The afternoon I took this photo, I had already driven around six hundred kilometers. I started the morning tracing the northern coast, traveling through the Mariña Lucense. After passing Ribadeo, I entered Asturias on my way to Oviedo, where I immediately took the detour toward Mieres and began ascending into the mountains. At the summit, I crossed into Babia, and after several more kilometers, I linked up with Barrios de Luna. After exploring that area for a few hours, I descended to León and took a detour toward Astorga. It was a long day filled with landscapes, stops, photos, and walks.
Even so, by the time I reached Astorga, I still felt motivated to look for one more interesting spot. From the road, I saw a series of brick buildings that looked like an old train station, or at least railway storage warehouses. The buildings, now abandoned, were truly impressive, so I decided to try and find a way to reach them. It looked relatively easy, but it turned out to be anything but. I had to follow a few narrow roads, drifting farther and farther from the city center.
As I continued, I started to come across a series of huts and shacks, a kind of makeshift settlement on the outskirts. I got out of the car and walked a bit further down a path. In the distance, I saw the buildings I had been looking for. They seemed occupied and surrounded by other precarious structures. I decided against getting closer, it felt like I’d be intruding on someone else’s territory. Before turning back, I snapped a photo of a very friendly pony that had walked over to me. It wasn’t the shot I was originally after, but it turned out to be just as interesting, and far more heartwarming.
