Cooking with Sole(dad)...sounds like the name of a cooking show, doesn't it? Sole is a wonderful, newer friend who I met originally through Cristina and Fernando but to whom I introduced the Masters swim team in her own town! We have lots of fun swimming and going to her house to cook and eat delicious meals. She has invited me over several Sundays to eat with her or with her and her daughter who is in for the weekend from medical school. (Sole is also a physician.) Last time I said I would bring guacamole since I had several ripe avocados and had discovered Herdez hot sauce at the gourmet market. Well, you would have thought I had invented chocolate!! She and her daughter had only had Spanish made guacamole which is rather bland and I so enjoyed watching them almost smack their lips as they enjoyed the authentic guacamole I had made! Now, I need to figure out my recipe so I can leave it for them...of course, she roasted lamb, baked small potatoes, made a salad AND a homemade flan to go with the guacamole! And, to take advantage of the oven being heated, she made an orange and an apple flavored bizcocho(sort of pound cake)....of which I took home a quarter of each! PS Her daughter's name is Laura!!
Camping with the equivalent of 10th graders from Friday morning to Saturday evening...May 11 and 12...with two teachers from my school, Adela and Eva, and a total of 20 students.
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| The Group in front of Indian home on campground |
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What a blast I had! We took the ferry across the Ria to the small town of Moana and then hiked about 2 km. with our stuff - several girls had large, rolling suitcases!! We arrived at Camp Tiran and were shown our "bungalows" - camping in Spain includes nice little houses w/a full bathroom...who knew?! We were right on the beach and I was amazed how different the task of chaperoning in Spain is from that of the US. For example, no lifeguarding of the beach...just asked them to keep an eye on each other; you may smoke (tobacco) but don't let us see it; the chaperones had wine w/their dinner and a cold beer as we barbecued the next day...and we had no problems at all with the kids! We took them on the bus - after an hour wait in the sun at the bus stop - into the town of Cangas and had a guide show us the historical sites.
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| Waiting for the bus!! |
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| On tour in Cangas |
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Then, we told them to meet us back st the bus about 2 hours later and we set out for the grocery store to buy the food for the churrasco (grilling) the next day. Everyone was on his or her own for dinner and breakfast foodwise...most bought frozen food but not all. The adults enjoyed a cold, deli type dinner with a salad...and a very good local Mencia wine. We all ate together which was very pleasant. After dinner, they scattered and we listened and watched...until one of us who in her defense was slightly ill...crashed at 11 PM and the other teachers at 2 AM when the beach was closed for the night.
Saturday we struggled up to the campground cafe and waited for it to open at 10 AM for some coffee!! We all hit the beach after that which was quite pleasant but it had not yet been cleaned for the season so we had to dodge seaweed, etc.
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| Boats on the beach |
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| Playing Panuelo |
About 12:30 PM, yours truly started the charcoal for the fire upon which we would grill...the place had a nice grill site as you can see in the photos. As a Texan my fellow chaperones were sure I could "BBQ" and, besides, they had no idea how to start a fire.
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| Hard at work grilling with Adela and Eva supplying hydration! |
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| Churrasco! |
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| Who me? |
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| Eating delicious meal together |
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My culinary contribution was the idea of washing, oiling and putting into foil small potatoes to cook in the embers as the meat cooked above...most of the kids had never had a baked potato, much less one baked in coals! I had to show them how to cut it open and put salt and butter on it! I explained how in the US there were whole food places that specialized in fillings for baked potatoes...a new concept for the Spanish. After our delicious meal at the usual hour of about 3 PM, we cleaned up, packed up and hiked back to the 6 PM ferry for the return trip to Vigo of about 30 minutes. I did NOT go out with my friends that night because I was tired and had to be up at 5:45 AM to get on the bus for our swim meet.
So, we arrive at competition! We went to Carballo - about a 2 hour bus ride - which was very painful for me because by now from my virus(?) I had lost my voice ! I did swim a couple of short events and have no idea yet how I did but do know that after the meet we went to a restaurant where we each paid 15 euros($18) for appetizers, all the grilled meat or fish, salad, french fries, wine, beer, water, cake and coffee...that you wanted! At one point, I evidently fell asleep sitting there my friend said...I hate not feeling well and especially, not being able to talk and participate!! I did have a nice nap all the way home, though...
Celebration of May! That good bus nap allowed me to have the strength to walk down to the Casco Vello(old quarter) with Teresa to see the May festivities. Lots of typical Galician May costumes of white attire with colorful accents...dancing, singing and generally bringing in of the spring season! So glad I didn't miss it!
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| Me and Teresa |
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| May festivities |
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| Cuties on fathers' shoulders |
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| Queen and King of May |
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| Giant crow? |
It's May 20th as I write this about the last couple of weekends but the next installment will contain my trip to Portugal's Duero River Valley from which I returned yesterday - a great adventure with my friend Vicki Dehnert from the US!
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