Galicia - Skate and Vineyards

Vineyards

When we changed our plans to leave Picos de Europa earlier, we left our itinerary a little loose, mainly because we knew the weather was dicey. 

After Santiago de Compostela, I wanted to see the Ria Braixes, four inlets on the southwestern coast of Galicia -- Ría de Muros y Noia, Ría de Arousa, Ría de Pontevedra and Ría de Vigo -- that begin along the Atlantic coastline and jut inland, eventually meeting up with a river. Funnel-shaped, they are wider at the ocean, narrowing as move inland.

The Rías Baixas formed as the ocean flooded and eroded areas near the coast and along river valleys that had been sunk by tectonic action. As water from the ocean flows into the ría and is joined by inland rivers, an estuary (where salt and fresh water mix) is formed. Proximity to the ocean makes the climate mild and moist, creating the green landscape for which the area is known. 

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating and the views weren’t that great. But, we did get off the main highway to do a little exploring, ending up in a relatively small town, which might have been O Grove (it may have actually been a separate, smaller town, for which I cannot find the name), which sits on the Ría de Arousa. The wind was blowing fiercely, the sky was gray and we were hungry. So, we stopped in town and walked down the main thoroughfare.

One thing we noticed — and I have googled this a few times with no luck — is that all the local cars had springs of flowers in the grills. 

??????

Since it was May 2, I assume it was some celebration perhaps related to May Day. If anyone knows what it was, I would like to know. 

We stumbled upon a market that was just cleaning up for the day — flowers, vegetables and fish.

Lots of local color

Across the street, we found a small, very local cafe. Most of the people were sitting and drinking — a few were eating. 

Time for lunch

We asked for a menu and, after, some confusion, the waitress brought out a small notepad with some handwritten items. We ordered a “starter” of carbonara, some salad and Scott just pointed at something for the main course (a risky move in a fishing village). We actually weren’t planning for a starter and main course, but that’s how it ended up. The salad and carbonara were delicious and quite plentiful — that would have been enough. 

Tasty!

Surprisingly good

What was served next wasn't pretty — it looked sort of like a hacked off hunk of fish in an oily sauce with potatoes. But, it didn’t look exactly like fish — especially because it peeled off the skin in long strands.                         
Turns out that it was skate (we had seen some in the fish market) and it was delicious. So, experiment #2 turned out fine.

We explored a bit more, but nothing was particularly inspiring, so we decided to keep going south (hoping to escape the bad weather). 

As we drove back, we passed vineyards, vineyards and more vineyards.

Driving through town

Many of the vineyards in suburban lawns.

The area is designated as the Rias Baixes Wine route

It looked as though every person grew grapes and either made their own wine or sold their grapes to local wineries. 

Grapes as far as you can see

There was hardly any land not planted with grapes. Many also had these lovely raised granaries that looked like miniature houses or churches on stilts. 

A cool little building

Trip date: April 25-May 15, 2015