Galicia...

We left our hotel after a delicious breakfast of coffee, eggs, fruit and croissants to go to the Cathedral of the Arches beach in Galicia. We had a great night's sleep in our hotel, and were a little sad to leave Ribadeo. Again, it cannot be said yet that we have ever regretted one place we have stayed. Each have had its own charm and its intrigue and Ribadeo was no exception.

I was a little bit of a brat. I'll admit. I was dying to get to the beach and wander through these amazing archways and caves and areas of natural beauty. Having inherited some of my Mama's love for the outdoors, I am intrigued with rocks and minerals and geology. Not enough to be able to name anything I see, but enough to know what I like. And I liked a lot in Galicia. We all did.

I knew first off that the chances of me capturing a shot like the beautiful one i'd seen on Pinterest were going to be impossible, because it was crowded. Lots and lots of travelers and lots of elderly, too, who had made the trek down the sand-covered stone walkway onto the beach at low tide to see the arches. We walked for about 5 minutes west and started to uncover all of the beautiful rock formations. If you could keep in mind that the majority of all of these stone structures and arches and caverns are underwater during the main hours of the day it makes it all the more special.  It was like this beautiful book that would shift and change color and depth dependent on which direction you turned. It was a magical place. And as if to confirm that, there were two weddings and one fashion photographer there to take pictures among the scenery. 

this was a popular location for wedding photography

First cave

inside the second cavern which opened up into a towering area of  rocks and driftwood that obviously been pushed back into the cavern at high tide. 

another wedding :)

Me at one of the more famous arches :) 

love this picture of my kids <3 

hey um--is that my sweater you're getting wet? 

Caves that went off there and there and there

Bagpiper-perfect accompaniment to the morning! 

The water dropped to a few feet on the left there...

After we walked through

Such amazing green and purple strains in the rock overhead!  

Careful

Paying the Piper was never so much fun 

Surfer girl :) 

Spanish tourist attire :) 

At the beach

Checking out the underwater cave

Doe and Bump take the plunge <3 

Doe could stand here. 

very cold water! 

While not being able to capture the rich hues of the browns and golds and iron in the beach rock, I appreciated the foggy morning serenity and the gray morning at the beach. Even though we didn't get 'the shot' I'd dreamed about, I also never knew that there were underwater caves that the girls could swim around in at will. So...  much better to have that memory than just a picture.

Playa de Otura

After Galicia, we begrudgingly got back into our cars and drove for a bit. The plan was to find a beach to explore and then lunch and then make the longish haul back to Vitoria on Sunday evening. We found a lovely beach, Playa de Otur, only about 15 minutes away from Arches. The signs took us along a windy road through farmfields for about 5 minutes, and then a sign that said 15% grade. The road dropped into a single lane roadway and after weaving through some stucco and stone farmhouses blanketed with blue and purple hydrangeas you drove right up onto the playa. We unloaded and the kids got into their swim gear, as did Beloved, and they ran out into the surf. 

Aseo

Surfer who stood there for about 20 minutes and observed. If it was the same one, he swam far out past the first bank of waves and watched them the entire afternoon. While impressive and fast, the height of the waves seemed a little short to get any good rides in. As if I would know ;). 

Dog? Mountain lion? Bear? 

"I'm gonna run like Jason Bourne did in Goa, India". ---Beloved

No that is not me ;) I did not get in the water that day 

The shoreline was covered in these slim thin flat pieces of basalt stone. 

Rust and orange and brown and green

Look away, Mom. I couldn't watch. My anxiety level was far too high at this point. I won't tell you what zoom level I was on for my camera, but my family was very far out in the surf.

but I still Love the wave capture on the right 

Baby swordfish. It did not survive being returned to the surf :( 

Bear? 

Tank 

We came home from our weekend at about 10pm. Sad to have another weekend pass us by. I have never been one to dread to Monday mornings, seeing as I do not work outside the home, but being a homeschooler mom now makes life a lot more structured and tenuous than I had hoped for. Beloved and i were talking about how surprisingly homesick we are at times, and all I could say was that I wish there was more disconnect between us and the US. Needing to be that string between their school commitments and their experiences in Spain is hard, not because I don't love being here in Spain, but I don't like having the responsibility of being their teacher and making sure they are keeping updated on their schooling. I'm frustrated at times with their level of effort. But again...as I was working on an asinine Earth Sciences project called 'Desertification', blowing sand across an aluminum pan all I could do was laugh. You have to laugh! The experiences they've had so far---the beaches, the caves, the spelunking in Gibraltar, all of the different environments and places of the world---this just cannot be taught. It has to be seen.