So I had this week off of school for the Holy Week. Last weekend I basically just chilled, but on Tuesday, Joaquín drove us to Galicia (way too early in the morning,) and we arrived in a tiny mountain village called Rial where his aunt's childhood home is, to stay in the rustic dwelling for five days. Sans wifi, haha. We went to the main town, Ribadavia, to explore a bit and look around, got some very cheap coffee and then went to Ourense, and saw the main attractions there, including an ancient roman bridge still in use
We made a rooster friend who has helped wake us up in the morning and, after receiving a slice of tomato and some pear, proceeded to shout about it. The first night sleeping there, I thought I heard an air conditioner running until I realized it was the babbling brook, literally babbling loud enough that one can hear it thru the walls. The area we are in is really very rual, derelict, and rustic. Only a few people still live here year round, and those few have clearly rebuilt their houses to accommodate the cold winter, because the is no way anyone could live in these cottages during any cold season. Right next door to our cottage is a cottage whose roof has collapsed and which the forest is growing out of quite happily. I feel like I've stepped back in time here...
Wedesnday: even if I had wanted to sleep in, I would not have been able to. Old mountain cottages with no insulation don't exactly keep in the heat, but Joaquín was nice enough to make the coffee before waking me up. We hurried out and headed to Santiago for the day, which is the capital of Galicia and the end of the famous Camino de Santiago, the walking trail through the north of Spain that, depending on where you start, can take up to three months to complete. Of course, you can just buy all the merch in Santiago that says Camino de Santiago instead of doing it, but it was amazing how many people were there that had clearly just completed the trail. 
Giant backpacks and sun kissed skin mark them differently than the rest of the tourists. We saw the cathedral and some beautiful parks in the city, all the while hearing bagpipes, which is apparently a traditional instrument in Santiago as well as Scotland. Apparently, Galicia has a lot of Celtic roots.
Having finished with Santiago, we drove back to Ribadavia and met with some old friends of Joaquin's from when he lived here. We talked for a while and I noticed the real small town feel, in that everyone recognized everyone else and said hello or stopped to talk, with people even stopping their cars in the street to greet friends. Eventually we left and for a while drove around exploring the river and the electricity factories on its banks, and though that makes it sound commercial, it was incredibly secluded. Once we had showered back at the cottage, we headed back to the cafe where no one had even really moved, and we all watched the match for the final cup between Barcelona and Real Madrid. For football, it was a pretty exciting game.
Thursday was beach day. In order to make our ferry ride to the Islas cies at 10:45, we had to leave Rial at 8:30. As much as I love sleep, I'm glad we did. We stopped at Joaquin's aunt and uncle's house, the one in Vigo, because of course we were staying in the one in Rial, and had some coffee with them before heading to port. It took about half an hour on the boat to get to the island, and it was just picturesque. 
These islands are small and there are no permanent residents, and there are only a few buildings with things like a medic, a restaurant, as well as lighthouses. There's a few hiking trails and we took one that led us to the opposite side of the island and up, to get some really beautiful views of the sea and everything below us. 
After that, we headed back to the beach and set up our day camp. There is a mineral here in Galicia that has all the rocks sparkling, and so the sand was just like glitter, the water clear and cold, the beach not even crowded at all. The islands have a lot of natural reserve areas where people are not supposed to go, and just the way they respect the wildlife there really makes it an amazing experience. Unfortunately, even though I put on sunscreen three times, I still managed to get pretty burned. First sun of the season and all that.
That night, we had a great homemade spanish dinner at his aunt's and stayed with his cousin so we wouldn't have to drive back.
Friday was more relaxed than we had originally intended it to be... At some point while on the island, I pulled a muscle in my leg, so while the plan had been to drive down to Porto, in Portugal, for the day, we ended up just sleeping in, seeing a couple of things in Vigo, eating some seafood, and driving back to Ribadavia. A big group had gathered for a picnic in the riverside park, and we joined them for a while and watched as they kicked not one but two soccer balls into the river within about two minutes of each other. 
The water is still so cold you can barely stand it, so getting them back was not really an option. We drove back to Rial where Joaquin's cousins Miguel and Maria Jose had come for the night to visit with us, along with MJ's boyfriend Roi and their dog Meco. 
We drove with them all up to the highest point in arnoia, literally among the clouds on the summit of the mountain, past the point of paved roads and any signs of regular human activity.
There was a house there whee apparently the firemen live in the summer so they can watch for signs of wildfires.
We descended and went to get some dinner at an Italian restaurant that was really really good but that I ended up expelling later that night for reasons I still have yet to understand. (Just woke up and realized I needed to puke).
Well anyway, it's day five, Saturday, and we're driving back now. This morning we went to the winery and bottled some wine to take back, which was a perfect way to end our vacation, and I am feeling ready to head back to work on Monday. Hasta luego!
