Beyond Santiago

October 14, 2013                                                                                     
Santiago……….a great place to say, “I made it!” but not a place I need to return to.  Diana, at our Hotel Real, was a perfect hostess.  She sent us to nice restaurants, did our laundry and made suggestions about places to visit beyond Santiago.

The rains came the day after we completed our hike!  Again, thank-you, guardian angels!  The weather turned nasty –cold and rainy.  Shelly and Rey decided long ago that Santiago would be their final destination by foot when low-and-behold, George took a look at the map and said, “Hmm.  Maybe we should stop in Santiago, too.  I thought it was a nice flat walk but it is hilly and long.  And, take a look at the weather.”    I, rather astonished, at this turn of events said, “Well, sure, if that is what you want to do.” And, as you know, as did George, I was VERY happy with this plan change.

After two nights in Santiago, our first two-night stay anywhere since Paris, we rented a car and set out on phase 3 of our adventure.  We classified Marietta to Pamplona as Phase one and Phase 2 was the walk.   Now we have a week of unplanned time.  We found ourselves driving, not walking, to Finisterre.  First, let me digress.

We taxied to the airport that we walked by two days ago.  First, we ended up in the Hertz car repair garage where the mechanic had to drive us to the airport.  There, Rey and George had to do some negotiating but we got a car and were told to go to Space # 54.   We go there and there is no car.  CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?  Seriously, 30 minutes later, we have a Kia station wagon type car—supposedly 2 upgrades for our troubles.  We love It and keep saying, Car 54, where are you?

Finisterre, the end of the earth, is awesome.  It is cloudy and rainy but it doesn’t even matter.  We can imagine the sunset that would be….if it was.  The lighthouse is beautiful.  The bronze boot is there and looks so real.  There is a place where pilgrims burn a piece of clothing to symbolize out with the old and in with the new.  We kept all of our clothing as it is very cold.   We have been amazed as the numbers of people we meet from California and Washington State but are happy to say that we are finding the southerners at the end of the earth.  We met a fellow Pawley’s Island couple (who were about to swim in the COLD sea) and some Kentuckians here at the end of the world.  It seems appropriate to be here on Columbus Day.  We are told that Isabella and Ferdinand, those that financed Columbus, have significance here.  More importantly, for us at least, they have real salads here.  No tuna, no eggs and real lettuce, cheese, and more.  Salads for lunch and a picnic on our balcony while we watched the non-sunset.  Life is good!    By the way, our waiter, at the salad restaurant, sent us to his family-run hotel.  We could have a nice room for $36 or one with a view for $42.  Big spenders that we are, we splurged for the $42 and that is where we drank our $2 bottles of vino.  Actually, it is Euros, not Dollars and a Euro is worth $1.33.

By the way, Spanish architecture is nothing like what we consider Spanish architecture in Ga.  I’ve seen no barred windows and court yards.  Only LOTS of rocks and normal looking homes.  Every old village is made of enough rocks to give all of us back aches.    And then, there is the Spanish omelet issue…..no peppers, not salsa…..just potatoes and eggs…..and more potatoes, and more eggs.  I hope I don’t see a salad with canned tuna and hard boiled eggs for a long time.  And, George says that French fries should be called Spanish fries…..fries with every meal…and no ketchup.

We are about to go watch some Spanish TV and try to learn the difference between the Galacian language and Spanish.  We’ve learned that ‘bano’ is not the correct word for bathroom, instead it is, ‘aseo’.

Adios for now from Finisterre.