Musings

We stayed last night in the Baztán Valley, deep in the mountains. One of the routes of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela comes through here, so there were buildings here in the 10th C.

Later, residents historically went to the USA to work, returning with enough wealth that the buildings are relatively spiffy—and not just homes. This is the monastery that was across the street from the church in yesterday’s post—ornate and expensive, no?

One other cultural anthro detail about this valley and the general area, including into France, was that from at least the 13th C, a marginalized population lived in separate hamlets from the “regular” people, with stringent social restrictions imposed on them that varied by time and place. Interested? WikiP has entries in Eng, Fr, and Spn, under cagots for the first two and agotes in Spn.

We set off, happily on a faster road, with these limited access criteria. No knowledge of Basque needed to get the meaning.

I managed to get a shot of this building as we motored along, with no idea what it was. In general, we passed through areas with some abandoned, and many active factory zones, so I figured this was another. Turns out it had something to do with the electrical distribution system.

There was a ford here for cattle long ago, and a bridge by 1736. This is thought to be a 19th C re-build. Folklore has it this bridge was built by the Sorginak, Basque for witches, a term taken from that of the assistants of the Basque goddess Mari (she controls the weather and dispenses justice). The stories vary about how all this came about.

Here’s proof that we made it to the Atlantic (yucky picture over the guardrail, yet evidence). Today was windy, especially along the highway paralleling (but not adjacent to) the coast…we noticed wind socks at most gaps/bridges over rivers flowing north to the sea.

We scrapped a stop at a lighthouse: windy, and went on to another mountain point-of-interest. However, at elevation, it was blowing rain, so we didn’t walk around. I did see the door was open on this structure and thought: bathroom (rarely to be passed up).

I went in and discovered yes, toilets, but also it was a bunker for outdoor adventurers needing refuge from bad weather. The least noise echoes, but the bunker-like engineering seems safe.

We stopped in this mountain park, Urkiola, because I was interested in a land-counting/measuring system called by a specialist “a pre-decimal metric metrological system characterized by septenary units of measure as well as the material and immaterial instantiations of these units, including the way they were manipulated and integrated into social practice.” Septenary means seven is the key figure, especially simply seven, but also 49, etc.

The areas had an upright stone in the center, with a diameter measured around them; this system was in use into the 20th C. This satellite view figure shows four that academics have identified; I put stars where it looks to me like two more may be.

Leaving to descend back to the coastal highway, I was surprised to see Durango on the sign…Basque shepherds in Colorado, hence the name used there?—I hypothesize.

We had good views of this distinctive Rocky Mountain (not Colorado) on our descent. BTW, 30 km/h is 18.6 mph—slow is careful on tight hairpin turns.

Some of the highway was a toll road. Here’s a special elevated payment machine for semis (some from Eastern Europe). There’s a camera on the tall pole to the left.

For our three nights in Bilbao, we splurged on a wee apartment downtown. It’s fabulous to have the extra space—and a mini-kitchen!

We braved light rain to walk about the area. This is a theater—upstairs.

At street level, it’s this cavernous open space…well, the lower ceiling has thick pillars, each one different.

Evidence we’re in a city….

Another architecturally interesting building….

Proof we got some sunshine….

Night view from our abode….

Posted at 1:14 PM | 1 Comment »

Every day it’s different. I know that’s not a surprise, yet I’m drawn to the sunrise past our balcony each morning.

I’m back on a coffee jag, as the waitrons bring the table a pot of hot coffee and a pot of hot milk, and I can’t resist refilling and refilling.

Sea view off the point of our peninsula.

The cliffs I’m obsessed with watching…wide shot blown-out by the sun.

Obsession rocks, I named them in my head.

We are half-way through our trip, and had/did a totally relaxed day, no driving anywhere, no learning about the past or present, no agenda beyond getting packed to leave for another country tomorrow! We won’t stay but one night—France awaits.

Posted at 12:35 PM | 2 Comments »

A wee bit of scientific data: the sun indeed rose again today.

For today’s adventure, we drove north. I saw these fields before, and thought: rice. This is now confirmed. Rice. Good for cazuela cooking, like paella (a specialty of Valencia, way south of here, as I understand it), but there are other regional dishes using the same or similar shallow, flat-bottomed, metal pans.

We have also been seeing these plantations, and I now think most are apples, although some may be pears or similar. The orange orbs are I think insect traps. The black lines on top are folded shade cloths.

Our main stop was huge—the Ciutadella walls etc. were ordered by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1543. Its on the north shore of the Bay of Roses. However, this fine location on a good harbor was settled by Greeks, and I suspect had earlier inhabitants. The Greeks called their settlement(s) here Rhode. To decode: the red G means Greek structures. The aqua R means Roman. The yellow means Medieval, and MC is the Medieval church. Some of this is later than Medieval and un-labelled. These are the parts that are very visible and/or most interested me.

The encircling wall is massive.

The marked rivers/creeks are approximately how they were in Greek times, and this is the Greek settlement area to the right/east of the “right” creek. The shoreline at the time was inside of what later became the Ciutadella wall. When it was built, seawater lapped the south wall base.

Here’re Roman foundations. There’s no difference to my eye between Greek and Roman here—similar scales.

On the west side of the interior of the Ciutadella, this view is north toward the Medieval Church, a major street that had buildings lining both sides.

This bird’s eye(ish) view is from a tower in the northwestern part of the southwest corner.

Perhaps you can tell from the previous two photos that the church is on a hill. It also had Greek buildings, and archaeology shows they occupied at least three places along the northern arc of the Bay of Roses.

Homework: create your own caption….

Moving on…. That hilltop above the scrub is the ruins of a Visigothic fortification, dating to the 7th and 8th C AD. It’s called Puig Rom and does have good views of the Bay of Roses, not shown in any of these photos. The word puig is Catalan, and it’s tough to pronounce…it’s something like poo-ee-[th], but the [th] has an almost guttural aspect.

Puig Rom has an encircling wall with only one gate/break in the wall (center). Houses have been exposed inside the wall about ¾ of the way around.

On this side, there are also houses outside the wall. The other sides are rather steep, but there are narrow terraces, so they may have house foundations.

And, we returned to our oasis by the sea…always the sea….

Posted at 12:42 PM | 3 Comments »

We got on the road before sunup, having quite an adventure trying to get the gas pump to accept our credit cards–no problems yet anywhere else. JCB finally used cash…and we zoomed off….

First stop was a ghost town amidst active agriculture high on a slope above the Río Grío, a tributary of the Jalón, which flows by Calatayud.

Almond parts: seed/nut, shell, then these: hulls…dessicating and rotting roadside next to an almond orchard.

We walked into the Castillo de Langa del Castillo, and found this central tower still standing; a sign indicated the excavated area in the foreground was a church.

The Castillo fortification has steep walls and only one entrance. Portions of five wall-towers remain. Notes indicate this was a large enclosure for the time. Note how sections of the fort are starting to hive off. Conservation is never-ending.

From one “corner” of the castillo, we could see the piscina municipal below. We’ve seen swimming pools in quite small towns, like this…suggesting there was a provincial or federal program supporting their construction.

Somewhat later, we zig-zagged through some complex geology/geomorphology along the Río Aguasvivas near Segura de los Baños.

We also encountered a road crew cleaning up after a rock slide. Yes, the car fit between the pile and the guardrail.

Here’s a look at the upstream side of a Roman dam south of Muniesa. See the curve helping the dam be strong against the weight of the water?

Later, we went toward Muniesa proper, and checked out the cemetery on the edge of town, established in 1903. Most people are planted in a many-rowed columbarium, and I was surprised how many continue to be deposited here. Many plaques note that they were placed by relatives, listed not by name but by relationship: sister, nephews/nieces, cousins. Interesting.

In town, we walked around Iglesia de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora. Doors were locked (we’ve yet to find an open church…although we haven’t been persistent, either.) Note their lovely Mudéjar tower.

We were so glad to leave the gloominess behind, as it turned out, at the same time as we reached open terrain and commercial agriculture.

Our next stop was a Roman villa in another flat agricultural area, on a low hill. Obv, it’s well-excavated, but not open today (s’okay). The dwelling has a porticoed peristyle layout, with under-floor heating (a hypocaust system). An attached building has two mills and five beam presses, for olive oil. The tanks that received the oil have an estimated combined capacity of >17,845 liters. That suggests the villa controlled a large field area, although their mills/presses could have processed the olives of neighbors, too.

Here’re the remains of a qanat/qanāt, which is an underground Arab (supra-Mediterranean) tunnel system for moving water in arid places. They dig gently sloping tunnels for the water to flow through, with periodic vertical shafts. This is an eroded vertical, with the horizontal visible at the bottom…holding water! I was pretty excited to see this, having read about qanat systems for years.

Near the qanat, we have the best room in the house! Dinner begins at 8:15, and breakfast at 9:30. We’re still adjusting to these mealtimes, which in the evening give me an opportunity to create my posts before we eat. And here you go, you seven gentle readers!

Posted at 1:26 PM | Comments Off on Water management, more

Our hood at 11:15am; car was in the shade all morning. Brr, yet nice in the sun.

Here’s a stab at the layout of Bilbilis (sometimes with accent), a Roman fortified town on a hilltop and slopes. You can see the city wall clearly in this reconstruction. The forum is the rectangle with the red circle-numbers. It’s close to north-south, with the nose looming over the valley to the south. This location controls a major pass to the east, which today includes the important train route from Madrid to Zaragoza, and was a significant transportation corridor well before the Romans arrived.

Looking southwest across the forum and into the northeast-ward flowing Jalón River valley.

View west from the northwest corner of the forum, down into the amphitheater, which is nested into what would otherwise have been a ravine. A sign indicated there was a previous Roman structure of some sort here.

We set off to check out the eastern hill of the settlement, and looked up to see that we were disturbing a herd of grazing Iberian ibex. What a treat. The harem-boss is fourth from the left facing us, perhaps trying to stare us down. He’s got a large set of back-curving horns.

The Romans apparently built this as a cistern, and later Christians repurposed it as a chapel by creating a doorway, and no doubt adding interior features.

Back in the main part of the site, north-northwest of the forum, is a modest bath complex. This is the only one in this prosperous city—it even had a mint—due to the hilltop locations. The Romans built three cisterns to provide water just for the baths (not only for bathwater, but also for the steam-heat.)

View west of the east hill, with the cistern-church to the left and what looks like another chapel with a round window hole to the right…not discussed on the signs likely because the site managers didn’t want tourists visiting it.

We thoroughly enjoyed our hotel’s restaurant’s prix fixe lunch to recover from our Bilbilis adventure. It included a first and second course, dessert, and a choice of beverages. I chose the ¼ liter of red wine, and was surprised when a whole, full (opened) bottle (a local garnacha) was delivered…I asked, eyes wide I’m sure…she said, just drink two or three glasses, whatever you like, that’ll be fine. Okay! With tax, all of the above for €16. A fine deal! BTW, that’s my dessert, a sorbet of lemon with a few drops of vodka.

Late in the afternoon fortified from our fine luncheon (and a nap for one of our duo), we drove up to the main castle above Calatayud, formally: Castillo Mayor del Emir Ayyub ibn Aviv Lajmi, named for the official mentioned late in yesterday’s post. It’s a darned narrow castle, as that’s all there’s room for on the sinuous hill. The curved side is facing downhill to the Río Jalón valley.

Here’s the west end from dead on. Ignore the nasty lights, far more acceptable before everyone was taking so many photos and instead watching and oooh-ing and aaah-ing at the night-time display.

Here’s the view of the east end from the northeast, a massive structure against the sky—and what a sky!

Returning to our hotel for the night, we spotted these storks circling and returning to their nests (two to the lower left; one high, just below the cone). I had to ask the ever-helpful Sandra, the afternoon desk person, what the Spanish is…cigüeña, pronounced something like see-gwain-yuh, very strange spelling for Spanish. Too long for Wordle, fortunately.

Posted at 4:32 PM | 2 Comments »

First light from hotel room. The cloud cover soon dissipated.

We exited town by the back way—our first ford…in, amazingly, a Ford!

Infrastructure slope! From top to bottom…. Various electrical poles. Major regional irrigation water, in pipes, not open channels. Zigzag of roads on slope. Road bridge of at least three arches. Railroad bridge of two arches. Oh, and guardrail to keep us safe.

“I can see Madrid from “my” dead olive tree!” [Hint: tall buildings are visible just to the left of the tree, on the horizon.]

I can also see Madrid over this Medieval well with stabilized walls.

I can see my spouse atop a Medieval bridge!

The shady side of this gorge, where I stood to take the above photo, is so shady, the lichens were this prolific.

On the opposite side, the sunlight means happy mosses, with other types of lichen.

One of my favorite compositions of the day.

We drove up to a famous Late Paleolithic site (and museum) with Acheulean-style tools, with and many animal bone fossils and no hominid remains. We were welcomed first by this beast, two cats on the porch of the museum, and no one to allow us in. Oh, well. [Truth: we did know it would be closed by the time we arrived.]

There’s a day-moon from our last mile, and we’re at our hotel for the night. It’s only a little over an hour before the restaurant opens for dinner service. We worked up an appetite!

Posted at 1:38 PM | Comments Off on Not in Kansas

First time a pilot came out to apologize for a late flight—he did it twice, over the mic to all, then walked around and took questions. [Really: last night, but first part of flight in essence.]

First high-elevation corporate witticism I had to “share.” [We left about three hours late; our destination: Madrid.]

Best airline food I’ve ever eaten. Yum. Truly.

We took off in the rental car, headed north, and the first time we hit a dirt road we saw our first caballero.

First Roman villa. This is a late one, and the central courtyard-garden still sports a tree.

First five-arch Medieval bridge. Last modified in 1973.

First Neanderthal cave cluster (mostly protected from the elements with a roof or with small openings—fenced, so we couldn’t get closer).

First fabulous sky of the trip.

First mystery. Sign says the water isn’t potable.

First dramatic bottleneck/pass we’ve driven through.

First night’s hotel room view.

We’re getting into the swing of the Spanish lifestyle: we will dine tonight at 8:30; only two more hours to wait. Over and out.

Posted at 12:28 PM | 2 Comments »

Did you hear it snowed in Atlanta today? This was most of the three inches we got at our house.

Behind the treeline, that’s the local landmark Mercedes-Benz Stadium. You can see from the south line of the Marta train (which perennially has filthy windows, shown here). Here’s a hint: the south line ends at the airport, “the busiest in the world,” although perhaps not today with the number of cancellations. But not us!

Posted at 5:24 PM | Comments Off on Genuine white stuff, the cold kind

Four of us enjoyed a delayed holiday meal today, with a turkey-dressing theme…missed the cranberry sauce…I’m glad the gravy turned out so tasty.

Posted at 10:05 PM | Comments Off on Postponed yumminess

I arose before the sun (I know it’s relative), and thought, this is the last dawn I’ll see of 2024.

When we were out doing our final errands, I chose some red food…that’s pickled beets and duh raspberries. I haven’t tried the former (yet), and the raspberries, uh, almost flavorless…but gorgeous (eat with your eyes doesn’t really cut it sometimes).

Posted at 8:28 PM | Comments Off on V late 2024