On th Road Again (and maybe we’d rather be walking)
October 17, 2013
We’ve been lost a lot since we last spoke. Upon leaving Finisterre, we planned a short visit to Muxia. The trip was short and well worth a visit. We tried chipirones, baby squid, that is. Not bad from my point of view and deliciosa according to the Mendozas. It sure beat the octopus we had in one of the trail towns. Let’s just say we took the back roads of Spain to reach Muxia so we got to see how rural Spain really functions. We were traveling by car on roads the size of the Camino. I think George wished he had been walking instead of negotiating the sharp turns straight up a mtn in our little manual transmission car in the rain. Oh my gosh, the church and the huge stone statue at the top of the mountain overlooking the cliff and the crashing waves below made the stop all worthwhile. We didn’t even feel guilty when we drove to the top and passed by all of the walkers. Once atop, we had to hold on for dear life as the wind howled around us. We did reach the stone boat—a rock that, it is said, the Virgin Mary sailed in to meet and encourage Saint James when he was feeling badly that he was not converting the Sun Worshippers as he had hoped. Legend has it now, that if you pass under the stone 9 times, and ask for healing, your ailments will disappear. I am afraid that if we had passed under this stone 9 times, we would have been catapulted into the sea below so we will never know for certain if we could have all walked away cured of all of ailments—not that we have many.
Leaving Muxia, we planned to travel to Ourence, Spain. “Where? Why?”, you might ask. Well, Diana, our friendly hotel manager in Santiago told us that it was her favorite place in Spain. “There are hot thermal springs, and wonderful pools, and it is so relaxing and beautiful”. We went in search!
Whew! The town was bigger than we expected. We followed signs to Thermal Springs and then the signs would stop. We followed signs to Tourist Information and then the signs would disappear. Now, let me just say, in support of the travelers, we successfully traveled throughout Southern Italy, France, and Spain two years ago with very little difficulty finding our way and we have on other occasions had great luck with driving efficiently from one place to another but it seems that this part of Spain neglects to put road signs up consistently so………..well, you can imagine. And, the Galician speaking thing here limits us even more. We can get by with Spanish but sometimes, not so well, in Ourence. We did land ourselves a little hotel right in the thick of things! Then the fun began.
We were smart enough to take a taxi to the hot springs. OK, and we weren’t even close when we were driving around earlier and, do you know what? There still were no signs to get us there. The springs were nice, though a bit too much sulfer smell for me, and we enjoyed it a lot. The plunge into the cold water was tough but George did it (surprise, surprise). Back in the city, where, yes, dinner still begins at 9:00 pm, we (by we, I mean Rey and Shelly) had more baby squid and pimientos. The peppers are fresh and delicious, cooked up with just a little olive oil and salt. After dinner, we sat in our hotel lobby with our Mencia wine, chatting and having a good time until the night watchman came and told us we were too loud. Us? Really? After that, well not RIGHT after that, but soon, we settled into our quaint little hotel for a great night of sleep.
In fact, we decided to stay another night in Ourence, after the LONG travel day the day before. So, we slept late, we read, we walked the streets and thought about shopping for the cruise but instead, only bought an umbrella. It did rain a lot, and that gave us an excuse for a lazy day. We all need one of those from time to time. We did find the time to see the public thermal hot springs right there in town. The Mendozas met a very friendly lady who gave them a list of the ‘must-sees’ in town. The Spiers snuck off to find a non-authentic Galician food restaurant and finally found a broasted-chicken kind of mom and pop place. It was delicious and a welcomed retreat from calamari, octopus, creatures in shells, fish with their heads smiling up at us and cabbage soup. Even then, we could have done without the broasted chicken neck. Not complaining, just saying………… I think Shelly and Rey enjoyed a much more authentic meal. We did the usual for dinner and enjoyed it thoroughly!
We are going to Portugal! That is a spur-of-the-moment decision. Our decision to come off the trail in Santiago is giving us some free time. We very quickly researched Portugal, ruled out the big towns, with our driving record and decided to make Nazare our destination. Rick Steves recommends it and Rick and I go way back! We arrived in record time. It appears that there aren’t many cars in Portugal but great interstates so we had the road to ourselves. Tolls were a bit steep….but, hey, we are on vacation! Finding a room in Nazare was interesting. As we walk through the picturesque, albeit somewhat deserted town, there are women holding signs on the street corners offering zimmers, rooms, and chambres. We look at a few apartments and rooms. Unbelievably inexpensive. Makes us a little nervous. I’m talking $30 for an apt for 4 and it wasn’t bad! We begin to explore other options when a lady starts running down the street after us, and speaking in perfectly good English, as most people do here although we have met very few native speakers, asking us to please wait because she believes she has the perfect room for us. She did!
According to Dina, “It is the best flat in the city”. Maybe it is. For $60 a night (no tax or cleaning added), we have a 2 bedroom apt. overlooking the beach. Every room has a balcony and it is perfect. There is even a washing machine…which we are figuring out how to operate. We think we like Portugal already. Stay tuned.
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