Today was going to be a big activity day. We were off to the “Coast of Death” where stone crosses on the shore mark lost ships. First though, we visited an establishment in Muxo that was the last traditional Conger Eel dryer in the world. The European Union had decided, in their infinite wisdom, that the many centuries' way of drying eels was not healthy.
The Camino de Santiago is is a network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. The scallop shell is a symbol of the Camino, it's lines representing the different routes that pilgrims travel from all over the world. By the 1980's there were only about a couple of hundred registered pilgrims a year. Currently that number has swelled to about 200,000 pilgrims a year. The different routes are mostly through Spain, France and Portugal, all with varying distances. I think the longest distance is about 500 miles. I am rather excited because I am going to walk the Camino but alas, I shall only be a segment hiker. I think the segment that I will be walking will be about five blocks.
Today we walked from the hotel over to the other side of the harbor where we met with a local woman who was going to teach us the art of clam digging. I can't remember her name but she was the head of an all-woman cooperative. Well, they billed themselves all all-women but there are currently 240 women and 18 men in this cooperative. We went to her house where she had us put plastic bags over our socks and then put us in big rubber boots. Each of us received a rake and we were off to the harbor to search for clams.
We checked out of our hotel in Vigo and drove two estuaries up the coast to Cambados where we were picked up by a small fishing boat. Perhaps I should say that it was a retired fishing boat because it is now used as an educational field trip type of boat. The Captain was very jovial and took us out to look at the mussel nurseries.
I think of this day as the official start of our tour. Maybe it was because right after breakfast, they loaded us up on a bus to start the day's adventures. Buses sort of make it official. It is interesting how on the first bus ride, everybody finds a seat and for the rest of the tour, that is pretty much your seat. I tried to change it up a bit, but found that the first seat I selected was actually the most perfect one.
I am in Spain to do a food tour with Culinary Backstreets. Culinary Backstreets is a company that does food tours all around the world. This particular food tour is in Galicia (said Ga-lee-thee-a). Galicia is an area in northwest Spain and known for it's seafood, Albarino wine and bagpipes.
My hotel, the Petit Palace Boqueria Garden is a boutique hotel located only a couple of steps away from La Rambla, the most well-known street in Barcelona. La Rambla is a pedestrian street that is very popular with the tourists. There are restaurants, souvenir shops and those people who dress up as statues and do not move hoping for some Euros to be thrown their way. Turn your back on La Rambla and you are in the Gothic Quarter, with many small streets opening into squares. It is like a labyrinth, easy to get lost in. Ask me how I know!
