Palas De Rei to Castañeda – Stage 34

Stage 34 – Palas De Rei – Castañeda
Total Distance – 22.8 km (14.1 miles)
Adjusted for Climb – 23.7 km  (14.7 miles, accrued ascent 180 m = 0.9 km)
High Point: O Coto at 515 m (1,670 feet)

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Please note that some names may be in Galician – you’ll now it when you see it.

A short distance out of Palas de Rei we met an Australian couple. Notice the Hórreo to the left of the couple. Sue is carrying her red backpack.

Our stay in Palas de Rei (pop. 4,500) was pretty uneventful. I’m guessing because at this point we were so close to Santiago that our energies were focused on finding a place to sleep, eating and not injuring ourselves by doing something stupid, such as tripping over a curb or missing a step. Of course these were everyday concerns on the Camino but they became magnified once you realized just how close you were to your goal. Getting to Santiago was always an obession but now it became even more of one. For some reason I ran into more Australians and walked with them than any other nationality on the Camino. I was even beginning to talk like them!! This day was no different as Sue and I quickly encountered an Australian couple and started walking with them.

A beautiful Galician home made of stone

The 12th century Church at San Xulián do Camino dedicated to San Xulián .

We had some early rough going through a forested area.

Not only were we about to enter a new province, A Coruña, but we also on this day would cross five river valleys. They were small shallow rivers, and the valleys were green and verdant.

The weather was threatening but all we cared about was getting to Santiago.

Crossing into a new province, our last province!

Sue and our new-found Australian friends approaching a medieval bridge.

The Church of Santa Maria

 At the village of Leboreiro, a once important place from the 11th to 13th centuries and called “Campus Levurarius” (Rabbit Field) by the Codex Calixtinus, we stopped to enter the 13th century Church of Santa Maria. Rebuilt in the 18th century this church has an interesting legend attributed to its founding. It was said that a nearby fountain was emanting a “heavenly odor” and at night a “shining light”. Villagers, seeing this as a sign from above, proceeded to dig at the source of this divine intervention and found an image of the Virgin Mary there. They immediately placed it on the altar of the church. The one catch was that the image would not stay where it was placed and somehow returned to the fountain. This pattern repeated itself over several days until the villagers carved the tympanum we see here today and dedicated the church to the Virgin Mary. Satisfied, the image of the Virgin remained on the altar and has been in the church ever since. To add to the legend, it was believed by villagers in the 1960’s that the she returned to the fountain every night to comb her hair.

Inside the Church of Santa Maria

The church also has some interesting Romanesque design elements supporting the roof, corbels, and “including one very obvious phallus”. I must of missed this since I don’t remember it and I’m sure I would not have forgotten something like that in a church! Next time.

The Ponte Velha crossed the río Furelos in the town of Furelos.

At the Ponte Velha we stopped for our most distinctive sello of the Camino. It was a wax sello! A gentleman at the bridge melted the wax before our very eyes and used a bronze stamp to produce a wax sello. Many people stopped for it and as you can see on the left of the above photo it drew quite a crowd. Once we had crossed the bridge we were in the modern surburbs of Melide. Melide is an adminstrative center of 8,000 inhabitants but more importantly for peregrinos it is famous for its octopus! After saying goodbye to our Australian friends who were doing a short stage and staying in Melide Sue and I hightailed it to the Pulpería A Garnacha, one of the many famous restaurants that specialized in pulpo Galega (octopus) where we had a meal of octopus, sprinkled with pimentón ahumado (smoked paprika), and local ribeiro white wine. It was delicious and is what is done in Melide!

Octopus being cut up after coming out of a steaming black kettle!

Melide is and was not only pulpo Galega. This was the place where the Roman Via Traiana and the Cantabrian roads intersected and as such Melide became an important transportation center. Furthermore Melide is in the exact geographic center of Galicia and not unusually it became an important town for pilgrims hosting businesses, hospices and hospitals.

Getting nearer and nearer to Santiago!!

The Cruciero that stands in front of the Santa Maria de Melide Church located on the way out of town.

After pulpo and wine it was time to move on and our next stop was the Santa Maria de Melide Church. At first we weren’t sure we’d be able to see the church because the doors seemed shut but we soon found a man that was able to open the church for us. This church is a Romanesque gem and is a national landmark even though I didn’t see any indication of its landmark status. It is reputed to be the most complete example of the Romanesque style in the area and one look confirms that it is the best preserved and maintained as well. The church was constructed of granite in the 13th century and it has a “single nave, ending in a semi-circular apse in its apse, with a cul-de-four, decorated with Renaissance paintings.”

Notice its Romanesque altar (one of the few Romanesque altars left in Galicia)

The church has many, many more interesting features, inside and outside, that we didn’t know of at the time and I wish we could have stayed there longer to have enjoyed them all but the pull of the Camino was calling.

Very, very soon thereafter we stopped in the village of Carballal mainly to photograph a beautiful stone house. Living in California, as I do, you do not find any stone houses because of our earthquakes so you can imagine how taken I was with this house.

Our final destination was the hamlet of Castañeda and the casa rural that we’d booked for the night. Since it was about 8 kilometers away and we decided to hurry along so that we’d have plenty of time to shower and rest before dinner. We found Castañeda to be the epitome of a rural farming community and one would have never guessed that this was the place where pilgrims would deposit the limestone rocks that had carried with them from Triacastela to be fired for the lime used to construct the Cathedral of Santiago. Who knew?!

After refreshing and reviving showers both Sue and I were ready to cross the street to the Cafe Bar Santiago and have some typical pilgrim fare for dinner. It consisted of a meat, french fries (the go to carb of choice on the Camino), plenty of wine (another Camino tradition) and ice cream for dessert. On the patio we noticed a couple, consisting of a man in his late 30’s and a woman in her 60’s, and asked if we could join them for dinner. Shamus was an Anglo-Irish doctor who had started his Camino in St. Jean Pied de Port. Interestingly his specialty was infectious diseases, mainly tropical ones. He had met his Irish mother in Sarria so that they could walk into Santiago together. We enjoyed our conversation and I asked Shamus what it was like being a doctor on the Camino. His reply can be best summed up in one word, “frustrating”. We all know that doctors are trained to diagnose and help and when, in passing conversation, peregrinos would learn that Shamus was a doctor they would invariably ask him to see an injury that they were struggling with and advise them. Shamus would check their injury and his advice was always the same: “You need to stop walking”. Some cases he said could produce a lasting injury. The response that he got was also invariably the same: “I can’t stop”. I did not find this surprising because I too faced off with an injury to my achilles tendon but I stopped and fully rested for three days before continuing on, in less pain but some pain nonetheless. This familiar pattern of sound medical advice and the rejection of the advice was very frustrating to Shamus because after all he was telling them what any doctor would of told them and had they been at home they would of taken his advice. Here on the Camino his medical knowledge was trumped by the overwhelming urge to arrive at Santiago. I really felt for Shamus and no wonder that he was reluctant to give advice anymore on the Camino! The lesson here is that if you are a doctor walking the Camino you need to be prepared to be frustrated or you will need to keep your profession secret.  I’m glad I’m not a doctor!

Sarria to Portomarín – Stage 32

íStage 32 – Sarria – Portomarín
Total Distance – 22.4 km (13.9 miles)
Adjusted for Climb – 23.9 km  (14.8 miles, accrued ascent 300 m = 1.5 km)
High Point: Cruce at Momientos at 660 m (2,165 feet)

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Please note that some names may be in Galician – you’ll now it when you see it.

Sue and I arrived in the early evening at Sarria (pop. 13,000) and we lost no time in finding our hotel, the slightly off the beaten track but very modern Hotel Mar del Plata. As we walked to our hotel we noticed that some streets were cordoned off and had wooden bicycle ramps (for jumping) snaking through the narrow streets. There was a BMX freestyle jump competition taking place right in the heart of Sarria! The atmosphere was festive and the competitors were getting a lot of “air” out of their jumps because the course started at the higher part of town and the downward slope made for some very high and fast jumps!

The ramps for the BMX competition

This one is near the highest part of the town

When we were recommended the hotel we had been told that the restaurant in the hotel had some excellent food. That night we found out that indeed excellent it was! The next morning at breakfast Sue told me that she wasn’t feeling well and we decided that I would go ahead on foot to Portomarín while she would sleep in and take a taxi later that afternoon. We were concerned about the large number of peregrinos we expected to compete for lodging from Sarria onwards so we decided that we could take advantage of the situation by having her book our rooms when she arrived.

Which way to go? When in doubt always follow the painted one. Many times businesses such as Hostels, Albergues, and Pensiones also use the yellow arrow to direct you to them.

I was to be on my own for this stage and started walking at about 9:00 a.m. As I entered the old quarter and climbed up the rúa Maior and made my way to the higher part of town where the Mosteiro de Madalena is located, I sensed the “Saturday Morning in the Park” atmosphere that made Sarria a starting point for many. The signs also reminded me that this was not a new concept since Sarria had been a major medieval center of the pilgrimage route. The people and the language being spoken left me in no doubt that I was in a Celtic Galicia.

A plaque dedicated to Magellan’s historic circumnavigation of the globe. His expedition was the first in history to accomplish this feat although he did not live to see Spain again. Many Galicians sailed with him.

This one is in Latin

That morning in Sarria I also saw something that I had never before witnessed on the Camino; large families walking together. I felt like I was in an outing in the park. Of course this new presence was due to the fact that Sarria was the starting point from where you could get a credencial by completing the 110 kilometers (more or less) to Santiago. I was immediately conscious that I would see more peregrinos today than I ever did.

A Spanish family of 7 navigating their way through the ramps

More peregrinos up ahead

The Iglesia de San Salvador located at the top of the rúa Maior

The 13th century Fortaleza y Torres (Fort and Towers) at the intersection of the rúa Maior and the rúa do Castelo

As I arrived at the higher part of town I was able to enjoy the view from above even though there was a slight chill in the air.

A view of modern Sarria below from the Parque Do Bosque

A Cross of the type that are all over Galicia. This one was in the Parque Do Bosque

Approaching the Mosteiro da Madalena on the rúa da Mercede

Mosteiro da Madalena was formerly an Augustinian monastery founded in the 13th century. A community of Mercedarians now reside there.

Although I was walking alone there were many others just starting their Camino.

Another family on the trail.

The cemetery that is behind the iglesia de San Roque

The medieval Ponte Áspera (meaning “rough stone”) that spans the río Celeiro

I remember thinking at the time about how green everything was and how excited the children were to be starting their camino. I was in good spirits and buoyed by the excitement of others around me.

The 110 Kilometers to go mark

A family crossing a small bridge

A lone peregrina up ahead

A group of peregrinos pushing ahead

After going under a modern railway bridge, over the train tracks and through forested trails it was soon time for a rest break and luckily for me I stopped at the beautiful Casa Barbadelo which is a first-class rural pensione/albergue. Since I only stopped there for a snack and a cup of coffee I can’t tell you much about the accommodations but if the setting was anything to go by they must have been excellent.

Casa Barbadelo

The full name of the village of Barbadelo is Santiago de Barbadelo and this village was the site of a monastery in 874. Only a 12th century church, the Iglesia de Santiago survives. It was outside of Barbadelo that I met a Spanish family that consisted of two grandparents walking with their grandson and his new wife. I found out that the happy couple had just returned from their honeymoon in California! The gently rolling and green hills along with the quaint and very Galician stone houses formed a perfect backdrop for this lovely walk.

Entrance to a Galician village. Notice the small white pointed structure to the right. It’s a Galician Hórreo, a stone structure on pedestals that is used to store grains and to cure meats. The curved pedestals (not visible here) that serve as a base are used to keep small animals out.

This was a stand-off between a cyclist and a herd of cattle. Guess who won?

Me posing at the hundred kilometer to go mark. Soon after taking this picture an invisible local shouted out that the marker wasn’t the real 100 K point. It was the only one I saw!

As I write this I realize, now in retrospect, that so much happened on this stage to me and that I saw so many things that were new to me on this day. Some were funny, some were sad reminders of loss but all were a part of living our lives.

Soon I was upon the village of Ferreiros which means “blacksmiths” I didn’t see any blacksmiths but I did see the beautiful church of Santa María de Ferreiros.

Iglesia Santa María de Ferreiros

A structure that was probably made by the same artisan that made hórreos for the area.

A short while after seeing this church I was reminded of the love and faith that we have for each other by these poignant and makeshift roadside memorials.

One thing about the Camino is that it teaches you that whatever happens to you, you must move ahead. As I said a prayer for those that had lost a loved one and for those that had died I prayed that they may have been able to move on with their lives as we peregrinos moved on the road towards Santiago.

At the next village I got to, just at end of this road, I saw a very interesting dog that enjoyed lying in wait for we unsuspecting peregrinos and barking at them to surprise them. It was a little game that the dog played, probably everyday of his life and hundreds of times!

Look closely for my little furry friend or shall I say fiend!

Gotcha! He looks like a statue.

I left my mischievous friend and walked toward the Miño valley where the ancient town of Portomarín was located. The town was a strategic location because of its bridge that spanned the Miño river and most probably for this reason was a Roman outpost. We know of a 993 AD document that calls the town Villa Portumarini and most surely it was always garrisoned, once by the Knights of Santiago. In medieval times it was and important commercial and military center. In the 19th century the nearby town of Lugo eclipsed Portomarin and the commercial significance of the town deteriorated. By 1956 a nearby dam to provide hydro-electric power was under construction and the resulting reservoir flooded the town and the major structures of the town were numbered, block by block, removed and rebuilt on a new site. This is the site of the present-day Portomarín. Eerily, somewhere submerged in the reservoir are the remains, houses and streets, of the old Portomarín.

On the outskirts of Portomarin. Notice the advertisements for albergues and pensiones.

The bride over the Miño river

An interesting thing happened to me on the outskirts of Portomarín. I was walking, minding my own business, when all of a sudden the self-proclaimed Spanish “World Champion” Camino walker briefly introduced himself to me. He was a skinny bony man in his 50’s who claimed to have walked the Camino 50 times! As he walked past me I didn’t believe his claim and was to meet up with him later.

Notice the steep stairway at the end of the bridge.

As I was walking across this bridge I noticed that peregrinos were walking up a steep stairway, with ridiculously narrow steps, at the end of the bridge. I also noted that it was dangerously steep and that I was also dangerously fatigued at this point. I figured out that you could easily bypass the stairs by walking up the street that took you to the same place. What was I to do? My brain must have not been working real well at that point because I thought to myself that going up these stairs must be some sort of peregrino ritual and that I would hate myself if I didn’t go up them. The rational side of my brain was blockaded somehow because I didn’t think of the fact that I would have hated myself even worse if I made a misstep and fell down the stairs, hurting myself and probably ending my camino. As I walked toward the stairs I felt a sense of foreboding but also determination. What was I to do?

As you probably guessed I went up the steps. My reward for such a stupid act was the look on the self-proclaimed Spanish “World Champion” Camino walker’s face when he saw me right behind him. It said to me, “How the hell did you keep up with me the Spanish “World Champion” Camino walker!!?” My second reward was a cold beer that Sue had waiting for me on the patio of the Café/Pensione where we were staying. I wish I had a picture of me drinking that beer and of the face of the Spanish “World Champion” Camino walker!

O Cebreiro to Triacastela – Stage 30

Stage 30 – O Cebreiro – Triacastela
Total Distance – 21.3 km (13.2 miles)
Adjusted for Climb – 22.3 km (accrued ascent 200 m = 1 km)
High Point: O’Cebreiro at 1,330 m (4,363 feet)

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Please note that some names may be in Galician – you’ll now it when you see it.

Finally were we firmly in Galicia – the promised land! The stage before us had some initial climbs before it went almost completely downhill and frankly I didn’t mind that at all. Usually I’m weary of downhill stages because that’s when you tend to get hurt but I was so happy to be in Galicia, every step taking me closer to Santiago, that I didn’t care. I did begin to notice that the churches that we were starting to see in Galicia were much smaller and older than others on the Camino. Also the countryside was greener – those Atlantic winds and storms being caged in by the mountains made Galicia a green haven.

We started the day in a heavy mist and everything from O Cebreiro down was socked in.

Heavy clouds covering the Valley floor.

Soon we were on a forested trail.

The way through the woods

We had plenty of signs to show us the way!

The first village that we saw was called Liñares. Dating back to at least the 8th century – we know this because it was mentioned in an 8th centruy document – and mentioned in the 12th century Codex Calixtinus or Liber Sancti Jacobi – Liñares was named for its flax fields that provided linen.

The village of Liñares

All along the ridge we were to see fields with Scotch broom and spiky green plants that I found out later were wild absinthe.

Sue walking toward the mist

I had to stop for a picture!

Peregrinos approaching Linares

The iglesia San Esteban in Liñares was built prior to 1120 and restored in 1963.

The iglesia San Esteban

Narrow entrance to the church

My father-in-law will like that this church is still in use!

Notice the scallop shells on this Santiago Peregrino. I like his dog!

You can see where the restoration work was done.

After a brief stop at the iglesia San Esteban we were soon on the move again. At the Alto San Roque (1,270 meters, 4,166 feet) were were soon upon the Monumento do Peregrino. This large statute on a stone base is a tribute to all the peregrinos who decide to walk the Camino. As you can see from the pictures below the statute represents a peregrino with his satchel and hat, balancing himself on a walking stick while fighting the elements, the winds, rain, snow or sleet, that stand between him and his destination. At the time I just stood there to take it all in I wasn’t thinking; “Hey, that’s me!” but now with the fullness of time I can honestly say, “Hey, that was me!!”

 

Once again we are moving downhill

Cyclists were too!!

Monumento do Peregrino near the Alto San Roque (1,270 meters)

I think the statute was also telling me, “You’ve made it this far, past all the really difficult obstacles, now it’s time to bring it home to Santiago!”

Continuing on to another 2 kilometers past this monument we came to the village of Hospital da Condesa (in Spanish, Hospital de la Condesa). This village was the site of a pilgrim hospital that was established here in the 9th century by the Condesa doña Egilo, the wife of the Conde Gatón. The only remains of that hospital is la iglesia parroquial de San Xoán (San Juan) . This church is laid out in the form of a Latin cross and has an exterior stairwell that leads to a cupola. The church once belonged to the Knights Hospitalers of St. John of Malta..

la iglesia parroquial de San Xoán (San Juan)

The outer stairwell leading to the cupola.

Notice the small entrance to the church

Having a conversation with the lady volunteer at the church after getting my credencial stamped

The scenery outside of Hospital de la Condesa

Soon we were approaching the hamlet of Padornelo which although in 1985 had 3 inhabitants had been the home at one time a priory of the Hospitallers of San Juan de Jerusalén.

Yellow arrow showing us the way

Peregrina up ahead of us

A palloza just outside of Padornelo

Sue taking a picture of the bulls in Padornelo. I affectionately like to call this picture, “The Boys are Back in Town!”

Alto do Poio pass (1,337 meters, 4,386 feet) and there we stopped again to see a very rustic chapel.

Sue taking in the beautiful sights

I wish I knew the name of this chapel.

I wish I knew the name of this chapel.

At this point although we had 12.5 kilometers to go to reach Triacastela our final destination we were feeling really strong and as a result we flew and covered the 12.5 kilometers in a little over 2 hours.

Plaque praising the architectural restorations in the village of Ramil and town of Triacastela that were sponsored by the Ministry of Culture.

Village of Ramil

A 800 year old tree

That’s the entrance to Triacastela!

O Cebreiro

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The view from O Cebreiro

The village as seen from the albergue

Whether called “Mons Februari”, “Zebuaril” or “Zebberrium” in the past and having been inhabited since ancient times, O Cebreiro was and is a mystical place. In the United States only Santa Fe, New Mexico and Sedonna, Arizona come to my mind as comparable places. Although there have been no reports of an harmonic convergence here, there most certainly have been pilgrimonic (I just made up this word) convergences for over a thousand years.

Romans knew the value of this strategic location and protected the road here that led west through the mountains of Galicia. Roads have a funny way of leading in two directions and the village was also the site of a battle in 968 that barred Norman pirates from entering Castilla. Legend has it that the Holy Grail was hidden in this very village and kept in the church.

La Iglesia de Santa María (pre-Romanesque, 9th century)

Inside La Iglesia de Santa María

O Cebreiro is the first Galician town on the Camino Francés and there can be no doubt whatsoever that it was the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela that put this small remote enclave on the map. A hospice was founded here sometime around the year 863. The church is the oldest extant church on the Camino and a plaque commemorates the fact that the Benedictine Order has been celebrating mass in the church here since the year 838!

The plaque commemorating the service of the Benedictine Order.

O Cebreiro gained european fame with what was called the Miracle of the Eurcharist (Milagro de la Eucaristía) or the Legend of the Holy Grail of Galicia (Leyenda del Santo Grial de Galicia).The legend has it that sometime around the year 1300 a Juan Santín, who lived in the hamlet called Barxamaior that was a distance of a half a league from the church of O Cebreiro, was so devout that he would attend mass whether it rained, snowed or was windy to a extent that produced bitter cold conditions. On a day in that year when a furious storm struck O Cebreiro, just as the parish priest thought that the conditions were so impossible that no living soul would be able to attend mass, who would be the only person to enter the church but the aforementioned Juan Santín! The priest was so flabbergasted that he exclaimed, “Look who comes here in such a great storm and so exhausted to see a little bit of bread and wine!! The priest then unwisely said, “Your presence was not worth the effort”. As the Priest was raising the sacred host for consecration, God, in order to punish the lack of faith and charity of the priest, turned the bread and wine that was in the Holy Grail into the blood and flesh. It must of been quite a lesson to the Priest! This lesson was not lost on the rest of Europe as pilgrims flocked to O Cebreiro.

Bust of Father Elías Valiña Sampedro

The reason that modern pilgrims flock to O Cebreiro and the Camino is largely due to the ground-breaking efforts of Father Elías Valiña Sampedro who was a parish priest here and a great scholar of the Camino de Santiago. At a time when the popularity of the pilgrimage was at an all-time low Father Valiña’s 2 superb books, Caminos a Compostela (1961) and El Camino de Santiago: Estudio Histórico Jurídico (1978), along with his never-ending promotion of the Camino revived the pilgrimage. He was responsible for the first modern guide for walking pilgrims, the introduction of the format of having a map and text on facing pages and the concrete steles (with the yellow scallop shells) that you see everywhere. You could very well say that the rebirth of the Camino was nutured by a parish priest in O Cebreiro!

Father Elías Valiña Sampedro’s memory also was honored with a stele of his own.

Here in this village you will also get to see a Palloza. In order to do justice to this unique and ancient architectural style I’m going to quote the excellent book, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook by David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000):

The pallozas, low, oval stone houses, with ridge-hugging thatched roofs, are remnants of an ancient architectural style that goes back to Celtic times. They are found by archaeologists wherever there have been Celtic communities, from northern Scotland and Ireland to Brittany, Galicia, and the mountains of northwestern Morocco. Their rounded walls and aerodynamic straw roofs (celme), lashed firmly with twisted sprigs of broom (veos) to wooden ridge-poles against the the fierce mountain winds, are perfectly adapted to their environment. Pallozas tend to have 2 rooms: one for animals and the other for humans. Generally both set of inhabitants enter through a single door. Pallozas have no chimneys: smoke escapes through the straw roof, under which are hung joints of meat and sausages to be cured for eating during the long winters. Within the stone oval, the family side of the house is often divided into 2 levels by a wooden platform loft, with sleeping quarters upstairs, and the family kitchen, living quarters and work spaces below.

A traditional Galician Palloza

Unfortunately commercialism in the form of shops with trinkets is rife in the village but I guess everyone is entitled to make a euro every now and then. As for my stay in O Cebreiro it was a brief one. Since I did not reserve a room ahead of time I was forced to ask around at some of the casa rurales in the village. One person told me to ask at a Cafe/Restaurant and much to my surprise they ran a lovely casa rural and had two rooms available.

The Cafe/Restaurante where we found lodging

Our Casa Rural

The Fireplace

The Living Room

Our stay in O Cebreiro was also made pleasant by the excellent food and excellent wine we had and our first taste of a Torta de Santiago (Cake of Santiago). As the first village in Galicia I could think of no better place to have experience it than here!

Notice the Wine and Torta de Santiago! No wonder we have large smiles!!

 

 

 

 

My Pilgrimage in Pictures – June 30th, 2013

I thought it would be fun to post one picture that captured a special moment for each day I was on the Camino in 2013. Considering that I took over 2,000 pictures it will be tough to pick just one but here goes.

HARD TO PICK JUST ONE TODAY!

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I like the mist in this photo and also the peregrino making his way forward

This was a milestone in more ways than one! 100 kilometers to go!!

The cross marks the site of a field that was the burial site for medieval peregrinos

Beautiful Church

The Church is surrounded by tombs

The beautiful Galician countryside