Exploring history in London & abroad with my camera
We spent our last two nights in Spain at Tui on the Mino River, which is also the border with Portugal. The Parador in Tui The Parador is a modern hotel built in the style of a Pazo, and like all the other Paradors was clean and comfortable, with very good food. The hotel has a quiet and…
Beautiful plazas, or squares, link the streets in Oviedo. Sometimes they are bustling with people, sometimes peaceful, and sometimes deserted. They are always fascinating! Plaza de Espana The Plaza de Espana was close to our hotel and I walked through this little square and its garden every day. Government buildings surround the square today but…
The Camino Primitivo, the original pilgrim route, started in Oviedo. The Camino Primitivo is apparently a difficult route of c.310kms through mountainous country, and it seems likely to me that it began from the Cathedral in Oviedo. The Cathedral is a complex building which cannot possibly be shown or understood in one brief visit so…
There are several parks in Lugo as well as gardens and green spaces but I only spent three days in the town and so time for exploring was very limited. Nevertheless I managed to visit a few parks in Lugo. The Park of Rosalia Castro The Park of Rosalia Castro is outside the Roman walls,…
The Roman walls of Lugo date from the 4C and have seventy one towers and ten gates, and are c.2kms in circumference. Lugo is the only city in the world where the Roman walls are complete. We had been travelling in Northern Spain and had seen Roman walls in Leon, but we were particularly looking…
I particularly wanted to see the Church of St John in Portomarin and we decided to stop there on the journey from Monforte de Lemos to Lugo. Monforte is a wonderful stop for a few days, but it was time to move on - to Lugo. Monforte de Lemos in the early morning The road…
San Estevo de Ribas de Sil is spectacular! The Monastery which was first established before the 10C and stands isolated on a steep hillside above the River Sil. It is the area known as the Ribeira Sacra, a countryside of steep river gorges and numerous Romanesque Churches and Monasteries and quite close to Monforte de…
Monforte de Lemos l Maps provided by the Tourist Office are 'pretty' rather than exact. This meant it was quite difficult to find the Romanesque churches we wanted to visit. The general road maps were also not as good as the ordnance survey maps in the UK or France. And secondly the roads around the…
I am reluctant to leave Léon, which is probably obvious! I was sad to leave after staying there for a week, and I am equally sad to stop talking about it and leave the photographs alone! However, I need to move on so these are the last thoughts on lingering in Leon for a week,…
It had been a wonderful day visiting extraordinary monasteries in the countryside around Léon. As we were driving back I noticed a sign showing an historical site. In a spur of the moment decision I pulled off the road to find the ruined Monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza. Countryside around Leon Information board at…
