day 4 - first day in Muros

The town square in Muros

 Along the coast

We all slept late, what a treat! No need to hurry, we have more than a week here. Nice weather and a nice breakfast. Great ham, bread, and cheese. Great oranges.

At 1 PM we finally got ourselves together to take a walk along the shore road. Hoped to find the lagoon but missed it. Nice views anyway and took lots of pictures. Found one of Enrique's recommended fish restaurants, where Jim, Tony, and I returned at 2:30 for lunch. They eat lunch

and dinner quite late here. We are transitioning to Spanish time. Had grilled langostinos and fried calamari. Excellent! The proprietor speaks great English – he lived in NY for 12 years.

Otherwise I am getting to practice my bad Spanish a lot. I make myself understood and understand most of what is said. I am learning new words every day, probably by the dozen. Also Gallego, a different language from Spanish, more related to Portuguese and French. Very interesting. They use “Rua” for street or Calle. They also use a lot of “Xs” as in San Xuan.

Had a long rest at Siesta time – all the stores close from around 2 PM to around 5 PM. Then we went to the grocery store and stocked up again, in case we want to eat a lunch or dinner in. Bought olives stuffed with anchovies – they are actually quite good.

Galician Seafood

Also a blood sausage that is to die for! The local cheeses are very good, we are trying a few of those. The local bread is a slightly darkish sourdough, we like that a lot too. Went out to dinner at 9:30 PM to a local tavern (there are lots of them!) and had excellent razor clams, little scallops, stuffed mushrooms, and stuffed peppers. We generally share Raciones. I drank a Sidra. (you can guess what that is.)

Jim and Tony beat their brains out for an hour trying to figure out how to get the Internet connection working. They finally succeeded! Tony and Jim both brought their iPods so we are well equipped for music. Fortunately our tastes run along the same lines. Jim and Tony are so funny together – I think Jim has found his true soulmate! Eva says they are twins separated at birth. Eva and Tony are a great pair and we are enjoying their company immensely.

I went down to the Optician's where Mari Carmen works, first to ask about the Internet and then to help Tony buy a pair of prescription sunglasses. Both very complicated transactions but Mari Carmen is very nice and patient and we all managed to make ourselves understood. Funny how I have become the official translator! Anyway it is good for me to practice speaking Spanish, even though quite badly.