Galicia
Santiago de Compostela: intense heat for a very
cool town
Extremely
hot in Galicia. Portugal endured a forest fire tragedy with 60 deaths on a
roadway occurred a few days before we arrived in Santiago. The people attempted
to escape a fire in a forest eucalyptus forest and the flames engulfed their
vehicles.
The
Costa Vella staff provided us with a rotating fan. Our room looks over the back
garden, a great feature, and we can hear breakfast diners down below. In the
afternoon, especially on these scorching conditions, people sip drinks down
below. Reed and I had a beer in the “jardin” and it is truly a beautiful spot.
The room has a ceiling fan but the fan is not over the bed, but closer to the
windows looking out over the garden—not too helpful in the middle of the night.
Reed
and I hiked around town on a mission to find Vide Vide wine shop and eventually found our way there. I bought a
Galicia Wine Regions map but left the map in Sada where it sits curled up in a
corner of the house. Reed inquired about local wines but the wine merchant’s
limited English limited the value of their discussion.
One
benefit of the hike to the wine shop was the discovery of Dezaseis, (dezaseis meand #16 in gallego language, its address on
San Pedro street) our restaurant for the evening. The restaurant had good
proximity to our hotel and not too far afield from Mama Peixe, but slightly apart from the tourist hustle and bustle
closer to the cathedral of Santiago.
Reed
anticipated the visit and read the reviews for the restaurant. In retrospect
Reed recalled the Dezaseis restaurant
feeling in very positive terms. I believe his fond feelings were connected to
the culinary experience. I had a good lamb dish at Dezaseis but I remember two events much more vividly than the food.
One event occurred on the way to Dezaseis where we arrived slightly early and
the other related to an interaction with fellow customers at the restaurant.
Incident
#1 occurred when we went to a tapas bar immediately across the street. The bar
had an earthy feel, something akin to the bars I recall from my visit to Spain
in 1963. We were immediately given some pulpo, as I recall, a generous portion
and something of an appetite spoiler for the meal ahead. We drank Estrella
Galicia, the beer preferred across all of northern Spain. A large, extended
family ambled in at about that time and spread across an area near the entrance
of the bar. They even had a few toddlers. They settled in with drinks and the
bar proprietor chatted with them. As Reed and I drank, a barmaid brought more
food to us. In anticipation of the Dezaseis meal we had to decline the generous
offer. I like the no-frills quality of the bar and the generous spirit extended
to customers.
Incident
#2 occurred inside the Dezaseis
restaurant when we were seated next to a friendly couple we recognized from the
afternoon meal at Mama Peixe. They
had extended pleasantries with us at our first encounter. They had a nice
warmth, probably our age or older and seemed prosperous and experienced
travelers. They had a slight accent when speaking English. Reed, as he had done
in Paris, told the waiter he wanted to treat the couple to dessert and be sure
to put the charge on our bill. Once told of Reed’s intention the couple became
super animated and friendly. My main recollection was they were from Israel,
had grandchildren there and were continuing their trip to the United States and
up to Alaska. Again, I was stunned to see such happiness and openness be
inspired by Reed’s act of generosity. And, I’m not sure they ever ordered
dessert. I saw no charge on our bill. I like the atmosphere of Dezaseis. You walk downstairs into the
restaurant producing a cave-like effect. During this heat wave the move
downstairs seemed to cool things down. We had a good view of the bar area and
the restaurant has lively movement to it, a kind of chic ambience but in a
relaxed, provincial setting where things are less charged and urbane. I can see
why it has a great reputation, recommended by Rick Steves, the ultimate
recommendation for a restaurant to receive.
A
few quick memories of the streets of Santiago:
1) We met Elode, a young
French woman, a teacher of English as a Second Language. She ate breakfast and
jotted notes in a journal in the Costa Vella garden. We recognized her later
that day on the cobblestone streets and Reed invited her to join us at Dezaseis
that evening. She didn’t show up—but as we got close to our hotel later that
evening Reed spied her having a drink with a young man closer to her age than
us. He couldn’t resist, stepped into the bar and greeted her.
2) Reed got short-changed by
a vegetable vendor in the Santiago de Compostela marketplace. He realized she
gave him 20 centavos back on 1 ½ euro purchase of plums, instead of the 50
centavos due him. He wrestled with whether to confront her over such a trifling
amount. The way she reacted, grumbling under her breath but giving him the
money quickly so other customers would not overhear, made it obvious she knew
what she had done.
3) I bought a series of
brightly colored postcards, each with a drawing of a local town or city on
front. I bought them because I like the sound of their names, all of them
recognizable from my Mom’s talking about them. I mailed them out but will list
the municipalities here. And I learned the Spanish word for envelope-- sobre:
a. Vigo
b. Pontevedra
c. Lugo
d. A Coruna
e. Ourense
f. Santiago de Compostela
Other
good news is that my blog suddenly achieved a but of hits—and uptick for
johntheoreport. My entry entitled “Barcelona: Gaudi’s Vision provides a break
from Gargoyles” sparked some interest.
I’m talking modest numbers compared to Justin Bieber and the
Kardashians. I got 63 hits in a day and over 200 for the week. Viva Gaudi!
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