Last weekend we had a long weekend for Pentecost. We decided to spend some more time in Galicia, the province just north of Portugal and one of my favourite regions in Spain.
We had two main goals- See the Botafumeiro and hike on Las Islas Cies. Luckily, we were able to accomplish both and then some!
The boat we took to the Islas Cies- an archipelago in the Ria de Vigo, also a beautiful national park.
Lunch time! Empanada de Pulpo (Octopus hot pocket) and an excellent view of the interior lake and the sand beach.
A great view of the water and the other islands in the ria.
Galicia gets a lot of rains so moss and ferns tend to grow all over the place.
Spectacular views of the landscape- we were lucky that it didn't rain that day. This is a view from a bird watching area.
After seeing the Islas Cies we drove to Santiago so that we could attend mass the next morning and watch the Botafumeiro.
Dinner! It was the seafood platter- Mom and Dad would be so proud! I hated seafood as a kid, but I really got into this plate of razor clams, regular clams, crab legs, shrimp, percebes (goose barnacles in English) amongst other things.
The Cathedral of Santiago Apostel at night time.
Below- My video of the Botafumeiro- a large censer that weighs 53kg and reaches a speed of 68km/h. Its original purpose was to perfume the air in the cathedral- the pilgrims were (and some still are) quite stinky. It is still used today on special occasions, like Pentecost, when we were there.
This is the cute little casa rural where we stayed in Finisterre. Below is the view we had from our room!
The small port of Finisterre.
Finisterre- the End of the Earth in Latin, really it is supposed to be the western most point in continental Europe- apparently they were wrong and the actual point is a bit farther north.
The lighthouse on the "End of the Earth" Beautiful views from on top of the mountain!
Before leaving Galicia we had a great meal. Caldo Gallego and some more Percebes- Goose Barnacles. The percebes resemble a finger, and to eat it you hold on to the "nail" and then peel off the skin and eat the fleshy part underneath. I would say that it tastes like the sea. Yum!
This was a funny sign with warning that I actually needed... :(
Thank God for emergency-breaks!
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