Man-made Bryce: Spain's Las Medulas

One day we took a break from the camino to hike in through the surreal orange formations of Spain’s Las Medulas.

Although this looks like Utah’s Bryce Canyon, it’s actually MAN MADE! This was once the most important gold mining area in Roman times. To extract the gold, the Romans honeycombed the hills with canals and tunnels through which they pumped water to break up the rock, freeing the gold within (see diagram below). The result is a singularly unnatural natural phenomenon.

We hiked along trails through its hills, and explored the many caves and strange sculpted rock formations.



At right is a photo of the mountain just behind the Las Medulas mountains. This is most probably an exact replica of what the Las Medulas mountains looked like before the Romans built their mines.

This was a fascinating site to behold in person given the immensity. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, further proving my theory that visiting World Heritage Sites should be my sole life ambition. (Okay, just kidding, but I really do want to see more of them!)

To hike in the Las Medulas, we stayed in the nearby town of the same name—a charming little place with lots of wildflowers, old buildings, and scenic little roads to explore.

Cities en route: Burgos, Leon, Astorga

In addition to small villages and pretty countryside vistas, while on the camino we also saw a number of historically important, larger cities like Burgos, Leon and Astorga. Below are pictures of all three cities:

BURGOS
...our first larger city that we visited along the camino, and what a pretty little place.

I especially liked the fascinating trees that created natural walkways throughout the city:

Burgos was an important way station along the camino in medieval times, and statues abound throughout the city center that harkens back to this time period:



But the big draw in Burgos isn't the trees or the statues. It's the monstrous cathedral--utterly stunning! I took way too many photographs.

(It's really so rare to be able to photograph inside a church that I couldn't help myself.)

Below are images of the interior of the church:








ASTORGA:
...a charming city, surrounded by Roman walls and chock full of cathedrals, small chapels, and even a fairly-recent castle designed by Gaudi:



My favorite of Astorga's cathedral is pictured here, with its spectacular and unique pinkish facade. This is one of the prettiest church exteriors I've seen in Spain. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside.

And, just as ever-present as cathedrals and castles in Spain are groups of old men sporting caps and canes (or sometimes umbrellas) and gathered together in public squares to chat and people watch. It's like a dress code, a very adorable dress code.

LEON:
Leon is a really important city with really important buildings, but I had a really big headache when we were there so I don't have much to show for my visit. Here's a shot of Leon's main cathedral--beautiful but curiously French in style. In fact, it's actually more similar Paris's Notre Dame than to any other Spanish church I have seen.



CAMINO MARKERS:
Even through the larger cities like Leon and Burgos, the camino is very clearly demarcated with little shell tiles, engravings and street signs. Spain has done a very good job of making the logistics of the pilgrimage trouble-free. It would be very hard to get too far off the camino with so many signs everywhere.

Lots of walking...

Since the point of the journey was the walking, I thought I’d better capture some sights along the way. Here are collages and images from the first few days of walking:




On Day 4 we reached the highest point in the entire Camino. At 1,482m, this milestone of the pilgrimage is celebrated with the famous Cruz de Hierro (Iron Cross), where centuries of pilgrims have been leaving a stone brought from home, an offering they hope will give them protection for the rest of the pilgrimage.

There were indeed a lot of rocks surrounding the cross, plus an odd assortment of other ‘offerings’ (old shoes, a bra, many letters…)





Below are images of one of the camino’s many shrines. This one appeared to be dedicated to lost loved ones of those hiking the camino. I so wished I had known about this little shrine so that I could have brought a picture of Warren to add. But alas, I did not, and all my photos were tucked in my luggage en route to the night’s hotel. Oh well.

Bilbao

I spent three days in Bilbao before heading out on the pilgrimage. Most of that time was spent leisurely walking around Bilbao’s Casco Viejo (old town), pictured below:



Home of the Basques
Bilbao is home to the Basque people, a separate ethnic group that lives in northern Spain (and even spills over into southern France. The culture is an ancient one, predating most of the peninsula’s waves of inhabitants.
In fact, the Basque people speak an ancient language totally unrelated to any other language on earth (as opposed to most other European languages, which are of the Indo-European family.) Evidence of this language is evident all over the region (officially called “Pais Vasco”—Basque country), with signs first in Euskara (the name of their language), then in Spanish.

The Basque language, culture, and way of life is very important to the Basque people, and they work very hard to preserve it. Surely many of you have heard about the terrorist attacks by Basque separatists over the past several decades. Things have calmed down a bit, but it is still very much an issue in Spain, and the post-Franco government is MUCH more open to expressions of Basque culture than was experience in most of the 20th century.

Royals Sighting
While I was in Bilbao, I caught a glimpse of Spanish royalty. A large crowd had gathered outside the theatre, so I assumed it was some actor or actress inside. Not terribly interested, I passed by the crowd and continued exploring. When I returned to the area an hour later and saw an even greater crowd, I asked a local who was inside and was pleased to hear that the Prince of Spain and his wife were about to make an appearance. That’s worth sticking around for, so I got out my book and read while I waited.

Finally they appeared, and, surprisingly, got right in their car and drove off. I suppose I was anticipating the sort of public appearance you’d expect by an elected official in the US. But, considering at the Prince’s position is assured by his birthright, I guess the whole waving/thumbs-up/hand shaking/small speech routine isn’t part of the job description. Nope. It was out of the building, a few quick waves, and into the car.

Considering how long many of the locals had been waiting, I looked around to see if anyone appeared offended by such a dismissive display (to me), but actually I saw smiles…and even a few tears. Spaniards sure seem to love their royal family. :)

The Guggenheim Bilbao
I love this building! I giggled with glee the entire time as I walked the perimeter. Seriously. For me, it’s just one of those unique places in the world that has everything. It’s fascinating yet beautiful, over-the-top yet ingeniously so, bizarre yet thought-provoking. I took many, many pictures of the exterior (mostly stitched together panos):

Side view:


Entrance:


View across the river, with bridge (which is actually part of the architectural design):


Another side view:

Architect Frank Gehry, who designed the museum in 1997, drew as his inspired the anatomy of a fish and the hull of a boat—both elements of Bilbao’s economy. The building’s skin—shiny metallic fish-like scales—is made of a thin titanium, and from many angles it does abstractly resemble a huge, shiny fish.

In front of the museum is another bizarre yet fantastic element: a 42 foot tall Terrier covered in 60,000 plants and flowers (by Jeff Koons). It seems such an odd juxtaposition when placed in front of the glimmering steel museum, but…it works. As Clinton and Stacy would say, “it doesn’t match; it goes.” (If you don’t get that reference, don’t worry. Probably only my sister will get it.)


I did visit the interior of the museum, and some parts were thought-provoking. Most of it was of the “it’s-art-because-some-famous-dude-says-it-is” variety (ie… “telephone on table”, “plastic arm in flower pot”) and I just can’t get into that.

So, back to the exterior :)…. Outside the museum are smaller modern art pieces, which were fun to walk around. I loved the giant metal spider best. Creepily cool.

And elsewhere…Interesting architecture and tree-lined boulevards are to be found all over the city. It’s a very livable city in my opinion (other than the terrorism, of course.) Here are some examples of other buildings and sculptures that I particularly liked:

Bilbao is a great city: definitely worth a visit!

Camino de Santiago 101

So what is the Camino de Santiago? Here are segments from my Lonely Planet guidebook to give a bit of background.

The start of the pilgrimage
“What originally set Europe’s feet moving? Tradition tells us that Pelayo, a 9th century religious hermit living in the remote areas of northwestern Iberia, follwed a mysterious shining star to a Roman mausoleum hidden under briars, Inside were the remains of the apostle James (in Spanish, Santiago). Confirmed by the local bishop and Asturian king Alfonso the Chaste, the earthshaking discovery spread like wildfire and put the incipient Compostela indelibly on European maps. Today it’s hard to imagine the impact of the news, but in that age pilgrimage to holy sites with relics was tantamount to obtaining a ticket to eternal salvation. Relics were sacred commodities: the more important the relic, the more important the shrine that held them. And Santiago’s relics were gold: nearly intact and belonging to one of Jesus’ apostles, making them Europe’s finest. When word got out, the devoted high tailed it to Spain.”

But how did James get all the way to Spain?
According to legend…“In the year AD 44, pagan Queen Lupa was more than a little suspicious when two Palestinian refugees landed in her territory, near Padron in western Galicia, with the decomposing and headless body of a Christian martyr, and requested permission to bury him.

The apostle James is by tradition thought to have preached in Iberia. The map at right is said to detail his travels in the area.

Herod Agrippa had him executed on his return to Jerusalem and Santiago’s (aka James) followers whisked the body to Jaffa, from where they let Providence guide their stone boat on a miraculous sea voyage through the Straits of Gibraltar back to Galicia (pictured at right).

Promising safe passage and burial, Queen Lupa sent the loyal disciples out to a field to retrieve two oxen to pull the body on a cart. Instead they found two wild bulls eager to gore them. Not to be daunted, the disciples prayed to Santiago (James) who transformed the bulls’ ire into cowed obedience and the two bowed their heads and were peacefully yoked. Impressed by this and other exploits, Queen Lupa converted to Christianity. Santiago remained forgotten until the hermit Pelayo saw the star in the woods.”

The pilgrimage today

“Now, pilgrimage is back in style. In an unprecedented revival, unlike anything since the 13th century, people are once again following the medieval Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) pilgrimage across northern Spain…Modern pilgrims do it for the Romanesque and Gothic art, the physical challenge, the gorgeous ever-changing landscapes, to decide what’s next in life, take a spiritual or religious journey, enjoy a cheap holiday, or to work out a mid-life crises; inevitably, they end up having the adventure of a lifetime.”

The map at right shows the different pilgrimage routes that were used over the centuries (must be enlarge to see):

While the route is MUCH longer than the portion I am doing, I am satisfied with my little chunk. Below are pictures from my starting point, Bilbao: a seashell on a church facade (seashells are the sign of the camino); my feet at one of the path markers along the route through Bilbao; and one of the many carvings of pilgrims that line the camino.

Granada

My month in Granada was spent doing lots of non-touristy, not-interesting-to-blog-about things. I read a lot, listened to public radio shows via the internet while doing a giant puzzle on the floor of my room (where the desire for doing a puzzle came from I have NO idea), and walked a lot. I tried to walk three hours a day, for the exercise of it and also in preparation for the pilgrimage.

What I didn't do a lot of was Spanish...at least for the second half of the month. For the first two weeks, I was GUNG HO on studying Spanish, spending hours outside of class reading the first Harry Potter book in Espanol, creating little study sheets for myself, drilling on verb conjugations. I was having a blast.

But, I was also having sleeping problems, and often could not fall asleep until 5am or later. Eventually I got tired of feeling tired all day, and decided to just sleep if I needed to. (I couldn't switch to afternoon classes because there weren't any at my level). I ended up missing most of my classes during the third week and all of them during the fourth week. It was a bummer, but such is life.

I did manage to spend some of the off-time exploring the city, but often without my camera. Here are some shots taken on occasions when I did bring my camera:

Right:
The Alhambra is visible from many parts of the city center, and all high points of Granada. It makes for a spectacular backdrop for al fresco dining in Granada's beautiful spring weather.

Bottom:
Southern Spain is home to the Roma people (previously called Gypsies) and their impromptu outdoor street performances provided a nice accompaniment in many popular spots throughout the city.

Above:...I mostly walked in the early evening, as the low light made Granada all the more spectacular. Here's just one of the many squares I strolled through on my nightly walks....

Below:...and some miscellaneous scenes of Granada from the old Moorish quarter.


Double Decker Snooze
One of my friends from school bought a two day pass on the city's double decker bus, but decided to just use it for one day so she gave it to me for the second day. It didn't sound terribly thrilling, but I figured I might as well give it a whirl.

BORING! There were literally people falling asleep en route! And stopping to pick up new passengers every few minutes--many of whom had to pay for the excursion before getting on... argh! Let's just say: I do not recommend.


My accommodation in Granada
Since this is kind of my catch-all entry for Granada, let me just take this opportunity to share a few pictures of my accommodation (since many of you have asked about it in emails.)

The student residence was an old hotel, so the rooms were decent--not nice but serviceable. The bed was a nightmare but in general it was a pretty good deal for the $35 or so I paid per night. Below are photos of my room and bathroom:

There was also a large communal kitchen, but I didn't use it much since communal kitchens tend to lack a certain standard of cleanliness. I cooked on occasion but mostly opted to eat out. Of course, I'm sure restaurants often lack that same level of cleanliness, but at least at restaurants I don't have to see it.

By far the most distressing part of the accommodation was the Wall o' Mold that I had to walk by every day (below). It appeared to me to be several stages beyond 'out of control' so I am not sure why it was not properly attended to. But again...at $35 a night, a little mold might just be par for the course. So, I just held my breath and hoped the little mold spores kept to themselves.