I arrived in Madrid just a few days ago, ready to set off on my “Wanderlust Adventure”. In studying about Jewish ancestry, it seems this desire to travel/move is an inherited trait. It goes back not just centuries, biblical history proves this as well. From the years in the desert after leaving Egypt, to the Diaspora of the Jewish people from Babylon to various parts of the known world then. My people went to the Iberian Peninsula sometime around AD 70, as this map shows.
My desire to go back to the countryside where my ancestors flourished for several thousand years is just a heartbeat away! I leave for the region of Western Spain, known as Extremadura, to a small village by the name of Coria. My ancestors lived there in a peaceful era of co-existence, before the time of the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.
It is my last full day in Madrid, till I take the train tomorrow to Caceres in Extremadura. I’ll stay the night in Caseres. The next day I pick up my car rental, for Coria. Yes!!
Initially, I envisioned myself walking the 70km back to Coria from Caceres along a portion of The Camino de Santiago, which runs near Caceres. Instead, I’ve decided to drive there and regain a sense of my ancestral village, which I visited back in 2010. Perhaps I’ll walk back to Coria another time. For now, I feel a need to explore the countryside surrounding Coria, so car rental mode it is.
On this last day in Madrid, I’ll explore the Museo Thyssen-Borenmiza. Yesterday was the Museo del Prado. Some of the paintings in the Prado, by Spanish masters such as Goya, Velasquez and many others, help bring to life what daily life looked like, when my ancestors lived in Spain. There was a painting during my last visit, I took a photo of which has just stuck with me. It is called, “En el Presencia del Senor” (In the Presence of God) by Francesco Masriera a Spanish painter from Barcelona. This was done in the late 1800’s. Stunning…
This depicts a Moorish woman of obvious wealth and perhaps near when the Moorish empire was about to come to an end. Sadly, it was also the end of “The Golden Era” of Spain too in my humble opinion. When this peaceful co-existence came to an end, so did the sharing of knowledge via scholars of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths, since that sect of society was banned from the country. Knowledge in all areas of study was readily shared among them, encompassing information ranging from astronomy to medicine, agronomy to physics and so much more.
Perhaps in the words of one of my favorite musicians; Van Morrison, the song known as “Magic Time”, best describes my feelings of my returning to Coria.
Don’t lose the wonder in your eyes
I can see it right now when you smile
Let me go back for awhile
Let me go back for awhile
To that Magic Time
You can call it nostalgia, I don’t mind
Standing on that windswept hillside
Listening to the church bells chime
Listening to the church bells chime
In that Magic Time….
Wanderlust Ventures 
A journey of insight and untold blesssings has begun! Keeping you in prayer along the way.
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Thank you so much, Diane. Your kind words mean a great deal. Much aloha!
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Carmen,
Rock On, sounds like your having a wonderful trip!
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Very fortunate to be on this journey, my friend!
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Carmen,
While my travels are just as a tourist, there are occasionally some history lessons slipped in. Most of the Jewish quarter in the town of Gerona is still standing. It’s inside the town walls and after over 500 years it still looks like someone just left. It’s not far from Barcelona and might be worth a trip.
Bill
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Thank you, Bill. We just arrived in Granada and will be here for awhile. It is as stunning as I recall…join me on Facebook if you’d like too.
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I’m seeing Spain through your eyes! Keep up the great reporting! Looking forward to your next posting!😘
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Thank you, Tom! Join me on Facebook if you’d like as well. We just arrived in Granada, Spain and it is stunning…vale’!
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Carmen, we met Saturday at the HOME Sale and I am just now getting your contact info into my phone and realized you have this website and after a quick look, my gosh I feel we may be kindred spirits! Madrid/ Spain/Portugal may be in my travel plans for later this year. It’s been on my list for a bit but this year Marcia plays Madrid Jazz Festival in November so stars may align. Your search for ancestral roots is also akin to mine. I ventured Poland last year after a visit in southern France for a friend’s 70th birthday party and visited the places my ancestors came from (Silesia) before traveling to Texas by boat, landing in Galeston and being among first settlers of Panna Maria Texas in 1855. It is the oldest Polish community in the US. The magic of visiting places of relevance to your blood line is hard to describe. Deb
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Deb,
I’m thrilled to read your comment and what you’ve shared too. You really summed it up by what you stated at the end…”the magic of visiting places of relevance to your blood line is hard to describe.”
Madrid is a fantastic city and one I love returning to again and again. The Madrid Jazz Festival sounds wonderful–I had no idea about it. I’ll need to explore that some! So wonderful meeting you this past weekend. Tons of aloha–Carmen
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