I'd always wanted to visit Galicia, in the North West corner of Spain, but somehow never really made it. On van trips down through France and even into Spain and Portugal it just seemed too far, and mean driving past too many fantastic beaches to be worth the extra miles. It also doesn't have any really well known spots to head for, and it's big, so hard to work out where to go. But in the depths of the winter just finished I persuaded Maria that it was a good idea for a family holiday, with our 14 month old daughter.
We were going with half an idea that Galicia might prove to be the place to move out to in a couple of years to put the kid/kids & me through a few years of Spanish education to fix in a good grasp of the language. If they grow up here they won't be able to speak to or understand half of their family, which is a bit weird when you think about it. (And I fancy an adventure somewhere with Atlantic-facing beaches and great food). With that in mind we booked an apartment from a German couple who lived there and ran a surf camp in the beach town of Valdovino, a few miles north of Ferrol. We hoped to spend a bit of time with them and find out what it was like for non locals moving to the area, and then have a bit of an explore around the many beaches of Galicia.
I'd booked one windsurfer on the flight, and planned to decide on the forecast whether to take a SUP or a windsurfer. It didn't look windy, but the surf looked good, so I packed the SUP and a great new gadget, an inflatable roofrack, the board bag also packed with various toddler toys.
First stop Valdovino, which looks fantastic on Google Earth. One huge sweep of beach with a lagoon behind it and surrounded by forests. On the day the Google Streetview car drove through it looked about three foot with no one else out. Because of all this I maybe hadn't paid too much attention to whether the apartment we'd booked was nice and had the seperate room for a baby that Maria had insisted on. We'll know for next time, I told her, quietly, as we tiptoed around the filthy, tiny studio flat.
We could have coped, had it not been blowing 40 knots on the beach, and the town closed, and pretty basic anyway. So come day two we made ourselves homeless and set about the exploring sooner than we'd planned.
We were going with half an idea that Galicia might prove to be the place to move out to in a couple of years to put the kid/kids & me through a few years of Spanish education to fix in a good grasp of the language. If they grow up here they won't be able to speak to or understand half of their family, which is a bit weird when you think about it. (And I fancy an adventure somewhere with Atlantic-facing beaches and great food). With that in mind we booked an apartment from a German couple who lived there and ran a surf camp in the beach town of Valdovino, a few miles north of Ferrol. We hoped to spend a bit of time with them and find out what it was like for non locals moving to the area, and then have a bit of an explore around the many beaches of Galicia.
I'd booked one windsurfer on the flight, and planned to decide on the forecast whether to take a SUP or a windsurfer. It didn't look windy, but the surf looked good, so I packed the SUP and a great new gadget, an inflatable roofrack, the board bag also packed with various toddler toys.
First stop Valdovino, which looks fantastic on Google Earth. One huge sweep of beach with a lagoon behind it and surrounded by forests. On the day the Google Streetview car drove through it looked about three foot with no one else out. Because of all this I maybe hadn't paid too much attention to whether the apartment we'd booked was nice and had the seperate room for a baby that Maria had insisted on. We'll know for next time, I told her, quietly, as we tiptoed around the filthy, tiny studio flat.
We could have coped, had it not been blowing 40 knots on the beach, and the town closed, and pretty basic anyway. So come day two we made ourselves homeless and set about the exploring sooner than we'd planned.
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