Find the pastelería first!
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2008
1
14
27
Trip End
Jun 05, 2008
Melide to Arzúa,
Spain
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Rainy but not cold
Jean has become more valuable than we ever imagined. Besides doing her usual front (wo)man activities, she now finds the very best pastry shop in town! We arrive early in Arzúa and have the entire afternoon to scout out the sights (church complete with nuns); a general store and the pastelería. Our pensión is run by a (very) old couple. On the third floor of an old building, our accomodations have a common street-facing balcony, glassed in, which, in spite of the overhead clothes line, allows us a cozy setting for cocktail hour. So instead of looking at Dick´s washed underwear tonight, it just drips on our heads.
Arzúa´s general store is a highlight of the day, a local gem filled with everything from knick knacks to hardware, food to souvenirs, stuff that must have been on the shelves for decades, maybe centuries
Pastures lead to Arzua
! Consuelo, the owner with her husband, and I have quite a chat. She is very unhappy with Spain´s president Zapatero. He isn´t helping the people to a better economy, only putting money into the pockets of the already-rich. There are a few rich at the top and mostly poor. Sound familiar? (We see an inordinate number of old stone homes and farms for sale on our path.) They pay too much in taxes, have too many immigrants and not enough native births. And, they aren´t rich like the U.S. I couldn´t convince her that our country is going the way of theirs. And even though she doesn´t long for Franco to be in power anymore (yes, I know he has been dead since 1975), things were on more of an even keel under him, according to her. Of course, they were! If you crossed him, the Guardia Civil would make sure your dead body went into one of the many common graves in the Spanish countryside. We had our photo taken together and I promied to send her a copy.Tonight we find a small restaurant that opens early (American style) and have a fabulous homemade tourist menu, 12 euros each: fish soup, jamón and white asparagus, and potroast. Yum. The ubiquitous flat-screen t.v. is on in the restaurant, as it is in all bars. Loud, annoying.
A few more observations about the pilgrimage. Pilgrims wear most anything on their feet: boots, Teva sandals, sports shoes, Crocs, etc. The trail can be sand, mud, moop (mud mixed with cow poop), sand, slate, granite (with or without mortar), brick, ashphalt. What am I missing? Who knows. Ciao, Dick and Sue
