While I covered most of our experiences in Portugal and Spain, there are some special places and experiences that just did not fit into my other blogs. So here I am doing a potpourri of unique and joyful events and places.
Did you know there is a Venice-like city in Portugal? I didn’t. But near the coast is the city of Aveiro. A large channel was dug in the early 1800s opening the town to the sea and canals were cut to bring the water further in and for transportation as the city became an important part of the salt and seaweed industries. Although these two industries are no longer important, the canals have become a way for tourists to view the city. We had a wonderful time on our boat ride through the canals viewing the scenes from the boat. Later we had a chance to walk the streets that line the canal.
In Portugal, sardines are an important food source and export industry. Wherever you go you can see sardines for sale and/or you can eat them. In Aveiro, the city with the canals, there was a lovely store just filled with different canned sardines for sale! Since I love sardines, I loved seeing this store. I had joy from this little bit of heaven for me. Later in our trip I purchased some to take home. I didn’t take a photo of that sardine store, but later on I found another one!
In Spain there is a large area of mussel farms in the Rias Baixus estuary. We had a lovely boat ride along the mussel farms and learned how the mussels grow and are harvested. Those who enjoy mussels (NOT me) had a delicious lunch of mussels and shrimp. I enjoyed watching the birds try to steal the food from the boat and from the others in my group trying to eat! And YES, of course they served us wine on the boat!!
Before we went into the estuary, we looked at it from above at a wonderful little park on a peninsula bordering the estuary. There we encountered the Tilting Rock and beyond it a wonderful lookout to view the area from above.
The town of Coimbra and the wonderful grounds of the university had more to offer us as we experienced Fado, the sad and emotional music of the students. Originally sung and performed with guitar by men dressed in black with capes and hats, now occasionally a woman also performs. We went to a performance by three men that was so interesting. Lots of longing and drama in the music.
After we left Coimbra we visited the seaside resort of Costa Nova. Wow, I fell in love with this resort. The beach is long and wonderful. But the fun part are all the brightly colored and striped homes along the beach. It was great fun to walk up and down the beach to admire them and have a cool drink, which we did. Many cities in Portugal and Spain had designs in the walkways which were made up of little squares of marble and granite. I liked this dophin.
We had other musical events as well. Did you know that the people of Northern Spain are the origins of Celtic music. In fact, the people fled north to the islands that are now Great Britain and are the original Celtic immigrants. We had the pleasure to see a show of their music, dance and singing. YES, they use bag pipes!! But my favorite was the women playing songs using a sort of tamberine/drum and then using spoons for a song. So much fun!
The first night in Santiago, we also got to see a troop of musicians performing across from the Church. It was entertaining and joyous. I think the pilgrims really enjoy their evenings after their long journey. There is music throughout the town.
On another day we visited the World Heritage Site of Las Medulas, which shows you how you can destroy mountains with water. The site of an ancient Roman gold mine, Las Medulas are the remains of mountains that were destroyed by the Romans who injected water into the mountains to mine for gold. It is the most unusual landscape. Honestly was totally unexpected and really worth seeing.
Unfortunately last year there was a major fire near the area, actually right up to it. So all around us were blackened trees and shrubs and the grass was gone. But in a way it was more interesting because we were able to see the ancient Roman paths cut through the area. And a beautiful new viewing site was built.
There were so many wonderful experiences and places to see and explore. Some times we felt we needed a vacation from our vacation. But in reality the memories these places and the poeple who we traveled with will stay with us. It was a most glorious and enjoyable experience.
zicharonot 