Weekend Update

So my family trip to Galicia and Portugal was pretty awesome. We traveled mainly in the areas between Pontevedra and just past the Portugal line.

As far as the land goes, I really liked Galicia. The architecture, not so much. A lot of the places we went everything was just very plain and my host dad said in Spain it was literally called "feoism" (aka - ugly-ism). Pontevedra was probably my favorite. It's one of the 4 capital cities in Galicia and is very close to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a nice change to see water again - I really miss my lake. The city itself was very old and had a lot of (what I assume to be) Roman architecture, and that was nice. One of the paths on the Camino de Santiago also ran through the city, so that was pretty cool to see.


Keith and I decided when we are retired we are going to walk the Camino de Santiago. Maybe before then if we ever get the opportunity...

We stayed at my host grandmother's house - turns out she was one of the first women doctors in Spain. The food there was amazing, and I'm pretty sure if I actually lived there I would gain a million pounds.

I take that back, Spain food still sucks, but Galicia, Spain food was better than Madrid, Spain food.

We went to the playa (beach) in Portugal and I loved that. I went in the water and my host mom laughed at me because for the people here the water was like an ice bath. For me, I'd say it was more like Lake Erie in the beginning of June. We took a little ferry boat across the river that separates Portugal and Spain. It was a very short ride, and nothing like being on the lake, but I pretended it was exciting, and my host family loved it, so that was good. I told them when they come to the US I'd have to show them "real" boats and a "real" lake.

It was nice to speak only Spanish all weekend. My host mom said I can understand pretty much almost everything they say now (which is good) but I need to speak a lot more to improve my talking.

(and again I say...if only I had come in high school...)

Anyways, I had fun and it was a nice change for me. I'll be going back in less than a week, so I'll have even more experiences then.