Santiago de Compostela to Soto de Luina

The past couple of days have shown us the coast of Galicia, a part of Spain we haven't seen before; it is windswept and beautiful in a rugged kind of a way. The beaches are truly amazing.

We started in Santiago de Compostela, which is the end point (or maybe beginning for some) of the Camino de Santiago; a 783km pilgrimage across the north of Spain. Rather than walking or cycling, we are driving from Santiago to Bilbao via San Sebastian in a white Citroen.

Cathedral at Santiago

Santiago is a beautiful medieval city. We spent a day wandering in the streets (many seem to be pedestrian until a car comes along!) and visiting the stunning cathedral as well as enjoying yummy tapas in the sunshine.

The following morning we collected the car and drove along the Costa da Morte to a little town, Naron a few kilometres north-west of Farrol. On our way we visited the western-most point in Spain, Cabo Fisterra, where we walked to the lighthouse, built stone towers and mused over whether we could see the US in the distance across the Atlantic.

Praia do Mar de Fora

We have promised Eleanor and Leo lots of beaches over the next few days as we will be travelling along the coast. Praia do Mar de Fora near Fisterra was a great first beach stop. It is a 10-or-so minute walk from the road and well worth it. Golden sand (or billions of broken shells) and quiet, at this time of year at least. We spent a couple of hours building sand castles, digging holes, jumping waves and cooling off in the fairly chilly Atlantic.

Cabo Fisterra

Today we had an eerie visit to the Garita de Herberia, Europe's highest sea-cliffs. Eerie because it was so misty we could barely see our hands in front of our faces. There was no view at all from the cliff-top so we couldn't get an idea of how high we were above sea level, but an interesting experience and beautiful drive nonetheless.

Praia As Catedrais

From there we went on to Praia As Catedrais, today's beach. This time a sandy beach with rock arches. Similar to Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula, but not a cove and the sea hasn't yet found its way through most of the cathedrals. Give it a few thousand more years and we'll be walking through them!

The car travel has been good overall. We are able to visit places we would never have seen otherwise and can be a little more relaxed in the way we pack.

Eleanor is not a big fan of cars, except that she would like to be driving. Today she suggested that she drive, Daddy read the map so we know where we are going and Mummy and Leo sit in the very back (the boot). Hmmmm. We have played lots of eye spy with interesting results; sometimes it is colour-based and others the letters are a little confused, but we have fun. Leo loves to make people (including himself) laugh. Today's joke was to call someone's name and laugh hysterically when they said 'yes Leo' he had nothing to tell them.

The weather has been great, although today was overcast and a little chilly at 21 degrees. Still, we saw no rain in Galicia, which is uncommon apparently. Now we are in Asturias we're hoping for the sun to return.

Tonight we are staying just outside Soto de Luna, a very cute town on the Pilgrim's trail. We have a two bedroom apartment with a little lounge and free laundry. Luxury! We even cooked dinner for ourselves for the first time in almost two weeks and ate it with a good bottle of localish Spanish red wine. Real life seems a million miles away!