Thursday, June 1, 2017

Dreamy Days and Ancient Villages


Our house on the corner that leads into
Trasulfe (population 7 year round, about'
6 more in the summer and other holidays.
Even though we are back in our house, now, in Trasulfe, we took four days to go to Braga, Portugal, which I'll be blogging about later. (Meanwhile, I'm posting pictures on my Facebook Timeline at:  https://www.facebook.com/elizabethvaradan )

But being back in Trasulfe and having good weather every day brings home the peacefulness of the entire area. Two days ago we took a walk to a nearby larger village — Tuiriz Santa Eulalia — that actually included several smaller villages. These villages run into each other. Thus, we passed El Carmen, El Bario, and finally Santa Eulalia, before turning left onto a road that led to another group of village — these with more space between them.
This house borders El Bario. We bought
our garage space from the woman who
 lives there and from her sister.

Across from the house pictured below, a woman whose son had shown us a house for sale once reminded us that she knew our neighbors in Trasulfe. She also knows I bake "pan dulce" for Eva and Manolo (my way of thanking them for all the eggs and wine.) But this is one of the things I love about this part of the world. Everyone knows everyone. They have cousins, friends, children, etc. in nearby villages, and news travels in a way that gives that song, "I heard it through the grapevine" real punch. (Or wine, teehee.) We always notice carefully tended flower gardens in some of these small villages.


















A side road took us up to Frenzas, then O Docil, then Santalla, then brought us out onto the road that led back to our house. Along the way, the roads curve, you pass scattered meadows and pastures divided by drywalls, and woods where the cuckoos call. Wildflowers abound that I've mentioned before: Queen Anne's Lace, alfalfa, buttercups, wild blackberry brambles that will fruit in the fall, purple foxglove, and some beautiful wildflower below that I can't identify.



Found out! Vipers Bugloss,
or Echisos Vulgare

Wild foxglove

The owner of one of our favorite tapa bars in Monforte grew up in Frenzas, and he also knows our neighbors. One day a couple of years ago he drove us around Frenzas and all these other little villages and told us some of their history. So it was a thrill to go on a walking tour that revisited them all.

And then we were home again, savoring the experience over a glass of wine, looking out our window at more of the Galician scenery. This is what it look like on a sunny day. On most mornings, it's full of twirls of rising mist. Then the mist fades and the trees emerge into the day.

14 comments:

  1. How beautiful! I love seeing glimpses of places I've never been.

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  2. Hi, Vicki, thanks for stopping by. I do, too. For me, it's a way to vicariously travel to those places. Hope you have a great day.

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  3. Loved reading about Trasulfe. I live from Kolkata, India. At first sight we seem to be a over populated country but there are wonderful places where peace, quiet and beauty dwells ...

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  4. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting, Bharathi. My husband is from India — Trichy and Chennai and Bangalore, where he worked for many years before coming to the US. Yes, I've been to India many times and have seen the beauty of small villages and fields and mango forests. A beautiful country, with a sense of timelessness and spirituality, even in the bustle of the cities.

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  5. Looks gorgeous! I'm a little jealous, to be honest...

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  6. Hi, Kate, well, we are enjoying it while we can. The time will come — all things end — when we can't afford the trip or can't weather the long plane hours. Meanwhile, I'm so pleased for your new house and your good news about getting your debut novel, An Unstill Life, back in print again next month. I've been thinking about trying to get an earlier book of mine re-issued, but haven't done anything about it, so hats off to you. I also love the title.

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  7. As I am staying put this summer, (though I live in a beautiful area, not complaining) it's a delight to be taken along on your beautiful tour.

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  8. Breathtaking.
    You and your HH have such splendid adventures!

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  9. Thanks, Mirka, it's really fun to share the area. It's a relatively unknown, non-touristy area (although more people are discovering it.) It's mostly famous for the pilgrimage route—or routes; there are many from all over Europe—to the Cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela. But outside the cities (which are small compared to, say, places like Paris, London, New York, etc.), it's all rural countryside and small farms and villages and hamlets. It's like a step into the novels set in the past. And the people are just wonderful.

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  10. Hi, Sandra; glad you like the pictures. These really are the adventures we will remember long after our times to travel have passed. Thank goodness for cameras!

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  11. You've certainly got yourself a little piece of paradise, and the pictures are proof.

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  12. Awesome pics! Looks beautiful:)

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  13. Richard, that is such a charming description. It's what it feels like, too. We are very grateful for this experience.

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  14. Mark, I'm glad you like the pictures. This is a point and shoot camera (my husband is the real photographer), but it does the job for me.

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