Today we toured a fort built on a small peninsula in northwest Spain just north of Portugal. It is part of Galicia which speaks both Spanish (Castellano from Castilla) and Gallego (a local dialect which is kind of a mix between Castellano and Portuguese). The fort was pretty cool with a big stone wall, several turrets, a large guard tower and cannons. Then we went on a small tour of a full scale replica of the Pinta. It was the smallest and fastest of Columbus´s ships and arrived in port at Baiona to announce the "discovery" of the Americas. Up until then, the coast of Galicia had been known as Fines Tierra (the end of the Earth) and the pillars of Hercules had been included in the flag of Spain to designate that belief. After Columbus´s return, they added the Latin phrase "Plus Ultra" which means "plus 
more" - or in other words, Spain´s empire now extended into the great beyond. After that we drove down to Monte Santa Tecla in which a settlement had been built on a large hill on the shores of the inlet that divides Spain and Portugal. There were the remains of a settlement that dates from 11 BC and an old church on top of the hill. From there we drove down into Portugal for a late lunch and saw a Portuguese fort which was fascinating, but small than the Spanish one. After that we returned to Spain. Overall, it was a spectacular day.
more" - or in other words, Spain´s empire now extended into the great beyond. After that we drove down to Monte Santa Tecla in which a settlement had been built on a large hill on the shores of the inlet that divides Spain and Portugal. There were the remains of a settlement that dates from 11 BC and an old church on top of the hill. From there we drove down into Portugal for a late lunch and saw a Portuguese fort which was fascinating, but small than the Spanish one. After that we returned to Spain. Overall, it was a spectacular day.
2 comments:
That's neat that you got to go to Portugal. Is it easy to go country hopping there? Did you just go to Portugal to say you went there? Or do they have better lunch food?
Once you are in the European Union, it is easy to go from one country to another. One of the teachers in our group served a mission in Brazil and had visited Portugal before, so he convinced the program director to make a small detour down there to give us a slightly broader perspective of how close the languages are. The food was good - very similar to Spanish food.
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