Ruta del Cantábrico, Camino do Mar, Camino Inglés
Post by Wynette:
Charlie took this photo yesterday as we were walking under a freeway (or probably toll road) between Fene and Pontedeume. I thought it was a great photo.
I’m not sure how well it captures how tall and huge these concrete pillars are that hold up these super highways.
It seems we are never too far from a super highway and it’s not uncommon to walk under them like this. Here’s one we walked under today before arriving in Miño.
Post by Wynette:
We did laundry in self-service lavandaria in Pontedeume yesterday. (You have to specify “self-service” because it’s still common to find laundry services that will do your laundry for a very reasonable price — not much more than you’d pay at a self-service laundry.)
We noticed this woman sitting on a bench just outside the laundry. We took her photo through the laundry widow.
Turned out she was waiting for her laundry to be done, too. She came in just as we were removing our clothes from the dryer.
Title by The Police, post by Wynette:
Three times today, we were told we were off the Camino. Twice by people in the street before we even got out of Pontedeume. We weren’t really lost those times, exactly. Just trying to figure out the way we wanted to go.
But an hour or two later, we missed a turn and had only gone a few feet past it when we heard a voice from a window in a house about 100 feet away. She was calling out, “Por ahi.” She had to say it several times before we realized she was addressing us, indicating we needed to turn. We never saw her, just heard her voice. I was quite grateful she set us right. Charlie said he had a track going that would have beeped at us after about 30 more feet since we were off-track. But, it’s a lot more fun being corrected by the locals.
Post by Wynette:
Before we left for this trip Charlie and I speculated whether we’d see lots of spring flowers. We did expect to and we have not been disappointed. I talked about the ice plant and gorse early on our trip. And we’ve seen countless azaleas and wisterias and rhododendrons in full bloom. April is a great time to be here for the flowers.
We’ve seen several domesticated plants that have escaped into the wild such as Easter lilies and nasturtiums.
We’ve posted in this blog about some beautiful home gardens we have seen. We enjoy looking into people’s yards at the flowers they are growing.
Post by Wynette:
We are enjoying being pilgrims again. Being on the Camino. Albeit a less well-known Camino. Charlie and I were talking today about how this Camino Ingles is different than we had imagined. I can’t quite describe how I imagined it but I kind of imagined it to be boring (hate to say that). But it hasn’t been. The Spanish people here, as always, are delightful. There are fascinating old houses, beautiful flowers and trees, wonderful bars and restaurants, rias to walk alongside, great hotels, charming towns. And pilgrims!
Today we counted about 30 who passed us. This was the first day we left at a popular stage beginning (Pontedeume) and a common time to leave (8:30). So, we saw more pilgrims.
So far, we’ve chatted with people from Canada (BC), Sweden, Australia, Portugal, Madrid, and Malaga (Spain).
AND, we have started to re-meet pilgrims which is always fun. We met ___ (dang, I forgot her name) yesterday at lunch time in a restaurant in Pontedeume. She is from Australia and speaks with a great accent. Then, as we were walking out of Pontedeume this morning (up a veeeeery steep hill) we heard someone say “I thought I recognized your voices.” She was standing in her hotel room, looking out the window. (Very unusual to have a room on the ground floor!). So, we chatted, of course.
Then, a few hours later, she passed us on the trail. Of course, we talked about how damn steep the trail was and how much we dreaded the sharp downhill at the end.
We are staying in Miño tonight. After we had lunch, we went to a grocery store to buy milk for tomorrow’s breakfast cereal, and, of course, there she was. She’s staying in Miño tonight, too, and in the same hotel. No doubt, we will see her again tomorrow.
And, at lunch today, we ran into the Swedish couple we had met on our first day on this Camino. We chatted with them quite a while. (Hint: they said the Swedish Krona is way down compared to the Euro and dollar and it’s a great time to travel in Sweden.) (Good timing, Ella and Grubb!) They decided to stay two nights in Miño for foot-recovery.
We were nearly finished eating when they came into the restaurant. They asked what we would recommend from the menu del dia and we recommended the green salad with fresh tomatoes, cheese, and walnuts. And the albondigas (meatballs). They were both excellent.
While we were eating, three children came in (at different times). Maybe between ages 10 and 3. Our very efficient server tended to the middle child who was fussy about something. Then the bartender picked up the 3 year old who was also fussy. Then, not long after that, the 3 children were sitting at one of the restaurant tables, with the bartender, having lunch. Meanwhile, the grandmother kept the restaurant and bar service going.
