I've seen Compostela a couple of times before, including the swinging massive thurible at the Pilgrims' Mass in the Cathedral.  So, I wasn't too bothered about doing all the usual end-of-Camino things on my rest day on Tuesday.  I was staying in an Airbnb apartment a little out of town, which was very a la mode, mezzanine  bed area, and comfortable.  There was a nice grocery store across the road and a lovely cafe and restaurant just down the street, where I had two dinners and my breakfasts !  I am a habit of creature, especially when I find somewhere that I like.  I was tired, so I slept a lot, and I took some time to catch up with personal admin. laundry and a bit of bike maintenance.  Also, catching up with this blog.  On Tuesday afternoon I walked up to the Cathedral and the square and looked at and watched the pilgrims / visitors, all types, shapes and differences.  Interesting time people watching.

My ride on Wednesday 27th September was south on to the Portuguese Camino route, which starts in Lisbon and goes through Porto to Compostela.  I will be doing it in the wrong direction, north to south.  I was surprised to see so many people walking this route, perhaps not as many as on the French route, but still considerable numbers of people passing by.  No doubt driven by the same motivation and energies as I have seen over the last week on the French Camino.

The ride to O Porrino (with a little squiggle over the n) was very much up and down, initially down from Compostela, but then up over some mountain / hill ridges, at least twice, if not three times.  I just put myself in automatic mode when going up inclines, and then enjoy the freewheeling down and cooling off.  I notice that the Spaniards are planting lots of eucalyptus trees.  Very abundantly.  Why ?  They are not indigenous to the Iberian Peninsular, I think they are Australian.  So, why are they keen on planting them here ?

O Porrino isn't much to write home about, but I had a great bed sit apartment which met all my needs, including being able to take in my bike for security.  That's always an important consideration.  Self-check in properties with key codes etc make it easier to do that with all the fuss of asking. What they don't see they don't worry about.  I'm still smarting from the Santander experience where I was charged 15 euro for the keeping of my bike in some downstairs store room ! My Booking.com review - I did not hold back !!  

I ate at an Italian place in O Porrino, which was very authentic and acceptable.  As I was about to leave at 10 pm a group of young Spaniards, late teens/ early twenties, sat down and ordered and ate.  All very civilised and normal here.  Youngsters go out and eat together, no fuss, no misbehaviour, just pleasant socialising and eating.  Very different from Broad Street in Brum where all you see is drunk overweight  white girls showing off their chubby midriff with early onset cellulite on their bovine legs as they teeter down the road on their stiletto heels, in company  with drunken - either lardy or scrawny - white lads, shouting, swearing on their way to another Five Guys hamburger and chips..   Spaniards learn to eat as families, and appreciate eating food together and spending time at the table.  We have lost that.  It's all take aways, snacking and grazing, and not knowing how to cook, or eat a proper meal. Fat is the new normal.  I guess most of those girls on Broad Street don't even think they are fat.  Problems for the future and all the associate health issues. . And I don't buy all the rationalisation that goes on about poverty, or opportunity as the reason for their bad diets. They have enough time and enough money to spend on Pina Coladas and Jack Daniels and Coke, or whatever they consume in vast quantities.  If they wanted to, they could spend their money on a proper and healthy diet. In great part it  has to do with upbringing, lack of interest, lack of horizons, and being limited in their aspirations for a healthy and decent life. Parents, schools, and the general culture of the UK are in great part to blame, I fear.  Telling, isn't it, that I haven't seen one drunk, misbehaving, swearing Spaniard in the last week.  Any day of the week I can walk down Broad Street and see it. Oh dear, I am getting old, judgmental and crotchety.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is crossing in to Portugal.