Mountain missions to city cathedrals...

Bon dia!

Refreshed after a full nights rest, Derek and I ventured out to explore and experience the city of Girona with the Wells family today! We began our journey with a trip up to a church situated at the top of a mountain. As we drove up the tiny, winding roads, we passed a great hoard of men and women in uniform taking a leisurely hike up towards the chapel. Evidently, it was the tradition of the Spanish police and military forces to offer up their prayers to the mother Mary and ask for her blessing for the year. Lauren commented that things such as this were common in Spain; Catholicism is tied very strongly to their national identity. This would become even more evident when we later toured the cathedral and churches in the city of Girona (such as the one pictured below), but I'm getting ahead of myself...


We next stopped to grab dinner at a beautiful mountain-side cafe on our way back down the meandering way. In Spain, the main meal of the day happens at around 2 in the afternoon and is traditionally a multi-course meal enjoyed over the course of at least an hour or two. I enjoyed expanding my palette by feasting upon delicious dried meats (various forms of pork), roasted lamb, tender beef drenched in a sauce of wild mushrooms (they had literally been pick from the hillsides that stretched below us), and marinated, lightly grilled vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions), among other things. People certainly know how to cook here and take great pride in it. I, for one, and my vast black-hole of a stomach, are quite happy about that!



Next, the Wells (pictured above) took us down into the city center of Girona that we had looked down upon while we enjoyed our meal. Buildings stacked tightly together around a towering cathedral rolled into view. After going down many roads that would more likely be classified in the States as walkways than streets, we parked and ventured out on foot. We toured the entire cathedral and the minor church attached. It's times like these I'm reminded just how young the United States really is in comparison to the European nations. Centuries and centuries of church relics, tapestries, and monuments stood testament to that. Each item on display within the cathedral carried with it a different story, described a different event, and defined a different piece of history woven into the identity of the people who now call Spain their home. I'm beginning to see more and more why this culture holds Catholicism as a core part of who they are and the simultaneous advantages and challenges that this offers those working to witness to it, such as Lauren and Terri. The struggles/triumphs in connecting to the Catalan culture have been and are a big part of the Wells' lives here, and it'll be something I'll be sure to revisit in future posts.

Tomorrow begins early and will be jammed to the brim! We'll travel to Barcelona at seven in the morning to do some more filming and to help some friends of Lauren and Terri. This is Derek and Patrick, signing off!