The Rain in Spain....

So, yes, it's a slightly unoriginal title, but hey, I figured it worked. So, here we are, and I've done a decently poor job of updating everyone. However, that stops now, and I'll be recapping my trips as the semester winds down. For the second 10-day vacation during the semester, the students at Gaming are able to roam freely about Europe, and myself and my friends Liz, Dave, Maria, and Brian traveled to Lourdes, Santander, and then met up with our friend Tom to go to Barcelona. For the record, the latter two are cities in Spain.

Lourdes was not a very long visit, because we only had a day to spend there, but it was lovely. It was obviously a very incredible experience, to be kneeling at the very spot where Bernadette kneeled, to be able to pray at the very grotto where the Blessed Mother appeared so many years ago...on top of that, we were able to drink some of the water that has been gathered from the miraculous spring blessed by Mary. Now, they are able to divert it to several fountains, where it's possible to push a button and receive the blessed water. Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the Lourdes Baths, because they were closed when we arrived, and opened after we had to leave.

From there, we went to Santander, where we met up with Dave's friend Fr. Alberto, a Catholic priest in a country where being Catholic and being a priest are both ways to get yourself disliked. Fr. Alberto is quite the character: he's an amazingly hospitable man, as are most Spaniards, and he's very happy and talkative. He drove us around the general area, taking us to a nearby medieval-era town in Spain, and also to a lighthouse on the coast, which we had lunch nearby on our last day in Santander.

Then, off to Barcelona, to meet up with many family members of Maria. Like the others, they were incredibly friendly, even down to the tiny little dog, who was not so much a small dog as he was a fox sort of dog. Maybe a little small, but not so much perky as happy. A very joyful little dog. Oh, and the food. Spanish food is top-notch, seriously. Including their "tortilla", which is the Spanish way of saying "omlette"...except, much better. Egg never tasted so good. That, coupled with the Spanish philosophy of food: Empty plate? Here, let me fill it right back up!

So, we stayed around Barcelona for a few days, and that city is lovely. The streets are so wide, you completely lose the crowded, clustered feel of most cities. There's lots of room to breathe, and lots of trees everywhere. We also went to see one of the most spectacular sights of Barcelona: the Templo Sagrada Familia, which is an unfinished cathedral designed by the prominent (and deceased) architect Gaudí. While the modern style of the building initially threw me off, I warmed to the building, and it truly is magnificent. Now if only they didn't stick those giant grape clusters here and there...

After Barcelona, we got back on the trains to travel back...did I mention it's almost a 30-hour trip each way? Not to mention the rather lengthy wait we had for a train to go through Paris....for future reference, the French apparently cannot schedule trains exceedingly well.

But we got back. So, praise the Lord for that!

~Andy