Inland we go.

Burgos is a city with many sides. My initial introduction to the city was that the city was quite sterile and modern. The apartment blocks looked like newly constructed student accommodation, not that there is anything wrong with that, it is simply my first thoughts.

Cycling past this newly constructed facade toward the city’s inner sanctum, offers all the trimmings you now expect from an Old Town. One surprising exception is that this is the first town we have been welcomed by characterised statues. This town has an edge of fun to it. Even the graffiti is of professional quality and with humour.

Driving a little loop.

We decided to hire a car from Burgos, a little Renault. It was so much fun to drive, six speed, diesel turbo and quite zippy. Only issue was that someone put the steering wheel on the wrong side and the gear stick as well. This took a moment, then all was good again.

We stopped at a random old bridge, Roman Era, and after walking across I spotted what I thought was a cave. A little further investigating and yes, it was indeed. It now has a formed entrance, is quite large and although it was without litter, there are signs that it has been lived in. A cooking area is directly adjacent to the door, allowing smoke to vacate easily. The ground was levelled and it had many areas to sleep. It is known as the Portuguese Caves and there are plenty around. Some have cave art/paintings still. I didn’t know what I was looking at at the time so I didn’t look for cave art. And there is only so much you can see with the iPhone torch 🙂

Romans – Ona

Romans knew how to build things. I mean, seriously, this bridge is Roman. They were in this area until 470AD.

It is still here.

It is still in use.

That is crazy amazing. We also found a smaller bridge and church build in 1500s.

Frias – Really Really old school

The Spanish know how to create a meal at a very reasonable cost. You can go into a Bar/Cafe at lunchtime and choose from a slightly limited menu for around 6 to 16 euro. That will give you the Hors D’oeuvres, a Main, a Dessert, a bottle of wine and Coffee/Beer/Soft drink and of course, bread.

And it is GOOD.

Castillo de los Duques de Frias.

This is my favourite Castle ever. Seriously, it is like a set from a movie. Everything is as you would expect. The courtyard, the towers, the open staircases. The custodians have placed a few small signs showing how parts of the inner castle grounds were built. Market areas, accommodation and living quarters to name a few. It was helpful to visualise life, without being overtly distracting.

WHS hasn’t gone ballistic over here. There is a sign as you walk in saying the place is dangerous and to be careful. Fair enough I think. Should be more use of the ‘Darwin’ approach.

Really really really old school

Some of the simplest things still blow my mind. The last image shows an archway that was jutting out from the back corner of a church. The church was constructed in the 600s. Now, I was looking at the arch and noticed that it has Latin writing at the top. The Romans were in this area until 470ish.

So that means that the arch is very possibly Roman. It pre-dates the church and pre-dates when the Romans left. So that means it is probably over 1700 years old. WOW.