Outtakes II

In an attempt to have no unexpressed thoughts about our pilgrimage, here are some more photos and observations.

One of the best parts of the Camino was stopping for a drink or snack at one of the cafes along the way. Many of the proprietors spoke English, but not all. Did you know that Spanish is the first language for 500 million people? It is the second most common first language, behind Mandarin.

These were some of the indispensable items I had on the pilgrimage: hiking shoes, wool socks (soft, not itchy), money belt (I wore it almost all the time), electrical adapter, fleece jacket (many chilly days), Camino guide book, and my favorite of all, the poncho which did great work keeping us dry.

A truly great candy bar.

Some very general observations about Europeans: they eat less than us, but smoke more, despite the large and blunt warning on cigarette packs: Smoking kills. They also appear to be less addicted to electronic devices.

I loved looking at the map of where our plan was during the flight. So hard to reconcile the above reality--being over the Atlantic Ocean--with the cramped movie-theater type surroundings of the airliner.

Hard to believe it was that cold outside the window, too.

Or that we're going that fast, that high off the ground.

This is a sign in the Dublin airport that I need in my daily life.

Bidding Adieu to France

Can you stand the mention of one more French Gothic church? Because we finally went to Mass at one, St. Jacob's in Beauvais, which is near Paris.

Many of these big old churches are chilly inside. But the acoustics in this one were very good.

I think this might be St. Peter crucified upside down.

So no more photos and descriptions of churches. . . until Spain!

Luke and I in front of a huge hotel in Beauvais. We are mainly in Beauvais because it is where we will catch our flight to Madrid.

                            

We had a great time in France. The countryside is beautiful. We are looking forward to turning in the rental cars. I should have taken a photo of the two we rented, a Skoda Octavia made in the Czeck republic that we drove in Ireland and a French-made Citreon C-3 in France. Both cute cars that got fabulous gas mileage. Driving got easier with each passing day, but it was a challenge. We would have been lost, literally and figuratively, without Google Maps.

This was Luke's favorite bed so far in the trip, in Bayeux.

Sacre Bleu! We committed the cultural crime of going to a McDonald's in France. But only once. They had an interesting set up where you place your order at a kiosk and then they bring the food to your table. The food itself? Exactly the same, which is what you are looking for when you go to McDonalds.

This is as close as Luke got to the Eiffel Tower, at DeGaulle airport. We would have love to have gotten to Paris on this trip, but we didn't have time. Good lesson: not to try to cram too much in.

We've been getting from country to country on Europe's budget airlines. Here John and Luke are boarding our Ryanair flight to Madrid. These airline tickets were cheaper than train fare and get you to your destination quicker. We had very good experiences with these airlines. They are very serious about leaving on time.

Up, up and away!

Looking forward to the adventures Spain will hold!

Transitioning from Scotland to France

Daffodils in Scotland (photo for Judy Haselhoef)

Before I offer any observations and pearls of wisdom about the last 24 hours, I want to note that I made a mistake in my last post.  I originally said that there were ten Catholic churches in Scotland when I meant that there were ten Catholic churches in Coatbridge, quite a few for a city of 40,000. This is due in large part to all the Irish who traveled to Scotland to find work. 

Until recently, there was a lot of what our hosts called sectarianism--major and sometimes violent competition between Catholics and Protestants. The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian. According to Wikipedia,  in Glasgow, the sectarianism has been reinforced through the rivalry of two football (soccer) clubs, the Catholic Celtics and the Protestant Rangers. Coincidentally, these two teams were playing this past Sunday. The heavily favored Celtics were defeated by the Rangers. Think I will choose not to read too much into this.

We have been recipients of wonderful and humbling hospitality on our trip. Our friends in Scotland took good care of us and we enjoyed hanging out with them. Below is the view from the picture window in their kitchen. 

The funny-looking tree in the middle is called a Monkey Puzzler. It's a very hardy pine tree.

They had chickens. Luke enjoyed feeding them and. . .

. . . collecting their eggs.

Our main purpose in traveling to France is to visit the beaches in Normandy, where John's dad was during World War II. But we have a little more time there then we need for this visit and we were trying to figure out what else to do. As the theme of this trip is pilgrimage, we were thinking about going to see the Cathedral in Chartres. This has been a site for pilgrims for centuries, and I've always wanted to see it.

When we mentioned to our Scottish hosts that we were thinking about going to Chartres, they told us they had made a pilgrimage to the Cathedral there. It was a true pilgrimage as they walked 50 miles from Paris to Chartres. This sealed the deal.

So we boarded our easyJet flight from Edenborough to Paris.

They line up (queue) differently in Scotland. Here we are waiting in tunnels.

Doesn't easyJet sound like the name of a made up airline company?

Everything went well. The biggest challenge of the day was negotiating rush hour traffic in Paris in a stickshift Citreon. My clutch skills were a little rusty. Did you know that more than 12 million people live in the Paris metro area? It is the biggest city in Europe, aside from London.

It was a relief to arrive in the calmer town of Chartres. While we were driving around town, not exactly lost (can you be lost when you're not sure where you want to wind up?), we got an up close view of one of the most Gothic Cathedrals in Europe.

We are looking forward to seeing more of it!

Happy to be here!

Here we are in all our post flight glory. Aer Lingus did a good job getting us to Ireland. They fed us twice on the plane and the flight attendants were unfailingly polite. As you can see above, everyone has their own screen, with about 75 movies to choose from.

I really like flying: being up in the clouds, looking down at the fields or cities or water, covering a lot of territory quickly. It does amaze me that something so big, which resembles a large tube of toothpaste with wings, can stay in the air. And I don't understand how these jets can carry enough fuel to power a cross Atlantic trip. The whole thing is a scientific miracle to me. Flying has shrunk the world for so many people, though it's still a privileged experience.

I read a great book on the way over, "How The Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe," by Thomas Cahill. I'll reference it later but the crux of the story is that as the Visigoths and other tribes were sacking the Roman Empire and destroying all the books and libraries, St. Patrick was converting Ireland to Christianity. The new monks with their religious fervor and the typical Irish love of language began copying Scripture. When they finished with that, they went on to copy any book they could get their hands on. They literally saved much of the great Latin and ancient literature that would have been lost to the ages otherwise.

After we landed in Dublin, we completed the first leg of the madcap trip I described a few posts back. We picked up our rental car and drove to Glendalough, a town about one and a half hours south west of Dublin. They probably shouldn't let jet lagged travelers from right-side-of-the road countries drive in the city without a tutorial, especially during rush hour, but we managed to get here in one piece. In fact, look at Luke, thinking about ordering a Guinness in an Irish pub!

Boarding

This guy is getting ready to go to the land of his forbearers. I think he's the most Irish looking person at the gate. People will be asking him directions in Dublin.

Bus ride to O'Hare

Umm. . . with 8 posts before we've left Illinois, you've probably figured out, I'm going to be posting a lot. Hopefully, something for everyone, and I will get a little less naval gazing after we arrive.

Just realized that Luke is wearing items with logos from three different major league teams: Bulls cap, Broncos jacket, and a Cardinals backpack. Not sure how I feel about this. It should be a Oklahoma Thunder cap. Ha! No, that's not what I mean, of course. Let me think about it and get back to you.

In the meantime here are some photos of the first leg of our voyage from Peoria to O'Hare.

H