I visited the Cave of Altamira while traveling in Europe with two friends in 1968. We rented a car in Paris, traveled the length of Spain and finished up in Lisbon. One of my companions, who taught Spanish at a university in Virginia, suggested that we take in Altamira and another cave (probably El Castillo, since it was not far away)during our stay in San Sebastian.

As I recall some forty years later, visiting the Altamira cave was very easy - i.e., it apparently was not a big tourist site at that time. Somewhere among my belongings, I have a postcard of one of the figures in the cave, but I think I purchased it in Santillana del Mar rather than on the site. In any event, the three of us had a private showing. A grizzled old man took our money and then led us in. I remember being grateful that it did not require going underground. Once inside, I was of course in awe, not only of the age of the paintings, but also of the delicacy and skill with which they had been executed. I think we tend to look down on our distant ancestors as primitive and stupid, but cave paintings like those at Altamira remind us that they were not. The artistic impulse was alive and well. Most modern art makes me think that we have regressed rather than advanced - a case of too much head and not enough heart.

Of the El Castillo experience, I can only say that I was too freaked out by the dark and cold, and the fact that it was underground, to appreciate whatever there was to see. Also, we went in with a large group of tourists, so seeing anything up close was virtually impossible.