Between worlds

On

We are currently in transit in Barcelona airport. There was a massive storm here earlier in the day and our flight from santiago was delayed for over two hours. Fortunately we had a buffer of five hours before our flight to Lyon. So, time to reflect and tap out a few more thoughts. These ones are more culinary related - an important aspect of any journey to distant lands.

One of the lovely things about starting to get the hang of another culture is that some of its real delights become available to you. We experienced this yesterday twice in relation to food, always important! At lunch, we felt confident to go into a tapas bar with some sense of how the system worked and so a new capacity to order what we actually wanted to eat. In the past, we've seen other diners eating things we'd love to try, yet had no idea how to order them ourselves. Quite apart from our delight in our simple meal then, we enjoyed the satisfaction of a certain competency in having understood what was possible and communicated what we wanted.

Similarly at dinner - we ventured into the risky territory of a pulperia, a restaurant that specialises in pulpo or octopus, Galician style!! We ended up with a delicious meal of grilled pulpo dusted with paprika, a dish of superb boiled potatoes and fresh bread, all washed down with a glass of Rioja, vino Tinto. It's like nothing we will ever eat at home, and we loved the whole experience. 

A final food related note! We've discovered more fully that mostly in Spain, when you order a drink, you are brought something small to eat with it - another aspect of a 'tasting' or tapas culture. With morning coffee, it's usually a small piece of cake or half a croissant. In the afternoon and evening, with a beer or glass of wine, it's something savoury. On different occasions, we've had a baguette slice topped with soft sheep's cheese, a small dish of chick pea, tomato and chorizo stew, and last night we savoured small dishes of paella with our wine. It's all that you need before dinner - just a little taste of something to stave off hunger, and it's so civilised! This feels like a grace note we could easily adapt to our own practice of hospitality and celebration, and we're looking forward to trying it out when we get home!

These shellfish, called 'knives' in English, are prized fare in Spain. We didn't have these at the pulperia, but just to show some of the exotic seafood enjoyed here. They are collected off the rocks at low tide on the northern Galician coast - apparently a very risky occupation.

Here's a great translation into English.

We will miss all this, but of course are already anticipating the delight of walking and eating in France. 

Bon chemin,

Sarah and Neil

PS. The beginning of the path to Finisterre.