Category: Uncategorized

What is the saying- Pride comes before a fall? Well I boasted about my flourishing balcony garden and the very next day when I went to pick some basil, horrors of horrors it had been chomped and decimated by voracious green caterpillars!

I try not to kill things but my inner Buddhist evaporated and I picked as many as I could see and squashed them vigorously! They are superbly camouflaged so I had to check the plant twice before I succeeded in removing them all. My basil is a sad shadow of its former glory and in social isolation now like me! Who would have thought that 6 floors up I would still have pests in the garden.

An exciting development( this is how desperate I have become,) is the completion of the sky train overpass across Toorak Road. No more railway crossing bells dinging, and traffic backed up because the train now goes over the road. It looks like a toy train from a train set. It seems to be quieter now ( well at the least we have no more dinging bells!) and I get a great view from my balcony which is how the toy train feeling started. I was going to rush down and go for a ride until I realised I am meant to stay home unless going to work! It can wait. I just wish the Tooronga road crossing had also been removed too. It cause such a bottle neck as well.

I have been irritated by a sore knee lately so I decided to stop the gym sessions and focus on Pilates. There is less knee action. Well I have completed two advanced classes this week and my thighs were so sore I couldn’t sleep until I took a nurafen last night. Using different muscles and an intense zoom session really reminded me every exercise regime has different demands! I enjoyed it and my knee didn’t hurt but oh! the thighs!

This week we commemorated Anzac Day in our own homes. There was a national broadcast from Canberra and people stood in their driveways to watch the sun come up. There were candles and flags draped over fences and balconies. It was a very different feel without the parades of veterans and armed forces, and yet I think it was still very respectful and less about the WAR and more about remembering those who lost their lives. Sometimes quiet events still have impact.

I finally got around to playing with the water colours. They are another medium that I really enjoyed but since moving to Acrylics I have lost my touch. Still using means improving and I expect I will get better. I had a conversation with a friend on Face time and showed them my very average effort. My friend identified the poplar tree( good) but her husband asked what was the cucumber in the corner? I had to laugh, because I had meant it to be a clump of trees but it just morphed into a big green patch. I have to hold back and let the paint dry! It was a disappointing outcome but it was also a learning exercise. It is the process which matters. I initially wanted to do something quite abstract but I struggle to let go of details!

Alfie has been endlessly entertaining and engaging during this social restrictions and I am very grateful for his company. He is a great excuse to go for a walk and also his devotion is very heartwarming. He barks at all the animals on TV and then when I don’t play games he lies with his head on his squeeze bone staring at me and talking to me with little growls.

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I made a dash to Ziggy with some new books in a series about dragons that his Mum and Dad have become hooked on reading to him. It was so weird. I stand at the bottom of the steps and talk to them and exchange items by leaving them on the stairs but Ziggy came down and gave me a hug around the waist. That meant so much. He is writing little stories and illustrating them. They are very amusing. With Jonathan drawing characters for Uncle Gary’s s website and Ziggy writing, the family is getting quite literary. Gary has published a book for families dealing with obesity and has now started a website to complement the book.

That is it for this week. Life goes on, CoVid19 is being contained in Australia and New Zealand due to our governments’ strong action and hopefully a more normal life is not too far away.

Keep your distance, wash your hands and stay safe.

I have lost track of how long we have been in lockdown and in all honesty I am feeling like a slowly winding down clock. Our world is a few walking kilometres east, west, north and south of the apartment. Fortunately there are lots of parks and it is amazing how I get a sense of joy when I take the dog for a walk in the sometimes, golden sunny afternoon and I see people(!), kids and parents playing ball games, or scooting along on scooters and bikes or just walking their dogs like I am. I am not alone in this world.

I have been busy being domestic. I have made pots of cumquat jam, preserved the olives picked from the trees in the park, baked a couple of cakes and cooked some pretty good meals. I have finished another scarf, though it is again somewhat longer than I expected. Still it is cosy and useful. Joy of joy, I have discovered a cumquat tree in the park! I will be able to make more jam. These gorgeous pots of golden jam give me such pleasure and a sense of achievement. I will have to give some to my neighbours though because there is not much pantry space in my apartment.

I am getting better at selfies too! On the odd occasion that Hazel is up before 4pm ( She works all night and sleeps all day) we have had a game of scrabble. I love to play the game and have no pretensions to being clever at it. It is just fun. My darling Mum loved it too and we played daily before she passed away. Getting Hazel to play was a coup and even better, she enjoyed it.

I am still doing the Zoom gym sessions and actually think I might be getting fitter. Today I wasn’t quite as shattered as usual. My balcony garden is flourishing with herbs and flowers. Because I am actually here to feed and water, the plants are rewarding me.

When I look across to the city, Autumn is evident in the red and yellow tops of the trees. When I first moved here the changing of the seasons through the colours of the trees was a novelty. In Warrandyte, where all was native grey/blue/green the autumn colours were less apparent. It still gives me pleasure to see the seasonal colours and their marking of the year passing.

What a strange year it is. How long we stay in this lockdown is the main topic of conversation and with the governments’ seeming to be getting the upper hand on the virus, hopefully we will see some lessening of the enforced isolation. I have been proud of how Australia has been so proactive in combatting the spread. We will suffer financially but we have not seen the thousands infected and hundreds dying that has afflicted so many other countries. Some have said it is all an overreaction by government, but when you look at the figures this is not such a simple story. I am intrigued by the fact that while many recover the number listed as recovering is never equal to the infected and those who die. There is a huge gap between infection and recovery of people who remain sick for quite a long time.

Keep well, keep washing hands and physical distancing.

The week was not so frantic though I managed gym classes on Zoom and Pilates. They seem way more intense than my usual gym class and that is because there are none of the usual chit chat and walking back for a drink between exercises! It is full on for the 45 mins. After each class I am just bathed in perspiration and in all honesty I feel more energised too.

Alfie is getting used to me crowding out the lounge and he isn’t sitting on the mat chewing a toy or underfoot. We are all getting used to the indoor routine. One thing I have noticed is my body seems more upright again-no sagging in the middle. I haven’t lost any weight but I seem to look more toned. I have also taken to pacing around when on the phone to avoid sitting too much. There is still a lot of phone.

It is nice to have so much connection but that too is easing a little so I am not continually being distracted. The amount of social media, FB, Instagram, WhatsApp, as well as Zoom and Houseparty has been interesting. I have found myself spending so much more time on them that I am getting quite tired. It isn’t restful. So I am resolved to just check 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the afternoon. The day just disappears when you are on these all the time.

I have been walking around the local streets and because it is so familiar you start to really notice details. I love the way some people show their support for others. One front fence had these posters and tulle bows while others have teddy bears for kids to notice.

A sad thing for all the kids and parents is the closure of the playgrounds in the parks. Some people argue that if child care centres are open parks should be also, but I see the logic behind this. Child Care Centres can control who is there and the cleaning but parks are publicly open to everyone without any controls so of course the equipment is more likely to be contaminated. There are still lots of people out walking but now we are limited to groups of two and maintaining social distance as well. Even our lifts are restricted to two people at a time. I am getting callouses on my elbows from pressing buttons with them! I have had to actively massage cream into my poor elbows. Who would have thought? All our furniture in the lobby has been roped off too. No sitting allowed.

The restrictions are working here even though some people still flout the rules. The police are actually checking and issuing fines so we are really in a socially controlled state. We are compliant in the most part but now articles are appearing about how we must be vigilant to the loss of liberty due to new rules/laws. There must be action to repeal once the pandemic is over. I don’t think we would continue to accept these restrictions for very long once the pandemic has passed but we also can’t be complacent about the new laws. It will be a different world after this time and I hope we won’t forget some of the lessons learned.

I finished my scarf and then reworked it as it hadn’t quite turned out as I had hoped the first time. The second attempt has been much better and it is remarkably cosy. Now I am inspired to do some more and have sent off for more wool to make scarves for friends. Busy hands make for a happy heart and a sense of achievement. I picked olives from a tree in the park and I am now preserving them too. Quite domestic. All things I had no time for before our lockdown. I really should get into the cupboards and book cases but… The motivation just isn’t there yet.

The days are marked by our meals and I have got more engaged in cooking again. I did some Chinese braised 5 spice belly pork which was super delicious. I made a huge mess with the crisping of the skin initially but in the end all was good. Then I have cooked a cake with Hazel. That was fun. Hazel isn’t an experienced cook so it was a learning curve for her and we made a Jewish Honey cake. Smells awesome and tastes great with the spices and honey.

I have tried to get back to drawing or painting without a lot of success. The days go so fast. I feel inhibited about going to the studio even though I would be on my own. There is a very strong message about staying home unless absolutely necessary. My Spanish vocab. is improving and I have moved up a level in my French which is satisfying. Reading has slowed a little because of the other distractions plus the topics where pretty heavy for this time. No Friend but the Mountains was an arduous read. It is about being detained on Manus Island. Those off shore detention centres will be Australia’s shame in years to come. We must close them down. They treat people so harshly. It is psychological torture. No wonder so many have mental health issues.

There is so much concern about the Australian population’s mental health during this lockdown and we have the comforts of home, Internet, free communication, ample food and medical care! Those poor people are not on any agendas now but could very easily be stricken with the Corona Virus too and probably die.

I have been happy to see my son Jonathan finding some work and promoting his cartooning skills. He has done such great caricatures of his son Ziggy and his twin brother Nick. He has had the time to brush up his skills and started promoting them on Instagram. So there have been some advantages in being locked down. Nick too is working on his collages and venturing into bigger canvases.

While this is a trying time for everyone it has slowed us down and allowed us to find other ways to nurture our souls. Stay safe and inside.

Well it is Monday of week two and our lives have shrunk so much and yet not. I had such a busy week with learning to run Zoom sessions, multiple Coronavirus jokes and songs and news about new restrictions almost every day. Then the kids invited me to Houseparty App which was their video group chat of choice. Another learning curve.

I managed three gym sessions in the park which was a lot of fun and hard work. It was so pleasant exercising outside. I experienced an online Pilates class which was also great, except for the dog wanting to lick my face!

Two virtual cocktail hours was a great way for us all to catch up. I even dressed up and really made cocktails. A potent mix of Peach liqueur and vodka with a dash of lemon juice over ice.

The next event was a virtual dance class on Friday night for an hour. Now that was a workout, and hilarious. My body rolls were not as liquid as I would like but nonetheless ( I convinced Hazel, my niece to join in), we managed to get the routine almost down pat if not entirely in time. We laughed so much I am sure it released heaps of endorphins!

The cupboards finally got a look in. I needed some red wine so after buying six bottles I sorted the wine cupboard. Then the handle fell off the pullout pantry. It had got too heavy and despite reducing the weight by shifting groceries to other cupboards, the handle still came off. Exasperated i have improvised with a belt until I can get to Bunnings hardware or a good handyman!

Everyday I have walked the dog longer and longer distances and it has been quite delightful to see so many families out in the park or on bikes. There were still groups of mostly young people not practicing social distancing and as a consequence the councils have closed the beaches and reduced the number allowed in groups from 10 down to two.

That was the end of the park gym and now we will be doing virtual classes instead. People over 70 have been urged to stay home and those over 60 to reduce their interactions and stay home as much as possible also.

We are allowed to go for a walk in twos and I have seen so many people out on the streets it is really rather nice. The suburbs are alive with people working from home and taking the kids out. No shopping centre trawling just home games and the park!

I think some people might find it hard to get back to the old style of life if this goes on for months. One thing I notice is that while we are all a bit anxious, people still smile and chuckle as you do the Coronavirus shuffle to keep your distance on footpaths.

The weather is beautifully autumnal and I have noticed the trees are starting to change colour. The annual invasion of Corellas is happening and they are wheeling and screeching overhead in large flocks. This afternoon they were in extreme distress for some reason. I eventually realized there was a bird of prey ( falcon, hawk or larger I could not discern), circling above the flock.

I decided to wash Alfie as he was very doggy smelling. If he is in the bed he has to stay clean and there are no trips to the groomers any time soon. He is not impressed but he does feel so lovely afterwards that I will do it more regularly from now on.

A further Zoom training session on Sunday left me feeling quite tired. Added to that was the effort to finish with the book on life in prison on Manus island (No friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani, beautiful but haunting writing) and the series Stateless, also about Refugees, I suddenly felt very tired and unsettled. I couldn’t sleep last night.

I took Alf on a 8 km walk and started to think how last week was like the first week of a Camiño. All excitement and new experiences, the unknown unfolding day by day, no routine but just managing what comes everyday. At the end of the first week you suddenly realize what you are in for and doubt creeps into consciousness. Can I do this? The end seems a long way off. You feel tired. Then you have a glass of wine, a chat with someone and a good night’s sleep. One day at a time is all you need to be concerned about.

Okay, so all my plans for travel this year have gone to hell. Fortunately I was refunded my China trip because Bunnik’s pulled the tours themselves. I have to say they operated so professionally and I would highly recommend them in the future. Their tours were well balanced with organised and free time. China will have to wait for another time.

Next came Africa. It is still in the mix but who knows where we will all be in August. Will we be still struggling with the virus or maybe we will have come out the other side. It is too soon to call. However even if the pandemic has passed our savings and the dollar have taken a hit with the fall of the economy and it may be all a bit too expensive. My savings may be going to help my sons who have both been affected by the slow down of work and had their hours cut. It all seems pretty grim.

Then there was the long walk along the Ruta de laine in Spain from Alicante to Burgos. Spain is a hot spot for the virus and while it too may be over the worst by September, it is all looking pretty much like a no go this year. I will be disappointed but life has other priorities when the world is in meltdown. One of those is looking out for each other, family, friends and neighbours. A couple of friends have had serious illnesses diagnosed and that really shows what is important. It is heartwarming to see so many people being thoughtful about others. Sure there has been panic hoarding and some displays of appalling behaviour, but there has also been some surprising initiatives to balance this. Humans aren’t all selfish. We are all in this together and we are working together.

Another upside is that I have been in more regular contact with so many people via Facebook, Whats App and I have even started to run my book club via Zoom group conferencing. With the relative success of that experiment I have opted for a virtual happy hour with friends using Zoom. We had planned a dinner but our government has requested people ( particularly we older Aussies) to keep a safe distance from each other and to stop socialising pretty well everywhere. We are not yet quite as locked down as the UK but it will probably happen.

The economy is in free fall, the restaurants and cafes have shut down overnight and unless they can survive on takeaway and home delivery they are out of business for the foreseeable future. Lots of people are working from home. About 20,000 people became unemployed overnight in Melbourne alone. There will be heaps more like my sons who have jobs but such reduced hours that they are almost unemployed. It is a scary state of affairs.

Everyone is in shock. I have started to refocus on activities to do at home and have been upping the Spanish studies as well as French. I have taken up crochet after probably 20 years! I am making a cowl scarf out of gorgeous Alpaca. I have got the skein in a mess but still able to crochet. All those little tips I used to know are coming back. It is something I can do in front of television while I am bingeing on Scandi Noir or French and Spanish films!

I have been walking the dog and when I meet my dog owner friends at the park we all stand about 3 metres apart. Our dogs are still sniffing tails and noses so we probably should be extra vigilant about washing our hands after patting everyone’s pets too. I have been still able to go to an outdoor gym class with gloves and appropriate distances between us but that may come to an end if the UK is anything to go by. I have already signed up for on line Pilates with a former teacher and can also follow my gym instructor through an app and possibly Zoom as well.

It will be such a novelty to hug someone after all this. My grandson is off limits too. Virtual chats the way to go there. Fortunately while the shelves of supermarkets are lean it isn‘t for lack of produce but lack of delivery. I was kind of hoping I might have to ration food. It would probably result in a few less kilos over the period rather than an increase due to reduced activity!

Through all this I had a bit of a melt down and it came to me – this is another Camino. The lessons I learned on those walks were to take every day as it came, just be in the moment and put one foot after another. I don’t always remember to practice this lesson but when ever I hit a rough spot it comes back to me. Bam!

And a lesson from when I was a stressed mum with twin babies. This time will pass. Breathe deep for calm, look at the sky or something beautiful, take a break from listening to all the news and talk, sleep well and wash your hands.

Alcohol is the great deterrent to germs so I am hoping a daily dose of Champagne will work just as well on the inside! It will certainly lift my spirits anyway. That is all for the moment.

I discovered I need to compress my photos to make loading easier.
the above photos are two views of Victoria in January.  One day at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula to Melbourne during the fires that have devastated the state in January. Smoke was so thick that city people really got the impact of climate and fires.

 

I am back in wintry Melbourne adjusting to dark cold mornings and early nights. It is a bit of a shock from 40 degree temperatures at the Dead Sea. It is good to be home nevertheless and I am now trying to update my blog to make it easier to navigate and so I can continue to add to it with my next adventure.

I was to be having a 4WD trek through Central Australia but it has been put on hold due to uncertainty about roads. The outback has been subject to inundation and roads are blocked. It could make for a later date to explore and that won’t suit as I am off to South America shortly after. I couldn’t afford to get bogged and stuck out there and not be able to get back in time for the South American departure.

Also my friend’s Mum is not in good health and she doesn’t want to be too far away in case she is needed. We are all at that time of our lives when if it isn’t grandchildren needing care it is our parents. The cycle of life makes all the trips more important.

I believe in doing them while I am able and relatively free. Time will come soon enough when such adventures will be curtailed.

This last holiday or more accurately group of holidays where so different from my usual freewheeling travels. They were wonderful and it gave me a current benchmark to measure against. I loved them and enjoyed the companionship, the organisation and the ease of travel. I missed the independence and free time of my own travels. I feel so empowered if I have to negotiate travel independently. It is not as efficient sometimes and has more stress probably, but I do feel energised by the challenge.

Staying in hotels had great advantages, not the least a private bath in the private bathrooms, room to spread out, towels and toiletries, and power points! What I missed was that many were not right in the heart of things, or there was little communication with other travellers. I find people interesting and love to hear their stories so I enjoy meeting new people and that is certainly made easier when you are in close quarters or sharing the same route so that you bump into the same people more often.

Of course I did meet new people who were part of my group and that was a delight and special in a different way. I mean meeting people outside my usual circles such as locals or other international travellers.

So I have enjoyed and gained so much from this holiday and will look forward to adding this style of travel to my repertoire depending on the destination in the future.

It was Anne’s birthday yesterday so she got to lead the pace as we departed Redondela. We took it easy and met up with a father and son who were walking together. The father has walked several Caminos since he retired and feels healthy and fit and at peace. His son said he would like to do one with him because he had a stressful job. The son has been amazed how unstressed he was now. He could barely think of work at all. The walking had also brought him closer to his father. He and Bill had a long chat about languages and other things. Irene commented on how life had become simple while doing the Camino. She felt that she was able to let thoughts go more easily and was more relaxed now too. She had started to feel sorry about finishing soon. We all said our feet and bodies get tired but we still feel better overall.

It was a beautiful walk with a few tough hills to keep us interested and give us good views but mostly we walked through forest and on dirt paths and at last alongside a stream. It was very pleasant and so much softer underfoot.plus the birds are so pretty to hear.

We are starting to see many pilgrims now that the path has merged with the Portuguese Central Way. There are many young people, some in groups, some alone. Many of the girls are travelling solo. There are couples, some oldies and some young, some who walk hand in hand which is beautiful to see. We have met many different nationalities too. I started chatting to a young guy who was with a group of young men carrying a cross. He said he was Italian and he was finding it a bit of a challenge up the hills. They were taking turns at carrying the cross. I tried my basic Italian out and he corrected me politely and we laughed and then it was Arriverderci and Buen Camino and he ran to catch his mates. One young Polish couple we spoke with tried to teach us how to say Mount Kosciuszko with the correct pronunciation. We were not great students but we had a few laughs at our attempts.

As we walked up a hill I started talking with a couple we have passed a few times this day. They were Henry and Lou from Dallas, Texas. He had just retired from running his Chinese restaurant. He was from Hong Kong and was a little surprised when I told him my husband had been from Hong Kong too. It turned out it was his birthday so he and Anne had a photo together to celebrate that coincidence. What would be the odds that you meet someone on the same Camino with the same birth date?

We crossed this old Roman bridge, the Ponte Sampaio, where there had been a major battle in the Peninsula war between Napoleon and Spain and the French were routed and ousted From Galicia. While we were taking photographs a group of Spaniards asked us to take a photo of them at the bridge. They also asked why my husband was riding a bike. I promptly pointed to Irene and told them Bill was her husband. We explained that he had broken his foot and that this was the only way he could join us. We told them we often suggested he scout ahead to save us making the wrong turns! They laughed. The trouble is sometimes when Bill does scout ahead he is watching the road or going up a hill and can’t always see the arrows. He had that mishap yesterday and had climbed a steep hill only to find he had missed the turn off. The good side was the quick downhill to the correct turn off!

We lunched by a fountain. It never fails to amaze me the number of ancient water courses or springs that supply these fountains and still do after hundreds of years. From a country like Australia which always has issues with drought it is a miracle.

We arrived in Pontevedra and settled into our hotel. Another birthday present for Anne was a bath! She had been fantasising about a soak. Fully refreshed we were faced with the dilemma of dinner again. Because it was Anne’s birthday we wanted to go somewhere good and as it was a public holiday (May day) we were unwilling to walk to the old part of town if places were not open. What were we thinking, it’s Europe and Spain and lots of bars were open. Once we found the old town it was abuzz. Pontevedra was one of the first cities to fully pedestrianise its old city centre and has become a showcase for the world winning many awards. It has meant a preserved city but also a flourishing city centre. It has a myriad of charming plazas. This sculpture of famous Gallicians and Anne was at the first square we came across.

This is the famous Chapel of the Virgin Pilgrim which is shaped like a shell.

We had a recommendation for a restaurant from the guy on reception and we were searching for it when we happened on this great Tapas place with a witch on a broomstick as it’s motif. It was modern and the food was fantastic and they served Ruby Port! Another birthday treat for Anne.

Time was moving along so we figured we could fit in another bar before the restaurant but with great delight the bar we selected was the restaurant. The sign said they feed athletes! We thought we were the correct customers then. The maître de spoke with us but said the restaurant was full. We could sit downstairs though on the high stools and we had the best shared plates. This place had a Michelin recommendation so we were thinking the credit cards might be required! While we ate their were queue out the door.

Those were the best pork ribs I have had in years and everything was gorgeous. Best of all it only cost €75 including the wine! Brilliant value, brilliant quality and a great example of modern International cooking. We were very happy pilgrims.

We hit under 90 kms today! The walk out of Vigo was uphill as most pilgrimages are and we soon found ourselves in a road above Vigo, able to see down into the river most of the way. I keep thinking it is a harbour but it is actually the Rio Vigo estuary and it is very wide ( 7 km at its widest) and extends 35 kms north east. It is famous for boating, fishing and shell fishing. We saw lots of oyster farms or mussel farms all around the estuary. It had the most mesmerising blue, especially today because we had a perfect walking day. Blue skies and sunshine, but not more than low 20s in temperature and as well, quite a bit of forest shade too.

Once we left Vigo we had no coffee shops till almost the end of the walk. I saw the sign for a bar and even though it was a stiff 15 metre climb up to it, we decided to have a break. We had completely forgotten the left over tortilla from last night that I was carrying!

The temptation of a chai tea and dark beer chocolate cake was too much for us! It was so nice to get something different to drink (though alcohol is always nice)! Irene even had something lactos free. The young couple were very friendly and used to pilgrims and I imagine pilgrims are their main source of income. Their menu was certainly more trendy with chai and lactos and gluten free options. One pilgrim had left his water bottle on the table and the young man took after him on foot but couldn’t catch him. He said he would go later to town and try a few Albergues. He told us he had cousins in Sydney and was hoping to go in September sometime for about 6 weeks. This place had a magic view too.

We saw this very attractive bridge crossing the estuary.

The descent into Redondela was fairly brutal. Tarmac and steep the whole way. Anne was feeling her feet and hips suffering. Irene was walking strongly but seemed exhausted when we finally arrived. Going down hills is always more difficult on your knees, hips and ankles. I felt my feet getting tender and the knee I had trouble with was a bit tender too. Once on the flat all was okay. Bill had a great day with hardly any traffic and a flat ride till the end.

For the first time when we reached a town we saw lots of pilgrims and there must be at least ten or more Albergues here. We stayed in two apartments that were side by side. On arrival there was one moment of missed heartbeat when we couldn’t find 3 of the bags. They had come early and been put into a cupboard which was then overcrowded with other bags outside. Green walks had not failed us. Our apartment had a washing machine so we promptly washed and spun dry a few garments. I had to scrape a few bits of sard soap into the soap part and then we rubbed sard onto the clothes. They took a while but eventually were washed. It is always a challenge to work the washing machines. Bill has used some laundromats and the water and soap are all pre-mixed! Now that is convenient. We had a clothes horse and heater so we expected the clothes to dry fairly quickly. That is a luxury. In Albergues there is always a clothes line but apartments and hotels just don’t have those facilities so we drape in the bathroom or hang in the cupboards.

We took a wander around town and found an ice cream parlour. With ice-creams in hand we adjourned to a nearby park to relax and enjoy not walking! We were quite fascinated by a steel railway bridge that actually crosses the town in two diagonal lines at above roof height. It is quite attractive actually. I thought about the sky train at home and all the hullabaloo. We also noticed lots of plastic bottles recycled as decorative flowers in the lanes and on the buildings. Apparently there had been a recycling festival in the town for a week. They looked remarkably attractive.

The town has a small old part with winding streets and the shopping always seems to be discreet. Not many have large windows or streets of shop after shop with big plate glass windows. They are even set back from the footpath sometimes.

We had the usual problem of finding a place to eat early enough. Most of the bars open at 5 and restaurants about 7.30 pm if you are lucky. We stopped at a bar for a drink and were given a small plate of cheese and bread with a drizzle of olive oil as well as a bowl of sunflower seeds and a bowl of jubes. This is the custom here and it is usually complimentary. Sometimes you could eat that and have a salad and go to bed!

Everyone was quite tired and we flirted with the idea of buying food from the supermarket but the choices were not as good as we had had in Porto so we ditched that and found a cafe that was offering a €10 meal of 2 dishes, cake, drink and coffee for pilgrims. We all opted for Gazpacho which was fabulous. The peppers filled with seafood had only a mere whiff of seafood but were okay, and the cake was very nice. We had a passable glass of red and a good coffee. Not a bad meal for the price. There was certainly sufficient to satisfy us. By now we were all desperate to get back to the apartment but the town was just starting to buzz. A pilgrims lot is to eat early and sleep well, to rise early and start afresh the next day.