Cruise Day #13, Reflections on Galicia

In my earlier post, I was so concerned with relating the story of the journey to Santiago de Compostela that I forgot to reflect on Galicia itself. This fairly remote region of northwest Spain lies just above Portugal. Indeed, Vigo is less than 20 miles from the Portuguese border. Like Catalonia, Galicia has a unique culture and language. It’s also an alluringly beautiful area with a sort of “Pacific Northwest meets Tuscany” kind of feel. As we rode along in the train, we noticed many inlets dotted with small villages. Most of the homes seemed to have personal vineyards planted. The landscape was lush and verdant… the climate less arid and milder than most of Spain due to the Atlantic’s influence. As something of a wine enthusiast, I’d like to know more about this as a winemaking region (post-vacation research requirement for me). Indeed, despite its remoteness, I don’t think I’d mind owning a place in Galicia. While that’s unlikely, these started out of one of those places that we should see because we might not see again. But it’s vaulted itself to the ranks of a place I’d like to explore in more depth despite its lack of “big” tourist sights aside from Santiago de Compostela. In short, we think it’s an undiscovered paradise.