Mother's Day in Spain

What better way to spend Mother's Day than to go and have a lovely lunch at a lovely restaurant in lovely surroundings, on a lovely day and then top the day off with a climb to the top of a mountain (large hill). Well that's what we did this year for Mum's special day! The boys thought it was a great adventure and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, Mum (understandably) on the hand didn't agree entirely with our expedition.

We had lunch at a wonderful winery/restaurant in the O Rosal wine region...

...Along with our climb to see the Muiños (water mills) do Folon y Picon the largest collection of its kind in Europe (so I'm told).

R was a little champion. He walked all the way to the top and all the way back down again, very proud we were of that feat! W's little legs just couldn't keep up and was soon asking for Daddy's arms. Daddy's arms and back took a few days to recover but we all had a great day out and that night we had two very tired boys, who slept right through till morning! Mind you so did Mummy and Daddy!!!

New directions...

It has been nearly a year since I last wrote my humble thoughts on this here tablet. I feel that a change is in order. I am going to be focusing on our life here and especially focusing on our two beautiful boys, so that family and friends on the far the far side of the world don't lose touch.

Cricket in Vigo

This is a quick post to add a video clip from Televison de Galicia about our recent cricket match played here in Vigo!

You can see me at the end of the clip, in the group shot, standing on the far left! My five seconds of fame!

Walking the Lagares River Vigo

A few weeks ago we decided to finally take the plunge and go and traverse a portion of the over 8 km long path which follows the river Lagares that meanders along the fringes of the city, from Avenida Madrid until Playa Samil. I’ve seen the river before but only in Castrelos where, I firmly believed it begun and ended, for I had never seen it beyond the sanctuary of the park.

We joined the river close to the site of the PSA Peugeot Citroën car plant. The river lies lower than street level, so traffic noise and unsightly edifices are mostly hidden from view.

Upon joining the river trail, we were immediately transported to another world of peace and serenity, in the otherwise hustle and bustle that is Vigo.

We continued to follow the river towards Castrelos and even though we found ourselves amidst towering apartment block, the river and its tree lined banks provided the perfect cover to forget where you were. We passed through Castrelos and into a truly natural environment far removed from the city.

The paths are well maintained and the water is clean, supporting abundant wildlife, namely fish and birds, of which ducks were plentiful. We were told that even the odd heron could be spotted. There is ample flora, offering welcomed shade on hot summer days.
Overall we were quite pleased with our river walk and glad that we had finally taken the time to get to know it, a truly pleasant place to escape the cacophony of Vigo.

Un Bocadillo Vegetal Please...the not so vegetarian roll.

I imagine being a vegetarian can be difficult at the best of times, especially when eating out. Here in Spain that challenge takes on a whole new twist. The vegetable sandwich/roll can include some decidedly non vegetarian content.

A typical vege sandwich will contain; ham, tuna, cheese, egg, maybe some lettuce, tomato and a corn mayonnaise.

Another classic is the humble salad, when in its vegetarian form will include tuna.

The sandwich/roll or 'bocadillo' in the picture is one I regularly buy from our local panaderia (bakery). I myself quite like them, but if you are a vegetarian, you may not feel the same.

(Normally the bocadillo from the bakery contains a little more lettuce and tomato than the one in the photo, they obviously are cutting back. Perhaps due to this crisis/recession thing...?)

Pedestrian/Zebra Crossing Vigo

A recent statistic came to light, after an accident involving two elderly woman on a pedestrian crossing last week. In Vigo, you have just as much chance of being hit by a vehicle on a pedestrian crossing, as you have in crossing the road at any other place. The two woman in question were crossing on a controlled cross, the light was red for traffic and green for them, they were seriously injured with multiple fractures.

It seems that scant respect is given to red lights and not a day goes by without seeing vehicles running them. I have had three near misses using the pedestrian crossing, one of them whilst I was pushing my son in a pushchair. It pays to look both ways before you cross the road. Here in Vigo it pays not to stop looking!

The photo above is the result of the overturned car running a red light through a pedestrian crossing, fortunately no one was injured in this incident.

Tui

It is always nice when you see something that reminds you of home, no matter how vague the connection may be...

The word 'Tui' is very familiar to those who hail from New Zealand, where it is the name of a native bird and a brand of beer, amongst others. Here in Galicia, Spain the word 'Tuy' also exists in Spanish and when it is written in Galician, the 'y' is replaced with an 'i' giving us 'Tui'. Here it is associated with a town on the Spanish-Portuguese border and is also seen on many street signs. The word 'Moa' is also seen here, but I will leave that one for another day...