2012-10-06 Saturday

2012-10-06 Saturday

Palas de Rey / Ribadiso de Baixo 

Camino day 29: Today's segment is 26 Km. 

The seven of us (Terry, Nancy, Paulo, Jeovan, Gunther, Adela and I) met for breakfast and departed at 0815. 

The first opportunity for a coffee break was only 8.5 Km from Palas. During our break I called Carmen's  cousin in Melide, saying that we would be there shortly after noon, we agreed that I would call again when I get to the city. When I first posted in Facebook that I was doing the Camino, my friend Carmen insisted that I stop in Melide, the ancestral home of her parents, and visit with her relatives. She contact her cousin, Susito, and he said he would be waiting for us. Both of Carmen's parents were born in Melide and later immigrated to Brazil. 

Pigeon house

Jorge, Jeovan, Erico

Gunther and Erico, taking a break on an old bridge

All along this Camino I have been telling my companions that we would be stopping either for lunch or dinner in Melide, to see Carmen's relatives and to have a feast of octopus, Melide is famous for that. Today I reminded them again that we would have a long break for lunch, that I was looking forward to meeting Carmen's cousin, and to eat the famous octopus ("pulpos" in Spanish.) Gunther and Jeovan could not get a place in the little village we are staying tonight, so they will have to walk 3 Km beyond our destination, and decided not want to stop for lunch and keep going. Anyways, Gunther is vegetarian and would not eat pulpos. Terry also said he would not eat octopus, he finds the suction cups disgusting.

When we arrived in Melide we stopped at a bar, and I called Susito again. While we were waiting for Susito to arrive, Nancy and Terry pulled sandwiches from their packs and started eating. I assumed that it was their way of saying they no way they were having pulpos. Susito arrived a few minutes later, greeting us warmly, and he took us to his favorite "pulperia," a restaurant specializing in "pulpos," octopus. He was known to everyone in there, and he knew everybody by name. Right at the entrance of the restaurant there was the octopus cooking station and to Terry's horror, the guy cooking the octopus pulled a huge one from the pot to show it to us. He snipped off a tentacles and cut samples for us to taste, Terry refused. When the guy, surprised, asked why, Paulo explained that Terry did not like the idea of eating the suction cups. 

Delicious Pulpo from Melide

We went in and were seated at a long table, and Susito took control, ordering the pulpos and the local young red wine, which we drank mixed with sparkling water. The pulpos were the best I have ever eaten, soft and tasty. Susito told me that they are cooked with just salt water and olive oil for 4-5 hours. Nancy tasted a few, but Terry took a pass and asked for a beer. Paulo, Susito, and I were enjoying the pulpos when the waiter came with a plate of something that looked like little white disks. Susito asked what was that, that he did not order it, and the waiter said it was sent by the cook, after some back and forth between Susito and the waiter he burst into laughter, the cook had removed the skin and suction cups from a few tentacles, cut them up, and sent them over for Terry! We all doubled over laughing. Poor Terry had no choice, but to try them, he proceeded to do it as someone takes a pill, he put one disk in his mouth and gulped it down with beer, we doubted he even chewed it! One more story for the Camino, this moment was retold over and over by us over drinks, for the rest of the Camino.

Pulpo

Pulpo without suction cups, for Terry

Paulo, Terry, Nancy, Erico and Susito

Susito and Adele

Erico and Susito drinking with orujo blanco

Susito was distraught that Terry and Nancy were not eating anything and wanted to order other foods for them, but they were full, having just finished their sandwiches. Susito ordered a fresh local cow cheese and marmalade, for desert, it was delicious. Then it was time for the after meal drinks, he insisted that we  tried the restaurant's house made liquor made of grapes, "Orujo blanco", it's just like the Italian grappa, it's 60 proof fire water, and it's served ice cold like vodka. Terry and Nancy excused themselves and took off, saying they were tired and there was still 10Km to go, but Susito held Paulo and I back. After a couple of rounds of "orujo blanco," Paulo made the mistake of saying that he also liked the other kind of orujo, the "orujo con yervas," made with local herbs; Susito immediately ordered a bottle, we had a few more rounds for everybody.  We were having a grand time, Susito was a great host, but we still had 10Km to go that day; when we had just  managed to convince Susito that we needed to go, in walked Ruth, the German woman friend of Gunther's, and she stopped by our table to say hello. Susito asked us if she was our friend, we said yes, and he immediately invited her to sit at our table, saying that our friends are also his friends. She joined us, declined the wine, but accepted a beer; we tried to leave, but Susito insisted that we drink another round of "yervas" while Ruth drank her beer, saying that we could not let a lady drink alone. Ruth speaks Spanish fluently, she teaches Spanish in a German high school, and we all had a lively conversation. Finally, we managed to pry ourselves from Susito's enthusiastic hospitality, and hit the road at full speed. Susito is a great guy, fun to be with, a great host, we enjoyed tremendously our lunch together. 

The last 10 Km that day was a bit of a blur. We were walking fast, full of pulpos, wine, and orujo. Oh, and carrying our backpacks.

Girl's band animating a church "fiesta" in the outskirts of Melide

We really walked fast, because we cough up with Terry and Nancy about 2Km from our destination, we arrived dead tired at around 1700 and checked in at our hostal, the Complexo La Cabana. Terry said that today was his most demanding day of the Camino, he had never felt this tired before. 

After dinner, Paulo and I were in the hostal lounge, checking email and waiting for our laundry to finish, when in came two your woman that are staying at the albergue side of the Complexo, and we started talking, they are from Romania. One is an electronics engineer and project manager at a mobile phone company, the other is a shaman. That's the second one I meet on the Camino! Both are part of a large group of Romanian pilgrims, organized by a tour company, they started the walk in Sarria. The shaman's feet were full of blisters, maybe she does not have the power to heal herself.