A trip to Galicia Sueiro’s Travelogue 2024 (first post)
- Written by MetroStaff
I have embarked on a fascinating journey into my past and the heritage of the ancestors who shaped me. I am travelling by land up the cost of Portugal to my homeland of Galicia where both of my parents were born. I will be staying there for the next 20 days.
My mother comes from a long line of teachers, writers, doctors and small-town bourgeoisie intellectuals who fled the Spanish Civil War to end up in New York City where I was born. My father was the son of a Captain of the docks in what was then a small fishing village, Sanxenxo, which has now become a beach resort of some consequence. My grandfather, who I never met, was also the accordion player in the municipal band -of some prominence in his little village at that time!
My father’s family were of Celtic origin and of the ‘Suevo’ tribe who overran northern Spain in the 5th & 6th centuries from Germanic lands – thus the name Sueiro. There is a little village in Asturias by the name of SUEIRO that I once visited with my son, where we both took a picture with the ‘Sueiro’ road sign behind us looking like we were asking how could this be. Nevertheless, from both sides of my family and for centuries, my roots are in the northwest corner of Spain in the region of Galicia.
I visited the town of Pontevedra (in the province of the same name) for the first time when I was 8 years old and have visited and spent time there my entire life. There are 3 important cousins, now well into their 80s, who brought me up as a little boy and are most responsible for my love of this land.
I am going back now to a wedding anniversary where I will be meeting dozens of distant relatives I have never met before and am so excited to be doing so. I shall be posting on FB and Metrodiversity.com my experiences as I visit to share with those close to me in D.C. Please keep reading. Promise it will be interesting!
