Renwed Love for Spain
Trip Start
Oct 14, 2009
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Trip End
Oct 30, 2009
Where I stayed
Ribadeo, Galicia, Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Nothing like a nice glass of local Spanish champagne (OK, sparkling wine) to write by.
I didn't much feel like eating last night so I had fish soup and a salad; and for desert a settling rice pudding. Yummy! Slept like a log last night and got up at the crack of 8am when the church bells were going crazy. It’s odd how dark it still is at 8am! Got up and Paul and I had breakfast. He stayed in the hotel room reading while I went to Mass…..or so I thought. With so many churches you’d think one would have Mass at 10am. It was not to be. I spent some time in the basilica (photo attached). I really like it. It’s pretty bare inside and looks very medieval. The lingering odor of incense and the choir practicing in some hidden room made for a very meditative time.
We left the hotel by 11 and drove up the mountain about 12 kilometers…..and I mean REALLY up! Not sure of the altitude, but it was up there. There are two lakes up there that are phenomenal. I’m attaching photos of that. It was so beautiful up there that words just can’t explain. Some of the photos do capture it pretty closely—just not sure how well they’ll upload to the website, but I’ll give it a good try. By noon we decided we had already had a perfect day. Next time we’ll bring hiking stuff as one could spend a few days exploring different paths. The weather was perfect. You could almost see all the way to the sea. I’ve gotten quite skilled at the standard transmission….I was backing up in really steep inclines and not even breaking a sweat. I might have bitten one or two fingernails to the quick, but all in a day’s driving in Spain. The roads were pretty phenomenal. We had another hour or so of driving through the mountains and the views only got better. We stopped at a "mirador" (outlook) that was stupendous. The mountains, the fall colors, the warm sun, wafts of sea salt from the winds and an occasional smell of “café con leche” being served down by the car park all made for quite the experience. I’m attaching a few photos from that site as well.
THEN we reached the highway but decided to get off the beaten track and made our way to the coast (PS our GPS has been super for driving….with the few occasions where it gets a bit dizzy and disoriented…..it just doesn’t know what to do when it thinks we’re driving through the woods! Satellite reception isn’t as consistent (or maybe new roads have been built and its maps havent’ been updated) and occasionally it has us crossing rivers where it doesn’t think there’s a bridge. I just know any minute he’s going to start screaming at us. But back to my story…. We ended up in this really beautiful village right on the coast. It was picturesque to the point of a cliché. But you decide. I’ve attached photos of that as well. We went into a couple of restaurants and they were all full. Finally, we happened upon one nestled among the local houses and went in. I had fish soup (becoming a popular choice for me this trip) while Paul had the fabaiada (bean soup) with clams. Both were really exceptional. Then I had a Spanish shrimp tortilla (omelette). It, too, was yummy. Paul had the squid prepared in its own ink with rice. Wow! I have never tasted squid as yummy (it outdid the squid from the other day)! I can’t even begin to describe the taste other than to say that it was like having the freshest calamari in my aunts most tastey pinto bean sauce. Unless you’ve tasted my aunt’s beans I guess this won’t do it for you. Trust me. It was out of this world.
We drove another two hours from there to make it to our hotel in Ribadeo. On the coast, but nothing like the little town in which we had lunch. Hotel over looks the water and there’s a little village across the way that is quite picturesque. Photo included as well. Tomorrow we’re back into the big city. We’ll be in Santiago de Campostelo where all the pilgrims on the Santiago trail end up. We’ll spend a couple of days there until we leave for Barcelona on Wednesday.
Stay tuned….more tomorrow.
Comments
Gracias a Dios!
What a fabulous start to your journey you two! (and you coined a new word too boot). Off the beaten path, out of the regular tourist cycle, and one with the natives. Have you seen the electric candles yet?
I got back to Mesa on Saturday (boo hoo---had a great visit with all of you!), spent Sunday tidying up, running errands, grading a few papers. Up early to get to work.
Pasen bien tiempo querido chamacos!
Hmmmmm
Those are great photos. The jury is still out on the squid though. Won't be long before we're out in that part of the world!