In Santiago!

Pilgrims queuing in the rain, outside the pilgrims office in Santiago de Compostala for their certificates to say they had completed the Camino

Judy in the rain outside Santiago Cathedral

Even though Lugo is on the map above with the Camino line going through it, it isn’t actually on the Camino Frances (French Camino) route that we were walking. So we weren’t going to be visiting Lugo on this trip. Ironically, we have ended up spending more time in Lugo than anywhere else in Spain.

The city was originally founded by the Romans around about 2000 years ago. They left a few lasting legacies, including a bridge, Roman baths and a beautifully preserved (or perhaps very well restored) City Wall which goes right around the city centre. I’ve been fascinated by this wall since we arrived here, and have spent a lot of time walking around its perimetre, walking on top of it, going through its gates and up & down its stairs. For someone who comes from such a young country as Australia, it’s amazing to see something so old AND in such good condition.

The Romans left their mark in other ways too – one of the small plazas in the city was probably the site of the original forum, and the cathedral was built over the foundations of 2 earlier basilicas.

This post is a work in progress – will post more when I get time

It’s not something one normally regards as an essential, or even an optional, travel accessory, particularly when luggage is limited to what can be carried in a 50 litre backpack. We acquired it in Leon so that we could soak our sore, tendonitis-ridden feet in cold water when we stopped for lunch and at the end of the day.

We had originally got a round blue tub, but it was a bit too small for Greg’s feet, and even though the pink tub was larger, being rectangular meant it was easier to fit in his rucksack and carry.

Of all the things we tried for our feet – adhesive strapping, voltaren tablets and ointment, shoe inner soles cut to support the arches of our feet – I think that soaking them in cold water for at least 10 minutes was the most beneficial. When we did it at lunchtime, our feet felt like they had in the morning before we had walked 10 or 15 kms.

That pink tub had other uses as well – we did our washing in it because it held more water and clothes than little hotel bathroom sinks, and when Greg got sick … well, that’s what he got sick in. It saved him a few dizzy dashes down the hall to the communal bathroom.

I lost track of the pink tub at the hospital – trying to keep an eye on our 2 backpacks and Greg was about as much as I could manage at the time. I hope that tub has found a new home somewhere nice, and that its new owner appreciates it as much as we did!

Soaking my feet in the pink tub