Los Campeones de Galicia, y más

That's my swim team - we won the Galician (one of 17 regions in Spain which is like a state in US) Masters swimming championships!  On February 5th, at 7:45 AM, we headed to Pontevedra, 30 minutes from Vigo, and their incredible 50 meter Olympic size pool and surrounding which overlooked the local Ría(estuary).  It's wonderful to have these nice Spanish men "fighting over" who gets to pick me up for the trip since they all know I don't have a car...yes, they're all married or too young but fun to be "fought over" just the same!  Upon arrival, there was only one big problem...someone had accidentally turned off the heat the night before and cold air was blowing into the pool area at a temperature of 50 degrees.  Imagine being wetheaded, in a wet suit, and in and out of the water - brrrr!! About 1 PM, it finally began warming up so the afternoon session was reasonable - and think of all the extra calories we burned by shivering!  At about 5:30 PM, the announcement was made that our men had won first place and our women had won second place and our team had won the overall team title - go Traviesas!!  And, just in case you missed my bragging on Facebook, I won 4 gold medals:  2 in individual events and 2 in women's relays!  The moral is if you stay fit until 60, you can do well in Spanish Masters swimming!

My swim team...I'm on back row, bending over in middle

 Last week I also had my most US/Austin like experience when I went on Friday night with my friend Teresa to hear and see her brother's band's 20th anniversary party.  It was in a small club and they had decorated the stage with memorabilia from their history.  All of his band members were there and instead of playing music, they showed videos that were artsy, funky and partially in English of their past together.  Her brother spoke fluent English and many of the 40-50 age group attending did also...one band member even asked me about Austin City Limits when I said I was from Austin!  He knew a lot about our music opportunities in Austin.  It was lots of fun and showed me another facet of Spain that I hadn't yet experienced.

Yesterday, February 11th, I went for the day to Porto de Lima, Portugal, with my friends Cris and Nando and their group.  True to form, we started with a group picture and ended with a great meal!

Group picture before hiking through the Lagoa

   We explored a lagoon natural area near the town which was nice but not much wildlife since it was winter.  We ate at a restaurant on the banks of the river with an incredible view of the town out of its large windows.  In Portugal, you often split meals because of their size so another lady and I split a plate of octopus tentacles that were cooked to perfection!  Tender, juicy and a grilling flavor! 

Tentacles next to potatoes! Yum!

Accompanied by appetizers of bacalao (cod) eggs, pickled pigs' ears, and callos (beans cooked w/pork parts), wine, of course! - an excellent Portuguese vinho verde, corn bread which is popular in Portugal, potatoes, cabbage...you get the idea!  Fortunately, we had saved walking around the town for after lunch because those crazy Portuguese eat so early!(12:30 PM!)  As you can see, it has an amazing old Roman bridge still in constant use.

Roman bridge and its reflection

My picture was taken with Brutus and also with a bronze sculpture of Portuguese fiesta attendees.

¿Et tu Brute?

   Reminded me of Austin because the river goes through the middle and all the people out walking, fishing, horseback riding, bike riding, etc. on the banks of the river.  I met new people in their group, including a dermatologist who had done training in Galveston at the med school and knew our family dermatologist (and longtime family friend of my folks) who had taught there part time!!  It is a small world, isn't it? 

Party until you drop?