We rode in the bus to the Cuevas del Monte del Castillo, about 75 minutes west of Bilbao. High up a hill, REI had arranged for a tour guide to meet us there and take us through the caves.
Yes, it's ironic that our first stop was not to hike through the outdoors, but to walk through the caves. But it was an amazing opportunity. The oldest of the cave art is 40,800 years old, while other cave art is as "young" as 10,000 years old. This is the oldest known cave art in all of Europe, and we got to see it! It was a thrill.
We saw so much cave art. . .hands on the wall in which the artists had blown the red ochre thru a reed to capture their hand as a negative. Others in which they had drawn bison or bulls. There were so many hands that I mentioned to some people that those were the selfies of the day. Everything new again was old. (Editor's Note: That's not how the saying goes. Blogger: Well, in this case it does.)
Our cave guide also painstakingly showed us the bison, including how they used the rock wall as part of the back and/or legs of the bison. There was one rearing up on its hind legs, while others were turning back and looking back at us. There were scratches in the rocks to help create the art too, it was not just reliant on ochre, but used charcoal as well.
Aner told us we would be in the caves about a half an hour, but it seemed longer -- and in a good way. I was blown away by this stop, and will ever be grateful for that opportunity.
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