Cambados - wine capital of Galicia |Pianistus Herodotus - Travel notebook of a concert pianist

I was fortunate enough to be invited to perform at the beautiful town of Cambados, situated in the northwest corner of Spain an hour away from the Portuguese border. Everything about it is typically Spanish - there is no other purposes of coming here except to enjoy life.

Except it isn't just Spanish, and there are more than a few reasons to come here. Unlike the rest of Spain, northwest Spain - or the province of Galicia - was never really conquered by the Muslims in the 8th century, and its distancing from the rest of Spain meant that it has preserved its own language, Galego, and even a people and culture of a unique character.

Cambados is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants who thrive on being the capital of the Albarino wine, one of the most famous Galician exports. And good wine is inevitably paired with good food, and the bay and rivers of Cambados provide lots: lobsters, clams, cockles, mussels, razor clams, crabs of all shapes and sizes, as are a blinding array of fishes.

The town is also salted with beautiful Pazos, or manor houses; one of which is now the luxurious Parador hotel. Bordeaux might have its chateaux, but Galicia will rival with its Pazos.

My first visit was in February 2014 and was followed by another concert in July. In typical fashion I visited the numerous historical sights, wine bars, restaurants, and the bay. There will be a series of blogposts on restaurants and vineyards of Cambados, including interviews with the mayor (pictured below) and the manager of the Parador. Stay tuned!

Two airports serve daily flights from Barcelona: Santiago de Compostela on the north and Vigo on the south, both less than an hour's drive on beautiful scenic roads to Cambados. Check out budget airline Vueling.

今年夏天很榮幸地被邀請到坎瓦多斯 (Cambados) 這個美麗的小鎮演奏。坎瓦多斯位於西班牙西北部的角落，距離葡萄牙邊境大概一小時車程。這個充滿純西班牙風情的小鎮絶對是享受美好假期的天堂！

要了解更多這個漂亮小地方的風土人情，必需先明白到她的歷史背景。不像西班牙的其他地區，當西班牙在公元八世紀被穆斯林人攻打的時候，坎瓦多斯所屬的加利西亞省 (Galicia) 從未被征服，這段獨有的歴史使她可以保有自己的語言以及許多當地獨有的文化，令她成為今天一個充滿西班牙原産風情的地區。

加利西亞是一個出産葡萄酒的地區，而主要出產 Albarino 萄葡的坎瓦多斯是加利西亞的釀酒中心，好像波爾多市是波爾多地區的首領一樣。Albarino 萄葡酒是加利西亞其中一個聞名世界的出口產品，它造就了一萬四千個坎瓦多斯居民的完美生活。有美酒當然不少得佳餚去配襯，坎瓦多斯一帶的河流就正正地為這個地區提供了源源不絶的海產，不論是龍蝦花甲青口，或是螃蟹蟶子鮮蝦，你都可以在這裏找到，難怪當地所有人都成為饞咀的食家！

歐洲很多地方都保有許多莊園大宅的古老建築，坎瓦多斯亦不例外，但跟她獨特的歴史一樣，她的莊園建築有她獨有的名字，叫做 Pazos，就像在波爾多把城堡叫做「chateaux」一樣。而主要把酒店開設於具有歴史意義的古老建築的 Parador 酒店集圑亦把這裏的其中一座 Pazos 改建為酒店，成為我這個旅程一個很好的落腳點！

自從我第一次來到坎瓦多斯後，我已深深地愛上了這個既悠閒恬靜又多姿多彩的小鎮。經過今年夏天的第二次到訪，我認識到更多當地的加利西亞文化，亦到訪了更多的歴史遺跡、美麗的海灣，並品嚐過更多餐廳酒吧的地道美食。我將會撰寫更多關於加利西亞的旅遊點，當中包括 Parador 酒店經理的採訪，請密切留意！

坎瓦多斯附近的兩個機場(北面的 Santiago de Compostela 及南面的 Vigo)每天都有班機從巴塞隆拿前往，從兩個機場出發都只需少於一小時的車程，沿途更可欣賞醉人的田園風光。機票價格及時間可瀏覽廉航伏林航空的網頁：http://www.vueling.com/es。