This is Wild Spain
As Catedrais beach
People once thought the Earth ended here at this rugged, green, alluring, mountainous, ancient, enchanting, and wild part of Spain. It's Galicia, Spain's forgotten yet unique region where they speak Galego (a cross between Portuguese and Spanish) and have a very distinctive culture. But, the Galicians don't mind "being forgotten" because this means they can do whatever they want. It's a region that doesn't have the tourism infrastructure like Madrid, Catalonia, Andalucia, Valencia… well, the rest of Spain, even though it's the last leg of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim journey before reaching Santiago de Compostela.
One doesn't come to Galicia for flamenco, but for bag pipes. With its strong Celtic connections, wild beaches and arguably the best seafood in Europe, this unique region in Spain’s northwest remains largely unexplored by the tourists due to travelers wanting to visit it’s more famous regions.
When I say “Spain” what are some of the things and cities that come to mind first? Barcelona and Mercado de La Boqueria? Madrid and The Prado? Valencia and it’s beach? Sangria, tapas, Sevilla and a flamenco show?
When we think of Galicia, we think of vineyards growing vertically on the sides of canyons, barnacles (just wait for that next newsletter), drinking Alberiño wine, sleeping in 17th century monasteries, and the food! The delicacies from both land and sea.
Galicia is our kind of “person” a brash yet funny, older woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone and will put you in your place. An older woman who wears black, drinks Alberino with her lunch, and Queimada every night before bed, lives up in the mountains with goats and sings the most beautiful hymms in Galego. Though her face may look hard, it’s so beautiful and feels soft. She’s that kind of woman who invites you over to feed you caldo and tell you the best stories from her childhood and wild adventures around the world… and you never want to leave her presence.
You come to Galicia because it’s real, it’s honest, enchanting, and it’s untouched by tourism, good luck finding a Starbucks here.
Cheema’s Travel is very much like Galicians, we like to go against the grain, we’re not afraid to be different.
We love to design our itineraries to be “unsellable”. We design them the way we think our clients and travelers should see these places. Private trips, you get what you want, but group trips are experiences you didn’t realize you wanted or needed in your life.
We love Galicia for an infinite number of reasons and this is why we needed to find the right partner to help us execute our vision of exploring this almost forgotten corner of Spain. We’ve partnered up with a female owned company based out of Madrid and are planning a trip to Galicia for September 2021.
What can you expect on this wild adventure through this untapped land? Some of Europe's best seafood at your fingertips, outrageously delicious wines that you can’t get in the states, a “Communion” with our co-host and master somm Cha McCoy, private rooftop tour of one of the most famous cathedrals in the world, and 4-5 star nights in beautifully preserved ancient monasteries.
Learn more and join me, Rani Cheema, and Cha McCoy on this food and wine tour of Galicia.
