Las Islas Cies

On our last day in Galicia we decided to head to the beautiful Islas Cies. The islands are rated as having the number one beaches in all the world by the prestigious British newspaper The Guardian. Rumor has it that Las Isles Cies used to be a favorite pirate haunt. Today one of the best things about the Cies is that it is a nature preserve, uninhabited and in pristine condition. There isn't even a place to throw your trash away on the island. When you board the boat to get to there you are given a bag to bring all of your trash back in. We also liked not having to worry much about thieves and pick-pockets because we knew everyone there had to pay 20 euros just ride the boat over. The beach really was amazing. The sand was so fine that it was hard to walk in. The water was beautiful and completely clear. The only problem was that it was also very cold. The Atlantic certainly isn't the Mediterranean! It wasn't so bad once you got in though and Jay didn't seem to mind at all. We would have loved to explore the island a little more but towing a toddler along just didn't allow it. Oh well! Maybe someday we'll achieve our dream of owning a boat we can cruise the coasts of Europe with. Then we could go back to Islas Cies and explore to our heart's content. Better work on making those millions first... ;) Enjoy the pictures, although they don't do the Cies justice. Oh and sorry if there are a few topless women in the background, that's just the way it is in Europe!

Here is a collage of pictures from some of our days of exploration. I wanted to add a last few pictures to remember some of the things we did and saw. Check out the little "house" on the middle left. These are everywhere in Galicia - mostly in gardens. They look like some kind of religious shrine to me but we found out that they are mostly for decoration. In the past they were used to dry grain and corn in. You can't really tell but they usually sit up high off the ground on stilts. This was done so that rats and other rodents couldn't get to the drying food. While staying at the hotel Jay had a great time watching this tractor work in a nearby field from our balcony.
We walked down to see it one morning and he was mesmerized! The men working enjoyed his excitement. Jay kept saying, "tractor, tractor" without my prompting him. He thought they were really cool... probably the coolest thing we saw in Galicia! :) At the hotel the staff kept giving him chocolate chip cookies. Here he is chowing down on one.

By the way, the name of the hotel we stayed at is Pazo los Escudos. Here's a collage of more pictures I took of the hotel. We met the owner while we were there and he was such a nice man. He spent 15 million euros renovating the place so we know he's loaded but he was so down to earth. One morning during breakfast he played ball with Jay for about 20 minutes. He's from Venezuela and most of his kids and grandkids still live there. When I asked him how often he goes back to visit he says not often at all. Since the hotel is still so new he needs to be there to take care of all the details. He explained that a 5 star hotel can go down to a 4 star very quickly without knowing exactly what happened. He's there to make sure everything is as it should be - noticing the details that no one else would think of. We saw him several times out fixing sprinkler heads, chatting with guests, helping the staff and more. He was a really neat man and obviously very successful. He told me that the King and Queen of Spain had stayed at the hotel the Monday before we arrived. He had also met former President George Bush and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Well we sure enjoyed staying at his beautiful hotel! Here's a picture of the hotel from the back - that wall surrounding it must be very old!

I loved these lion statues. What a great place!