La Guardia, Spain

1) The sky in La Guardia is always putting on a show, and the seagulls are always watching you -- do you see them on the crane? There are many cranes in Galicia.
2) La Guardia from one of the long docks around its harbor.
3) “Isto e Galiza non Espanha” – I’ve seen a lot of graffiti expressing that sentiment. Look, you can see boats in the other end of the harbor!
4) La lonja, where the auction is a calm and quiet spectator sport. The prices are posted on the big black board on the far wall, and buyers signal that they want to stop at a certain price by means of an electronic control.
5) These people are always at the dock at eleven! They are all helping one fisherman, Antonio, untangle and de-fish his net, and in return, they get good company and fresh fish.
6) This sea urchin is inedible, Benito tells me, but the blue and green ones aren’t. I asked what he was going to do with it, hoping for an answer like, “Oh, I shall toss it back to sea so that it can rejoin its family! Then it shall enjoy the rest of its life in freedom!” – but he said that they are a nuisance and are crushed.
7) Low tide!
8) This is the castro at the Monte de Santa Tecla – these stone circles were the homes of native Gallegos two millennia ago. In the first century AC, after the Roman invasion, the people started moving out of this kind of community and into newly established urban centers on lower ground.
9) La Guardia from the high and far Monte de Santa Tecla. I was probably out of breath when I took this picture.
10) This hill has a higher concentration of stairs than any other hill in the world (possibly) (it looked like it) (not an official factoid).
11) Look at the RAINBOW. It was about twenty-three and a half times more splendid in real life.
12) Look at the OTHER RAINBOW.
13) I have now seen three such fort-like structures that have been overtaken by the sea. I may have passed more without realizing it. (Later: Now I know what they are! Suave Gentleman Lito in Bayona showed me a similar ruin and told me that they were used to keep the catch until it was consumed – so these water-filled tubs housed doomed lobsters, crabs, etc.)
14) This is in the Portuguese city of Caminha, a ten-minute ferry ride away from Spain! Many buildings are covered in colorful tiles like these.
15) The coast is also full of these half-crumbled walls. Some are still used to enclose gardens, especially in the city, but many are overgrown like this one.
16) The view from an abandoned and crumbling house. ! Why would anyone leave?
17) Traditional Portuguese dancing. The little boy was my favorite.