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Sanxenxo, Galicia, Spain, November 5, 2006
We have just spent a couple of days in the Rias Baixas, an area of Galicia near the Portuguese border. After the Camino de Santiago and the resulting pain in my knees and back (even a light backpack gets heavy when you're walking more than 20 kms. per day!), we decided to rest a few days at the beach. Sanxenxo (what a great name! San-SHEN-Sho) is a small town that, in the summer, transforms into a very busy resort town. Now, however, nearly everything is closed and there are few people around. There is definitely a positive side to this, though, as we had the beautiful Praia de Silgar, with its fine white sand and clear waters, nearly to ourselves. On this excellent beach we watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.

It was really good to rest a bit, as I've gotten slightly ill more than I expected. The food here -- or better, the way of eating -- has been more difficult to get used to than I anticipated. People eat a lot of meat, and generally neither rice nor salad to accompany it. Also, a lot of the food is fried. We ordered “churrasco” at a restaurant on the Camino, and instead of being grilled, it was a pan fried piece of veal that made me sick to my stomach for days after eating it. Another thing is that there are defined times for eating that we're not necessarily aware of. The other night I ordered a pizza at 7:50 p.m., and the lady at the restaurant acted like it was absurd that I didn't know that the time for pizza begins at 8 p.m.!

Galicia has been great, but in a few minutes we're moving on to Portugal, which we're sure will be quite different and very exciting! Check back for more later! -- Andy