Moitas patacas
So now we´ve been here in Spain for a few weeks. Has been good to catch up with la familia and we’ve spent time on the farm which is looking great in summer with leaves on the trees and good weather to work outdoors (first time I’ve seen it like that).
It’s been producing huge quantities of vegetables and fruit, most of it the result of lots of traditional know-how and work by la abuela.
Got sick as a dog from oysters again and almost missed the local festival, Laro’s Romeria de la Tortilla (the grand festival of Spanish omlette). All the towns have a themed festival this time of year and Laro went all out with not one but two ‘orchestras’ (big bands singing a mix of Latin pop and paso dobles) going head to head, specifically ‘Paris de Noia’ and ‘Gran Parada’. Paris de Noia won hands down with singers descending from the roof of the stage, fireworks and an electric fiddle player moving through the crowd a la David Lee Roth. We also went up to the little old local iglesia for the special mass complete with firecrackers, gaiteros (bagpipes) and a quick tour around the village by the patron saint’s statue. C got out her new dress for Sunday best...
We’ve spent a week on the (European style, i.e. no waves) beach at San Xenxo, probably the most popular beach resort in the north of Spain. The water is cold at 16 to 19 degrees and it’s amazing how many people will squeeze onto the beach and walk up and down but few go for a swim. They had a bit of a party for the official opening of the apartments Catalina’s parents have bought into and we had a few drinks and twisted by the pool with C’s padres leading by example.
We’ve toured the beaches a little and found waves twice (A Lanzada at top below and Pantin below) but generally it’s been flat and despite swimming my arms felt like jelly within about 15 minutes.
Santiago is quiet and full of tourists for summer but the old part is beautiful as always and it has been good to catch up with Romina, Maria Eugenia, Ches, Belen, Carlos and others for a few beers. Some of these guys are now living in Madrid for work so we haven’t gotten to see them too much.
As usual, things have a different rhythm here. Lunch is at 3pm, which means dinner is 11pm, which means bed or going out is 2am, which means getting up the next day is 11am, which means getting much done before everything shuts at 1.30pm is nigh on impossible. As well as enjoying all of the above the past four weeks has been a regular battle with bureaucracy, poor service, inefficiency and the impossibility of doing anything quickly or efficiently. For C to get her bank accounts and ID sorted out after five years in Oz and to buy and insure a car has been one hassle after another. We take for granted how easy it is to deal with banks, the RTA and get insurance over the phone in Oz. Now we’re finally set for our tour of Europe to visit Dave in our VW Passat station wagon.
The food has been great, with lots of fresh veges from the farm, fresh fish and the usual delicacias espanolas like chorizo and jamon. We’ve eaten a lot and eaten well, so much so that we’d kill for a good Burgerman burger, some Arthur’s pizza and some Daniel’s thai.
Of course, most of all we miss all you guys back in Oz. Hope all is well and spring will soon be in the air. Will try to update this a bit more regularly now that we are starting to travel a bit further afield and should have something more to tell.
It’s been producing huge quantities of vegetables and fruit, most of it the result of lots of traditional know-how and work by la abuela.
Got sick as a dog from oysters again and almost missed the local festival, Laro’s Romeria de la Tortilla (the grand festival of Spanish omlette). All the towns have a themed festival this time of year and Laro went all out with not one but two ‘orchestras’ (big bands singing a mix of Latin pop and paso dobles) going head to head, specifically ‘Paris de Noia’ and ‘Gran Parada’. Paris de Noia won hands down with singers descending from the roof of the stage, fireworks and an electric fiddle player moving through the crowd a la David Lee Roth. We also went up to the little old local iglesia for the special mass complete with firecrackers, gaiteros (bagpipes) and a quick tour around the village by the patron saint’s statue. C got out her new dress for Sunday best...
We’ve spent a week on the (European style, i.e. no waves) beach at San Xenxo, probably the most popular beach resort in the north of Spain. The water is cold at 16 to 19 degrees and it’s amazing how many people will squeeze onto the beach and walk up and down but few go for a swim. They had a bit of a party for the official opening of the apartments Catalina’s parents have bought into and we had a few drinks and twisted by the pool with C’s padres leading by example.
We’ve toured the beaches a little and found waves twice (A Lanzada at top below and Pantin below) but generally it’s been flat and despite swimming my arms felt like jelly within about 15 minutes.
Santiago is quiet and full of tourists for summer but the old part is beautiful as always and it has been good to catch up with Romina, Maria Eugenia, Ches, Belen, Carlos and others for a few beers. Some of these guys are now living in Madrid for work so we haven’t gotten to see them too much.
As usual, things have a different rhythm here. Lunch is at 3pm, which means dinner is 11pm, which means bed or going out is 2am, which means getting up the next day is 11am, which means getting much done before everything shuts at 1.30pm is nigh on impossible. As well as enjoying all of the above the past four weeks has been a regular battle with bureaucracy, poor service, inefficiency and the impossibility of doing anything quickly or efficiently. For C to get her bank accounts and ID sorted out after five years in Oz and to buy and insure a car has been one hassle after another. We take for granted how easy it is to deal with banks, the RTA and get insurance over the phone in Oz. Now we’re finally set for our tour of Europe to visit Dave in our VW Passat station wagon.
The food has been great, with lots of fresh veges from the farm, fresh fish and the usual delicacias espanolas like chorizo and jamon. We’ve eaten a lot and eaten well, so much so that we’d kill for a good Burgerman burger, some Arthur’s pizza and some Daniel’s thai.
Of course, most of all we miss all you guys back in Oz. Hope all is well and spring will soon be in the air. Will try to update this a bit more regularly now that we are starting to travel a bit further afield and should have something more to tell.
Labels: beaches, Galicia, road trip, summer, surfing, travel
posted by J @ 9:11 PM
1 comments
In Tokyo and Kyoto the heat and humidity were something else, the vending machines on every second corner keep the liquids flowing. 
We caught up with international playboy and man of mystery Dan for a day or two, He can´t seem to keep away from Tokyo too long, its many attractions just keep drawing him back. 
There were way too many temples to see in a couple of days but highlights were the Zen temples set amongst pines, gardens and cool streams in the hills on the edge of town and the temple with 1000 golden statues of buddha lined up five deep for about 100m inside. 
The flight out wasn’t bad as the plane was half empty and we had a day flight over Siberia and Scandinavia before spending a night at Heathrow before we got to Madrid to realize there had been communication problems with booking flights to Santiago and our only option was Business…ouch! 
Next stop jamon jamon, pimientos de Padron y donde estan los niños?
