What possesses someone to get in a ship, though one well equipped for the time, and sail off into the unknown? Is it curiosity, adventure, necessity (to get away from a place or person?) Is it the desire to make money or find unimagined wealth?
Those early explorers did it, Columbus, and Cabot, to name a few.
On this trip we saw the resting place for Columbus. Undoubtedly the story of his journey and exploration is well know. One of the most interesting things I learned was that he travelled more in death than he did in life. His remains were moved around numerous times until they are finally resting in the Cathedral at Seville.
Another interesting thing is that there are mere grams of his remains left in an impressively large casket supported by the kings of the four original kingdoms of what is now Spain. It seems that Columbus had a bad case of osteoporosis which caused his bones to disintegrate.
Furthermore, Columbus lived to be fifty-four, a ripe old age for the early fifteen hundreds. People only lived into their early thirties at that time.
In our time, explorers are sought for a one way trip to Mars. I wonder who people will be talking about in another five hundred years?
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