Today is Sant Jordi Day (Saint George in English language cultures). It’s known as Catalan’s version of Valentine’s Day, but it’s really more than that. George, a brave knight, is credited with slaying a dragon that was terrorizing a town and its princess. After plunging his sword into the dragon, red roses cascaded out, and George presented the fair princess with a rose. Over the years/centuries, the legend of St. George killing the dragon has grown, at some point melding with Sant Jordi, the Patron Saint of Catalonia, whose saints day is April 23. Rolled into the popular celebration is the tradition of giving books and roses. Typically, a man gives a woman a rose and a woman gives a man a book, but it has evolved from there and friends, family, and lovers share both. The streets of Barcelona and other towns and cities in Catalonia sport stalls selling roses, of all colors, each with a different meaning, and books.
Interestingly, one of Antoni Gaudí’s famous apartment buildings in Barcelona, Casa Battló, is an architectural homage to Sant Jordi, depicting the mythical legend on the facade. On the roof the dragon’s back comes alive through the ceramic tiles in the form of scales and the back is pierced by the cross of four arms that evokes Saint George’s triumphant sword. On the top floor is a flower-shaped balcony alluding to the princess’s balcony. On the lower floors, the remains of the dragon’s victims are located on the balconies in the form of skulls and the pillars of the gallery that resemble the bones. And for Sant Jordi Day, it’s fully decorated with roses!
Besides roses and books being sold everywhere, I saw these cute toy dragons today in the grocery store.
Culture. It’s fascinating!
And after weeks of rainy, ho hum weather, I was treated to this beautiful sunrise.
My friends and even acquaintances know that I love to go to the grocery store. It’s something my father and I used to do together. It made my mother crazy because we’d be gone for a long time and come home with things she thought we didn’t need. But my father and I both loved food and we had fun picking it out! I still do. I love to go to grocery stores in foreign places and I even love to go to pretty much any grocery store at any time. I can always find something new or interesting, and just browse for a long time.
There are some things I have noticed in my chosen store. It’s big and has almost everything, except the kind of wine I’ve decided is my “go-to” and I have to go to a different store for it. The outlet of that store that is closest to my apartment keeps the wine I want on the top shelf. I can’t reach it. So, I either have to find an employee or “borrow” the step stool to get it myself – which comes with dual risk – falling or being admonished. I sometimes go to a farther outlet of that store just because they keep my wine at my eye level.
I’ve noticed that there are some items in US stores that rate a lot of shelf space that receive very limited shelf space here, and vice versa. I think I’ve mentioned the huge selection of chicken broth here. Also, the shelves with olives in my store take up at least half the aisle. And food storage bags, foil, Saran Wrap, etc.? — almost none. They also really like their chocolate. It has it’s own aisle separate from the rest of the “pedestrian” candy.
ALL Olives!ALL Chocolate!
I’ve never understood milk here. Some of it is refrigerated and some is not. I think it has to do with pasteurization, but I’m not even sure what that is. I just know that I prefer buying milk in the cold section. It seems a little less gross than a room temperature box of milk. I hate milk, so anything that seems to make it grosser, I avoid. They don’t have any pint-sized bottles of milk. I can only find liters or liters and a half. One day, I found a bottle that seemed a little smaller. It was labeled whole milk and it said “Bio.” I don’t really know what that means either, but I bought it because it would take up less space in the fridge. I have an electric frother, and the frother wouldn’t make the Bio milk frothy. That should have been a red flag. One day, not long after I purchased the Bio milk, I tried frothing it again, and I guess it had gone bad, because it frothed itself into something that resembled (barf) cottage cheese! I guess I’m going to stick with the large cold bottles.
At Christmas, I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies for my neighbor and my dog-sitter friends. I could NOT find a cookie tin anywhere or even a cookie sheet. I found a pan that worked perfectly, but it was labeled for pizza. They do have some boxed cookies here, but I guess no one makes them at home.
The cleaning supplies are relatively similar. In fact, Mr. Clean products are sold here as “Don Limpio” and in France as “Mr. Propre.” A popular brand of dishwashing detergent is called “Fairy,” which I don’t think would be acceptable here.
Today, I played petanca (pétanque in French), which is a game something like Bocce Ball. I played with the expat people for the first time. Turns out, even though I can’t hit a ball with a bat or a racket, I can throw a ball not embarrassingly badly. My team lost two out of two games, but it was still fun. Everyone else was British and quite controlled when they threw a ball especially well or especially poorly. I was the only one cursing my (or my teammates’) bad throws and screaming and clapping when we got a good shot. I said something like “excuse me, but I’m an American” to which they all sort of grumbled. I guess I’m invited back because they gave me a set of petanca balls. YEAH!
In the past, I haven’t written much about my travels, but I think Galicia, the province in Spain’s northwestern corner just above Portugal, deserves a special mention.
Galicia is known for its landscapes of extensive green forests and valleys, wild beaches, and old lighthouses. Its beautiful coastline, which covers over 1,000 miles, is known as the Costa da Morte, Coast of Death in the Galician or Gallego language. It earned this name because of the frequent shipwrecks in the area.
Not far from the Portuguese border, in Baiona, Columbus made his triumphant return from America. There is a replica of the Pinta in the harbor of Baiona. The ship, though life-sized, is really really small!!
The area between Baiona and Fisterra is known as the Rias Baixas, or Low Rivers in Galician/Gallego. There is a confluance of rivers and estuaries with islands, in the shadow of mountains. It’s been compared to the fiords of Scandanavia. Fisterra (in Galician/Gallego) or Finisterre (in Spanish), before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, was thought to be the end of the earth. Nowadays, it is the end of the Camino — the Pilgrimage to Santiago de la Compostela. The Cathedral in Santiago is the official end, but most pilgrims go the distance to Fisterra. Maybe one day I’ll make the pilgrimmage myself (or part of it!), but until then, this was reward enough.
We saw such wonderful natural beauty!
Prehistoric Ruinas Castro de Barona
Dunas de Corrubedo
Buçaco National Forest
Rias Baixas
Below: the very best octopus EVER and on the right, Portuguese pastries that cannot be beat!
I may have mentioned that I was a little down in January – a little bored and a little lonely and missing the sun. So I decided to make a concerted effort to expand my friend circle past 7. I had 8 last year, but I lost one to divorce.
When I first came to Spain after retirement, I wanted to concentrate on making friends with Spanish and Catalan people. I didn’t have much interest in meeting English speakers. But, I’ve decided that I need to make concessions.
I found a group online called the U3A Group. The members are all retired expatriate English speakers. U3A stands for “University of the 3rd Age.” The idea of a university of the third age originated from legislation in France during the 1970’s which required universities to provide for lifelong education. The “Third Age” is described as “the period of time after the First Age of childhood dependence and the Second Age of full time employment and parental responsibility.” The movement spread, initially to French speaking countries, and then across the globe. Today, U3A is made up of locally-run interest groups that provide opportunities for those no longer in work to come together and learn for fun.
I joined and signed up for the Leisurely Walk group, the Medium Walk group and, of course, the Scrabble Group. I was really interested in the Local Interest Group and the History Group, but they’ve been inactive since COVID.
I went to my first event today, the Leisurely Walk + Lunch. I was right. They were all warm and welcoming and delightful! I enjoyed it so much more than I ever imagined. Most were from the UK, but a 95 year-old woman, who is a founding member of the Costa Brava group, is from Australia, and one couple is from Iceland. They’ve all been here on the Costa Brava much longer than I have and they have a lot of experience that I think could be useful to me. And they were very interesting.
We walked around the medieval town of Sant Marti d’Empuries. I’d never heard of of the town even though it’s only 30 or so minutes from my town. It was very charming! At lunch, the restaurant gave us a free appetizer of calçots, which are giant green onions that are in season now and are traditionally charred on the grill, stripped of the outer layer, and dipped in a romesco sauce. Today at the restaurant they were uncharacteristically fried in batter and served with the traditional sauce. They were so good I ate someone else’s at the table who didn’t want theirs. It does look a little anatomical, however.
The members of the group were so nice, they talked me into signing up to play Petanca and I don’t even know what it is! Supposedly, it’s like bocce ball and they don’t play very seriously, so hopefully it won’t matter how bad I am at it.
I also signed up for the Scrabble group, but this week’s game was cancelled because someone died. I hope that doesn’t happen a lot. I told the Scrabble group leader that I play by my own rules and she said I should fit right in.
I never really thought I would have the opportunity to get there! It was too overwhelming for me to attempt on my own and everyone I know here either had already climbed it and didn’t care to repeat it, or just didn’t want to at all. So, I was very fortunate that my French friend and guide from my yoga class took me on! I was terrified that I couldn’t keep up. She’s younger and in super good shape and I’m older and in moderately good shape at best. It wasn’t a walk in the park. I’d been told that it would be relatively easy to find the way. Ha! Parts of the way seemed to follow a worn path, but much of the way was just choosing which rock to put my weight on to heist myself forward. Luckily, I was able to follow in Sylvie’s footsteps. But still…there were lots of rocks, some slippery, some unstable. How many times did I think about Sylvie having to dial 112 (Spanish 911) for an ambulance? Thank God that didn’t happen and both hips and both knees are still in tact!
Once we got to the top, the views were just incredible towards the sea, the rice fields, the farms and villages.
After having a quick lunch on the walls of the castle atop the hill, Sylvie asked if I wanted to go down a different way that was MORE challenging. Oh sure!
I gotta say the goats were one of the best parts.
View from the castle with resident goats
Random weird thing that happened:
A package was delivered from Amazon to one the apartments in my complex (of 12 ). I know the owners and they haven’t been around much this year and I doubt they were having a package delivered here, so I checked it out. It was addressed to a woman’s name (not their name) and at a different address on my street. I thought about trying to deliver it myself, but the houses aren’t really numbered, and NO ONE is here anyway. I called Amazon. They said I would be contacted by a delivery service to pick it up. A few days later I got an email from the delivery service to verify my address for pick up. Days went by, then a couple of weeks went by. I tried to give the package to the Amazon guy who showed up with a package I’d actually ordered, but he said he couldn’t take it. So, I decided that whatever was in the package was now mine. I opened it, and this is the weird part, it was a bag of dry dog food. It isn’t the brand I normally buy, but it is specifically for dogs with urinary problems, which Cassie has and I always buy the urinary-specific kind. Strange, huh?
I’ve been trying my hand at some traditional Catalan dishes. My masterpiece was Canelons, which Catalans traditionally eat on Sundays and holidays. I know why! It was a little complicated and I used every pot in my kitchen! It involves grinding together cooked chicken, pork, and beef to make the stuffing, cooking the pasta, assembling the cannellonis, and then making and covering them with bechamel sauce and finally with emmenthal cheese. I’d say it was worth it, though I won’t be making them again for a while! And I ate them for days…
Another traditional dish is trinxat. It’s a mash-up of cooked cabbage and potatoes with some sausage thrown in and bacon. I’ve never been a big fan of cabbage, but the combination of ingredients was quite good!
And I finally made my first Spanish tortilla (potato and onion omelette)! I had a little help, but it came out perfectly!
I also tried eating sea urchins for the first time. I was told that their flavor is very intense, sort of like eating the sea and that people either love them or hate them. I liked them. They tasted a bit like oysters with a similar slimy consistency, but with a stronger flavor. When in Rome!
I’m headed to Galicia next month, where the famous or infamous delicacy is goose barnacles. They look super gross, but I think I’ll try one for the hell of it. I’ll report back. Below is a photo of the goose barnacles, called percebes in Spain, and a link to an article if you’re interested.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts some of the interesting translations of food items on menus. Here are some others I’ve found on real estate sites, AirBnb, or other random sites. This may be an ongoing theme…
Homely semi-detached house…
…the house is floor and floor. Good chance…
… the largest contains a large dressing room and the traditional volt ceilings…
The houses are completely restored. Consist of 12 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, dining rooms with chimney, kitchen office completely equipped, terraces, porche (nice touch!)
Otherwise, our market is open 24/7 with a large selection of products such as fresh jar food…
Basically, you can usually tell from the taste whether the water quality invites you to drink. If it tastes strongly of chlorine or salty, you automatically lose interest in tap water.
Used Wagon cars Barcelona Spain
(re home recycling pick-up) Every day from 8 pm to 10 pm, according to the pre-established calendar, you can leave the fraction that touches the rubbish bins in front of your portaI
If we to throw our heart over the obstacle, we could see this dream realised by the end of 2024.
And just on tonight’s menu:
Old beef entrecôte Calf fillet Meat tartar
Another menu item: Cod with mashed topinamburs (wha?)
I’ve learned that our exclamations in English are not the same in other languages. For example, “youpi” is French for “yay”; “guau” is Spanish for “wow”; and “buff” is Spanish for “ugh,” I think.
I came up with a couple more “pro’s” for living in Spain:
No roaches in the shower, the toilet, the sink, flying around, or ANYwhere (at least in the north)!
The safety factor. I’m not afraid of personal violence here. If anyone would ever try to rob me, I am certain I could be threatened with force, but not with a gun. That’s a huge relief.
And just so you know you’re in good company, I now have over 122 followers from 29 countries! Kinda fun.
Someone added a smile to the yellow circle designating no parking near my house…
This may be a little “heavier” than my usual posts, but I thought it was interesting. Please don’t roll your eyes without reading.
I noticed a new permanent road sign upon entering the town of Regencòs, the town in between Begur and the bigger town where I have to go to do things, Palafrugell. The sign reads:
Regencòs does not tolerate sexual assault
Wow. Can you imagine driving through a small town in Texas and seeing such a sign? Ha!
My point is not to make a political statement. I’m just noting some of the different priorities between our countries. And there are probably other human rights issues that are given greater weight in the US…
I read this article:
“Waving purple flags (purple is the color of the anti-violence against women movement), several thousand protesters marched through Madrid and Barcelona demanding an end to violence against women in a country where fighting domestic violence is a national priority.
The rally took place to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (in November), with demonstrations also taking place in Valencia, Seville and other cities around Spain.
In the Spanish capital, marchers wearing purple masks, hats and scarves walked behind a huge banner reading “Enough of male violence against women. Solutions now!”
“Not all of us are here, the murdered are missing,” they chanted as they marched past the Cibeles fountain and other historic buildings that had been illuminated in purple. “
Bravo!
The photo of the sign below on display at my grocery store is difficult to read, and it’s in Catalan, but it says “Quiet hours each Saturday from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in all our establishments. The intensity of the lights and accoustics will be reduced to assist persons with autism and sensorial hypersensitivity to shop.”
Again. Wow. Or as they say in Spanish, Guau!
Bonus photo of the flowering rosemary in the garden. I need to figure out what to cook with it.
My neighbor’s ex-wife (before she was the ex) told me that he had promised her when she moved here that it would never get below 9°C (that’s 48°F). Well, that was a lie. It was 2°C degrees last week and it probably won’t be the last time this year. I know it’s often bitterly cold where some of you live, so I’m sorry if this sounds like whining. I always used to say I hated winter, and these same things do still bother me, though not as much:
The most important – it’s too cold
Too many clothes – hard to move, hard to drive
Always having to put on clothes, take off clothes, which coat is the right weight?
Getting sleeves (long, possibly with a sweater) wet washing the dishes
Dry skin – exacerbates the excema on my legs
Electricity in my hair – this may be the absolute worst!
Cold, gray days – just makes everything dismal
And it is correct that if you dress properly you won’t be cold. I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t relieve the other six problems.
I read an article in the expat newspaper recently that said the last thing that crosses most people’s minds when they think of Spain is the idea of being freezing cold. Per the article:
“…daytime winter temperatures in Spain can vary between minus degrees in the central and northern regions near the Pyrenees (I’m pretty near the Pryenees) to around 10°C to 15°C in the south. While this might not sound bad, the problem is often that houses in Spain are not well-equipped for winter and it can sometimes feel far colder inside the house than it does outside…. (no kidding!) One of the main reasons why Spanish homes are so cold is the lack of insulation, as many houses were designed to be kept cool during the hot months with little thought for the colder months. Combine that with the glacial winters some parts of Spain have, and you’re more than likely to keep your scarf and thick wooly socks on indoors. [I DO!!]”
One reader commented: “I was surprised that Spain had a winter at all. I’d never really been cold before moving to Madrid”. Another added: “My Canadian mother has said that the coldest winter she had spent was in Extremadura, Spain…and she lived above the continent on islands in the Artic for several years”.
“Particularly if you’re renting a place, you’ll often find that your house or apartment won’t be equipped with central heating.” TRUE! I have a couple of electric radiators and now an electric blanket that the dogs and I share/fight over.
The author added: “Hahaha I once met an English girl who was actually going back home to England for winter – she said that during winters she effectively freezes less in the UK than in Barcelona.”
Here’s hoping for an early spring!!!! Stay warm out there…
I’ve been told that returns in France are frowned upon, unless there is a defect in the item. Like in the old days in the US. It wasn’t that easy to return a purchase. You had to tell the lady at the counter “why” you didn’t want it and they didn’t always take it. Nowadays, as one friend put it, in the US you could throw your package up in the air and somehow it would get returned – it’s just that easy.
Because there’s a pandemic going on and I haven’t been shopping much, and also because there is a dearth of stores near me, I place a lot of online orders. And, sadly, shopping fills some inner void, but that’s a deeper discussion. Let’s just say the Amazon delivery guy and I are friends. But this also means, there will be returns.
I ordered a few things from a store that specializes in sportswear and sleepwear. I ordered a pajama top to match a pajama bottom I already had, and they sent me a pajama bottom in a diffferent color. I called Customer Service and they told me I had to take it to a physical store. Really? So, I drove an hour to Girona and went to the store where I was told they could not take back the item. I waited around while the clerk phoned headquarters and then told me that someone would call me to work it out. They called once while I was in London around Christmas and I missed the call. I just gave up — it was only about 7 euros.
I ordered a pair of shoes which I didn’t like when they arrived, so again I called because you have to get “permission” to return the item, and it was an ordeal. She said it was “too late”, but I said the internet site says 60 days, so after conferring with her superior she told me I was right. She said someone from a delivery service would contact me within the next day or two to pick up the item. I waited, and waited…no one came. So after about 10 days I went online to figure out how to call them back and I saw that the price had been refunded to me. I guess I have a free pair of shoes to give to a charity.
Oh, and there was the pair of shoes I ordered from Amazon France. When I took the package bearing the pre-printed label to the Post Office, I was told it was impossible. Apparently the shoes were from Slovakia and if you’re in Spain, you can’t mail anything to Slovakia. Period. I called Amazon and they allowed me to return the shoes to the Amazon Paris location, thank goodness.
Also, getting things delivered is tricky. Sometimes they will leave the package at my door, sometimes they won’t. And when they don’t, I have to go pick it up from a dropoff location. They’re all different — a tobacco store, a computer store (actually two or three different ones), a coffee shop, and a children’s clothing store. It’s interesting…
This just came. This’ll teach me to do the measurement conversion before ordering!! I decided I wanted a cast iron skillet. There were none in the grocery store or the hardware store and obviously, I don’t have Walmart, so I ordered one. It said 16 cm and it looked like just the right size. It looked bigger in the photo on the Amazon site. Doesn’t it? One picture shows a pie in it! I didn’t realize it was a personal-sized pie. Notice the actual pan next to my coffee cup. Damn.
Susie's Senior Year Abroad 