Galicia

13th October, 1999

We had had another wet night in Gijon and, as it was still raining, decided to do our shopping first and hope for enough dry weather to get the awning down when we returned.    It rained all day and in order to get away early next day for what was expected to be a long drive we eventually decided to break camp in the wet.     Despite the awful weather we had from time to time, it had always been dry enough at some part of the day to get the awning down so this was the first and we hope the last time.

14th October, 1999

We left Gijon fairly early and headed west.  We had been some way west with Ana a few days ago so the road was familiar at first but soon we were into new territory and amongst heavy and slow traffic.  The Scorpio may not be the prettiest car in the world but it pulls well and up the long inclines where a slow lane is provided we were able to get by.    We seemed however to attracted the attention of Police who were just setting up a Radar as we passed them and we had a discreet tail for what seemed like ages.    Having stuck painfully to the very low speed limit and collected a long tail back, the police car eventually gave up and sat in wait for another victim. 

Our route took us along the north coast of Spain, which is rugged and mountainous, with one or two charming seaside towns like Luarca and Ribadeo, which is the start of Galicia.  We noticed that the style of the Horreos changed as soon as we were in Galicia from wood to stone.  We would have liked to continue around the coast all the way to our target for the day, Santiago de Compostela, but in the end we could not resist cutting the corner and headed south just before Foz through Mondoñedo.

We had not seen any UK registered cars since leaving France and we were pleased to see our first on the road to Santiago.  Our guide book had clear instructions to the camp site from the north, but not from the north-easterly route we entered on and, in consequence, we made a complete hash of our arrival, including a 40 Km detour up and down the motorway to Coruña, which - to add insult to injury - cost us as it is a peage.   Eventually, we found the site and sure enough the British car was already berthed.   We pitched camp in a section that contained all German registered rigs and we squeezed in between two and erected our awning, which was still soaking wet. 

We had not noticed that our tented neighbour, though in a German car, was flying a New Zealand flag, but when they returned in the evening and spoke to us in English, we realised where they were from.  As sometimes happens, chatting turned to bingeing and we invited them into our awning along with Charlie as it was now beginning to rain a little.    

Charlie, it turned out, was an Aussie and had driven over land on his BMW trials bike.  He reckoned to have been through some seventy countries, which were written on one of his panniers, though he had difficulty in remembering them all.  Once again, we were reminded that our adventure was fairly timid in comparison.  Charlie was pretty miffed to find, on presenting himself at the BMW factory in Berlin, that he was not even offered a cup of coffee and did not get past the gatehouse.  Poor show.

15th October, 1999

The following day, Friday, our New Zealand neighbours, Alan and Carolyn, packed their tent into their German rental car and headed south.  We went to see the famous Cathedral.  We had become interested in "The Pilgrimage" because we had seen so many pilgrims on our previous trip and because references to it crop up in many parts of France.  We were therefore slightly excited as we made our way into the Cathedral.  

We attended the 12 o'clock pilgrims mass and were somewhat moved by the emotionally charged atmosphere.  It was very crowded and there was inevitably a bit of close contact with the pilgrims.  We had not walked hundreds of miles, as many had, and we also had the benefit of good showers in our camp site.  There was, we have to say, more than the odd hint of BO and we were bound to wonder how much worse it must have been in earlier days.  This year is a Holy year, since 25th July , St. James' Day, was a Sunday which means that the huge incense burner is swung across the nave during services and the St. James door is open, allowing pilgrims to file past and embrace the Most Sacred Image of Santiago, behind the altar - picture above centre.  We could see the people filing past, but it was only on reviewing our video that we realised what it was about.  The picture above right is the best view we glimpsed of the eight priests pulling on the huge rope to swing the "Botafumeiro".  The picture below left shows it swinging.   In the middle is what we took to be the casket containing the sacred relics and, below right, the statue of Santiago on a pillar which, by tradition, is touched by every pilgrim and is now quite worn. 

16th October, 1999

To compensate for having cut the corner, we decided to journey up the coast to Coruña, although poor weather appeared to be set in for the day.  We reached the coast at Muros, which is a pleasant fishing port with arcades along its sea front, below left, and with an unusual market, below middle, with a hint of Versailles.  We had a coffee on the sea front then decided to drive over the steep mountain behind the town rather than continue round the coast.  The view, below right, was from part way up the very steep and winding road.

At the summit, we could look across to Cape Finistere, below left, which we were interested to see as we hear the name to often on the shipping forecast.  Dozens of windmills have been erected in the area, which we presume is always windy.  As we drove on, the weather improved a little and we were able to wander round the castle at Coruña which guards the port, below right.  Coruña is, of course, the port from which the Armada left for England in 1588.  We had learned from Ana that Armada means 'army' rather than 'fleet' as we tend to think of it.  We were later to learn that, in fact, some of the boats had come up from Porto.  

The view below left is looking out to sea from the castle, where we saw several racing yachts returning for the evening.  A further landmark is the light-house, known as the Torre de Hercules, which since Roman times has warned shipping of the treacherous waters.  The view below centre is of the sea with a fountain, taken from near the light-house.

We returned to camp quite late using the fast motorway which we had become familiar with by accident on our arrival at Santiago.  Finding our awning dry, we packed it away ready to depart.

17th October, 1999

Sunday was a race day and we watched the GP of Kuala Lumpur early in the morning before packing up to move to Porto. 

Last updated:  18/03/01