Trevor Huxham

If you happen to find yourself in Santiago de Compostela and have run out of things to do , I’d recommend going on day trips to check out more of Galicia’s beautiful cities and natural wonders, from the “Glass City” of A Coruña and Roman-walled Lugo to the pristine beaches of the Cíes Islands and the natural hot springs of Ourense . You can reach some really exciting places on a one-hour train ride, but if you know how to drive stick shift, it’s best to rent a car and head out west to hug the coastline until you reach the Atlantic Ocean. Lighthouses at Muxía The historic fishing villages of Noia and Muros will whet your appetite for Gothic architecture and seafood tapas, whereas coastal Carnota has kept an entire beach reserved just for you. Just around the corner, the Ézaro waterfall is the only point in mainland Europe where a river empties into the sea via a waterfall. The cherry on top (the shrimp on the paella?) is without a doubt Fisterra, also called Finisterre,...

Ézaro waterfall Northwest Spain continues to amaze me the more I learn about it. You’d think it’d be hard to top a region that happens to have coastal islands with pristine white-sands beaches, one of the most beautiful historic town centers in Europe, or the only city that is still completely enclosed by its original Roman walls. But Galicia’s got yet another stunning treasure: the only river in continental Europe that empties into the sea via a waterfall. On the boardwalk The Xallas River pours down the glossy hillside of Mt. Pindo, having trickled out of a dam that’s been generating hydroelectric power since the ‘60s. When friends both Galician and expat alike raved to me about the Ézaro Waterfall —pronounced “EH-thah-row” [ˈe.θa.ɾo]—I always imagined a river rushing over something like the White Cliffs of Dover before dramatically crashing into the ocean. The real thing is a lot more subdued, as the river merely rolls down an eroded hillside into a tiny estuary befor...

Mar de Lira beach It’s not every day you come across a deserted beach that literally stretches for miles beneath a deep blue sky. Yet that’s exactly what happened to me one warm, sunny Saturday in April while exploring the far western reaches of Galicia in northwest Spain. Gorse-covered hillside The town of Carnota (really just a collection of rural houses and small family farms) stretches across a flat tract of Galicia’s Atlantic coastline, tucked away in a bend of the Ría de Corcubión —one of many inlets of the sea that extend like fingers into the mainland. Five of these estuaries trickle down the region’s western coast, where steep hillsides contrast with white-sands beaches and where the economy depends on both fishing and white wine production. Longest hórreo  in Galicia But Carnota’s got more than just stunning, vast beaches and pretty rural scenery. This little coastal town is also home to one of the region’s longest hórreos or stone corncrib used to st...

Many folks visit Santiago de Compostela because they’re drawn to the medieval mystique of the Camino de Santiago , which ends in the city. A popular daytrip from Santiago involves heading out west to the tiny coastal town of Fisterra, the “Lands End” of Galicia, which many pilgrims consider the true ending point of this pilgrimage that runs across northern Spain. A mighty lighthouse guards craggy cliffs, what the Romans considered to be finis terrae , the ends of the earth. Outside Noia Sadly, many people hop on charter buses that make express runs between Santiago and the Atlantic coast, completely bypassing the intervening countryside. It’s a real shame because there’s so much to see and do in between those two points, from charming fishing villages to secluded beaches and even waterfalls. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to spend some time on the blog sharing with y’all the best places to see on your way from Santiago to the End of the World. Today, let’s visit our...

As I headed back home to Santiago de Compostela after spending Good Friday 2015 in Ferrol , I took a cross between a pitstop and a daytrip in the coastal village of Betanzos, one of the hidden treasures of northwest Spain. Santiago will always be first in my heart, but Betanzos quickly won me over as my new favorite village in Galicia. Old homes with galerías Welcoming locals In the old town The single-car diesel clunker I rode to Betanzos on dropped me off at what was more a clearing in the woods than a proper train station. Seeing a backpack-clad boy scrutinizing his phone’s Google Maps app, a dad who had picked up his daughter there offered to drive me in to the old town and save me a hike. In retrospect it probably wasn’t the safest decision to hop into a complete stranger’s car (sorry Mom!) but I trusted my gut and hopped in. My leap of faith paid off, as these two kind betanceiros  dropped me off in the central plaza and were fun to chat with for a couple of...

#HouseGoals Galicia, tucked away in Spain’s northwest corner, happens to be one of the most densely-populated regions in the country. Major cultural and political centers include Vigo , A Coruña , Ourense , Lugo , Santiago de Compostela , and Pontevedra …and if we were to continue rattling off the region’s biggest cities, the coastal town of Ferrol would hold the spot for seventh-biggest, at 70,000 ferroláns . Ferrol (pronounced “fair-ROLE” [feˈrol]) doesn’t have the best reputation among Galicians, as it’s kind of the black sheep of the region; many folks call this place “ugly” and say “it doesn’t have anything to see.” Of course, I was told the same thing about Almería on the Mediterranean coast and ended up really enjoying the city when I daytripped there three years ago. Still, there’s a lot about Ferrol that makes it, uh, different  from the rest of Galicia. Military heritage Military arsenal Situated deep within one of Europe’s most strategic natural harb...

When I lived in Spain and taught English , I always took full advantage of the annual Semana Santa vacation during the week leading up to Easter Sunday to go on a major international trip, since you use up half your time off just getting out of the country and flying back on weekend trips. For my first year, I rode a ferry across the Mediterranean and explored northern Morocco , while in my second school year abroad, I train-hopped from Santiago down into warm, sunny Portugal . Procesión de Jesús Nazareno (Cofradía de Dolores) Although in 2015 I still planned on leaving Spain for a brief getaway to Germany , I wanted to be back in the country before Holy Week was over. After all, Spain throws one of its biggest, most unique celebrations for Semana Santa, and I would have regretted not experiencing this fascinating cultural tradition before moving back to Texas . So I decided to check one off the ol’ bucket list and spend all of Good Friday chasing religious processions in th...

You might get the impression from reading this blog that the region of Galicia happens to be one of the most beautiful in Spain. It’s true, this northwest corner of the country is blessed with white-sands beaches , dramatic coastline , Roman ruins , and charming medieval town centers . Modern architecture from both the turn of the century and the early aughts adorns cities like A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela . And you’re never too far from well-kept-up public parks and the green countryside . Loved this street art mural by @nanako_nene done for the village of Ordes' "Desordes Creativas" festival in 2012. It depicts the wildfires that affected the region's Fragas do Eume national park and Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, who is seen here protecting the animals. // #streetart #desordescreativas #ordes #acoruña #galicia #spain #travel #snapseed #latergram A photo posted by Trevor Huxham (@trevorhuxham) on Feb 20, 2015 at 3:41am PST But many ...

When I lived in Santiago de Compostela , Spain, and taught English , my bilingual coordinator, Fran, and I would carpool every day out to the small town of Boiro on the Atlantic coast. After leaving Santiago, we would exit onto a two-lane highway and pass through one farming community after another on our way to Padrón , where we would pick up the coastal expressway and blast through wooded hillsides to the school where we worked. That first leg of the commute never really sat right with me, as it involved a lot of stop-and-go traffic, steep hills, sharp curves, roundabouts, and low speed limits, and I was always eager for us to finally get out of Padrón and onto the autovía . But these days I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know this small slice of rural Galicia (albeit from the passenger window of a car) since the two-lane highway we would take each morning merged with sections of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. We would see pilgrims trudging along on the...

Castro de Baroña Apart from the Roman walls of Lugo and the refurbished Tower of Hercules in A Coruña , Galicia doesn’t have much going for it in terms of ancient ruins. However, you can still catch a fleeting glimpse of its long-lost Celtic heritage in ruins scattered across the region, like a hilltop perch in A Guarda that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. These castros  or pre-Roman fortifications consisting of circular stone huts were built all over Galicia and even lasted throughout Roman times. Fishing on the beach While on a weekend trip to coastal Ribeira , about an hour or so west of Santiago de Compostela , I daytripped with a friend of a friend, who drove me around the area and gave me the chance to experience the wonders that the peninsula called O Barbanza has to offer, like mobile sand dunes and even a dolmen (prehistoric megalithic burial mound). On the northern coast of this mountainous peninsula, we stopped off for a few minutes to check out the Castro d...

Corrubedo Lighthouse I teach English at an elementary school in Boiro , which is just one of half a dozen cities that dot a mountainous peninsula called O Barbanza . This small region on Galicia’s western Atlantic coast is blessed with windy forested hills, expansive beaches, and a fertile habitat for growing mussels. At the very far southwestern tip of this peninsula lies the town of Ribeira, the capital and largest city of the comarca  or county of Barbanza. Back in November, I finally took the bus past Boiro for the first time to meet up with some fellow language assistants who work in the area and really enjoyed my time in Ribeira—in spite of the torrential rains that are all too common in Galicia in the fall and winter. What is Ribeira all about? In Ribeira city There’s absolutely no question that Ribeira lives off of the sea. As one of the most important fishing ports in Spain and all of Europe, this city receives the catches that folks bring in from ...

Everyday on the way to and from school , I pass through the town of Padrón,  situated about halfway between Santiago de Compostela where I live and Boiro (on the coast) where I work . Just barely inland, Padrón straddles the Sar River before it empties into the estuary called the Ría de Arousa. Sar River A small but proud village of almost 9,000, Padrón dates back to Roman times when it was known as Iria Flavia (which is still the name of a parish to the north of the city center). Today, it’s known for producing peppers of the same name, for being a major stop along the Camino de Santiago, and for being home to two significant poets in the Galician language. Peppers Pementos de Padrón (ignore the eggplant) Even non-Galicians have heard of Padrón at least once, if only for the famous peppers that originated just outside the city center in the parish of Herbón. Brought to the area by Franciscan monks after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, these  pimientos ...

I’ll be honest: I’m not the biggest fan of A Coruña, Galicia’s second-largest city and the major metropolis along the region’s north Atlantic coast. Its residents have a reputation of being  pijo  (snobby), the city is sprawling and confusingly laid out, and much of Coruña has all that Big City character Madrid is known for…without the charm. View this post on Instagram Colorful Coruña // Throughout most of the region of Galicia, you'll find mainly gray and white buildings and houses. However, on the coasts, and especially in the big city of A Coruña, color is everywhere and is a nice change. This shot I took from Avenida de la Puerta de Aires, looking into the Plaza María Pita and the grand, turn-of-the-century town hall. // #acoruña #galicia #spain #travel #vsco #vscocam A post shared by Trevor Huxham (@trevorhuxham) on Jan 30, 2014 at 2:35pm PST But there’s something attractive about Coruña that I ju...

Since October 2013, I’ve been teaching English at a rural elementary school on the western coast of Galicia, northwest Spain. Although I’m writing this back home in Texas right now, I’ll be heading back in the fall to renew at the same school for another year, so I thought this summer intermission would be the best time to share with y’all a little bit about the whole reason I’ve been able to live and travel abroad for this past school year. Blue house The surrounding region Gratuitous photo of stray kitties Abanqueiro (pronounced “ah-vahn-KAY-EE-roe” [ˌa.βanˈkej.ɾo]) is a small farming parish that belongs to the broader municipality of Boiro , a city of about 20,000 people in one of the  Rías Baixas or “Lower Inlets” of the Atlantic Ocean that flow into the region’s western coasts. Like most of Galicia, Abanqueiro is green and lush, receiving a lot of rain in winter. But because the village is situated on a flat peninsula close to sea level, the weather here is gen...

Before I got placed to teach English at a rural elementary school in a village called Abanqueiro, I knew very little about the western coasts of Galicia, Spain’s northwestern region. Although I knew I was going to work in Abanqueiro, the address that my placement letter gave me included “Boiro” in parentheses, something that really threw me off. Was my school in Abanqueiro or Boiro? Boiro, seen from my plane window! Both, actually. Come to find out, the population in Spain’s northern regions is distributed a lot differently than it is down south. Whereas in Andalucía, you have a tight, compact urbanization that belongs to a single municipio  (municipality) with virtually no “settlements” outside the city limits (that’s where all the olive groves are, silly!), in Galicia, things are a lot more spread out. The whole region is broken down into various concellos  (municipalities), each with their own town hall in the main city center. Each concello  is divided into s...

Galicia is (in)famous for being rainy; upon explaining to my Andalusian friends and teachers that I would be moving up north last year, they would almost instantly exclaim how much it rains here. However, I’ve been keeping track of the weather, and so far, it really hasn’t been all that bad. In fact, for five whole weeks in November and December, we had, at most, a single day of rain. Looking out towards Santiago During this welcome dry spell, a few American friends in town and I took advantage of the nice weather and made a little daytrip from Santiago de Compostela to hike up a mountain called Pico Sacro.  The name means “Sacred Peak,” but I’ll explain the mystical origins of the title below. Only half an hour outside of town, Pico Sacro rears up and gives a grand panorama of the surrounding areas from its summit. An easy, rewarding hike (Source: José Camba ) Hiking up the mountain wasn’t a walk in the park, but it wasn’t extremely strenuous, either. Just an ...

After walking 115km (72 miles) along Spain’s Camino de Santiago  pilgrimage route in June, I finally arrived at the end point to the Way of St. James: the city of Santiago de Compostela. Hooray! It was an amazing feeling to look up at the Baroque façade of the cathedral in the Praza do Obradoiro on that gray Sunday morning, but my journey was not finished yet— there were three more days left! Fisterra, at last Although my Camino across northwestern Spain formally ended at the cathedral of Compostela, I decided to take the plunge and continue walking 89 more kilometers west, all the way to the ocean. Three long, hard days later, the Atlantic was in my sights. What the Camino to Fisterra is View this post on Instagram 89km (54 miles) and a nasty blister later, I made it to Fisterra, or Spain's version of Lands End. I just...don't want to walk for a month now >.< // #fisterra #galicia #spain #travel #hiki...

I know I’ve already tweeted about it twice now, but I would like to officially announce on this blog that I will be a North American Language and Culture Assistant at an elementary school in the town of Boiro, Galicia, for the 2013-2014 school year. (Source: Wikipedia ) Galicia is a little-visited region of Spain in the northwest corner of the country, just to the north of Portugal. The language they speak there is very closely related to Portuguese, although everyone speaks Spanish as well. Like the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., Galicia is green, lush, and rainy—and it’s the last adjective that everyone here down south always uses to describe the place, even though it’s been really rainy here, too! Famous for its seafood, the region is well-known to the rest of Spain for pulpo a la gallega  (Galician-style octopus) and mejillones en escabeche  (canned, marinated mussels). Perhaps infamously, the naval town of Ferrol is the birthplace of dictator Francisco ...