Padron is a fun place to go. On sundays, the entire city turns into a flea market called the Feria de Padron. It is like the rastro in Madrid. But smaller and more rural. Some weekends there are antique dealers. You can buy fruits, clothes, shoes, housewares, tools, plants, cheese, vegetables… There is a restaurant for pulpos y churrasco.
The cathedral here overlooks the city and the feria.
After visiting the Pozo do Inferno, I ended the day in Teixido. Apparently there is a saying that if you do not visit this place in life, you will visit in death. It was so beautiful I hope to do both.
There is a big parking, and you can walk into the town or go to the restaurant. If you walk into the downtown, there are two women selling traditional galician cookies. The second woman tells you everyone stops at the first only. The first woman says her cookies are best. I recommend buying a few from both women for good luck.
Once you make it past the cookies, you enter a strange looking town. The buildings are white and stone. There are shops
The entire town is on a tall cliff overlooking the sea, but this stone church is the centerpiece.
Inside the church is a strange alter where the people of the town place what they have. Small gifts, odds and ends, and little toys.
Just past the market and vendors are a few homes. I’m not sure how much is the rent here, but this guy isn’t having any issues getting his own place. He was so cute, but he tried eating my jacket and left a little hole.
Past the village, is some farmable land. You can walk all the way to the edge along the cliff to enjoy the view. It’s pretty muddy though.
This is a short and easy hike with nice views. Not a lot to say about it. I was only out for two to three hours round trip. But it was a pleasant visit if you’re in the area. If you are interested in the route, you can see it on Strava.
This was a fun hike. You can choose your difficulty level and end up at Monasterio de Caaveiro. If you are interested in my route, you can see it on Strava.
On one side of the river, there is a paved road running near to the monastery. You can drive most of the way, or walk here on even terrain. On the other there is a hiking trail that follows the rivers with small waterfalls all along the route.
The río Eume is a striking shade of blue. If I understood correctly, there are some restrictions to swimming here due to a unique ecosystem. It is not a warm day for swimming, so it isn’t hard to resist the temptation.
So many little waterfalls everywhere.
There are ruins to explore along the way as well. This roman bridge appears at the Ruínas do Muíño de Sesín.
View from the monestary.
Cuenca was a quick stop on the drive between Santiago de Compostela and Valencia. This city is absolutely stunning. I would love to return here for a longer visit.
After parking, I climbed some stairs to the historic old town. The views are stunning here. The first stop was the Catedral de Cuenca. The architecture is Gothic, but was built during a time when Romanesque was still popular. As per usual, the art inside was a mix of strange pagan and christian symbolism.
The cathedrals of Spain always have the best position in the mountains for amazing overlooks.
There was a gallery of broken pieces, unfinished carvings, and miscellanea. I absolutely fell in love with these guys.
The geometric patterning of the ceiling of the Capilla Honda is absolutely stunning.
I left the cathedral to walk around the historic district and learned about the hanging houses of Cuenca. The buildings are built that the walls abut the exact edge of the cliff. If you walk out onto the bridge, you can see the balconies of these homes overlooking the moutains. I can only imagine the view waking up each morning.
Last up was a little shopping in the old town. I found a ceramic shop from artist Rubén Navarro. You can visit the shop here. These guys came home with me. I am not sure how to explain my new found obsession with Spanish chickens.
PigTailz 