A Visit to the Divine, Followed by a Traditional Salvadorean Supper (Finally)

The Divine Savior of the World, the namesake both to this country and this city, can be found in a traffic circle
halfway between the Centro Historico and the upscale neighborhood in which I am staying.

Last day in El Salvador. Last day of the mini-vacation. First day of the vacation when I delayed the start of my daily tourism to do some work that was piling up.

And it was hot and muggy-humid by the time I started my tourism day. So I opted for a one-hour walk (two-hour round trip) to El Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo, the Monument to the Divine Savior of the World.

And here it is.

There was not much sightseeing to be done along the way. Here's the thing about San Salvador, at least this time of year. Mornings are very pleasant. Then, around noon, it gets horribly hot and humid with an intense sun. Then, around 3:00 p.m., it is typically time for the afternoon thunderstorms to roll in. Just like South Florida. Then, in the evening, the humidity is down, as are the temperatures, and the weather is absolutely beautiful. You might have more thunderstorms overnight, but who cares? I'm asleep by that time.

Here's the view with a row of fountains shooting up their water on the west side of the monument:

And here's a closer-up view of the monument. The country is named "The Savior," with the preceding article not optional. The city is named "Holy Savior." So, of course, in a visit to the City of the Holy Savior, in the Republic of the Savior, I had to visit the monument to the namesake of the city and country.

This is the view from the back:

And if you look really close, you will see this is the view from front:

And here is the view that the Divine Savior of the World has of the City of San Salvador from high atop the globe perched high atop his pedestal:

You can't really tell from the photo, but the Divine Savior has an excellent view of every American fast food known to man, all of which have a home in San Salvador (and usually at a bigger size than any location of said fast food joints in the USA): McDonald's. Wendy's (lots and lots of Wendy's). Burger King. KFC (and the Central American answer to KFC: Pollo Campero). Panda Express. Every single one of the mediocre American pizza chains: Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John. They're all here. And they're all ultra-popular.

On the way back I ran into an old friend from my last two trips: Bernardo O'Higgins.

O'Higgins was the liberator of Chile and his bust can be found everywhere in Chile, the destination of my two vacations prior to this.

At this point, the heat and the sun and (most of all) the humidity were getting to me. So I rested. But after a refreshing rest, I went out to eat Salvadorean food.

I chose Relajo because (a) it was half a block from my hotel, and (b) it was highly recommended by yesterday's tour guide. Either one would have been reason enough, but both? No. Brainer.

Finally I was going to eat some Salvadorean cuisine.

On the last night of my last day. Hope I don't love it too much then!

The restaurant was right along Avenida Las Magnolias, which translates to: Magnolia Avenue. Hey, even with my pobre espanol, I can translate that one.

This is not a busy street after business hours are over, so it did not detract from the restaurant's atmosphere.

So what traditional Salvadorean food did I order at this Salvadorean restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador? A limonada.

It came with a gratis helping of fried plantain chips. The chips were topped with a vinegary slaw that may or may not have contained the theme food of this trip: picked red onions. The limonada was good, but it was not nearly as good as yesterday's restaurant by the lake. Why is that, you may ask? Tonight's limonada was a balance of sour and sweet. I much prefer yesterday's limonada which was totally unbalanced and slanted heavily toward an intense, lip-puckering sour. Still, if not for yesterday's beverage, I would have thought this limeade was excellent.

I ordered a pupusa because ... I am in frickin' El Salvador and if you don't eat at least one pupusa on a trip here THEY WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE THE COUNTRY. It's the law. Not only that: It's divine law.

I had the camarones, which is shrimp. This pupusa was much more like a quesadilla (the kind we get in the United States which is the kind they serve in Mexico) than the quesadilla that was a rice cake that I had yesterday. Cheesy and shrimpy, referring to the flavor and not the size. The size most definitely was not "shrimpy."

The main course was a chile relleno.

Much to my surprise, it looked like ... a chile relleno. Only heat-free. Salvadorean food is not spicy-hot like Mexican food. It was good, but it got much better when I doused it with the local hot sauce. My chile relleno was stuffed with chicken. Chicken adds protein but it does not add flavor, and that's true the world over. So my chicken chile relleno tasted just like a chile relleno I could order at Tres Amigos or any of a dozen slightly-Americanized Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas.

But the best is yet to come.

Horchata! But real Salvadorean horchata. Horchata de morro. Served traditionally with a little bit of cinnamon on top. Mexican horchata is made with rice milk. Spanish horchata from Valencia (the birthplace of that delicious beverage) is made with almond milk. Real Salvadorean horchata is made with a local fruit, the morro. This should not be confused with the fruit "mora," which is the Spanish name for the best berry of them all: the blackberry. This is morro. The flavor tasted like a more intense version of the almond-based horchata, much stronger than Mexican rice milk horchata. 

So now that I've finally had a delicious meal of traditional Salvadorean food, it's time to head back home. Flight leaves early tomorrow. Buenas noches, El Salvador.

Life Lesson Learned: Do Not Use Sunday for Your Catholic Tourism in a Catholic Country

Image of St. John Paul II inside the museum

I saved the main reason for me to visit Poland for my last day in Poland. Today was the day that I booked a tour to see the main Saint John Paul II sites in the Krakow area.

First stop: Wadowice. The town where Karol Wojtyla lived the first 18 years of his life.

There are two main sights to see in Wadowice. First is the Bazylika Wadowice, or the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This was built on the site of the much more modest church that young future pope (and saint) attended.

It most definitely was not this spectacular in Saint John Paul's youth in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Not surprisingly, there is a small corner of the church dedicated to the local boy made (very) good.

Once outside the Basilica, in the town square, which I believe is called Plac Jana Pawla II, the thing to do is to look for your country.

USA! USA! As pope, John Paul II visited somewhere around 150 countries. Each country that he visited is recognized in the plaza with a black stone.

And, of course, there is a bronze statue outside. The appointed time for me to tour the museum was coming up.

There was a line.

It moved relatively fast, however. This is the childhood home of Saint John Paul II, which has been turned into a museum, the Muzeum Dom Rodzinny Ojca Świętego Jana Pawła II w Wadowicach, which you may know better as the Family House of the Holy Father John Paul II Museum in Wadowice.

The museum covers the lifespan of Saint John Paul II, from his childhood through the completion of his papacy.

Here are the Pope's skis.

Remember, at the beginning of his papacy, John Paul II was quite the athlete and outdoorsman. This is a great picture of him high atop a snowy mountain, in his dress uniform.

The second floor of the museum is a recreation of the childhood home.

And I am there.

This was the boy's bedroom.

After the walk through the childhood home comes the display concerning one of the key elements of his papacy.

The assassination attempt. It does not say if this is the actual gun (which leads me to believe it's the actual gun used in the assassination attempt because why else display a gun embedded in the floor like that). It is very interesting that the two great evils active in the world during John Paul II's papacy -- communism and radical Islam -- united to try to kill this pope. And failed. It's tremendous, powerful symbolism that was very real.

The statue on the ground floor is, as would be expected, a popular photo spot.

And what do you do when your tour of the museum is done? You go for a pope cake!

During his papacy, Pope John Paul II spoke very highly of the cream cakes served in Wadowice. So how could I not indulge? The pope commanded me thus. (Truth be told, and it's a sin to tell a lie, these were a lot like the cream cakes I've eaten in Lake Bled, Slovenia. Only the ones in Slovenia were flakier, crispier, and (this last point is strictly a matter of taste) a little less sweet. The Wadowice version did have a more pronounced vanilla, however.)

I did not ride on the pope train, however.

Having exhausted all things to do in Wadowice, the next stop on the Saint John Paul II tour was the monastery at Kalwaria. And look who's here to welcome us!

Kalwaria is a very important pilgrimage site in Poland. It is common to visit here en route to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa about 100 miles (or so) to the north. Poland's Black Madonna is probably the single most venerated pilgrimage site in Poland.

Don't let these quite looking grounds fool you.

The place was filled.

Although no ceremony was going on, the chapel was full. I seemed to be the only one wandering around taking pictures. Everyone else was in a much more quiet, meditative, prayerful state.

But not me. I'm running around (respectfully) snappy shots of everything shiny.

This is the side view of the Sanktuarium Pasyjno-Maryjne.

The parking lots were overflowing.

I decided to take a walk up the hill to see the smaller chapels up top.

I could hear music coming from a large brass band, with speakers broadcasting the prayers that were being said (in Polish) (this is Poland after all) (why would they pray in English for the benefit of the one lone Yankee tourist running around snapping pictures of everything shiny).

And then I saw this procession coming down the hill.

It was huge.

I'm guessing a couple hundred.

Once the procession passed, the hill was much quieter (and much less crowded).

It was steep.

The main building up here is the Church of the Crucifixion. But there are interesting smaller chapel buildings, too. Like this!

Let's walk through it.

This is the Biblical crown of thorns scene. With actual crowns of thorns in the foreground.

This is the Church of the Crucifixion:

And another smaller building:

But I walked the steep ascent for the main church:

Of the three chapels, this is the one I liked the best:

This is the nailing of Christ to the cross. This is the Church of the Crucifixion, after all.

The walk down the hill was just as steep as the walk up. Now it was time for the third stop on the Saint John Paul II tour.

This is the John Paul II Center in Krakow.

You can ride the elevator to the top for a nice view of Krakow:

The final stop on the day's tour, the Sanktuarium Bożego Miłosierdzia, is visible dead ahead.

The Center has a replica of John Paul II's tomb.

The real one is in the Vatican. Controversially (to the Poles at least), Saint John Paul II is buried in Rome, not in his native country.

The mosaics on the ground floor are interesting. Here is the one from Croatia:

I would say that I am not trying to be critical with my next comment ...

But I am. The architectural design is very "contemporary," which means it was dated before it began.

The biblical scenes depicted in the main church are cartoonish.  There is no majesty to this church.

But there is majesty to this:

The pope's bloody vestments from his assassination attempt.

I guess I should take solace in the fact that the statue of Saint John Paul II outside the Center is not "stylized."

There is a reason that this was the only religious site I visited this day that was not absolutely mobbed. I guess I am not the only one left cold by this "contemporary" church that would fit comfortably in any fast-growing American mega-suburb.

On to the final stop of the Saint John Paul II tour, Divine Mercy.

Part of the complex is modern.

 

But the grounds are quite nice.

And a very nice Stations of the Cross. This is "VI," Veronica's Veil.

I spare you the other stations. And even though the interior is modern, it is less sterile than the John Paul II Center,

Which could be a reason why it's more crowded.

And the Divine Mercy grounds were crowded. Not here, at a Divine Mercy prayer site.

But here, at the main chapel. There were prayers being said, and a crowd listening to them, so I could not get into the Divine Mercy chapel to snap some pictures of the various shiny objects inside.

And, right besides were panels honoring, to the left, Pope John Paul II, and, to the right, Pope Benedict XVI. This is the only honoring of Pope Benedict XVI I've seen. Anywhere. Ever.

The grounds here are a convent for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Our Lady of Mercy. And, to cap off the day, here is a statue of Divine Mercy.

I've not seen this before in 3-D statuary. I like it.