Saturday we
took advantage of the good weather outside Lugo for a multi-stop Galician day
trip. Chelsea selected a few towns, and her friend Guillermo drove us to places
less accessible in bus. First stop was As Catedrais, on a beach. The views were
impresionante, and it’s no wonder
they are named ‘the Cathedrals,’ as visiting seems like a holy experience.
Pictures can only capture some of its glory:
Next we ate lunch at a
restauarant in Rinlo. Chelsea made reservations because it has quite a
reputation. The meal was a pan of rice with pieces of lobster and crab, and
shrimp in the Spanish tradition of seafood so fresh you have to remove the
shells yourself. It was literally
finger-licking good (para chuparse los dedos), even though we were given
towelettes to clean up. It was supposedly for two, but along with bread, wine, and
dessert, it filled the three of us.
Ready for a siesta, we
persevered to Ribadeo, another small town on the coast. Here we wandered around
during the vacancy of siesta time, and had coffee on a terrace in the harbor. I took
a picture of a lovely lilac-colored building
with an old cinema sign. Next we went to Mondoñero, a large town in the midst of its
festival weekend, much like our San Froilán. We enjoyed more Galician music, and
a show of horses dancing.
I felt Spanish in that I was
full from lunch until 9 at night, when most Spaniards dine. But unlike perhaps many Spaniards, I spent my
Saturday night on my couch reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, rather than going
out until dawn. That allowed me to get up early enough to get some bread and
breakfast before the bakeries closed for the day on Sunday. When I went to buy newspaper,
I was greeted by a woman from La Voz de Galicia, doing a promotion about
learning English. She tried to hand me a paper about it when I finally said
“Soy….I am English,” and we both
chuckled at the mistake. Made my day that she thought I was Galician/Spanish
based solely on appearance. J
