Being a tourist: One way to learn a lot about the history and culture of a country

I have had a few opportunities to travel while I've been here. I've written a bit about my trip to and time in Bilbao - both the food and the scenery. The other weekend I had the chance to do two trips in one day, to two different parts of Spain.

First, Las Médulas in the morning. A World Heritage Site. With good reason!

 Well, this photo was taken near the end of our time there, from a lookout point over the whole site. On the opposite side of the lookout the scenery was quite different:

We arrived to drizzling rain, significant cloud cover, and mud. But, wow, what a sight!

So many amazing shapes appearing out of drifting mists and diaphonous curtains of rain! I particularly loved the ones which looked like ancient fortifications:

Mysterious spaces and hollows and caves.

Teeth and spires and pillars, surrounded by greenery and emerging flowers.

As we came towards the end of our hike, the sun chased the rain away, and we began to get glimpses of these stunning structures against fragments of blue sky.

What amazed me even more than the sheer wonder and beauty of the sight, was the history of the place. All these formations are not natural - they are the result of Roman gold mining techniques, 200 years worth of hard labour to get through layers of rock poor in gold to the parts deeper down which were richer in gold.

I hope you can read some of this - what a privilege to have English explanations alongside the Spanish in such a spot!


Afterwards we returned to the little town.

I loved this replication of the church in the fence beyond which it could be seen!

Some fascinating items which were available for sale, including locally produced honey and meats.

I think that's enough photos for one post! I'll describe the second trip of the day in a different post!