Sun, Jun 4 - Exploring Our Peninsula

Beach Narcissus

We got up to a clear sky with a few clouds inland and set off after breakfast at the leisurely hour of ten to drive the perimeter of the coast and islets of Ria de Ponteverde, the fiord to the south, and Ria de Arousa, to the north.  Between clumps of hotels, there are natural areas preserved with trails and boardwalks to the beach.  We walked to the first accessible beach and I waded into the ocean to measure the temperature of the water which was 62 degrees.  We saw many wildflowers growing out of the sand, including a white narcissus.  There was good signage about the flora and fauna in English, Castilian Spanish and the local language of Gallego, which has a close resemblance to Portuguese.                                                             

We drove over a neck of land to O Grove, a former island, stopping at a bird hide, but could only see mallards and a gray heron.  Winter is the time to see thousands of birds here which have migrated from the north.   We drove through beach towns and over  a bridge to the lovely little islet of Illa da Toxa, which resembles Monterey, CA, with golf links on the water and large mansions.

Heading to the western, wilder, side of O Grove which still has old villages that haven't been replaced by hotels as yet, I spotted a lovely church whose bells were chiming and well-dressed people were entering.   It would have been nice to see and hear Mass, but I was wearing flip flops and shorts.  We turned a corner and there were four men playing bagpipes (gaitas in Gallego) and wearing kilts!  A woman accompanied them in a similar costume banging on a drum!  I imagine they were going to the church for some ceremony.  What a sight!  The Celts came here around 700 BC and amazingly still keep some of their culture intact.

Slate Roof Detail

We returned to the mainland and continued up the coast, driving out on a long bridge to another islet, Illa da Arousa.

Bridge to Illa da Arousa

  Arousa seems well provided with lots of campgrounds for the coming summer season and, with 20,000 vineyards in this area,  everyone seems to have a small patch of Albariño grapes growing in their back yard.

Albariño Vineyards

We wove through a small village, looking for the highway back to Sanxenxo, and found ourselves winding through ever narrower streets until we were blocked by tables and chairs of a tiny cafe, completely covering the lane!!  We were trying to figure out how to back out of this narrow space when a small truck came up behind us.  The driver got out, and laughing, told us to go "a la derecha" (to the right) which didn't seem possible but there actually was a small road we could turn into and we escaped!

Tiny Lane with Cafe and Parked Car!

Back at our hotel we returned the car down to the -3 parking level and made our way to our room where our welcome drinks of two splits of Cava that we had saved from yesterday were waiting for us!   We consumed them, and feeling revived, walked a mile down the beach promenade in the sunshine