How to maximize a Spanish day…

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

Everything starts with preparation, just like the athletes prepare for their final event, everything is in the details: the thoughts, the visualization, the equipment, rest.  This is no different.  The evening of Friday the 8^th required the purchase of quality equipment:

·         3€ WHITE t-shirt at Zara

·         20€ WHITE pants at Springfield

Then getting a full tank of gas, maps of Pamplona, Tom-Tom, sunglasses, cameras (x2), cash, and good running shoes.  Everything was ready.  Off to sleep.

Saturday the 9^th

Get up at 4:50am, get the WHITE gear on, gather all equipment and dive to pick up Noa, a female colleague of mine, at 5:30am.  We set course for San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona.  Here, timing is everything: my original plan was to leave Friday night on a bus and see the festivities in full swing, but my original partner got stuck in Cadiz and could not make it back.  So the morning departure of 5:30am would still get us to Pamplona for the 8am el Encierro: the Bull Run.

We arrived in Pamplona at about 7:15am with enough time to find parking (which was not very difficult) and headed towards the Calle de Estafeta, where the Bull Run takes place.  You could see the evidence of the Fiesta far from the city centre: white and red dressed partiers sleeping in parks, under the trees and in their cars.  Many were still walking the streets, reminding you of the zombie movies: vacant looks, enough energy left to stay on their feet but not enough to lift their heads…

We got to the entrance of the downtown core, which is very historic and features many heritage buildings.  At the entrance we completed our camouflage in order to blend in to the crown and avoid, as much as possible, looking like tourists: we got our red scarves to tie around our necks and long and wide red cloth ”belts” to tie around our waist.  The disguise was complete.  The only thing giving us away was:

·         My pale, in comparison to the Spanish, skin

·         Our alert and sober eyes

·         The absence of red wine stains on our clothes

·         The absence of 2 liter jugs of beer or wine in each of our hands

·         Our purposeful and too fast of a pace through garbage and broken glass filled streets

·         My camera, likely the biggest giveaway

Surprisingly, we go to the Calle de Estafeta very fast, but about 451.713 others beat us there first.  What a bummer!

Luckily, Noa, with her perfect command of Spanish and her Galician accent (which this Saturday was a very welcome, as we met lots of people from Galicia) was able to chat up with some rare sober locals, which knew of a place to watch the Bull Run from.  We briskly followed.

In the meantime, braving our way through the crowds of San Fermin party-goer look-alikes, with broken glass crunching under our feet and with smell of wine, alcohol and cigarettes abundant, we got to the place where we were on an elevated street, which allowed for some views of the soon-to-be Bull Run.  The people right at the barricades got here at 4am to get a spot (many probably never left from last night), some others had views from the balconies of the nearby buildings, at a meagre cost of 85-115€ per hour (but that includes juice and breakfast).

The crowds were singing the final song announcing the beginning of the Run.  The cannon goes off and the Bulls are released.  We were situated right above the place where the Runners meet their fate.  We could see the bulls and hear the screams of the Runners and the encouraging roar of the crowd.  Amazing: the run is so fast and it is over in a few minutes.  The Bulls run for about 3 minutes to the Plaza del Toros, where in the evening at 6:30pm there is a Bull Fight.  You can see a video of the event to give you an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTHHgxFOD_g&feature=player_embedded#at=23

After the Run was over, we walked the Calle de Estafeta all the way to the Plaza del Toros and ended up being able to get into the Bullring for a few pictures.  Then we walked back through the town, had some coffee and shared our impressions.

It was about 9:30am at that point.  The day was young…

Our next thought was: instead of going back to Zaragoza, we were about 1 hour away from San Sebastian, to which Noa has never been.  We decided to go and see the city and I could show her around J since we have already been there and seen many of the things this beautiful city has to offer.

En route to San Sebastian we got pulled over at a roadblock along with a large number of other vehicles, all San Fermin party-goers.  I suppose the all-white outfits and red scarves are an easy way to spot a potential offender.  I had to blow into the little machine they presented, but after scoring an astounding 0.00 the Guardia Civil politely waved us on and off we went.

We got to San Sebastian and the weather was only 18 and raining.  After Pamplona with 25 degrees and sunshine, that felt a bit of a let-down.  However, we were going to maximize the day and see the town anyway.  In addition, based on my last experience here, the weather can change in a few hours.

We parked just up the hill from our vacation apartment, walked down to La Concha beach and had a tapa (this nice lady asked for some translation help from us: I then asked her and found out she was from Victoria BC and lived in Cadboro Bay.  How about that?!?).  Then we walked down to the Neo-gothic church and all the way to the other side of town to the Surfer’s beach.  Our San Fermin outfits were slightly noticeable and we could see the smiles on people’s faces as we walked.  We walked all the way to the beach and spend half an hour sitting on the sand and watching several groups of wannabe surfers getting a lesson and heading to the water.  The waves were quite good and the sun was starting to peek out.

I said to Noa: “you know, we could be surfing too”, to which she said: “ah, that is crazy, maybe another time”.

In the next 20 minutes we had our surfing lesson all booked for 3pm.  In the meantime, we went and got some lunch, got our car and came back to the PUKAS surf school to join 2 Swedish girls and a guy from Los Angeles.

We got into our wetsuits and headed off to the beach.  With our cool looking instructor, we, with our surfboards in hand, went to the water’s edge to get our surfing instructions. The style they teach here is slightly different from the one taught in Hawaii, and I think it is a bit easier.  At this point, the sun was out in full force and we hit the waves.  I got up nicely and had 3 good rides; Noa was also able to get 3 waves.  As always, learning can be a bit challenging, but the experience was absolutely worth it.  Our 1.5 hour lesson was a perfect amount of time to get enough bruises and drink enough salt water to get the appreciation that this is indeed a difficult sport for beginners.  But we enjoyed the experience and will have to come back.

The last thing we did in San Sebastian is seeing the Wind Comb statute at the one end of the harbour (one of the things I did not get to see last time we were here) and it was time to drive back to Zaragoza, which was 2.5 hours away.

We got back just after 9pm, slightly tired, but with big grins on our faces.  Talk about hitting 2 birds with one stone!

Mediterranean Sailing Adventure

[Click on the picture above to see more photos]

Last Friday the 24^th, Cathy, the girls and I went to Villanova I la Geltru (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=villanova+i+la+geltru&hl=en&ll=41.218307,1.730862&spn=0.111434,0.264187&sll=41.223085,1.72142&sspn=0.111426,0.264187&t=h&radius=8.24&z=13), which is close to Barcelona, for a day on the beach.  It was a nice 32 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and a nice, while a bit crowded, beach.  We went swimming with the girls, and the water was very warm. Felt like Hawaii.  By chance, I went and gave a hand to a few Hobiecat sailors that were struggling to sail away from the shore due to the narrow passage the boasts are allowed to get out to sea.  With a few cool moves, I had them going.  Turns out, the one guy was the rental club owner, and the other - his father-in-law.  I got a free sail out of it and they got a free lesson on Hobie sailing.  A fair exchange.

After the beach we had a very nice coastal drive to Sitges, which is another coastal town.  It looked spectacular: reminded us of the type of waterfront you would have in California, just smaller scale.  Lots of people rollerblading on the promenade, people on the beach, tons of nice bars and restaurants.  We are definitely going back for a weekend.

We got to our hotel, went for a nice dinner and to sleep for the next day’s flight.

Saturday, I dropped Cathy and the girls at the airport and went back to Villanova, where I picked up my friend who came from Zaragoza to go sailing with me.  We rented a new Jeanneau Sun 25 foot sailboat, got our gear onboard and took off for a Mediterranean cruise.  With nice 14 knots of wind, we hoisted our sails and cruised away at about 5 knots.  After a few hours we got to Sitges marine, where we moored close to a 50 foot catamaran and several  70+ foot super yachts (see one in the picture: at Villanova, over 300 feet, owned by Russian Billionaire http://www.flickr.com/photos/jortegafigueiral/5379426544/ ), feeling and looking cool.  We had our lunch on the boat and went for a stroll into town.  The experience was absolutely amazing, felt like something out of a movie.  I was thinking about our friend Derek who is sailing his 46 foot catamaran in the Carribean for the last several years.

At about 5pm we set sail on a course back to Villanova and enjoyed a homebound cruise with the sun setting gently.  When we got to port at about 8:30pm, we walked through a big procession dedicated to the Maritime Patron Saint celebration.  Seems wherever or whenever you go, your chances of encountering a Spanish fiesta are always good.

The 2.5 hour drive back to Zaragoza was the least exciting part of the 2 days, but the effort was surely worth it.  Just brilliant!  

PRAGUE!

On Thursday June 2nd we drove to Barcelona and caught our evening WizzAir flight to Prague.  We have to say this travel experience was much more civilized than our Ryanair adventure to Dublin.  The main reason we decided to go to Prague is because our friends Alma and Evaldas from Lithuania have been living there for three years and are moving back to Klaipeda in July.  Alma was a student of mine when I taught there and we became good friends.  Another reason for going was because neither Anatolijus or I have ever been but have heard how fabulous it is.  Well the highlight of the trip was reconnecting with our good friends and Prague provided a spectacular back drop.

The weather was supposed to be cool and rainy but it turned out to be sunny and 30C the whole time.  Alma was an amazing tour guide taking us on the Metro the first day down to the old town and its famous main square.  The next day we went by ourselves and found the transportation system very user friendly.  We walked up to the castle and cathedral on the hill and spent some time in the Toy Museum which the girls loved.  We ate very tasty, but very expensive hot dogs in the shade of the cathedral and also saw the brief but interesting changing of the guards at the entrance.  The cathedral is huge and the stain glass windows were spectacular, rivalling any we have seen.  The views from the hilltop are lovely with all the red tiled roofs and ornate buildings.  a tour of a Baroque church and a quick walk across the famous Charles Bridge before the storm hit ended a great day.

On Sunday we rented paddle boats on the river and this was a wonderful experience.  The river is large with big tour boats going by and the views of the bridges and National Theater building were awesome.  that night Alma offered to stay with the girls so Anatolijus and I went out for a memorable dinner.   Alma made a reservation for us at the Terrace restaurant which overlooks the square with the illuminated towers of the cathedral, the chiming clock and then a panoramic view of the city.  When we arrived a few minutes late and said we had a reservation the maitre'd said, "Ok but only if you are ready for the best table in the house".  He sat us at the table right over the square - it was fabulous!  While we were eating lightning kept illuminating the clouds around the city but the storm never moved in, it was just a great light show for us.

We were very fortunate to have five star accommodations as Alma's apartment is lovely.  We loved our morning lattes with her high end espresso maker and special Krups milk foamer (I am definitely buying one).  We cooked lots of lovely meals together and enjoyed good Czech beer and wine sitting on their huge deck enjoying the view.  Aside from getting very little sleep it was perfect.

On our last morning Anatolijus was able to play 9 holes of golf at a beautiful course along the river.  We also visited Starbucks for the first time since London and won't do that again as it was 25 euros.

All in all, a very memorable trip with great friends!

To view pictures from this Blog, just click the picture above!

Month of fun and visitors!

Cheers!  Been a few weeks since we wrote our last blog: a month exactly.  No excuses, but the number of visitors kept us busy with entertaining, enjoying great company and more Spanish wine.

After our trip to San Sebastian and after Cathy’s parents left, the next weekend we went to Barcelona to pick up my mom, who came for a month-long visit.  We spent a wonderful weekend in Barcelona, with the weather being just spectacular.  We showed my mom around town (by the way: driving in Barcelona is very, very easy, one of the best big cities to deal with traffic): Parc Guell (Gaudi), Sagrada Familia Basilica (which is still being built 100 years later after being started), La Rambla (the big walking plaza with merchants, cafes and pedestrians), excellent places to eat, one of which we stopped at and had a wonderful Catalan meal.  After lunch, back onto La Rambla, where the girls got their charcoal portraits done by artists.

That night, taking advantage of our new Lithuanian baby sitter, Cathy and I went out to La Flauta, a very popular restaurant for dinner.  After about a 1.5 hour wait, we got in about 11pm and had a great meal.  The best part was when we got the bill, with my 100 Euros in hand, I thought they made an error when they charged us only 37E!  Inexpensive and great (included a good bottle of Navarra wine).  http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d787824-Reviews-La_Flauta-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

Our Barcelona trip lasted 2 days and absolutely the top experience was La Sagrada Familia Basilica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia)  which was concecrated in 2010 when the Pope visited the city.  I was at the Sagrada Familia 2 years ago, when things inside were still obfuscated by the construction scaffolding.  This time, when we walked in, I had shivers going down my skin.  The spectacle of the church is indescribable.  To think that Gaudi, who lived at the turn of the century, could have imagined all this is to believe that he was truly inspired.  It was a jaw-dropping experience, of engineering and spiritual marvel.  By far the most inspiring and impressive building we have ever visited.  (See some pictures on our blog!)  On the way back to Zaragoza, we stopped at a medieval town of Mont Blanc, which was celebrating an annual medieval festivals.  Fashioned with real knights, medieval market and a wine tasting, we had a grand time spending a few hours and then having a picnic in a field by a winery.

Then back to Zaragoza, where my mom spent a nice and relaxing month with us and the girls.  Of course, she can never sit still so our place was spotless and we got an opportunity to go out without kids a few times.

In the meantime, our Montpelier apartment turned temporarily into a 4 star all-inclusive resort: we had several visits from our friends from Canada, Chad and Brit, who are on a whirlwind tour of Europe for 4 months.  When they first came and outlined their plans, it was not initially clear if they were competing for the Guinness world book of records title for the most time spent on trains during the 4 months or of the record was going to be the most places visited.  I myself was a bit dizzy just imagining the amount of sensory input.  After a few relaxing days in Zaragoza, then a trip to Portugal and then back to Zaragoza, they decided to slow down a bit and try and enjoy a fewer less places and experience more of the feeling.  They are great guys and I now call them our “adopted” family, as we are their emergency landing strip in Europe…

Our other friend Adrieane came to visit us from the UK, where she is studying in Reading.  She is from Victoria, Canada, but while on her studies, she decided to pay us a visit, which we enjoyed very much.  She is studying food safety, and we had a few interesting chats about the origin of our nice steaks J

In between all this, we joined a community event where about 400 people kayaked 10 kilometers down the river Ebro.  It was spectacular: did not take much effort, as the river naturally takes you down.  The vistas of the city and the enjoyment of a sunny day on the river were very memorable.  Again: a few pics if you click on the picture above. 

Then, in between Chad and Brit’s visits, we had our wonderful Irish friends (Gwen and Monty) come to stay with us while they were doing their own Spanish excursion.  After a weekend with us, they went to visit Catalan Pyrenees and now they are back in Zaragoza.  They had excellent weather and fab time and last night we watched the European football final at Wembley: Barcelona vs. Manchester.  I had to wear my Barca jersey, and we WON!!!  Ole ole ole ole….. (Sorry Barry, next time)

One last bit.  Yesterday, Tessa had a school gymnastics performance with her Infantil class.  They were all dressed in special outfits and did surprisingly complex routines for the parents.  Tessa, in comparison to her being shy and self-conscious just a few months ago, was super happy and proud of her performance.  Was a very nice experience (some pics above).  They even got medals!

After the performance, we were invited to the school club, where we had some food, wine and a huge paella!  We stayed at the school till about 7pm, having some beers, gin and tonics.  Who said schools were boring?  A great group of parents.  Afterwards we collected Grace from a play date she went to and went home to watch the football final.  Life is getting very full again, what a difference from just a few months ago.

P.s.  They are filling our pool, so soon the pool parties will start.  Can’t wait.  Have you booked your tip to visit us yet?  We have some availability, but book early!

[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]

Family Visit

On Thursday April 7^th my parents arrived in Zaragoza for a 3 week visit.  Aside from the one day we spent with my Auntie Glenda in London this is the first family we have seen in 5 months and we were all very excited.  I tracked their flights and was disappointed when they had a 2 hour delay in Frankfurt due to fog in Barcelona, however the good thing is that Anatolijus had been in Madrid for meetings that day and arrived at the train station around the time I imagined their train would be arriving.  Anatolijus called me as he watched people disembark and then spotted them coming up the movator.  My parents were going to take a taxi to our house because we didn’t know exactly what train they would be on so their relief and joy to see Anatolijus waiting for them meant their journey was over as he got them safely to our house.  When the buzzer rang in the apartment announcing their arrival the girls and I all screamed and started running in circles trying to find our shoes.  As we walked out they were just coming down the driveway and Tessa let out a scream of excitement that couldn’t be contained.  To say our reunion was joyful would be very accurate.

We spent the first weekend showing them around Zaragoza and they really liked the city and how pretty and clean and friendly it is.  The first week was fun for me as mom and dad joined in our regular routine of walking to school and getting groceries and picking Anatolijus up from work.  It was so nice for me to share these everyday aspects of my life and I realized how alone I have been in these things.  Although we have some friends we see them on the weekend and because I don’t have very much Spanish yet I haven’t been able to connect with parents from the school.  I had gotten used to my routine but was struggling and feeling very tired.  I found I was able to get back in balance and feel more like myself with my parents here and now I am building in some enriching things for me to maintain the balance. A highlight of that first week was a day trip I took my parents on to Loarre Castle (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Loarre) which is a beautifully preserved Medieval castle and is a 80 min drive.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the farm land was so green and alive with Spring it was fabulous.  We had a picnic after our tour and enjoyed the spectacular views as we were up in the foothills of the Pyrenees and had sweeping views of the whole valley that extends all the way to Zaragoza.  The girls were in school that day and I realized it was the first sightseeing I had done without them in 5 months and I thanked my parents for not asking, “when are we going to get there?” or throwing up or fighting over the front seat!

On the weekend we had our friends Eduardo and Sira and their children Eduardo and Claudia over for a BBQ on our new big stainless steel BBQ.  We had a lovely evening and at 11:30pm when the kids were really tired and in Canada we would be saying goodnight, instead a fresh round of drinks was poured and the poker chips came out. The kids all fell asleep on the couch and we played until 1:30am.  I was so impressed with my parents for partying Spanish style and needless to say the following day was a quiet one.  The next night saw our only unfortunate event in that my dad tripped on an ill placed scooted on the deck and cut his foot open.  We had to take him to the emergency where our lovely friend David met us and did all the translating which was great.  Dad ended up getting eight stitches and this really slowed him down as he loves to walk and explore and was very limited in this regard.  The good thing is that he had virtually no pain and didn’t complain once.

The following week was Holy Week and the children have the whole week off and this is their Spring Break.  Anatolijus also got 2 days off so on the Thursday we left for a four day trip driving through the La Rioja wine region then into the Pais Vasco also known as the Basque region up to San Sebastian which is on the Sea of Cantabrico and is about 20 km from the French border.  We had an apartment right on the water and although it was very basic and not too clean the location was spectacular.  We were right on La Concha beach and the girls played in the waves and we all breathed in the sea air we have been missing.  San Sebastian is a holiday destination and one of the wealthiest parts of Spain.  The brief history is that 200 years ago the Queen of Spain decided to spend the summers here away from the terrible heat of Madrid.  A beautiful Palace was built and then all  the infrastructure to support the royals kept developing.  It is famous for the beautiful fancy white cast iron railings that go all along the promenade and food is considered to be some of the best in the world.  An overview of our activities:  riding the rollercoaster in the amusement park built in 1912 way up on the hill (incredible views); walking through the old town shopping and later enjoying pinchos and Txacolina (chakoli, an amazing white wine); the girls riding the ornate merry-go-round; walking the promenade and eating great food at La Concha café; on Easter Sunday climbing way up to the huge statue of Jesus on Mt.Urgul.  Another highlight was the day we spent going to Bilboa to see the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum (http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao).  I have known about this Museum for years but somehow thought Bilboa was in the south of Spain. I was thrilled when I realized it was only a 2.5 hour drive away from Zaragoza and it was a fabulous experience seeing it and being in it. 

There were a couple of things that surprised us on this trip.  The first thing is it was virtually impossible to get a map or information on how to find the wineries.  We realized after that it is only April so many of the wineries aren’t yet open for tours, however the information is still not useful or helpful.  We did get to Marques de Riscal which has the amazing Frank Gehry designed hotel at it (http://www.hotel-marquesderiscal.com/en?PS=EAME_aa_Starwood_Iberia-1539_Google%20US_marques%20de%20riscal_12/13/10).  On the way there we past 4 of the wineries we were looking for so will now have to go back when the season gets rolling and enjoy time doing tastings.  Also as we drove through the Basque region we couldn’t believe how green and gorgeous it was.  It reminded all of us of Austria or Switzerland with Bavarian styled houses on the side of high green hills dotted with sheep.  We drove through luscious deep valleys with quaint little villages set in, very beautiful.  We had a lovely time exploring this corner of Spain and would like to go back, however there are so many new places to explore as well.  We arrived home on the Sunday evening and sadly my parents had to leave on the train Monday to overnight in Barcelona before flying home on Tuesday.  We comforted ourselves knowing the girls and I will be home in Victoria in just two months to spend the whole summer and Anatolijus will join us for August.  The time went incredibly fast and after saying goodbye to my parents on Monday we prepared to welcome a new guest on Friday so we were off to Barcelona……

To view pictures from this Blog, just click the picture above!

Golf in Zaragoza

Ok, ok, I have to tell you about golf in Zaragoza.  Believe it or not, one of the most complicated things here.

First, finding a golf course in Zaragoza is a challenge in and of itself.  One day I saw one on the way to Madrid along the highway and got very excited.  Later, after a bit of research, I find that to play there you need to be a member, pay 120 € and have a handicap.  Of course, I had none of the three magic things to open the gates of golf (the 120€ I was simply not willing to spend after playing Bear Mountain in Victoria for 65$).

Then my search continued.  By accident I stumbled across a "public" golf course in the modern Expo site.  It is a pitch and putt, 18 holes, looks nice.  So I figured to give it a try.  The price was also ok: weekend rate of 25€ for 18 holes.  I got a friend to call to book a tee time....

But of course, that would have been too simple.  Supposedly, in order to play at any non-private golf course in Spain you need to belong to the Spanish golf federation and pay an annual fee!  In the meantime, the golf course on weeknights is completely empty.

So on Sunday I decided to go there anyway just in case the guy on the phone was mistaken.

We got to the course and indeed, we could not go play.  The good news was that there were people on the golf course so they must have filled out the forms and joined the federation.  We ended up going to the driving range, which looks more like an acre of Dubai real-estate: sand, sand, sand.  The upside is that if you hit the ball 50 yards, it rolls another 50 :)

Balls were cheap, and after an hour and a half of brisk swing action we ended up in the clubhouse for a refreshment and, of course, to fill out the mandatory forms to join the federation.  I suppose the urge to play on the green vs the sand did overtake and I gave into the annual fee of 60€.  So now I patiently await my membership card, which is just as important as the healthcare coverage.  The process seems similar too.

P.s. After the driving range we stopped by s special seafood fair, where the region of Spain called Galicia were displaying their culinary delights, most of which were seafood.  I had octopus with potatoes, mussels and some other yummy seafood, all of which was to die for!

The other day I even tried percebes which are gooseneck barnacles, which are delicious, but maybe weird to look at.

Now off to waiting for my card.  Dreaming of golf.



[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]


Anatolijus

Complex History of Spain: Belchite

The other day we took a trip to a nearby town of Belchite.  It is about an hour away from Zaragoza, but a nice drive through a landscape that reminded us of driving through Kamloops: deserty looking hills with very green grass at the foothills.

Belchite is a small village with big history.  In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, Franco was fighting the socialist-communist forces and the village was one of the key gateways to Zaragoza.  The little town was almost leveled to the ground in fierce fighting.  Supposedly British, US and other allied forces fought Franco's army, but eventually they lost.  Some 6000 people lost their lives there.  After the war, Franco ordered the people of the village to build a new village besides the destroyed one, leaving the ruins as a reminder of his victory and his enemies' defeat. (you can find more info on the history of Belchite here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belchite_(1937) )
We got there on a very sunny day, which certainly helped when seeing what remained of once tranquil village.  It is amazing that some structures of houses, 2 churches and a convent are still standing, while significantly Tedder prates since their day time.

We walked into the main church and it was amazing to see some of the decorations still in tact.  It was, though, an eerie feeling, trying to walk through a skeleton of a village.  Many people say you can hear ghosts in the village.  At one point we heard a children's quite singing, very clearly.  Could have been from the new village, or...

It was an interesting experience, and a reminder that peace comes at at a significant price at times.  Even the children felt sad seeing such destruction and desolation.

After, we went to the new village, kids played in the nice park and we went back to Zaragoza.  A very special experience.


[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]


Anatolijus