Saturday, 10:43 a.m.
We left at 8:45 a.m. to go to Las Cuevas del Monte del Castillo. I'm not sure exactly whereabouts we were, but it was really pretty, as you can see.
[[View on our walk up to Las Cuevas del Monte del Castillo.]]
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the cave - the paintings in them are about 15,000 years old or something like that, and flashes and things like visitors' body heat can mess with the art.
And before I go any further - yes, I, Miss Claustrophobic, went in CAVES. As in dark, cold caverns with no exit in sight. I was a little scared to go in the first one, but for being enclosed it was pretty open, if that makes any sense.
I still thought I was going to get stuck though. And at times I thought I was basically setting myself up to be a victim of a perfect murder. But I tried to brush those thoughts away because what we were seeing was so amazing.
Our guide did a great job of explaining what we were seeing. It was so surreal to imagine people making these paintings, documenting their lives, and there were were so many ages later, looking at them and trying to understand what they were saying.
Some points in the cave were extremely cool. There were areas where the shape of the walls were worked into the painting to show the shape of animals. My favorite was this "sculpture" of a bison that looked like a bison when you looked at it but when you saw its shadow cast on the wall it hit a painting behind it perfectly to appear as a figure that was part-man and part-bison.
After we were finished with that tour, we went to Museo de Altamira. The caves there are extremely well-preserved, which means no one is allowed in them - but the museum features an exact replica. Definitely not as cool what with the easily-walkable ramps and stairs that are well-lit...and the paintings are a lot more vibrant than what the originals would look like by now...and the ceiling to floor height is substantial and we had to imagine where the floor was based on the track lights on the walls (not that I'm complaining there, these caves were short).
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the fake cave though. That was strange to me. If it ruined the paint, couldn't they just paint over it again? I mean that's what they did in the first place...just a thought!
Also at the museum we were able to participate in some hands-on activities. The first involved using that shorter stick there to throw the longer one (which would normally have a point at the end) at targets. We only got a few tries, but I was definitely the closest to hitting the target - all those years of softball must have paid off!
[[Getting ready to throw. You held the end of the smaller stick in your right fist, hooked onto the bigger stick with the "spear" on the end, holding that one in place with your index finger and thumb. You stood sideways (almost as if throwing a javelin), aimed, and threw, hanging onto the small stick in the process.]]
[[Our lovely, unassuming targets.]]
Our next activity was kind of a let-down after throwing things (especially when no one ended up hitting the targets), but we got to play with rocks, so it wasn't completely terrible. Using sticks and hand covers, we were able to chip away at rocks to become spears. Our guide made his sharp enough to cut off a chunk of his hair (which he must do often because his hair was kind of all over the place). I was able to cut off a piece of mine once I sharpened my rock, but I was a little more subtle about where I cut.
[[Our rock and sharpening tool. You put your left thumb through the leather and had your hand protected by the leather. Using the stick, you chipped away at the edges of the rock to make a point. The points would have later been attached to the hunting tools.]]
My internet is being too slow to let me look anything up right now, but if you feel inclined, look up information about the caves I went to. It obviously won't do the real thing justice, but then you'll have a better idea of what I saw.
We returned to the university at 3:30 and immediately Sara and I went home and changed for the beach. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as nice as it has been, but we did find a shorter route to take to Playa Sardinero (25 minutes versus 40), and got some nice time to relax.
Today is looking like another beach day (as long as I get out there soon) and tomorrow is shaping up to be a rainy homework day. I hope you all have a good weekend!
♥ abigail
No comments:
Post a Comment