Solos en una Isla Griega: Kimolos Top 3

OK, it's time to wrap this Greece trip recap up, before a whole year has passed since we went. Last but not least, was the island of Kimolos. On the whole, our two-week journey was ordered from more hectic to more relaxed. We started off with big-city Athens with lots to see, then coastal towns/cities that were a little slower-paced but still quite busy, followed by the small island of Milos, and lastly the tiny island of Kimolos. Kimolos makes Milos look big and bustling in comparison. 

Apparently, part of Chorio's castle

The ferry ride between the two islands is barely half an hour. Although a smattering of houses can be found near the port and on other parts of the island, Kimolos really only has one village, Chorio. And it's so charming! All painted white with blue accents. Even the stones on the ground were outlined in white paint. (The island's official website has tons of info in English, FYI)

On quiet island time, our schedule was as follows: mornings at the beach, lunch, nap, stroll around town in the mild evenings, catch a glimpse of the sunset, dinner on our patio, bed, repeat.

 

We strayed from our routine on three occasions: 

1. Hike to Skiadi. A must see in Kimolos. The short hike is worth it to see this giant mushroom rock. And frankly, it was nice to do something other than go to the beach. The trail is well-indicated, and for the hour there we were totally alone amongst a barren backdrop. On the way back, we ran into another couple who asked in Greek, ¨How far away is Skiadi?¨ At least that's what I thought they said, so I answered in English. She seemed satisfied enough with my reply. Anyways, you don't have to be a geologist to appreciate this very unique rock formation, nor do you have to be an expert trekker to get there. 

Skiadi!

2. Movie Night. One of the most serendipitous events on our trip was a little outdoor film screening. We had heard about it from some hitchhikers we picked up and decided to check it out for ourselves. As the sun was going down, the water was just warm enough to go in. Crossing ¨sunset dip¨ off my Greek bucket list. That's certainly something you can't do in Galicia...the water would be just too frigid! From the beach we could see a path of tiki torches. So picturesque! We sat on some boulders furthest from the screen to make a quick exit. More than the movie we were just interested in the set up. It was in English (fine for me) but with Greek subtitles (not so fine for my travel companion). Quite amazing that this tiny island has a cultural society that puts on fun activities. Good on you, Kimolos! 

 

Movie Night with the Kimolistes

3. Fancy Restaurant. From our home base, we could see a building on a hill with a wraparound porch beautifully lit at night. Turns out this is one of Kimolos' fancier restaurants. On our last night we treated ourselves to dinner there, switching things up from our usual spread of simple Greek tapas on our little patio. The ambiance of the place was pleasant, and the pasta was pretty good. This was our big ¨night on the town¨ in Kimolos.

Dolmens, and Altars, and Petroglyphs, Oh My!

Galicia has loads of ancient ruins, some of them well-preserved and cared for, others not so much. This weekend on a group hike accompanied by an archaeologist, we learned the stories behind some hidden pre-Roman monuments on the outskirts of Lugo. 

If you squint, you can see the dolmen

The first stop was a dolmen in a field. A mini-dolmen if you ask me. But of course, as the archaeologist explained, it was likely much taller than it appeared, still mostly buried underground. Dolmens are tombs, and she noted that in Galicia there are rarely any bones left in them because of the ground's acidity. Fun fact! But they are found all over Europe, so they know dolmens are for burial.

Next was a ¨roda,¨ an elevated circle in a clearing amongst pine trees. Honestly, if I had been hiking by myself I would not have thought it were millennia old. It just looks like a hilly clearing. But from the top of the ¨wall,¨ you can see it isn't natural, the circle even has a little opening which would have been an entrance. Our guide had worked on excavations here, and said that in the small portion of the circle that they had worked on, they only found pitchers and tools for grinding grains. Surrounding the circle they also discovered purposefully worked quartz, which would shine in the sunlight. They're not sure what this place was, but it reinforces the idea that Adai was a special place. A fellow hiker theorized that it was a place for congresses and politics, where they gathered from far and wide to decide on important matters. My slightly less formal theory is that it was a place for festivals and raves. Whatever it may have been used for, the archaeologist agreed that it was probably something that involved socializing among the numerous communities and tribes.

View from atop the ¨wall.¨
To the left you can see the dip which would have been the entrance

Our next stop was the Altar of Adai, a misnomer. It's actually a large, flat stone with holes carved into it, likely for beams to support a longhouse. It's one of the only known specimens in Europe. Assumedly there are more around, yet to be discovered.

¨Altar¨ of Adai

The last stop was a quick one to see some petroglyphs on a large boulder. There were several that were ¨crosses.¨ The circle was quite clear, with a cross inside it. Apparently they were from the Middle Ages. On the far side of the boulder were grooves likely for grinding grains. Milling was an important ritual ages ago.

Back for Summer Vacation!

I'm back! Just in time for summer vacation. I didn't really go anywhere, just busy working my usual stint teaching English classes in addition to working on an international conference held here in Galicia. But more on that later. Now I'm officially on vacation and hope to catch up on the past few months' of blogging. Time to start churning out the entries!

To kick off summer vacation, like many good lugueses we went to Miño to hit the beach. Despite it being July, the temperature maxed out at 75ºF and there were lots of cloudy patches. Plus the wind on the beach made it hard to bear at times. Mini sandstorms! That probably explains why even on a Sunday there were few people on the beach. The others must have gotten the memo that nowadays early July is hardly beach weather. Regardless, there was just enough sun to dive in a few times throughout the weekend. At times it was more pleasant in the water than out of it. Plus we had plenty of room to spread out and play beach sports.

Almost too rich
when not accompanied
by churros.

But Sunday morning it was definitely too cloudy to haul our gear to the beach. So what is one to do in a beach town when the beach is out of the question? First we had a very vacation-y breakfast of chocolate con churros. Yummo! And as you may know, in Spain the typical hot chocolate is thickkk. I always get a kick out of resting the spoon on the surface, just to prove how thick it really is. Next stop: the weekly fair to buy underwear! Afterwards we went on a new sensory walking trail from one beach along the train tracks, through a forest, ending in a quiet residential area called Ponte do Porco. 

Ponte do Porco: the pig's bridge. Time for another Galician legend! In the 15th century lived a servant named Roxín Roxal. He fell in love with his master's daughter, Tareixa. The feeling was mutual, but clearly impossible, so the lord, Nuno Freire de Andrade--nicknamed ¨O Mao¨ (the bad), so imagine-- sent Roxín Roxal away. He gave him a golden dagger and a few coins to get by. Time passed, Roxín Roxal disappeared, Tareixa got married. Then a huge wild boar began to torment the lands of Nuno Freire de Andrade. Crops were ruined and even some peasants were killed by the treacherous boar. So Nuno organized a boar hunt, with his son-in-law and daughter Tareixa taking the lead. They had cornered the beast at the bridge. When suddenly, the animal lunged at them. The son-in-law-- instead of facing it with a spear-- jumped out of the way. So the boar went right for Tareixa, killing her instantly. Everyone went into mourning, especially the lord, ashamed of his yellow-bellied son-in-law. However, one morning the boar appeared dead next to the bridge with a golden dagger sticking out of it. It was then that the lord knew that he had made a mistake. His daughter would have been alive if she had married Roxín Roxal as she had wished. Social class doesn't buy bravery.

Now there is a cruceiro there, meant to look like the markers the Andrade family would have used to designate their lands. Apparently the cross over the boar represents the triumph of good over evil (boars often representing the devil in Medieval times). And fun fact: both John Adams passed through Ponte do Porco some time after the Revolutionary War.

(Blooming) O Bierzo

As I mentioned, this year I didn't experience any new Entroido traditions, but I couldn't just stay at home for five days in a row. So we took an express trip east to neighboring O Bierzo. Centuries ago, when Galicia was a kingdom (O Reino de Galiza), the region of O Bierzo was considered part of it. Nowadays, it's technically part of Castilla y León, even though there are some sections where they speak Galician. 

Pretty start

First stop: Corullón, a small village with specific hiking trails around their cherries. Since during the week before Entroido plenty of trees had been in bloom around town, I was hopeful. Cherry blossoms! Unfortunately, we are destined to not see cherry blossoms by the millions. This is the second time I have jumped the gun in terms of the spring visual treat. In the neat rows of around one hundred cherry trees, only ONE was blossoming. Thank you, early bloomer! I insisted I would go back later on this year, when cherry blossom season is in full swing. But now-- especially with the price of gas soaring-- I think it will once again have to wait til next year. We did spot a Romanesque church, however, so not all was lost in Corullón.

San Nicolás

Next stop: Villafranca del Bierzo. More of a town than a village, this was our home base for the night. At lunchtime it was sunny so first we got a drink in the main plaza which had a good amount of people. We sat at a terraza that seemed to be for the fashionable old ladies to socialize before going home to lunch. And here they also gave a hot tapa, garlic soup. For lunch we ate in a bar/restaurant decorated with dark wooden beams on the ceiling and a fire burning in the corner. Now that's what we call enxebre! But here's how you can tell O Bierzo is no longer in Galicia: when they serve a ¨spoon dish¨ such as soup or lentils, they don't leave the entire pot. This would be considered a crime in Galicia! I've heard of families who never return to a restaurant not because of poor service, high prices, or bad food, but because they didn't leave the stew pot for them to help themselves to seconds. It seemed weird to me that the waitress even brought the small serving pot of soup out. If she wasn't going to leave it, why not just bring out a bowl filled with soup? But I digress 😉

After that grave offense at lunch, we decided to get the coffee on the road. After a copious meal, we almost always stay to have a coffee and a shot of digestive liqueur. I myself don't usually partake in this tradition. On this occasion, getting our after-lunch drinks somewhere else encouraged us to walk around the rest of the town. Originally we had planned to explore in the late afternoon before dinner, but we saw just about everything in the hour after lunch. Aside from the aforementioned plaza, in Villafranca there is also a tree-lined avenue that seems to be the other area to get a drink on a terraza. For some reason, it was easy to imagine the town bustling in summer months. But at the end of February and on a Monday, it was pretty much dead. 

As far as sightseeing goes, Villafranca has two churches. It's on the camino to Santiago, and one of its churches is also called Santiago. It was a valid stopping point in case of injury. If someone had been walking for a spiritual debt, but got injured on the way, they could go to the puerta del perdón (door of forgiveness) in Villafranca del Bierzo and it would be considered forgiven. Then there's San Nicolás, an imposing building which has had a variety of uses including school, city hall, and church. There is also a round castle, but it's private so you can only observe it from afar. In general the town has lots of old architecture, and in some cases dilapidated. One cobblestone street is house after house with coats of arms, clearly the old wealthy road. 

Coat of Arms, Calle del Agua

The ¨Royal Road¨

The following morning, we continued east, past Ponferrada, just to see the town of Molinaseca. The place is listed as one of Spain's Most Beautiful Villages. The moniker and village did not disappoint. Despite the rain and near-emptiness of streets, it was still an absolutely lovely town for a quick stroll. I'm adding it to my own personal list of places that remind me that I'm in Europe. That would be due to the cobblestone streets and dark beams on buildings. Flashback to the Middle Ages! It seemed more well-kempt than Villafranca del Bierzo. You could tell they lived off tourism and the Camino de Santiago. Leading out of the village is a Roman bridge, and on the outskirts is Shrine to the Our Lady of Sorrows. The doors are coated in metal sheets because apparently all the pilgrims used to want to take a splinter from the door. The view from this church was the trip's grand finale-- a blooming tree framing the village's other church in the background. Finally, some blossoms in O Bierzo!

Galicia's Smallest Cemetery*

*Allegedly.

Cemiterio de Soutomerille

Last weekend we got back to hiking. We set off on a trail in Castroverde,  marked with poetically-written information panels. Away we trekked, past flat pastures of cows and little Celtic pigs, around a pair of churches from the pre-Romanesque to the last century, and through an enchanting forest with some enormously wide trees. The highlight for me, however, was the Cemetery of Soutomerille. Lost in the middle of the woods is this tiny enclosed cemetery. The moss covering it helps it blend in with its environment. The cemetery has only three vaults, less than a dozen ¨residents.¨ As far as I could tell with the tombstones, the oldest was buried in 1918. The stone edifices weren't as simple as modern-day mausoleums. Their shapes reminded me of hórreos, with two posts at either end. This could be attributed to stonemasonry being a typical trade long ago around these parts. 

On a different note, but related to Galician flora and fauna: the other day while driving home at dusk, I stopped just in time to observe a family of wild boar crossing the road! How exciting! It was the first time I had seen them in person, and from the safety of my car. There were two adults and three little piggies. In the past years, videos have circulated of wild boars running wild in the city streets at night. I think especially when we were confined back in spring 2020, they felt free to run the streets. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the equivalent of seeing deer by the side of the roads back home. This is my first boar-sighting, whereas back home we see them so often it's almost no big deal. But according to my sources, I am equally lucky that they didn't storm my car. Apparently they can do as much damage as a deer would. 

Galicia's Green Countryside

As a delayed birthday present (due to Covid restrictions, of course), this weekend we finally went to a casa rural. The morning of our fieldtrip was spent in Betanzos, but that's a post for another day.Right in time for a sesta we arrived for check-in at the casa rural. A typical and refurbished Galician countryside home, it was spacious and made of stone with wood accents. We chose to stay on the first floor, in what used to be the kitchen. It still had the stone counter/basin for washing dishes. Upstairs there were five other bedrooms, as well as little nooks and a balcony. And being springtime, a few of the trees in the yard were in bloom. Lovely!

Dinner and breakfast were served in the large, open living/dining room. The indirect lighting paired with the light wood ceiling and beams gave it a chalet/lodge vibe. Because of Covid restrictions, all the couples were at their own table, spread apart. We got to sit closest to the behemoth fire place. Despite the sunshine in April, in the stone house it was still a bit chilly! The fireplace had benches around it, but not much fire going. Dinner itself was very tasty. We savored the food knowing it was homegrown: lettuce from the garden in the salad, beef from the farm's cows, and soup from the garden greens. Similarly, breakfast was bountiful and homemade. Butter from the cows, homemade jams and jellies, honey from the area. We loaded up on toast, juice, and milk to keep us going on our hike. 

Right be for noon on Sunday, we embarked on a 7 km hike through Fragas do Eume Park. Fragas do Eume is one of the best-conserved forests on the Atlantic coast. I'd been there before but hadn't exactly gone hiking. This was a circular route that went high and low. We started walking through pine trees, then through open fields with views of the Eume River in the distance below. At first we saw a lone cow grazing about 20 feet from the trail. Less than half an hour later, there were a dozen cows! They were interspersed between the trail and the grass, accompanied by their calves/teenage cows. How exciting! They're not wild cows, but belong to someone who lets them graze yearlong. At one point we passed a shack with hay for them. The landscape changed a bit as we walked downhill through a forest of birch, chestnut, and oak trees. As we continued out from between the trees, we were exposed to the sun and wind. As well as some more great views of the river! I thought that we had arrived to a miradoiro (look out). But in fact, that was still further uphill, past an abandoned house and tons and tons of blooming toxos (apparently called gorse, but I've never heard of it outside Galicia). That miradoiro was even better: the river below, the green and yellow (from the toxos) hills and valleys as far as the eye could see. 

Once we arrived back to the car, we dug into some empanada, apparently from one of the oldest bakeries in Spain. On our way home, we passed by one of two monasteries within the Fragas do Eume Park. On my last visit there, we saw the monastery of Caaveiro, and this time it was Monfero's turn. Monfero's monastery looks surprisingly modern. I imagine it's because the majority of Galicia's old buildings are Romanesque and this was Baroque. Granted, as with many Galician treasures, half of it is overgrown and completely uncared for. The only decent part is the church with its checkered façade. The monastery itself is half collapsed, half buried under brush. As I said, unfortunately this neglect is nothing new here in Galicia. 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It hasn't snowed again since last Friday, but I've still got snow on the brain. Reminded me of my last encounter (not including the beginning of this year when we went to Pedrafita looking for snow and were disappointed) with the white stuff in Galicia. I got an unexpected taste of snow when I went hiking in mid-November last year with the youth of the city. In Galicia at least, the major cities dedicate part of the budget to youth. There are a variety of free or dirt-cheap activities and classes throughout the year. This was one of them: a fantastic option especially for people who want to hike but don't have a car. Transportation is included and it's a free, fun way to socialize. Before COVID-19, of course.

This particular hiking trip was to O Bierzo, right over Galicia's eastern border. While O Bierzo is no longer technically in Galicia, a lot of the population speaks Galician and they can study it in school. That's because traditionally it was part of the Kingdom of Galicia (Europe's first kingdom, by the way). It is a mountainous region, part of the Ancares. On the way we passed by my beloved Becerreá as well as Pedrafita do Cebreiro. We were headed to a trail within a beech forest for our hike. When I had signed up for the hike, I thought to myself, 'Pretty fall colors! Changing leaves!' Um, wrong.

The night before, they warned us that it was supposed to be 1º C. Brrr! Since I don't have snow pants here (I'm always tempted to bring them back from home, but since I normally visit in the middle of summer, it just seems ridiculous), I instead wore normal sweatpants with a pair of tights underneath. My normal waterproof hiking boots were at the cobbler's getting fixed so I borrowed a friend's. Important detail because I assumed hers were also waterproof. They were not. I also was ready to go with a newly acquired thermos that really kept my infusion scalding for hours.

OMG, snowshoes!

As our minibus chugged up the sinuous hills, getting closer to the town near our beech forest destination, the snow started falling. The town mayor himself came to plow a path for us! Once we got to the hamlet, they opened the snowed-in bar just for us to get a coffee before hitting the trails. At this point our guides were unsure about how much snow we would find out there. And at this point one of them indicated to me that me shoes were definitely not waterproof. Luckily for me, he had a spare pair of snow shoes! Apparently not being prepared sometimes has it advantages. I was the only one in the group who got to snowshoe. At first it was weird to walk in them, since I wanted to keep picking up my feet. But it's more like a glide. Despite falling a few times, I had a blast! The hardest part for me was not crossing the shoes in front of me, and a few stairs which were obviously more narrow than the snowshoes so I had to sidestep them. 

On the hike the snow slowed us down. It took us two hours to walk just two kilometers! That was partly due to waiting time-- we had to stop and wait for someone to go ahead and see if the path was clear enough. And we ended up turning around in the middle anyways. But we did get to see a small cave, used during the Civil War as a hideout. I could hardly imagine spending a night there, let alone an extended period of time. We also came across a beautiful, snow-capped waterfall. The majority of our hike was through the woods, but at one point we came to a clearing. A field of snow! There we broke out into a mini-snowball fight. Others fell onto the ground to make snow angels. Afterwards we headed back to our café starting-point to get warm and have lunch.

Fervencia do Beiro

Around and About Allariz

Speaking of lovely Galician towns...Allariz! This Medieval town of 6,000 is a favorite for many. It only took me four years to visit, and it did not disappoint. The buildings and narrow streets are delightful, as well as the riverside walk. And Allariz doesn't feel too small. The night we went out for dinner there was plenty of ambiance. There must be at least two dozen café/bars and in the center the terraces were nearly full. Our visit also happened to coincide with the Ox Meat Tapa Contest (ox meat being the specialty in that region). So we jumped at the chance to have ox without paying an arm and a leg.

Apart from its Medieval charm, Allariz is also known for its annual international garden festival. The festival lasts spring through autumn. We went later in the season, so the props weren't in the best condition. Last year's theme was eroticism, and the 12 gardens were designed by people from Europe, South America, and Japan. Some were strange. But in general, all were a nice place to take a quiet walk.

Hollow tree near the church
and fountains

We also took a short hike nearby called Santa Mariña de Augas Santas. It started at a church with three sacred fountains. The legend says that a woman from the area resisted a Roman leader's sexual advances. So, ¨the usual¨: he ordered her execution. (Huh, sounds a lot like the present day machista attitude of ¨if I can't have you, nobody can¨...) She was in the oven, awaiting being burned to death when St. Peter appeared and rescued her through the tiny chimney. Later, however, she was decapitated and where her head bounced sprung up the fountains that nowadays are said to be sacred. From the church, a stone path leads down through the forest. The next stop is an unfinished basilica. It's hard to imagine them building a basilica back in the day, in what is now the middle of nowhere. A hole in the ground is supposedly the chimney through which the damsel escaped. You can go down into the crypt too, which is quite cool. There you can see the oven where the damsel was to be burnt. There's also a small pool.

Castro Armea

Continuing the hike, there's an `everlasting fountain´ under an old oak tree. Later, you run into a post-Roman castro: Castro Armea. You can tell it's from after the Romans because the buildings are square instead of round. This stop offers a nice view of the surroundings. Further along the trail, close to the beginning is what's left of an old Roman house. What's left is the floor. What might normally appear to be just a big, odd boulder is clearly carved into flooring. It has several levels (plus the ones underground) with stairs uniting the different terraces. This must have been quite the palace for the middle of Gallaecia!

Ancestral dances and Galicia's Enchanted Forest

In Spain, every city, town, village, and hamlet has a saint. This is especially true in Galicia, since if you look at a map of place names including ¨Saint,¨ Galicia is covered in them. And for every saint, there must be a celebration! This past weekend was St. Sebastian's day. After living in Donostia-San Sebastián for a year, this feast day now holds a special place in my heart.

The tiny fishing village of Aldán in Galicia also celebrates San Sebastián day, but in a very different way. Compared to the 24-hour drumming of Donostia-San Sebastián, they have a low-key performance of what was called ¨ancestral dances.¨ After Sunday mass, the dancers prance and hop around the church to the beat of a bagpipe and a drum. This traditional dance is over 300 years old. Apparently it started as an offering to the saint to protect the villagers against the plague. 

Due to imperfect public transportation schedules, I missed the original dance around the church. But luckily for me, they repeated the dance later in the afternoon, near the church and again on the village promenade. The dance itself was made up of five female dancers, 10 male dancers, and one guide. The young women wore giant hats of flowers, and the men (most a lot older than the women) wore suits with a sash and played castanets. The dance itself was a simple swaying with some hops and swirls in between. The most impressive was that in the swirling, the women's massive hats never fell off.

Medieval Aqueduct

To take full advantage of the two bus rides to get there, I also explored the Enchanted Forest of Aldán. Before you even get into the forest, on the side of the road there's a cute mini-bridge and typical clothes washing station. The forest is like any other Galician forest-- they all seem magical. But this has the bonus of a huge Medieval aqueduct and the façade of a small castle. From what I gather, it was part of the land belonging to a small palace (pazo) nearby. The little castle was going to be ¨just for fun¨ for the owners. But it was never finished, and when the road was built right between the pazo and their yard, the forest became a charming park.

Little Unfinished Castle

All in all, it was a nice way to spend a Sunday (when there is often little to do but stay home). Some alone time in nature followed by a bit of Galician traditions to remind me that Entroido (carnival) is right around the corner!

More Pyrenees: Hiking in Aigüestortes National Park

A few minutes by car from the Vall de Boi is the Spanish National Park Aigüestortes i Estany Sant Maurici, the fourth national park I've been too (after Picos de Europa, The Galician Islands, and Ordesa y Monte Perdido). It's name is Catalan for Twisting Waters and Lake St. Maurice. Again, to get into this park you park outside and from there can take park transportation inside. But due to the winding trails, it's a van instead of a bus, and therefore much more expensive.

This time we opted to hike the entrance trail. It took a few hours, almost always uphill, and often following a river. The trail sometimes opened up to grassy, mossy pastures with pine trees and the ever-present mountain backgrounds. On our way into the park we passed one of the hundreds of lakes.

When we arrived to where the transportation would have dropped us off, we had lunch in the shade. Then we decided to continue towards Estany Llong, the closest lake on the map.On this hike we came across a herd of cattle grazing. Further on, there were so many streams crisscrossing, that they had built a wooden platform to cross the very alpine valley. Near the end of this trail was one of the shelters and then the rocky path got really steep really fast. Whew! I needed a rest before I could really take in the lake.

Estany Llong

For the first leg of the hike, we passed many other hikers. Then on the second leg, towards the second lake, we only passed people going the opposite direction. So finally, on the way back from Estany Llong it was just us. And it started to drizzle. We took a final walk around the deck they have set up near the starting off point, and hopped in a group taxi back to the car.

Pyrenees Cont'd: Hiking in Ordesa-Monte Perdido

Medieval Bridge

Rocky tent view

Our second night camping in the Pyrenees, we changed campsites-- a definite upgrade. El Valle del Bujaruelo was much cheaper, much closer to our national park destination (Ordesa y Monte Perdido), and had a much better view from the tent opening. Our first afternoon we decided to explore the valley area, taking a walk down a road to another campsite and shelter for mountaineers. Despite being kilometers away from the nearest town (the Medieval town of Torla-Ordesa, population: 315) and near the base of a mountain, there was a Medieval Bridge. The now-shelter used to be a hospital in the Middle Ages. Hard to imagine there being enough mountainside population to warrant a hospital, but long ago that region must've been booming with farmers (and traffickers) rather than tourists.

Waterfall en route

The next morning, we got up early to head to the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido. To limit traffic, you have to catch a bus in the town Torla-Ordesa which will take you into the park. We did the most common hike along with hundreds of other people: to the Cascada de la Cola de Caballo (Horse Tail Waterfall). I was surprised that the majority of our hike wasn't on a narrow trail, but a wide path. Obviously, to accommodate so much traffic. The hike started off uphill, through a forest. Along the way we saw several cool waterfalls. As the shade began to disappear the path wound up some rocks. But as B pointed out, if the families with kids could do it, so could I. (All of the kids we saw, however, were definitely in better shape than me).

Valley-- the end is nigh!

In the final stretch, the path opened up into a big, green valley surrounded by grey, rocky mountains. Magnificent! Tucked in the mountain's corner was the Horse Tail Waterfall which was true to its name. Tons of people were already there, having lunch, taking pictures, and splashing around in the freezing spring water.

Horse Tail Waterfall

We varied the walk back and savored those mountain views. After we got the bus back to town, I mustered up the energy to walk around the town a bit, nowadays just a tourist destination. We stocked up on some food for dinner and had a well-deserved beer. 

Bolos Celtas / Celtic Bowling

Hola! My computer was down for the count for a while and then I went on a long trip, which is why I haven't been blogging up til now. But there are stories to tell, so I'll get right down to it. Starting with a fieldtrip way back in May with my youngest students to try Celtic bowling...

There are actually a few different types of bowling still actively played in Galicia and Asturias. Well perhaps not so "actively." We went to a town near Navia where they have a type of alley set up in the street, and they play it during certain festivities. In this version of Celtic bowling, the balls are made from wood, the size of a coconut but denser. Then there are 10 pins made of branches. First you stand a few feet behind the pins, and throw the ball however you can to knock the pins down. It's more of a toss/bounce rather than the rolling of our typical American bowling. How ever many pins you knock down is how many points you score. The catch is, after knocking down the pins your ball has to go past a certain line probably 5 meters away. If not they say "te cagaste," you crapped yourself haha. Also, upright on the middle of that line is a little stick, which you get bonus points for knocking over. But if the ball doesn't even go past that line, you aren't able to make a rethrow, which is from behind that line towards the now far-away pins.

When it was my turn to represent Ohio, I only knocked down one. And since the ball passed the line I was able to throw again from further away. And I actually knocked one down!! Ole! I was the only person besides another teacher to knock any down from a distance. Granted, the students are 13 years old, but still, it feels like some sort of accomplishment. On another try, my ball didn't even pass the line, so one of my talkative students called me constipated, because of the crap yourself terminology. Little punk! But it was all in good fun, even if they all repeated the few phrases I said in Spanish for the next weeks of class (this is the class that always tries to get me to speak Spanish, and since it was a fieldtrip and there were other non-English speakers there I had to do it in their presence).

After Celtic bowling, we took a stroll around Navia de Suarna, which has a Medieval bridge. Cool. And a park where I got to ride the see-saw with some students like back in the day. Then we took a very short hike in the woods, accompanied by some dogs who followed us from their house. Oh also this trip was the source of the greatest student quote of the year. Translated into English: So your family speaks English? And you understand them? Wow, that's so cool! Later on I realized I had confused her by saying I live in Lugo, but since I've been the American the whole schoolyear, I thought she'd've known the difference...

Hiking Fieldtrip

As the schoolyear winds down (this week is my last! not forever, thank God) and the weather gets nice, outdoor fieldtrips are popping up like daisies. And luckily because my school is just that wonderful, I got to go on both of them within one week. Yuju!

Shepherd's house

So many flowers! 

The first was a daylong hike in the Ancares with my oldest students, 1* BAC. The landscape was wonderful, especially with many of the hills covered in purple and yellow blooms. In my opinion, there was too much uphill climbing and not enough downhill haha, but we survived. Mostly we walked on the side of hills or up them, but at one point the path opened up to a big valley. In the words of my student, "This is paradise!" Perfect setting for a pastoral play. In fact we stopped to have lunch in Brego, a little abandoned house where shepherds used to spend the summers, caring for their animals that would they would bring from Asturias or Leon to graze in that valley. From the looks of it, that's not much of a tradition anymore, but it would be cool and Thoreau would certainly approve. Wouldn't be a hike in Galicia without coming across some cows. And the handful of kids who had the energy to climb up the Peak of Tres Obispos encountered some wild horses. Our hike ended at the Albergue dos Ancares where we rehydrated and I had a nap in front of a fire. Perfect end to a day outdoors.

Galicia or a tropical rainforest? You tell me!

Checkin out Sancho Panza (Don Quijote's sidekick)

And because of the picture overload, I'll save the other fieldtrip for tomorrow

Las Médulas

Part 2 of our day trip weekend reminded us that Spain seriously has a bit of everything. While the first day found us in green and flowery gardens, Sunday we went to a park reminiscent of Arizona or Utah. Orange! Except it wasn't natural, it was caused by the Romans who in their time mined and exploited the area for gold. We took a little hike under the hot "desert" sun to check out two caves left from the mining "la cuevona" and "la encantada." In the "enchanted," you can still see the large holes that the Romans tunneled into. Their method was to tunnel down then across, and further down and across a few times and then blow it up. Olé! But northern Spain is not the desert. The orange rocks of las Médulas contrasted with the white, snow-capped mountains of the Ancares in the background. Ah, northern Spain!