This weekend was mostly spent driving, though, in truth, I didn’t go very far. The amount of time I spent in the car could’ve taken me all the way to the other end of the Iberian Peninsula, but instead, I only explored a portion of Asturias. I left home at ten in the morning on Saturday and didn’t return until midnight. Of course, I wasn’t driving the entire time, I made plenty of stops, though most were brief. I doubt I spent more than two or three hours off the road altogether.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time behind the wheel, but covering short distances. The car isn’t just a way to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, it’s a means for discovering and experiencing the landscape. I usually drive slowly, avoiding highways whenever I can, and choosing secondary roads instead. I pay close attention to everything I pass, always on the lookout for interesting corners that might offer a good photo. It’s a very different way of driving, and strangely enough, the kilometers just fly by. Time seems to disappear.
Spending so much time on the road means that, occasionally, the road itself becomes the main subject. Most of the time, it’s just part of the background, but sometimes it surprises me: maybe with its winding path, or the roughness of its surface, or just how impossible it is to drive on (Google Maps has quite the sense of humor when it comes to route suggestions).
Today’s photo is a perfect example of that. I came across this tunnel on one of the roads crossing the municipality of Yernes y Tameza. The road winds through the mountains, it’s very narrow, in poor condition, and almost completely deserted. What caught my attention was the shape of the tunnel, actually two tunnels in a row, separated by a small gap. I found it incredibly striking, and as soon as I spotted a safe place to park, I got out and walked over to take a photo. It blends perfectly with the landscape and has a charm modern tunnels could only dream of. This time, I didn’t have to look beyond the road—because the photo I was looking for was right there, in it.
