Las Médulas

Part 2 of our day trip weekend reminded us that Spain seriously has a bit of everything. While the first day found us in green and flowery gardens, Sunday we went to a park reminiscent of Arizona or Utah. Orange! Except it wasn't natural, it was caused by the Romans who in their time mined and exploited the area for gold. We took a little hike under the hot "desert" sun to check out two caves left from the mining "la cuevona" and "la encantada." In the "enchanted," you can still see the large holes that the Romans tunneled into. Their method was to tunnel down then across, and further down and across a few times and then blow it up. Olé! But northern Spain is not the desert. The orange rocks of las Médulas contrasted with the white, snow-capped mountains of the Ancares in the background. Ah, northern Spain!

The Galician Versailles and Celtic Ruins

This weekend 4 of us English speakers rented a car (automatic, of course. stick shift isn't as common in America as it is here) and hit the road to see hard-to-access sites within an hour and a half of Lugo. We were definitely impressed! Sometimes Lugo and Galicia in general don't get the credit they deserve. It isn't Barcelona or Madrid, but there are beautiful and historical things here! Plus it's got to be the most budget-friendly place in Spain, and gas is cheap/cars are efficient, so what are you waiting for?!

Take our first stop, Pazo de Oca. Known as the Galician Versailles, it was once a palace owned by some lucky Galician family. I think the family still owns it, but now it's an attraction that reminded us of The Secret Garden. I'm extra glad we came this weekend in particular because all the trees were in spring bloom. If I had to describe it with one adjective I'd choose idyllic. It's better just to take a gander for yourself...

The hórreo was used to store corn, and is popular in Galicia, not all of Spain.

After strolling the gardens, we returned to the curving country roads. We stopped on the way to get some sandwiches bigger than our faces. The restaurant was deserted, and when we said we wanted to sit outside to enjoy the sun, the woman went "WOWW". Odd. But as we were eating outside we realized how windy it was. In the end, we got full for less than 5 euros, so good decision. 

Next stop, Castro de Viladonga, which is actually just 20 minutes outside of Lugo. A castro is a Celtic neighborhood, basically. Well, because they are obviously ruins they are 1-2 feet high stone walls of what used to be the Celtic village. This specific castro is surrounded by a terrain wall, which you have to wonder how they constructed. There is also a free museum which gives a history of the people who lived there based on artifacts they found. They estimate 300-350 folks lived in this specific community. Some of the glass pieces and jewelry seemed like they could be from the past century. Overall it was a neat stop. I liked to imagine that an enemy was spotted on the horizon and they were calling an assembly to prepare for battle, but that's just me. 

Two housewives exchange gossip from their respective castros ;)

Next stop, Las Médulas. But like this weekend, that'll be for another day.

Back from Hiatus

I figured I better update before all of my upcoming travels so I don´t fall too far behind. Although it´s been a month since I´ve posted, nothing too wild has happened between now and then. I was sick for a bit, and now the cough has returned for revenge. Delightful! Anyways, this weekend I went on a hike just over the border in Asturias. We went with a group from the veterinary college, which means there were almost as many dogs as humans on the hike. It started at an old (but still functioning) mill, and there was a beautiful waterfall en route.

Tuesday was St. Patrick´s Day, which is barely celebrated despite the Celtic connection the Galicians and Irish have. There is a single Irish bar in town which had festivities. So we went and got our free Guinness hats with our pints . There was also an ¨Irish concert¨ which left me (person who shares her name with a county in Ireland) and my best friend (former Irish dancer) immensely disappointed. Seriously, the guy played for 2 hours, and in that time only played 2 classic Irish drinking songs in addition to two U2 songs. The rest had no connection with Ireland. What is this!?! On top of it, he played super slow, not the kind of ambiance you would expect on St. Patrick´s Day which is all about being happy, not drowning your sorrows. You could tell the guy started getting drunk as the night wore on, and would sing in Spanish and make up the words, or just yell random stuff at the audience like he wanted to start a fight. To conclude, I wish I had spent the holiday at home where they actually know how to celebrate it!