Our stay here at Ria de Muros was a special one, it had been from the minute we arrived.  We were welcomed by a local fisherman who helped us tie up and ushered the yacht into a suitable place to moor.  Mind you the local fishermen don’t really care about much which suited Fi and I. Thinking about it Fi and I both felt honored to be made honorary town folk from the moment we arrived until the moment we left.

We chilled out on the boat for a little while not forgetting Alex’s advice - my mate who had just spent a week with us - which was to speak to the locals.  So I politely attempted to speak to all the locals who happened to pop their head over the ledge of our mooring, believe it or not it worked a treat, and not long we were accepting invites for dinner.  Gift’s including fine French wine and drinks bought for the 2 of us in just about ever bar we visited.  How we both love this place I can not explain, the laid back easy going friendly way about everything.

It was Fiona’s birthday weekend and we, knowing the weather was predicted to be bad for a few days, succumbed to the fact that we were now here to party, and to top it off we arrived the eve of the annual festival.  We though how lucky we were but writing this now I must say the next place we enter that is having fiesta we are going to turn around and sail back out.

The photos say it all but I’ll endeavor to explain.  I took Fiona out to the finest restaurant in town which just so happened to be the restaurant that our fisherman friend ‘Raymond’ sold his crayfish to, but that being said it was amazing food and a very friendly bunch of people.  I went to the live fish tank and selected what I thought was a noble lobster only to have it reveal itself as the king of the tank.  You know how it works a quiet slide of the hand and whoa-laa the waiter man is wrestling this thing in front of the crowded room and I became the guy who was going to eat him up… I ordered it ala plancha ‘Grilled and slit down the middle’ and I informed the waiter that it was for a very special occasion. The wine we ordered was white and the grape is called Alberinio.  It is a similar white to our Australian Riesling however it is usually served very cold and is almost always very dry. It is now definitely my favorite white wine.

Before long we had eaten way too much and moved back over to the bar as it was in desperate need of being propped back up after having left it earlier. I ordered nothing less that a round of Orejo which is the local fire water that just happens to come in all the colors of a 72 derwent pencil set to boot. After a lazy few rounds we continued to party in the restaurant with our new friends until siesta time dawned upon us, so we rushed back home for a quite nap and freshen up before doing it again that evening!

Straight back up we got and headed back to the bar to be met by Raymond and his friends for dinner, more fine food, fish, fish, fish and potato’s.   What else?   Then onto the main square for a dance with the local’s. Cool hey, believe me not often do you have so much fun in one day but when it rains it poor’s.

If anyone is wondering how we were able to speak with anyone, well we couldn’t, but we became very good at sign language and a few key words like muy bein (very good) which you can use in almost any situation.

Fiona was having a great day which was so important considering she had to spend her 30^th with me and had no other close friends or family around. She danced like I never seen a women dance before I mean the girl was possessed and why not in this wonderful foreign place that have it’s roots firmly engrained in Celtic culture and music, wine, fish and partying.

The next day we really struggled to get out of bed but hey it did not matter we had no where to go so we stayed in and did nothing apart from finish off the first season of Prison Break on DVD.

When we did come around to normality once again we ventured out and headed to the first little bar.  The amazing thing about Spain is that there is a bar every 20 meters, it does not matter if you are in an ally or back street there will be a bar with in a stones throw so in we went to the closest one to the boat about 20 meters away. Amazingly enough who else should be there but Raymond and his brother who instantly bought us drinks.  The great thing about going for a drink around lunch time or 12:00PM is they serve Tapa’s with your drink so out came a couple of fantastic Chiperones (Small grilled Squid whole in garlic). I like Raymond a lot he was a really nice man and could surely represent Spain in the drinking Olympics as he knocked down his wine and said to the two of us “Bamos” (Lets Go). Poor Fiona, the little thing had only had a sip or two and we were off to the next pub. This time it was only about an 8 mtr walk in to the next bar for another round of drinks and out came more tapas.  This time Empanadas (Small Pastie things) and before you knew it, Raymond called “Bamos”, poor little Fi who once again had to leave a full glass of wine behind and on to the next bar.  This time it was a full 20 meters away and we were served up a plate of prawns each with our drink’s.  Now I understood what Raymond was all about – he was on his lunch round and a few drinks, after all they are very cheap about 1.25 Euros each and a whole heap of very nice food. The penny had dropped and as you could imagine the next day Fi and I were out on our own tapas round to all the little bar’s.  It even got to the point where we would walk in to a bar check out what the tapas was and decide if we wanted to eat it or not. If not out we would go on the hunt for something amazing and new.

Time here seemed to go on and on and before we knew it we were desperate to leave and get back on the trail to the south.  We were sitting back on the boat when another local man Anton dropped by and invited us for dinner.  We regrettably declined as we were so tired from keeping up with Raymond!  We politely thanked him and he insisted we come to his house tomorrow.  Sure enough he was back at the boat at 7:30 the next night to collect us. His house was amazing - right in the centre and huge, he had prepared a BBQ for us of Argentina Sausage and Rib’s - fantastic food lots of salads topped with olive oil like you were a rich man and vinegar like a poor man.  Anton was a master fisherman and first mate on container ship’s.  We sat and talked about Spain and it’s monarchy, religion, politics and history all night. He even got out his sextant and showed me how to use it. Believe me I am glad I am sailing with the modern gadgets such as GPS ect. It would have been very tough 15 years ago for anyone on the water.  I admire their knowledge.

The next day Fi and I got up and left we had both had enough and were desperate to sail again. As hard as it is to sail along the coast and how wonderful it is to stay in port we needed to be back out on the water.

Special comments by Fiona:.  Other than being surrounded by family and friends, I couldn’t think of a better place to spend my 30^th birthday.  The generosity of the people in this beautiful town was astounding.  They made us both feel so welcome.  Ben made my day very special and went to great effort to select such a nice restaurant.  I’ve never ever had lobster so big before!  And yes I danced like I’d never danced before!!! 

This place – Ria De Muros will hold a very special place in my heart that’s for sure. 

Being invited to Anton’s house for dinner was also a highlight.  He was an interesting man with many stories to tell.  I enjoyed his conversation and hung on to every word.  His stories about Spain, it’s history and his own stories of his life at sea.  His father died at sea in the Bay of Biscay when he was 19 years old.  His father was a fisherman and went out one night in bad weather and sadly never returned, which is a common story from sea men back then.