Being that I live in Columbus, Columbus Day is of course quite special. Well not that special -- we don't have the day off! But the Santa Maria is anchored here (on the glorious Scioto River!) so we feel a special connection to our namesake. Currently the Nina and the Pinta are making a trip down the Ohio River -- which makes total sense of course (imagine what the fishermen think when they see those two huge trips coming their way!).
You might ask -- Why isn't the Santa Maria
on the voyage as well? Very good question.1. Well of course it can't be as it's moored in Columbus, Ohio
2. Columbus never liked the ship and it sank on Christmas Eve 1492 in Hispaniola
To which of course your next question would be -- and why then was it selected to live permanently in Columbus? I'm guessing because noone else cared for it but I'm not sure!
At the lower end of La Rambla in Barcelona is the Monument a Colom. It was the Catalan King and Queen (King really, Isabella had thrown him out) that financed his trip. In the end they didn't honor their "contract" with him but I thought it was pretty interesting to travel so many miles to end up round circle to where Christopher ended his first voyage and reported back to King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella.The statue was orginally designed to have Columbus pointing to the New World, but unfortunately it was sited east, supposedly to his home of Genoa. I am always amazed at the complexity of sculptures made in that era, every intricate carving representing something significant, in this case: people related to Columbus, the four realms of Spain, important scenes from his first trip to the America's, and eight coat of arms representing locations that he visited. We just don't build them like that any more.
Today is also Thanksgiving Day (so I had some pumpkin pie to celebrate!) in Canada, or more accurately, Jour de l'Action de grâce. An early mix of a celebration of harvest and giving thanks for a bounty of crops with the thanks of an explorer for surviving a long journey through the Northwest Passage gave way to a "Thanksgiving" celebration brought from American refugees' (loyal to Great Britain) relocating from the now independent United State to Canada after the Revolution.
A feature I really like that the Canadians adopted -- the theme changes to reflect an important event to be thankful for. So the whole country stops on a Monday to remember, collectively, a recent important event.
As a child I loved the Columbus Days that fell on my birthday -- those were especially special. And if it was a Monday and thus Thanksgiving Day -- well I believe my birth is an important event to be thankful for -- don't you?
ALWAYS :-)
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