I remember that when I was a child, my parents took me to Madrid for the first time, and we stopped in Astorga to have lunch. I’ve already forgotten what we ate, whether the food was tasty, or if it was very different from my mother’s cooking, but what remains crystal clear in my mind is the unsettling feeling its landscape gave me. Everything appeared dry and brown, devoid of plant life, completely opposite to my native Galicia. Just imagining living in such a place sent shivers down my spine.
Many years later, Astorga hasn’t changed one bit. Its landscape remains predominantly dry, with vegetation far less lush and green compared to my homeland. But unlike back then, I now find that landscape charming. Those arid plains, that ochre horizon, its ancient stone buildings, and the quietness that envelops the entire area create a nostalgic and timeless atmosphere so powerful it even evokes memories I’ve never actually experienced. Its history, culture, monuments, houses, people, and traditions project a character so profound it leaves no one indifferent. It’s a place well worth exploring slowly, unhurriedly, yet with all your senses fully awake.
If you add a bitterly cold and magically frosty morning to all these virtues, the combination becomes simply irresistible. The day I took this photo, the thermometer showed several degrees below zero. Frost covered almost everything, and the vegetation glistened with an unreal, extremely fragile beauty, as though the slightest breeze might shatter that delicate equilibrium.
I stopped the car several times, captivated by the landscape, drawn to corners shining with special intensity under that white blanket. Yet, of all the spots I visited, the scene I’m sharing here inspired me the most. That little electrical shed leaning against an old, ruined stone wall, surrounded by frozen vegetation and wrapped in the relentless silence of that morning, turned the scene into something almost surreal. I wouldn’t say I miss such intense frosts in my homeland, but I do long for landscapes so extraordinarily white they seem to freeze time itself. Astorga is a place I’ve learned to love, value, and admire on its own merits, even though its beauty isn’t always immediately obvious.
