Back in Spain!

After my human went for a good run while it was still dark, we left our great spot in Gaia for another amazing, if totally different, one.

The German couple we met in Santa Cruz, you might remember the dude building houses of glass bottles and the pictures of his three dogs, had told us about this spot, which is only a stones throw from the border to Spain in a village called Paco.

It is a place for pilgrims who are walking the camino, but they have a large garden in which they allow a few camper vans. The house is an old convent from the 18th Century but now has WIFI, a modern kitchen and, most importantly, hot showers. Really hot!

The caretaker is a 40-something guy from South Africa. Till today we have not decided whether he was a genuinely nice and interesting guy with lots of amazing stories - or just full of sh$%&.

Either way, he let us in the gate, showed us a good spot to park and told us to feel right at home. And so we did. On the walking tour in Porto my human was the only German, very unusual. Here, every single camper had a German number plate and most of the pilgrims were German, too. 

Our four legged neighbours

Because it was such a nice place, and because of the shower, we ended up staying for three nights. One day Carmelo and my human took the bike to ride along the beach to the next bigger city, Viana do Castelo. On top of a hill sits a pretty impressive church, you can see it from far away. So that's where they went. After about 500 stairs and many people who made their new years resolutions right there between step 241 and 468, they stood on the hill and enjoyed the view. Inside, the church is rather small, but pretty.

They had lunch in the city and then rode back, with a little stop on the beach to soak up some more sun. Good thing, too, soon it would be over with the good weather for a while.

In the evening, my human went to the local pub with Alex and a friend of his. According to Alex, it was the best bar in the world. Well, the best part about it are certainly the prices, 0,90 Euro for a beer. A small one, granted, but still!

After some morning Yoga the next day, they took off for some hiking. The closest thing to a mountain here is a 550m high hill. So up they went on an old logging track. The top is a large plateau with many wind turbines and good views of the surroundings. Maybe even over to Spain, but one could not be sure.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed some more sun while reading and chatting to our neighbors. After dinner they put on a little bonfire, baked stick bread over the flames and told traveling stories. The youngest couple in a van was only 19! 

The next day started slow and lazy and just before midday we left this cool place and headed for Santiago de Compostela. Along the way we saw many sign posts for pilgrims, as we had before as well. A lot of the route seems to lead them along very busy roads and through industrial areas. Not exactly the most scenic trail.

We parked about 5km outside of the city and stayed there for the night. While they were out on a little stroll, it started raining and didn't stop till the next morning. So we spent the evening huddled up, watching Netflix. But at least the rain got rid of all the salt on me.

The cathedral in Santiago is the first port of call for any visitor to the city. So there they stood there for quite a while, watching pilgrims arrive. From overjoyed to have arrived to very sad that the quest is over, the whole spectrum of human emotions could be observed right there.

There are many different routes of the Camino de Santiago starting in all parts of Europe. It all started in the 9th Century, after the grave of the holy Jacob (aka Santiago) was discovered. The first pilgrimages to Compostela were a symbolic reflection of the milky way. 

During the middle ages, the small town of Loci Sancti Jacobi, which had developed around Jacob's grave, turns into the larger city of Santiago de Compostela. His remains were lost for many centuries, though. They were re-discovered in 1879, which was the starting point of the modern movement of pilgrimages.

In the museum right next to the cathedral, you can learn all about the history and see some interesting artifacts. They also had a temporary exhibition with photographs in black and white of pilgrims and people taking part in religious rituals. Some were actually quite striking.

The city itself is very obviously focused on the pilgrims and religious visitors, with little trinket shops and restaurants in every corner. Besides that, there are a couple of nice parks and many nice, cobbled streets. Now, at the end of October, it's still a very busy place. I don't even want to imagine it during summer.

But since we had a mission to accomplish, we were soon on our way again. The father of a friend back home collects sand. He puts the samples in little glass vials which then are lined up in wooden holders, looks really great! My human has contributed to this collection with some very exotic samples over the years. 

She had asked him if he was missing any part of Europe and Finisterre was the answer. So that's where we were going. This small town is home to "Kilometer 0" of the Spanish Camino de Santiago and sits on a long rocky outcrop with a lighthouse at it's tip. Besides that, there is not much to say about this place.

But a mission is a mission. When we arrived it had just started raining, again. And not just a little bit, either. Therefore we spent the rest of the day at home, doing some Spanish homework and household chores.

My human went for a run up to the lighthouse in the early morning. She figured that the street leading there would be lit up, because of all the pilgrims. But far from it, it was pitch black. It's not like she doesn't have a head lamp...

After a quick shower and breakfast, she went down to the closest beach and got the sand. We then drove to the lighthouse again, to see it with the lights on. Luckily we will go into winter time soon, this 9am sunrise really is depressing!

We had been told that A Coruna is a nice city, and since it's more or less on the way, that was our next stop. Our parking spot was again a bit our of town, but on a small cliff with a few tiny islands dotting the landscape right in front of us. So far the day had been dry, but it didn't look like it would last very long.

The ride into town on the bike took about 30 minutes, always along the ocean. Once the city came into sight, it was a bit of a let down, though. It just didn't look very inviting. There were high, modern houses all along the shore, totally blocking the city off. It felt like there was a "closed" sign hanging from the door knob. 

They kept driving along the seafront to a little fortress and on to the harbor. They then had a little stroll through the center, but the feeling didn't get much better. It also looked like the heavens would break once again very soon, so they came back home. Before all hell broke loose, the sun peaked out one more time as if to say "so long, fellas".

                                                                John Lennon 

My alarm went off in the middle of the night, because I was shaken by the wind so badly. Now I am sure there is not a grain of salt left on me. I'm surprised the paint is still on, to be honest.

After this less than quiet night we left our less than ideal spot (for this kind of weather) and drove down to the beach, where my human had a lightning-fast shower. Technically she could have just stood outside for a little while, same result.