travels

[vedette]

tell me all about your experience while travelling (meeting people)

[brotherhrolf]

I was 19 years old and in the Navy. My transport squadron deployed to Rota, Spain, a big U.S. naval base just north of Cadiz. I was given liberty (time off) one afternoon and armed with an English-Spanish dictionary and two years of high school Spanish, I wandered off to explore this ancient town.

I wandered into the church, visited the Blessed Sacrament, and proceeded to investigate the church. I was not prepared for how bloody Spanish crucifixes are nor was I prepared for the intricately carved choral stall in the middle of the church.

About this time an old priest came out of the sacristy. This was 1971 and Vatican II had not impacted Spain as quickly as it did in the US. The priest was dressed in a cassock. Father was evidently suprised to see an American. In my broken Spanish I explained that I was a Catholic and that I had been an altar boy. Father broke into a big grin and decided to check out my bona fides.

"Introibo ad altare Dei", he said to me me. To which I replied, "Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam." That's all it took. Father gave me the grand tour. He showed me ancient vestments in the sacristy. He took me down into the crypt and though I did not understand a lot of what he said, it was clear that he was more than happy and excited to be showing off his church.

I spent a month in Spain and used every moment of my free time exploring this ancient country. Viva Espana!

[Highwayhound]

Here is one of my favorite moments from traveling.

Picture if you will France in the year 1998. Both the Coupe de Monde (World Cup) and the Tour de France are the big events of the summer. France trounces Brazil in the final 3-0 and all of France is giddy. An Italian named Pantani wins the Tour, the last person to do so prior to Lance Armstrong's great string of victories. Enter me, a bicycle, a trailer and my dog named Cyclops. Cyclops being a black and white springer/lab/pitbull mix medium sized dog weighing about 50 pounds.

After a long, long day of bicycling in eastern France (Cyclops would run and ride on the trailer) we came to the outskirts of a town. I turned down a side road to get to a spot with some shade. It was near dinner time and as I checked the food stored in the trailer there was not much there. Only some bread and peanut butter, but it would grudgingly do for a basic dinner.

A sandwich was made and I sat down to eat. With sandwiches I would always save about a quarter of the sandwich for Cyclops. So I sat down to quietly eat my dinner. When I reached a quarter of the sandwich I called for Cyclops.

“Cyclops, come here!”

Nothing… happened?

Normally Cyclops would be there eagerly awaiting her portion. So I turned my head about to see and I could not see my dog! For the first time in my life I felt an overwhelming panic. Here I was in a foreign land and my dog was lost!

After a few minutes of panic I was able to calm myself and start thinking rationally. Okay, the dog did not go west because I was facing that way. Neither did the dog go north or south as there were chain link fences on both sides of the road. Therefore, by process of elimination, Cyclops had gone east.

I gathered up my gear and quickly wheeled my bicycle to the east as I walked. It was about 100 yards back to the road we had been traveling. As I approached the road I saw 3 French people standing on a deck outside a tavern. One was bent over and moving their arm back and forth. That has to be where my dog had gone. As few steps later I could see the familiar black and white marking of Cyclops’ fur. A great sense of relief washed over me.

As I approached the deck I was greeted by the 3 smiling happy French people. Cyclops lifted her head to briefly acknowledged my presence, but then turned back to a plate of large juicy sauages. I stood there speechless. When Cyclops finished the plate of sausage she looked at me, but then calmly trotted into the tavern. The French people stood there still enjoying the moment. A minute later out came Cyclops followed by the waitress who was carrying another plate of sausages! The plate was set down and Cyclops continued with her dinner. My dog had ordered seconds.

I stood there waiting and wishing I had those friendly brown eyes and a tail to wag.

Cyclops finished her dinner, we loaded up on the bicycle and trailer and waved good-bye to Cyclops’ benefactors. Time to go find a place to camp.

Cyclops was one smart dog