Beach Travel Wine Podcast · Leanne McCabe

138. Galicia Spain. Travel down the coast from Santiago de Compostella.

·31 min·2 clips

A Latuna band turns a mussel-and-wine boat trip into a conga line around the deck.

1. Beach Travel Wine Podcast episode 138 follows a day trip down the coast from Santiago de Compostela toward Pontevedra in Galicia. 2. Lyle and Leonita host the episode, and Maria at Laga de Besada appears as the winery owner guiding the vineyard visit. 3. The episode is for a Galicia itinerary that combines wine, seafood, chapels, beaches, and local legend. 4. The hosts explain that Galicia sits on Spain's northwestern Atlantic coast and borders Portugal, Asturias, and Castile-León. 5. They say the region is sometimes called 'Greenland, Spain' because of its lush green landscape. 6. The trip is chosen because the hosts wanted Galicia's wine, seafood, and natural scenery in one day. 7. They also mention Anthony Bourdain's Galicia documentary, the film 'The Camino' with Martin Sheen, and an Albariño recommendation from a restaurant in Asturias. 8. The day starts near the Hotel Universal with a café con leche, a walk through gardens, and a bilingual Spanish-English tour. 9. The guide who speaks English with a Cockney accent becomes a running joke while the group waits for five men on a Bucks weekend. 10. The passengers turn out to include Lorenzo and a Latuna band from Seville, plus a guitar that changes the mood of the whole day. 11. At Laga de Besada, Maria gives a private tour because only three English speakers join the English group. 12. She explains that the winery dates to about 40 years ago and grew alongside the Rías Baixas appellation. 13. She also explains that Galicia's 188 days of rain led to pergola-style vine training to maximize sun and ventilation. 14. The hosts describe walking under elevated vines, tasting Alada de Balladina 100% Albariño, Berbillas de Balladina sparkling wine, and the house wine. 15. At Capella de Lanzada, they see a 12th-century Romanesque chapel built from older stone and linked to the Santiago pilgrimage route. 16. The hosts describe the Bath of the Nine Waves, where women swim at midnight during the last weekend of August to address infertility. 17. On Isla de Tocha, also spelled Isla de Toxa and Toja, they see a shell-covered chapel, a red-carpet wedding route, and the legend of a donkey that recovered on the island. 18. The boat trip shows mussel, scallop, and oyster farming on floating platforms, long lines, rafts, and bateas made from eucalyptus wood lattices. 19. The tone stays relaxed, detailed, and conversational, with the format moving from bus stops to vineyard tasting to seaside sightseeing to a crowded boat. 20. Listeners who like Galicia, Albariño, seafood, and coastal day trips will get the most from this episode. 21. Listeners wanting a tight single-topic discussion or no travel logistics may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Beach Travel Wine Podcast