Blogs from Sarria, Galicia, Spain, Europe - page 3

Hi, Well we are in Sarria. About 20 kilos from our last stop. We have a dog here that is chased away from every restaurant 20 times and just moves on to the next. A nice enough dog, but a beggar. The locals apparently know him. I would probably keep him, Because he is non allergenic. He also doesn't seem to be a pest. O and by the way I didn't check, so I assume the He part. It's weird to watch people harvest potatoes? What a ball busting amount of work for a spud. And to think how much us Americans take advantage of a bag of potatoes. I have watched these people harvest there food daily and I sweat watching them. Bless the farmers for their work, it is far harder than we think ... read more

We set off, originally for Portomarin, a 24km stretch with a bit of a climb ..........for the previous almost 700km we had spent time with and passing/being passed by folk who seemed to be of like mind........we'd been in numerous Albergues which were all physically quite different to each other, yet their inhabitants whatever their country of origin were universally the same............ people talked quietly to each other in the sleeping areas, lights went out at 10.30 each night, fellow pilgrims were helpful and respectful - for instance people took short showers - ensuring hot water left for the next person - meals and resources (eg for footcare etc ) were shared sometimes. There was a camaraderie built on the toil of walking the shared path , on the amused and rueful recognition of the aching ... read more

We got up the next morning our clothes were dry that we had hung over the heater...I went and put my soxs and boots on and they were full of ants.....I think they had come up through the floor boards to the heat and thought my boots were a good place to sleep or build a nest....It is the overflow room after all....one good thing someone else had to put up with the snoring man we didn't hear him. We went down to the same pub and had breakfast and set of the two Thomas's were going the short way and we decided to take the longer but not so hilly way.....the book lied ….it was hilly.....it was up and down all day.....a very long day.....still took heaps of photo's and there wasn't much rain...nice change ... read more

Last time I wrote was a week ago, on Monday night, sitting in the living area of the beautiful hostel in Fonfría. I have not been able to use a proper computer for some time! So much has happened.... Very early Tuesday morning I was woken by an interesting situation. I was sharing a room with my new friend Deborah, and I had bandaged my foot too tight so woke up around 2.30am with throbbing toes. I sat up and took off the bandage, then noticed an itch on my shoulder. I rubbed it in the dark, feeling a small soft ball rubbing under my fingertips. A bit of fluff I thought. Then I had another itch, and another ball under my fingertips. So I went to our bathroom, turned on the light and took off ... read more

This feels like a good time for an update on our language progress. It's fair to say we're making steady improvement although our grammar and vocabulary perhaps worryingly limited to the more functional actions of the day. Conversational Spanish is still relatively embryonic as the locals high linguistic tempo and varying phrasiology send us quickly to a place where we do not have the grammic fire power to survive. However, careful analysis of the Spaniards bar and cafe chat has unlocked a few useful keys to our future progress. These are the six words that can help bluff you through any exchange as if a fluent speaker (well almost). Here you go: valle = ok; venga = let's go / come on; claro = of course; mira = look; di-me / diga-me = tell me; mas ... read more