Suso and Yuso

I took a detour, strolled 20km through tremendously beautiful terrain, and found myself booking a room in a 4-star hotel that is located within the walls of a 14th Century Monastery. ....and costs less than a motel 6 in SF. This is a UNESCO world heritage site, and I can see why!
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/805/

There is another, 11th Century, ruin here (Suso) that is considered the birthplace of the Castillian (Spanish) language. It is where the oldest written Spanish text has been discovered. The cave/temple/church/mosque/tomb (hey... 1,500 years is a long time) is where the hermit-saint San Millán lived. It also may well be the 1st monastery in Spain.

Pretty cool... and very eclectic for all the remodeling that has happened to it. I was particulaly interested in the 14th century mosaic floors made by Muslim occupiers.

Inside the larger Monastery (Yuso), there's an impressive pipe organ and they have original, well preserved, 140lb hymnals that are written on calf skin and date back to the 17th/18th century. Neat stuff.

The walk up was fantastic. Fields of fragrant flowers, wheat, vineyards, tree plantations, a sonorous river, birds, a little rain, and picturesque vistas kept me company. I did not see a single person on the trail all day, which is odd but was nice for the opportunity to be present and introspective.Read more