The scenery was pretty much continuously breathtaking, full of old manors, crumbling brick farmhouses, and fields of grapes, olives, and orange trees.
This is the prime meridian, apparently...
There were a lot of large bilboards in the shape of bulls. Confusing, but interesting.
Another large black bull and some ancient-looking manor houses.
There were many fields of windmills. This makes sense, as a large amount of the landscape was flat and fairly windy.
Basque country is lush, mountainous, and beautiful. I didn't take any pictures of Bilbao because of all the panicking, but I'll be sure to take a bunch as we walk around today.
I'm jealous!
ReplyDeleteRepeatedly, in Asian nations like China, Japan and India, and then in European nations like Spain and Portugal, governments and religions demonstrated that their first priority was control of the minds and bodies of their subjects and flocks, even though that meant slow descent into economic and military weakness.
ReplyDeleteHe notes that Portugal and Spain opted for empire rather than being content with the commercial advantage possible with their comparative advantage. (However, pursuit of empire left these nations impoverished for centuries.)
From "Wealth and Poverty of Nations"