Serendipitous travel - and pictures

We are continuing to travel through amazing places, with no plans or preparation, and finding it a really fun way to live. Last night Joe discovered that we were camping within three miles of some of the oldest cave paintings known – in the Maltravieso Cave in Céceres in central Spain. The earliest painting in the cave – a hand outlined in red – has just been found to have been painted by Neanderthals, shaking up science's assumptions about humans and art and creativity (good article here)! From the article: 

 "The team analyzed the drawing of a hand outline made 66,700 years ago in a cave in Maltravieso in Spain's Cáceres province; a mineral deposit covered in paint on the wall of a cave in Adales in Málaga; and a line symbol, similar to a ladder, drawn at least 64,800 years ago in a cave in La Pasiega in Cantabria. These are the oldest known artworks on the planet."

 The cave itself, re-discovered by modern humans after a mining blast in the 1950s, is closed to visitors now, but today we visited the entrance, and the rather shabby visitors center beside it. It was a great reminder of the power of the creative impulse, and the lasting impact of art. It was also a great reward for our unplanned, un-researched approach to European travel on this trip. 
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 Another mostly-pictures post today.  These were taken during the last week and a half.  If there is a particular place we've been that you would like to hear more about, let me know and I will write more about it.
On a hiking trail on the cliffs overlooking Lagos, Portugal. 

One of the big houses built by Portuguese royalty in Sintra, Portugal

Sintra - listed by many in the know as Portugal's most beautiful city

The gate to the walled garrison town of Almeida, Portugal, on the Spanish border.  

Double walled with a moat, Almeida, which still has a population of 1,300 inside the walls, dates from the 1600s, when soldiers built it to protect themselves and their families from Spanish attack.

The walled old city of Cáceres, in central Spain, full of churches and old monasteries.

The Maltravieso Cave in Cáceres, home of Neanderthal and Paleolithic 
images of hands, abstract designs and animals, 
including the oldest known artwork in the world

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And finally, from our hike this afternoon by the reservoir just outside Cáceres: 

I crouched near a tuft of grass to take this picture of Joe and Jacob. 
As I took the shot, I heard a rustle in the grass between my feet.

Suddenly, a very large rabbit shot out, ran right past Joe and Jacob, 
and disappeared over the hill. Jacob tried to find it, but it was gone. 

The endless rain of the past few weeks has raised the level of the lake, 
stranding these little spring flowers in a fairy ring on the water. 

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 19, 2018 at 8:04 AM

    Ahhh.. it was a shame that you could’nt get in to see them. Artistic representation, perhaps the earliest form on communication. “A picture is worth a thousand words” first written by journalist’ 100 years ago. Also by Telly Savalas, who loves you baby!

    Glad you’re enjoying your trip.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 20, 2018 at 4:26 PM

    Great pix and narrative— Kay.

    ReplyDelete

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