Maybe you found a magical place. I've heard Portugal has such places. Actually, all of Iberia does, and southern France.
When I was beebopping around East Asia (which I want to get back to), I became convinced that the whole region was a sort of "thinner" part of reality, like the material matrix separating us from the real world was thinner and magic could penetrate easier there. Its a feeling and somehow some kind of difference in the quality of light, which could easily go unnoticed, except that you do notice it.