The Catalonia region is known for the lively beach resorts of Costa Brava as well as the Pyrenees Mountains. Before my recent trip to Barcelona, the regional capital, people warned me about the protests. Catalonia would like independence, their language is slightly different, and
they feel Madrid, the capital of Spain, is spending too much of
Catalonia’s tax money on other parts of the country. Catalonia is quite well-off and has had some of its independence taken away recently. It’s another case of too much news. I was there five days and saw no demonstrations. I did go by a street near the university where a street was blocked off, tents were set up, but no one was around.
I have an IHG (think Holiday Inn family) credit card so I booked
their boutique hotel, The Indigo. The location was great. I have travel extensively but can always learn something. I should have checked the week before my arrival because the prices were lower. I should have cancelled and rebook. Will always check now.
The hotel was great as was their restaurant. It was only two blocks or so, along tree-lined streets with plenty of benches to the main plaza where all the tours buses start. There are three routes
and only one goes by the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. The church is ornate beyond belief and the inside with towering pillars has brilliant stained glass windows. It will be years before it is finished. When Gaudi was asked if he realized he would never see it finished he replied, “There is no hurry. My Master can wait.” The church is scheduled to be completed in 2026, the hundred year anniversary of Antoni Gauds’
death – 144 years after the first stone was laid. It is already a UNESCO World Heritage Sites and funds to complete it come from donations and entry fees. If you want to visit you should buy tickets on line that designate the entrance time. There was a long line when I was there. Gaudi’s work is so unique it got so I could recognize the other buildings he designed.
You can’t say you have been to Spain without going to a flamenco show.
There are several places to see flamenco. I picked the Palacio del Flamenco because it is a refurbished 1920s theater dedicated to the art of flamenco. The show was flashy and energetic. There are a choice of tickets: dinner and show (I never like to mix the two), show and tapas, and, my choice, show and a libation. I would have liked it better if there was a brochure that explained the individual dances and where they originated. The violin player was
incredible. Afterwards I couldn’t find a cab and people kept pointing to a place down the road where taxis stop. I walked back to the theater and the receptionist said just hail one with a green light New York style. Most cabs in Europe take credit cards; there is little need for local currency.
I spent one day at Poble Espanyol, a Spanish village where each geographic area of Spain is represented by architecture and culture. It was great but… it was the Day of the Dead. I thought the USA had high dibs on Halloween costumes. How ethnocentric of me. The place was packed,
glad I had a pass, with families all in costumes. It was fun but I wanted to see the crafts and, while they were there, it was not the focus of the day. There were too many family activities. There is also the Fran Daurel Art Museum which I really enjoyed because I didn’t have time to go to any other art museums.
For years there has been a controversy as to where Christopher
Columbus is buried. It seems Columbus continued to travel after he died! In 1506 he was buried in Valladodid, Spain. When I was in Seville, Spain I went to see his tomb in the Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede. It is huge with four full-size elaborately attired figures carrying the casket on their shoulders. Later Columbus was moved from Valladolid to Seville.
Later, at the request of his daughter-in-law, Columbus and his son, Diego, were transported across the Atlantic to Hispaniola where the remains were interred in the Santo Domingo cathedral. When the French captured Hispaniola in 1795 he was disinterred and taken to Cuba. In 1892, at the close of the Spanish-American War, the remains were sent back across the Atlantic to Seville.
The issue was muddied even more in when a leaden box containing human remains was discovered in the Santo Domingo cathedral with the inscription “Illustrious and
distinguished male, don Cristobal Colon. The Spanish did some DNA testing in 2006 that indicated at least some of the remains in Spain belonged to Columbus. To date there has been no DNA testing of the remains in Santo Domingo. In the Dominican Republic his remains are in the large lighthouse monument built for that purpose. With all the interring and disinterring and moving the remains from one place to another it is possible that both Seville and Santo Domingo have some of his remains.
Columbus led four voyages to the “New World” but it wasn’t until his fourth voyage that he set foot on the mainland of the Americas. After visiting the Honduran Bay Island they set sail again and for a month endured the storm-tossed sea. When the mountains of the mainland were finally spotted Columbus thanked God. Today the mountains near the north coast of Honduras are called “Gracias a Dios” (thanks to God). On July 30, 1502 his ships sailed into the large Trujillo Bay. Most of the early voyages included a priest. The first Catholic mass was held in present day Honduras near the present-day town of Trujillo.
Much is made of Columbus’ voyages and, yes, crossing the
Atlantic in such small ships and not knowing where they were going was certainly adventurous and brave. There were many brave seamen through the years and there is much controversy about what people reached the Americas first.
The Mormons believe that Lehi arrived about 700 BC. The Irish believe that St. Brennan made landfall in AD 500. Many claim that Leif Erikson, the Icelandic explorer, was the first European to set foot on the mainland of the Americas 500 years before Columbus. In Hong Kong I visited the History Museum where there is a model of one of Zheng He’s ships on display. Next to it is a model of Columbus’ ships. They would fit on the deck of one of Zheng He’s
ships which were 400 feet long. The Santa Maria was 50 feet long. Zheng He’s many voyages predate those of Columbus. His voyage in 1405 was comprised of 317 ships and 27,870 men. Some believe that at least one of his seven voyages made it to the Americas. For sure he made it to India and Africa. Most likely there were others; regardless, Columbus is the one who changed the history of the Americas.
