Right: we have spent the weekend with the family and Phil has survived - he has even been showing off his Spanish skills, "bonding" with my dad and my mum. The "bonding with my dad" bit was enforced by the fact that the sofa Phil was sitting on broke under him (who ate all the pies? or should I say... who ate all the "empanadillas"?). The rest of the bonding was due to the swimming pool where the three of them splashed, floated and swam (maybe it is Free Willy rather than Moby Dick...hum, sounds so wrong).
My dad's b'day went well - everyone ate lots of ridiculously overpriced fish - and Phil and I got by on a tiny ration of "raxo". Then, the next day, lunch with my grandad in Phils favourite "hood"; Barrio de las Flores. Such was his involvement in the events, that he got to finish his thumping big book in the 2 days.
So, loads of extended coffee and "sobremesa" with the family, beer with friends and steak for dinner at home with mum and dad (they had bought enough steak to feed a small army). And then, on the road again to Las Médulas, the range of Roman gold mines set in the frontier between Galicia and Castilla León.
The motorway to the place was empty, so it took us around two hours and a half to get there. Then, after some discrepancies with the sat nav, we got to the parking and there, wisely covered ourselves in suncream and donned our hats, as it was as hot as hell: 1 pm at Las Médulas in August was like the wild wild west, above all with the amazing red crags, mountains,c aves and random formations which crop up in every corner, as in the Valley of the Gods in Denver - with a Latin flavour.
We ate my granny's empanadillas under a chestnut tree - thank god for those! The difference in temperature between shadow and sun was certainly noticeable. We did walk around 2 km., taking the short route to two of the main caves; La Cuevona and La Encantada, and that was long enough to make me believe I had acquired a new ailment: sudden death caused by walking exertion. I sooo need to get fit...
After a fresh Coke in a rather shady touristy bar, we drove to the Mirador de Orellán. Making sure up there that we Left the car parked with lots of handbrake, we walked the longest 0.6 km to the top...
(are we there yet?)
Thankfully, there was an absolutely worth and amazing view from the end of the road over the whole conglomerate of the Médulas. An amazing eerie landscape of red and Green, the leftovers, shreds and bits left of a majestic mountain eroded and exploded by hand, with water, by the Romans. Next time we Visit the Médulas, perhaps just going to the Mirador can do the trick - you can even visit one of the galleries inside the mountain there, but itwas closed for lunch. Nevertheless, avoid visiting the place from 13:00 to 15:00; no wonder it is a desert! (green, but desert nevertheless).
