Tales of the Urban Explorer: The Gringos Hideout
The building, the church, the ‘thing’ in the middle of nowhere; what can I call this one?
I spotted this, whatever you want to call it while driving through the central areas of Lanzarote in early January 2020.
There were a few domestic houses close by but were blindsided to my parking location. It looked empty and the ‘Prohibido El Paso’ signs confirmed this, or did they?
Google translate says, ‘No Trespassing’. I would have to be careful but at the time had no clue what the law was in Spain and could only guess at the translation. Today, I spotted this piece of info on 28dayslater.
From what I understand it's more or less the same as England and Wales, not really an issue unless you are on Government or Military property. If an owner catches you it's the usual verbal abuse, but he has the option to raise a Denuncia (a complaint to the police).
The police will consider if any action needs to be taken. At worst they might come and talk to you. However, the owner would have to get your details. I suppose if he saw you enter and then phoned the police rather than confronting you, you'd then talk to the police directly.
@bingbabe was refusing to accompany me on this one so I started making my way toward the building walking past ‘Prohibido El Paso’ in earnest.
I had a feeling that I was in Mexico or somewhere and Gringo’s were going to walk out with guns and start taking shots. It was that kind of atmosphere, quiet, dusty, a little breeze…., too quiet.
The left side of the building showed me a courtyard within but I felt there was an easier way inside than having my knackers chopped off scrambling over this fencing.
See the chink in the armour? It was a tight old squeeze getting through and as I was wearing shorts, could easily have gotten a bad scratch or two.
So I was not the first explorer to have a look around. You get to notice things like this after you have done several.
Considering things decay at a much lesser speed than in the UK, I had to wonder just how long this had been abandoned. I mean it was a real wreck inside the courtyard.
I found a small inside section but it was dark and I had no lights. The main doors were sealed and I wasn’t going to force anything open.
This door was ajar and after shifting all those prickly bramble things yielded a big boring nothing.
Is this an effective way of keeping people out? I mean talk about improvisation in less than ten minutes!
I did go up the stairs even though they were wooden and creaky as hell. Halfway up I figured I would be sticking out like a sore thumb waving, ‘hey look I’m in here’
Better not, besides what's on the roof other than a view?
Some areas were more secure than others. I did peek into the inner house and caught sight of little other than dust, but it was inaccessible.
There were no bars of gold stolen from the bank of El Paso.
This little holed area contained nothing other than the stale smell of piss. At least I was spared looking at someone's excrement.
So what is this building, I still can't give it a name? In times like these, you need to improvise and that depends on your mood, feelings and the personal experience attained.
I think what I chose sums it up quite well.
The gates say to me church, but it is most definitely not one of those. I have been to better locations but it was still worth the stop to have a nosy about.
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.
Looks like it would have been a fine place back in its day.
It's a pity @surfermarley isn't on Steem anymore else she might have had some local knowledge about it (although I can't recall which of the Canary Islands she lived on).
I couldn't find a stitch on this one, and not for lack of trying. A little history always goes down well I say!
I wonder if @yidneth knows anything? I believe she was originally from one of the Canary Islands.
I read @surfermarly's last ever post. It was bid bots that caused her to leave and the reward pool being disproportionally sent to whoever spent the most on buying votes.
If only she could see that bots have been virtually eradicated now, she may return. She mentioned the thrill of getting a big vote from a whale for good content.
We now have that in the form of the curation groups and some of the old bot owners.
It is a new world nowadays!
I believe @starkerz had met Marley at conferences - I wonder if he could persuade her to come back to 3Speak...
The colours, the pics made it look gorgeous
Good thing smells don’t come through pics ;p
LOL, you're right there, I come across all kinds of stinky stuff in these places!
That looks like a really cool site. It is too bad that there wasn't more stuff to see inside. I still think it is awesome that you were able to get in and get the pictures you did.
Still waiting for your first one @bozz ;)
I'd have to go outside the country to do that!
Bet I could find one in less than 15 minutes from where you live!
I think you'd be asking for a bullet in the back.
You just need the right gear!
haha
are you using some sort of filter? Those pics look almost like paintings. Either way they are great shots. I gotta get a real camera, something with a zoom.
by the way... I'm glad you came back.
I'm using a filter, without it, photographs can look a little dreary.
https://skylum.com/aurorahdr
Takes some tinkering, but I do like what it produces.
That looks like a good one! Although pretty much empty. Maybe it's just the sun!
It was photogenic, some of these shots I have to say I really like. If you can't get all the way in, then make the most of it I say!
Yas indeed, when you throw some glorious light into the fray you do tend to get a great picture. The stone really shows up well too
A little image tinkering works wonders too!
Oh yes, curves were always my favourite for a bit of punch. Do you take RAWs and convert it JPEGs?
Oh no.., I just use a preset on AuroraHDR. There's a batch mode to do all at once.
Lol, that will do the trick!
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