Spain, my home away from home

Last November, I ordered a DNA testing kit from Ancestry.com. It didn’t really tell me anything surprising, Scandinavia, East/West Europe (the overlap is Germany), British Isles. But there was one small surprise, 3% of my DNA comes from the Iberian Peninsula, ie. Spain. I’ve been to Spain a few times before; study abroad, El Camino de Santiago, and 2 different student trips. Spain and I are well acquainted. Well, now my best friend LIVES in Spain, and since I was so close in Italy, I had to go visit.

I spent just about a week with Sarah and Nico in Muxia. Muxia is a very small town, on the ocean. It’s the end of the Camino de Santiago. When Sarah, Nico, and I walked the Camino, we took a bus to Muxia. Nico had been born there, and lived there until he was 8, so it was interesting to see it from his point of view.

My trip to Spain started VERY early. My car to the airport arrived at my apartment in Rome at 4:30, because the car revive requires a minimum of 3 hours from pick-up to your departure time. Surprisingly (not really) there isn’t much traffic at 4:30 in the morning. I took us less than half and hour to get to the airport. I got checked-in, and took the express lane through security. When I went to check-in online, it offered me the option to upgrade my seats for the flight. I took the longer Rome-Madrid leg. Because of my upgraded seat, I got extra leg room, and no one sitting in the middle seat of my row. I also got a full breakfast with eggs, and juice, and bread. I slept for about half of this flight.

WhenI got on my second flight, I was wishing I had taken the upgrade. The economy seats were wide enough, but the leg room was just about non existent. Seriously, if I sat up straight my knees didn’t hit the seat in front of me. If I slouched even an inch, they were jammed into the seat in front of me. Luckily it’s a 50 minute flight. I arrived in Santiago de Compostela, and my bag was the first one out the chute to the luggage carousel! I always figured someone’s had to be first, but this time it was MINE! So I grabbed my bag, and went to find Sarah and Nico.

We stopped for a bite to eat before dropping off my bag at their apartment then Sarah spent some time showing me around town. That evening we went to Cee (say), which is a city nearby, for a protest! We were even in the paper! I don’t remember the whole story, but the gist is 4 men were accused of raping a woman in Pamplona last July, and during the trial they were released on just 5000 euros bail, which is ridiculous. The protest was all in Gallego, a Spanish dialect, so I didn’t understand much, but it was for a good cause. After we went out for a dinner to celebrate Sarah’s birthday, which had been just a few days before, with Viki and Rolando. Rolando is Nico’s cousin, and Viki is his wife. We went for churrasco, which is kind of like barbecue, but not. I found a new favorite Spanish food! Zorza. It’s pieces of pork loin in a slightly spicy, garlicky sauce. I didn’t want to stop eating it! A few days later, Nico showed me how to make it, so now I can make it at home!

Saturday, Sarah and I went to Finesterre. Finesterre literally means the end of the world. It’s the “other” official end of the Camino. There is a lighthouse to visit and some cute shops. There are also a bunch of restaurants down by the waterfront. We had a couple of drinks, and some lunch. I miss Sangria. Saturday night was the celebration of San Xuan. So at 10:00,after the soccer game that night (World Cup baby!) we went out with Viki and Rolando. One of the local bars had a fire, and the tradition is that you jump over the fire 7 times, to ward off bad spirits. I didn’t jump (wrong footware), but Sarah and Nico did.

Sunday, Sarah and I went to the church of La Virgen de la Barca. It’s the beautiful old church in town. It’s right on the water, and was featured in the movie The Way. By the time we were done t the church it was time for tapas! We went to a couple of different places for tapas, until we got to one of Sarah and Nico’s favorite places, La Alemana (the German woman, apparently it was opened by a woman from Germany, she no longer owns it, but it retains the name.) I was feeling a bit more hungry, so I ordered a Tortilla Española. Unfortunately it’s huge, and Sarah and I could only eat half of it. We were about to leave when 3 english-speaking pilgrims came in. I suggested we give it to them, one peregrina to another. They gladly accepted it, and it turns out they were from Wisconsin! We spent the next 2 hours talking to the 3 women. It was a great afternoon.

Monday, Sarah, Nico and I went to some ancient sites in the area. We visited a Dolmen, and ancient burial site, that has been preserved by the government. They even built a structure to protect it from the elements. Then we went to the Castro de Boneiro, which is an ancient hill town. There’s not a lot to see, mostly just stone circles, but they have a couple of pictures depicting what it would have looked like. It was pretty cool. We went back to Sarah and Nico’s for a rest and a quick dinner, before heading down to one of the local bars to watch Spain tie Morocco in the World Cup. Now I love Sangria, but there’s another, similar, drink that I developed a taste for, a Tinto de Verano. It’s red wine mixed with lemon Kas, which is like lemon Fanta. It’s delicious. My liver will be happy that I’m leaving Spain.

Tuesda we all went to A Coruña, which is a bigger city in Galicia. We visited Picasso’s childhood home, and did some wandering around the city. We visited the lighthouse, The Tower of Hercules, and there’s a walking path nearby with a sculpture garden. We walked almost 8 miles that day! We were tired.

Wednesday, Sarah and I went to a waterfall nearby that is also used for hydroelectric power, and a smal castle that has artisans making and selling their art on site. There’s a glass maker, and weavers, and potters, and women making lace. I don’t know how those women do it, I would be SO confused, but watching their hands move to make the lace pattern is just mesmerizing. We even arrived back to Muxia in time for tapas!

Thursday we took a journey into Santiago de Compostela. This is the “end” of the Camino de Santiago. The big draw is the cathedral, with it’s huge swinging incense burner. There were a lot more people at the service we attended than at the one we attended 8 years ago. After the cathedral, Sarah and I took a tourist train tour of the city’s monuments, and another of the city’s parks. They were interesting, but sometimes hard to understand because of the noisy road. In between our train tours, we toured the cathedral museum. After some ice cream to cap off the day, Nico drove us to the hotel I had booked. My flight on Friday was scheduled for 6:40, so I booked a room close to the airport. We got me settled, then I sent them on their way. I hate saying goodbye. Especially since I don’t know when I’m going to get to see Sarah again. I let myself cry for a few minutes, before dragging myself to the hotel’s main building (where the WiFi was), and ordered a Tinto de Verano while I watched the first half of England vs. Belgium, and caught-up on my facebook and Instagram.

I ordered a taxi for 5:00 am to take me to the airport. Well, at 5:01 I was AT the airport. The taxi came early, and it took all of 6 minutes to drive to the airport. I wasn’t offered an upgrade on either leg of my flight, and it was miserable. The flight to Madrid was the same as the flight to Santiago, but my flight to Milan was worse. There was even LESS leg room! And the guy in the seat in front of me, kept, like, throwing himself against the back of his seat. I don’t know if I’d fly Iberia again, unless I’m in business class.

But now I’m on a train on my way to the Cinque Terre. I have 4 more days of my trip before I fly home. I’m spending 2 days in the Cinque Terre, then traveling back to Milan, and for my last day, I’m hoping to go to Lake Como (look for George Clooney), but I read that there are supposed to be thunderstorms, and I know you don’t want to be on the lake in a thunderstorm, so I may be spending that last day trying o find something to do in Milan. Either way, on Wednesday I’m goin’ home. And my flight from Milan to Toronto is in Ecomony Plus, with the fancy seats and the fancy service, and hopefully it can take away all of my bad flight memories.

Until then, I’ll see you all later! Ciao!