During my Vaughantown English tutoring experience, I met some people from the Asturias region in the north of Spain. It’s probably coincidence but they were both very in touch with nature and worldly.
Here is Nievas on her hometown area:
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And here is Miguel:
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Aidan on Valencia, Spain:
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Here is Rafa, a Spaniard on the English-speaking program in Valdelavilla, speaking about Valencia:
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I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to many Madridians (??) about their hometown.
Mercedes about Madrid, Spain:
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Irene:
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Esther:
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Inma:
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Raul:
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Javier:
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Victoria:
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Cobaldo:
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Here is Oiane, speaking about Pamplona, Spain:
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translation: Hi my name is Oiane. I live in Pamplona. Pamplona is beautiful. Everything is close so you can get around quickly. San Fermin is famous world-wide and you can not describe it. You need to be here and experience it. What I don’t like is that people are very closed [private].
In Basque, San Sebastian is known as Donostia. The Basque people are very proud of their heritage and language. Here is Eneko talking about Donosti in Basque:
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translation (for the most part): Hello, I’m Eneko and I’ll tell you 3 things I like about Donosti and what I don’t like. Donosti is amazingly beautiful. You have the coast, mountains are near too, everything is green and clean. Another thing I like is the food. Generally, food from the Basque country is really good. I also like Basque people – the friendships that you make here are forever. My friends, I’ve had since I was a child. I’m 28 now and they’re still my friends. And the thing I don’t like is that it’s quite expensive. Maybe it’s the price to pay for such a beautiful place. And that’s all.
I miss off-roading – this place would have been fun. It reminded me a lot of Anza Borrego in southern California. I went with my host’s family for a tour in a Nissan Patrol and then we went to a couple of the medieval villages in the area.
There is a NATO base in the middle of Bardenas Reales and there were jets doing exercises.
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Later, we visited a couple of villages (pueblos) that were from medieval times and still had their ancient churches and castle walls. The church in Ujue really struck me as a weird example of the changes that have happened in Spanish history and how they have affected the culture.
Firstly, the church looks like a castle on top of the hill and the village is build around it. There is no cross at the top of the church. The sculpture above the main doors are a bit random – the last supper with the story of the three kings and Christ’s birth directly above it.
Then, the older half of the church is in gothic style, but since the church wasn’t finished in one ruler’s reign, the new half is completed in roman style. 
The original floor was multi-leveled and had stairs so, in the newest renovation, they raised the whole floor to cover the stairs, thus shortening the pillars in the rear of the church so much that you feel like you can almost touch the ceiling when you walk in the back of the church. This throws the gothic ceiling out of proportion. 
Carlos II’s heart is preserved and kept in a locked shelf by the altar. Apparently it was common practice to take a part of a ruler, preserve it, and put it up for display in churches. 
The altar has a depiction of Mary but she has been augmented over time to get a Spanish royal crown and something else that I can’t remember. If you look closely, you’ll also notice the hand of Buddha in there. 
Lastly, there is a fence with spikes separating the congregation from the priest’s altar. During mass, there is a gate in the center that is opened but the fence remains. Apparently this is also common practice in many Spanish churches because the altar pieces are very expensive. All in all, I found the church in Ujue particularly disturbing on many levels. You can judge for yourself.
Bardenas Reales itself was beautiful in that way that only someone who loves the desert can appreciate, as I do.
The Camino de Santiago, or Walk of St. James, is not something I had ever seriously considered doing but the topic has come up several times over the past year, and each time, I wondered what the draw is for the different people that told me they were doing it. So when my host asked me if I wanted to go for a day walk on part of the Camino trail, I decided it was a sign that I should try it.
I did the Roncesvalles to Zubiri walk, 20.7 km in about 6 hours with a stop for lunch in one of the villages.
I met walkers from all over the world (though most were French), as well as mountain-bikers and motorcyclists. The motorcyclists departed from the Camino trail to enjoy the beautiful weather and twists of the Navarra region’s countryside.
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It was a peaceful experience and I can see how it could be an enlightening one if you walk for days and weeks.
“Buen Camino”
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