Castles, Cooking, Cofee, Climbing (on rocks by other people), Churches,
and more!
The Saturday after the conference, March 23, 2024, Ricardo, who was the
local host of the conference served as a host and took me and a colleague
of his, Javier, on an expedition to the north.
001-DSC_8272-header: Loarre Castle
001-DSC_8272-headertext:
001-DSC_8272: The Loarre Castle on the south side of the hills.
002-DSC_8274: A bearded vulture or ossifrage ("bone breaker"), known for
carrying bones up a few hundred feet and dropping them onto rocks below to
crack them to get to the marrow. Living around hills and mountains means
there are a lot of rocks available for bone smashing.
003-mountain_town_Panorama1: The town of Lorre (I think).
004-DSC_8278: A closeer show of Loarre with the church in the middle.
005-DSC_8279: The road to El Castillo de Loarrea.
006-DSC_8280: The castle from the visitor's center.
007-Loarre_Castle_looking_south_Panorama1: Panoramic view of the Aragon
plain with the Loarre Castle on the far right.
008-DSC_8281: The view from the visitor center with the Loarre Caste on
the right.
009-Loarre_Castle_looking_south_Panorama2: Another view looking south across
the plain in the Aragon region.
010-DSC_8296: Another big door in Spain, the entrance to Loarre Castle.
011-DSC_8297: A snakey column by the castle entrance.
012-DSC_8301: The first chamber after the entrance where the monks would
do their thing.
013-DSC_8302: Light coming through a window of alabaster in Loarre Castle.
014-DSC_8303: A window made of alabaster (rock) in Loarre Castle.
015-DSC_8304: A window high in the ceiling.
016-DSC_8305:
017-DSC_8306:
018-DSC_8307:
019-DSC_8309:
020-Loarre_Castle_inside_Panorama1:
021-DSC_8314:
022-DSC_8315:
023-Loarre_Castle_Panorama4:
024-DSC_8320:
025-DSC_8330:
026-DSC_8334: A contrast of an 800 year old stone wall with the
radio tower on the hill.
027-DSC_8335: I thinik it's still the village of Loarre.
028-Loarre_Castle_looking_south_Panorama4: Another little town to the south
of the castle.
029-DSC_8341:
030-DSC_8342: Javier at Loarre Castle.
031-DSC_8344: Frank at Loarre Castle.
032-DSC_8347: Ricardo and Javier
033-DSC_8348: Ricardo taking a picture of me.
034-DSC_8349:
035-Loarre_Castle_Panorama1:
036-DSC_8353:
037-DSC_8354:
038-DSC_8355:
039-Loarre_Castle_looking_south_Panorama3:
040-Loarre_Castle_Panorama2: Ricardo and Javier walking towards the
exit of Loarre Castle.
041-DSC_8372-header: Aguero/Murillo de Gallego
041-DSC_8372-headertext:
041-DSC_8372: A dried thistle plant to ward off evil
(which was the style at the time).
042-DSC_8373:
043-DSC_8374: A bit of a tree growing out of the rock.
044-DSC_8375: Ossifrage/bearded vulture.
045-DSC_8377:
046-DSC_8378: This looks like it's from a Road Runner and Coyote cartoon.
047-DSC_8380: The rock looks so precariously balanced.
048-DSC_8383:
049-DSC_8384: A mural as we were leaving town. Note the bone-breaker vultures.
050-DSC_8385: A big bridge!
051-DSC_8386:
053-DSC_8388: I think these are also bearded vultures (ossifrages).
054-DSC_8389:
055-DSC_8390:
056-DSC_8391:
057-DSC_8393-header: Remember Kids, Don't Do This (No Matter How Cool It Looks)
057-DSC_8393-headertext:
Javier wanted to give up smoking and as a step, had switched to vaping.
I'm not a fan of either, but I respect that he's trying and know it can
be difficult. Regardless, the pure white clouds against the blue sky
when he vaped looked quite striking. I had asked him if he would mind
if I took a picture of him producing a cloud and he said sure. I kind
of forgot to tell/warn Ricardo about my plan and it was a few minutes
later, when we were in a place with the sun behind me where I decided to
try it. So he did and Ricardo was right next to him, downwind of him.
It wasn't what I had intended to do, but it was kind of funny. And
Richardo's reaction of Hey, what the hell, man?!? was perfect
and not staged. He was fine once I explained what I was trying to do.
057-DSC_8393: A frost dragon!
058-DSC_8395: Ricardo starts to notice.
059-DSC_8396: Hey!
060-DSC_8397: What the hell, man?!?
(I'll assume it was polite.)
061-DSC_8401: And then everyone's happy again.
062-DSC_8402-header:
062-DSC_8402:-headertext:
062-DSC_8402:
063-DSC_8403:
064-DSC_8404:
065-DSC_8406:
066-DSC_8409:
067-DSC_8415:
068-DSC_8419: A cool plant whose flowers were back-lit by the afternoon sun.
069-DSC_8420: A stream of drinkable (but untreated), not slimey water,
I tasted (un poco).
070-DSC_8421: I don't know what this was...I think just a nice house on
a hill with a great view.
Bottom: