A Different View
Following the footsteps of Spain’s spiritual saint
A Different View with Dave O’Connell
It’s a sort of Spanish version of the Wild Atlantic Way for those of a spiritual persuasion – seventeen towns and cities right through the middle of Iberia intrinsically linked because they all boast a convent established by St Teresa of Avila.
Naturally, Avila itself is top of the pile – a beautiful old walled city north of Madrid – but what this experience brings you, apart from the obvious religious experience, is a chance to visit those parts of Spain, down through the spine of the country, that, chances are, you’d never otherwise see.
The Spanish call it Huellas (meaning footsteps) de Teresa de Jesús, but the reality is that you’d be a lifetime doing this on foot.
And like our of Wild Atlantic Way, you’d be best to pick a section and enjoy the splendour and magnificence of the lesser spotted Spain.
The better known destinations that make up the Huellas include Sevilla, Valladolid, Granada and Salamanca – home to Irish monks in penal times – but the real secret here is the small towns like Malagón or Beas de Segura or the beautiful Caravaca de la Cruz where history just exudes from its very pores.
As a concept, Huellas de Teresa de Jesús is really only a year in existence – a tourism and marketing effort to bring visitors off the beaten track.
What you get is a sense of the commitment of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, with whom she worked hand in glove to found these convents and monasteries, as well as a sense of wonder at the majesty of these baroque buildings, teeming with gold adornments and steeped in history.
Teresa of Ávila lived from 1515 to 1582); she was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun and theologian of the contemplative life through prayer.
In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonised by Pope Gregory XV and in 1970 she was the first woman to be named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI.
As a founder of convents, she was prolific – and her mark is to be seen on so many Spanish towns and cities – but it is her home place of Avila that simply stops you in your tracks.
The old walled city has 88 towers and nine gates to protect it – and inside is a maze of cobbled streets and old buildings that would bring you back in time if it wasn’t for the passing traffic.
Spain has a network of what it calls Paradores – beautiful old castles and historical buildings that had probably fallen into some state of disrepair over the decades, but which are now restored as luxury hotels and accommodation at prices everyone can afford.
Best of all, given their historical relevance, they are normally located close to the oldest part of the city – as was the case with Parador de Ávila, where the service was outstanding and the staff were exemplary from the general manager down.
Avila brings Teresa to life, because it is the city of her childhood, youth and maturity, years of hopes, projects, starting point of her foundations.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
A Different View with Dave O’Connell
The only time in your life that you should ever utter the words: “Do you know who I am?” are if you’ve just had a bang on the head or you are unfortunately suffering from dementia.
Because, otherwise, the phrase ‘do you know who I am’ only serves to make things a whole lot worse.
Normally, the phrase is unleashed towards late night door staff on a wave of alcohol – and never once in the history of time has it produced the result the utterer had intended.
The doorman may well know who you are which is often the very reason you’re not getting into the place in the first instance – or if he doesn’t know who you are, he won’t be unduly influenced when he does, unless you’re a famous movie star or his long-lost cousin.
‘Do you know where I am?’ might often be closer to the phrase you’re looking for, because that would serve you well when you’re looking for a taxi.
‘Do you know who I am?’ is a threatening phrase that in truth wouldn’t frighten the cat. But if you’re anxious to dig the hole a few shovels deeper, you should follow up with ‘I’d like to speak to your manager.’
Managers can be elusive at the best of times, but they’re normally rarer than hen’s teeth when it comes to the small hours of the morning – and even if they’re there, they are most likely watching proceedings on CCTV…just so they know who you are, in case you yourself can’t remember.
‘I’d like to speak to your manager’ suggests that you and he or she are from the one social sphere which is several strata north of the one occupied by door staff.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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A Different View with Dave O’Connell
As it turned out, we were much closer to a Eurovision win than we could ever have imagined – not Ireland, of course, because we’ve now mastered the art of just sending cannon fodder to be blown out in the semi-final.
No, this was just two of us – myself and our eldest – who were lucky enough to be at Anfield for the Reds’ recent win over Brentford, where positioned in the seat right in front of us were four happy lads from Finland.
One of them, we now know, was Käärijä, the singer of the catchiest song at Eurovision, Cha Cha Cha.
But just a week before 7,000 people sung his catchphrase at the Eurovision Arena, he and two his mates – accompanied by an older bloke who had to be either his dad or from the national broadcaster – sat anonymously in the same corner of the lower level of Anfield’s Main Stand.
He was utterly unknown to us as well of course, and the only thing that saw him stand out was his green nail varnish. Live and let live, of course, but it still ensures that you make an impression even if it looks like you were just very late for St Patrick’s Day.
Käärijä may well be Liverpool’s greatest Scandinavian fan, although the bar for that is set fairly high, given that they invade the city in greater numbers every two weeks than the Vikings did just once during the first millennium.
Equally, he may not be a football fan at all – although, as the rest of the week proved, he sure loves a crowd.
Positioned as we were in the corner of the Main Stand, the next section to us, around the corner in the Anfield Road Stand – currently adding a top layer – was occupied by the visiting Brentford supporters.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
A Different View with Dave O’Connell
Contactless payments reached a record €17.9 billion in Ireland last year – up by 31 per cent on 2021, as people came out from under their Covid shell and appear to have left their cash behind them.
Figures from the Banking & Payments Federation found that – despite the cost-of-living increases – the Irish public made three million contactless payments a day, worth an average of €53 million in the final quarter of 2022.
Given that there are 3.8 million people in Ireland over the age of 18, that means that almost every single one of us tapped the card every day last year.
And again, on the presumption that there are a few who still prefer peeling a fifty off a wad of notes, the true figure may be even higher, as we eschew actual money every time we go into a restaurant, bar or shop.
Then comes the monthly morning of reckoning when you open your statement – electronic of course because, like paper money, banks don’t deal in paper statements anymore either – and your guilty secrets unfurl like a rap sheet before your very eyes.
Five taps of a Friday night in the local, followed by a five-ounce burger meal on the way home.
And just why did you need a family-pack of crisps when a small bag would have done? Was all that beer and wine really for a party, or a night in just for one?
Cash provided plenty of dark corners to ignore your profligacy, but there are no hiding places in the contactless world.
Worse still, until that morning of reckoning arrives, you’ve no clue how much you’ve spent, and handing over the card doesn’t hurt half as much as parting with hard cash.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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