Cabo Home, Galicia

What seems like forever ago, at the beginning of May, my teacher invited me across to Cangas (the opposite side of the Ria de Vigo). It was the first time that I had ventured over there, and I was really excited. My teacher, Luz, is good friends with the teacher of one of my friends, so we all went together. When she invited me, I was told that it was for a light lunch, so dressed in a cute outfit that was perfect for a sunny day...what she didn't tell me was that we would be hiking up a mini mountain too!

We arrived after a short ferry ride in the sun, and were greeted my Maria. She told us she was going to take us on a tour as neither Amy nor I had seen this part of Vigo before. We arrived at the Monte, and were told we would be climbing up it.... Amy had come much more prepared than me with trainers, while I had blue pumps on.... this was going to be interesting!! But nevertheless I had a great time. Despite my inappropriate choice of footwear, we made it up to the top without injury (thank God), and the views were spectacular. There were also some small castros, which are old settlements which have existed for 100s of years. We could see out to the Cies Islands and the Island of Ors, and across to Bueu and Marin. It really was incredible.... the photos don't even do it justice!!

Me and my teacher, Mari Luz

For some reason, we decided we didn't want to stick to the path on the way back down.. trying to find a shortcut, we weaved our way back down, and thankfully neither of us broke an ankle!!! Next stop was a lighthouse not far away, down a horrendously bumpy track. We were thrown about in the back of Maria's little car, but again, we made it!! By this point it was boiling hot so we were all downing water and trying to find some shade as we walked out towards the lighthouse and then down to one of the 'wild' beaches in the area. These are small beaches that are behind trees and overgrown plants, where you have to walk through these areas in order to find the beaches.... and it was magical. Undoubtedly one of the prettiest beaches I had seen, even now in my final month in Galicia, I am discovering more surprises.... The water was, of course, freezing but it was still amazing. This was definitely one of my favourite places that I have visited in Galicia, and I would recommend it to anyone... in fact when we returned to Vigo after our little adventure, we told lots of our friends about it and now many of them have visited too. This place is beautiful!!!!!!!! 

 The overgrown track we had to follow to get to the beach

 Enjoying the sunshine and the beach!

I can only say that I really do hope that people's awareness of the region of Galicia and all of these beautiful places continues to increase.... it seems a shame that not many people know about it, but I'm also kind of glad that it's our little secret. As you all know, Galicia wouldn't have been somewhere that I would have necessarily wanted to go, but now that it's stopped raining and the sun is shining, I am so happy that I was placed here. If not, I am sure that I would have never come to this forgotten part of Spain. So for those of you who are thinking of places to visit in Europe, or in particular Spain, I would say GO TO GALICIA!! It has so much to offer, and it will surprise you....

Catherine x