Month: September 2016

Cooking / Food / Galicia / Tourism

Galicia! Day 4

This post begins with a rewind to Day 3 and something I left out: a phone call after we returned home that evening from Mr. M’s sister, Conchita, asking if we’d like her to cook us a meal the next day. Conchita, you will remember, had previously helped cook some of the food at the furancho, to great success of course. Conchita is one of those Spanish mother types I had only dreamed of meeting and learning to cook from. She and her husband, Cito, live on a 40-acre farm about an hour from Sanxenxo. In her words, people come from miles

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Burriana / Castellón / Getting Acquainted

Diary of a Bus Ride

Though there are many cultural differences between Spain and the U.S., for me the one of the biggest changes may be living without a car. Plenty of Spaniards have cars, of course, but for us it doesn’t seem worthwhile to buy a car for one year. The paperwork alone – ay. Thus, Doer and I have been walking a lot more, I bought a bicycle, and we’ve been using public transportation. The trains between our town and other cities are fantastic, but up until recently we had not mastered the other big source of public transportation here – the autobús.

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Galicia / Tourism

Galicia! Day 3

Sunday in Galicia: a post in which we start by exploring the answer to the question, “Is there such thing as too much seafood?” I will note that we were quite exhausted by our previous days’ adventures. We went to church with M & M in Sanxenxo at 10am and enjoyed experiencing a Catholic service entirely in Spanish, but even this felt like rising early. When church let out, we spent some time exploring the waterfront in Sanxenxo and went back to the apartment to rest and snack a bit. It was Sunday, after all. By the time we were

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Galicia / Tourism

Galicia! Day 2

And so, we arrive at the furancho [link in Gallego! here is a translated version], and Saturday in Galicia. We had been promised an amazing lunch, and this one did not disappoint. All of our friends from the night before were there, plus a few others. We did not grab a picture of the lechón (a young lamb) hanging near the wine fermenters the night before, but it was quite a sight and hinted at something big in store. I had previously asked to see the cooking process, and sure enough: at one point midway through the meal, I was ushered to a nearby bakery where the lamb

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Galicia / Tourism

Galicia! Day 1

We have been having an absolutely amazing time along Spain’s northwest coast the past few days with our friends M & M. A chance meeting during a five-hour delay for our flight from Newark to Madrid a month ago has blossomed into a wonderful friendship. We cannot thank them enough for their hospitality: for driving us around, letting us stay at their place, introducing us to their friends and family, and showing us an all around great (and authentic!) time. This is seriously not an experience your average tourist gets. We quickly realized that upon our arrival, seeing they had

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Adapting / Burriana / Getting Acquainted / Holidays / Strolling

Open

Even the most reserved travelers have to be somewhat open to new experiences. When you leave your comfort zone, you will have encounters that may make you uncomfortable. Obviously, Doer and I have been trying to approach our time living abroad with as much openness as possible. However, a couple of unexpectedly related recent events have caused me to consider my own openness. The first incident happened our second day in the city of Castellón de la Plana. After spending a week in Madrid, Doer and I were eager to find a home in the province of Castellón, where we

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