  We construct spectral triples and, in particular, Dirac operators, for the
algebra of continuous functions on certain compact metric spaces. The triples
are countable sums of triples where each summand is based on a curve in the
space. Several fractals, like a finitely summable infinite tree and the
Sierpinski gasket, fit naturally within our framework. In these cases, we show
that our spectral triples do describe the geodesic distance and the Minkowski
dimension as well as, more generally, the complex fractal dimensions of the
space. Furthermore, in the case of the Sierpinski gasket, the associated
Dixmier-type trace coincides with the normalized Hausdorff measure of dimension
$\log 3/ \log 2$.
