David's Diary: Sunday, April 28, 2002

Two Churches

Our days are busy and before we know it another school week has passed by and we have time off for the weekend. For a few weeks now, I've wanted to visit the two main churches in Palma (separate from the Cathedral which we visited when we first arrived here). We took the morning off, but after lunch Jocelyn, Kevin, Allen, and I walked up to the old part of town to visit the churches. Karalee got to enjoy bliss with the whole boat to herself and the knowledge that no Greer child was going to bother her for an hour or so.

Altar of Sant Francesc

Our first stop was the church of Sant Francesc. You enter through the cloisters, which were first started in 1286, but not completed until the 14C. They form a beautiful quiet square and the boys were keen to check out the well in the middle. From there we entered the church and enjoyed the well-lit interior with its towering central nave. The intricate altar spanned the nave and formed arches that we entered to see the end of the church. Like other Catalan churches, Sant Francesc has small side chapels along the full length of side aisles. We walked up and down taking a look at all of them.

Santa Eulàlia

Our next stop was Santa Eulàlia. We stopped at the entrance where Kevin and Allen demonstrated how to play with a folded up scooter. We entered the church and the first sign we saw was that there was no visiting during services. We had a quick peek at the altar and then the organ music started to mark the afternoon service. Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen were not having anything to do with it, so we quickly left the church. On our way out the priest walked past us and Kevin and Allen were curious as to why this person was dressed up in special robes. I did my best to describe why the priest of the church dressed in a special way as we made our way out the towering front doors and down the steps on our way back to Dragonsinger.