España

So now I'm back in my home country, touching base to take time to consider the past, the now and what's coming. My plans for the future are still shapeless misty forms that are dimly beggining to take shape, so while I make a decision I've been travelling around here.

In fact, the travels started towards the end of the interrailing. Our final week we spent travelling around Spain. We chilled out in good ol' Tres Cantos, which is my home town, just on the outskirsts of Madrid. It was good getting back home, since its been a long while since I last saw my family and friends!

Anyhow, we chilled a bit and we checked out nearby cool spots such as Toledo and El Escorial. Toledo, which is indeed pretty holy, is an awesome fortified city, which was once the administrative capital of Spain. An awesome place, which still has a middle age feeling to it.


El Escorial is a monastery towards the North of Madrid, which was the political centre of Felipe II's Empire (back in the days when we spanish were powerful... ayayay)


We checked out the local area then headed over to the north, towards Galicia, on the Spanish North west, right on top of portugal.

The landscapes are strikingly different in this part of the coutry, changing from the intense yellow of the Madrilian fields to the deep green of the Galician mountains.


In fact quite bit similar to NZ, tho the mountains are much older and hence more rounded.

So we headed over to Cangas, which is where me parent's new home is located. This is a sweet spot, located in a gulf situated between two Rias, those of Vigo and Pontevedra. The Ria de Vigo is a sweet spot, a bay shielded by the Cies Islands, which are, I swear, a little piece of heaven on earth, with ansolutely white sand that you can even swim in!!
We checked out the landscapes and some celtic ruins in some nearby mountains, tho we were not so lucky with the weather (it rains in Spain too, it seems!).

Since then I've been back to Galicia and Portugal (briefly) visiting various beaches and fortresses. It's amazing what you can discover travelling around your own country. Like discovering a gem in your own back garden, there's a feeling of reward when you go to a place has always been there. I highly recommend it!