Sal Williams

Here we have a pic of the actuall old tree which is no longer alive. The tree that replaced it was a seedling from that tree and was the meeting place at the time of the gernika bombing. It was undamaged by the attack ironically enough.

In another room is this beautiful stained glass ceiling with the tree and the old leaders gathering under it.

On each of the chairs the Bask symbol of the oak tree is embroidered

The inside where the representatives meet.

I learned some new things on this little jaunt. it turns out that for centuries Gernika, though very small, has been extremely inportant in the Bask culture. It is and always has been the seat of government for them. In ancient times the Bask would gather at a sacred oak tree and the leaders would be elected and take thier oaths of office under its boughs. It is speculated that this is why Gernika was chosen for destruction. To demoralize the Republican government as strong resistance to the fascists came from the north and bask in particular. Here is the building that houses the Bask seat of government even today.

A nice building of 'new" Gernika that caught my fancy.

Here is Sam with another one of those Distinctly Bask lettered signs.

Here is Sam in front of a tile version of Pablo Picasso's famous Guernica painting (painted in 1937 in protest of the fascists). Gernika reffers to itself as "the town of peace" now.

Here is a strange thing I noticed while in Bask country, the signs all use this lettering. I mean about 95% of them!

So we drove in from Bilbao (a nearby seaside town where we were staying) and began to explore. The sense of history was overwhelming. The people were VERY friendly and speak Bask which sounds nothing like Spanish and uses X's in its written form ALL the time! Here is a View of gernika today.

To contrast that map take a look at this one of the old town of Gernika. The brownish colored buildings are all that survived the bombing.

Hello Folks, On our recent trip to Spain, I just had to see the famous town of Gernika (thats how they write it). Despite it being a 6 hour drive from Barcelona it just had to be done! A little background for those who might not be aware of its signifigance to our hobby: Gernika was a small Bask town in the very north of Spain.On the 26th of April 1937 at 4:30 in the afternoon the German Luftwaffe bombed the town to rubble at the behest of Franco (the German spanish cross was awarded to the German military men who participated in this and other actions in Spain). This was considered the first use of urban bombing in modern warfare. This action was more of a test of the damage possible to inflict with aeriel bombing than it was a specifically strategic target. The German military sent to battle in Spain (for what is considered to be the Nazi testing grounds for WWII) was called the Condor Legion, led by Lieutenant Wolfram von Richtofen. If that name seems familiar to you it probably is, he was cousin to WWI flying ace Manfred von Richtofen also known as The Red Baron! You can probably see why it was a must see for me. I will start you off with a map of the current rebuilt city (VERY little was left after the Luftwaffe bombing was over).

Jacques, How is the backwards slash possible? Are the "l" / and number stamped seperatly? Best, Sal Thanks for the pics of the gold one! but the color varies in the pics, more photos please!!!

Oh right! Like you know more about the Spanish stuff than I do! Congrats Jacques! You are the right man for the job! Now show us that Gold SC! you know the one I mean! Best, Sal

You are confusing my little grasshopper brain again Rick! I don't get it???

I like Imperial because I can drive Rick crazy with a million questions! One just leads to another!

The inside

Ok, here is the case for the 835

Jacques, Put me in your will!!!!

Looks like I definitly lost the Porsche/Cadillac battle

Hot Diggety! How do you do that???? Why werent you allowed to have the same class KVK and EK and when did that end? And how did you find that out in the first place??? Best, Sal I want to win the gold ticket to Ricky Ronkas Research Factory!!!

OH! and show us the beautiful gold cross you got recently!!!!

Jacques! You devil!!!! Are those all your SCs in a pile? If so you have way too many!!!!! You will have to send some to your poor ol pal Sal! Can you post a pic of a marked Deumer SC? The marked S&L doesn't seem to match the 835 at all to me. I would like to compare it to a Deumer. Thanks! best, Sal

Thanks for looking case pics to come Best, Sal

but wait, don't answer yet, you also get this lovely mini!