Santiago and beyond

Well I did say that I needed to restart the blog so here goes.
Travelling means that things happens which might make interesting reading and are the kind of thing that I'd like to remember.
The last 24 hours have been a classic if unusual case in point.
We have spent the three days at a site west of Leon - an interesting city where we saw our first real down and out drunk in Spain. Lying spark out in a city square making local schoolgirls blush/giggle/photograph him on their phones (or all three) as he lay there with his manhood for all to see. Two hours earlier he'd have a cell for the night as the place was crawling with cops chaperoning some local military ceremony.
So next evening I went down to do the washing up and an English lady sort of mimed at me what should she do with her rubbish. I explained and she went to the bins leaving her washing. I had a vague idea she looked familiar but way out of context so I ignored it. She came back and started her washing up. We chatted for a few minutes as travelling folk do about where we had come from and where we are going. She then said "You look like someone I know in Lancashire".A moments mad panic lest it was someone I'd upset in the homes closures. "You look and sound like Chris Cheetham" she said. I confirmed that I looked and sounded like him because I was him. "I'm Jan Hodgson - remember John and I?" Well talk about surprise. Early participants and then retirees from the Labour Party's "McKenna wars" in West Lancashire. Meeting them over ten years later on a small campsite in a little town in Northern Spain may prove six degrees of separation but was a shock to us all! So we discussed events and people we both knew - even some we liked! They were surprised to see me and had not realised what we had done. Which suggests that the power of the press is more limited than either they or politicians would like to believe.
The next morning they left heading east towards Rioja and we headed west towards Santiago de Compostela - quicker and more comfortably than the army of walkers and cyclists following the Camino de Santiago. It was a long day with the hairiest moment in the Winnie. We had a site booked called Camping de Ria Arosa west of Santiago. We eventually got there and frightened them with our size. We toured the site but could not find a pitch big enough. Then they said you should be at our sister site Camping de Ria Arosa 2! Getting out was a nightmare. the turn was tight anyway but cars parked on the road opposite meant it was impossible. Three young Spaniards had been about to park right across from the gates but backed away when they saw our problem. between us with them guiding me and then as necessary manually sliding the trailer left we eventually (10 minutes ) got away and only slightly bent the sites sign!
Then initially following a member of staff we headed to site 2. This time not on a narrow beach road but up a narrow road into the "mountains". Still after asking a local at a fork where the camping signs where to the right of the fork and could have referred to either route we got there. The large pitches at the top of the site were plenty big enough but left the van sloping forwards and to the left - not good for the fridge! After an hour and a half we managed to find a pitch we could level it out on but only after much swearing and sweating.
The next morning(Friday 4th) broke cloudy and dull but we decided to go to Santiago anyway. It was a madhouse! What we did not realise is that 2010 is a holy year in Santiago because the saints day falls on a Sunday and if you do the walk this year "all your years in Purgatory to this point" are wiped clear. In other words a sort of spiritual "get out of jail free" card. Anyway they are strict about bags in the cathedral and so we took it in turns to look inside where the combination of pilgrims, pious and plain curious produced a scrum of manic proportions. If this is the second holiest Catholic shrine in Europe they should take lessons on organisation from the Vatican (the holiest). But as the sun was now shining we had lunch out and then as the town was closed until 4:30ish we went back to the site via Mercadona (our favourite Spanish supermarket).
Saturday broke dull and cloudy but we set off for Finisterre/Fisterre the Spanish Lands End. The road weaves around the coast and seems to take for ever. Still we got to visit the two biggest horreos in Gallicia (allegedly) in neighbouring villages.A horreo is a raised storehouse designed on legs with overhangs so mice etc can't get in. It's very much a local design and even varies from one area to the next. Sadly the weather stayed dull and our visit did not offer the chance of great sunset pictures. It however fascinating to see pilgrims making the trek out from Santiago to the "end" of the road to leave their boots behind as tradition demands (actually that requires them to burn their clothes) but leaving your boots is the modern respectable version. Still all in all a nice day out. And the sun had finally broken through by the time we got back.
Sunday was bright and sunny and we decided to Ria de Pontevedra to the south - but only the north side and come back along the south side of the Ria de Arousa. Sunday was Corpus Christi and again as poor ignorant travellers we failed to appreciate that in this part of Spainb all the churches are surrounded by walks of flowers. We started off at the biggest horreo in Gallicia at the Monasterio de Poio (allegedly) but it did seem wider if not as long as the ones yesterday and had three legs not two across so it ended up with 51 legs - bit like the Terry Pratchett luggage! From there it was a short hop to Combarro whch is allegedly the village in Gallicia with more horreos than anywhere else ( you can see how the local advertising gets to you). It is a grade A honeypot with narrow winding streets which seemed to be full of either cafes/restuarants/bars or shops selling an amazing collection of souvenirs and every house seemed to have a horreo so maybe it's true. And through the village ran the walk of flowers with religious motifs "drawn" is shells, flower petals, coloured sand, grains and cypress cuttings. Largely they were scuffed so only a couple remained intact. After a drink (non-alcoholic) we moved on to Cambados to see if we could find some cheap Albarino wine. Well the shops were shut but they were still laying out their flower paths. But they had palm fronds and masses of fennel fronds as their green stuff and more coloured sand. All in all a very pretty sight with a wonderful smell. But getting out of town was a nightmare as the signposting would end at a junction and the town we were aiming at simply failed to get a mention. However, we did eventually get on the right road only for that to be diverted - with more intermittent signs!
Monday returned to the dull theme. But the morning was dedicated to more shopping and then we went to see the local sights! The weather decided to prove why everything is so green up here and became drizzle degenerating to rain. We spent ages driving down roads of ever diminishing size to find the local waterfall walk. We managed to get there and back in a dry(ish) gap and then got hopelessly lost on a maze of single track roads without signs. The clouds lifted long enough to let us see the coast and we aimed at it. To my amazement we ended up not east of where we started but west and about 5 minutes from the site.
Tuesday's Plan A was to drive the 60 miles to A Coruna. But we rolled over when the alarm went off and could only just be heard above the sound of rain on the van roof. So we got up late and decided we would be stir crazy if we let the weather keep us in. So we consulted the Rough Guide and headed to Pontevedra town after lunch. On the way the rain became showery so we set out to see the local "sights" feeling good about the decision. The Museum is a fascinating mish-mash of archaelogy and collections from the towns famous sons to representations of local industry and life. And a collection of religious art with a last supper where Christ looks quite a lot like Noel Edmonds. But is a lot older. However the weather gods had decided if we were going to wander around inside they would turn on the rain again. So a quick tour of the rest of the old town - including the Pilgrims sanctuary shaped like a scallop shell and the ruins in the town centre and back home in ever worsening rain. This can't be right as we are not on the plain where the rain mainly falls or so we thought!
Oh and as there is no wi-fi on the site I am not sure when you will read this !
Brought to you by a strange connection inviolving a network routed over the mains electric. Still if you get this it clearly works. The rain pored down all night and now its sunshine and showers. Still we move tomorrow so more news then.