Our second day of the tour was a bit wet, which was actually quite nice. Even though I love living in Spain and not having to deal with endless Yorkshire rain, especially getting soaked at the bus stop, there is something lovely about dramatic grey clouds and misty scenery.

We visited the city of Pontevedre first thing and as I was walking across one of the squares, in my sandals, two builders asked me in Spanish why I was wearing those when it was raining. I was able to reply in Spanish that I was English, so was used to rain, which is when one of them said, ‘ah, in Galicia, rain is art’. I think that is a lovely way of thinking about it and certainly means that the scenery changes all of the time.

The city was really surprising, the exterior of the city looks very modern but inside there are beautifully preserved squares and buildings, very reminiscent of Caceres with their shields on the walls.

We had a guided tour, with poor Jose having to stop and wait as people went off to look at a beautiful chemist’s shop with a gorgeous tiled floor, or an interesting drainpipe!

I am sure he is used to this but it was a bit like herding cats 😉 At one point I nearly joined another tour group by mistake as I was trailing behind taking pictures.

In one of the churches there was another icon like the one we saw in Caceres with lights from her arms. There were also some very stunning doors, I particularly liked these white ones which were very unusual.

Our later stop was to visit one of the very interesting things that I had spotted on the journey in. At first I thought they were little roadside shrines, as most have crosses on them, but they are actually grain stores, designed so that rats and mice can’t climb up the legs.

The village of Combarro has a lot of these at the back of the houses and one street has been turned into a lovely row of shops and little bars, where you can sit, often underneath the barns, and admire the sea view. We bought some gorgeous cream liqueur from one of the shops and got a chance to go and have a look upstairs at the balcony. The house had been beautifully refurbished and there was a great view across the misty estuary.

Most of the afternoons on the rest of the week were free time so we went to the beach near the hotel that afternoon for a slightly mizzly walk. The scenery was stunning and there was a little costal path out to the edge of the estuary.

It was lovely to see so much beach, our local beach is suffering from the effects of global warming as the tides are getting higher every year. Now there is only a very narrow strip of sand between the bars and beach houses and the sea, which will mean that the summer visitors will have to go elsewhere for access. They have also had to remove all of the sun beds and umbrellas that we used to rent for the day. It is is very clear reminder of the power of climate change, sadly our favourite beach bar will probably be gone in a few years, or we will all be paddling to get to it.

It is a bit cooler today and we are due thunderstorms, I will be be using the inside time to finish the last few bits of the Steampunk outfit. I then have to try and make a bustle of some sort so that will involve some fabric fettling and experimenting as have not made one before. It is difficult to take pictures of the outfit as I haven’t got a mannequin anymore but will take some of the hat and jacket at least and then get some good ones when I wear it in July. I am so happy to have finished it, only 18 months in the making 🙂

I hope that you are all having a nice time wherever you are, and happy Summer/Winter Solstice to you. Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.