We decided to leave the quiet town of Vilabla and drove to Lugo the Provincial capital for a day at their annual fiestas. Here's what I found on the net about Lugo fiestas:
The origin of these celebrations in Lugo goes back to 1754. Since then they have become one of the most important festive occasions in Galicia.
From 4 to 12 October Lugo holds its San Froilán Fiestas, attracting thousands of visitors every year. Two of the days stand out especially within the festive programme: 5 October, with religious celebrations in honour of the patron saint, San Froilán; and the following Sunday, known as “O Domingo das Mozas”, which is dedicated to traditional Galician costumes and folklore. Over the course of these days there are a series of parades through the city, with "big-heads", brass bands, street markets and magic shows, juggling and street entertainment.
Children play a special role in the celebrations, with "San Froilanciño", a range of activities organised for the younger ones including traditional games, chess competitions, theatre productions and the International Puppet Festival, where you can see the oldest puppets in Spain. The fiestas come to an end 12 October with the Medieval Fair: the Cathedral square and the area around the Roman city wall are turned into a typical Medieval market, with an array of jongleurs, knights, demonstrations of falconry and traditional trades, and, of course, a medieval banquet is also held. In the evening, a stunning firework display brings the celebrations to a close until the following year.
Laura from the Parador front desk had suggested a stroll down towards the river 900 meters all down hill and the saints would help with the 20% grade to climb back up into town. Trust me it was NOT WORTH THE SWEAT EQUITY down and back to the center of town. After a cool down in central plaza we stumbled upon a little/wee shop in the back streets where Cheryl found an Orange Liquour similar to the one she had liked from Valencia originally in Extramedura Spain. The orange flavoured drink was our Tuesday nightcap.I digress because I failed to mention our evening bite of grub to help last until breakfast time at the Parador. We stopped in a cute hole in the wall designer bar just around the corner from the church and sample our first taste of Galician octopus (pulpo) along with a mixed salad and some vino. The Pulpo was outstanding to say the least. Wednesday AM it was only 14C and ground mist shrouded everything, the heavy ground fog did not burn off until approximately 2:00PM. We ventured down the NVI highway to Lugo and ultimately found the famous old city walls and an underground garage to hide the car. We ambled the streets in search of the Tourist Information office which eluded us for the 6 hours we were in town. We walked along part of the city walls before returning to Vilaba. Our menu of the day today consisted of melon with ham and a main course of merluza (hake fish) with boiled potatoes followed by desert and coffee. Cost 33 euros for 3 people. Yesterday's lunch had been 25.50 euros for 3 so we are stepping up a bit.
In Lugo we watched the procession from city hall out and around the plaza major. They had pipe bands but their version of the bag pipes has only one (chantor and air bag versus the Scottish version with 3 pipes. However, it still had a familiar pipe sound and their costumes were very colorful.
I have to say I prefer my Scottish pipes, they have a deeper richer sound. The Galician pipes are a bit tinny and much shriller.We have only been here a week, feels longer! I have either developed a cold or allergies or my brains are leaking out my left nostril! Paul has already said something about me loosing my voice would be the better fate.
We are waiting for siesta to end and we will head to the Farmacia for some remedies, then we will stop for a glass o' cheer! Maybe more later, or we will catch up tomorrow. We have a fairly long drive with a lot of sight-seeing planned. Cangas de Onis is our destination for Thursday and the long range forecast is saying 50% chance of rain by Saturday; the locals will be happy but not the vacation travelers.
Laura from the Parador front desk had suggested a stroll down towards the river 900 meters all down hill and the saints would help with the 20% grade to climb back up into town. Trust me it was NOT WORTH THE SWEAT EQUITY down and back to the center of town. After a cool down in central plaza we stumbled upon a little/wee shop in the back streets where Cheryl found an Orange Liquour similar to the one she had liked from Valencia originally in Extramedura Spain. The orange flavoured drink was our Tuesday nightcap.I digress because I failed to mention our evening bite of grub to help last until breakfast time at the Parador. We stopped in a cute hole in the wall designer bar just around the corner from the church and sample our first taste of Galician octopus (pulpo) along with a mixed salad and some vino. The Pulpo was outstanding to say the least. Wednesday AM it was only 14C and ground mist shrouded everything, the heavy ground fog did not burn off until approximately 2:00PM. We ventured down the NVI highway to Lugo and ultimately found the famous old city walls and an underground garage to hide the car. We ambled the streets in search of the Tourist Information office which eluded us for the 6 hours we were in town. We walked along part of the city walls before returning to Vilaba. Our menu of the day today consisted of melon with ham and a main course of merluza (hake fish) with boiled potatoes followed by desert and coffee. Cost 33 euros for 3 people. Yesterday's lunch had been 25.50 euros for 3 so we are stepping up a bit.
In Lugo we watched the procession from city hall out and around the plaza major. They had pipe bands but their version of the bag pipes has only one (chantor and air bag versus the Scottish version with 3 pipes. However, it still had a familiar pipe sound and their costumes were very colorful.
I have to say I prefer my Scottish pipes, they have a deeper richer sound. The Galician pipes are a bit tinny and much shriller.We have only been here a week, feels longer! I have either developed a cold or allergies or my brains are leaking out my left nostril! Paul has already said something about me loosing my voice would be the better fate.
We are waiting for siesta to end and we will head to the Farmacia for some remedies, then we will stop for a glass o' cheer! Maybe more later, or we will catch up tomorrow. We have a fairly long drive with a lot of sight-seeing planned. Cangas de Onis is our destination for Thursday and the long range forecast is saying 50% chance of rain by Saturday; the locals will be happy but not the vacation travelers.
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