Terrassa in a Rush, near Barcelona, Spain. And Loss Will Have No Dominion.

Rosario in historic Terrassa, outside Barcelona.  

Rosario.  A Universal Positive Spirit.

Brave it all.

Retain Spirit Against Odds, is the unspoken lesson learned. 

A Sense of Gratitude and Love.

Meet Rosario Who Has Seen It All.

Loss Will Not Prevail. Let There Be Fun!

Terrassa is historic, with old churches, a monastery, fine paintings, frescoes. It also is where Rosario lives. 

Try visiting a special person while on an improvised road trip.  Suddenly we had to find specific places. And our old GPS -- not up to the task of following changes in the now fine European roadways -- left us in the lurch.   

Here is our formula for impossible choices.  As tourists in a car, with leaving and time dwindling, we found ourselves with 

 a) tempus fugit, combined with

 b) an old GPS, whose maps cannot be updated, and 

 c) we suddenly were in wonderland.

On a 4-6 lane EU superhighway in Spain, heading for a real Spanish meal at a dear neighbor's mother's house in Terrasse, 1PM had been promised. 

•  The GPS, bless its defunct heart, shows that we are floating topography-less, on a blue ground with an arrow floating about looking where to land.  Where is Terrassa! My Queendom for a direction! Will that long sentence ever end! Keep driving until you see a sign, any sign.

Dan Widing and Rosario. To life. 

Rosario is retired, but tireless. 

Rosario the chef.  Midday meal in Terrassa

The freshest of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, breads, rabbit stew. And jamon, that fine Spanish ham. And -- as is wise in Spain as anywhere, water served alongside the wine glasses.

Rosario and her family photos, and Dan. Terassa, Spain.

Rosario fled Spain with her children, as a widow, into France, when Franco came to power.  Then she returned, and, in time, the last child rejoined the family.  One son is now gone. Immigration, fleeing, the unknown. We know little of that. The human side of travel: learning what others have lived through, and came out blooming.

Rosario and Daniel Widing -- her visits to the US are great fun.

Rushing to our arrival time, we passed sights clamoring to be seen, but Rosario comes first. She has visited in our area and we love her. 

At the end of a fantasy trip, this was a grounding day for us.  What does regular person's home look like, a welcome home-coming literally, even someone else's home, after the immersion in history we love in our touring life.

Dan and I have seen castles and costumes, so much of the marvelous, cruel, class-stratified beautiful, autonomy-killing, deadly places in Europe where rich and poor lived and died.  Visit those places and breathe the drama of feudalism, invasions, Civil Wars (that thrust our Rosario and her children in an escape to France, to Carcassonne, years ago, and back.  Modest, hard-working, now sustaining herself in a pensioner's home as all those who in later years deserve after playing by the rules.  She exerted great effort and resourcefulness and productivity, now with children who adore her, but who span Spain, and the US, by way of Ecuador.

Try this.  Whether or not productive, no elderly and noone who for other reasons is not working  largely because of stacked decks, everyone even, deserves a dignified life, a dignified end.

Rosario and family; and Daniel Widing included. Terassa, Spain.

Our neighbors are at the upper right -- in the US.  Travel.  Ties. Educate, expand your own child.  Go places. Who but you can fill in history and cultures and humanities, when the schools stop. Can we ever meet our human obligations to our elderly, our handicapped. Love capitalism, perhaps, but let it kick in with its exploitation of the unwary, unable, careless, after the safety net is established, not to take from anyone's dignity before.

Lleida. La Seu Vella Cathedral.

La Seu Vella Cathedral, Lleida, Spain

This town houses the third oldest university in Spain:  the University of Lleida, founded 1297. Settlements here are traced to the bronze age.  The name comes from an early population, the Llergets, and the area was Llerda under Rome's Caesar Augustus.  In a mountainous area, people fled here for refuge from various invasions, and the town was destroyed-rebuilt-destroyed-rebuilt. Rome, medieval wars, Moorish occupation, the Spanish Civil War.

The city had been conquered by the Moors in the 800's, then reconquered in 1149.

The tower is the Cathedral, La Seu Vella, a/k/a Lleida Castle.  Built in 1203, the tower was completed in 1431.  See it at http://www.inspain.org/en/sites/theoldcathedraloflleidalaseuvella.asp/.  With time, study the doorways there. 

Graus. Old, Ordinary Purpose Structures Survive.

A fascination in Graus is the riches of old structures, especially ones used by ordinary people, or for routine purposes such as warehousing, storage.  How were these buildings constructed, how did they stabilize arches, lintels, why does the wood still hold. Look at the ingenuity of construction.

Look at the number of courses of rubble, rock, worked stone, all mix.  Moorish round arches, the rounded arch = Qoos ( قوس ) are found in the main square and look just like the Romanesque or Roman round arch, but for lesser folk, did the simple lintel, as used here, suffice. 

Old row house. Or storehouse? Graus, Spain

Row structure entry, wooden lintel doorway, Graus, Spain

Do these log ends mean a floor inside is propped by these as floorboards?

Log ends, for floorboards inside? Graus, Spain structure.

Barred window, storage structure (or homes?), Graus, Spain

Log in wall, Graus, Spain

 Doorway, storage structure or servant-class home, Graus, Spain

Graus. The Bishop's Palace. Palacio del Obispo, and Hotel Palacio del Obispo

Graus had been the capital of the region, and old opulence in buildings remains.  This fine hotel, Hotel Del Palacio Obispo, Palace of the Bishop, is at the historic district, and offers glimpses of the past in its 15th Century structure.

Bishop's Palace, Palacio del Obispo, now Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Inside is sleek, modern.

Interior, Hotel Palacio del Obispo

With echoes of the old.

Bishop's Palace Hotel, eclectic mix.

A town landmark is the Basilica of the Virgin of the Rock (Virgen de la Pena) clinging to the cliff just outside town.  See it from the hotel room.

View, Basilica de la Virgin of the Rock, from window of Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Wait for the sunrise to catch the summit, Basilica de la Virgen del Pena, Graus, Spain, from the hotel window.

Room at hotel (Bishop's Palace), view, Basilica of the Virgin of the Rock, Graus, Spain

Look down.  There is a small courtyard, with a mural of the Basilica.

Courtyard mural, Hotel Bishop's Palace, Graus, Spain.

Then take a closer look at the Basilica.

Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena, Graus, Spain.  Virgin of the Rock.

The concierge and his wife may even take you to the basement, what would the Renaissance palace-builders have called it?  Rustication was in vogue -- stonecutters cutting masonry blocks, beveling edges deeply, and leaving the central area, the face, in a rough condition.  See http://www.answers.com/topic/rusticate.  With those skills, what is mere walling with masonry, and what is the result of rustication?

Original wall, and original concierges, at Hotel of the Palace of the Bishop, Graus, Spain

Now, to the basement.

Door to basement, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Down the steps.

Dan Widing, in basement of Palacio del Obispo, Graus Spain. Hear something, Dan?

Tried to do a closeup of the coat of arms. Color is not orange.  Must go back and adjust. Camera is old and I, amateur. 

Still, parse the quadrants of the coat of arms. Top left, unclear.  Top right, looks like a rearing elephant. Bottom left, profile, bottom right, 8-pointed star -- or a compass, same configuration; or representation of the sun. Tassles and roping, three heads, look alike with mustaches, caps, and we speculate that is the Bishop Himself. Who was he? Or was he just a secular noble?

Coat of arms reproduced in wall, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, basement.

The elephant may refer to Hannibal who, in the Second Punic War, led his elephants across Hispania to get to Rome, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Spain/. Is that a turbaned head, lower left?  that could refer to the era of Moorish occupation. The official coat of arms for Aragon also shows a turbaned head, with side ties hanging down. Do search in Images for Aragon or Huesca or Graus coats of arms.


This appears to be rustication as well as original rubble and rock and mortar, but an expert would have to examine.

Masonry, rustication? Hotel Palacio Del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Vaulting:

Vaulting, Bishop's Palace Hotel, Graus Spain; and modern climate control

Now, back to our room.  Elegant.

Hotel Palacio del Obispo, room entry, Graus, Spain

Rusticated walls? Original wall? Note that we travel light.

Room, Hotel Palacio del Obispo

Excellent.

Room, Hotel Palace of the Bishop, Graus, Spain

We have seen many wall mountings.  This, at the hotel, caught every change in the light.

Wall mount, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Applaud the repurposing of this historic 15th Century structure, the Bishop's Palace, Palacio del Obispo. For road trippers, the added advantage to having such fine accommodations, is the parking.  Right across the street.

There are other hotels, including the Hotel Lleida, but we wanted to be closer to the old parts, away from busses.

Graus, Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena. Rock of Morral.

Cliffside Religious Houses: Defense
Graus -- Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena
a/k/a Basilica of Nuestra Senora de la Pena

The first structure here dates to the 13th Century.  Sites disagree on who was responsible and when.  Some say the first structure dates to the time when Sancho Ramirez, King of Aragon and Navarre (who succeeded Sancho IV),  conquered the town.  Where is that site, because it is inconsistent information with vetting. 

That 13th Century marker sounds odd, since Sancho Ramirez lived 1042-1094? Checking.  The story -- A light was seen to shine on the rock above (the pena), and that would probably be the Morral Crag, under which and beside and in the Basilica is constructed.  People followed that and saw an image of the virgin.  And how could it have been Sancho Ramirez who built a chapel?

Graus was one of the most northerly points of Moorish domination.

The current structure reflects the 1538 Renaissance elements, atrium, cloister other buildings. See an 1803 date (!) for Sancho Ramirez at http://www.turismoribagorza.org/en/que-ver-y-que-hacer/ribagorza-is-culture/religious/basilica-virgen-de-la-pena. 

Regardless of its history, it does dominate the town.

 Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena, Graus, Spain

This was taken from our hotel window.  And downstairs, find the trompe l'oeil decor, with the Basilica depicted.

Fresco and fountain, showing the Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena, our hotel

The crag, the cliff with the cross on top, is the Rock of Morral, the Morral Crag.

Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena, Graus, Spain.  Rock of Morral, Morral Crag.

Huesca. Coffee in Huesca, Cathedral. Misleada Mosque

 Huesca is still known for its motivational factor in the Spanish Civil War. It is said that the militiamen rallied time and again with the slogan -- Tomorrow, we will have coffee in Huesca. That is a great reason to go there and do it.

George Orwell fought near here.  He had joined the POUM Militia, against the falangists (Franco's Fascist party, 1930's) who held Huesca at the time. Orwell was stationed near there.  See http://www.hotelsclick.com/hotels/Spain/HUES/Huesca-COFFEE_IN_HUESCA-1.html 

George Orwell and the militia:  See overview and photo at http://libcom.org/history/international-volunteers-poum-militias

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Coffee in Huesca. Today.

Huesca, Spain. Coffee in Huesca.  

Coffee, and a little ham and melon, and some macaroni.  And macaroons.

Time clocks.  All was closed from 2-5PM-- long siesta -- so see what you can and enjoy the ambiance.

Immediately behind the cafe area is the Cathedral of St. Mary, Huesca; also known as the Mary Church, or the Holy Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord -- two separate events-people memorialized.  To many guidebooks, it is simply the Huesca Cathedral.  A mosque predated it on this site, the Misleida Mosque.  This one dates from the end of the 13th Century, Gothic.

Huesca Cathedral, Spain.  Cathedral of St. Mary; Holy Cathedral of the Transiguration of the Lord

The right tower, here on the left, looks like it is part of the old Misleida Mosque.  The Gothic of the central facade does not extend to the rest of the exterior.  The tower looks Moorish and is defensive: small-windowed, simple, not soaring, not fancy.  

Or is it part of an old San Miguel Romanesque Tower?  Which came first, after the mosque?

Cathedral at Huesca, Spain. Misleada Mosque tower.  Cathedral built on the remains of the mosque.

Huesca long predates the Moors, who invaded in the 8th Century and called this Wasqah, back to the Romans (Urbs Vitrix Osca), and before that, the Iberians known as Bolskan.  Look up Wikipedia. 

Origins. Patchworks of researchers-musers suggest migrations of people from the areas of the Tribes of Israel, see http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/irish-scots-gaelic-egyptian-connection/; a topic I also enjoyed exploring, see http://irelandroadways.blogspot.com/2010/03/tralee-queen-scotia-and-slieve-mish.html.

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On the Christian end, Saint Lawrence was from Huesca, 268 AD.  He was martyred violently, roasted on a grill, see grill motif on the breastplate at the painting at http://denmarkroadways.blogspot.com/2011/07/bjernede-inside-round-church-rundkirke.html 

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And, who is making that fine cup of coffee and side dish delicious? As anywhere, one of The Angels of the Kitchen.

Angel of the Kitchen, Cathedral Square, Huesca, Spain

Montearagon. Sancho Ramirez. Mallos de Riglos.

King Sancho Ramirez, 1045-1094, built a castle on this high site, making a fortress from which to attack Wasqah, the city nearby we know as Huesca, then occupied by the Moors. He was killed by a stray arrow, however, and the venture abandoned.  He was king of Aragon and Pamplona-Navarre.

Montearagon Castle, near Huesca, Spain

The castle then was given to an Augustinian order of monks, who remained there for centuries until, in the19th century -- it was confiscated and became a powder magazine that then exploded. Some restorations are going on now, we understand.

 Clifftop, hilltop monasteries and villages tell of the need for defense or a place to fight against invading Moors and others. All were ultimately unsuccessful against the Moors on this side of the Pyrenees. There was no place to run.

This monastery is unidentified.  No notes on it, but its place on the card puts it soon after Huesca.

Hilltop monastery, near Huesca, Spain

The land is formidable.   The area, known as Mallos de Riglos, draws climbers as well as drivers.  See http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=4614

Mallos de Riglos rock formations, near Huesca, Spain

Rock formations, near Huesca, Spain

Reservoir of Barasona, from Huesca toward Graus, Spain. Pantona de Barasona.

San Juan de la Pena - Old Cliff Monastery. Mozerabs.

San Juan de la Pena, Monastery, Spain

This monastery is on the Way of St. James, the Camino de Santiago,medieval and current pilgrimage route with many branches converging at Spain's Santiago de Compostela.  It is constructed under a large cliff overhang.  The old Mozerabic chapel dates from 920 AD.  Mozerabs:  Iberian or Spanish peninsula Christians who lived under Moorish rule in the then Al-Andalus. They never converted to Islam, but did absorb some customs and spoke Arabic.  Origins:  Hispano-Gothic, and some northern European Christians, as well as Arab and Berber. Fine little video of the area is here: Peregrina Rosina's work at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXjeRnnCslk

Under Sharia law, Jews and Christians lived among the Arab Muslims but had special "dhimmi" status rules -- taxes, some restrictions, lower status, but lived safely.  We can learn from some era's interpretations of Sharia.

San Juan de la Pena, cliff monastery, Spain

End of day brings beautiful lighting.  The Holy Grail is said to have been kept there, as the faithful fled the Moors, see account that stories produce, at http://thespiralofknowledge.com/dossier.cfm?lang=en&id=49.
Holy Land, to Huesca, and then circuitous protection route beginning in the 8th Century with the Moorish invasions, with, some say, final arrival at Valencia.

San Juan de la Pena, facade, old cliff monastery

San Juan de la Pena, Spain. Mozerabic monastery.

Start at the foot of Mount Pano, above the old town church, Santa Cruz de la Seros, and up the mountain.  The cliff monastery, San Juan de la Pena, is in two parts -- the older cliff monastery, and a newer and large one at the flat summit. 

San Juan de la Pena, view of Pyrenees, access road, Spain

San Juan de la Pena, access road up mountain, Spain

San Juan de la Pena, cliffton view of Pyrenees, Spain

There are other traditions or origins, in addition to the Holy Grail at San Juan de la Pena, see http://www.hikepyrenees.co.uk/san-juan-de-la-pena.html. It is said that a nobleman was hunting, chased a stag who leaped off a cliff, the nobleman and his horse followed. The nobleman prayed for deliverance on the way down. Sure enough, he landed at a cave, found a hermit's bones inside, and gave thanks and built the monastery. San Juan: Saint John. Which?

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Route note:  after Roncesvalles, the logical next stop would Pamplona. We had already seen the bulls running there, so took the bypass. Pamplona:  see http://spainroadways.blogspot.com/2008/02/pamplona-bulls.html/

San Juan de la Pena, New Monastery 1675

 In 1675, the old cliff monastery burned substantially, so a new complex was built at the top of the mountain. There is a flat, broad area of fields, easy moving around.

San Juan de la Pena, new monastery 1675, Spain

The new construction included the big boxy dormitory for the monks, church, and facilities now for conference buildings, as befit the huge and profitable institution that the church had become.

San Juan de la Pena, new monastery grounds, Spain

This place is also very dull, but the comfort facilities are helpful.

Do that, and then go back down the mountain to the cliff version. To remind you of that spectacular and historic site, here is another view:  get a glimpse of the cloister under there.

Old San Juan de la Pena, monastery, Spain