I need to stop
labeling things as ¨memorable¨ since pretty much every weekend here is
memorable! :D This weekend especially, being a puente and
all.
Jaloguin:
In Galicia, they have a holiday similar to Halloween— Samhaín. And by similar I mean it’s the original Celtic celebration from which Halloween is derived. At the school where I work there was a pumpkin carving contest, with some impressive results. There was also an assembly where students and I read about Samhaín and Halloween in galego, castellano, and English. The tradition of trick-or-treating does not exist here, and dressing up isn’t as common with “adults” either. Lauren and I first celebrated at the piso of two Americans. We were all dressed up, obviously. Then we went to hang out with Lugo’s finest (aka my Galician friends and their friends). We got some funny looks for being dressed up—I had a beard (lumberjack!) and another American wore lederhosen. The gang of Lucenses was dressed normally too, except for Diego the monkey haha. En suma, we had an awesome time and stayed out until it was 7 AM and time for us to pack up and catch a bus to Asturias. I feared the no-sleeping-idea would be one of my most regretted decisions, but it turns out it was well worth it and we were able to sleep on the bus/at siesta time.
In Galicia, they have a holiday similar to Halloween— Samhaín. And by similar I mean it’s the original Celtic celebration from which Halloween is derived. At the school where I work there was a pumpkin carving contest, with some impressive results. There was also an assembly where students and I read about Samhaín and Halloween in galego, castellano, and English. The tradition of trick-or-treating does not exist here, and dressing up isn’t as common with “adults” either. Lauren and I first celebrated at the piso of two Americans. We were all dressed up, obviously. Then we went to hang out with Lugo’s finest (aka my Galician friends and their friends). We got some funny looks for being dressed up—I had a beard (lumberjack!) and another American wore lederhosen. The gang of Lucenses was dressed normally too, except for Diego the monkey haha. En suma, we had an awesome time and stayed out until it was 7 AM and time for us to pack up and catch a bus to Asturias. I feared the no-sleeping-idea would be one of my most regretted decisions, but it turns out it was well worth it and we were able to sleep on the bus/at siesta time.
Asturias:
Our first stop was Oviedo. The architecture was noticeably
prettier than in Lugo, and I was later informed that this is because Asturias
is/was a principality. The prince of Spain is called El príncipe de Asturias,
so duh, I should’ve made the connection.
The weather was rainy basically all Friday, so we spent our time with a
little shopping, and sitting in a park. Despite the weather it was pleasant,
just having a change of surroundings and enjoying the company of an amiga. For
dinner we had Cabral cheese which was too strong for me, membrillo which I
already knew I liked, and some seafood (obviously it didn’t blow my mind
because I can’t remember it).
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| Whatcha thinkin, Woody? |
Saturday morning we went to Gijón. It’s a coastal city that
reminds me of San Sebastián. Teño morriña! Also like San Sebastián, it was
beautiful even with crappy weather. We did quite a bit of walking around,
without visiting any particular attraction. For lunch we had knife clams which
were okay, mostly I’d call them “interesting” for their appearance. Also chipirón a la cantábrica which was delicious. Chipirón (squid) sometimes
doesn’t taste great when prepared on the grill, mostly because of the texture.
But this was in a sort of casserole, thus tastier. For dinner we went to a
sidrería (more Basqueness!) We got there a bit after 8:30, and felt like old
people because nobody was there! By the time we left closer to 10:00, the place
was packed. We had a bottle of sidra, chorizo, and ham croquettes between the 2
of us. It was fun trying to pour for
ourselves like the waiter did behind the bar. Cider must be poured from a
distance to let it air out, but man is it hard to aim!
