Blogs from Galicia, Spain, Europe - page 5

Why do Spanish men have pronounced black eyebrows? So they can talk. A flick of the head, a thrust of the hand, a twist of the eyebrows, and a spanish man has made what he just said very clear. Italians are similar, but I was watching spaniards today. And the women aren’t far behind. It’s very interesting to watch, and compared to the deadpan, expressionless way we talk in Australia at times, this is free live theatre. We went on a bus tour today: this rates closely to root canal treatment for pleasure to me. It was just for one day, and remember, it‘s not always all about me. The tour guide reminded me of Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian writer, so it was a good start. I told Sue we should try to sit on the ... read more

I hope people arriving in Santiago are not expecting the ‘premium’ pilgrim experience. Sue and I had decided to fill in the morning by going to the Santiago Market, sorting out a bus tour for tomorrow , and visiting the Cathedral before attending the midday mass, in order to see the Botafumeiro swing in a smoky arc across the alter of the church. The Botafumeiro is a larger version of the smoke filled chalice that people would be more used to seeing at mass, with the priest waiving it gently to spread the sweet smelling pine smoke throughout the church, ostensibly to ward off evil spirits and cleanse the church, with smoke. The Santiago model is propelled through the air, controlled by 5 men dressed in monks robes, who keep the momentum going by the rise ... read more

Does anybody else think Airbnb’s, hotels and apartments should have scales in the bathroom? My approach to eating could be described as a challenge at times. I don’t care what’s on the plate, I’ll eat it. I don’t care how much they give me, I’ll eat it. And that’s not including the ‘in betweens’; the coffees, ice creams, pastries and....lollies. I’m a chip off the old block; my dad was the same. If I could at least assess my weight at the start of the day, I might have a day off. As it stands, there are no boundaries. Yesterday , while walking around looking for a minimart , or supermarket, we passed a bright pink shop with rows of plastic trays full of lollies, or sweets to some. I sensed it before I saw it. ... read more

Since I only had 13 kilometers or so to go today, I was in no hurry to get up and get going. I finally left the albergue around 8am, worried about the sore calf and bites that I’d had the day before. The bites are still there, and itch some, but the calf is holding up well. Also, I ran out of clean Injinji toe socks, so I was going with just the merino wool socks, with a couple of bandaids on the two quasi blisters that I had. Strangely enough, my feet felt better than they had since the beginning! Having a short day, I was in no hurry, but found myself clicking along pretty quickly anyways. At last, I spotted my first Camino marker with less than 10 kilometers to go to Santiago on ... read more

Last night I guess I was a bit restless, probably worried about today with my backpack, and woke up several times during the night. Finally, when I woke up again around 6am, I decided I might as well get up and get ready. I ate breakfast, courtesy of the albergue, grabbed a banana for the road, and was out the door and on the Camino by 7am. It was still pretty much dark out when I left, but I'd sort of checked out the trail yesterday evening, so when I saw a young lady leaving and turning to the right, I had to correct her and let her know the Camino went left. We started down the road together, but when I was unsure of the trail when confronted by 3 paths, she got her headlamp ... read more