A Santiago voy, caminando ....

Back in the day, when I was a schoolgirl just beginning to learn Spanish, I had to memorise a little rhyme which went like this:

A Santiago voy, caminando,
Y con mi paragüitas
Por si la lluvia está mojando.

(I’m off to Santiago, along the road,
And with my little brolly
Just in case the rain is making me wet.)

And now I am once again off to Santiago de Compostela, not on the camino, but to see Bruce Springsteen. Some friends of ours have come from England, OK to see us as well, but also to see The Boss at the Monte de Gozo (Mount of Joy – what a wonderful name) auditorium in the outskirts of Santiago.

Our friends, Chris and Dee, came by car and ferry from the North of England to Santander and then on to Vigo. Here is a transcript of our text messages during the Santander to Vigo stage of the journey on Thursday (of special interest to those who have been fined by the police recently):

Chris: Half an hour out of Santander on the Auto via Cantabria- Meseta.

Me: Wondered where you were up to. Sunshine here. Safe journey. Wise man Phil says to be sure to have change for the motorway tolls.

Chris: Spot of lunch in Leon.

Me: ¡Que aprovechéis! Guten appetit! Bon appétit! Oh, you get the message.

Chris: Back on the road.

Me: Bonne route!

Chris: Coffee break. About 260 kms to go.

Me: Excellent travelogue this. E.T.A.?

Chris: 6/6.30-ish, though we’ll probably get lost a couple of times when we come off the motorway and try to find you! It’s 30° C up here!

Me: Where are you at the moment?

Chris: No idea! A service place off the A 52.

Me: Fine, just so long as you are on the right road.

Chris: Aye, we just saw the sign and pulled off. We had a bit of an adventure getting out of Leon and ended up on a dirt track briefly but were soon back on track.

Me: Do you have sat. nav.?

Chris: No.

Me: Text again when close. Are you coming into Vigo from the North or the East?

Chris: East. And a bit later now as we got stopped by police for not stopping completely at a STOP sign when heading back to m’way, though there was nothing coming! Dee is not a happy bunny!

ME: Hope they didn’t fine you. Watch speed too. V. keen on speed fines here. Do you know the road number you are coming into Vigo on?

Chris: They did – 105 euros! Coming in on A 52, then E-1/AP-9AM and finally A55.

Me: Uh oh! Bit steep! They also fine drivers on mobiles. Thanks for info. Phil is plotting route to us. Drive safe.

Chris: OK. Be a while yet though.

Me: OK. Follow A52 into Vigo to roundabout with huge horses statue. Take exit 3 - big road called Gran Vía. Look for us outside El Corte Inglés store.

Chris: 137 kms to go!

Me: Keep it up!

Chris: Of course!

Chris: 64 kms to go!

Chris: 25 kms to go!

Chris: Coming into Vigo on N120.

That’s when we had to go to speech instead of text. Of course Chris and Dee missed the turn onto Gran Vía and ended up parked on Venezuela where we went and found them. Then we had to navigate our way through the one way system back to our place and into the garage space that we never use – the great adventure of finding the allocated spot in the depths of the garage. But at last all was well. A long drive but with scenery to make it well worth the trouble.

And tomorrow we head off for Santiago de Compostela where the Monte do Gozo auditorium is being spruced up for the Boss and where they await the arrive of his stage in about fourteen trucks! Reports say he has been wowing them in Bilbao, Benidorm, Sevilla and Valladolid so we hope he has a voice left by the time he gets to Galicia.

Apparently some 70 000 extra people are expected to pour into Santiago this weekend – pilgrims of a different kind! It seems that planes from just about all other Spanish airports that fly to Santiago are fully booked. Extra trains are being laid on. We’ll set off early to avoid traffic jams. Thank heavens we booked hotel rooms weeks ago.

Watch this space for reports of the concert. Meanwhile, we are working on a dream!