Hello friends,
Last week I spent a few days on holiday with my best friends (Miguel and Eduardo) in O Grove (Galicia-Spain).
The 23rd of June, in Galicia, is a day marked on the calendar because it is a land with strong Celtic traditions that still survive today and one of those magical days for the Celts is the day of San Juan and specifically the night of San Juan in which the arrival of the summer solstice is celebrated with bonfires from 00:00 at night in most towns and cities and especially in those places near the coast.
A walk around the island of La Toja
My friends and I started Midsummer's Day with a walk around the island of La Toja.
The pine forest and the donkeys
In this place there is a large pine forest in which walking is very pleasant because every few metres one comes across a multitude of small but amazing attractions, such as this small fence with donkeys, a protected species due to the fact that nowadays, with industrialisation, there are fewer and fewer species in our country.
Grobits Village
After a few minutes of walking through the pine forest, we come across a small Hobbit town, although for copyright reasons it is called the Grobit village. As you can see it is a play on words between the nearby town of O Grove and Hobbits.
As you can see it is a children's playground whose main attraction are the small houses, which one can access through their small rounded doors.
Outside the houses there is a multitude of playground equipment and as you can see, even if you are an adult, there is always a child inside ready to play, even if it is just to take a photo.
In addition, in this area where we stayed for quite a long time, there is an area for the care of birds in which there are small houses for them on some very colourful poles.
Chapel of the shells
After this fun time in the village of the Grobits, we continued our way through the pine forest, finally arriving at a striking church called Capilla de Caralampio (Caralampio Chapel).
The peculiarity of this chapel is that it is completely covered with scallop shells as it is a very abundant material in the area and at the same time it is a perfect water insulator.
Arousa Estuary
After a short visit to the chapel, we continue our way along the coastline of the island seeing the marshes of the Ria de Aurosa.
A high class meal to celebrate the summer solstice
After the long walk around the island of La Toja, my friends and I decided to return to O Grove for lunch.
Specifically, we went to the Beiramar restaurant, one of the most important restaurants in the city, as it has a Michelin star achieved this year.
We ate on the terrace at street level, overlooking the marina and enjoying a tasty Albariño wine.
As a shared dish we ordered a lobster salpicón which was spectacular as you would expect in a Michelin star restaurant.
And for main courses, my friend Miguel ordered a juicy beef tenderloin with an incredible flavour.
While my friend Eduardo and I ordered a grilled white tuna that was simply to die for.
After the meal, happy for the wine we had drunk and because the bar owner must have liked us, we were invited to several liqueurs, so the evening got slightly more complicated until we had 6 drinks and with that we had no choice but to go to the rented flat and take a nap.
Feast of St. John at the Virgen de las Mareas
On the advice of the owner of the Beiramar restaurant, my friends and I went 3km from the centre of O Grove to the village of Virgen de las Mareas, where a popular party was being held for the celebration of the magical night of San Juan.
At this party, with very affordable prices, you could buy tickets to eat grilled sardines, barbecued ribs, sausages and octopus.
So, after buying tickets for the food and the corresponding beers, we had dinner with an orchestra in the background playing traditional Galician music as well as current pop music.
As we finished dinner, more and more people came to the village and as you can see, even the singers came down from the stage to sing and liven up the party with their voices and dances.
Bonfire night and fireworks
With the arrival of midnight, as is tradition, the bonfires that the villagers had built in the vicinity of the beach began to burn as a good pagan tradition.
According to popular culture, when the bonfires lose strength, the young men and women must try to jump over the bonfire to make wishes of different kinds, usually requests for love. Although with the size of the bonfires I didn't see anyone encouraged to jump over them.
In addition to the lighting of the bonfires, the Virgen de las Mareas festivities committee delighted us with a fireworks display which was the final touch to a long but intense day, surrounded by my best friends on a very special day and night.
Best regards.
This post is my entry to PhotoFeed Contest - Landscape Photography Round 33
