Spain & Paris Pictures

Here I am with Estanislao and Maria Clara. Estanislao is cousins with my grandfather, Samuel Boren. They are delightful people. I had a wonderful time getting to know them and their family.


I loved the food in Spain! Estanislao and Maria Clara took me to some amazing restaurants and Maria Clara is also an amazing cook! This is a meal we had at a really nice restaurant that overlooked Barcelona. The food was tasty and the company superb! I really like the goat cheese in my salad!

If you ever have the chance to visit Barcelona, do it. There are so many amazing cathedrals and other buildings! My dad (Nelson) is an architect and would have gone crazy in Barcelona.


This is a picture of Laguarres, Spain, where Mariano Borén was born and raised, along with his ten brothers and sisters. Mariano is my great grandfather, the father of Samuel Borén. We drove for about three or four hours from Barcelona to get here. I was surprised how remote it is. Back in the glory days (mid 1850's) there were over 500 people living in Laguarres. Now there are less than 100!

I had to get a picture by the town entrance!


This is the house where Mariano Borén was born and raised in Laguarres, along with his brothers and sisters. Everyone in town calls it "La Casa Betis". It looked like it is in pretty good shape. Mariano left Spain in the early 1900's to go to Argentina, along with two brothers and a sister. His three siblings eventually returned to Spain, but Mariano stayed in Argentina until he died in 1939 in Argentina. We think he stayed in Argentina because he married a girl from Argentina and she wanted to stay close to her family.


Between Spain and Africa I had a several hour layover in Paris. I jumped on the subway and saw Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. My ears are not accustomed to French, so it was good and confusing a few times. I didn't see much of Paris, but those two sites were really cool. The only thing that could have made it better was if Sherrie had been there.


I was at the Eiffel Tower at night, so they had it all lit up. It is enormous! I took this picture right underneath the middle of it.