Author: marionvermazen

I am a traveler, hiker, avid reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, Spanish and French language student, knitter and genealogist. I am retired after working for almost 30 years in the Computer Industry. I live in Reno, Nevada with my husband Duke.

Parador de Corias to Puebla de Sanabria

Today before leaving the Parador de Corias we went for a short walk through the grounds.

Courtyard
Cloisters

Santo Estevo is the farthest north in Spain we will be with Linda and Ray on this trip. After checking out of the Parador we headed back south through the mountains.

Our road south

Tonight we are at a smaller Parador not far from the north east corner of Portugal in the town of Puebla de Sanabria. This is the view from the parador

Puebla de Sanabria

We had dinner in the Parador restaurant. By now you’ve probably figured out that we like squid. For dinner we had steak and squid. Both were excellent. Portugal and Spain are the only places I’ve ever had wonderful squid like this.

Squid
Steak

Today is Duke’s 70th birthday. So we celebrated.

Duke’s birthday desert
Duke with his birthday crown from our friends Pat and Joe.

Parador de Santa Estevo to Parador de Corias

Tuesday we visited Las Médula’s where the Romans mined gold. First they did relatively small scale mining with panning and small digs. But eventually they built long canals and an extensive tunnel system and washed away a massive quantity of the hills to find the gold. What was left was rocky outcroppings now called Las Médulas.

First we visited the Las Médulas visitor center where we watched a movie and saw a description of the people in the area and how the Romans mined the gold.

Model of terrain washed away by Roman gold mining

Next we went up to the Las Médulas overlook. It was raining and very foggy when we parked. It is about a .25 mile walk up to the overlook. Although it seemed very likely that we wouldn’t be able to see anything we put on our raincoats and hiked up anyway.

Duke and Ray walking to the Las Médulas overlook

We have been seeing a lot of Chestnut trees in this area

Chestnut Tree

Initially when we got to the overlook we could only see the nearby cliff face with signs of the old tunnels and an overlook where you end if you go down into the galleries (the Roman tunnels).

Entrances to Las Galerias
Las Médulas

But luckily a few minutes later the fog lifted a bit and we could see the view and the landscape created by the Romans.

The overlook
Las Médulas

From Las Médulas we drove to the Parador de Corias where we spent the night. It is another stunningly beautiful Parador in an old monastery.

The Library
The pool
The archaeological ruins under the Parador
The cloisters

For dinner we ate in a he parador restaurant. We had Venison and Sea Bass.

Sea Bass
Venison
Chocolate Coulant for desert

Pontevedra to Parador de Santo Estevo

Our first stop today was to do laundry.

Doing Laundry

While the laundry was processing we had coffee and read in the cafe next door.

Waiting for laundry to finish.

The Camino de Santiago is actually multiple medieval pilgrimage routes that all end in Santiago de Compostela. This morning we were only about an hours drive from Santiago de Compostela. so we decided to visited the Cathedral that is at the end of the Camino de Santiago before driving to the Parador where we are tonight. We parked fairly close to the Cathedral square and walked up to it. You can see the Cathedral from a long way away. It really is awe inspiring and it is fun to see walkers/pilgrims arriving at the end of their walk.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Next we drove about an hour and a half southeast to the Parador of Santo Estevo. Duke and I have been here once before. I think it may be my favorite of all the Paradors we have visited. It is in a beautiful, big , old Monastery on the side of a mountain overlooking a gorge.

Parador de Santo Estevo
Central cloister of the Parador de Santo Estevo

Because we’re have visited so many Paradors we get treats in our room when we arrive. the brownies we got today were devine.

Our room in the Parador de Santo Estevo

Tui to Pontevedra

Today we went on a search for Roman bridges. the Romans were in western Iberian peninsula during the first and second centuries. In fact the name of the town where we are tonight, Pontvedra comes from the Latin words for old bridge ( according to Wikipedia).

This morning when we woke up it was very foggy. after breakfast Duke and I went for a walk along the river as the fog was lifting.

Walking along the Minho River near the Parador of Tui.

After checking out we went looking for the Roman bridge in Tui. The Romans really knew how to build bridges. and they are beautiful too.

Ponte Romana Tui

We left Tui and drove southwest into Portugal to see another Roman Bridge.

Ponte românica de Vilar de Mouros

From Vilar de Mouros we drove north back into Spain to the Parador of Pontevedra where we are tonight.

Parador of Pontevedra

We had a picnic in Linda and Ray’s room then had our welcome drinks and played some cards.

Picnic
Picnic

For dinner we went to a nearby Tapas place, Meigas Fora. We has calamari, fish and chips, guacamole and salmon with chips, and bread and cheese. It was tasty and fun.

One of our tapas.

We got a chuckle out of the “Old Cow Kebabs” on the menu! Maybe it’s a translation of aged beef?

Old Cow Kebabs

There was even a Roman Bridge picture in our room at the Parador.

Ponte Romano

Amares, Portugal to Tui, Spain

Before leaving the Pausada de Amares this morning we took a short walk around the grounds of the Pausada which is built in a former monastery.

The Pausada de Amares
The trees are loaded with oranges but Duke wants just the right one.

After our walk we finished packing, checked out and headed north to the town of Tui which is in Spain on the Portuguese Spanish border. The border is formed by the Minho River. We are staying in a Parador overlooking the river.

As you know if you follow this blog, Paradors are Spanish hotels in historic buildings or scenic locations. They are owned by the Spanish government. Over the last 6 years Duke and I have stayed in 67 of the 98 Spanish paradors. This Parador in Tui is number 68 for us.

Entrance to the Tui Parador
View from our room overlooking the Minho River

We enjoyed our welcome drinks and played cards

Linda with her cards, sandwich and welcome drink.

For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant called A Muralla Duke and I shared a meat and fish grill. The staff was very friendly. It was a great meal.

Our dinner.