Arosa

Hello there to you all. Dave and I have reached Ria de Arosa, the largest of the Ria Baixas. We arrived last night just before the rain clouds but today is much brighter and warmer.

We are off to Santiago de Compostela today and will leave the boat in a marina, only the second we have visited. We seem to be quite self sufficient with all the “nice bits of kit” that Dave has had fitted before we left. Just need water really and the odd litre of fuel.

As for the computer….we have tried to get the laptop on line with little success so we are using internet cafes when we can. It’s a bit tricky as all the instructions are in Spanish and few folk speak English. But we are learning. We are leaving the phone on all the time now as there are no problems charging the batteries. If you want to call, feel free. You pay a local call, we think, and we pay 28p per minute so you win on costs.

10.07.02
Hi there mum. We are still here in the Ria de Arosa but we are now a little more organized, using the laptop to compile the emails and then going into the internet cafes to send and receive all the messages. I am quite excited now that we can keep in touch so easily. It is only 1.20Euros for an hour, which is going to be far cheaper than using the mobile phone even if we could get it sorted. Less of all the technical stuff though and down to the travelling.

Got a train to Santiago de Compostella yesterday, only half an hour away, very reasonable too, and spent a great day exploring. It was raining in the morning but soon cleared in the afternoon. The cathedral is fantastic as I told you on the postcard. Carvings and statues all over the outside and gold everywhere on the inside.

Pilgrims, looking more like tourists, queued to place their hands in finger spaces on a column at the entrance and then kissed the other side. Reminded me of when I
kissed the Blarney stone in Ireland. We took our part in the queue up to the altar and touched a silver scallop shell like everyone else and continued in the queue to the crypt where the tomb of St James the apostle (Santiago)is supposed to be resting behind a glass window and adorned in gold and sparkly bits. Quite fantastic.

Winding narrow streets along which we tried a Galician tradition, "churros con chocolate". I had read about it in the Lonely Planet but this was the first time we had seen them advertised in a café window. We ordered them and found out it must be Spanish for "Death by Chocolate." The hot chocolate is served in a tiny cup and tastes like pure melted milk chocolate and sugar. The churros are finger shaped deep fried doughnuts that you dip into the cup and eat. OOOF. Good job we only ordered a small one as that tiny cup was too small for the two of us. So much for the diet.

The town itself is picturesque, ancient but very lively as it is a university town.

All over Galicia there are reminders of witches, so we asked about their significance. A rare person
who spoke very good English explained that Galicians still believe that witches exist in the country and the mountains. They are women whose husbands have died and they are not allowed into the church so they have stayed away from the towns and use their knowledge of plants and herbs to make magic potions that cure ailments. We were assured that they do not practise black magic at all.

Perhaps I should try to find one and let them give me something for my travel sickness. Although so far with these patches I have had no travel sick problems whatsoever. The seas have been very calm though and we have picked our days carefully. Not having any time restraints has helped. The only thing I do notice is that my eyes dilate and continue to be dilated for a day after I have removed the patch. In bright sunlight that is quite uncomfortable and I find it hard to focus on anything close to, but as long as I wear my sun glasses I seem to be OK. Perhaps you could
ask if this is normal.

All our love, Pippa and Dave
PS Thanks for the glasses. The tall ones are being used far too often on board !!!!!!!