I think the orange juice machines in Spain are cool. This is the one in our Parador this morning. There is nothing like fresh squeezed orange juice.
The Monastery of Santo Estevo Parador where we stayed Thursday night has numbered panels on the walls that allow you to take a self guided tour. So that is what we did after breakfast.
We also took a walk through the gardens behind the monastery.
Around noon we left the Santo Estevo Parador and took the back roads to our Friday night stop the Parador de Monforte de Lemos which is situated in the former Monastery of San Vicente del Pino. For much of the drive the views of the Sil River Canyon were expansive and beautiful.
We stopped at the ruin of the Monastery Santa Cristina.
We had a picnic lunch by the bridge where our route crossed the Sil River.
As we climbed out of the river canyon we passed terraced wine grape vines that seemed impossibly steep.
Of course we had to stop at the Duke lookout. Even though it was under construction the view was still good.
For dinner Duke had octopus I had chicken cannelloni.
Above you can see the outlet of one of the tunnel complexes. This tunnel is now called Galerias de Orelián. We went down into it until we came to the outlet in the picture above.
When we came out of the tunnel we drove down into the valley to the museum. They had an excellent video that helped me to appreciate how much earth was moved by this massive mining operation almost 2000 years ago. There was also a model that showed the terrain left by the mines.
We took the back roads to where we are staying tonight. Along the way we stopped at a gas station and bought fresh bread for our picnic lunch.
After the picnic it started raining. The route to the Parador was green and lush. .
The Parador de Santo Estevo where we are staying is in an old monastery. The rooms are big and beautiful with great views. They are situated around the cloisters.
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