Concurso de Tapas means "Tapas Contest"....yea, that's right, we are forced to eat cheap tapas in order to vote on our favorites! You go to several bars/restaurants (here, 'bar' is not just for drinks but for food and drinks)and each has a designated tapa which you purchase for 1.50 euros or $2.00 and then, you buy your drink, too....$2 for excellent house Rioja red wine or $1.50 for draft beer or $2.50 for a soft drink or water! After about 3 bars, you are very full, feel no pain and have enjoyed about 3 hours of talking to group you are going around with. A week ago Saturday, that group was myself and 2 young Irish girls I met here. Last Thursday, it was the same 2 girls and an American couple(from Vail,CO)...all of us met at the meeting I went to in Santiago a couple of weeks ago. Last night, I went with Teresa ( the PE teacher from my school) and 4 of her friends...and I learned the Spanish way to go "tapaing"....biggest difference was that we all kicked in 10 euros to the tapas fund at beginning of the evening, one person kept it and paid all of our checks during the night! Great idea, I thought. So, for 10 euros ($13.89), I had 4 different tapas and 4 glasses of red wine (with a glass of tap water with each!)...no taxes here, no tips. Next scheduled tapas eve is this Thursday b/c contest ends October 29th after a month of fun!
Also, last weekend, I enjoyed being on the edge of a "manisfestacion" or protest march against the world's governments choosing businesses over the people - sound familiar? The next day, on my way to the beach, our bus was stopped not once, but twice, by fun runs supporting different causes...I thought I was back in Austin! As I sat at a cafe at the beach, I was asked by a man to take a picture of him and his friend...his friend turned out to be a Dutch young woman who is a star on the Vigo women's professional basketball team! She gave me her jersey number and name and I promised to say hello when I came to her next game. Her English was perfect but she speaks no Spanish and I think she was very happy to talk to me..she's Laura's age, 25. Lastly, when I was waiting for the bus back to downtown, I heard a couple speaking to each other in English trying to figure out the bus schedule...when I asked if I could help them, they were very grateful! Turned out they speak no Spanish but just moved to Vigo from Ireland to teach English at a private language school here. So, we exchanged names and I hooked them up on Facebook with our small group of English speakers...Ed, guy in Colorado couple, and Killian are each glad to find another guy here!
Yesterday, during the day, I had a fantastic day trip with my friend Cristina and her husband, Fernando...he's a sweetheart! We left at 11:30 AM and returned at 6:30 PM. Weather was perfect - chilly in AM but T-shirts by 1 PM and rest of the day. First they took me across the Ria (estuary) and across the hill range from Vigo to the town of Buey to the local - right off the boat! - seafood market. Unfortunately, even though they were ready to purchase an octopus, none were to be had...however, they got some squid there. Then we went to the town of Cangas, opposite Vigo on the same Ria , to the "depuradora" which is where all the fisherman take their shellfish to be placed in large rectangular pools of circulating sea water which clean all the sand and grunge out of the shellfish. There is a pool for each type of shellfish: oysters, all sorts of clams, all sorts of mussels, etc. We were only people there b/c even most of the locals don't know about going here. They bought several different types, including "navajas" which translates as "razors" - a delicacy here. They are about 6-8 inches long and only an inch wide with a critter inside that is good eating! All of this shopping is to cook for a celebration today of her mother's 88th birthday...
Then, we headed to a lovely undeveloped area to hike along the coast. We started at the Playa de Melide and walked cross country to 2 points of land with lighthouses on them: Punta Baleira and Cabo Home. Next. we overlooked the Playa de Nerga and its nudist beach...Fernando wanted to know if Cristina and I wanted to go there and he would accompany us at great personal sacrifice! Like I said, he's a lot of fun. After a nice long hike, we returned to the car (after almost losing it!) and drove to another nearby area they knew where there is an ancient Roman road, the Calzada Romana, up to a small Roman settlement at the top of a hill and near an ancient Facho, or lighthouse in Gallego. How incredible to see 2000 years old house foundations and walls and a totally intact lighthouse! Since there's no money to continue restoration, Cristina said, it's all just lying there exposed to the elements...unbelievable! Such a raw, wild, unspoiled spot! I will try to attach some pictures but don't know how to make them follow my posts so you might have to look around for them! Back to the car...
We then drove about 15 minutes to another Ria of the town called Hio where they used to have a summer house. There we saw a beautiful old, Roman times, church and rectory. In front of it is a "cruceiro", or a large cross/religious carving about 15 feet tall that is said to be carved out of one piece of stone by a prisoner during his many years in jail in Roman times. It is exquisite in its detail beginning at the bottom with hell, up to the serpent tempting Adam and Eve, to the Virgin Mary and Jesus' birth to his crucifixtion and the archangels supporting him on the cross. Once again, it's dirty and deteriorating due to lack of funds to preserve it...They then decided it was time for a "caña", a draft beer, so we found a little place on the docks there where we had 3 beers and an order of very fresh mussels. The end to a wonderful day!!
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| Bueu Seafood Market |
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| Squid or Calemares |
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| Fernando and Cristina having a snack overlooking Playa Melide |
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| Punto Baleira - notice the rock! |
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| Facho - Roman lighthouse |
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| Roman Road or Calzada romana |
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| Cruceiro de Hio |
Today, Sunday the 23rd of October, it's rainy and supposedly, a large storm will come Monday or Tuesday...perfect to write in my blog and finish my Austin power point...after a trip across the street to have a coffee and a tortilla española! Also, all bars here have copies of the local papers which you are invited to read for free while you are there...OK, off to the power point...ciao ciao!
