Author: Wynette

We caught a bus from Muxía to Santiago yesterday. Tomorrow morning we catch a train for Madrid. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll go to the Madrid airport where we can get a covid test to satisfy requirements to get back into the US. Then (assuming results are negative!) we’ll stay in a hotel near the airport tomorrow night and head back to the airport Wednesday morning to fly home via Dallas.

I’m looking forward to being home, seeing my Mom and good friends. Seeing what the plants in our yard are doing. Getting caught up on Jeopardy. Ha ha. Going back to the gym now that we are feeling more comfortable about covid. Getting back to our normal life. But I feel sad about leaving Spain. It’s a special place. I’ll miss the beautiful, kind, happy people. I’ll miss the cafés and bars and wonderful grocery stores. I’ll miss the relaxed, generous way of life here.

Water: As we’ve mentioned before, when one chooses the menu del día, either water or wine is included. Actually, if one of us chooses water and the other wine, we can have both. We tried the wine a few times and it was good as far as we could tell but we found that drinking wine at lunch makes us draggy for the rest of the day so we mostly have stayed with water. If you don’t get the menu del día, you have to order water separately and it is never tap water. I guess you could order tap water but it would be embarrassing. The thing is, the tap water here tastes wonderful. We use it in our hiking water bottles and everywhere it is excellent. It seems such a shame to use bottled water in the restaurants. All that plastic. And it doesn’t taste nearly as good as the tap water. I’m sure the tap water is safe or safer than the bottled water.

The Bill: I don’t think any waiter has ever offered us the check. You have to ask. I think the idea is they want you to feel welcome to hang out as long as you wish. I think even if the restaurant were very crowded they wouldn’t rush you off. But we don’t tend to stay terribly long so maybe they would eventually gently nudge us out the door.

Tipping: We’ve read and have been told that tipping is not expected here. If you have a little change left over after you pay your bill you might leave it behind. (This is not about eating out but, we’ve had a couple of taxi rides that we thought were way too inexpensive and were glad when it was easy to round up to leave a bit of a tip. They seem to appreciate it.)

Rare to pay up front: When you order coffee at a bar, they never ask for money up front or tell you the price. Prices for things like coffee are never posted so you never know what you’ll end up paying. But as we’ve mentioned before, it’s never very much. And, often they’ll give you a cookie or piece of cake or a tortilla (piece of Spanish omelette) or other little tapa with your coffee. There is never any additional charge. Even if the bar is mobbed with people, they won’t ask for money up front. It would be very easy for people to leave without paying their bill. I don’t know if it happens very often. Probably not. People here are very trusting and that is probably because people here are, in general, honest.

Breakfast: As in many parts of Europe (UK excepted) breakfast here is typically small: coffee and a pastry, for example. I’m sure they think we are strange when we come in and ask for fried eggs and toast.

First Course and Second Course: We’ve ordered a few meals a la carte, meaning we didn’t order a menu del día. We just pick out a few things that look good, not thinking about what course they go with. But the waiter always discusses with us which course we want the dishes to go in, especially if, say, we’ve ordered 3 things that are all typical first courses such as salads and stews.

Yesterday we walked on the Camino dos Faros northeast of Muxía. Today we walked in the other direction from Muxia, to the southwest. We walked a total of about 5.5 miles but were about as tired as we were after walking 6.7 miles yesterday. There are no towns in the direction we walked today and at the point we turned around, it was a narrow, rough, rustic, thrilling, and slightly scary trail.

About 2 miles along, there is a parador, the only service in that direction. Can’t complain! A parador is a fancy hotel supported by the Spanish government. They are usually in historic old buildings, but this one was newly built and modern and quite fancy. We ran into a delightful Irish man walking on the long beach that the Faros path had taken us across. He told us the parador just opened for the season today (April 1!). So we decided to stop there for coffee. To get there did require going off the trail a bit and a rather steep climb, but it was worth it. They had excellent coffee. The most expensive we’ve had on this trip. But still only 2.20 euros each.

We asked about the restaurant in the parador and decided we’d walk a while and then time it to return there to eat before they stopped serving lunch. The rest of the walk was along cliffs above the ocean. Very dramatic. But as mentioned a little nerve wracking, partly because it was rather windy. We couldn’t imagine feeling safe walking there with heavy backpacks. And the path ahead looked even worse so we turned around. So, now we are having some doubts about ever doing the whole Camino dos Faros. It might be for younger, braver sorts. On our walk yesterday, there was one path the Faros wanted to take us on that I said “no” to. Very steep and narrow and possibly slippery (it had just started to rain). Luckily there was a quiet road path that got us around that spot. (Thank goodness for Google maps.) And today there was a similar straight narrow downhill path that I said no to, and again, we found another slightly out-of-the-way path but less scary. So, maybe the Faros isn’t for me. But so glad we have been able to experience it. It certainly is dramatic and beautiful.

Back to the walk today. Near the point where we decided to turn back, we still had time to make it back to the parador for lunch but I spotted some rocks we could sit on, there was a wind break, the sun was out, so I suggested we just sit there and eat the snacks we had brought instead of going back to the parador for lunch. I’m sure that saved us a lot of money and we quite enjoyed it.

After we got back to Muxía we detoured by the grocery store and bought some frozen mussels and salad makings and went home and made lunch (by then it was more like supper). Those mussels were so good. We thawed them in the microwave and then sautéed them in a skillet with garlic and butter and olive oil. Very easy and pretty much as good as any fresh mussels we’ve ever eaten.

On just about every one of our Caminos I’ve had an opportunity to chat a little in Spanish with an elderly Galician. Today on our walk, we were walking by a house and a dog was barking at us loudly. We weren’t worried because he was behind a fence and just doing what dogs do. This man was walking towards us and started speaking to us, I think maybe in Gallego, the native language here, but I think he switched to Spanish because I understood him to comment about how noisy the dog was. I asked him if he lived in the village we were passing through and he said yes, “down below on the edge of the village”. He asked us about where we lived. After a little more conversation, I asked “Is it OK if I ask you how old you are”. He said 82. Charlie said “I’m 73,” I translated, and the man laughed. He then unbuttoned the top of his shirt to show us a scar and said he’d had heart surgery two years ago and he was out walking because his doctor “commanded” that he start walking. He looked quite healthy, I thought.

As we were saying adiós, I asked him if I could take his photo. He seemed quite happy for me to do so. I think he probably enjoyed telling his wife about that when he got home.

It’s fun and interesting to see the differences between a travel destination and home. Charlie and I thought we’d try to make a list and discuss some of the differences we have noticed here in Spain. We’ll start with differences in rooms we stay in, whether in a hotel, hostel, Airbnb, etc. Note that we’ve also noticed some of these things in other European countries such as Italy and Portugal.

Blinds: Most rooms have excellent blinds that seal tightly around windows and almost perfectly block out light and noise. I’ve never seen blinds like these in the US but they are ubiquitous here.

Washcloths: I don’t think we’ve ever been provided a washcloth here whereas in the US, hotels always provide a washcloth. I’m not sure what people do here if they just want to wash their face or do a quick sponge bath. I guess what I’ve been doing: use the hand towel.

Lights over doors: Hotel rooms almost universally have little lights above the door used to exit the room. They often have these over the bathroom exit as well. While they are useful for finding the bathroom in the middle of the night in a strange room, I’d prefer to sleep in a fully dark room. Sort of a contradiction that they have perfect light-blocking blinds and then they insist you have a light in the room that the occupant cannot control. Charlie and I’ve been known to stand on chairs and tape things like empty cereal boxes over the lights. We are guessing that once, many years ago, someone couldn’t find their way out of a hotel room in a fire and a law was passed to prevent this from ever happening again.

Pillows and pillow cases: Spanish bed pillows are very strange. They are usually the same width as the bed and narrower than US pillows. If the bed is a double bed, the pillow is the full width of the double bed. Which means that if a couple is sleeping together in the bed, they both share the same pillow. The pillow cases are usually open at both ends.

Showers: Spanish showers are great. They always have a sprayer that you can either hang above you for a regular shower or take down and spray directly where needed. Makes it very easy to get all the soap off.

Spoons: We’ve noticed this in the Airbnbs. There are two sizes of spoons. Very very large (larger than US soup spoon size) and very very small (coffee spoon size). There are seldom spoons the size of regular spoons in the US.

Square toilets: Charlie said he remembers the first time we saw square toilet seats in Italy. He said we were amazed by them. I don’t remember that, but we have noticed now that all the toilet seats are squarish.

Beds: I love the beds here. They are usually quite firm and on a solid platform. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a box spring here. Often double beds are two single beds side by side, which means if one person moves in their sleep a lot, the other is not disturbed. (See beds in photo at top.)

Sheets: This isn’t universal here but it’s not uncommon to have a comforter instead of a top sheet. The comforter cover serves as the sheet and, of course, is washed between guests. We have seen this occasionally in the US as well. Something we really enjoy.

Floors: Here, the first (aka “ground”) floor is Floor 0. So the second floor is Floor 1, etc. So, math problem, our current Airbnb is on Floor 4. What floor is that in the US?

Reservations: We have been calling a day ahead for reservations on this trip. When it is ascertained that a room is available they always ask for my name. I use my first name “Dorothy” instead of my middle name “Wynette” because everyone seems to know the name “Dorothy”. I don’t even have to spell it. I think that is probably because of The Wizard of Oz. They seldom ask for my last name. We’ve rarely been asked to give anything else such as a phone number or credit card number. They are just going to hold the room for someone named “Dorothy.” (The Spanish people are so trusting.) Another reason I use “Dorothy” is because that is the first name on my passport and when you arrive at a place to check in, they immediately ask for each of our passports and carefully (often slowly) write down all the information from each of them. We are always happy when someone just takes a photo. And a couple of places have had a scanner that actually adds the information to their database.

Once again, here were some unrelated photos from the past two days that I liked and wanted to share.

On our walk this morning, in the tiny village of Airexe, we stopped in the bar in the above photo and ordered our first cafés con leche of the day. In most bars, when you order coffee, the cup shows the brand of coffee you are getting. I noticed the brand was Delta and remembered we’d had a cup of Delta coffee on our walk to Finesterre in 2014 and loved it and told the bartender we liked it and he pulled out the bag of coffee beans he used and it was Delta. So, this morning, I said to Charlie, I wonder if this will be as good.

It was! We were oohing and aahing. So rich, full of all kinds of flavors, but not at all harsh, very smooth. We couldn’t believe how good it was. There was no sign outside this bar advertising that they served Delta coffee, but sometimes you do see a sign. If you ever see a sign for Delta coffee, be sure to check it out. Of course, there are other factors such as how good the machine was that made the coffee and how good the barrista is. But, it’s definitely worth trying. The bartender back in 2014 told us Delta is a Portuguese brand. So, Ella and Grubb, I hope you get a chance to try some next month!

Well, it’s a drastic change. We had hoped to spend the rest of our time in Spain walking the Camino Francés and see how close we could get to Santiago at our slow pace. We were sitting at a sidewalk cafe yesterday afternoon in Portomarín drinking tea and decided it was time to reserve the next night’s lodging, hoping to find something about 6 miles down the trail. I have no idea why we were so optimistic since, as we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, we are running into lots of closed hotels, albergues, etc. Well everything with private rooms was closed within 15 miles. There were a lot of places to call and everyone answered, but they either said they will open either April 1 or Semana Santa, the week before Easter. (They are answering because they are taking reservations for after they do open.) At that point we were getting discouraged and, I hate to admit, tired of dealing with it. We went back to our room and I started looking at holiday apartments and airbnbs in Muxía. We ended up reserving one for 5 nights, starting tomorrow. This morning, we took a taxi within 5 miles of Palas de Rei and then walked into Palas de Rei so we had one last walk on the Camino Francés, had a good tapas lunch and then caught a bus to Santiago where we are now. Tomorrow morning we’ll catch a bus to Muxía.

Muxía is a destination for lots of people who walk the Camino and want to keep going after they get to Santiago. (A surprising number of people do.) We walked there on our camino from Portugal in 2016. We really liked Muxía and felt that our time there was too short. It’s a small town of about 4700 people on a little península that juts into the Atlantic, about 45 miles from Santiago. If you saw “The Way” with Emelio Estevez and Martin Sheen (about the Camino, highly recommended), it’s where Martín Sheen takes his son’s ashes at the end of the movie.

So, we’ll still be on the Camino, just a different one. Well, really two different caminos: (1) Camino de Finistère y Muxía and (2) Camino dos Faros. So there will be lots of good hiking around there. Beautiful beaches. Good seafood. Sounds like a vacation, doesn’t it?!

Yesterday we walked into Portomarín. It’s a lovely little town with an interesting history. Back in the 1960s, someone decided to dam a river and flood a valley to build a reservoir. The village of Portomarín was in the valley. They moved several historic buildings from the town out of the valley and up on the hill above where the reservoir was to be. Brick by brick. One was the church in the photo above. They kept a map of where every brick was to go and then reassembled it using the map. They did the same with a number of other buildings, perhaps homes as well. It is said that when the reservoir is low, you can see the remains of the old stone buildings that did not get moved. To get into Portomarín on the Camino, you walk over a long bridge that spans the reservoir. It’s a beautiful lake. We saw some people fishing way below.

Back on March 14, we stayed in a lovely little hotel on the Plaza Mayor in Villafranca de Bierzo. The owners were so kind and friendly with us, like just about all the Spanish people we meet. The wife cheerfully told us “The Camino opens on March 15.” (In other words, the next day.) I’m not exactly sure what she meant, but we assumed she meant all the hotels, restaurants, bars, would be open ready to welcome pilgrims. And we certainly had started to see more pilgrims by then.

Unfortunately, either she was misguided or we misunderstood what she meant because we are still finding more places closed than open. We had hoped to stay in Vilei tomorrow night but the only place to stay there was closed (well the only place whose reviews did not mention bedbugs repeatedly). So, we decided to stay in Ferreiros. Again, closed. So we have decided to taxi a little further and stay in Portomarin tomorrow night. Luckily we did find a place to stay there, but the first place we called was… closed.

Also, on our walk yesterday, we walked the entire 6. 5 miles without a break because the one bar we came to was closed. Normally we could have probably sat down somewhere to rest our sore feet (still sore from the previous total downhill day) but it was a drizzly day and no dry place to sit. We need to start carrying plastic to sit on! Luckily yesterday was a delightful gorgeous walk through a lush valley along a river through the quaintest villages you’ve ever seen. So… those memories are probably what I’ll remember more than how much up and down there was and how much my feet hurt.

We took an alternate route from Triacastela, walking to Samos which has a famous monastery which dates to the 6th century. It’s quite large and was impressive. We had hoped to take a 4:30 tour of it but my feet had given out by then. If they’d had a later tour, I think I could have done it. Samos is a delightful town and we were so happy we had decided to stay there.

We are taking a break today. The walk from Samos to Sarria would have been 9 miles with no place to stop for food or coffee or rest and I have a very sore and tender big toe. It’s been hurting since the beginning of the trip, but the downhill the past two days just about did it in. We are hoping that it will recover a bit after a day of no walking. Sarria is a larger town than some (population 13,000). A good place to do our laundry at a self-service laundry and recharge our vodafone SIM cards.