Santiago De Compostela November 2009

RIGHT: The square looking from the cathedral. In Santiago De Compostela it is very wet. All the buildings are covered in moss just because of it. :D






RIGHT: This is us in front of the cathedral in Santiago De Compostela. But, you can hardly see us. : (











ABOVE: Me in the streets of Santiago walking to the pilgrim museum.

RIGHT: Laurel enjoying the view from the cathedral.












HISTORY OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA:

Santiago de Compostela is a city in Galicia northern Spain. It was named after Saint James of Compostela who is an apostle (a-pos-l) which is one of the twelve people that formed Jesus' inner circle of students. They were students whom Jesus had chosen, named, and trained in order to send them on a mission: the establishment of the Christian Church by spreading the "good news".
So, Saint James is supposedly buried in the cathedral in Santiago De Compostela. So through out the centuries, pilgrims* have walked from all over Europe: France,Italy,Germany... for hundreds of miles, all ending in Santiago. Today you can still do the "Camino De Santiago". If you walk or go on horseback for 60 miles, or bike ride for 120 miles, you get a certificate.

*Pilgrims: Religious people

Rome Oct. 2009 Part 2

This is Saint Mark's square in Vatican city*.

This Saint Peter's Basilica, also in Vatican City.

This is on of the swiss guards. Swiss guards came to guard the pope*. It's said Michelangelo  designed the outfits. They weigh 8 pounds!

This looking down from the top of the dome on Saint Peter's Basilica.

Saint Peter wants peace!!! (The picture above this is the whole statue.)

This is the Trevi Fountain. It's incredible! It's also where coin tossing was invented. You turn your back to the fountain and the you through the coin over your shoulder.

And then this is the Trevi Fountain at night.

*The pope lives in Vatican City which is it's own country, but is in Rome and is a very small country.

We will start with present tense. We are in San Sebastián. Boogie boarding as you can see, having fun at the beach...




We met Kevin, Mariluz (Marie)his wife, his daughter Nicole (See above) and his son Ian.


We went to a fancy restaurant, Arzack.
Wow! Basil ice cream!
Meat and silver, my favorite!
Me, Laurel and our father in our nice outfits.

Now we well go back. Spring break:Paris and Berlin
PARIS

Left side of Notre Dame
This beets any park in America! Even though I fell off.
Basically you spin around.
The Eiffel Tower



We went to Berlin to see the wall and my dads host family. Unfortunately, we did not take pictures.