know that we will suddenly speed up our lives, as we always seem to do when we return to the US from abroad. We will have to make an effort to take time out to see our friends and it will be a challenge for all of us to find time in our busy lives for socializing. We will fill our computer schedule to the brim and we will look each day to see how we will spend every hour.

We notice that here there always seems to be time to read, talk with people, do our shopping (on foot) in all the little tiendas, while in the US we will rush through Whole Foods fighting crowds, drive to the bank, drive to the shopping centers, and generally feel the need to accomplish more, more, more. We realize that this is something we do to ourselves, but it is very easy to succumb to the general pace of life we find around us.

Here I can spend a morning looking at travel guides or reading a book and not feel that I am “wasting time.” In the US I tend to push myself to “get it all done” as quickly as possible. I can remember as a child that I read about the new “electronic brains” that were just being invented. Science Digest predicted that in the next century we would not work at all—the “electronic brains” would take it all over for us and we would be on permanent vacation. What we have actually done is take the power of the technology we have created to do more work. The average workweek for Americans has only increased as we have harnessed the computer to do more in less time. Is this a sane way to live? Well, I know the answer and so do you.

Mental note: this time I must watch myself to avoid being caught up in the mad rush. This time I’ll do it better. Well, vamos a ver, as we say here.

Traveling, Part II

If you want to read about the beginning of this journey, go to the next post.

In Cangas de Onis it was still raining when we got up the next morning. There was also snow all over the mountains in the Picos de Europa national park, making any thought of going there in this season out of the question. However, there is a panoramic view of the mountains from Jim and Renate’s living room. We enjoyed the view, were treated to wonderful food, and made several short shopping trips around the town. You can read and see what Honey Bunny and Brown Bear got by going to their blog.

On Sunday morning there is an extensive outdoor and covered market in Cangas. The cheese market, in particular, is outstanding. Asturias is known all over Spain and beyond for their wonderful cheese. We often see Cabrales blue cheese in Whole Foods Market in the states. We bought raw milk (cow, goat, and sheep?) aged Gamoneu cheese from Begonia, the cheesemaker, and great smoked cheese (Queso Ahumado de Pria, Llanes, Asturias, of cow and sheep milk) that has all the flavor of sitting around the camp fire.

On another excursion we walked along the Sella river, which joins with another river in Cangas. The Sella is one of the prime salmon fishing rivers in Spain. The salmon come up the river from the Atlantic to spawn, just as they do on the west coast of the US. Fancy restaurants in Madrid pay a huge fee for the privilege of catching the first salmon of the season in Cangas. They then recoup all their expenses and more by offering the first salmon of the season to their customers back in the capital city.

On Monday morning we caught an early bus back to Oviedo. As we were coming into town we saw one of the 9th century churches we wanted to visit, so we got off the bus and walked a few blocks to San Julián de los Prados. This church, which dates from around 830, is decorated with murals on its inside walls. The paintings were covered for many centuries by the whitewash that was applied during plague times and were only discovered in 1913 during restoration work. Enough of the original paintings remain to allow the missing pieces to be sketched out in line drawings on the plaster. This little church is truly magnificent and a perfect example of preRomanesque Asturian church design. We had the church to ourselves, except for the guard/guide who was on duty. We were fortunate that the church is open on Mondays with no guided tours. When we remarked to the guide about the tranquility of the place, she said we were lucky that we were there before the bus loads of tourists arrived.

Leaving the church, we walked into the town center, stopping at a convenient bar for a bit of breakfast tortilla (eggs, potatoes, and a bit of ham fried in olive oil) and a coffee con leche before searching out the tea store that Renate had recommended. One thing we miss in Spain is special teas: Lapsang Souchong, Pu Erh, etc. These are all available in the little tea store in the old section of Oviedo. Then it was a leisurely stroll past the recently installed statue of Woody Allen (Oviedo plays a prominent role in his most recent film, which was shot in Spain and features Penelope Cruz, Spain’s favorite daughter!). We stopped at another bar where we fortified ourselves with more tortilla and I had a cerveza (beer). Then we walked to the train station to wait for our train back to Sahagún.

Our return train was one of the fast trains (Alvia). Up we went over the mountains while we read articles in the International Herald Tribune, which we found at a kiosk on the way to the station. The Alvia made only three or four stops all the way back to Sahagún and we arrived in 2 ½ hours, with time to take care of some shopping and buy our tickets to Madrid this Friday to catch a plane back to the US on Saturday. On our way we met Pedro Luna Tovar, who was leading his daughter, María, on her first outdoor walk after giving birth to her first baby the week before. María invited us to her home, where we enjoyed a cup of tea while we admired Eva and told María, Pedro, and Carlos (María’s husband) about our adventure.

I hope this little narrative gives you some picture of what life is like here in Spain. We are really sad to leave Sahagún, if only for a short month and a half in the US. We look forward to coming back in April in time for Holy Week here in Sahagún and several fiestas that will come later in the month.

Traveling Spanish Style

One of my readers wrote a comment wondering about what life is like for an American living in Spain. I’m happy to give you a picture of our recent trip to Asturias to visit friends.

We got up early last Thursday to take the train to Oviedo, in Asturias. We packed light, taking only daypacks for our four-day journey. Walking three minutes to the train station from our fourth-floor apartment, we boarded the express train for Oviedo. We were given a compartment to ourselves on this fast train and rode in comfort all the way to Oviedo. Since we are senior citizens we ride the trains with a 40% discount from the regular fares.

Just outside of León we found ourselves in the Picos de Europa, a rugged range of mountains that remind me of the Rockies in Colorado. Passing through the snow-covered landscape we sipped steaming tea from the dining car while we admired some of the most beautiful mountain scenery we have seen anywhere. Spain is second only to Switzerland in Europe for its mountains. Traveling around Spain, one encounters all the variety of scenery we have in the US, but compressed into much less space.

Dropping down into Asturias, the mountain valleys are suddenly carpeted in green, which contrasts sharply with the rugged snow-covered mountains above. We arrived in Oviedo in mid morning and walked to a local bar where we enjoyed a late breakfast, Our waitress wanted to practice her English and we were happy to oblige. Oviedo is a university town and like most college towns, is filled with young people who are enjoying their first adventures away from home. They are friendly and welcoming to Americans and we are spoken to in English fairly often.

In keeping with the strange weather we have had this winter, we walked out into a mixture of rain and snow that was filling the streets with slush. Since walking around town was not going to be comfortable, we chose to spend the rest of the morning at the cathedral. Oviedo Cathedral is a mixture of Romanesque and Flamboyant Gothic, and the treasury houses some of the oldest and most valuable religious items in Christendom. There are two 9th century gold crosses studded with precious stones and the tombs of several Asturian kings.

After our tour of the cathedral, we called Renate Fernandez, our American friend, who was meeting us and made plans to meet for lunch. Renate is an anthropologist who had come to Oviedo from their home in Cangas de Onis to give a powerpoint presentation on the American national park system the previous evening. Her husband, Jim, who is a retired professor of anthropology from the University of Chicago had come into town that morning to do some research for a paper he is preparing for delivery in Burgos later in the month. We all met together in a bookshop where Jim was pouring over textbooks that the Spanish school system uses to teach citizenship to its high school students. The topic is hot here in Spain, since the government-mandated curriculum is not strictly in keeping with the views of the more conservative ranks of the Catholic Church and there is quite vocal opposition from such groups as Opus Dei. Jim’s topic for the paper in Burgos concerns this controversy.

We walked to one of their favorite restaurants and enjoyed a leisurely mid afternoon Spanish lunch while we caught up with our various recent adventures. After a short visit with one of Renate’s friends who is a physician in Oviedo, we walked to the bus station for what is usually a short ride to their home in Cangas. Since the snow and rain were continuing, our bus driver was forced to drive about 20 mph for much of the way and it was evening when we arrived in Cangas de Onis. One really needs to use the complete name for this town, since there is another Cangas in Asturias. Cangas is a tourist town since it is at the gateway to the national park in the Picos de Europa. As you can imagine, the mountain scenery here is spectacular. Renate has a long-standing professional interest in the park and how the Spanish national park system differs from our system in the US. We had a light dinner at their 6th floor apartment, which has a full view of the surrounding mountains. Since we are all Americans, we had our dinner very early by Spanish standards and took to our beds for some much needed rest.

Since this posting is about as long as anyone can stand, I’ll continue in a second post tomorrow.

Elyn's Book is finished

We finished Elyn's new book just before our trip to Asturias this weekend. Here is the final cover--front and back. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow.

To see the cover full size, click on either picture.