Familie Freunde & Sauerbraten – Family, friends & braised beef

OK, I will try to catch up over the next weeks – promise.

It is great having friends visiting, one can show off all the beauty of Galicia and the Ribeira Sacra, but it tends to also entail some very heavy cooking and eating sessions. Jutta and Udo visited for the first time and what better way than to immediately set them to work in the outside kitchen.

Than there was the long awaited visit of parent(s)

To my utmost anoyment they got a very typical Galician welcome. When we returned from Santiago airport a nice full blown tormento had decided to visit Mer.

Everything looked grey and dripping, with the usual water flows in the litle roads and large puddles.

When we coxed them into the house there was no power!

When power resumed it was only half voltage, so none of my gadgets worked and I was really nervous as it was similar to water being in a distro box.

After this initial shock Galicia behaved and showed itself from its best side.

My father in law immediately was reminded of his youth, when our potatoes arrived,
– Galician style -,by donkey. That we do live in civilisation, if and when we choose, was demonstrated the next day when we hurried into Monforte to buy new phones and a new router as the tormento had left its mark. It took just 10 minutes to do this, very much simplyfied by the fact that the “Star” shop just had one set of suitable phones and just one wireless router. Our ADSL line is not just lightening fast its also a great attraction to lightening. 4 sets in 3.5 years, but, they actually are cheaper now.

I have to admit, that for city dwellers it can be a roller coaster of experiences. Like the Farmacia in castro caldelas, old and new are often surprisingly close.

Project roof and Halloween next.

Expat