Dolmens, and Altars, and Petroglyphs, Oh My!

Galicia has loads of ancient ruins, some of them well-preserved and cared for, others not so much. This weekend on a group hike accompanied by an archaeologist, we learned the stories behind some hidden pre-Roman monuments on the outskirts of Lugo. 

If you squint, you can see the dolmen

The first stop was a dolmen in a field. A mini-dolmen if you ask me. But of course, as the archaeologist explained, it was likely much taller than it appeared, still mostly buried underground. Dolmens are tombs, and she noted that in Galicia there are rarely any bones left in them because of the ground's acidity. Fun fact! But they are found all over Europe, so they know dolmens are for burial.

Next was a ¨roda,¨ an elevated circle in a clearing amongst pine trees. Honestly, if I had been hiking by myself I would not have thought it were millennia old. It just looks like a hilly clearing. But from the top of the ¨wall,¨ you can see it isn't natural, the circle even has a little opening which would have been an entrance. Our guide had worked on excavations here, and said that in the small portion of the circle that they had worked on, they only found pitchers and tools for grinding grains. Surrounding the circle they also discovered purposefully worked quartz, which would shine in the sunlight. They're not sure what this place was, but it reinforces the idea that Adai was a special place. A fellow hiker theorized that it was a place for congresses and politics, where they gathered from far and wide to decide on important matters. My slightly less formal theory is that it was a place for festivals and raves. Whatever it may have been used for, the archaeologist agreed that it was probably something that involved socializing among the numerous communities and tribes.

View from atop the ¨wall.¨
To the left you can see the dip which would have been the entrance

Our next stop was the Altar of Adai, a misnomer. It's actually a large, flat stone with holes carved into it, likely for beams to support a longhouse. It's one of the only known specimens in Europe. Assumedly there are more around, yet to be discovered.

¨Altar¨ of Adai

The last stop was a quick one to see some petroglyphs on a large boulder. There were several that were ¨crosses.¨ The circle was quite clear, with a cross inside it. Apparently they were from the Middle Ages. On the far side of the boulder were grooves likely for grinding grains. Milling was an important ritual ages ago.

Timeliness is Godliness

This past week, not one but two of my students brought up my punctuality, mystified. ¨You always arrive right on the dot!¨ Well, yeah, did you not expect me to? One of them even chalked it up to ¨British punctuality.¨ Uh, I'm American, remember? In my case, I do strive to be on time, and because of this I start classes at very random times rather than at -- o'clock and half past. My schedule includes classes starting at 5:40 or 6:20 because I know that that is how long I need to get there from my previous class.

Despite this recent ¨culture shock¨ by these students, as far as I am concerned after living in Spain/Galicia for a decade, the stereotype of Spanish people being tardy is inaccurate. It is worth pointing out that Galicia is a special corner of Spain, and does not usually bow to Spanish stereotypes. In fact, some people here have told me that ¨That's in the South,¨ referring to their perception of Andalusians' lack of timeliness. Here the few friends who have a reputation for being late are hassled by the rest of the group. So maybe the Northern regions are punctual and the rest of Spain is not.

But more than timeliness, the biggest cultural difference I have found here when it comes to time is how they measure it, especially in social situations. Time spent socializing is limitless. Like during my first few years when local friends would suggest ¨getting a drink¨ which implied being out til 1 or 2 AM. In my book, that was ¨going out,¨ but in theirs, it was a casual evening. Or when with teachers or a hiking group, we just always had to stop to get a coffee together before heading home. I'd just want to get home, but that's not how it was done. My most recent example is what I call ¨Marathon Hang-Outs.¨ We have people over for lunch, and naturally they stay for coffee. But now it's gotten to a point where they stay the whole afternoon and for dinner, too, maybe leaving around midnight or even later. Be it my introverted self talking, or be it my American nature, that to me is just too much time! I feel like Americans would want to get back to their places sooner than that. But such is life in Galicia, at least. When it comes to being with friends, no amount of time is too much.

Along the Streets of Ferrol

As I mentioned before, early December this year came with an incredibly long 5-day-weekend. So as not to go stir crazy at home, we took a quick trip to Ferrol. 

Out of Galicia's seven cities, it's fair to say that Ferrol is the most underappreciated. A Coruña and Vigo are the biggest cities and on the seaside to boot. That combination alone makes them quite cosmopolitan. Santiago de Compostela, in addition to being the capital, is a hub of pilgrims trekking the Camiño de Santiago. Lugo has its free tapas and UNESCO-recognized Roman Wall. Ourense attracts visitors with its abundant thermal springs. Pontevedra may not have much compared to Vigo less than 20 miles away, but it does boast a charming (and pedestrian only!) old town. 

So that leaves us with Ferrol. It's a port town, but unlike Vigo or A Coruña, it has such a low population that it doesn't enjoy as many useful amenities. Add that to the fact that the city is Franco's hometown and holds a naval arsenal, and Ferrol looks less appealing by the minute.

Casa Pereira I

One thing that Ferrol does have going on for it, however, are streets lined with glass-enclosed balconies. Art Noveau architecture with its intricate details and lines is also characteristic of Ferrol's Old Town. There is even a street tour organized around the architect Rodolfo Ucha's modernismo work around town. Unfortunately, it was not available during low season. So we explored on our own. It doesn't take an art/architecture degree to appreciate some pretty buildings! Plus when we went, we were expecting rain the entire time, but actually lucked out and barely needed the umbrella. According to the plaque, Casa Pereira I was commissioned by a sailor. Perhaps that's why the architect made the lower balcony windows on the second floor look like fish tails. How fun!

Pretty building from 1914

Flower Menina

Another more recent addition to Ferrol's art/architecture scene are the Meninas de Canido. ¨Las Meninas¨ is a famous painting by Velázquez portraying a princess and her ladies in waiting, all wearing hoop skirts typical at the time. The connection between the painting and Ferrol is lost on me. But in 2008, an artist began making street art of the Meninas in the shabby neighborhood of Canido. It caught on and now there are hundreds of Meninas painted all along the (abandoned) houses. Each year they have a festival where more and more artists come to leave their Menina mark. The idea was to liven up this dilapidated area. The art is nice, but the buildings are still mostly falling apart. Aside from being a tourist attraction to Ferrol, I don't really see the project injecting change into the neighborhood's economy. But we walked around this outdoor art museum in the morning-- maybe there are new cafés/bars open in the afternoon.

To round out our visit, we stopped by the Castle of San Felipe just outside of Ferrol (although certainly not walking distance). More than a castle, I would call it a fortress. This large naval complex is centuries old, and went through several changes and additions over the years. From the castle to a smaller fort across the river, there was a chain used to stop enemies from getting into the harbor, a little further inland. The Castle was also crucial in protecting Ferrol from an attempted English invasion in 1800. The citizens of Brión nearby were also key at defeating the Brits, who apparently didn't expect a fight. That story is told very well with interesting infographics in the Castle's museum. By the way, the castle was free to get in; had a small museum recounting the English attack of 1800; included a map; and had bathrooms stocked with toilet paper and soap. In my book, a homerun! I couldn't help but compare it to our experience in Athens, visiting the outstanding Acropolis for an entrance fee and not even getting a little map. I understand that the two tourist attractions are lightyears apart in terms of size, importance, and popularity. It just stuck out to me. 

Family Foliada

This week in the teaching sector of Galicia, everyone's looking forward to that mega-long weekend. Since December 6th and 8th are public holidays in Spain, this year Galicia took the 7th as its yearly bonus day off, to create a superpuente. Two day work week! 

This time of year, I am reminded of the long December weekend right before the pandemic when I went to the Foliada da Fonsagrada. A foliada is any gathering to play and dance to Galician folk music. In the village of Fonsagrada, their annual dayslong celebration attracts tons of people from all around Galicia. Won't be going back this year, but this past weekend we went to a little family foliada. It was a surprise birthday party hosted in a stone structure, now used as a cellar, but 100 years ago was likely the house. The five-person band strode in playing, dressed in their Galician garb. The group included bagpipers, drummers, and an accordionist. For hours, they sang and played melodies for the musical guests to sing songs that the band didn't even recognize. In addition to lots of enthusiastic clapping, there was also dancing: with partners or in circles. The whole time I kept thinking how enxebre the evening was. Enxebre is a Galician way of saying typical, authentic, something pure (Galician).

Adding to my delight, I found out that one of the guests went to high school where I was first assigned as an auxiliar de conversación. Obviously, because she was around my age, I knew we hadn't been there at the same time. But it turns out, her brother had been in one of my first classes! I couldn't get over it. It's a small world after all! Then suddenly it dawned on her-- she had heard of me way back when, either from her brother or one of their neighbors. I felt proud. Almost famous.

Nafplio, Greece

For a complete change of pace, we swapped quiet Galaxidi for bustling Nafplio, a town perfectly suited for a ¨Mediterranean Getaway.¨ Although they are both on the coast, it's impossible to compare these two Greek towns since their size and popularity are just so different. In Nafplio, tourism was certainly booming, as evidenced by the sheer number of bars and restaurants. And every terraza had a section with couches, something I had never seen before but definitely approve of for all vacation destinations. And whereas in Galaxidi we didn't hear much English, in Nafplio I caught tons of American accents. I wonder if it's thanks to Rick Steves promoting the town on his show.

Bourtzi Castle in background

Nafplio really has style, I think encapsulating an American's typical idea of Europe. You can see the clear Venetian influences in the architecture. And with the Old Town being almost exclusively pedestrian only, it was great to walk around the maze-like cobblestone streets in the evening. In late morning or early afternoon not so much, as it was just too hot! There is also a promenade along the coastline that was delightful to walk along when the sun was low. (Well, we couldn't walk along all of it, as part was closed due to potential rockslides.) From there you can see a Venetian castle on a tiny island just a stone's throw from Nafplio's harbor.

We also were big on watching the sunsets in Nafplio. Our first evening there, we watched the sun dip beyond the hills curled up on a couch on a bar's patio. Another night we drove to a long beach to get a good view. It was funny to me, right before sunset, not everyone was packing up. In fact, some people were just getting there! The water was still warm enough to go in, something out of the question in Galicia.

Speaking of beaches, one morning we walked to the local beach right up and over a hill next to the Old Town. Paradise Found! There, the snack bar was playing the same 1950s beachy and relaxing music we had heard at the Yacht Club in Galaxidi. Maybe it's a beachcomber radio station! The dreamy music paired with crystalline waters and being surrounded by cliffs: amazing. The only downside was the beach was made of rocks which is not so comfortable to set your towel on. We only stayed for part of the morning anyways. So much to do, so much to see! 

Arvanitia Beach

Galixidi, Greece: A Serene Seaside Escape

Balcony view of Galaxidi

After visiting Athens' must-see sites, we rented a car and headed north to experience two very different Greek vacation destinations: Galaxidi and Nafplio. Our first overnight stop was sleepy Galaxidi. We arrived around lunchtime, when the heat was just about unbearable. We stayed at a charmingly-decorated hotel slightly elevated and on the outskirts, with a small balcony which provided a delightful view overlooking the orange rooftops of the old town. That little balcony would make for a lovely place for dinner or a nightcap, but in the afternoon it was just too hot. As we wandered around looking for sustenance, most places were literally shuttered. It reminded me of some Galician villages with decrepit buildings that are now all but deserted. We ended up settling on one restaurant on the corner of the harbor, thinking it was our only hope. Afterwards, we realized that was just the beginning, and that there were plenty of other dining options following it along towards the open seas. (Well, not quite open, as Galaxidi looks on to a bay.)

Clearly the Galixidi-ans respect the siesta time just as their Mediterranean counterparts do in Spain. And for good reason! But once it began to cool off (as in, down to 80ºF), the place livened up a bit. Not much, but a bit. As we were out getting a feel for the town, we came across a sort of yacht club (to call it something). It was a bar/restaurant that had umbrellas and deck chairs available for rent right on its own little pier. And turns out that after 6 PM they were free! Coincidentally, we asked at about 6:15. With this in mind, we returned other days around that time, and certainly weren't the only ones showing up for free deck chair time. It felt like one more little luxury on our trip. Isto si que é lúa de mel! I myself didn't partake, but from the deck chair zone you could hop right off into the sea. Our first Greek Mediterranean Sea experience.

Luxury!

 

As a whole, I enjoyed Galaxidi for the ultra relaxed vibes. Zero crowds, and it seemed like most people there were Greek (along with quite a few French). Added to the narrow streets and retro signs, it really felt like a place from times gone by, like we were walking around on a movie set in Greece in the 1950s. On a nighttime stroll, we saw groups of teenagers hanging out, which reminded me of Miño and other Galician seaside towns. I bet the same families come back year after year and the kids end up making groups of friends. If not for the fashion, that group may have contained its own Danny & Sandy with their old-timey summer lovin'.  Greece's own Grease, if you will. ;)

When it came time for us to head to our next destination, there was a slight hiccup. As we trudged to the car loaded with baggage, lo and behold the formerly empty street where we had parked was now a bustling market street. Unbeknownst to us, the little lines painted perpendicularly on the left side of the road in fact designated market stalls. Now it all makes sense. And of course market day fell on the morning of our departure! So between hand gestures and basic English, we asked the nearest fruit-seller what time they packed it up. Luckily, we only had an hour to wait, so we spent it at a nearby snack bar we had been to the night before. In no time we were able to get into our car and on the road. Profuse Ευχαριστώ (one of the most important words we picked up: thank you!) That was one of our more memorable travel interactions with the locals.