Around every bend, a new treasure

To say that Galicia has a new delight around every corner is  probably a bit of an exaggeration, but on our last visit my harmless ‘Why don’t we take a drive to….’ turned into a bit of an adventure.

We’d got an hour to burn, a tank full of diesel, and an urge to explore.

I saw a signpost for Fonsegrada which sounded nice. I remembered someone mentioning it in the past but had forgotten the context, but as it was on a local signpost I thought that it must be fairly close.

The long, deserted and winding roads, brilliant for driving, stretched ahead up the mountainside and we set off to find new treasures. Ten miles into the journey the thickly forested roads opened out to a clearing as we entered the village of Sanxes, and open-mouthed were forced to stop, marvel at the skills of some local artist and take photos.

carvings1 carvings2 carvings3 carvings5 carvings4

Both sides of the road were lined with massive wooden carvings of figures, grottoes, toadstools and weird faces. It was a delightful roadside artist studio, the enchantment enhanced by low-lying mist and the eeriness of deathly silence in appeared to be a deserted settlement.

After investigating we continued on our journey to Fonsegrada, which turned out to be 50km from our origin and took an hour to reach along the winding roads, through hairpin bends, and avoiding precipitous drops. The novelty had soon worn off.

Fonsegrada was nothing spectacular, in fact it was a bit industrial. We didn’t even stop for a coffee as we re-set the satellite navigation for Taramundi and headed off to our next appointment, arriving over an hour later than planned.

Perhaps we are starting to adopt the Spanish ways?

 

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3 Responses to Around every bend, a new treasure

  1. Sharon JAMES says:

    hmm I don’t think that is an exaggeration at all. Galicia is a very special place. Fantastic photos

  2. Perry says:

    Interesting tale. I have to ask; what was your point of origin? Google maps show signs located at 31 N-640 A Pontenova with distances of 51 km to A Fonsegrada and 7 km to Taramundi. Those wood sculptures are very remarkable. Thanks for the photographs.

    To label A Fonsegrada as a bit industrial is a little harsh. Agreed the Avenida Galicia on Street View April 2011 looks a bit barren and a trifle deserted, but the place is home to the protected Kerry slug (No, really‽ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fonsagrada)

    Some of the buildings have narrow, fully enclosed balconies on the first floor; necessary I guess, because the town is 3166 feet above sea level. Following the LU-741 out of the town downhill, I noticed a snowflake on a sign, indicating the winters are probably quite intense. I look forward to tracing other routes you take around Galicia.

    Cordially,

    Perry

  3. admin says:

    Hi Perry

    Thanks for the response. We started our journey just the Taramundi side of the new bridge across the river in A Pontenova so didn’t see any distance signs. We suspected it was a short drive, not 51km along twisting roads, but enjoyed the journey anyway.

    You are right, we probably didn’t do it justice as we just drove through looking for the best route back to Taramundi. We definitely didn’t see any slugs.

    Paul

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