Sunday 3 November 2013
Thursday 24 October 2013
Last in line - what's the rush
Love to John melon - I left him at cruz de ferro but like many people I will carry him in my heart until I join him
1 hour 55 to go from 24 degrees to 14 degrees. Hmmm
Wednesday 23 October 2013
Santander at 7pm
The cash is piling in thank you everyone - but £5.27 is more than enough
Finisterre the end of my Camino to Santiago
Event: The Camino to Santiago on 31/10/2013
In memory of: John Melon
£36.62raised of £540.00 target
4donations
Poor old Oviedo as fat Al eats in publico
I do love the bars in Spain and their attitude to smoking. Some open big patio doors and therefore the whole pub is outdoors, some just leave the door open! It's brilliant. There's no getting away from it. Even if there is an outside curfew they usually leave the windows and doors open to let the bar smell like the good old days. Personally I always choose to eat outside as the other smells blend in better and the flies are all indoors. They hate the acetate and scent of petrol that blows through the air. Like Paris, Oviedo enjoys some masterly 3 lane motorways in the centre of town that come to a crashing halt every 5 minutes when the green man appears and Oviedors Scarper from one side to the other. I joined this running stuff as I'm training for a 10k. I don't know if I'll ever run 10k but I'm keeping the carbs going in just in case. I think I'm on that training downtime just before the run. I do short jogs 10-20m depending if it's a dual carriageway or a tripler
Clearly after 5 of these you need to reload the carbs which is why I'm typing again, munching a little ham sandwich you get given with every glass of wine. I'm also due a siesta. Apparently a big part of 10k right through to marathons is that you need to rest the muscles. I've hardly spoken since I got here so someone will need earplugs when I get back. A wee sleep from 2-4 is fairly mandatory here and with another 6 vino tintos I'll be good until 5pm. I'm off to Santander this afternoon. It's a 140k so I've decided not to jog it, not when there's a bus with my name on it - well not literally, no one in their right mind would call a bus company fatal - it's not really a strap-line that could ever work. Get there quicker with fatal. Rest easy with Fatal, bus that does what it says on the van. I'm sure there are better examples but more importantly I need another wine if I'm to sustain that rest period this afternoon.
I am on bus now and was just singing away. It sounded a bit like, I never felt more like singing the blues - but the words were I never felt more like GerArd DepArdieu, but I probably smell like Danny la rue, I've been shopping .... J'ai chercher parfum, pour vous ..... It goes on a bit, like I do - right siesta!
Big church squeezed into small space
They might be poor but 2kg of clementines 1.50
When d luis riera posada sat for this
Tuesday 22 October 2013
London hibs in la coruna it's gotta be the Harp
Monday 21 October 2013
Not a lot of people know what to do with one of these
Smiling is really so easy
I think of so many different things
Smiling is so easy!
Finisterre - A mistake I didn't make!
This is my ceremonious dropping of the boots into the sea at finisterre - I dunno what stopped me - the hand of St Jacques or just the fact my socks were minging and I thought 'throw them too'.
The socks have had a hard time. I bought two pairs for the walk. I took them both out for a stroll before leaving and handwashed them for practice.
Unfortunately I only took one pair with me the other pair are still on the radiator at home. That is the only thing I forgot. On the walk itself I have left nothing at any albergue or hotel. It's quite a feat for me. After a month you usually lose a towel, two pairs of socks and at least one t-shirt. Mind you there is time yet....
You've heard the shipping forecast
Muxia - It's called god's tears in Galicia
The big man must've heard I'm on my way. He thought he'd had it bad with some of the jokes Walid John and Iain have been telling but my impending arrival has sparked serious concern! It is just pishin' down here. I feel right at home. I get the 10.45 bus put to vimioanzo tomorrow and after that I go to la coruna. It's a really cool looking town and one I have wanted to visit since it started raining. I will either spend the night there and get a 7 hour bus to Santander where I meet stu off the ferry before flying home. The option is to the bus to Oviedo and stay in the ayre hotel there. It looks good and I deserve a treat - after walking all this distance and covering the last bit in the pouring rain you gotta think so. Staying in hotels has its fridge benefits. The heating is on so I can wash my clothes and they'll dry. I wanted to buy a new t - shirt but nothing caught the eye. Sorry, not nothing, there's a nice Galician beer, Estrella, that's caught the eye a few times of late, especially accompanied by pinchos.
The great thing about finisterre was how many pilgrims were celebrating together. It's a really fitting climax after a long journey. Many had started the full forty days and nights ago, made famous by Ali baba as well as Moses and a few others. Sometimes god speaks to these people, makes a change from me I guess!
Right next pub
Honest it's Spain not Blackpool
The Gallegos language is very similar to Gaelic - well insofar as I can't understand a word. Thankfully they think I'm German so I'm not letting down Scotia, too much. Reminds me of a story about Iain Saville and Tom Morrison at the excellent do held at the castle back around 2000. I ended up doing a sword dance with Ali from the Turkish stock exchange. He didn't speak Gaelic either but it might as well have been. While I was being ushered to the dance floor with my 'see you jimmy' hat, a disguise which was very fetching on Ali but didn't work quite so well with my complexion. Iain was busy regaling Jackie about how intelligent I apparently was. Knowing me better she merely confirmed she had seen me stacking a dishwasher, putting suitcases into cars and other feats of unexceptional worth, so she shared the same vision. Unfortunately they then had to share another vision which was my kilt sliding slowly down during the sword dance with Ali. Clearly the builders bum had the onlookers rushing for the bar and very dark shades as the audience vanished pretty quick.
They told me muxia is beautiful
One picture won't do it justice but electronics don't mix with rain so that's your tank for now
I am half sodden. The boots which I thankfully didn't leave on the rocks at finisterre (I wasn't walking bare feet back for my trainers) are soaking but not porous just yet
They have been worn down to a crust but are just holding out the water which is half an inch deep and flowing
The town drains down to the sea and I am in the way, well I was until I came indoors for a beer and pincho
Shrimp salad I think. I will take a picture although it's nearly done. Like the beer!
Sunday 20 October 2013
What a song - thank you Caitlin
I used to have the notion
I could swim the length of the ocean
If I knew you were waiting for me
So sang the only ones in 1979
I sang it on my way to finisterre and greeted like a bairn, priceless, my eyes had been a bit crusty, not now!
I could swim the length of the ocean
If I knew you were waiting for me
So sang the only ones in 1979
I sang it on my way to finisterre and greeted like a bairn, priceless, my eyes had been a bit crusty, not now!
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