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Friday, July 28th, Peniche, Portugal
The Zia crew departed the Spanish
province of Galicia yesterday. Our sixteen day visit to the region
was full of discovery as well as
challenges. Situated in the very northwestern
corner of the Iberian Peninsula, this region of Spain
differs dramatically in landscape from the rest of the
country. A boater's paradise, loaded with seaside
villages and beaches, the rocky Atlantic "Costa do Morte"
or "Coast of Death," intimidates as much as it entices.
Unpredictable wind, fog, and rocks collaborate to
validate its ominous name. These same forces
also create an abundance of natural beauty and
bounty.
Caught unawares in
unfamiliar territory, the Costa do Morte has condemned many a
vessel to its watery depths over the years. The
predominately northeasterly winds above Cabo Finisterre,
influenced by land or sea breezes after a day of hot
sunshine, often shift
up to 180 degrees, creating a dangerous lee shore for
the unwary sailor. Fog frequently creeps along the
coastal waters, hiding the stunning vistas as well as
the lighthouses essential to navigation. Cabo Finisterre, Europe's
western-most point of land, forms a natural dividing
line. The "Rias Altas or "High Rivers" north of
the Cape, offer a more dramatic vista than the more
sheltered, gentler "Rias Bajas" or "Low Rivers."
We made plans to explore both.
Zia approached her
Galician stopover with a prudent eye to the weather.
We got our feet wet in our new country with a few days
at the marina in Baiona before getting back into the
serious business of cruising. The Islas Cies was
the perfect first stop, giving the girls a day of free
play on the beach, and mom and dad a day of relaxation
without having to pay too much attention to them.
Meeting up with Cenou in the Ria de Aldan, we managed to
prolong our beach theme for a couple more days. We
moved up one river to the Ria de Pontevedra for another
beautiful, coarse sand beach.
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Although much more
crowded than we are used to, I was astonished to find
ourselves, as the sun slowly descended in the Sunday
evening sky, alone in the anchorage.
Although we often
decide our destinations based upon the beaches, the
first thing we inevitably seek once we arrive is
wireless internet access. This has proven to be
more of a challenge since arriving on the European
continent than I would have ever guessed. In the
middle of nowhere, Bahamas, ninety percent of the time
we were connected. Granted, it cost us $40 a week
in the Abacos, but we often traveled 10 miles between
gorgeous secluded anchorages, connected the whole trip.
It was well worth it for us. The transition from
eight hours a day in front of our computers to the
cruising lifestyle has left us with a certain obsession
with connectivity. Thank God it was so easy in the
islands or we might very well have called this whole
crazy business off right away! A year into it, we
are handling the withdrawal with a little less alarm.
Cenou left us on Monday
morning. Joe and I devised a plan. There's a
big town called Sangenjo just three miles across the
river. Let's go see if we can connect!
Although the trip was really too short to raise the
main, the breeze was perfect to sail over with the
genniker! Half a mile out from our goal, I started picking up
signals. Connected!
"3Com seems to be
working for us." We have learned that these
generically named signals tend to deliver the free
connections more often than, say, "Telefonica." I
posted my July 16 update and downloaded emails.
"Oh, I just lost it.
Well there are a whole bunch more signals here, lets
drop anchor." We sat at anchor for an hour,
replying to the emails and trying to reconnect. It
wasn't happening. Telefonica was the strongest
signal but it was a pay service. I muddled through
the signup procedure, entered the credit card
information and prepared to connect.
"Producto o servicio NO
confirmado. No se le va a cobrar el producto o
servicio." Shit. It don't think it worked.
"Well, try it again,"
Joe almost pleads.
I go through the whole
thing again with the same result.
"Tell you what, lets
raise the hook and go back out to where we were picking
up the 3Com signal. That worked great." The
track of our route from that little expedition tells the
whole story.
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After sending off all
our emails, we went the three miles back across the
river and
anchored in virtually the same spot as before.
Ready for a "real sail,"
we left the next morning, motoring, for the Rio de Muros.
Fog and no wind accompanied us for the 33 mile trip
north. Arriving in Muros, moving towards the
anchorage, we were thrilled to see a "Biblio-Galicia"
wireless signal on the computer. Newly arrived in
Spain, we figured out this free service from the marina
in Baiona. We anchored among the half dozen other
boats. Disappointment flooded us as we repeatedly
tried to connect, unsuccessfully. Giving up, we go
into town, looking for a decent meal. Need I say
more?
Actually, Muros was
charming; an old fishing village with a 15th century
church, tiny cobblestone streets and open air
restaurants. We were disappointed to learn that we
had just missed the local festival, the Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen.
Each of the 3,800 parishes in Galicia has its own
fiestas and fairs throughout the summer months.
Our cruising guide mentions the dates of the local
fiestas for each location it describes. This
religious ceremony in Muros involved a church service
and an elaborate blessing of the fleet. We were
sure to catch a local festival in another village before
we leave the region.
Although the festival
day in Santiago de Compostela was not until July 25th,
we decided to make the journey by bus to the famed
pilgrimage destination on the 20th. The city and
cathedral were spectacular and we enjoyed watching the
throngs of international pilgrims flood the streets and
squares of the old historic district. We managed
to explore the whole historic section of the city
without a thought about connecting to the internet.
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Back in Muros, we had tracked down the "Biblio"
wireless signal to the square in front of the library.
Once a day (really, just once, usually) we trekked up
the staircase for our internet fix. Joe and
I started taking turns, since the kids complained
vociferously when we all went. Joe and I would
gorge for an hour on the free connectivity, leaving them
bored and restless. Aside from emails and
intermittently successful skype phone calls, we had to
check on the weather, for safety's sake, after all.
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The weather forecast
promised mellow conditions so we ventured north, around
Cabo Finisterre, to our first and only Ria Alta, the Ria
de Camarinas. Luckily, the fog stayed away and we
got a good view of Cabo Finisterre, shrouded in clouds
but otherwise unintimidating.
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Nothing in
particular attracted us to Camarinas, other than that it
was a convenient distance away and sounded nice in the
guide book. We arrived in the evening, saving our
exploration of the city for the next day.
Unfortunately, it
dawned cold and foggy. We did enjoy the local
market and a walk around town but were unable to find
wireless internet. The yacht club had a couple of
computers we could use, but I wanted to post an update.
Joe figured out how to plug our computer into their
system, but we still were unable to call Lisa on her birthday.
:-(
Not finding much
difference between this little fishing village and the
last one, we decided to head back south. Our
friends on Cenou should be leaving Vigo soon, and we
need to start heading into Portugal anyway. We had
skipped the Ria de Arousa on our way north, "the largest
of the Galician rias and perhaps the most attractive for
cruising," so we set sail south for Ribeira.
Reading up on the area, it seemed that our timing on the
festival thing might have improved. The "sardinada"
or sardine festival, occurs on the 25th of July in
nearby Cambados. Although not a object of
admiration for much of the Zia crew, the sardine is a
local staple and the festival must be something worth
seeing. We decided to hang in Ribeira and see if
we could find out more about it.
Our first night at
anchor, Saturday night, we were awaken by the shouts and
songs of happy vacationers from the nearby beach.
On my exploration of the city the next morning, I was
shocked to run into several groups of youngsters (God,
did I really say that? I'M still a youngster
myself) obviously just heading home at the end of a long
evening. Wow! This is a party town.
The cruising guide had warned that this ria was
particularly popular with vacationing Spaniards.
Plus, it was the weekend.
On our quest for an
internet cafe, we discovered much of the city before
finally stumbling into the Bar Plaza. It really
isn't such a bad way to see a town, meeting the locals
as you request directions, making frequent inquiries to
double check your sketchy Spanish translations. A
definite festive atmosphere still resonated throughout
the town. We noticed bands of rowdy locals of all
ages, each group wearing a distinct brightly colored
T-shirt, wandering the streets and squares.
Occasionally, a car blaring its horn and full of pinks
or reds or greens, would careen around the corner.
Sitting in the square, enjoying a free wireless
connection and a glass of wine, we finally figured it
out. Today was festival day in Ribeira! We
could not believe our luck. La Fiesta de Las
Dornas is huge. Thousands of people from all
around the area would be descending upon the town.
As our luck had it, the formalities were just beginning
down at the port.
Anticipating a
religious ceremony and some sort of procession, we
squeezed our way through the crowd to see what was
happening along the walls of the fishing harbor.
We couldn't quite make out what exactly was going on
through the heads, arms and legs of the teeming mass.
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Joe volunteered to go
fetch our dinghy. Clearly, the way to see this was
from the water. We basked in anticipation as we
found ourselves in the middle of a dozen other boats
full of locals, getting a close up and personal view of
an ages old tradition. This is what we are out
here for!
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Slowly, it dawned on
us. Rather than respectful reverence, the crowd
seemed to still be celebrating in the rowdy fashion we
had observed earlier. We could scarcely believe it
when we saw our first glimpse of the main attraction of
the Dornas Fiesta. Different teams, holding aloft
strange home-made constructions of just about anything
you can imagine, run through the crowd and vault
themselves and their creations off the seawall.
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We saw everything from
baseball hats, to simple cardboard boxes and elaborately
designed airplanes. The groups in same-colored
t-shirts represent the different teams. There were
at least three dozen displays that wound up floating in
the fishing harbor to the wild cheers of the crowd.
We had to resort to the
internet to figure out the meaning of La Dorna. We
had actually seen some dornas when we first arrived in
Ribeira. We were a little surprised to find out
that they are actually sailboats.
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Of ancient Nordic
design, brought to southern Europe by the Vikings, these
simple homemade sailboats were widespread in the region
as long ago as the 11th century. They were used
primarily by fisherman, and today have been adapted with
engines, but there is a movement to revive the pure
sailing dorna. The simple homemade quality of the
original boats, combined with a convenient excuse for
another party, created La Fiesta de la Dorna in 1948.
This was not exactly to centuries-old solemn and
meaningful tradition we had anticipated. Are you
sure it wasn't invented by Americans?
We returned to Baiona
for our last few days in Galicia. Determined to
better our previous record for enjoyable dining in the
region, we decided to go out for dinner "like real
Europeans," as Cassie likes to say. We left the
boat at about 8:30pm for a little stroll down the
street. We stopped for a drink and some tapas at a
little bar along the way. Tapas are little free
dishes that they offer with your drinks, usually olives,
or bread with salami or cheese. As we were sipping
our beer, a gentlemen walked by us that we recognized.
He came over to say hello. We couldn't quite place
where we had seen him and his English was non-existent
so his brother helped translate. Ricky Rodriguez
is from Miami, but comes to visit his family for two
months every summer in Baiona. We had seen his
brother at the yacht club earlier that day, where we had
been inquiring about wireless internet access. (We
got a 48 hour password to use their signal for free!)
We had a wonderful chat with him, offering him a beer
and asking for advice for our final meal in the region.
After he snuck in to pay the tab, Ricky walked us down
to his favorite family-run restaurant down the street.
Declining our offer for dinner, he nonetheless walked us
in and had a few words with the proprietress on our
behalf. We loved our meal of Piementos de Padron,
Tortilla Espanola, Langoustas, Mejallones a Vinagre,
Patatas Fritas y Ensalada. Glancing at the clock,
we realized it was eleven o'clock by the time we
finished. We couldn't quite go all the way and
stop for an ice cream on the way home. We saved it
for breakfast the next morning!
After a bit of a rough
start, we left Galicia with fond memories. The
region is well worth the time and
effort spent in discovery. The weather is
definitely much cooler than the rest of Europe, which
can be a blessing when temperatures in the rest of Spain
are climbing into the 90s. Dining out is much
easier if you enjoy seafood, but you can certainly find
alternatives, with a little patience. Although
less convenient, we are also able to find places to
satisfy our internet cravings in virtually every little
village along the coast. Prices are incredibly
cheap. I can count on one hand the number of
Americans we saw in Galicia, apart from Santiago de
Compostela. We left much of the region
undiscovered and I found myself wishing we had bicycles
on the boat so we could get into the countryside a
little more easily. The whole northern coast of
the region, including Basque country, remains
undiscovered, awaiting our next visit.
Next entry
>>>>>>>
Many thanks to our
friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up
the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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