Days 26/7- May 25/6- Muxia y Santiago
Well following my hallucinations on arrival in Muxia things have settled down considerably. So much so that I now realise that it was King Felipe VI who was there to greet us, and not Juan. No wonder I didn't spot him! Seemingly Big Phil took over the gig 8 years ago.
Big Phil - yesterday
Our first real action yesterday (aside from ablutions, which I'll spare you the details of) was having a swim in the ocean. The beach was lovely and the water delightfully cold. A cracking way to get our wild swim for the month of May completed.
And so from "froid" to "Froiz". That good people is one of the 2 supermarkets in Muxia. Yesterday we went to Eroski, but Mrs N was very disappointed as the brand name didn't live up to expectations - something to with the lack of Ronaldo-esque bronzed and oiled torsos of the male staff.
Froiz itself was uneventful; but on the way there we did get a shock. A blur in the sky, and an object crashes to the ground 20 metres ahead of us. Shit, it's a tiny ginger kitten! No more than 8 inches long; absolutely terrified, it just cowers in the gutter. Above it, a huge seagull swoops off. Surely the flying scavenger hadn't tried to take it? Not pleasant, it remains a complete mystery.
I treat Cate to a slap up lunch. A bagette and cheese from Froiz. Luxury! The treat, of course, is where we eat it. On top of the hill looking down on the wondrous headland and church. We get rather sunburnt.......that will help for Tango Man though!
And to end the day, and our time in lovely Muxia, we muster the imagination of a Status Quo chord sequence, which means watching the sun go down again. And like Quo in their heyday, the repeat is excellent.
In my last update I remarked about "No more getting up at silly o'clock". How very wrong! There are 2 buses each day from Muxia to Santiago; one at a civilised time, one not. Do we spend the day in tiny Muxia or livelier Santiago? The alarm crashed through the wall at 5.30am. A new low. Allegedly I'd also put in my finest snoring performance of the trip so far, so the mood at this early hour was frostier than a cold winter's morning in Reykjavik. Barely awake, and in darkness, we boarded the 6.15 bus. This travelling thing, it's a laugh all the way!
Just after 8am, in bright sunshine we arrive into Santiago's "Intermodal Station. It's smart, very smart. Complete with 3 sets of arrivals and departure boards. Buses, trains and even flights at the out of town airport. Surely, it's not an integrated transport strategy? Like the one we don't have in world-beating, EU free, independent Britain!!!
Only 8 hours until we can get into our apartment. Now what?
We walk up to the old city. I throw a few shapes in the Cathedral Square. The po-faced old relic (the Cathedral, not Cate!) looks down disapprovingly; again. We potter around the old town, get coffee, and look in the tourist-tat shops. Would any of our friends like some Camino pants? In the Praza da Quintana, directly behind the cathedral, a big stage has been built whilst we were away. It appears to be set up for an orchestral performance. Whatever will be happening, it's a great setting,surrounded by ancient buildings.
To atone for my nocturnal rumblings, I seek forgiveness in the cathedral. We sit there for 45 minutes just listening to the music. There are much worse ways to kill time. But no forgiveness is available. Forgiveness, apparently, doesn't work on Thursdays!
By the time we get out the cathedral chairs have been laid out in Praza da Quintana and the musicians are about to do a sound check. All togged up like penguins, they play beautifully. The conductor, however, is in jeans and a t-shirt. More musicians join. These are the Gallegos. Tin whistles, bagpipes and other local instruments.
Another piece. Shrill, but beautiful backing singers join in. The sound is superb. Then the dancers join. All in traditional Galician costumes, they are a beautiful sight. Women in long black skirts. At the back of their skirts there is a gap showing a brightly coloured underskirt. Subtle!
I treat Cate to a slap up lunch. A bagette and cheese from Froiz. Luxury! The treat, of course, is where we eat it. On top of the hill looking down on the wondrous headland and church. We get rather sunburnt.......that will help for Tango Man though!
And to end the day, and our time in lovely Muxia, we muster the imagination of a Status Quo chord sequence, which means watching the sun go down again. And like Quo in their heyday, the repeat is excellent.
In my last update I remarked about "No more getting up at silly o'clock". How very wrong! There are 2 buses each day from Muxia to Santiago; one at a civilised time, one not. Do we spend the day in tiny Muxia or livelier Santiago? The alarm crashed through the wall at 5.30am. A new low. Allegedly I'd also put in my finest snoring performance of the trip so far, so the mood at this early hour was frostier than a cold winter's morning in Reykjavik. Barely awake, and in darkness, we boarded the 6.15 bus. This travelling thing, it's a laugh all the way!
Only 8 hours until we can get into our apartment. Now what?
We walk up to the old city. I throw a few shapes in the Cathedral Square. The po-faced old relic (the Cathedral, not Cate!) looks down disapprovingly; again. We potter around the old town, get coffee, and look in the tourist-tat shops. Would any of our friends like some Camino pants? In the Praza da Quintana, directly behind the cathedral, a big stage has been built whilst we were away. It appears to be set up for an orchestral performance. Whatever will be happening, it's a great setting,surrounded by ancient buildings.
By the time we get out the cathedral chairs have been laid out in Praza da Quintana and the musicians are about to do a sound check. All togged up like penguins, they play beautifully. The conductor, however, is in jeans and a t-shirt. More musicians join. These are the Gallegos. Tin whistles, bagpipes and other local instruments.
Then they dance. All very Celtic, and haunting. The music speeds up and the dancers twirl. As they twirl the skirts lift revealing a brief blaze of colour from the underskirts. Absolutely superb. We sit through the sound check and warm up, and then the whole show. A wonderful insight to Galician culture.
Postscript. We went out to eat this evening. A lovely meal. On our way, we noticed that in between 9am and 7pm a full stage had been erected in the main Cathedral plaza. Pop/boy/girl band Paris de Noia playing for free. Great atmosphere. Terrific lighting. Shit music.
Comments
Post a Comment