Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Looking Up at Things
They were fixing our roof…and I looked up at one of the guys – who looked down on me…
Architecture
Cee’e B&W Photo Challenge: Any Geometric Shape
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Any Geometric Shape
Gaudi´s Bishop’s Palace in Astorga, for Cee’s Geometric Challenge.
CFFC: Roofs
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Roofs
Cannot resist Spain, of course…Dalí’s home in Figueras and Gaudí’s Casa Battló, Barcelona.
Travel theme: Dark
For Ailsa – Dark. As a child I was afraid of the dark. I read many books and had a vivid imagination. Today I can still be afraid sometimes…
In the header, a beautifully lit sky on my own doorstep an early morning.
The darkest country I have ever visited was Tibet. But high above Lhasa there is a soaring, shining light – the Potala Palace.
CFFC: Commercial or Industrial Buildings
WPC: Transmogrify
WPC this Friday – Transmogrify.
Transmogrify into something distorted and ugly or into a work of art? This house in Bilbao reflects and mirrors a bridge where a red car is passing.
CFFC: Houses and/or Barns
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Houses and/or Barns
A great topic from Cee – again! Here is a couple of my favourite houses and – what is left of an old barn…
I fell in love with this little abandoned house in Riga.
And this painted house in Switzerland is rather spectacular.
Thursday Thoughts – The Fairy – Castle
We were driving along the road from Bilbao to visit Gernika this day, when suddenly, out of nowhere, without any road sign – we saw the pinnacles above the dense forest. A castle. This castle is located in Gatika, in the province of Biscay, in northern Spain
We turned left off the road and decided to have a closer look at it – and after some twists and turns of narrow roads – we found it.
The castle has a fairy-tale look about it, and as we started walking around it, we realised that the place was abandoned and nobody lived there. Further down the road we found pictures of knights and horses, together with a closed down, dilapidated café. The premises had probably been used for games or jousting.
A look at Wikipedia tells us that the present building was created as a hobby for its then owner and to create something visually spectacular rather than to produce something for people to live in. ” In fact it would be quite inconvenient as a home as the towers have little useful space and various parts of the castle have exterior connections which are not particularly apt for the wet Basque weather.”
The building is surrounded by an overgrown park which includes palms and exotic plants. We thought the forlorn castle must be totally unknown, but in fact it seems this is not the case…As any other little girl, Kate Middleton’s dream once was to get married in this fairy tale castle. (Said in a BBC interview with David Ferald.)
Back in Bilbao again in the evening, we learned from our host that the castle is named Castillo de Butrón . (He even had a painting of Butrón on the wall.) It dates originally from the Middle Ages, although it owes its present appearance to an almost complete rebuilding, inspired by Bavarian castle models, begun by Francisco de Cubas (also known as Marqués de Cubas) in 1878.
The castle fell into disuse, was later renovated and opened again, but the building was finally closed to visitors although the grounds remained open.
In November 2005 the building was purchased by INBISA (Grupo Empresarial) for about 1,6 million euros, but it remains under the general protection of Spanish law in respect of historic buildings in Spain.
Burgos – the Cathedral of Cathedrals
Burgos (founded in the year 884) in Castilla y Léon is strategically set on the main road Madrid – France and also on the road to Santiago. The city has always had a prominent position in Spain.
We entered the old city through Arco de Santa Maria.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its construction began in 1221, and the style of the cathedral is the Gothic, although it has, in its interior, several decorative Renaissance and Baroque elements. The construction and renovations were made with limestone.
The design of the main facade is related to the purest French Gothic style of the great cathedrals of Paris and Reims, while the interior elevation as a reference to Bourges Cathedral.
The characteristic pinnacles with crab ornaments can be seen in the header.
El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, born 1043) was a charismatic, brave and courageous warrior who conquered the Mores and took Valencia for the Christians (and ruled the city until his death). He earned his name, El Cid, from Arabian Sidi (Lord) because of his great courage, but was made immortal by the poem El Cantar de Mío Cid (1180). His (and his wife´s) grave is just beneath the magnificent star dome. A dream place to be buried…
In the cathedral are preserved works of extraordinary artists, and the numerous architectural, sculptural and pictorial treasures inside include:
The Chapel del Constable, of Isabelline Gothic style, which worked the Colonia family, Diego de Siloé and Felipe Bigarny
The Spanish-Flemish Gothic altarpiece by Gil de Siloé for the Chapel of Saint Anne
The Sacristy in Baroque style
Under restoration
Lace…?
Serene vaults to rest under
15th century art work – now being restored
Mild colours …
…create harmony
The Cathedral could have been built yesterday…or restored the day before…that magnificent is its beauty. Every detail exquisite – I have never seen anything like it. And, I have seen many Cathedrals and churches… We enjoyed these treasures for more than two hours, and we could have stayed longer…
The Renaissance Golden staircase by Diego de Siloé, covers a whole wall – and in my opinion, this is the most outstanding gem in the cathedral. In fact, it became so famous, that it served as a model for many other famous staircases. Among others, the one of the Paris Opera.
West facade
Door of the Sarmental
The cathedral was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on October 31, 1984. It is the only Spanish cathedral that has this distinction independently, without being joined to the historic center of a city or in union with other buildings.
Buen Camino!
”Buen Camino”, is the word following the pilgrims along their walk. I guess there is no real good word for this in either English or Swedish. Can you find one?
Astorga and its Cathedral is on the pilgrim road to Santiago
The golden altar piece by Gaspar Becerra is considered a masterpiece in Spanish renaissance style
The pilgrims pass many glorious cathedrals on the Camino, and Leon and Astorga are only two of them.
They also pass Rio Arga over Puente la Reina, built for the pilgrims in the 11th century.
In this little town I found my favourite pilgrim church, Iglesia del Crucifijo. This is almost a tiny chapel, very serene, rather dark and undecorated. But, here they have an unusual wooden crucifix in the shape of a Y, with a sad looking Christ with raised arms. The cross is said to be a gift from a German pilgrim in the 14th century.
Every pilgimage has its own story. I guess many Camino walkers are religious, but the majority of pilgrims I talked to were not – they walked for other reasons. One middle aged man had lost his wife, and he needed to collect his memories and get a closure. Another man, a young man, followed his girlfriend here. She had always dreamt of walking the Camino. Now they were both smitten.
The Camino is well signposted, just follow the shell, and the pilgrims themselves. Not all of the pilgrims want to tell their story, but some do. A young American IT-engineer told me he wanted to be ”grounded”, wanted to connect body and soul and Mother Earth. Our western society do not allow us to do so, unless we go looking for it ourselves.
The North route…
…and an early wanderer
This sign was among the more unusual ones
Along the road the crossings were well marked
Resting place
You can walk, bike or ride the Camino
The stories. Yes. A friend of mine has got a niece walking the Camino this summer. Her story tells of 19 years’ struggle to raise her autistic boy. This spring he finally graduated high school. Walking the Camino is for her a relief and a way of trying to find her old self again – after a great mission accomplished.
At Monasterio de Nuestra Señora bodega, there is a tap in the wall where pilgrims can have a glass of wine for free…This hot summer day I assure you it tasted just fine. And there are two taps – in the right one you get water. That tasted even better.
And when evening comes, hopefully there is a place for you to sleep and prepare for another strenous Camino day. Whatever your reasons to walk are – I am sure you are doing the right thing.
Buen Camino – see you in Santiago!
Leya 
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