Chapter two of the holiday is drawing to a close. Spain and Portugal have been very enjoyable – in fact I’d go so far as to say it’s been my best trip to both countries. Going with someone who not only speaks the language but has lived here really makes a difference. My own familiarity with the culture has improved and I am impressed that I managed to do a grocery shop by myself.
Last night we finished up with Eurovision at 1am and, as always happened before a travel day, I had a terrible sleep. It’s not such a bad thing though as Luke will also be dead tired after his flight from Korea.
We cleaned the apartment then left at midday. In Australia having a check out time after 10am feels like luxury but here it’s quite common. Our flights (Danny, Peter and Ash are flying back via Dublin with a different airline) are only five minutes apart and leave at almost 5pm so we stopped at a sunny cafe for a bit of lunch.
We caught a taxi to the airport and I now know what it’s like to do 80kph over speed bumps. The driver was a nice old guy but his disregard for speed limits and parking guidelines was a quintessentially Spanish experience.
We had a slice of cake in the airport while we waited for the check in counters to open. It’s a local delicacy made with almond flour.
Tarta de SantiagoExpert portioning by Danny.
After checking in separately we headed to the VIP lounge. Danny has membership and we could pay a bit extra to be guests. We made an effort to get our money’s worth and enjoyed the very comfortable lounges.
The focus today has been recovering from last night’s bar and club hopping. It was a good night out but ended up being bigger than I expected.
Drinks in several squares.There was an astonishingly loud funfair happening in a park.
We started off with drinks around town and spent a while at this place where musicians arrived and started jamming at the bar.
We took a wander around the old town and stopped at a few places, eventually getting to Bloom, where a Eurovision party was happening the following night.
Unfortunately, we only got there at 4am and it closed at 4:45. I got outside quicker than Danny, Peter and Ash. I sat for a few minutes and then ended up texting them to say I was heading home. I don’t remember the last time I was out so late and I almost felt like I was going to keel over.
I made it to bed and didn’t hear the others get in a bit later. After sleeping in until 1pm I really had no idea how I’d adjust back to normal waking hours on return to regular holiday hours.
I took a trip back to the mall in the afternoon for food and some new underwear (thrilling stuff) after having a salad in the food court. After such a big night I did wander around in a bit of a daze and I was glad to get back to the apartment and find that we’d be watching Eurovision in the apartment.
I made pizzas, we drank wine, brought blankets to the couch and are now watching the votes come in. Personally I liked the Finnish entry best but it’s not looking good for them.
Tomorrow is the flight home and finally seeing Luke, hooray!
So, an ongoing theme of this trip to Galicia has been me playing second string to Daniel when it comes to meeting people. Galicians seem to feel some sort of kindred-spirit connection to Ireland and Australians are as good as chopped liver in comparison.
When discussing holiday nicknames ‘Chopper’ was even suggested as an option for me but I was not keen.
Last night we turned up at 9pm to a fancy restaurant called Benedita Elisa (because 9pm is when they open. WHEN THEY OPEN!!) and they couldn’t fit us in so we went for dinner to a place that one of the patrons at the bar had suggested the previous night.
The place we ended up going to was great, the helpful waiter had lots of recommendations for Galician dishes.
Satay beef and pork ribs. A very mild flavoured fish cake. The chips are freshly made everywhere.
We shared all the dishes and it was very enjoyable to discuss the flavours and which were our favourites.
Afterwards we walked into the old part of town to see the cathedral by night.
The centre was largely quiet but there were a few groups of musicians around and some pilgrims walking into town. The alleyways must look almost identical now to medieval times but probably smell a lot better.
After a walk around we went home to bed where I managed to spend hours getting to sleep despite having far less alcohol than the previous night.
We were all up and about by 11am (really getting into the Spanish lifestyle now) and spent the morning getting ready for our 2pm lunch booking at Bernadita Elisa.
This restaurant was a little more upscale than the previous night and we did the same – shared plates so we got to try many things on the menu.
Calf bikini with trumpets of death (a type of mushroom). Delicious and not as dramatic as the name suggests.Curry crispy rice with mango, sardines and roe.Carpaccio with pine nuts.Burrata salad
Just a few of the many dishes!
We each had such a small bite of the dishes so that we had room for dessert, which was nothing short of fabtastulous.
Ok, no more food photos, I promise.
A cross between creamy cheesecake and crème brûlée.
We booked two nights in Pontevedra (when I say ‘we’ Danny did literally everything) and left Santiago mere minutes after signing off on the Camino. We didn’t stay because we are coming back for a few days later on so we’re seeing a bit more of Galicia before then.
After this is three nights in Porto.
The apartment Danny found is lovely, it opens right onto a laneway in the old part of the city.
The interior is mostly mint green trim and feature walls of flamingo wallpaper.
Unfortunately, because we booked a Friday and Saturday night, between 4 and 6am crowds of people streamed past my window shouting, singing and partying on their way home from nightclubs.
The lady who owns the place met us when we arrived and said the front bedroom was loud but didn’t specify that the street noise, which was minimal during the day, wasn’t the problem. I’m writing this at 5:30am because I’ve given up on going back to sleep. Every time I think there’s going to be no more noise another group comes along to stand right outside talking at top volume.
Aside from causing me to wake up angry, Pontevedra has been a lovely place to stay. What did we do here?
We walked around the old town.We went to the art gallery.We saw lots of lovely impressionist work.We walked along the river and took some photos for some tourists. We found a market.And a free rock music festival We watched a bit of the coronation on tv. We saw pigeons causing havoc on unattended tables, inadvertently smashing wine glasses and bottles.
Mainly we sat in various squares doing what the locals do – people and dog watching.
And being watched in return.
I’ve brought a crossword book and so we did that for a while too. All very relaxing!
We left Sigueiro at about 9:30 and had 15km to walk to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Apart from a few spots of rain the worst of the weather was just a lot of cold wind, which made walking easier.
I kind of expected the path to be quite industrial as it was so close to Santiago but, either by luck or design, it was mostly forest and fields for all but the last few kilometres.
A second later it caught a mouse.
We saw many more pilgrims than previous days but only really talked to one, a lively Italian lady named Leah who told us she had left her husband at home and decided to do the walk by herself at the age of 70. She didn’t have any aches or pains and wished Danny improvement with his feet.
At about 11:30 we stopped off at a food place that was right next to the trail in a forested part.
It was a big open cement area and a huge echoing hall that looked like the world’s saddest wedding venue. It had a tiny bar and food counter set up so we had some coffee and sandwiches.
Such a welcoming atmosphere.
We have been told that the government is using money to promote this route but it would be nice to spend some money on making it safer as often footpath just runs out and trucks almost clip you as you walk.
The amenities and businesses along the trail (or lack thereof) have been a constant source of bemusement. The traffic along this branch of the Camino has been increasing drastically over the last two decades (from under 100 people to over 22,000 last year) but there’s quite long stretches of road with no footpath, no places to get food and not one public toilet to be seen along the whole route, which Danny says is typical of Spain. Anywhere that sells food is expected to let people use their bathroom but quite often there’s nowhere open.
Coming into Santiago from the opposite direction to the most popular trail meant that it was just right into the older part of town.
The industrial estate part of the walk wasn’t pretty but had excellent wide footpaths. The last laundry station!
Our first sight of the cathedral??
No.
How about now?
No.
Then Danny said that we would hear bagpipes when we got close, an instrument that is traditionally Gaelic, so they are played here as well as in Scotland and Ireland. I completely neglected to take a photo of the piper, but eventually we heard them as we continued through the lovely ancient streets.
Crowds of pilgrims in the square.Done!
It was great to finish, and it felt like Danny might not have made another day with his blisters as they were getting worse.
Seeing all the groups of pilgrims getting photos and looking so excited was very nice, I imagine that if you’d come here just for this and if you’d finished one of the longer walks – quite a lot of people walk from France or further – the sensation of relief and achievement would be overwhelming.
All the lines are Camino routes.
Having just spent twice as long walking through much more dramatic countryside in England, this was fun but it didn’t particularly make me want to do other Camino routes. I’m not against the idea either, I just have other places I’d like to walk.
Danny and I did discuss what we’d learned from the experience. I’d totally agree with Deb that four days got me into my stride, so doing a longer trek would definitely be possible and if I’d put more effort into preparing I probably wouldn’t have had such sore feet in the beginning.
I felt a bit hamstrung by not speaking the local language and I think a lot of my enjoyment from travel comes from meeting people so that was a down side. We didn’t really meet many people who spoke English confidently.
I think if I’d done this years ago I would’ve been part of the ‘get up and on the road by dawn’ crowd, but going slower and making decent stops has increased my enjoyment. I don’t think I could ever walk ten hours a day so there’s no need to be up and out so quickly.
The time of year we’d chosen was really good. None of the days were too hot or too cold and we had luckily sat out the rainiest day. The time of year also meant that there were lots of flowers in bloom and the farmers were yet to spread manure on the fields. I always forget how much of country walking is accompanied by the smell of manure but it wasn’t too bad this time.
Despite being surrounded by long green grass most days my hayfever was fine. I really don’t understand why it’s so bad in England and not here where the plants are almost identical.
Collecting the stamps along the way was fun. Who doesn’t like stamps? I think the stamp system would be a great thing to institute on other long walks around the world. It’s an easy and fun reminder of all the places you stop at.
We did 122km or so, 100 is needed for the certificate at the end. We did get the certificates but I think the stamps are actually a better souvenir.
So that was our Camino! Probably the least impressive in terms of length but a very nice walk and Danny and I managed to get along very well, both being very patient when the other needed to go slowly or take a break.
To finish, here’s a series of photos of us in front of highways and derelict petrol stations. It’s not all forests and fields!
Here Comes The Planet 