Galicia, I Will Miss You
I had a suspicion I would love Galicia and I was right. After spending a month here, I have confirmed that suspicion and then some. The amazing food, the beautiful coastal scenery, the super nice and friendly people, what more could one ask for … oh yeah, a little more sun 🙂 Yes, I am totally smitten with this part of Spain and if it weren’t for the ten months of crappy weather, I would love to live here. Maybe one day I have enough money to buy/build a little summer house overlooking waves crashing on the rocky shore and spend my whole summers there and thus avoid the hot and sticky weather in other parts of the country. Ah, one can dream, right? I really did fall in love with Galicia, and there are so many reasons for that. Let me summarize a few.
One big reason were the awesome people I met here: Fely, Paco, Roberto, Belen, and Ana. They welcomed me to their friend group with open arms, making me feel like one of them. They shared their knowledge of this lovely area, showed me around, patiently helped me practice my Spanish, and witnessed my first spicy pimento de Padrón (something that only exists here, I’ve been told). I could not have asked for better company.
The second reason is the food, oh the food! I have never before eaten as much octopus as I have here, and while I love all cephalopods and respect them as incredibly intelligent creatures, I also can’t help how much I absolutely love their taste. I guess I will just have to live with this cognitive dissonance and accept my weakness. I also feasted on more Spanish tortillas than anywhere else in Spain and I do not regret any of them. The Galician style is, hands down, the best and I wish I knew how to replicate it at home. I shall keep trying. Then there is rape, the ugliest of fish that is also the yummiest. Oh, how I’ll miss it all.
The next thing is, of course, the amazing scenery, all up and down the coast. I absolutely love the rocky shores and the expanse of the ocean beyond. I can sit and watch the waves crash against the rocks for hours. It’s one of the few things I can do and actually feel my brain quiet down long enough for it to rest. And the best thing is, this coast just goes on and on and on, a new bay, cape, or ria around every corner. Not that the inland parts aren’t interesting, too. The green rolling hills provide spectacular views to the Atlantic (once the fog dissipates), and the little villages and towns that dot the region are full of stone buildings, many that hark back to ancient times. Many a fantasy writer could get plenty of inspiration for setting their imaginary worlds; there is a little of everything.
I will also miss the weather-ready architecture of the cities: the walls of glass (or cristal as they call it here) instead of the Juliette-balconies so typical of the rest of Spain. Protection from the elements takes on a whole new meaning here and is also very pleasing to the eye. I like the fact that I got to spend a hot summer month in a place that really wasn’t all that hot, at least not by Spanish standards. I do hope I will get a chance to spend some time here during the storm season to see how well those windows actually work and to experience the fury of Mother Nature first-hand. I guess it would be like going to Tofino for a little storm-watching, but less remote 🙂
I really had an amazing time here and I have decided that, outside of Valencia, this is my favourite part of Spain, and I hope to spend a lot more time exploring all the nooks and crannies. And so, with a heavy heart, Sagrario and I got on a plane and flew back to Valencia; in other words, we stepped from the walk-in fridge of a flower shop into a tropical plant hothouse. So this is what real summer feels like.
