Road Trip Extraordinaireo

Yep, Gonzalo picked me up late morning and we headed for the hills on another perfect day of about 26 degrees, blue sky and sunshine glowing above.

We made a stop on the way to visit his family’s country home, where he showed me the veggie patch and the batch of grapes that are fermenting in the wine vat. He turned them over with a big pitch fork thingy and then we went out, past the storage room (where I tasted some of the rose wine) to the pérgola by the front door which is laden with grapevines, and he picked a few bunches to take with us. We stood on the step eating grapes and spitting the skins and pips out just as I used to do with my dad when I was little.

What a lucky girl I am to have these adventures!

Heading back along the highway, we stopped at a servo for lunch and finally got to Trabadello mid afternoon where Susi and Fermin were busy greeting pilgrims to their albergue.

I didn’t have my credential with me so I tattood my arm with their stamp instead

We wandered down to the backyard past their veggie patch to the river and relaxed immediately into the country life. “How’s the serenity?” I thought. Hahaha (another Aussie joke). The house is beautiful and susi’s artistic flare is obvious in every room. They have done a great job setting it up and it radiates warmth and welcoming love to all their pilgrim visitors.

We chatted a while as Fermin chopped the ingredients for dinner and Susi stirred a pot on the stove. It was so homely and relaxing.

After this we were shepherded to the table downstairs and feasted on homemade Chimichurri, risotto with mushrooms and black truffle, then some melon sorbet! OMG! The woman is a superchef!

Next morning, we waited for all the pilgrims to leave and took a few photos outside, then hit the road again.

You may think this blog is done! But wait….there is more!

Heading back to Santiago, we decided to stop at Sarria for a coffee and watch the pilgrims in town. The sun thawed out our bones from the morning chill and it was lovely just sitting outside and relaxing. We got back in the car and headed towards Portomarin but stopped off on the way to visit another place that is usually flooded but as it hasn’t rained we could wander under the bridge and around the ruins of an old ?church and ?graveyard. We both had a creepy feeling and I was left wondering what had happened there in the past….a battle maybe? It looked like a movie set for Narnia or Lord of the Rings

So then we moved on to Portomarin and as the river was virtually dried up, we could see the remains of the village that they flooded many years ago. Last time I was there, the water was deep and black!

Lunch stop at Palas de Reí in a fantastic restaurant and we gorged ourselves on grilled veggies, salad and octopus. Great little place with a vegetarian menu as well.

Back in the car and a visit to the Castelo de Pambre nearby….crumbling ruins but still interesting.

Found this spider that looked like it had the Knight’s Templar Cross on it’s back!

Gosh! What a day! Exhausted but happy and relaxed!