Roman Bridges and Hórreos in Cerdedo

A short drive from Pontevedra en route to Lugo, nestled in a gorgeous green valley is the tiny town of Cerdedo. I had always wanted to check it out, from observing the cute stone church plaza from the bus window many times. And luckily we took advantage of a slightly drizzly Saturday to visit. After all, in Galicia if you wait for the rain to stop to make plans, you'll be waiting quite a while. (Yes, even now that it's officially summer we've been having a streak of mid 60s and cloudy. Bah!)

Some hórreos of Cerdedo (Pedre)

If Cerdedo is ¨famous¨ for anything, perhaps that would be its groups of hórreos (traditional Galician structure to hold grains). Within its parishes there are 3 different groups. We ¨only¨ saw two of them. The first one, in the village of Pedre, was bigger. Within 200m were a dozen of these now-abandoned granaries. The plaza next to them was also curious as it seemed to have a cruceiro (short pole with a cross at the top) every five steps. Depending on the area, they're made of either bricks, slitted stones, or wood. In neighboring Asturias they are much bigger, always wooden, and square rather than rectangular. In Cerdedo they are also made of wood. 

What greenery!

A short walk from the first set of hórreos was the first Roman bridge crossing the Lérez River. The pathway to get down there was also supposedly Roman, but we weren't convinced. The all-encompassing greenness of the forest reminded me of a generic wallpaper photo. Sad that nature reminds me of technology. Anyways, the bridge was built high above the river. And on one of it's stones was carved in 1937 (?) ¨MANOLO.¨ I wonder if Manolo is still alive, living in infamy. Did he survive the Civil War at least?

Stones of Cerdedo ¨City¨

Once in Cerdedo ¨city¨ (population less than 2,000), there is another grouping of hórreos. Fewer, but longer. The town's prize may just be it's stone church and plaza which are right along the main street. The grey stone type is typical of Galicia; reminds me of Compostela even. Of course right next to it is the cemetery with some really great valley views for the dearly departed. A downward pathway leads to another Roman bridge. This one is less high and imposing, and leads to a little chapel.

All in all, Cerdedo was really likable, especially for such a small village. Glad to have gone for a visit and gotten out of town for an afternoon!

Amsterdam

Although it was a 3-day trip, only 1 of those days was spent in the city of Amsterdam. I had heard it's an expensive place. Luckily, we saved money by staying with friends. All museums cost 18€ (yikes), so instead of spending money on something I would feel rushed to enjoy, we just explored the city on foot for the day. Everyone else had already been to Amsterdam, so they kinda let me lead the way. And despite the cold weather (mid-May and a sweater + jacket barely kept me warm), it was a nice time.

In many ways, the highlights were exactly what I was expecting: bicycles parked everywhere, tons of bridges over tons of canals, taller people, flower markets. But I liked the architecture even more than I imagined. Brick beauties! And thanks to an in-flight magazine, we were quick to observe the large hook hanging off every roof. Those are to hoist up furniture since the staircases are narrow to save space.

And as far as typical Dutch food goes, I enjoyed a stroop waffle in the market. Two thin waffles (with cinnamon, I think) held together by a layer of caramel syrup. You can get it hot in the market, or smaller cookie versions in any grocery store. Yummo!

Biking in Holland

When I studied abroad in San Sebastián, I had a friend whose parent was from the Netherlands, and often some style or habit would make her say, ¨That is so Dutch!¨ I found myself thinking that phrase over and over again last month when we took a long weekend to visit Amsterdam and other lovely Dutch towns by bike.

More on Amsterdam later. The fun part was the Dutch countryside. We left the capital ¨early¨ Saturday morning. I say early in quotes because it was as early as a group of nine adults and two babies could get ready to ride. It seemed like the cast of an episode of  ¨Galegos no estranxeiro¨ a show that films Galicians living abroad. The group was made up of Galicians living in Holland, Belgium, and France as well as some (myself included) who were just on vacation. Anyways, the great thing about the Netherlands is they've got bike lanes all over the place. (I did not appreciate, however, that motorcycles could also use the bike trails. Talk about scary.) At some points we rode on old country roads, rarely encountering cars. One guy waved to me from his window! I was so delighted. That is so Dutch!

Zaanse Schans
About an hour out of Amsterdam was our first stop. It's a little replica village of the 1700s, with museums, shops, and of course, windmills. I really liked the architecture in Holland because it all reminded me of colonial Boston. We had a picnic lunch in front of the Cooper's workshop. Then we visited a clog shop. That is so Dutch.

Purmerend
We spent the night on a boat in this small town. Luckily we ventured further into town, because we then discovered that they were having a town fair (with rides more similar to those at home than the shabbier town fairs in Galicia). I was too pooped from all that bike riding to stay out late though, and took advantage of the excuse to go back early with one of the babies. It was cool to wake up to ducks floating outside our tiny window the next morning.

Edam
This town was so delightful! Again, because of that colonial architecture, I half expected people to come out of shops dressed in revolutionary garb. It had one main canal, with a steep brick bridge. Down a second major canal, people out for a Sunday stroll/boat ride passed us by. We stopped for lunch at a fried food shack next to the canal.

Volendam
Instead of just canals, it opens to the sea (well, an eastern bay). I wish we had had more time to spend here, since the sun was shining, and all the terraces were packed. Looked like such fun! But we had a schedule to keep, so there wasn't time for stopping in this town.

Monnickendam
This town also opens to the bay, but we mostly just saw the main canal with its old-timey sailboats. This was our last stop for some refueling before we had to kick it into high gear and bike back to Amsterdam before the bike rental shop closed. Despite being mostly flat, the last two hours of biking was really a killer. From zero exercise to a two day bike trip is quite a jump. But I survived! Crabby, but alive!

Os Maios (May Day)

May first in Galicia is a double whammy. In all of Spain, it's a holiday (Labor day), so there are marches in just about every city. This year the speeches focused on the success of the Women's Strike this past March 8th and on the continuing battle for better pensions, which has been going on for the past few months. But Galicia is also one of the few Autonomous Communities to celebrate the beginning of spring with May Day (Os Maios).

The tradition (which probably traces back to the Celts) is to make a decorated tree with flowers and bushes. In the area of province of Ourense, they can only use wildflowers and wild-growing bush. In Pontevedra, they use flowers and plants from the garden, as well as eggshells and orange peels. After building their May tree, participants dance around it while singing couplets; almost always a social critique. In Pontevedra's case, almost all the May trees were made by middle school students. The groups take turns performing in front of the crowd on a stage in a town center plaza. Then people vote on their favorite tree/couplet combination.

Another less common tradition is to place the branch of a yellow-flowered xesta (apparently called ¨common broom¨ in English) on your car. By less common, I mean not as visible in the cities. Saw tons of them at the seaside. Before cars were around, I imagine they hung them on their house doors. Hanging the plant is supposed to guarantee a fruitful harvest this year. We stopped to cut some near the side of the road, but it didn't last long wedged between the car and the license plate. I guess that means only half of our plants will die.

We took advantage of the day off and nice weather by going rollerblading by the sea. And then checking out some really big rocks. Cool.

Reconquista de Vigo

On a sunny weekend in April, Galicia's biggest city Vigo celebrated it's ¨reconquering.¨ Yet another Galician historical festival, this one takes you back to 1809, the year that Vigo's citizens took back their town from Napoleon's French army. So nowadays they celebrate with costumes from the era, plentiful vendors, and traditional dances. Most people who dress up just wear traditional Galician garb, or simple clothes to suit the 1800s. People dressed as French soldiers were few and far between.

Compared to two of my favorite historical festivals so far (Arde Lucus and Feira Franca), Vigo's Reconquista just didn't blow my mind. One big part of that is crowd participation. I love dressing up. Therefore, I love seeing other people dressed up, too. At Arde Lucus and Feira Franca, around 90% of people are wearing a historical costume. For the Reconquista of Vigo, of the people in the old town, where the fair was held, only about half were dressed up. And outside the old town, for example at the train station, there was no sign of the historical fest. At least the city council attempted to encourage participation. All of the vendors (and there were a lot of them) were required to dress for the time period, and also have a booth that was looked the part. And they also had people use paper cups which are slightly better for the environment than thousands of plastic cups.

Daytrippers South of the Border

One benefit of living in Galicia is that Portugal is just a short drive away. When you cross the border, it's actually hard to tell the difference since the scenery is the same on the other side of the Miño River. While some insist that Portuguese and Galician are the same language, for me the  pronunciation is the only clue that you've made it south of the border.

On Palm Sunday we set out relatively early (especially keeping in mind that the hour hand had sprung forward). First stop: Tui. Given the holiday, we observed a procession of nearly 100 people around the town, following a statue of Jesus on a donkey. They didn't carry the palms we are used to back home; rather olive branches are more popular. Back in the day, people would leave the olive branch on their land since it was thought to bring fertility to the summer's crops.

I don't know why, but I was expecting Tui to be more magical. After all, it used to be a capital of the 7 Galician Kingdoms.  Tui's old town center is pleasant. But after seeing a lot of pretty, old town centers, I wasn't amazed. What did amaze me, however, was the information they had about Jews and the Jewish quarter of Tui. The Jews were kicked out of Spain in 1492. So in the north at least, vestiges of them are rare to find. In Tui there was a Jewish quarter and synagogue, with some carvings on houses still visible today.

Next stop: Viana do Castelo. This port town is on the ocean and also at the mouth of the Limia River. Atop the hill next to the city, overlooking the sea, is a big white church. In some ways it reminded me of Sacre Coeur, Paris. Similar church with lots of steps and a view below. Further up the same hill is a Celtic-turned-Roman camp. If it weren't for the Eucalyptus, there would be some great views. This was reminiscent of Castro de Santa Tegra, just an hour north on the same coast. For lunch we had a pair of Francesinhas, a typical Portuguese sandwich with various meats, melted cheese on top, and a plateful of its own special sauce. The main street was lovely, with views of the port in front of you, the white hillside church behind you, and along the road colorful shops and restaurants.

Our last stop was Ponte de Limia, an interior city on the same Limia River as Viana do Castelo. Because of the holiday, there was a big market set up under the trees along the riverside promenade. The highlight of the city, though, is a Roman and Medieval bridge which leads to another little white chapel. Coincidentally they were having a Craft Beer Fest which we checked out. And after a stroll through town we went back on our merry way to Galicia.