The Pyrenees, Do You Know Where They Are?

I'm coming to realize that the general, run-of-the-mill US education system leaves many things out. Alright, really I knew this, but was trying to be in denial. As Jay Leno so eloquently points out, many US-Americans know little about our own geography or history, let alone that of the rest of the world.

I didn't know about mountain ranges in Spain before coming here. Even the Pyrenees. I mean, they are pretty big, and extensive, and in Europe (and if we learn anything internationally, it's European, right?) and I still didn't really know what they were. If there is anything that I'm learning throughout our experience here is that I don't know stuff.

OK, so the Pyrenees are a mountain range along the border of Spain and France, and we went there. It was awesome. Oddly enough, there are landscapes in Spain that are very much like the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Man, I miss Oregon. But I did get a fix. We were based in a town called Villanua. It is central enough that we were able to visit many different places, in all the cardinal directions.

South we visited the Castillo de Loarre, a castle that was used in the film Kingdom of Heaven. It was cool, perched on a mountainside, overlooking a vast plain, heavily fortified, the stuff of, well, movies. Then we headed toward the Monasteries of San Juan de la Peña. The "new" one being 400 years old, and the old one over a thousand. Rockin'.

To the east is a very special National Park called Parque Nacional de la Ordesa y Monte Perdido. We hiked with the kids and they did pretty well, even with the inclines. Waterfalls; pine, fir and beech forests; high prairie; etc. Beautiful. Actually reminded us of parts of Zion National Park in Utah. Photo slideshow to come for sure.

We also went north into France. That side of the mountains was lush and green, while the Spanish side had more rocky outcroppings. We toured through French mountain villages that were tres quaint. As a side note, there was a weird pro-USA movement happening in that particular valley in France. I have yet to fully understand it, but they seem to love us. Go figure, French people loving the USA! Not necessarily the message we receive through our media. Proof to be included via photos. Stay tuned.

West we ventured through a valley called Echo (pronounced phonetically) where we toured through a steep rocky gorge (called the Boca del Infierno, the Mouth of Hell, oddly reminiscent of Hell's Canyon in Oregon/Idaho) with a beautiful river below and then hiked through a forest, called Selva de Oza, with a partial dip (well, the crazy ones took a full dip) into the same cold river. Stunningly beautiful.

We were fortunate enough to time our stay in Villanua to a medieval artesan market they had over the weekend and also had the chance to walk a little bit through the countryside nearby.
I will post little vignettes from our trip, as well as a photo slideshow when Eugene gets it put together, in subsequent posts.

In all, Eugene and I got our mountain fix, Kerline experienced a smidge of France, Jolie and Eva, well, they did whatever. There is much more to the story, which will soon follow...

ps- Since I'm talking about things I don't know due to gaps in US education, you all know that Spain is different than Central and South American countries right? You know that Spanish food is very different than Mexican or Colombian food? You know that the people here are generally fair to olive complected? OK, just checking.