Ribadeo

About 40 mins drive away are a couple of lakes near As Pontes, there is good walking around them but  here is a little journey on the water.

We parked one car at each end and had a great few hours. The pics got mixed up I have no idea who took what. These little refugios are picnic areas with fireplaces benches and a roof are scattered around Galicia often by rivers in my experience.

 This is very like the ancient bridge near Porto do Son very pretty and fairly precarious to take a horse and cart over.

 Must revisit and try out the fireplace one day

 Hundreds of these tiny flowers at the starting point and along the river too.

In the water and off we go with no idea what we are going to find

Alejandro was in a surfski slightly unstable but better at the river than we imagined it would be.

 Well some of the time it was - the times when Alej was on top were better for him but less funny for us you prob need to click and zoom in on that one.

Jose dared to keep a camera out down one lumpy bit - it was tame and safe but fun, ideal for introducing children to river work.

It just kept on being pretty for ages 200 meters of tranquil, 40 of fast and then back to tranquil.

New leaves on the trees along with the flowering gorse and heather were breathtaking 

 
The good thing about rivers is you can just sit and let the river do the work

A cloudy few minutes for lunch... although it was more for Alej to warm up a bit after his third caer.

Not sure if Alej was flagging or sunbathing 

  The abandoned village I walked around last time was well underwater but there was a ruin above one of our stopping places a huge house compared with the tiny ones I found before.

The river opens out into a wide lake after a few kilometers and suddenly there was loads of squally wind, paddling slowed down a tad, and the cameras stayed in their bags for an hour or so but the wind died down a bit as we did the last few km.

And no one took any photos of us getting out.

Club nautico and the lake

On the other side is another world full of pirates and and an army of monsters apparently, it got very dark then a bit lighter and we paddled home by the light of a silvery moon but forgot to take photos

We got out on the water a bit earlier the next day and landed on a pirate island inhabited by large ducks and little else

Property overview

The main house is called Os Carrizos, these are song birds and there is usually a lovely chorus of birdsong in the mornings with thrushes, linnets, sparrows, blackbirds, a range of finches and tits, green woodpeckers and many more small birds. Eagles, buzzards and occasionally sparrow hawks can also be seen.

The house is a three bedroomed bungalow with a very large attic space that has external access and could be developed into accommodation.

There is an open garage to the side with power and light, it is not huge but is large enough to fit our high topped 4X4 people carrier.  We had thought maybe one day to put patio doors across the front and East facing windows to make it a sheltered morning sort of conservatory.

There is a quiet road to the North side of the property, 5 minutes (2.8km) down the road is Vilarrube beach and the rest of the coastline. The driveway has two gateways and room to park 4 or more cars outside. It is possible to drive round the side of the house into the garden, there is more covered space on the South side of the property which can be used for parking.

 Adjacent to the drive there is a garden with a large granite table, a productive grape vine, roses, banana plants, angels trumpets, lavender and many other plants make this an attractive place to sit. The water pump is also sited here it draws water from a 40 meter deep borehole, the pump unit was renewed in 2010 and is the best marque available; Bomba Taca.

Adjacent to the house is a commercial property and other built spaces, these are described on a separate page.

The plot covers over 8000sq meters and is two separate lots with a strip down the West making up around a quarter of the whole land area. This was fenced off but the fence was removed and it is now one large plot. It would be possible to apply for planning permission to construct a further dwelling on the West plot.

There is a chain link fence on the North, West and South boundaries and a quiet country road borders the North East and South. This provides good delineation of the boundaries. By quiet I mean probably around  20 - 50  cars / tractors, mopeds etc and a few cows pass by on an average day. Occasionally a small herd of sheep, a donkey cart and an ox cart can be seen and some of the local residents take a daily paseo.

Pantin

After a long hard day I headed off to twang my guitar to the sunset above Pantin, I went a little further along one of my favourite tracks and found a good place to park.

Floods of thrift Ahhh

Oh blimey I hope I left it in Park with the handbrake firmly on, there is no sense of edginess when you park.

Lovely sunset, by the time I had finished twanging and loving Galicia it was pitch black on a moonless night, reversing up the barely defined track to somewhere safe to turn round was less than easy.

San Andres do Teixido

Carrizos is located a few minutes walk off the camino that runs from Ferrol to San Andres do Teixido just up the road from A Capela da Fame. http://www.valdovino.com/comun/SUB-PAGINAS/sanandres.html We have enjoyed walking from the house to San Andres but I did not have a lot of time to spare today so after a busy day back at work and a few hours house sorting I decided to drive there. San Andres is about a 20 minutes my car, its not far just is a winding slow road but passes through some lovely scenery with cows...

 ...and with flowers...

... and rocks and trees.

The cliffs a little further on are the highest sea cliffs in Europe, they are plenty high enough just here but fitting in time to continue round on the road round to Cabo Ortegal is also well worth a trip.

If you don't visit in your lifetime you will visit after death is the thing people say about it, I am not quite sure what that signifies. Here is the info in Gallego.

San Andres is the little cluster of buildings down in the distance tucked snugly into the cliffside, it is almost as important as the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostella. There is a lovely walk down from the cliff top car park or you can park down at the bottom.

With a bit of a zoom you can see the famous church and where the stalls usually are, there is usually some tacky tourist stuff for sale but there is also some lovely local honey. It was quiet today but can be heaving if you visit on the wrong day.

Behind me the hills were doing soft curvy things.

At my feet the squill is flowering and there is a lemony scent in the air to go with its parma violet one.

These little things are lovely a circle of hearts with a star in the middle ahhhh.

I stopped in at Cedeira on the way back for some shopping and timed the drive past Vilarrube just right as the sun set over the estuary at low tide

Cedeira

Cedeira is a 10 minute drive away the old town is built to the west of the river and has a lovely church and square. Most of the rest of the town is spread along the ample sea front. There are two largish supermarkets and plenty of little shops as well.

Between the houses and the sea is a green strip of tree planted dunes that hosts a range of festivals during the course of the year.

being at the head of a small Ria, the beach is safe with plenty of shallow water, few currents and is usually fairly quiet apart from at peak season, even then the end furthest from the town is always quiet. This picture was taken mid afternoon on a holiday weekend in April with the shade temperature around 26C and the sea temperature 15C. There is a lifeguard in summer and a roped off safe swimming zone.

 In the distance you can see the harbour that nestles below an ancient castle. There is a resident fleet of fishing boats of all sorts of sizes and often a scattering of leisure craft as well.

 Scented stock grows wild in the dunes and smells wonderful in the sunshine.

There is a tidal river at the far end of this photo that makes a good trip in a kayak within a few minutes you pass under a couple of bridges, leave the houses behind and are winding through a lush green landscape. 

There is a little fort overlooking Cedeira it looks like a few walls and cannons at first glance, we went for a little walk on the headland and were surprised to find it open, once inside it is bigger than it looks and there is a helpful guide with a good smattering of English who told us about the English invasions and Napoleon etc.

 

  

House interior

The house is being updated at the moment more pictures will be added soon.

Carrizos is a three bedroomed bungalow that has two double beds and one single. The master bedroom has en-suite facilities shown below. There is also a separate shower room with toilet and hand basin. 

The living room is generously proportioned with two large North facing windows and heated by a very efficient wood burning stove. The Kitchen is what they call in the American style with integrated units and a table for light meals. There is gas fired central heating although we have not needed to use it very often, the boiler also heats the water supply which comes from a 40 meter deep borehole to the front of the property. Floors are tiled throughout and all windows have roll down shutters.

 The kitchen has a fridge freezer, double sink, microwave, electric hob and oven along with plenty of storage space. The worktop and wall facing behind is all local natural stone. Out of picture is a breakfast table.

The kitchen overlooks the garden with a view down a gentle valley to the lake in the distance. It faces due South and the winter sunset is visible from it for several months.

Main bedroom has a typical Galician rather large wardrobe and there is a matching chest of drawers and two small bedside drawers units.

 The other end of the main bedroom with South facing window and a door leading to...

 ...en-suit bathroom that includes bath with shower unit, twin sinks,  toilet and bidet. The room faces due East and benefits from morning sunshine. The sun rising behind the church can be lovely at any time of the year but especially in the Winter as can be seen in the photo in the header of this blog.

Second double bedroom

 Dining end of the main living room

Third bedroom - coming soon.

Shower room with hand basin and toilet - coming soon.