We left Lisbon and drove north through the rest of Portugal
into the far northwestern corner of Spain, a region called Galicia. People had
told us how different this part of Spain was, still wild and very wet. After
the hot and dry weeks in southern Spain, that sounded pretty good. As we drove
into Spain, the terrain changed dramatically to be much more hilly with
extensive bays, fishing boats and bridges. It began to look like home.
Our house was near the village of Ortigueira, set up on a
hill overlooking the “ria” or bay. Our hosts, Christina, and her family of seven
siblings, were renting the house for their cousin who was in Madrid having
medical treatments. We couldn’t believe our good fortune, the house was
beautiful, a remodeled home from the 1700’s that had been lovingly brought into
this century.
The family owns a horse farm that we visited, it was on the
property their family had owned for about 6th centuries. They host
family visit for people from all around the world, run a childrens camp, a
jumping club that hosts national events and day rides. Check them out if you
are ever in the area or interested in working on a Galician horse ranch. http://www.granxadosouto.es/
It was a great location for exploring the area. We went to
Cabo Ortegal and some of the bays and hills surrounding us. Very peaceful, very
much like home with overcast skies, verdant green hills, and inlets cutting
through the landscape.
Turns out we were just a few days ahead of the second
largest celtic music festival in the world, festival Ortigueira www.festivaldeortigueira.com.
The roughly 7,000 person village was gearing up for about 50,000 visitors. This
allowed us a traffic free bike ride to the best beach in the area, the site of
camping for this crowd before they showed up. Amazing dune system and a 5K
beach, glad to see it before the swarms arrive!
So grateful for this brief glimpse into Galicia and for the
context that our hosts set for us. And to cool off a little bit and get away
from the relentless sunshine.
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| The view from our house, O Castro do Africa |
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| Cabo Ortegal |
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| Christina and Jeff with one of the Grainxo do Souto jumpers. |
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| Riding along the bay and dunes before the Celtic music festival begins - tranquilo! |
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