Lugo walls 2 August 2011

Waking up in the privacy of your own room is a genuine luxury, nobody sleeping nearby, no one walking around, all your own space! We should all count our blessings if we have such a personal space at home.
I did not want to leave my room in the morning. Alas, we are traveling and it would be such a waste to spend a whole day inside a hotel room.

We made a quick breakfast of eggs and toast then headed out to the old town of Lugo.

Lugo was initially founded by the Romans when they first invaded Hispania. A legion fort that eventually turned into a city. There were many conflicts and wars for Lugo in the past, hence the Romans built a wall to protect the city. The Lugo wall.

Amazingly the entire wall is still mostly intact after so many years.

Here is another sign for Caminos travelling through Lugo.

Some interesting and quite spectacular post box at the correos (post office).

Lugo is a very interesting city, a mixture of old and new. Behind the ancient looking facade can be an Americanized shopping mall. Like this Plaza here.

However I did note that the city lacks a bit of vibrancy, as if all the life is slowly being drained out of this old part of the city.

We visited the Casa del Mosaic.
It is a small roman ruins of a house under the existing modern houses above. A short 16min video is played to explain the history of Lugo and the ruins.
The video is the only worthwhile part of the visit. If you are willing to part with 2 euros to watch a brief interactive history video then this a good place to visit. Otherwise probably a quick google of Lugo can give you more Information.

Our lunch at a near by cafe, tapas again.

Setas

Croquetas

Raxos in Pinxos size, this is much cheaper than in the rationes size!

Pork with fries

Us on the Lugo wall. The entire wall around the city is still intact since the Romans first built it.

The walk around the wall revealed something I found quite startling, much of the old Lugo is in ruins.

There are many new apartments being built around the outside and inside the walls, however some buildings were crumbling and abandoned.

Dotting here and there were also excavation sites, also looking abandoned.

The only building I saw with activity and being repaired was the Cathedral of Lugo.

A underground cave smell reached my nose as soon as I stepped into the Cathedral. Much of the building were covered by scaffolding.

But from some of the side chapels, we had a glimpse of what the whole cathedral will be like when restored.

Adoration in a side chapel.

We took another siesta break to purchase food for dinner and to rest at home.

At six we headed out again to visit the Provincial Museum. It is a free museum, however no photography was allowed.

The Museum was previously a convent of Franciscan Friars so there was an architectural significance as well as historical importance.

Inside were archeological artifacts, historical and modern Spanish art.

My favorite was a modern sculpture of two fisherman, pulling on a rope.
The sculpture was made to appear like a metal part of an abandon ship, holes and malformations.
Gave the feeling of timelessness of fisherman and the rough nature of this occupation. Deeply moving.

We returned home for some spaghetti bolognaise and vegetables.

The boys again opened up some Galician beer, I had a bottle too, but it tasted watered down and bitter. Next time I should just stick with coke instead.

Location:Carril de Flores,Lugo,Spain