While we were sleeping a pretty good storm rolled in. We had planned to go to Vigo but neither of us were terribly excited about it so the weather gave us an excuse to just lie in for the day.
This was as close as Ton got to the beach before the blowing sand drove her back to the road.
About noon the rain finally let up, but the wind was still blowing hard, we decided to head down to the beach. When we got there sand was blowing so hard that Ton decided we had better find somewhere else to walk so we headed into town. Things here seem to be very summer oriented. There are multiple hotels facing the ocean most of which looked like they were closed up. The ones that were open looked very quiet. I can imagine during the summer when all of the hotels are full, and all of the second homes are occupied that it would be teaming with people, but right now it is very quiet.
It was a rough day on the bay, it was hard to hold the phone still because of the wind.
Ton was cold so she headed right back to François, I extended the walk and found a really nice headland with a view of several off shore islands that are part of a Spanish National Park. I tried my hand at a couple of pictures but they are not up to Tons standards.
Sometimes its a small world. Today we parked early in a nice motorhome aire near Portonovo because the weather is atrocious out. What we thought was a passing thunderstorm last night was actually a front moving thru so it rained most of the night and into the day. We made an effort to visit a town on the coast but as soon as we got about 400 yards from François the skies opened up. We were just far enough away to get a good soaking.
Our original plan was to look for a winery to visit, but the weather canceled that plan. This vineyard was across the street from the campground.
At that point we decided we would hunker down for the day and get some laundry done. As we were setting up François Ton noticed another Asian lady in a RV across from us. Just as we finished the laundry we bumped into her on the road and exchanged smiles, then she gave Ton a Sawadee Kha. So in a tiny campground in a pretty remote part of Spain two Thai married to foreigners crossed paths.
We spent the rest of the evening chatting about our travels. Meow and Gerd live near Dortmund Germany. Ton enjoyed an evening speaking Thai, and we stayed up much too late. Part of the fun of traveling are the interesting people you come across. Ton was truly amazed to find another Thai and for one night there were more Thai in the campground than any nationality except the Spanish.
We made a short move south to a somewhat undiscovered medieval town called Pontevedra. With an early start we arrived about 10 am to an already full RV parking area so we guess it is not that undiscovered. We pulled into the last available spot and I was really proud of myself for getting here early.
The medieval bridge is still in use today as a pedestrian bridge and is surprisingly wide for its age.
After we finished our coffee we headed out to take a look at the old medieval town and the market. Unlike the market in Santiago yesterday the market here was really bustling when we popped in. It is primarily a seafood market and there were all kinds of interesting and very fresh fish, crabs, and shrimp on display. Ton regretted we did not have a good way to prepare fish in François so we moved on to the old town.
Part of the market in Pontevedra most of the stalls are owned by women.
As we were leaving the market a bunch of people emerged from a building with a bass band. Leading the band was a young couple who danced along to the music. We guess it is a local wedding tradition.
This young couple was leading the band down the street as part of a wedding tradition we think.
It was about 11:30 and we were surprised how quiet the streets were. At one point we came across a small tour group of Americans who were also surprised that the streets were so quiet but appreciated it after the hustle and bustle of the other stops on their trip. The guide said that they are happy to have tourists but do not want to be overrun with tourists like other towns. As the day wore on we were surprised that the most common language after Galician and Spanish we heard was American accented English. So at least the Americans are discovering Pontevedra.
We have been seeing these crosses all across northern Spain. Eavesdropping on a tour today we learned they served to orient visitors to the town, Jesus always faced inland, Mary faced the ocean, and the other figures represented services in town and the rough direction they could be found.
Ton had picked out a bodega which in Spain is a wine bar for us to try some Gallician wines. We sampled a few and had a nice sausage plate to go along with the wine. We took a turn thru the town as the locals began to go about their weekend business. Like all Spanish towns Pontevedra is extremely pedestrian friendly. We are constantly impressed how easy it is to move around on foot in Spanish cities. It was pretty warm today and the wine and sausages starting kicking in so it was time for a siesta.
The coat of arms of the city in the ruins of a 14th century church in town.
Later in the day we joined the rest of town for the evening walk before heading back to François for dinner. We were surprised when a thunderstorm rolled in and doused us for about 25 minutes but it did cool things down.
We liked this chapel on one of the main squares. It is a way station on the Portuguese trail to Santiago. This group of bicyclists had stopped to get their trail passports stamped, according to the sign they are only 67 km’s from the end of the pilgrimage.
We decided that Santiago deserved another day of exploration. But it was going to be a leisurely exploration so we slept in, and had a nice breakfast before heading towards the town.
A nice stall in the market at Santiago.
We started the day by heading towards the market. Ton had read last night that Santiago was trying to match the Barcelona market. It is a nice market but it has a long way to go to catch Barcelona. We poked around for a while and Ton was thrilled to find a paprika we had bought on our last trip. She loves this paprika and had just run out before we came, so now she is restocked with Tres Hermanas paprika.
This is a Santiago Cake, it is a simple cake made from Almonds. Simple but quite good.
My goal today was a churro. The Churros in Spain are quite a bit different than the ones we have in the US that we imported from Mexico. They are fried bits of dough but without the cinnamon and sugar, what they come with is a thick cup of hot chocolate to dip them in. As I enjoyed my churro two American women came in, one asked for a coffee to go which was greeted with a no problem, the other asked for a red wine to go which confused the girl, but she finally said she could do it, but only in a plastic cup. Ton yelled over to the one lady did you really ask for wine to go, and she came over and said it can’t hurt to ask. We struck up a conversation while there coffee and wine to go was prepared and they are on a Carnival Cruise and were from Indiana. It was a short conversation but the one lady was a character, and we got a couple of tips about places to visit in Portugal.
A nice garden on a square near the cathedral.
We decided to head over to the cathedral for some more pictures as today is much nicer than yesterday. The town is full of school groups visiting the area of all ages from kindergarten to High School. On the way we passed a busker playing a traditional Galician bagpipe just as a group of about 20 kindergarten kids went by. The teacher stopped them and told them to dance to the tune, most of them did a variation of what I guess is a traditional local dance, but one little girl decided that did not suit her and broke into an enthusiastic twerk instead, much to her teachers chagrin. The busker loved it as nothing attracts a crowd like a bunch of cute kids and adds to the tip jar.
An interesting statue in the old town.
After getting more shots of the cathedral, and a quick turn thru the old town we headed back to François for an early dinner.
The highlight of any trip to Galicia is a visit to Santiago de Compostela. The cathedral in Santiago is the end of the pilgrimage for all of the hikers whose paths we have been crossing over the entire trip. It is the third most holy place in the Catholic church after Jerusalem and Rome. The minimum distance you have to walk to be considered a pilgrim is 100km’s, though many walk hundreds of miles, and a few thousands. There are pilgrim trails that originate all over Europe and end up at Santiago de Compostela.
One more picture of the Hercules Tower. I enjoyed my morning coffee looking at the light at the top, but forgot to get a picture.
Our night in A Coruña was quiet with the Atlantic Ocean acting as a very relaxing white noise machine in front of François. We woke up around sunrise to take a look outside and see how the ocean looked, but there was a marine layer in place so the views were not very photogenic so the photographer (Ton) went back to bed, and I went out to enjoy my morning coffee in front of a 2000 year old lighthouse that is still in use. I wonder what the Romans who initially built the lighthouse would think if they new it was still in use 2000 years later. I expect they would be astounded.
Since we were up and ready to go we decided to head over to Santiago early and hope the campground would let us in. After fighting our way thru A Couruña’s rush hour we finally got onto the Autopista for our short 70 km hop to Santiago. We arrived and got our spot early, which turned out to be a good thing as when we arrived back from the city later in the day the place was full and people were trying to stuff very large RV’s into very small spots. It was our evening entertainment.
Groups of pilgrims covering the last few hundred yards to the end of the pilgrimage at the Cathedral.
After a quick breakfast we made the 2km hike into the old town joining in with the pilgrims for the last bit of the walk. The old town is quite large and maintains its medieval feel, but with the addition of modern tourism. There are lots of small shops and restaurants lining the old streets that wind thru town. We wandered around without a plan for a while, before finally consulting the iPhone to guide us to the cathedral square.
Another group of pilgrims near the end of the trail.
Twice a day they close the cathedral to tourists so that a mass can be held for the hikers to celebrate completing their personal pilgrimage. While we were waiting Ton enjoyed wandering around shooting pictures, and I took a rest in the shade.
Bicyclists in the cathedral square, they have to cover 200 km’s to get credit as a pilgrim.
The cathedral is not as large as I expected considering its status in the Catholic church, but I kind of appreciated the relative intimacy. While smaller than a lot of cathedrals we have visited in Europe it is still quite ornate on the inside.
These angels with their gold clothes reminded me of similar figures you often see in Buddhist temples in Thailand.
We spent about an hour walking around looking at the cathedral. They had many side chapels that added a unique character to the cathedral and I think we spent more time in them than the main cathedral.
The scallop shell with a cross is a symbol of the pilgrimage, and you see a lot of the pilgrims with shells attached to their packs or walking sticks.
The Catholic church has learned from theme parks and museums so the exit from the cathedral is thru the attached gift shop. Ton decided that our tourist gifts should come from there as the proceeds help preserve the cathedral so we spent some time picking up a few gifts before heading out.
The entrance to the cathedral.
We decided that a lunch was in order and Ton wanted to try a local specialty which is pulpo (octopus). There were multiple restaurants to pick from so we spent about 30 minutes window shopping before settling on a place.
Grilled octopus which is a local specialty.
We have tried a few meals now in northern Spain and have found the food to lean towards hearty. Things are simply cooked with minimal spices and often both meats and seafood are grilled. Meals are served with heaping amounts of potatoes. It serves the purpose but we think other regions of Spain have more interesting food.
Razor clams grilled in olive oil, simple but delicious.
Today we reached our second target for this trip. When we were looking at options for this trip it turns out both of us had Galicia in mind, so today we jumped on the freeway and headed to one of the most famous places in Galicia.
The Tower of Hercules. The rectangular part of the tower is about 120 feet tall and is Roman. The smaller part on top is from the 1700’s.
The Tower of Hercules in A Coruña is the oldest Roman light house still in use today. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. The lighthouse was built around 100 AD, and has been in continuous use since. It is built on Cape Finisterre, which the Romans believed was the end of the world. Since it has been in continuous use for 2000 years it has gone thru multiple modernizations, but the core of the first 120 feet of the tower is the Roman construction. It got its name from the myth of Hercules who is said to have slain a giant named Geryon who was preying on the local people. Geryon’s head was buried at the site of the tower and Hercules told the people to build a town here and A Coruña was born.
A sculpture of Geryon, the giant killed by Hercules.
The grounds are nice around the lighthouse with some artwork, and lots of wildflowers. A Coruña itself is not particularly inspiring architecturally, and most of the buildings look like they are from the late 20th century. The main square looks like it is from the 1800’s.
The main square in A Coruña.Part of the “road’ Greta Garmin decided to send us down today. We fit pretty easily.
We are parked in a parking lot tonight facing the ocean adjacent to the Tower of Hercules. Getting here was a bit of an adventure. The total trip was 278 km’s and the first 274 km’s were a breeze on a good Spanish freeway. The freeway ended near the city center and we were following Greta Garmins directions when I suddenly noticed all of the cars turned left. The lane we were in looked ok, but I suspected it might be a bus lane, but at that point we were committed so I continued on, she had us making a left in 150m’s (for an American think 150 yards). When we got to her left turn it was a pedestrian mall so we couldn’t go there! Luckily there was a roundabout just in front of us, and as we came to it I saw a sign saying buses only in 50m’s, so we went around the roundabout and doubled back to where all of the cars had turned left. As we approached the turn there were three cops near the intersection so I thought we might be in trouble, but they ignored us. Just as I was thinking everything was ok, Greta demanded a quick right turn. The road was narrow but one way, but I had a bad feeling. As soon as I looked at the map on Greta I knew the turn was a mistake as it was clear she had directed us into the medieval part of the city, where we had no business. Fortunately after ziging and zaging around and squeezing down one narrow ally we finally made it to the nice modern road we should have been on from the beginning and arrived at our parking place. Greta has been struggling the last couple of days, as the only way she would send us to the campground yesterday was the wrong way down a one way road. I’m going to have to keep an eye on her in the future.
Our free view for today from the front of François. Definitely worth the trouble.
