Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1955-04-22
i OUR
"a Town

Christopher columbus or one
of those guys sailed away to
discover the West Indies
which eventually led to the
establishment of London, Ohio.
Matter of fact, our hotel, The
Colon, is named for Columbus.
But it isn't, and the city isn't
so nice as Madrid.
The French take their holi-
days here because living here
is cheaper than in France.
The French have a manner of
weaving the "Barceleno" to
their ways and the women
here ape the French with dyed
hair and extra accent on the
"derriere." AS a result, neither
the women nor the men are
half so charming as the Mad
rileno".
However, the city itself is
most intriguing with streets
in the old part of the city be-
ing no more than 6 feet wide
in some places. Too, the fact
that we are here during Holy
Week adds greatly to the pass
ing scene = right now we are
having strong, black cafe" in
the hotel lobby while watch
ing a Spanish Catholic bishop
on a high platform on the
steps of the Basilica across
the way extoll the virtues ~f
the Easter season to thous-
ands gathered in the public
square below. The bishop is
an excellent speaker and, al
though we do not understand
1t all, we are pleased with the
ring and sincerity of his SER
mon. 1t is a really gala occas-
ion with the multitudes in
their best and acting their
best. Easter time in Spain re-
minds one of a carnival.
We, Sam and I, are much
taken by the coffee-making
machines here in Spain. They
arc most elaborate and the
price of a cup of coffee is
quite high comparatively
speaking. A whole meal may
cost SIS to Is pesetas but a cup
of coffee always costs A pese-
tas for, maybe, an ounce or
two. and you always drink
at least a half dozen or so
because it takes that much to
equal just one cup at home.
Barcelona has a great deal
of "old city, in that it Is very
much older than its sister cit
les in other parts of the coun-
try.
But let's look around for
comparison of the old and the
new. In the harbor, not far
from an exact replica of Co
lumbus' flagship, the Santa
Maria, is an American air.
craft carrier. The carrier is
mighty good to see and the
American flag is the prettiest
one in the whole world. We
have talked to a couple of
swabbies who are on liberty
and they candidly complain
that the Spanish girls are too
hard to meet.
Along the street we see
German 'Volkswagen" with
license plate which says, ~.
S. Forces in Germany. The
young couple aboard this lit
tie phenomenon are named Ea-
gan and they come from Cali
fornia. They have been station
cd at Stuttgart, Germany for
almost a year. They ask US to
visit them there if we ever
get to Stuttgart but we are
not going there. Talked to- an
English lady who is married
to a Hollander. Their name is
Van der Something or Other
and they live near Amster-
dam. They are very nice peo-
pie and they hate the Germ
ans. I know they are nice peo-
pie but they didn't explain
their reason why they hate
the Germans. Suffice to say
that most Europeans have
very definite likes and dislikes
- just like Americans!
We flew here on Iberia Air
lines on a really beautiful
day. The silent black and
white beauty of the Pyrenees
followed us most of the way
and the sun on the snow-cap-
ped peaks made it difficult to
distinguish the m 0 un a in s
from the clouds. Breath-tak-
ing is the word for this air
trip along the Spanish coast.
The iberia Airline is a good
one.
Another religious procession
greets us at sundown with
hundreds of Vie penitent
dressed in peaked masks and
walking in bare feet over
nHfes of cobbiestones. Some
whip themselves with lengths
of rope as they walk in silen-
ce =. an impressive sight to
GNU tho laocf