PigTailz

Living in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

After living in this beautiful city for more than 2 years, I have decided it is time to start sharing my favorite things in Santiago.

The city has 1000 years of folklore and hidden secrets to uncover. One piece of lore to visit is El Árbol de la Ciencia. Young students come to find their academic fate.

One of my favorite parts of Spain is that they have maintained spaces where small businesses thrive. Santiago de Compostela was largely destroyed in the 10th century and reconstructed over the next 1,000 years. The ancient buildings were never meant to offer space to large warehouse companies and big box stores. Those are sequestered on the far edges of the city.

Instead, the old town in Santiago de Compostela houses smaller privately owned businesses and restaurants. Constant renovations restore the old stone buildings and give them new life while maintaining the most beautiful stone and dark wood features. Most shops have only a few meters space inside and are smaller than the average american garage.

Each shop specializes in only a limited number of items, and often what you find is what you get. When I say that stores specialize, I think it is important to note that there is a store only for slippers. The contents of stores will change from one day to the next, products are discontinued and you will never see them again. And no, you can´t just order online. Some things are available online of course. But do not expect a quick trip to amazon with 2 day delivery. You go to the store, you take what you can find, you go home. The big chain stores are about an hour from my home and I keep a list of things to buy when I go with friends in cars.

I was a bit shocked to discover it is nearly impossible to use Amazon here. And do not expect to use your american card online. Many online stores bill through tax havens like Luxemburg and there is not a way to know which country will present the charge… so you can certainly plan on having your card flagged for fraud every time you attempt an online purchase. Fun times.

If you leave the downtown, through El Parque Alameda or Praza de Galicia, you will walk through Ensanche where there are more of the chain style stores. There is a place called Corte Ingles about 40 minuutes walking from the old town. It is the Spanish equivalent of a Super Walmart or Meijer… but with designer clothes at many times the price. It is a great last resort for things you cannot find in town and it makes a nice stroll on hot or rainy days.

There are a number of beautiful parks and various adventures to have in town. So I am going to begin including these smaller adventures here as well!

Porto, Portugal

After the harrowing tale of a bicycle adventure ending in disaster and bovine romance… My rescue team brought me to my final destination of Oporto.

We arrived at night, and my first view of this city left me speechless. I was frozen in place. I cannot describe how perfect was the lighting, the acousitics, and the architecture all coming together in that moment.

This little girl started dancing while he played. I thought about all the nights dancing while my father played guitar. I just could not bring myself to end this moment. I stood there for probably 10 minutes listening to this man and his guitar, looking at the reflection of the bridge on the water before I could bring myself to leave this spot.

And yes, the rest of this city is just as beautiful by night.

When I was finally ready to tear myself away from the old town, we went back to the camper for the night. We awoke in the morning to this view. And I cannot complain about a free place to spend the night with a better view than any hotel I have ever stayed at.

The morning was humorous and humbling. A man came around selling stickers or some such, just trying to make a dime. I pretended I don´t speak portugese. He comes back with options to sell me stickers in at least 7 different languages. In the US, we often look down on the homeless or consider them to be uneducated. Let me tell you this man was smarter than me. We had a good laugh and shared our food with him.

Next was wandering around the city. While I think Oporto is most impressive at night, the intricate blue tile murals are defintely impressive. I started the journey with the sound of a peacock that I simply could not find. I was looking everywhere. I was able to find other interesting things, however.

There are a lot of people in Oporto. I guess that happens in summer, but good photos of the popular tourist attractions and monuments were out of the question. It was a funny trip for me. I´ve mentioned before that my dad is always asking where all the people are in my photos.

I´ve mentioned before that my dad is always asking where all the people are in my photos. So this trip was a little funny for me because I could send him photos with so many people. The only place where it was too packed for comfort was the line for the library that supposedly inspired the Harry Potter movies. That was just too much for me. I did not make the line.

I did get to walk across the bridge that was so beautiful in the night. The daytime view was spectacular.

At the base of the bridge was a wine tasting tour. Port wines are a little sweet for my tastes, but it was a relaxing way to escape the afternoon heat. I learned about the microclimate caused by the mountains and valleys along the river here. It was more interesting than I anticipated. I even met a couple from near of where I was living in the US. We chatted a bit. It was nice to chat in English with strangers.

I loved this city and would absolutely visit again. The shopping was fun. The people all spoke 3 to 10 languages. There was a lot of diversity and a lot of art. My dopamine fix is in finding unique places and creative art. Oporto definitely hit the sweet spot on that for me.

Baños de Bande, Ourense, Spain

On the way home from Porto, I stopped by this magical spot. Known to all the locals, but free of advertisements, hotels, or other touristic conveniences, it made for a quiet night. Sipped a beer in the hot bath under a full moon. It was exquisite. I didn’t ruin my evening with photos of the moon that wouldn’t turn out anyway. I waited until morning to take a few quick pictures that absolutely cannot do this place justice… and I was just in time to watch workers for the Xunta drain the pools for cleaning.

These are the ruins of an ancient roman bath. If you follow the nearby hiking trails, you can explore other ruins and old buildings in the area. I only went for the baths. You can find more information about this historic site and see the structures under less water here.

On the way back home, there was this amazing tree fountain near the side of the road. I’m not sure exactly where it is. I really could not tell you even given a map. But it is so lovely I have to share.

Ponte de Lima, Portugal

Best worst bike trip ever! I hopped the train south to a route that my friends suggested. A nice flat ride for beginners. I had a sort of hybrid/crosstrainer type bike that was ALMOST up for the ride. But only almost. The majority of the ride was really smooth with a beautiful start.

The bike route took me directly through the town of Ponte de Lima with it’s historic old town and tiled murals. If you are interested in what I was able to record, you can see it on Strava.

Leaving Ponte de Lima, took me through lovely stretches of river, mountain, beaches, and farm land. It was like nothing I have ever seen. Each part of the trail was more beautiful than the last.

I stopped on this beach for a little snack in the shade.

More beaches and mountains followed, it was not possible to photograph everything. The path circled back around the other side of Ponte de Lima and further into the hills. At one point, a helicoptor flew overhead to put out a nearby forest fire. I watched from a cornfield as the bombeiros dipped the bucket in the river and circled back to the fire.

I survived a minor injury to my foot when I stopped to fast to look at something lovely, but the adventure met an unfortunate end with a flat tire. I was ill prepared for the castañas. I had exactly the right bicycle for a Michigan adventure, but Portugal had other plans. The sun was getting low and I decided to set up camp on a nearby picnic table.

The water was so warm. I splashed around a little as the sun was setting. There were so many little frogs among the rocks in the river. There were egrets and herons fishing. It was pretty cold during the night after taking so much sun, so I bundled up tight in my sleeping bag. But I had a lovely evening watching the stars.

And when I awoke, I had made a new friend! I had a nice time watching her graze while I made a quick breakfast and set out on my next adventure.

Romaría Vikinga, Catoira, Spain

I have returned to Catoira for the Viking Festival! I took the train to the tiny station. It was easy to find as everyone dressed like a viking had the same stop.

Things in town were decorated a bit for the festival so it made the walk fun.

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but this was feeling very different from this type of event in the US. Unlike the US, entry to this type of event is free, but the events are not well marked and I found things a bit confusing. I think this would have been much better with a friend, but even wandering alone there were a lot of nice things to see.

Getting a good photo of the vikings landing on shore was difficult, with all the people. Everyone was pressed so close together up to the shore it was amazing. That is my own fault though. Not knowing what was going on, I left a great spot to see what was happening elsewhere. Oops!

The vikings landed and there was an epic battle for Santiago de Compostela!

After defeating the vikings… there were mejillones in a trough. And everyone rejoiced.

A cautionary tale… This may be a skipped trip for anyone with major mobility or sensory issues. It’s a doable trip for most if you don’t mind a crowd, but the lines to enter and exit are formed on a stone pathway through a wet marshy area. With so many people coming and going, it is restricted to almost single file in either direction and thus relatively long.