Tag: europe

El Cabo Vilán, en Camariñas (ES)

Cabo Vilán is one of the most (or many) beautiful paths along the Ruta dos Faros on the coast of Galicia. The small segment of the path I took on this trip is a genuinely easy trail. It is mostly flat until you make the climb to the lighthouse itself.

I made this trip the first day of March, so the air is still cool. It was very windy, especially along the cliffs. And… Galicia being true to herself, absolutely covered in toxos. I highly recommend a windproof jacket, good boots, and thick pants for this trip.

Walking here, you will see quickly how the Costa da Morte got its name. The way to the faro is just one stunning beach after another. The beaches are rocky and covered in debris from the fishing boats. The high winds and strong tides do not make for safe swimming.

It is more of a place to sit and listen to the sounds of the crashing waves. A place to meditate, make art, or maybe search among the rocks for treasures and driftwood. The force of the waves breaking against the boulders is just incredible.

The faro de Cabo Vilan has a special history. It is the oldest electric light house in Spain. And it was also kept by Cristina Fernández. She was the second farera (female light house keeper) and also the last woman to work as a farera in Spain.

Once you make the climb to the lighthouse, it is even windier! This is my second trip here, and both times I was nervous to make the end of the path because of the wind.

If it is not too busy, and you are lucky enough to have the lighthouse to yourself, there is a nice place to sit and take lunch that overlooks the next beach. A small ledge blocks the wind and it is mostly enclosed by boulders.

I continued the path down the coast a little ways until it circled back through the forest.

And the view from the forest.

The path circled back down to the main road, and I decided to go all the way down for the path nearest the sea to try to catch the sunset.

There was significant cloud cover, so the sunset came above the horizon line, but beautiful all the same.

All in all it was a little over 10km from the parking to the sea, to the lighthouse, to the mountaintop, to the sea, and back to the parking.

Mafra, Portugal

Mafra was not an intentional stop, more of a whim. We saw the sign for the UNESCO World Heritage Site from the highway and decided to have a walk around. We found a parking spot not far from the highway ramp and walked toward the palace. There were some interesting mosaics and street art on the way.

The palace was, unfortunately, just closing when we arrived. One day I will have to make it back there.

The palace gardens were open so we took a walk around.

It just so happened that we stopped for the Festival do Pao. The park was absolutely packed with people! On the main stage, young girls danced with bread. People walked around in costumes. There was a giant bicycle somewhere, food trucks, an artesinal fair, and music. It was really good energy.

There were vendors selling some kind of bread roll with meats baked in. I have absolutely no idea what they are called, but they were freshly baked in a wood fire oven, so I had to give it a try.

Opposite the food trucks, there was an artisanal fair. As I walked around the booths looking at art I was stopped dead in my tracks, literally, by the smell of strawberries. This is not like strawberries in the grocery store. If you have never picked strawberries on the farm in the heat of summer you do not know this smell. This is the smell of summer roadstand fruits, ripe, ready, warm in the July heat. And wafting through this park. I had to hunt for a while before I found the booth. But there it was. We bought a whole kilo of the strawberries and ate them as we walked around.

I bought two candles from a booth with some crazy designs I had never seen before. You can find them at @velasencantadas on Instagram. The candles are 3D printed in wax.

We managed to finish the whole kilo of strawberries before leaving the park. Really, they were that good. So we went back and bought another kilo. There were about 6 left in the morning. These strawberries were actually so good I got a tattoo. Not even joking. I went and got a strawberry tattoo. If you are near Lisboa in summer, you absolutely have to find Frescos da Vila