I ate breakfast this morning withTom the Dutchman, Fred the Brazilian (on the left), and Jacques the Swiss.
Tom was leaving us and said good-bye in front of the Cafe. He is riding his bike to Santiago from Porto, and back home from there. An avid cyclist, he will keep riding until he falls off his saddle. He told us that in Norway each year they close a motorway and give cyclists 24 hours to ride the 540 kilometres. He had done it in 22 hours. What enlightenment! Can you imagine closing down the 401 for a day?
Fred told the two old codgers to the right that because they were in the photo, they had to come on the Camino with us.
It was a glorious day of long, rambling conversations along long, rambling paths. What did we learn from each other?
Fred is a computer scientist and explained to us how to share photos on our iPhones. Jacques is a retired agricultural teacher. He could sniff out a cow from some distance away. I was able to explain the difference between the Simple Past tense and the Past Perfect.
I learned a lot about Brazilian politics and culture. Fred maintained that the Brazilians would have preferred to have been a British rather than a Portugese colony, because they traced their current corruption back to their former colonial masters. From Jacques I learned the interesting meanings of the word "cul".
Jacques wanted to know the meaning of the word "amazing". He had heard it used by various Anglophones along the way. We discussed the etymology of "amazing" and "astonishing", noting that one had a French equivalent, but the other didn't. I suggested that he could coin the word "labyrinthant".
We ventured into the forest, and soon we could hear the rushing of a stream. It is a sound not unlike the roaring of the surf, but higher in pitch even as it increases in volume. Soon we came to a narrow stone path across the stream, which had now become much wider. I immodestly give you a picture of me, standing "like a Colossus" on the bridge.
We took photos of one another in turn as lines of cyclists crossed the bridge, interrupting our poses and forcing us to precariously step aside. I doubt if I have ever seen so many cyclists at once before. I learned later that it was a public holiday (Corpus Christi) and everybody was out.
For the most part, the way passes by the parish churches, and not being a fan of garish baroque I give most of these a miss, but the church of S. Tiago at Castelo de Neiva was interesting. During the restoration of the church in 1931, they had found a dedication to Santiago dated 862 A.D. Unfortunately, an altar had been built in front of it.
The altar has a bit of everything: Jesus on the cross, the two thieves, the Virgin pierced with eight arrows, and the sinners in hell looking longingly upwards as flames consume their flesh (If I give up my worldly pleasures, then those who don't had better bloody well be punished!)
Then we came to a cemetery surrounded by Eucalyptus trees.
In the shade of Aussie gums
Not koalas, but cadavers,
Rest 'til Kingdom comes.
It was a long 21 kms, "Nous marchons comme les senateurs," said Jacques. What an apt expression!. But it was a good day, a real hike along rocky paths though woods and hills. And then a stretch along the highway across a kilometre-long bridge built by Eiffel, and into the tourist town of Viano do Castelo.
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