Achievèd is the glorious work
Trip Start
Jun 23, 2006
1
6
9
Trip End
Aug 21, 2006
Madrid, Spain
Thursday, July 27, 2006
On Sunday after I had posted my last installment I went to take some pictures of Madrid. I photographed the cathedral, the Palacio Real, and the Muralla Árabe (the wall of the original Arab settlement that eventually became Madrid). As I was walking back from taking the pictures, I wandered into the Plaza Mayor to the sound of . . . bagpipes. No, it wasn't a visiting group from Ireland or Scotland. They were celebrating the Festivals of San Cayetano, San Lorenzo and Nuestra Señora de la Paloma and had invited a number of "bandas de gaitas" from Galicia to perform. Galicia is the northwestern portion of Spain, and this is where the Ibero-Celts wound up
01 Portuguese Tuna
. The "gaita" or bagpipe is played there, and there are other aspects of the culture that are reminiscent of other Celtic societies, though with its own twist. Santiago de Compostela is located in Galicia, so when I go there this weekend I may here some more bagpipes. Since Santiago was one of the three main pilgrimage sites during the Middle Ages (the other two being Rome and Jerusalem), people on the Continent - especially in France - would probably have associated bagpipes and what we think of as Celts more with "the Spains" than with Scotland and Ireland, which were on the margins of the "civilized world." The "French Route" to Santiago is in the north, and what we think of as typically Spanish (i.e. Castilla and Andalucía) would not have been what the medieval pilgrim encountered on his way to the most-visited shrine in Europe. It's interesting to think about how our perception is affected by our own history. The "conquistadores" and other Spanish settlers departed from Sevilla and brought Andalusian culture to America. (This is also why Hispano-American Spanish doesn't have the "th" sound; it isn't part of the Andalusian sound system.) So, we think of this as "typically Spanish." Pilgrims from Germany, France, Italy, etc. would have had a completely different idea of what is typical of Spain. Anyway, I stayed and listened for a while before heading home. On the way I saw the Portuguese "tuna" group again and bought one of their CD's.
02 Banda de Gaitas
The rest of the week has been school, starting to get ready to leave (packing a box to be mailed; going to the Renfe Atocha station and getting tickets to Santiago; getting rid of paperwork that I won't need; checking my itinerary and confirming flights), and relaxing. Several evenings I have watched "¿Quién quiere ser millionar?", the Spanish version of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" I would have done pretty well and even knew some answers the contestant didn't. Some of the questions have dealt with Spanish literature, and one even referred to something I had just read for my Generation of '98 class. Another game show I happened to see is "Alta Tensión" (High Tension), and I took notes on it because the format is one that I can adapt for use in my classroom. (Yikes! I'm on vacation and still thinking about things to use in the classroom!) I even started working on a PowerPoint version.
On Tuesday I decided to go to Santiago rather than join some other students on a trip to El Escorial. I've been to El Escorial but not Santiago. In addition, it will never be cheaper for me to get to Santiago. I had checked online and figured out that taking a "trenhotel" overnight train with a private compartment was cheaper than flying and staying in a hotel - even with the cheap airlines. And the price between the discount airlines and Iberia was amazing
03 Banda de Gaitas
. Iberia was over €1,000.00, and the Spanair price was about €200.00. So, on the Festival of Santiago (St. James, patron saint of Spain) I bought my tickets to go to Santiago. It was really crowded in the station ticket office, but they processed everyone pretty quickly. People buying tickets for a future date took a number. People buying a ticket for that day simply got into the correct line. They would have a window open for a particular train. When no one was in line or when the "gate" closed, they would put up the next number, and the person buying a ticket for future travel would go to that counter. In the midst of what looked like chaos there really was an order that worked well.That really is about it for now. Not too much is happening - except I'm going to meet some other students in a few minutes to go have dessert. The next time I write will probably be from Germany, and I'll tell you about my trip to Santiago. Until then,
¡Que Dios os bendiga!
