Lugo's patron saint festivities happened the first week of October, but I'm behind. As my third San Froilán, I felt integrated. Colleagues, friends, and aquaintances seemed to be around every corner. That's what I love about San Froilán: everyone's out on the street, so walking around you really get a sense of camaraderie. This year I wasn't impressed with the concert selections. In fact, the only major one I went to was M-Clan, an older Spanish pop-rock band. Galicia's own Siniestro Total also played, but due to a super late dinner we were unable to attend. Heard there was great atmosphere though, since it's a punk band with now-middle aged ¨original¨ fans, plus new teenage fans. One of the best days was Sunday, domingo das mozas. The weather was great, and we got to see lots of people dressed in traditional Galician clothing, not to mention observe them dancing and singing with tambourines. And there was an outrageous roaming band, Festicultores, livening up the pre-lunch hour. Had a blast dancing along and trying to catch the Galician lyrics.
A highlight was my best friend Lauren´s visit. Hooray! Her weekend was filled with Galician cuisine, which she probably misses over there in Cantabria (Galicians are known for eating good food and lots of it). The first occasion was for lunch at Diego´s parents' home. Instead of going down to the caseta (temporary restaurants set up only for the month of October, specializing in pulpo!), the caseta came to them. Yes, a professional octopus chef came and set up a little tent in their backyard. Too legit to quit! It was awesome to be included in this meal of an extended Galician family. Later that night for dinner we went out with a group of about 18 friends. The place was packed, because everyone goes out for dinner for San Froilán! Surprisingly we went out for churrasco (ribs, basically) and not pulpo, but I assume everyone had had their fill of octopus already. This dinner started at 10 and ended close to 2. And not because we were having a gay old time, but because the service was painfully slow. Sigh. At least we were in good company.
