Sale el sol...y los lagartos

The past couple of weeks have been magical, to say the least. The sun has made its grand entrance in Galicia, and I have been spending all my free time soaking up as much Vitamin D as possible. I've been on hikes, enjoyed café con leche on terrazas, napped in parks and visited the markets with my friends. After almost eight months of zero sun, we have a lot to make up for. The first group of photos is from a day in the park, the weekend before last, our first day of sun.

 Elderly couples are always going for walks and being adorable

 The cathedral from the Alameda Park

 Statue of a traditional Galician woman

 Palm trees...with pines in the background

 Drinking fountain 

 Sign in the park

Soaking up the sun in front of the cathedral 

Potted plants in a garden coffee shop 

Statue at the coffee shop

This weekend Francesca, Giulia, Ángel and I went to the Convento de las Madres Dominicas de Belvis, an enclosed order convent, built in the XIV century, to buy cookies. The nuns live isolated from the public, and to buy the cookies you place the money on a turning tray, and they turn it and give you the cookies. You never see them as it is against their order's rules. The cookies were delicious though, so we know that they are being productive behind those walls.

Convento de las Madres Dominicas de Belvis

 

 Turning tray for the money and cookies

 COOKIES!

Daisies are blooming all over, instead of the 'wishies' I'm used to

Sunday Ángel and I went to Padrón for the 'famous' market, my students talk about it all the time and Ángel and I decided it would be a good way to spend a sunny Sunday. We did not expect the market to be very big, or have much more than fruit and veggies, we were very wrong. We took the train to Padrón without any solid idea of how to find the market except it was over the first bridge and before the second one...Turns out the effort put into looking up just that was wasted. We just followed the old women with their carts heading towards town. Soon we were greeted by the noise of the market, old Galician women shouting the prices of undergarments and fresh fruits; the male vendors were just arguing in loud voices with the other booths. We spent the day munching on churros rellenos and quesos caseros (stuffed churros and homemade cheeses), followed by naps in the park. Just like lagartos, we actually took their places, poor lizards.

 CHURROS!

 Famous polbo a feira (I didn't actually eat it, just poked it)

Angel and I found the hot spot for the elderly

Cooking octopus

Pilgrim statue, Santiago bound

Flowers blooming everywhere

 Mandarins, green beans, homemade sheep cheese and breads

Waiting for the train to head back to Santiago

Feeling a bit at home with the fields and space

 Greenery

 Church and cemetery, with remnants of the original cemetery

All is well at work, my time here is winding down quickly and I am still not sure what I will be doing in six weeks time, but I do know that I have gained invaluable experience this year for whatever it is I choose to do next.