1. Galicia in Black and White

The Ancient Kindom of Galicia once extended into Portugal, Asturias and Castilla y Leon. This relatively unexplored area of Spain is nearly one-and-a-half times the size of Wales and will be the subject of my next few series of posts as the Gazpachomonk travels along the infamous estuaries - Rías Baixas and Rías Altas, Coast of Death and plunging into Galicia Profunda as we hunt out the best places to take a Van and a Hound.

The first impression as you enter from the south, via Zamora is the cooker temperatures and the presence of clouds once more. This makes for pleasant travelling coming from the heat of Andalucia in July.

The second impression is that of the Gallego language. Yes it resembles Castillian and has a similarity to Catalan in some aspects, but the lilt and rhythm demarcate this regional tongue from others. There is almost a Latin American tone and when I first heard it spoke, I believed that there was a community of exiled Argentinians following me around.

And of course the links to Latin Anerica are strong of course, the Galicians being superb sailors and forging an important part of the history of the "discovery" of that continent.

Finally, I'll be adding some pointers about camping in Galicia. The trials and tribulations of mounting your tent on an underground Bee hive for example, or why you may need warming head wear at night, even in July.

All this and more in Black and White. .

Galician Architecture (what little remains)