marathon | Taking Our Time

Oct 15 – Today is Sunday, the day of the Brugge Marathon. We saw all the white tents and signs with instructions for the runners being assembled yesterday. Our plan was to go to the go to the art museum this morning to avoid the crowds.

Little did we know, but the marathon runners came right down our street! We weren’t permitted to cross the road, and ended up taking a detour of back streets, trying to get closer to the museum.

Finally, the runner thinned so we could jog across the road

The Groeninge Museum has ten rooms, with the works grouped by time. The first, medieval room was full of Madonnas and funny looking babies that I feel compelled to share.

Another depiction of St. Luke painting Mary and Jesus – no haloes in this one

Here is St. Catherine getting her head chopped off. She looks serene, but the horse seems very upset

…but he was flayed alive right in his office

This is Mars defeating Ignorance as the Arts and Sciences look on

In the more contemporary rooms, these were my favorites

This family portrait almost looks photographic

The personification of Legend, who keeps stories alive

Inspired by 1001 Arabian Nights, this looks like quite the story!

This one is called Domestic Difficulties

Back out on the street, there was a Sunday flea market. We scored a very nice, slightly used, plate for our wall.

Swans looking for tidbits from the restaurant guests

Another glorious day!

May 14 – Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and to all mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, stepmoms, godmoms, aunts, teachers, nurses, and anyone who has ever loved a child.❤️❤️❤️

Here’s another Salamanca story. This city hosts the largest number of University students in Spain. When a newbie comes to Salamanca for their first year, they are told that they must find the frog on the skull, or they will not pass their exams. Like any freshman challenge, upperclassmen will not help them find the frog. It took us a while, but we found it – the crowd of gaping, pointing tourists may have helped. Can you see it above the door of the university?

How about now?

See it? Good! You will pass your exams!

We walked south this morning to see the old Roman Bridge. It’s very quiet on Sunday morning, but we see policemen and military vehicles lining the roadway. What’s up? I’m wondering if there’s some sort of news event about to happen, when a policeman on a bicycle rides by, shouting the Spanish equivalent of, “Move over! Out of the way!” And then came:

Marathon runners! Hundreds of them! After a few dozen came a man on a bike with a sign that read 1st Mujer (Woman). Soon came the 2nd:

Do they announce the women in US races too? The 3rd Mujer also got a sign, but the rest just ran with the pack. It was a beautiful morning for the race – dry and cool. We walked against the tide to admire the Roman Bridge, which held up well under a thousand pounding feet.