Great Escape Day 7

We left Lourdes early on this day to return to Spain through the Pyrenees Mountains. From what I’d seen of the mountains, I hadn’t been that impressed. It turns out I had only been seeing the foothills as the pass we went through brought us into some rarified air and unbelievable vistas, including some wild horses. We passed by a number of picturesque French villages as we made our way through the mountains. My thinking on the height of the mountains started to change when I looked out the window and down. We were traveling in a large bus on a narrow road and I was looking down into a veritable chasm hosting the river we were following. We eventually passed the tree line as we neared the Spanish frontier. As we made our way we ran across a small herd of seemingly wild horses. They didn’t seem that impressed with our bus and stood their ground as we passed by.

Outside the Basilica

We made our rest stop just short of the border which seemed to be at the summit of the mountain range. As we descended into the Spanish area of Aragon I noticed a drastic change in the terrain. The Spanish side was noticeably drier and less green than the French side. The Spanish side did have a couple of large ski areas which I didn’t expect. It was a beautiful ride down onto the Spanish plain (where the terrain is supposed to fall but I didn’t see it – sorry, dad joke). Our march objective for the day was the city of Zaragoza where we’d run into another encounter with our old friends the Virgen Mary and Saint James. The legend has it that Mary appeared to Saint James in Zaragoza on the banks of the River Ebro while she was still alive to encourage him to continue to convert people to Christianity. This was the only recorded instance of Mary exhibiting the mystical phenomenon of bilocation, which I learned was a thing. It is considered the first Marian apparition.

Scenes from our Drive Through the Pyrenees

The Scary Stretch of Road

The Horses

Our Rest Stop at the Top of the Range

Into Spain

Spanish Ski Area

Zaragoza was originally settled by the Romans who named it Ceasaraugustus which eventually devolved into its modern name. Our guide had trivia contests throughout our trip and I won a couple since I seemed to only person who actually listened to the history we were made aware of. His questions were usually religious based but I won one here because of my fascination with Roman history. I answered the guide’s question about the river because I remembered it from my study of the Punic Wars and the later campaigns of Caesar in the Roman civil wars.

A Cute Girl in Zaragoza

Anyways. Mary’s bilocation occurred atop a pillar which has been preserved in a major basilica in Zaragosa. We crossed the Ebro and parked outside the cathedral. Our first order of business was lunch and the guide released us with a firm time to be back for our tour of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. We linked up with a team of Irish Pub friends and since we were back in Spain, that meant my Favorite Panamanian and I re-assumed our roles as translators. We eventually ended up in a restaurant with a semi-surly proprietor. He turned out to be mildly amused at our large group’s attempts to order lunch. That took us nearly 30 minutes because decision making was not a strength within the group. When we finally got our orders in, we told him we only had 25 minutes before we needed to leave. He took it in good stride. I can only imagine what would have happened if we were still in France (minor thermonuclear explosion). The staff rushed and we all got to eat before we had to leave.

Inside the Basilica

The Cone Shaped Shade

Ceiling Painted by Goya

Wife Excited to See a Panamanian Flag

Here's That Cute Girl Again

Venerating the Pillar 

Amazing Art Work

The tour of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was very cool. The central altar has one side of the pillar covered by a lime green cone-like shroud. I thought this was kind of weird, but our guide explained that they designed the shrine so the pillar was exposed on the other side of the wall so it could venerated there and not impose of the altar. Okay. The church also featured some amazing paintings, including one by Goya, who was a favorite son of Zaragoza. Zaragoza played a key role in the Spanish Civil War which explained the two aerial bombs attached to the wall of the church. The guide explained that Franco (who’s still dead – sorry another dated joke) used to hold meetings in the building. An enterprising opponent tried to bomb the basilica. He dropped four bombs. The two that missed the basilica exploded while the two that hit the target passed through the roof and failed to explode. This was attributed as a miracle with the Virgin Mary protecting her sanctuary. The bombs and the holes in the ceiling are still there.

The Moorish Wall

Wine at Dinner

We conducted mass in the cathedral before heading for our hotel. The entire city is gearing up for an annual festival with scaffolding going up throughout the large central square outside the basilica. There was another, older cathedral on the other side of the square. The guide pointed out a fascinating wall on the outside of the cathedral. After the Spanish Reconquista, when they kicked the Moors out, many of the building projects were completed by the famed Moorish builders. The wall featured some of their work. Zaragoza seems like a fun place to hang out and yet another place I wished we had more time to explore. The hotel was very nice and featured wine served with our dinner for the first time on the trip. This was something I definitely missed from our trip to Rome and Bosnia last year.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete – my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course