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| Smelling the roses as we leave Padron |
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| A village lavandaria (washateria); every village had one, sometimes two, towns would have several or many; all still functional, that is, water running in and out and generally quite sanitary; but no one using them; not surprisingly |
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| The only detour we encountered |
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| As I said, everything made of granite |
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| And here is one of the many places we saw where such things are fabricated... marble or granite |
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| Note they're all sitting...uncharacteristically |
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| Easily within 30k of Santiago, here is the first we've seen of the Rules of the Camino |
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| "Put papers in the trash bins, stay on the trail, speak quietly, take photos, say hello; don't pick the plants, no fires"; in Portugal, it was "Bom Camino," in Spain, "Buen Camino"; I had a trail name all picked out...PortuGeezer...but no one ever asked; Vicki did not like PortuCrone |
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| Relatively speaking, we enjoyed great weather on our Camino; temps in the 70s, then lower 80s, rain only on this penultimate day; by the time we returned to Vila Nova de Cerveira, the temps were reaching the 90s...and beyond |
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| Interesting old church near A Picarana |
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| Table mat map at the Glorioso restaurant, all the Caminos converging on Santiago |
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| And the Camino Portuguese, all the places we have been in the past 7 days |
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| The one really awful meal we had on the Camino was at a place called Milagrosa, in A Picarana; the salad was OK, but the frites were fried in rancid oil and the advertised pork loin was Spam |
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| Vicki's hamburguesa was even worse; she put it down without a bite and left; as the grill artiste in Bucharest said, "some dog, some cat, some garlic, some rat"; TripAdvisor will hear of this; I will readily concede, however, not many people do the Camino for the food; if you do, maybe best to eat in the larger towns and cities; methinks |
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| The accused |
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| Down the highway (which the Camino follows), the Glorioso on the right, and its hostel on the left; actually pretty nice double room, en suite, 40E; and the salade Nicoise for lunch was decent (although they didn't call it that) |
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| Prostitution is legal in Spain, and all along the Camino I had been wondering to myself whether we'd see a prostitute on the trail (you see them on secondary roads all over the country, at intersections, sitting in lawn chairs under umbrellas); I wondered also whether they would stamp your credencial ("Rosa Prostituta, June 14, 2017, Gracias por su visita"); and whether the cathedral authority in Santiago accepts such stamps toward the compostela? Between the two Glorioso properties was La Dama Del Lago, a dance club of sorts from which no music was emitted and whose patrons tended to park behind the building out of sight... sadly, I forgot to knock on the door and ask about stamping my credencial...many mysteries will remain from our Camino |
