Category: Europe 2019

Ribadeo to Corias

Before leaving Ribadeo this morning we stopped at Lidl to buy some lunch supplies.

We crossed the river into the region of Alturis, drove along the coast a bit, then headed south on backroads. The roads were narrow and very windy. At one point we followed s small, worn sign down a dirt track to this church. The sign seemed to say that a battle with the Romans occurred near here.

A bit farther down the road near a crossroads on a ridge top we stopped for our picnic lunch.

It’s Wednesday night and we are staying at the Corias Monastery Parador. It opened in 2013. It is an absolutely beautiful Parador with a swimming pool and archaeological remains in the basement.

The Monastery library is to die for!

The building is quite large.

And so are the rooms.

We had dinner in the former Monastery dining room. Here are the highlights of the meal. Roasted goat leg with potatoes, onions and peppers.

Pear tart with apple ice cream.

Milk curd with walnuts and honey.

Vilalba to Ribadeo

This morning we drove straight from Vilalba to Ribadeo on the coast. We immediately went out for a walk and bought some bread to go with our lunch.

In the park people were playing bocce ball.

We walked along the shore and watched a ship come in.

This is the view from our room in the Parador. We have seen lots of Eucalyptus tree farms in Galacia. Apparently the fast growing trees are harvested for making paper.

While we had lunch on the balcony of one of our rooms we watched them load the ship.

Low tide today was at 8 pm. We planned our trip to Cathedral Rocks Beach for low tide so we could walk the beach among the giant rocks.

we had an excellent Parador dinner. My scallops starter was especially tasty.

For his main course Duke had salmon with an orange sauce.

For desert I had luscious pineapple cold cake.

Ferrol to Vilalba

Our first stop this morning was the grocery store because our picnic supplies were running low. We bought bread, meat, cheese and chocolate.

We did not buy this Special K but I’ve never seen it with chocolate before. I thought it was fun.

Not far down the road we went for a walk down the edge of a lagoon.

Then a bit farther along we stopped at an amazing white sand beach and it was deserted!

Roger went wading and said it was very cold.

One of the advantages of traveling with a marine biologist is that he can identify all the shells you find. From left to right – mussel, razor clam, cockle, limpet, limpet with a barnacle on it and a Venus clam.

At another beautiful beach we had a picnic lunch.

Finally we went to the lookout at the northernmost point in Spain. The wind was blowing hard. It felt like a gale.

Baiona to Ferrol

Today we moved from Baiona on the west coast of Spain just north of the Portugal border to Ferrol on the north coast.

Along our route we stopped at Santiago de Compostela to see the Cathedral and square at the end of the Camino de Santiago. On our travels we have seen lots of pilgrims with the iconic scallop shell on their packs.

The cathedral is undergoing renovations so the interior was pretty much covered up.

Our second stop was the Hercules Tower on the north coast in A Caruña. The Romans built several large lighthouses along the coasts of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The Hercules Tower is the only one still in use. It was originally built in the first century. We climbed the narrow stone steps to the top to see the magnificent view.

Our destination today was Ferrol. Our Parader overlooks a Spanish Naval base. After we checked in we went to visit the Museum of Naval Construction.

This evening we played cards and then. wandered around the Parador gardens.

Monforte de Lemos to Baiona

The building on the hill is the Parador in Monforte de Lemos where we stayed Friday night.

Just down the road from Monforte we stopped to check out this pedestrian bridge over the Miño River in Ourense. It is s-shaped.

A bit down the road we saw this road bridge. The curving part is a pedestrian walkway. I think Ourense could be renamed the Bridge Town.

For a change today we didn’t drive backroads to get to our destination so we arrived in Baiona about one. It is a beautiful day so we walked around the fortress walls.

About half way through we went down into the town and had some lunch.

Duke and I shared some calamari and Gayle and Roger shared scrambled eggs with shrimp and baby eels. Both dishes were absolutely wonderful.

When we got back to the hotel we played cards overlooking the Atlantic.