A Galician Road Trip

Well friends...it's been a while.  Like we said, the sun is quite motivating and we had been experiencing some poor weather until today.  Also, we were without a computer charger for a while.  The good news is things are lookin' up. We've got a new computer charger and the sun is shining. What more can we ask for?

Although public transportation is awesome in Europe, Galicia is lagging a bit behind.  However, Galicia is doing pretty good in the car rental department.  It was so cheap for us to rent a car that got 75 miles per gallon! Increíble.  This past weekend, we drove through the lush, green hills of Galicia.  It was so neat to see the little villages tucked away in the hills by car.

LAS PLAYAS CATEDRALES

We started our adventure in the north of Galicia at Las Playas Catedrales (Cathedral Beach) so named because of the rock formations.  We had to go during low-tide.

Just look at that blue! How cool would it be to swim in here?  It's very shallow and crystal clear.  

Our very adventurous friend. It looks dangerous from the ground, but it's pretty wide at the top.

a taste of Ireland's Cliffs of Moher right in Galicia

Robin Indiana Jones Wabalickis

TO THE END OF THE EARTH (Cabo Finisterre)

We left the sunny beach in the north to go to the end of the earth.  During Roman times, they literally thought that this area in Galicia was the end of the earth since it is the most western point in Europe. Cabo Finisterre is located on the Costa de la Muerte (The Coast of Death).  This coastal area was given this name due to the many shipwrecks that happened here.  I'm not going to lie, we were pretty scared to walk to the lighthouse with such intense fog.  We could hear the ocean, but we couldn't see a thing.  It's too bad because the views are supposed to be spectacular.  

 

(Pictured above: thick fog and shoes left by pilgrims.  It is tradition to leave your shoes here after completing the Way of St. James pilgrimage)

Next Up: The Waterfall in Ézaro

 

We spotted northern and western Galician snails.  Just kidding...they're all the same, I think!

Last Stop: The Enchanting Fishing Village of Combarro

A proper Galician road trip must include Churrasco (perfectly seasoned grilled ribs!)

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.

Notes from a Sunny Stroll

     Carnaval (Carnival in English) is fast approaching here in Spain and everyone’s talking about it.  It’s quite a big deal here, especially in the south of Spain.  The celebration is similar to the granduer, lavish Carnaval celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The celebration of Carnaval evolved from a feast where everyone would finish off all the goods to be sacrificed during lent such as meat and sweets.  However, it evolved into a full-fledged celebration of everything carnal.  In Galicia, they kick off Carnaval with a matanza (a pig killing celebration).  Family and friends gather together to choose one of the family’s pigs to kill for meat for the family’s own meat supply.  We were invited to a matanza, but we didn’t make it.  I suppose attending a matanza will have to remain on our bucket lists until next Carnaval. Just Kidding!  Oh Spain and their crazy traditions.

There are many pig faces and parts being sold
in the market before Carnaval (Carnival)

        Some of the traditions associated with Carnaval here are simply crazy and absolutely strange! In a nearby town in Galicia, they celebrate Carnaval by throwing ants at people in the streets.  We’ve been told that people line up in the streets to be pelted by ants.  In one small Galician town the ants are covered in flour.  In another town, they are covered in feces from different farm animals.  What in the world?  I can just picture it.  “Let’s get the whole family together for the annual Carnaval ant throwing parade, and then we’ll head to the restaurant to grab a bite to eat.”  Just how do these traditions get started?  I find it so strange that some of Spain’s most bizarre traditions survive since everyone I’ve met is quite normal and pretty sophisticated.  Among other bizarre Spanish traditions are bullfights, the running of the bulls, tomato fights, and baby jumping festivals.  

The huge annual tomato fight (tomatina) that takes place in Buñol, Spain

If you’re interested in reading about a few other loco Spanish festivals, check out this link:

http://www.babylon-idiomas.com/blog/spanish-culture/babylon-idiomas-presents-10-crazy-spanish-festivals-where-people-throw-stuff/

  

Spanish Culture Vs. American Culture Part II:

     Finally! Finally! Finally! The sun came out this Sunday and it was almost sixty degrees outside.  This means that everyone (literally EVERYONE) was outside after the siesta.  Walking around on the paseo (our beachside trail), one could’ve easily mistaken it to be summer by the way everyone was celebrating.  I know us Wisconsinites probably appreciate the sun just as much after a long winter, but these Spaniards just have a different way of showing it. The air smelled of barbecues. We probably saw over fifty children riding bikes on the very short trail, and we probably spotted over fifty dogs. When the sun comes out, they don’t mess around. The entire family pours out onto the small paseo and it seems as if no one has a care in the world.

 

Top Five Observations From Our Sunny Run:

1. It’s completely normal for a fifteen year-old boy to hold hands with his mother while walking.

2. Sweet elderly couples love to hold hands!  If I wasn’t already so impressed with these eighty year olds for actually walking at a pretty normal pace without any assistance, the fact that they hold hands at that age makes me adore this group of Galicians even more.

3. Women walk arm and arm. Whether they are teenagers or in their eighties, they link arms as they stroll together.  This concludes our hand-holding/arm-linking observations.  :)

4. I think it is difficult for Spaniards to walk and talk at the same time unless they are walking very slowly.  If two or more people are walking on the trail and having a conversation, they often take a few steps, stop, and turn to each other to finish their conversation.  It’s so funny to watch the older men walking together (very common).  They walk a few steps, stop, face each other, and repeat. 

5. Babies and children are treated like royalty.  Maybe that’s an overstatement, but for every little four-year old riding a bike, there was bound to be at least three adults around this little princess taking pictures.  It’s cute because the kids don’t seem very conceited either.

From our perspective...

     They spend their non-walking years in ritzy buggies and dressed in the fanciest of baby clothes.  When they are older, a three year old still dresses with the styles of a very hip and modern thirty year old.  They look like dolls!  In fact, baby clothes here are very expensive.  It seems that all the baby clothes come from boutiques.  It is normal to pay 50 Euros for a pair of baby shoes.  In America, it’s totally acceptable to buy baby clothes from a garage sale.  We love to save.  This makes sense since the kids will get the clothes dirty as soon as they put them on.  Here, the children look immaculate!  It’s odd not to see little boys with dirt-stained knees.  Maybe their knees would be dirty if American football was popular here! 

A Day Trip to Santiago de Compostela

                                   

    Robin and I spent yesterday in the capital of Galicia.  We visited the cathedral where Jesus's apostle, St. James, is rumored to be buried.  University students "hug" him (the statue) for good luck before beginning classes.  

Stay tuned to find out whether Alyssa eats Octopus...tentacles and all!

Something Old and Something New

What's new in your world?  Here’s what’s new and not so new in ours..

NOT NEW – RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!

     Winter in rainy Galicia is about the same as winter in Wisconsin: long and dreary. Perhaps we shouldn’t make such a comparison since it is 7pm here now and it’s still light out, but still cloudy and rainy of course!  My teacher told me today that Galicia is experiencing record-breaking rainfall this year.  This doesn’t come as a surprise since there hasn’t been a day without rain for 31 days.  I think that the sun is the biggest trickster of all here.  It loves to shine so beautifully and brightly for only a few minutes and then disappear quickly into the clouds that literally come out of nowhere.  Then it suddenly begins to pour. 

 

We have to walk a bit to get to our grocery store and as you can see, it’s nearly impossible to avoid a rainy grocery trip.  While Robin was teaching, I ventured out into the mist to get groceries.  Soon after I left the grocery store, it started raining cats and dogs.  Wouldn’t you know it?  A kind Galician man, I’m guessing in his early 70s, helped me carry my groceries all the way home.  

     Since we live right on the ocean facing west, we don’t have any buildings blocking our precious sunlight.  So when the sun suddenly comes beaming in through our window, we instantly jump off the sofa, put on our running shoes, and sprint outside.  Last time, we were lucky enough to run for about three precious minutes without rain pouring down our faces.  We didn’t think we would become one of the tough Galician runners we often see running through monsoon-like conditions, but we’re getting close. Crazy Robin has even been spotted doing pull-ups in the rain.  Let’s see if we crazy Americans make it into the newspaper again…

NEW – GO SEAHAWKS!

Our American friends are from Seattle so we had to watch the Super Bowl live last night! The Super Bowl started at 12:30 a.m. here.  Watching the Super Bowl and the awesome Green Bay commercial.  We were like, “Hey! I recognize that neighborhood.”  Good ole’ Green Bay!

NOT NEW – School is, well, Different

     Robin and I are still figuring out our role in the kind of chaotic Spanish education system.  I happen to love arts and crafts, but I’m not a fan of a stress-filled arts and crafts class.  Maybe it’s the American individuality in me, but I think that all children, and all people for that matter, are creative in their own way and my goodness arts and crafts should be the one place where they shouldn’t be scolded.  It’s difficult to watch uncoordinated fourth grade boys get yelled at for not cutting tissue paper out perfectly (if that’s even a thing).  Our role in arts and crafts is basically to monitor the students’ creativity and make sure that they are completing their individual drawings according to the very specific one-size-fits-all way that each child should draw.  I just can’t help but imagine a fourth grade Robin Wabalickis sitting in a Spanish arts and crafts classroom.  He would be a prime candidate to be made an example of.  “Look at Robin’s drawing of a dog.  It’s quite a disaster.”  “Robin, you must learn to focus!” Let’s just say the international day of peace (which is a big deal at both of our schools) was perhaps the most stressful arts and crafts class yet.  A grand total of two children shed tears.  :(

It's not all sad...we baked cookies to learn different cooking vocabulary words :)

On a funny note, I had to correct the sixth grader’s pen-pal letters to 4^th graders in St. Louis.  This is how some of the students chose to describe themselves:

• “I’m not lazy, crazy, or stupid.” – Student 1
• “I’m short, young, and wise.” – Student 2
• “ I’m short and strong.  I’m shy and polite.” – Student 3

NEW – Unprocessed Week

My birthday cake....not part of unprocessed week

One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to eat healthier so we tried to eat unprocessed food for one week.  Even in Spain, it’s pretty difficult to do.  As you can see, we cheated a little with the oat bread. 

 

homemade minestrone soup and delicious cheat bread.  Basically, we had a lot of soup for unprocessed week.

 

Strawberries and kiwi in greek yogurt makes for a delicious dessert.  We were gifted over 20 lemons, so we made homemade lemon olive oil salad dressing.  I wish we had lemon trees in Wisconsin!

NEW – Going to Italy (birthplace of pesto and focaccia bread to be exact)

We’re planning to escape the rain for one last vacation.  Destination: ITALY!  It’s so hard to decide where to go in Italy, but Cinque Terre tops the list.  It’s made up of five little villages and of course like practically all of Europe, it’s declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We’ve read that the best pesto and foccaccia bread in the world can be found here.  Now if only they allow us to bring some pesto back on the plane...

This view + focaccia bread + pesto = one happy Alyssa (and hopefully Robin too!)