Grace’s First Communion

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When we were home for our first summer after moving to Spain, Grace was hesitant about returning to Zaragoza as the transition to a new country, language and school had been difficult.  Interestingly, the one thing that had caught her attention was that in Grade 3 she could start Catechism classes and after two years she would be able to have her 1^st Communion.  She was very interested and excited and about this which helped when we returned to start our second year.

Grace goes to a Jesuit school and the Catechism program is organized by a teacher, supported by the priests and taught by volunteer parents.  So from Oct – May every Wednesday from 5-6pm for Grade 3 and until this past February Grace attended her Catechism class.  The groups are small, with 5-6 children each, and 2-3 times a semester parents are invited for a chapel service to see what they are learning and to support the process.  Participating in catechism is voluntary although it is interesting to note that all of the 26 kids from Grace’s class joined.  When asking about this we learned that the First Communion in Spain is an incredibly important event and families treat the celebration like a small wedding.  All the components from the dress, photographs, luncheon reception, gifts and guests are a part of this day.  It is also true that for many the religious significance has been lost and many families do it because it is a ‘cultural’ tradition and many children want it because they score great gifts.  Our school went to great lengths to emphasize the spiritual and sacramental significance and even sent notes home asking us to talk to our children about not focusing on the gifts.  To give you an idea of an average communion gift for a 9-10 year old, they often receive PlayStations, IPads, jewelry etc.

So last October we began planning for Grace’s First Communion which was on March 16^th 2013.   The first thing to secure was the restaurant for lunch and we were told that as soon as you say it is a “First Communion”, the price goes up (doubles).  In fact we discovered that, not surprisingly, this event is big business and can end up costing a small fortune.  We were not willing to pay ‘double’ the price as it just did not seem reasonable so we took a different approach.  When we went to meet with the food and beverage manager of a very nice hotel we explained that we were a Canadian family who had relatives coming to visit (true: my parents were arriving) and we wanted to host a lunch for them with our friends.  So out came the menus with reasonable prices and an excellent selection of dishes.  We booked a private dining room for no charge and explained that we would be bringing in homemade cupcakes to serve our guests.  Perfect – more on this later. 

A small book could be written on how we chose the dress, hairband, shoes and commemorative book marks that we had to have printed; not to mention the clothes for the mother and sister of the ‘celebrated’ one.  Again we were trying to find a balance between participating in this important Spanish celebration while not getting pulled into all the ‘you have to…’ when it didn’t feel comfortable to us.  In the end we feel very good about the Canadian/Spanish balance we found and the experience was wonderful and very special.

The Big Day

Grace was very excited and very nervous about the service.  During the practices the children were asked if they would like to read during the service and, although nervous, Grace volunteered as she really wanted to participate and fully be a part of the service.  The service was held in the church sanctuary at our school, we have our own parish and priests. Again to give an idea of how important this event is, the service was for the 26 children in Grace’s class and there were over 1000 people in attendance!  The church was full to overflowing and if you do the math that is approximately 40 people for each child – wow!  Also in keeping with the Jesuit tradition all the children wear an off white hooded robe so that the focus remains on the sacrament and not on fashion.  With so many people in the church, a professional photographer is the only one allowed to take photos and he captures the moment the child receives the bread and also takes photos before the service (see photos).  Grace spoke very well and we were told she sounded very Spanish, yeah!! And during the priest’s homily she offered a number of answers on her own.  It was a very emotional and meaningful experience for Grace and it was lovely one to witness.

After the service at 1pm we headed directly to the Hotel Hiberus which is a new modern hotel on the Ebro River.  The weather was unusually cold so we couldn’t use the lovely sundeck; however the restaurant is all windows so it was bright and nice.  As we walked in we went through a larger room that was beautifully decorated with stands of champagne and flowers etc into our room which was plain, but lovely.  As we were standing and chatting, the party arrived to the other room and Grace said, “Mommy look: it is Juan from my class, he is having his communion lunch right next to ours”.  The funny thing is we could clearly see the difference between family lunch and 1^st communion; however the fabulous food all came from the same kitchen and we knew how different the prices were.  At our lunch we hosted 23 people including ourselves and 10 of those were children so the kids had a great time playing together.  As I said the food was fabulous, we had a traditional Spanish menu which includes 1^st plate, 2^nd plate, dessert, wine, water and bread. 

In terms of gifts we asked our friends to not buy electronics but to give Grace something to remember her communion in Spain.  She was showered with the most beautiful pendants, earrings, bracelets and one fabulous electronic (Google Galaxy 7).  The jewellery was mostly representing the Virgin of El Pilar which is our Basilica and is the center of one of the largest celebrations in all of Spain.  She now, at 9 years old, has a collection of jewellery to be envied.  It was wonderful to have Cathy’s parents here and also to realize what a lovely group of friends and surrogate family we have developed here in Spain.

The Spanish are known for long celebrations so after the lunch we invited everyone back to our house for gin & tonics – a must, following a meal here – as well as wine and finger foods.  The day ended around 10pm when the last of the guests left and we fell into bed satisfied that we had participated in a very Spanish tradition that enriched our experience and understanding a little more.

Cathy’s parent’s arranged to come 2 weeks early to be a part of this event and with friends from Valencia also invited 23 people joined in our celebration.  A highlight of our stay in Spain, for sure!

Early spring blog

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Skiing in Panticosa 2013
One of the great things about where we live is that it is only a 1.5 hr drive to the Pyrenees.  Anatolijus has been snowboarding a number of times but the girls have never tried it.  So on the weekend of Jan 28-29 we headed up to Panticosa to give it a try.  it has been many years since I last skied and although I remembered it was lots of work I forgot that it would be even more with two kids.  Tessa took a one hour ski lesson and did really well getting the hang of it quickly.  Grace wanted to try snowboarding, like her Dad, and also did really well.  We stayed in our favorite rustic hotel and ended up being invited over for dinner to friends' of ours from Zaragoza who have a place in Panticosa.  A great weekend all around.

Calatayud
On Sat. Feb. 16th we decided to do a day trip to Calatayud which is a 50 min drive from Zaragoza.  The castle is really a ruin but we did fine a beautifully restored cloister in the main church of the town which had many relics and a lovely 15th century amber decorated box from Lithuania.  The town is not particularly beautiful especially because many things are being renovated or rebuilt.  We had lunch in a restaurant Anatolijus found on Trip Advisor (an aside: Anatolijus is now a Senior Contributor on Trip Advisor due to all the reviews he has written).
Lunch was definitely the highlight of the day, we had the classic Spanish menu which includes first plate, second plate, dessert, water, wine and bread.  In Zaragoza a good restaurant will charge 15-18 euros, but here it was only 10.50 per menu and Grace and Tessa shared.  The food, wine and service were fabulous and the price shockingly low - huge value and worth the 50 min drive.

As we were getting ready to head home when we came across a dress store that was displaying beautiful communion dresses in the window.  A child's First Communion is a huge deal here in Spain and the celebration is similar to a small wedding.  This is especially true of the long, white dresses many 9-10 year old girls wear (prices also range from 300 to 1500 Euros!).  Grace's First Communion is March 16th and although we had already decided to not go with the elaborate dress, Anatolijus thought it would be fun for her to try some on.  So in we went for some 'dress-up' and the lady said we could take photos.  Grace loved the feeling of the princess dresses but in the end is happy to be wear a simpler dress.  Enjoy the pics!

WOW I am 7 years old!!!!!
This year Tessa had her first friends birthday party in Spain.  She invited 8 girlfriends and her sister to go to Clip N'Climb, a wall climbing facility that provides the food and fun.  Her party was on Thursday Feb 28 from 6-8 pm, a very common time here in Spain.  The other common thing is for all children to contribute 10 euros and one mom goes and buys a couple of gifts.  It works out very well as the birthday girl gets 2 or 3 lovely things that they really wanted.  Tessa's friends bought her a beautiful Merida costume from the movie Brave and a Monster High doll - she was so thrilled.  Also Tessa loves cake decorating so we made a cake and she designed and decorated her cake all by herself.  The results were great, especially for a first time.  Her friends also thought so and congratulated her.  On her actual birthday, March 1st, Tessa went out for lunch to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant, and for dinner she asked her dad to make her his awesome schnitzel.  All in all she was well celebrated!


St. Jean de Luz, France
In Zaragoza March 5th is a holiday although no one remembers what it celebrates, the main point is that the girls had a four day weekend so we went away for three days.  We love the Basque country and have visited San Sebastian numerous times so this time we headed a little further north into France and the quaint town of St. Jean de Luz in the French Basque region.  St.Jean is situated on a big bay and has an active fishing port.  It also has beautiful sandy beaches and we were very fortunate to have fabulous weather and a hotel with our deck right on the beach.  It was sunny and 21 C so we were able to eat lunch outside, walk on the beach and have aperitifs on our sundeck.  We also drove 20 mins up the coast to Biarritz, stopped into a beautiful church and lingered by the ocean to fill our souls.  St. Jean de Luz also has great shopping so we bought some lovely things and felt very relaxed and refreshed.

Stay tuned for Grace's communion blog coming soon!

New Year's Eve in Madrid

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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. 

Welcome 2013.  Hope the rest of it is better than the end of 2012.

Truffle Festival & Culinary Delights

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December 10^th was Anatolijus’ birthday so for his birthday weekend, Dec 8-9 we indulged in a number of culinary delights.  On Saturday the four of us drove 1 hr and 45 mins south to the small village of Sarrion which holds an annual International Truffle Festival.  These black truffles are cultivated and harvested by dogs and pigs.  In the small pavilion there were booths representing all different parts of the process and produce of the truffle industry.  We tasted cheese infused with truffle, truffle sausage, truffle liquor, olive oil infused with truffle and a lovely onion and truffle marmalade.  Anatolijus bought one of each and then realized his dream of buying his very own truffle and truffle cutter.  We did not spend a long time in Sarrion but came away with many delicacies.  The next day Anatolijus and I made our first Truffle Risotto which was ‘fenomenal’!!!  Anatolijus also made a peppercorn and rosemary encrusted beef tenderloin and we paired it all with a bottle of Sangiovese a friend brought from Italy.  As a starter, we made a terrine of foie gras with tarragon and granny smith apple (a recipe of our good friend Marc).  What a feast!

On Sunday Grace, Tessa and I made Anatoijus a very special birthday cake.  Tessa is obsessed with watching YouTube videos of Betty Crocker kitchens and Nerdy Nummies which teach you how to make and decorate amazing types of cakes.  So inspired by Tessa we undertook to make the “Hamburger Cake”.  The candies we needed are not here in Spain so we improvised and were delighted with the results.  Take a look!!

Lastly, after all this cooking I then proceeded to spend the next two days in the kitchen baking traditional Canadian Christmas treats for, ‘Cathy’s Canadian Christmas Coffee Party” (CCCCP in short).  I invited a number of moms from the school and prepared fresh scones, Nanaimo bar, decorated sugar cookies, banana bread and scotch shortbread.  There were a few hiccups with some people not able to come and some coming late and others leaving early – however overall I was very pleased!

Now time to get ready for Christmas and do a bit more baking, cooking, grilling, tasting….

Sarvise in Pyrenees

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On the weekend of Nov 16-18 we spent a wonderful weekend in the Pyrenees with our good friends Eduardo and Sira, and their children, Edu and Claudia.  We rented a lovely Casa rural which was grey stone and looked old but in fact is a new build so has all the heating and plumbing of a modern home.  It had two separate apartments and a lovely yard.  We arrived at night and could hear sounds and realized it was cow bells from the pastures surrounding us.  In the morning we were in for a treat, we opened the curtains and the mountains were aflame with yellow, orange, red, green and brown.  The autumn colors are particularly spectacular this year due to a warmer and longer fall.

On Saturday morning we started with a great crepe breakfast then went for a short walk down the road to where the horses were.  We all saddled up, for a wonderful one hour trail ride by the pastures, through the forest and down by the river.  This was Tessa's first time on a horse and she was a little nervous, however with a little encouragement she was hoisted onto her lovely brown mare and she was at the front of the line with the man walking leading her horse.  It was so wonderful to be in the mountains surrounded by beautiful nature, this is something we miss living in a desert.  A highlight for the girls was the four week old kitten that came to play; he basically kept them entertained the whole weekend.  One funny thing is that the kitten’s name was socks because of its white feet, and in Spanish the name is calcetines – not quite the same feeling as the English word.

In Spain Comida is the main meal of the day and it is at approx. 1:30pm - our lunch but they always have a proper hot meal.  On Sat we planned to make a big Comida as Eduardo enjoys cooking very much just like Anatolijus.  We were given the use of a chimney, literally a metal shaped structure we could build a fire in with a chimney.  You then put your food on grills that sit in the fire and cook.  Our menu included: fresh artichokes, tomatoes and large green onions cooked right in the fire, sausage, steak and teriyaki chicken wings.  We also did skewers of mushrooms, red pepper, cherry tomatoes and onion in balsamic vinegar.  WOW!!!  Anatolijus' new favorite thing is fire roasted onions.  To wash this great meal down we enjoy a number of good Spanish red wines – Protos and Priorat, to name two.  We now completely understand the Spanish siesta and its importance after drinking and eating that much in the afternoon.

On Sunday we were able to drive into Ordesa National Park which is fabulous.  It has beech tree forests that are beautiful with their white trunks and colored leaves.  There is a lovely river which we walked along and although there is a famous 4 hour walk/hike we weren’t prepared for that so will go back in spring or summer to enjoy more of the beauty of the Pyrenees.  

Living a dream: Extreme Sailing Series Nice

Pictures from the event are here

Videos from the live race is here

Nice promo video is here

Bliss. 25 degrees and torquoise water.  Light Mediterranean breeze caressing the palm trees that welcome a small group of visitors to the airport. Welcome to Nice!

Exactly one year ago we saw that the Extreme Sailing Series of Formula 40 catamarans was coming to Almeria, Spain. Unfortunately we weren't able to go. At the same time our interest in  being a part of this exciting event was peaked so we immediately checked the schedule for 2012 and booked a hotel in Nice, France, the closest venue to Spain.  To put some context around the importance of this event one must go back to 2001.  At that time Anatolijus was a keen sailor of HobieCats and in 2001 at one of the starts of the Swiftsure race he saw a Formula 40 catamaran called Dragon Fly and a dream was born: one day to sail on one of these.  As with many of his dreams, he put it on paper and....

So we got to Nice, weather was amazing. We got a very nice hotel with a little balcony several tram stops away from the Promenade Anglais (main promenade of the city on the sea) where the racing event was to take place.

The amazing thing about the Extreme Sailing Series is that their main purpose is to promote extreme sailing and bring it to the masses.  The event is free to watch from the shore and the stadium style racing allows spectators to see and hear the action, take pictures and make friends.  At the same time, the event is televised and is streamed live over the Internet.  We were very excited to see the event up-close.  Of course, getting onto one of the boats was not possible, because, according to the event site, you had to buy a hospitality suite (I believe they were starting at about 7k) which included one sail on the catamaran.

As we arrived on Thursday, we anticipated the first event but it was cancelled due to too much wind.  The next day there were races planned in the morning and afternoon, but we decided to take a train to Monaco and Monte Carlo to maximize the morning.

In Monaco we saw the harbor with a million massive yachts, we saw the Ponant cruise yacht coming into the harbor (the yacht is famous as in 2008 it was hijacked by pirates), visited the Royal Palace, which is a very nice place to visit and has an excellent audio guide, went to Monte Carlo to see the casino and admire Lamborghini, Bugatti, Bentley and Ferrari exhibits in the street.  I am not sure why we always imagined these places to be much bigger, but they were much cozier and had a very friendly, rich feeling...

We got back to the Promenade Anglais for the second set of racing and enjoyed the spectacle.  The race included several crashes we could see and hear which took 2 of the 8 boats out of action.  They  both had to go back and make repairs for the next day's sailing.  In the meantime, my head was full of thoughts on "I need to find a way to get on one of these!" so following the philosophy of "if you never ask you never win" I dialed the UK number of the event hospitality organizers to see if there is any way to buy a "ticket" to get on a boat.  A lady answered, but she had no info on this and said she would get back to me.  In the meantime, we went to check out the Extreme Sailing gear that was being sold at the racing village on the promenade.  There I asked one of the people working at the store if there was any way to get on one of the boats.  He said that I should talk to the woman who is the event coordinator.  He introduced me to Priscille and she was very energetic and excited about me being excited.  She said: “so nice to see fans that love this sport” and was very surprised we flew in just to see the event.  So I asked if there was any way to get onto one of the boats and she said "there may be", she just needs to check if there are any VIP tickets available.  Just as I am talking to her, my phone rings and I am getting a callback from the UK number from a different woman to whom my message was forwarded.  As we are talking we realize we are standing about 10 feet away from each other.  She tells me she got my message about tickets and was calling back to let me know there was a POSSIBILITY!!!! So I was standing there with the two very nice ladies telling me that Cathy and I could have VIP tickets for the Saturday hospitality suite which would include one live race on a Formula 40, spectator trips on zodiac inflatables to watch event from the water and full day access to the hospitality suite which is right on the edge of the promenade overlooking the race course.  At that point the price didn't really matter, as how can you put a price on living a dream!  So we said we are in and the ladies were very happy to have their new, extremely excited VIP guests.  To add to the excitement, Priscille told me that she would also try to see if she can get me onto two sailings on Saturday.  We finalized the details sitting in the VIP lounge sipping a drink and tasting what our future held.  Needless to say it was hard to fall asleep that night.

The next morning we got a call saying we needed to be at the race village at 10 and my first sailing was on!!! So we got there, I got into my sailing gear and we headed off to the harbor.  Cathy also came to go on the zodiac to be the official photographer of our first sail.  We got to the boat, got our instructions, met our crew-mates (guest sailors and crew). Our boat name was ZouLou skippered by a French skipper and we were off.  We got to put up sails, winch some sheets and steer a bit.  There was not much wind in the morning but we did manage to fly a hull with full sails and spinnaker deployed, it was amazing.  The nice part was meeting several very interesting (and I later learned, important) people.  We later had a nice time in the VIP lounge, exchanged info and I was able to send them video and photos I took with them.

After the sail they asked us if we were interested to go in the media zodiacs to watch the race from the water, to which we said yes (of course).  So we spent about 2 hours watching the races up very close, chasing the boats to get best views and shots.  It also allowed us to get a good perspective on how fast Formula 40s are...

As we were flying around, I was told I was slotted to go on the Formula 40 during the 3rd race of the second set.  When it was time the team zodiac came and picked us up, I handed over the photo equipment to Cathy and then I was delivered to the sailboat.

I got to ZouLou and boarded.  The crew was surprised to see me again, sailing for the second time.  Later I found out that there is a max one sail per VIP and that day, after my race they cancelled guest sailings due to conditions being too windy and dangerous.  So I got on, got my GoPro video cam setup and got ready for the pre-start sequence.

Things were different from the morning sail.  Things were intense before the race even started and it was interesting to see accomplished sailors concentrating, adjusting, counting and getting their mental state set to WIN.  The race started and the work began.  Pulling, jumping, hanging on the edge, tripping, avoiding the boom hitting me on the head.... Even without having to actually do anything for the boat, I was busy keeping out of the way and acting as the "rail meat" to provide some weight once the boat was flying the hull.  I also have to say that with all the adrenalin, coming to a near collision (you can see it in the video at about 5min 40s mark when The Wave Muscat came within inches of crashing with us) the race seemed to last an hour versus the 15 minutes it really was.  We finished the race, I thanked the crew and we went off to the VIP lounge.

At the VIP lounge upon our return at about 5pm, they served champagne as we finished watching the final races of the day.  We met lots of people from the event and many sponsors: SAP, Oman Air, Extreme Sailing and media.  Priscille and the others continued to be excellent hosts throughout the evening.  After the races we got invited to the staff BBQ that was happening late at night, which ended up being amazing.  All in all we felt like VIPs and the experience was truly unforgettable and worth it!

The next morning I went to the harbor where the boats were moored to get my team shirts that crews had promised me the evening before (things you cannot buy in a store) and said goodbye to my new friends.  Then we went to the real French flower market, had breakfast and headed out to the airport.

While at the airport we could see the boats lining up for the final set of races for the Sunday.  My dream was accomplished and we were very happy to be heading back.  Our plane got delayed an hour, but after an experience like this I was just sitting and quietly smiling to myself... My blue suitcase nicely matching my Extreme Sailing shirt I was wearing.... An experience we will both never forget...

Look at me now!

El Pilar Festival

In Zaragoza the most important day of the year is October 12^th, the celebration of the virgin of El Pliar.  In 2009 a record 450,000 attended the festival and this year saw many people come again.  The central activity is the ‘Ofrenda’ (offering) in which thousands of people in traditional dress process with flowers that are placed around the figure of the virgin which is sitting 40 feet high with a structure around it to hold the flowers.  The people who come with the flowers are dressed in traditional outfits from their city, or village or country and belong to a group that participates every year.  This year Anatolijus wanted to do more than just watch the procession; so he and his colleague Nacho borrowed traditional Aragonese outfits and through a woman at work were able to join a national police group, process and offer flowers to the Virgin.  Anatolijus looked very ‘authentic’ in his traditional dress called Baturro and is now considered ‘Mano’, which is a person of Zaragoza. 

During the festival, the town bull ring is open and there are 12 days of bullfights planned out.  This year one of the special events was the return of Juan Jose Padilla, the bullfighter that last year was gored in the eye and almost lost his life.  We had best seats for the event and watched this incredible bullfighter brave yet again those 1000+ lbs bulls.  On one hand this seemed very brave, on the other hand…

What was most amazing was the fact that he regained all of his motor skills and put on an amazing show exactly one year later after his injuries.  He ended up getting 2 ears (best ever performance gets you 3) and he was carried out of the ring on the shourlders of his friends.  As a special gesture, he dedicated one of the bulls to the doctor who saved his life.  We were told that this doctor only specializes in bullfighter injuries and when the bullfighter enters the ring, he first looks if this doctor is there, to feel more assured for the fight.

On Saturday we decided to go for a day trip to Olite which is 1.5 hours from Zaragoza and has a fabulous castle that is not very well known.  Olite is surrounded by vineyards (Navarra region, famous for its rose and red wines) and has a number of bodegas right in the town.    The castle has been restored and rebuilt in a number of projects but the space to explore is huge and there are at least 4 or 5 towers to climb for incredible views.  The next day my legs were a little sore as the spiral staircases never seemed to end!   One of the main reasons for going to Olite was: we tried to visit last May when Edita (Anatolijus’ mom) was with us but it was raining so hard we couldn’t even get out of the car.  So when she returned this October we went back on a beautiful sunny day that showed off the interesting landscapes and geography.  We packed a picnic and ate it overlooking the Puenta le Reina which is a bridge that brings the two paths of the “Way of Saint James” together as pilgrims then make their way to the famous Santiago de Compostella.    The bridge is in a small town of Gare and is about 30 mins from Olite and while we were there a number of pilgrims passed by on the bridge.  It was a very ideal place for an afternoon picnic.

That evening, to say our goodbyes to the festival of el Pilar, we went downtown without kids to see the Rosario de Cristal (crystal rosary), which is a procession of people, dressed in traditional costumes, carrying candles, floats made of glass and chanting the entire rosary.  We had a cerveza nearby and finished our evening at an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Baobab.

Then was Monday.  Back to reality, which takes a couple of days getting used to.   

On a separate note, just before the Pilares, we had our very good friends Alma and Evaldas visit us from Lithuania.  We had them only for a few nights, but managed to cover Spanish cooking, Spanish wines, some key tourist attractions and just catch up.  It was very wonderful to see them again and speak some Lithuanian.