Spain 4,
Sept, 22, 2024,
I woke up at 9:00 am this morning and I think that I am getting used to the jet lag. I wandered down the street to my usual break patisserie and had a cappuccino which comes with a small croissant and a cup cake. Not realizing this I ordered a rather large sized pain au chocolate. This should keep me going until lunch. The sun rises later here in Spain and also sets later at night. At 6:00 am it is still pitch black.
I went into Pontevedra to see what was going on. The workmen were just setting up the tents and registration was not yet up and running. I decided to drive up to Santiago de Compostela which is a famous town marking the end of the long walk that religious Catholics do for various reasons. There have been several films describing the 300 km journey. People usually walk 15 to 30 km a day and either camp out or stay in small pensions. Many of the pilgrims have staffs or walking sticks. Maybe I will try to do the journey one day when I am older and have more sins to atone for. The road went through lovely county side for 1 hour before arriving. This area is much richer than the part of Spain that I visited 2 years ago which was much more arid. There are vineyards every where.
The outskirts of Santiago is nothing special buy the inner city has been well preserved with narrow cobblestone streets in car free neighborhoods. There are cafes and restaurants galore every 10 meters. I did not observe much tourist junk for sale that often plagues other known historical places. In the middle of town is a beautiful medieval church. The church is free to visit but you must pay to see the ‘museum and church treasures.’ Needless to say I didn’t feel like paying money to see money.
On the way out of town I saw 3 young hitch hikers, 2 young girls and a fellow. It is rare to see hitch hikers now a days. It reminded me of the time I travelled for a year in 1970 and hitch hiked for 6 months. It was safe in those days but hitch hiking is rare now and somewhat dangerous. They thanked me profusely and then spoke a language among themselves that sounded familiar. When asked, they responded that they were from Israel and were travelling around after their time in the army. I told them that I had just spent 4 months in Israel, volunteering with the IDF and MDA and proudly showed them my dog tags.
I drove them a few miles out of my way to a small town where they were staying. I was in no hurry to get anywhere which is the way I usually like to travel. O to be young again. We went for a beer/coffee in the town and chatted for 1 hour. I explained to them that I write a blog and that I had just completed a book on my Israeli adventure which they promised to purchase on their return to Israel. We exchanged email addresses and may hook up in Israel the next time I go there in the spring.
In the evening I met up with the ‘over 70 Canadian Triathlon Club’ for dinner in Pontevedra. Dinner was set for 6:00 pm in an Italian restaurant. I arrived at 7:45 just as they were finishing dinner. I can’t eat dinner at 6:00. In Spain dinner begins at 10:00 witch is closer to my style. Everyone wakes up late here and seems to have breakfast from 9:00 to 10:00.
Love,
Brian
