Having covered a great deal of Santiago de Compostela yesterday, the pressure is off today. We saunter down to the old city, enjoy the sights of new pilgrims arriving, including a border collie who’s made the journey (and looks very pleased with himself). The sky is lit up today, a glorious blue.
Our main aim is to have lunch before we take to the road – #toughlife. We decide on tapas at a busy bar, the foucs on seafood, which is excellent.
I find in these travels that the second day in a busy spot is usually better- there’s less pressure to sightsee and you can wander like a local, taking it all in.
The conditions for photography are much better than yesterday, there’s no milky accent to the light, so we revisit a few stops before making our way back up the hill.
Those pastry shop deserve a little exploring too with empanadas and various cakey treats making their way home. I’m missing the French patisserie somewhat.
We’ll travel to the furthest west point of our journey, then turn homeward bound. We’re not half way in our time yet, but turning now will give us options for the latter half of our journey.
Our journey follows the “green path” of Galicia’s western coast, so marked in our road map as a beautiful journey.
Galicia has an interesting history. It stood against both the Roman invasion and the Moors, consequently retaining much of its very unexpected original Celtic heritage (hence the bagpipes).
It’s a region that’s seen tough times in the 20th century with overpopulation and under employment forcing many people to move out of the area. There was also a oil tanker spill disaster in 2002. There’s no evidence of it now, the beautiful beaches we see are pristine.
The coast is rugged on the west, with the occasional fishing village dotting the shore. It’s a gentler pace than than the northern coast high rise hot spots.
We see Galician institutions, unique to this area: stone horreos that date back to the 1700s for grain storage and pallozas, round stone houses with thatched or slate roofs that date back to Celtic times.
We make it to Fisterra, the western most point and about half way on our “green” journey. Our spot should offer gorgeous ocean views but no sooner do we settle than a fog rolls in, casting an ethereal feel to the evening light.
The bakery stop provides dinner, the empanadas a delicous, very homemade treat.
Miss Baci Travels 