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This year our Christmas
holiday was not as fun-filled as usual as we were plagued with illness.
Tessa was sick from Dec 24-31, Grace from Jan 1-9 and Cathy from Jan
7-13. In between Christmas and New Year’s we had planned to go to the
mountains but with Tessa not well we cancelled those plans. We then
decided to go to Madrid for 3 days to stay at a hotel and do a day trip to
Toledo. To our dismay Tessa continued to have a fever and so we cancelled
and rebooked, planning to go from Dec 29 - Jan 1st. On the Sunday morning
Tessa was still not well but we were all 'sick' and tired of being stuck at
home so we delayed our departure but left for Madrid at 11am. Tessa slept
a lot of the way so we headed straight to El Escorial which is the
castle of Philip II and is from where the Spanish Inquisition was conducted.
The castle is huge and quite austere and also very interesting. It
has a great collection of art and one of the halls boasts huge murals that
depict in great detail military tactics, formations, armour and strategy.
It is said it is here that Philip II learned about military techniques.
Another highlight was the beautiful library: it is a testament to the
royal family’s value of education. Tessa did very well making her way through
the tour but was definitely done by the end. She was in bed asleep by 7pm
and the next day she clearly was not up for a trip to Toledo (besides, there
was a very think, all-engulfing fog, that swallowed the entire Madrid area, so
Toledo in a cloud would have been a loss; saved for another trip).
The next day was foggy and cold so we did a short trip into Madrid to have lunch at a highly recommended pizza place (Pizzateca) and then, with Tessa napping again, we drove to Mejorada del Campo. This small village 20 km outside of Madrid is famous for the cathedral that has been built by hand by Don Justo for the past 50 years. Don Justo was planning on becoming a monk but a diagnosis of tuberculosis made that impossible. He had to leave the religious community and he was so distraught that he could not commit his life to God as a monk, he decided to build a cathedral to show his devotion. It is truly amazing what one person's commitment and vision can create. Anatolijus and I went in and met Don Justo who was having lunch with a friend. He encouraged us to look around and at 88 years old all his years of labour show. The cathedral is amazing and it has all the components of a true catholic church. There is the crypt, cloister, domes, upper choir stall, altar, stained glass windows and side chapels. We had seen him featured on a documentary and were delighted to see his creation. You can click here for a commercial that made this cathedral famous!
Our "misadventures" continued on Dec 31st when we miscalculated the Spanish time schedule. Usually it is impossible to get food at a restaurant before 9pm so we hung out at the hotel until 7:40pm and then went over to a Mall to a restaurant. When we drove into the empty parking lot we knew we were in trouble. It turns out in Spain everything closes early on New Year's Eve, including restaurants. The only options are paying a lot of money for an all-inclusive evening at a special restaurant or eat at home. So, with no food in our possession we got back in the car and after making a wrong turn onto the major highway we found an El Corte Ingles which is a major department store with a grocery store. We were just about to park when Tessa noticed a McDonald's, promising never to tell anyone we ate there on New Year's Eve. We started to walk over and realized the lights were out and the people leaving were the staff. In Spain McDonald's closes at 8pm on NY Eve! Our last hope was El Corte Ingles so we walked in at 7:56pm and the security guard told us they closed at 8pm so we should go 'muy rapido". As we walked in they started turning off the lights so all four of us ran and started grabbing food off the shelves. Prepared salads, cold meat, pickles, bread, chocolate, fruit, cookies, peanuts, licorice. The manager was waving her hands at us to come to the checkout and 'get out' so we quickly complied feeling relieved we had something for dinner. Back in the hotel room we popped open our bottle of French champagne, which we had brought, and enjoyed our feast thankful to have some dinner.
The next day was foggy and cold so we did a short trip into Madrid to have lunch at a highly recommended pizza place (Pizzateca) and then, with Tessa napping again, we drove to Mejorada del Campo. This small village 20 km outside of Madrid is famous for the cathedral that has been built by hand by Don Justo for the past 50 years. Don Justo was planning on becoming a monk but a diagnosis of tuberculosis made that impossible. He had to leave the religious community and he was so distraught that he could not commit his life to God as a monk, he decided to build a cathedral to show his devotion. It is truly amazing what one person's commitment and vision can create. Anatolijus and I went in and met Don Justo who was having lunch with a friend. He encouraged us to look around and at 88 years old all his years of labour show. The cathedral is amazing and it has all the components of a true catholic church. There is the crypt, cloister, domes, upper choir stall, altar, stained glass windows and side chapels. We had seen him featured on a documentary and were delighted to see his creation. You can click here for a commercial that made this cathedral famous!
Our "misadventures" continued on Dec 31st when we miscalculated the Spanish time schedule. Usually it is impossible to get food at a restaurant before 9pm so we hung out at the hotel until 7:40pm and then went over to a Mall to a restaurant. When we drove into the empty parking lot we knew we were in trouble. It turns out in Spain everything closes early on New Year's Eve, including restaurants. The only options are paying a lot of money for an all-inclusive evening at a special restaurant or eat at home. So, with no food in our possession we got back in the car and after making a wrong turn onto the major highway we found an El Corte Ingles which is a major department store with a grocery store. We were just about to park when Tessa noticed a McDonald's, promising never to tell anyone we ate there on New Year's Eve. We started to walk over and realized the lights were out and the people leaving were the staff. In Spain McDonald's closes at 8pm on NY Eve! Our last hope was El Corte Ingles so we walked in at 7:56pm and the security guard told us they closed at 8pm so we should go 'muy rapido". As we walked in they started turning off the lights so all four of us ran and started grabbing food off the shelves. Prepared salads, cold meat, pickles, bread, chocolate, fruit, cookies, peanuts, licorice. The manager was waving her hands at us to come to the checkout and 'get out' so we quickly complied feeling relieved we had something for dinner. Back in the hotel room we popped open our bottle of French champagne, which we had brought, and enjoyed our feast thankful to have some dinner.
Welcome 2013. Hope the rest of it is better than the end of
2012.
