Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A Trip to Fisterra





Sunday our friends, David and Terri, took us for a day trip to Fisterra, a lighthouse town on the coast, almost directly west of Santiago. They picked us up around 9:30, and David drove, since they know the route well. The weather was with us: a warm sunny morning, and a golden afternoon.


We went south to Ourense along a steep road that winds past vine-terraced hills and stretches of gorse and broom and purple heather. After the point where the river Sil joins the Mino (pronounced “minyo”) we continued along the river, smooth as glass: villages clustered on the banks and above reflected like mirror images of stone and red tile and white plaster. From Ourense we took the toll road, going north again, bypassing Lalin, skirting Santiago, and traveling west through verdant countryside to the Atlantic, where we followed a sparkling blue bay. On our right, small villages alternated with pastures or villages edged and splashed with yellow broom. To our left, the blue waters stretched, with occasional white sandy beaches. At harbors, fishing villages were mirrored in the waters, and fishing boats bobbed alongside colorful buoys.


We took a coffee break at a bar in Noia, where “market day” was in full force. and tables and kiosks lined the bustling streets. We continued on through Muros (a lovely village/town with its own lighthouse), and stopped for lunch at a charming harbor town called Corcubion, where we sat at an outdoor table of a cafe-bar called Alborada. Our lunch consisted of raciones. (A racion is a serving less that a full dinner plate, but more than a tapa.) We settled on three: revueltas with championes; calimari that melted in your mouth, and a plate of fresh mejillones (mussels) that had been caught that very day and had a flavor like poetry.


Still, the highlight was our waiter, Jose Antonio Trillo Gonzalez. He had lived in England for several years, and he surprised us by breaking into English with a thoroughly London accent -- and a sly, witty humor to go with it. The website for this cafe, by the way (for travelers to Galicia) is: http://www.mi-bar.es/bar.alborada/


After lunch we proceeded on to Fisterra. The countryside changed to rock face as we drew nearer -- rock-face covered with gorse, creating a golden sheen, like a layer of pollen. Fisterra is in the part of the coast known as Costa del Muerte (coast of death), because in olden days there were so many shipwrecks in its rocky harbors. At the lighthouse itself, you could see the bay on one side, and the Atlantic ocean on the other (the Atlantic in the picture above). Stalls outside the lighthouse sold the souvenirs you would expect: starfish, seashells; seashell jewelry, ashtrays with marine themes, etc. We strolled around, taking pictures, feeling the cool breeze off the ocean (it wasn’t cold at all), and smiling at fellow travelers.


On the way home, we stopped at a cafe in the plaza in Muros, and then headed back, enjoying the drive all over again. By the time we reached Ourense, the sky was deepening to early twilight, and shortly after, sunsetturned clouds a billowy pink, like cotton candy. The last stretch was in late twilight and early darkness. A yellow full moon hung low in the sky, glowing like a Chinese lantern. At the house, we ate food I’d cooked the day before, and sipped wine and recounted our magical day.

11 comments:

  1. Es un placer pasar por tu casa,
    disculpa la ausencia,
    que tengas unas felices fiestas
    de semana santa.
    un abrazo.

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  2. What a most beautiful place to visit. Magical day indeed. Thank you fro sharing it with everyone. :-)

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  3. I'm enjoying my vicarious vacation! Thanks for another great post.

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  4. A magical day indeed! Thanks for sharing the photographs. I love posts with photographs such as these.

    And thanks for commenting today on my blog. I always enjoy "seeing" you.

    Finally, congratulations on your well-deserved blogger awards of two days ago.

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  5. Sounds like you had a wonderful time and it sounds like a fantastic place to visit too.

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  6. Oh wow. Wish I was there. I'm going on holidays as of right now, but nowhere that neat. My world will be grey (aka muddy).

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  7. Thanks, all. More to come in a day or two. There's so much to write about! Glad you are enjoying it.

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  8. What a gorgeous post! Your photos took my breath away. I love vicarious travel, not quite a good as the real thing, but close. :) Looking forward to more.

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  9. I enjoy your descriptions. You give us the 'feeling' of the place. I can picture what you describe as the setting of a romance: perhaps a Spanish "Letters to Juliet". Please, give us more of this.

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  10. Смысл ее понятен: «не лезь», «не высовывайся», «будь, как все». Родители, посылающие этот наказ, боятся забавлять ведущую занятие, теряются около публичных выступлениях, пожизненно ходят в подчиненных для работе и дома, отказываются просить то, который хотят. Им не светят ни продвижение по службе, ни выгодные предложения. Всю свою живот они проводят молчком, ровно мыши, лишь желание их не заметил вальяжный и прожорливый кот. Родители, давая эту директиву, ровно узаконение, действуют из самых лучших побуждений. Зачем давать повод для злословия и зависти другим людям? Не требуется, малыш, не лезь, а то который они скажут?Так как основная вопрос людей с этой директивой — воспитание от всякий ответственности, тебе, чтобы через директивы избавиться, нуждаться чинить совершенно наоборот. Не беспричинно, как советовали тебе родители. Высовывайся. Лезь. Научись выступать на людях, отстаивай свои убеждения. Забудь про свою застенчивость и страх ошибок. Прими ручательство изза свою общежитие на себя. [url=http://profvesti.ru/o-maloetazhnom-stroitelstve/113-razvitiye-maloetazhnogo-stroitelstva.html]строительный портал города[/url]

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