We have visited many Cathedrals, Abby’s, Churches, and Monasteries in our visits in Europe so when we set out to visit the Monastery in San Millan this morning I was a little blase. What I did not expect was one of the best experiences we have had in all of our travels. Days like this I wish I was a better writer so I could share the magic that happened with others.
The Monastery in San Millan is known as the birthplace of modern written Spanish. The monks at the monastery transcribed books as one of their tasks and in the margins of some of the texts the monks would translate the Latin text into the common spoken language. This is the first known example of written Castilian Spanish. At least one of the monks was Basque as in 5 of the texts there are also the first known use of written Basque. For Spanish and Basque linguists this is a very important place.
We walked from our campsite in Bercia (named after the first Spanish poets known by name who was from here) to the monastery through a very quiet village. Like yesterday in Briones hardly anyone was in site and no one under the age of 50. So my expectations for what we would find when we arrived at the home of Spanish did not grow.
But suddenly the monastery appeared in sight and it was very well preserved and much larger than I expected. There were a couple of people in the courtyard but otherwise it was still very quiet. But I was surprised by the state of preservation and beauty of the building.
We went to the ticket office to buy tickets and were greeted by a very attentive gentleman who came around to explain that there was an English tour in 45 minutes. He told us that there was a coffee shop in the hotel where we could wait until the tour started.
Spain has a program where historical buildings such as castles and monasteries are converted to hotels. So we went into the part of the monastery that had been converted to a very posh hotel. Again it was very quiet but the building was impressive and the conversion to modern usage was very elegantly done. I was impressed enough to give serious thoughts to staying in the hotel tomorrow. The day was becoming more interesting.
We joined 3 other Americans for the tour, and as the guide was explaining the general run of things I thought I heard him say that this was the first English tour since the new museum was opened yesterday. Since I was still adapting my ear to his accent I wasn’t sure I had heard it correctly. It turns out I had.
Today was the first day that the museum had been reopened to the public since it underwent a major renovation and expansion. The official opening is Saturday and it appears that we had stumbled into their soft launch. The day was getting more intriguing.
As we started the wife in the other couple told the guide and us that her forbearers had immigrated to Guatemala from San Millan in the 1750’s, so it was a very special visit for her. In addition to being a special day for her it was a special day for the guide who was experiencing the upgrade in the displays for the first time and was truly excited and enthused by what he was showing us. I now knew this was not going to be just another walk thru an old building.
The monastery had been sacked by Napoleons troops in the early 1800’s and several pieces of early art taken then are in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. While the Louvre has not returned them to the monastery they have lent them for display and we were among the first to see them.
But the tour was not confined to just looking at an old building, books, and relics they have added modern audio visual displays. As you enter the building there is an ornate stair case. They have an amazing light and sound show that is projected onto the stairs. At another point they have a virtual reality room where you don an elaborate head set and walk through a VR story of how books were produced during medieval times. I was skeptical at first, but it was a much better visual experience than I expected. Also, the information presented was well done and educational.
Our next stop was the library which had not been open to the public until the redesign. It contains over 1000 texts from the middle ages. To make it accessible they have built a glass walkway into the center of the library. It allows public access while preserving the temperature and humidity of the room in a way that allows for the books to be preserved.
The last stop was the chapel. It had some interesting religious art but for me the most interesting thing was the design. There was a kind of wall with a door in it that divided the Nave (where the people sit) into two parts. Originally when there were about 80 monks living here the monks sat in front and the lay people sat in the back half. Today there are only 7 monks living on site and the youngest is in his 60’s. So the seats in the lay part of the church have been removed and everyone uses the front. Ton asked what happens when the 7 monks die and the guide said that it could be a big problem and hopefully some younger monks will come in the future.
If the day had ended at this point it would have been remarkable. But more was to come as after we said good bye to the guide the five of us on the tour did not want to move on. So we continued to chat in the courtyard. The other couple on the tour were walking the Camino de Santiago for the third time and were retired park rangers from Yellowstone. They had served there at the same time that our son Dylan had been a ranger there and new of his experience with the Grizzly though they don’t remember meeting him. The wife managed the visitor centers in Yellowstone and said at the end that what she had just seen blew away any visitor center at a National Park in the US.
The other lady on the tour was an 80 year old from New York traveling by herself. On a whim she had taken a taxi from Logrono which is about 50 kilometers away. She said she was nervous but was now very glad she had. The five us continued to talk about what we had just seen for about 30 minutes when the rangers told us they needed to head to their room.
Ton asked Lauretta what time her taxi was coming from Logrono and she said 4 pm and she asked us if we would mind joining her for lunch. We both said of course. We asked the gentleman we had bought our tickets from if he could recommend a place-he said of course, and walked with us to the parking lot, he pointed at one restaurant and said he worked at that one from when he was 16 until he went to University, then he pointed at another restaurant and he said he worked at that one for the last 8 years because his wives family owned it. I asked if he was still married and he said yes so we went to the one owned by his wives family.
We spent the next two hours sharing another delicious Spanish meal and talking about travel and life. It turns out Lauretta who is a widow had been on a tour with some friends and one of the friends asked her to extend the trip to visit his son. But when the arrived in Logrono she noticed he wasn’t breathing well and she insisted he go to the hospital. It turned out his blood oxygen level was extremely low and they admitted him immediately. She had spent the last three days taking care of him and had not had a proper meal. Last night he was officially out of danger and his son insisted she take a day off so she had come here. We were both very impressed with her stamina and her bravery to travel on her own. She remarked that today had been a good day for her and thanked us for joining her for lunch as she had enjoyed the chance to relax and speak with us.
Most days traveling are interesting and fun, a few days are annoying, but the good days outweigh them and keep us going. Then once in a while something magical happens like today. A day that you have low expectations for turns into a day that you will carry with you forever. A small village in Rioja where we saw one of the most innovative and interesting museums, that we shared with 3 fun and warm Americans as well as two proud and helpful Spanish workers will be a day we will remember for the rest of our travels.
