The Spanish Civil War Tour

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a war between the newly formed Republic of Spain (which included thousands of volunteers from around the world) and the Nationalists of Spain (led by the Dictator, General Fransico Franco). Many British, German, American and Canadian men volunteered to fight in Spain against Fascism. Mat's grandfather, George Cook, was one of these brave men, who risked their lives for their beliefs. None of the international Brigades received any more payment than was standard, infact, the Canadian Brigades did not even have a way to get home after being withdrawn from the battle.

We decided to take a tour of some of the areas that were important during the war. We were given the contact details for Alan Warren, a publisher of Spanish Civil War literature, who acted as our tourguide and paid special attention to the areas where the Canadians (and by extension George Cook) would have been.

Us, with our tourguide, Alan. He is certainly one of the most, if not THE most knowledgeable person on the Spanish Civil War (especially the Battle of the Ebro Valley). Amazing!!!

The grave of a soldier, hidden deep within a valley. If you don't know it's there, you never would.


This train station, was used as a hospital. The trains were outfitted with beds. The injured would be worked on under the protection of the tunnel.

The Ebro River. During one of the major battles of the Civil War, the Brigades were forced to cross this fast moving river. Many drowned in the process.

Mat in the Canadian (Mackenzie-Papineau or Mac-Pap) trenches. A place where his grandfather may have actually fought.

Belchite is a town that was destroyed by fighting during the Civil War. The town was kept by Franco to act as a reminder of what his 'enemies' had caused (he forgot to mention that he was part of it too)

A church in Belchite

If you look closely, you can see an unexploded shell in the wall of the church.

Another city, that experienced a similar fate to Belchite, is the town of Colberra, where a new development has turned the city into a mini-art installation to help bring some life into the destruction. It is called the Alphabet of Peace. Each letter of the alphabet is made out of, or within the space and is accompanied by a write-up or a poem that relates to the war.

The letter T for Terror.

This monument in Colberra is for the International soldiers who fought in the War.

Inside the brown square on the wall is graffiti from an American solider, written on Christmas, 1937.

To get a picture of the graffiti, Mat had to wear this light and stand (with his bum strategical placed on my head), while balancing on a doorhandle.

We found many caves/dugouts where soldiers from either side may have sheltered.
This dug-out is under a monastery

This one is on Hill 705, the highest hill, which was initially held by the Republicans, but was (for the majority of the War) held by the Nationalists. It is also virtually impossible to climb.

CLIMBING HILL 666 TO GET TO HILL 609

Hill 609 is a hill that was held by the Canadian Brigades. We climbed it's adjoining hill (666--held by the Americans) to get to another place where our boys once stood.

The ridge linking Hills 666 and 609. It was rocky terrain, and quite steep (the giant drop on the left side didn't help). We can only imagine what the soldiers went through when taking this hill, but also in trying to keep it.

Proof of thier stuggles was found along the way. We found countless pieces of shrapnel...

We also found a mysterious pile of stones. It was reported that they had buried the dead in shallow graves on this hill. Perhaps this is one of those spots.

barbed wire

the fins of a mortar

interesting fossils of shells (apparently it was all underwater at one point)

another mortar. This one buried in the walls of a trench.

a piece of leather...possibly from a boot...

and the find of a lifetime...a bullet. It was simply laying on a rock, and we have a supernatural theory of how it got there.

Before leaving we made an Inukshuk out of the shrapnel that we found. I think it has a rather deep meaning, since the symbols are 'to let them know that we were here'

This picture was taken after our 2 hour climb. Hill 609 is directly behind us.

It isn't just the battle fields where history is found, but in the local areas as well.

We stayed at a guesthouse in the area that was used as a hospital during the Civil War. The dining room is where the wounds were dressed. This is a dug-out in the front yard.

A table full of shells that were found on the property. Items such as this continue to be found.

The owners have even found human remains.

This cave was used as a hospital during the Civil War.

This courtyard (now part of a youth hostel) was where the International Brigades were gathered for their farewell address, before being sent to Barcelona.

One of our final stops was the monument dedicated to, and erected by General Franco. It is in the place that served as his headquarters during the Battle of the Ebro. The graffiti is mostly against the Nationalists, but there is some that promotes the Nationalist agenda (remember that Franco died of old age---and in office---in 1975)

Death and destruction was not the only thing we saw

we also ran into a giant herd of sheep wandering their way through the little town of Le Tux.

Mat also had some fun in Alan's hat (hehe, Alan doesn't know we took this)

He also tried some interesting food...like rabbit

but nothing tops my disgusting trial of snails, accompanied by rabbit. Yum. Actually the rabbit is quite good...but the snails not so much.

Mat even got into coffee...and wine! He's a new man I tell ya. Yay for Spain and the adventures it brought, and yay for us for getting to do them.

We had a wonderful time on the tour. It was amazing to learn so much and all while standing on the land, and in the spot, where it happened. We don't know if we ever caught up with George, but we're sure that he knows we were trying.

Barcelona, Spain

We flew into Barcelona, Spain on Thursday and spent the day wandering around the downtown area, and up and down the fascinating sight that is the La Rambla (the main street that runs top to bottom and is home to the highest number of buskers we've ever seen).

Just one of the many costumed performers who spend their days on La Rambla, posing for pennies.


We made our way down to the port


Where the waters seemed to be overflowing with fish. No one was fishing (so it must be illegal), and the fish were massive!

At the end of La Rambla, and the entrance to the port, is this giant column

Christopher Columbus stands on top, pointing towards America.

Barcelona is a city briming with art (of every kind) and the port is included in this.

The port is also home to this tall ship

Mat enjoyed the tour.

The history of Barcelona (and Spain) should not be forgotten...and often can't. The holes in this wall were caused by a bomb set off during the Spanish Civil War.

Barcelona's Cathedral. Under construction, but the scaffolding gives you a glimpse of what it looks like.

Flags ontop of a govermnet building. Flags are tricky in Barcelona, since Barcelona is a city in Catalonia, an area considered to be separate from Spain. The Catalan flag is the one with the 4 red stripes on the yellow background.

Art, and all things arty, is also a really big thing in Barcelona. This is a gate for a government building.

Here a Picasso on the side of the building for the school of Architecture.

The roof on the Santa Caterina market. It's gorgeous (when you look at a picture), since you can't actually see it from outside.

A sculpture near the port.

The big artistic draw of Barcelona is the work of Antoni Gaudi (whom we've both become intrigued by). This lamp post, in Placa Real, is the first of Gaudi's work to be put on view in public.

These photos are of Casa Batllo

it looks like it's made of bone

and has very interesting balconies

The photos below show La Padrera (Casa Mila)

Also an interesting place, and also with a very large line-up. We didn't go inside, but we saw the pictures and both places looks amazing. I guess we'll have to return.

Gaudi's main work is the Sagrada Familia (the Church of the Sacred Family). Work on this church began in 1883. When Gaudi died in 1926, the church was still not complete. The Spanish Civil War put a damper on things as well, since Gaudi's workshop, and most of his sketches of the church, were destroyed. In fact, the church is still being built and they are not sure when it will be done (since it relies exclusively on private donations---and the ridiculous entrance fee). The newest date is sometime in 2010 (but we'll see).

The exterior

The interior is meant to look like trees, with the ceiling as the leaves.

Construction underway.

These line the roof of the building.

Not only did we participate in the artistic culture of Barcelona, but also the night culture. It's common to go to the bar from 10-1 and then the club from 1-6am. These people party hard. The main thing to do at the bar is drink Sangria and have Tapas (snacks). We decided to get all of this in a cooking class.

Our host, making Paella (Pie-eh-ah).

It is a Spanish rice, that includes vegetables and usually a lot of seafood.

The Sangria (red wine, with soda, sugar, liquer and fruit) went down a little too smoothly

Once cut off from the Sangria, we headed to another bar (with our new friends) and had the Harry Potter Shot. No idea how to make it, but it was good.

And they set it on fire.

Barcelona was beautiful. There are so many things to do, that I don't feel like we did any of it...I guess we'll have to return one day.