Hello!
One of my courses at the University of Vigo was Galician Language and Culture. Part of the course was a series of free excursions around the region. The first would consist of a trip to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de Carboeiro followed by a hike through the countryside to a waterfall.
A minibus took the class from Vigo to the Monastery. It was a lovely day with a blue sky.
The area around the Monastery was the epitome of lushness and greenness. It was shining with life. Everywhere I looked I saw more species of plant, fungus and lichen.
We looked inside the abandoned Benedictine Monastery. It was a cool, bright, open space. We wandered around, enjoying the architecture and the shade.
There was a visitor centre just across from the Monastery. It had some interesting photos and information, and its loo was much appreciated by the group.
Spider's web!
The Monastery grounds also boast a famous pombal - pigeon and dove house. Along with horreos - granaries - they are one of the signature small buildings of Galicia.
Botanical Route
We headed down to take a look at the River Deza.
Otter!
Caddisfly!
I was overwhelmed by how beautiful and wild the Monastery's surroundings were. I can imagine how wonderful and inspiring a place it might have been for the monks to live in. I wished we could have spent more time there, but the next part of our excursion - hiking to a waterfall - beckoned.
I'll tell you all about that adventure in the next post.
Thanks for reading!
Liz x
