Here Comes the Sun, And I Say It's Alright :)

     Did we mistakenly put a honeymoon picture from North Carolina on the blog? Nope! Just plain, gorgeous weather here in northern Spain.  We were surprised too! It’s amazing what a little sun can do for one’s motivation and energy!  On Friday, we managed to get everything done on our to-do list on our sunny ocean-view porch.  After finishing our chores, our creative juices started flowing...

Homemade Household Orange Cleaner

  

Robin focusing on drawing an accurate U.S.A. map

Thankful! Thankful! Thankful!

A Lanzada Beach

     Until this year, I had never escaped a brutal Wisconsin winter during spring break.  It’s a weird feeling to sun-bathe on the beach during the first week of March.  We’re not complaining, though.  We went to the town of O’Grove about forty-minutes south of where we live.  O’Grove really juts out into the ocean, so the open waters are great for surfing.  There were lots of surfers taking advantage of the huge waves.  Other than the surfers who were wearing wet-suits, Robin was the only one crazy enough to swim in the freezing ocean.  Also, nearby the beach was a church with the exterior completely covered in shells! Cool beans!  It doesn't come as a surprise since the town hosts one of the world's largest seafood festivals every October.

     People are always asking us why we don’t bundle up like we live in Antarctica when it is almost 50 degrees out.  This time they thought we were crazy to wear short sleeve-shirts and shorts when it was almost 70 degrees with sunny blue skies.  We are constantly explaining to teachers and store cashiers that we are from Wisconsin where people will go out and wash their cars on the first 60-degree day of spring.  The owner of the fruit store refers to us as “Wisconsin” now.  Maybe this is aided by the fact that Robin brought three different t-shirts with Wisconsin written across the chest.



 

Views From Our Front Porch During These Beautiful Days

Lots of kayakers lately.  We'll have to get out there soon!

 Pictures from Carnaval at Alyssa’s School

     We went to Vilaxoán to watch their Carnaval parade and indulge in traditional Carnaval sweets.  We ate many homemade crepe(ish) types of dessert. Also, we loved the homemade sugar-dusted flowers! Basically, we ate a lot of fried dough!  It's a good thing we gave up sweets for lent.  The students are so creative and get really into their costumes.  Even the teachers dress up.  The funniest costume by far would probably be the religion teacher dressed as Bob Marley.  This costume might only fly in California, Washington and Colorado.  It is clear that American culture definitely plays a part in Carnaval costumes.  Two entire classes of three and four year olds dressed as Vikings might be one of the cutest sights known to man!

 

  

With this classic photo of a sweet Galician man walking down
a narrow, rainy Galician farming street, we say ADIOS to gloomy winter!

Santiago de Compostela

Lyss at the end of her pilgrimage to Santiago two years ago.

     The rain let up for a few hours one day, so before that could change we ran to the train station to take a trip to Santiago de Compostela.  Many Galicians have told us that Santiago is the most beautiful city in all of Spain.  Alyssa was pretty set in her opinion that Toledo is the most beautiful city in Spain, but my vote was still up for grabs.  Santiago is a mere 45-minute train ride away from Villagarcia. 

     On our train ride we passed horses, goats, and sheep grazing in tiny farm fields.  We learned that Galician parents choose to literally split their inheritance between their surviving children.  What once started as a normal sized farms would be split into smaller and smaller pieces so each child can have their own piece of farmland just big enough for a few animals but too small to actually have a business.  I asked one Galician farm owner how much work it took to take care of his four goats.  He said “It isn’t any work at all.  You just toss them your leftover bread every day and then kill one once or twice a year during a festival!”

     We arrived in Santiago and raced to the market so we could explore before it closed.  When we got to the market we were met with the smells of fresh bread and cheese.  I used my husband shining power to read Alyssa’s mind and there was one clear and powerful thought coming through.  FREE SAMPLES!  We walked up to the very first stand and a man offered us a sample.  However, it wasn’t quite what Lyss had in mind.  He used a big ladle to reach into a barrel and pull out an octopus tentacle.  Before we knew it he had cut it, seasoned it, and presented us with toothpicks skewering pulpo (octopus meat).  I’ve become quite an experienced octopus eater in my time here in Spain and enjoyed the free treat, but Alyssa had never tried it.  She stuffed it in her mouth smiling, waved goodbye, and walked quickly away.  By the time I caught up to her there was a wad of octopus in her hand.

     I was very proud of Alyssa’s attempt to eat octopus so we picked out some bread and cheese to eat for our lunch.  As we walked through the market we saw...

Santiago is home to some of the world's finest seafood.

We enjoyed our favorite dessert local to Santiago, Tarta de Santiago, in front of the Santiago Cathedral.  While enjoying our dessert, we met pilgrims who had just finished the pilgrimage.  It is tradition for pilgrims to kiss the brick on the left after finishing the pilgrimage.