The new summer month of July came with hundreds of new fiestas and good festivals.
One day, expected or not, I received a call from Yana – a friend from Bulgaria that lives now in Madrid, that after couple of hours she and few friends of her will reach Ribadavia with their car to pick me up on the way to the Festival of Ortigueira. Few days before the festival itself. So, a big car, full of luggage and emotions, with 5 passengers on board left Ribadavia for an unforgettable roadtrip around Galicia in the first days of July. First destination – Redondela, a small town close to Vigo and to the ocean coast, where Luci, our sunny driver, had relatives in which house we could stay for two nights. This gave us the chance to see the town itself but also to visit some nice places around – the resort San Xenxo and one majestic beach called A Lanzada (the spear), situated on a narrow land between two seashores. Our second destination was the final point of the pilgrims – Santiago de Compostella, the capital city of Galicia. It is not the biggest, but may be one of the most beautiful cities in the area. Our little army discovered for the first time the old town, the famous Cathedral and the parks, ate some real Galician food, played Spanish cards and was ready to continue. On the road again… Coffee break in A Coruna, some parking troubles and in the late evening approaching Pontedeume. Really precious little place on the North coast of Galicia, famous for its ancient bridge, towers and so on… As we were not hosted there the way we planned, we had the chance to stay one night out in a tent, so that we can get prepared for the festival which was already so close… But not before a walk on the next day through the eucalypt forests of Fragas del Eume Natural Park. Also an enchanting place and a must-see.
After those few days on the go, but still looking forward some more adventures, there we were – Ortigueira. This small village in the top North Galicia hosts every year the biggest festival for Celtic culture and music. Four days program with artists from Galicia, but also Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, US, really good music and thousands of people audience. This surely is one of the biggest events here. In the last years it has grown so much, that there is a second unofficial festival going on at the camping area, situated on the beautiful beach close to the village. The best place to spend days and nights with no sleep! This is the website of Ortigueira festival: http://www.festivaldeortigueira.com, followed by my sincere recommendations!
Last morning at the campsite, coffee and sun, and the time had come for us to leave. Back to Ribadavia. But after I also met in Ortigueira Sashka, the other friend of mine from Bulgaria, and after the great time we all had there, it was impossible just to let it go. So, we didn’t J And the season of the visits was founded by Yana and Sashka, who both came with me back to Ribadavia. As my V.I.P special guests, they were shown all my favorite places around - from the touristic sights to the paradise summer gardens of the next little village, the river, the parks. How nice it is to share LIVE with someone, to make them experience the life and the place you like so much! In one beautiful evening our little family grew as one of my closest friends – Plam, finally reached Ribadavia after a long travel from Bulgaria together with her boyfriend. I was so so so happy with my small army of Bulgarians marching all around! What I also had to show from the spirit of the place was Her Majesty the Food of course – so a dinner was organized (again) at our place with dishes mainly of sea food and of course the home prepared pulpo (octopus, the local most popular delicates). One by one the guests were leaving, but with Plam and Lucho we saw some more things, we had a water wheel afternoon in the lake, barbeques in the park, and a rainy visit of Vigo (where our mission was to see the ocean behind the fog). Good times…
In the meantime, one of the big festivals in Ribadavia started – Mostra Internacional de Teatro. Between 15th and 23rd of Jul daily we were able to see at least two theatre performances - one on the streets of the town and one at the summer theatre stage inside the castle. Actors from Spain, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, France, Italy and other countries were showing the best of their contemporary stage arts. Some of the shows could really leave me breathless, others were just something I have never seen before in my life… Take a look if you want: http://www.mitribadavia.com/, but I was amazed that festival of that quality could take place in such a small town as Ribadavia is.
At the moment when I had already accepted the idea that all the guests we had in the past days were already gone, not on intention another one appeared. I was working in the office when a guy came and asked for some directions and some info – an Australian tourist in Ribadavia. As he was a good and positive person, me, Santa and Alexander welcomed him in our sweet volunteer residence. Our new friend Adam is a really amazing person, who came to Spain at the same time we did, and he is travelling all the time, making a full circle Madrid – South Spain – Catalunya – North Spain (Pais Vasco and Asturias) which brought him also to Galicia. His desire to experience the true things – the culture, the people, and to improve his Spanish, is usually making him choose not the big touristic attractions, but the small places that keep the real spirit of the country. This is how he found himself in Ribadavia, and was lucky to meet us the same way we were lucky to meet him, because the few days we spent together around, showing him also the must-sees (as the waterfalls of As Mestas, the lake and so on) were amazing. With the car he rented we also went together to Santiago for the Day on San Santiago on the 25th July. As this is an official bank holiday and the day of Galicia, my second visit of Santiago de Compostella was simply great – the city was full of celebrations and people, musical festivals, fireworks, parties. We stayed at the house of two EVS volunteers – Hannah and Gala, that we met at the on-arrival training. They live 13km outside Santiago, in a beautiful village house and made us feel like at home. Viva la EVS!
The following days, before Adam left to Portugal, he also saw two village festas. There is a matrix they all follow – at least one stage, usually huge, with a funny looking orquestra, a fun-fair, food and drinks (of courseJ) and party all night long.
In the last weekend of the month we had another visitor – Hannah, the same volunteer that hosted us in Santiago. After a quiet night with acoustic guitar concert we made a marathon of showing her the town and its beauty, including its ethnographical museum, which was also something new for me; then - a swim in the lake and a walk outside Ribadavia, and in the evening, the next festa on the list – Festa da Cerveza, which was in the local park by the river. The result – another person enchanted by the magic of Ribalandia that will probably come back soon!
As this was the first weekend for a long time that I spent in Ribadavia and around, a short trip at least should be done. So in the calm Sunday afternoon, together with some of the local friends we went to a National Park at the border with Portugal to enjoy the hot day next to the fresh mountain water springs… Que bueno!!! The feeling that there are still so many things to see is growing with every single day!
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