Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Walking in the Fragas de Eume
We went for a walk through part of the Fragas de Eume on Sunday - the Eume bit being the name of the river - on google earth or maps look for Pontedeume and follow the road from Chao de Ombre into the valley and you will see roughly where we went. I remembered to switch the video camera on every now and then, it was fairly warm around 28 C so good to be in shade some of the time. The river is so clean and blue it reminds me of meltwater rivers in Norway or the Alps. There are a lot of natural trees in the Fragas but the eucalyptus are making inroads there too - they are a real menace and the government seem to be realising they are both a valuable crop and a pernicious weed.
Friday, 26 September 2008
strange sand on the beach at vilarrube
Weird what sand and water can do ...
And
how something the right way up can look upside down....at least it does to me.
And
how something the right way up can look upside down....at least it does to me.
chastnuts and azafran
Just up the road towards Vilarrube a little way there is a tiny ermida - that sounds like it might be a hermitage but it is a little chapel with enough room for about 10 people inside and some great chestnut trees outside.
Not sure what the boys wre puzzling over here; maybe the creaky tree overhead.
Just starting to be ready we gathered enough for a small feast in a few minutes.
Scattered in the grass are hundreds of saffron flowers, they also grow wild on the moors near here.
Not sure what the boys wre puzzling over here; maybe the creaky tree overhead.
Just starting to be ready we gathered enough for a small feast in a few minutes.
Scattered in the grass are hundreds of saffron flowers, they also grow wild on the moors near here.
Saturday, 20 September 2008
Cedeira again and lots of talking
We headed off to Cedeira at 3 pm and despite it being a baking 30 C and the seafront beach for a town the size of Penzance there was plenty of room. There are nicer beaches but being able to drive onto the sand to drop all our baggage off is a real attraction and I forgot to buy bread in the morning so we did some shopping too.
Jenny took her first trip in the Sea Eagle kayak although, because we were all in it, we have no photos of the momentous event, we paddled out a few hundred meters and drifted about off a little reef watching bass and mullet chasing hundred of little tiny fish. I think she enjoyed it as we ended up talking about doing a trip down the Canyon de Sil next year.
Sam gave the boys a surfboard on Rowan's birthday and this a the first time it was trialed - they loved it and Cal managed to balance really well on it standing up, not easy as it is a narrow low volume board and there were no waves.
Rowan took a more casual stance hanging loose most of the time perfectly off balance and totally in control - we will try it in some waves next time.
We had been home about 5 mins when the folk who gave us the chicken and potatoes - Carlos and Victoria knocked on the door with a mother who they kept saying was mad and a friend from mexico who could speak English and his girlfriend and their very young daughter and Carlos and Victoria's two children Carlos an Cristien and I dont think I have ever heard so much talking at such a loud volume and such a speed. The mother did not stop talking at all not for a second and neither did anyone else really it was mayhem but we learned some Spanish and they learned some English and there might be a meeting at the local cooperativa possibly for dads and children from all different places either having a reunion or making freinds for the first time and it is either being recorded by TV Galicia for a saturday morning TV show or they sit and watch TV during the meeting and it might also be for mums we are not really sure and we don't know when it is or maybe when it was but it was all very interesting and took a lot of telling and brought home just how important it is to learn some more Spanish. We learned a lot about local families and how hard it was living here in the past and they can't quite work out why we want to live in Galicia - England seems to be a dreamlike aspiration for many people as a place to go and live and make money. I didn't shatter their dreams we said the climate here and the friendliness of the people was mostly what attaracted us which is true and went down well. English is the language of success and they all want to learn it - sounds promising for us.
Jenny took her first trip in the Sea Eagle kayak although, because we were all in it, we have no photos of the momentous event, we paddled out a few hundred meters and drifted about off a little reef watching bass and mullet chasing hundred of little tiny fish. I think she enjoyed it as we ended up talking about doing a trip down the Canyon de Sil next year.
Sam gave the boys a surfboard on Rowan's birthday and this a the first time it was trialed - they loved it and Cal managed to balance really well on it standing up, not easy as it is a narrow low volume board and there were no waves.
Rowan took a more casual stance hanging loose most of the time perfectly off balance and totally in control - we will try it in some waves next time.
We had been home about 5 mins when the folk who gave us the chicken and potatoes - Carlos and Victoria knocked on the door with a mother who they kept saying was mad and a friend from mexico who could speak English and his girlfriend and their very young daughter and Carlos and Victoria's two children Carlos an Cristien and I dont think I have ever heard so much talking at such a loud volume and such a speed. The mother did not stop talking at all not for a second and neither did anyone else really it was mayhem but we learned some Spanish and they learned some English and there might be a meeting at the local cooperativa possibly for dads and children from all different places either having a reunion or making freinds for the first time and it is either being recorded by TV Galicia for a saturday morning TV show or they sit and watch TV during the meeting and it might also be for mums we are not really sure and we don't know when it is or maybe when it was but it was all very interesting and took a lot of telling and brought home just how important it is to learn some more Spanish. We learned a lot about local families and how hard it was living here in the past and they can't quite work out why we want to live in Galicia - England seems to be a dreamlike aspiration for many people as a place to go and live and make money. I didn't shatter their dreams we said the climate here and the friendliness of the people was mostly what attaracted us which is true and went down well. English is the language of success and they all want to learn it - sounds promising for us.
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