Emilio and Ana are the honeymoon couple from Spain who I’d met at Tweedsmuir Park Lodge in the Bella Coola Valley. We’d discovered that our itineraries for our days ahead were similar, so we’d agreed to rendez-vous for a hearty meal of halibut on the Pacific coast.
The newlyweds make their home in Madrid where Emilio grew up. But Ana grew up in Galicia, the once-kingdom in Spain’s northwest corner, atop Portugal. Galicia is famous for many things. I’ve visited its famous rain-drenched, moss-draped Cathedral of Santiago de Campostella -- a sacred destination for medieval pilgrims. And I’ve feasted on Galicia’s famous seafood. Much of their delicious shellfish – plucked both from the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay – is available no place else in the world.
A couple of e-mail exchanges made it easy for Emilio and Ana to find their way to my lodgings in Ucluelet. I’d agreed to source some prawns and fresh halibut… from Fishful Thinking, of course. (see 17th Post.) And I happily prepared a bountiful seafood supper that was entirely Galicia-gourmet in intent, if not in execution. Ana and Emilio served up many kind compliments… AND the evening’s supply of chardonnay, a Venedos Raimat… from Spain!
We laughed our way through 2 laptops worth of travel photos. We reveled in the ‘not-at-a-restaurant-tonight’ comfort of a relaxed, home-cooked meal with friends. And we previewed for one another our respective next stages of travel, they to Denali in Alaska, me to Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley.
n.b. Today’s Photo Gallery has an additional photo of Emilio and Ana. And a bunch of photos I snapped on the 2 hikes I’d taken before Gourmet Night. At Schooner Cove, I enjoyed rainforest trails and spectacular sandy beaches all a-swirl with wisps of fog. On the Wild Pacific Trail – at the southern most tip of the Ucluelet peninsula, I was stunned to discover a seascape that seemed to be completely familiar. I could have been at Point Lobos on California’s Monterey County coast just south of Carmel. There were cliffs and coves and islands and kelp beds aplenty. Only difference? It was bigger. Much bigger. See Photo Gallery.
