praia das illas, praia das catedrais

(Trip to Northern Spain pt V)

These beaches were the destination of my hike across the countryside. There are a number of beaches all in a row; here I've got pictures of two of them, the praia das illas (beach of the islands) and the famous praia das catedrais (beach of the cathedrals).

I loved the colors visible in the rock above-- the slatey blue at the bottom ranging up to yellows, rusts, reds, terra-cottas. It really reminded me of a postcard from an art museum in Toronto that Aunt L had given me a year or so ago, which bore a photo of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, the curved sides of which reflected indistinct rosey reds, metal-blues--

In the picture above you can see why it's called the beach of the islands-- the rock formations come up from the water like tall islands.

Below this are the pictures of Cathedrals beach.
As you may remember from the previous post, the timing of the tides wasn't very convenient, and even though I visited the beach at the end of the day, the tides were still at a medium level, impeding my visit.

Well, here's one buttress at least... anyway, the more impressive arches were surrounded by impassable water

Above, you can see the most famous sections of the beach, from a distance... maybe if you view the picture at a greater size the arches will be more easily visible.

Even though I didn't get to visit a good deal of this beach, I was still glad to have gone-- and even glad to have walked from Ribadeo, despite my subsequent fatigue. I thought that the praia das illas was definitely interesting and deserves to share a little of the fame of catedrais.