Author Archives: Paul

Braving the Cold for Carnaval

Stephen and Kay had taken pity on me as I was on poorly cat sitting duty, with Amanda back in the UK for her brothers wedding. They’d invited me to accompany them on a trip to Ribadeo to witness Carnaval, and … Continue reading

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What goes bang in the Galician night?

It was just after midnight last Friday as the three of us settled into bed, Bonita assuming her ever-present role as a highly effective feline contraceptive, stretched between us and condemning Amanda and I each to our own peripheral eight … Continue reading

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Our first Galician Christmas

By our past UK standards we had a very busy Christmas, despite Galicia not feeling at all Christmassy. There is very little of the UK’s bloated festive commercialism here, instead it is a time for families, eating well and having the … Continue reading

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O Christmas Tree!

There is a romantic yuletide notion about country living, one borne out by countless films, TV advertisements, festive cards and music videos. It is that you can just wander up into the forests, fell your own Christmas tree, and carry it home … Continue reading

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Banging Heads with Bureaucracy – Part I

We’ve been living in Galicia for just under a month and already we’ve been outed to our neighbours (in a country which lives to gossip) as ‘electricity thieves’, and it’s not our fault. This is our first real ‘run  in’ with Spains’ legendary bureaucracy, … Continue reading

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