Admiring and aiming in Aracena

The weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday was cooler and rainy, so we didn't stay near the beach, but took a detour to the mountains: to Aracena.

FROM MAURO:
First, we went to a ham museum. It was very interesting to see how Iberian ham is made. So far, we've only seen smoked pig legs hanging everywhere.
We searched for our apartment, it had a lot of beds, but it was fine. It also had a beautiful courtyard. The next day, we went to a cave (Gruta de maravillas, Cave of Wonders). We walked through the town to the cave. The entrance was in the middle of the city. We were under the hill where the castle of Aracena stands. This cave was discovered in the 18th century. We had a guided tour, it was very exciting. It had large rooms and a lot of water inside. There were also stalagmites and stalactites. It was impressive!
After the cave, we went to a store and bought wooden toy weapons with our pocket money: a bow and arrow, a crossbow, and a rubber gun. After lunch, we went to the castle, a little detour, but it was included in our combo ticket. Then we went home to try out the toy weapons in the backyard. It was easier with the crossbow. We couldn't knock down the bottle with the rubber gun, and at first, Sandro and I couldn't handle the bow and arrow well, but Claudio quickly got the hang of it.
The next day, we continued our journey. First, we treated ourselves to a special breakfast: churros at the Churreria! But on the way there on Monday, we saw huge pits where they mainly extract copper but also other minerals. This area is called Rio Tinto and Papi found out that there is also a museum. We visited this museum and learned that the Romans also had mines there. We could also walk through a replica of a Roman mine. The history of these mining areas was very exciting and impressive because it was an English company.
We went to a store called El Jamón (the ham 😉) and bought our picnic there. Then we drove to a train with old wagons, which is also part of the museum. It went to an area where they used to mine. First, we saw ruins of a worker village and it looked like everything had just been left there. Even a truck still had its door open. Afterwards, we went through a nature park. About 50 years ago, trees were planted again in the mining area. And in the valley, along the tracks, there was a river that was completely red! That's because of the many minerals.
Luckily, the man on the return journey didn't talk anymore, because on the way there, he talked like a radio. Mami hardly had time to translate anything for us.