Roman Baths, Catholic Churches, Palm Sunday, Northern Spain, and I See Dead People

Disclaimer: if you want golf, visit links to my colleagues. If you want a private eye inside my away-from-travelgolf world, read on.

I find myself in northern Spain, in Asturias, where the reconquest began so many centuries ago. I´m in a town called Gijon, near Santander, near where Ballesteros grew up. It´s Palm Sunday, people are carrying laurel fronds to their godfathers, the way Asturians celebrate Palm Sunday. Next weekend, Easter Sunday, the godfathers will return the favor with a gift to their godsons.

I´m here because I agreed to shepherd a group of fifteen american students on a 2.5 week exchange to Spain. The kids engage in a homestay program, which eliminates hotel fees and makes the trip affordable for all. In return, they host the Spanish when their counterparts visit the states later on. Today we went to the Termas Romanas, the Roman Baths, where the land meets the sea in downtown Gijon.

Roman Baths aren´t an everyday thing, you see. Open to the public, dressing rooms for men and women, cold water, warm water, hot water, sauna, then reverse it…they were pretty advanced for ¨back in the day.¨ After the Romans were tossed out, the space was used as a cemetary. During those medieva times, at least 150 people were buried there (the holes were already in the ground, right?) At least two were very important people…they were entombed in their own, made-to-fit sarcophagi (the plural of sarcophagus.) If I had a sarcophagus, it would be made by Sun Mountain or Ogio.

You´ll get more of RonMon spouting off on golf next week. For now, here´s a sliver of my life away from golf. I like it pretty much.