Out and about in Galicia and Portugal.

 I have just returned from Porto after almost seeing a friend safely onto her plane home. Almost because in the event her plane was delayed (she had no luck in her travels this time - on the way out she was held up by French air-traffic controllers striking and going home by a technical fault) and so she saw me onto the bus to Vigo instead. 

We spent yesterday in Porto as her flight was leaving too early this morning for reasonable travel from Vigo to the Portuguese airport. And so my friend had pre-booked a hotel for an overnight stop. Mistakenly she booked a hotel in the Matosinhos district, thinking that she was booking a hotel in Gaia. On the internet page map she saw a bit of water near the location of the hotel and assumed it was the Douro. Therefore, in her eyes, the hotel was only a short distance from the old centre of Porto, instead of a forty minute metro ride away. This is what comes of being too impatient to check properly with a friend who just might know better. It all worked out fine in the end though. 

Having dumped our stuff at the hotel, we took the metro into the centre and took in the sights of Avenida Aliados and the Sãn Bento station with all its tiled pictures. I took her to the Livraria Lello, the amazing bookshop built in 1906 and still keeping all its old fittings and fixtures, with the addition now of a small coffee shop on the top floor. When I first visited it, maybe six or seven years ago, it was free. Now they charge €3 but you can redeem your entry charge buy buying something in the shop and having the €3 taken off the purchase price. I think that is a very clever ploy on their part: if 100 people visit, the shop makes €300 and many of those 100 will purchase something, if only to feel that they have got into the shop for free. And goodness knows how many people visit in a day! 

It was a baking hot day. Nonetheless, we walked miles around the city, stopping for ice-creams and other refreshments. The Luiz I bridge, built by Mr Eiffel, was admired again and we took the funicular so that we could walk along the top. There we were confronted by a different kind of beggar. A moderately respectable looking woman asked if we spoke French or English as, she said, she was not Portuguese. Her story was that she had bent her metro ticket and it would not work. Also her Swiss bank card was not accepted by the machines. Could we help her get back to the hotel? I gave her a little and made the mistake of asking her, "Ça vous suffit?" "Non", she replied, it was not enough. A few coppers more had to do! What a curious begging style. She almost sounded genuine but, on reflection, the blue metro card was a bit too crumpled! Imaginative use of he language skills though! As we walked on we were tempted to look back and see if she asked anyone else? 

The last time my friend visited, she came in August and it was high summer. For the last few years, May and June seem to have been year, June has been very Galician, with more than enough rainy days. So my friend had very poor weather for the first half of her visit but it finally improved for the weekend. Which was just as well, as we had booked tickets for the boat to the Islas Cîes. 

On the islands with my friend and an ex-student we both have in common, we trekked to the lower lighthouse, the Faro da Porta, oohing and aahing at the magnificent views. Up at the lighthouse, our young friend spotted a seagull's nest with chicks. That explained the noise the gulls had been making. They clearly did not want intruders. In fact, I suspect we were lucky to get away with noise. Sometimes gulls can be very aggressive when nesting. Then, as we walked down towards the beach, a young fledgling seagull walked across our path, followed by a concerned parent. We were all very impressed! 

On one of the information notices on the island, they reminded us that we should be respectful of the gulls. After all this is "territorio de la gaviota", which we would translate as "seagull territory". Once again their translator was just slightly off key. It was translated as "seagull's territory". Okay, I know I am pernickety about these things but it just doesn't sound right. I would have accepted "the seagull's territory" or "the seagulls' territory" but the form used made it sound as though there was ONE super-important bird whose name was Seagull. Ideally, I would just have said "seagull territory". There you go. 

On Sunday we took a bus to Baiona and visited the replica of the Pinta, one of the boats that Columbus (the famous Genovese Galician, born according to some in Poio, Pontevedra) took to the Americas. 27 sailors went on that little boat, which barely looks large enough for ten. In the "museum" on board, they told us about the Pinta and its sister ship the Niña but there was no mention the third boat, the Santa María. I asked why there not and found out that the Santa María never returned to Spain. There is always something to learn. 

We also walked around the very well preserved fortifications that surround the parador. This is quite a walk. My friend is not a great walker - some arthritis and circulation problems - but she insisted on continuing, as she did yesterday in Porto. She complained that she is developing leg muscles! Surely that is not bad thing! 

 Considering that we did Santiago in the rain on Wednesday and Pontevedra in the mixed sun and showers on Friday, I seem to have done more tourism in the last week than I have done in the last three years!