Camino de Santiago

I have delayed this post because there are too many things to share... But we eat an elephant one bite at a time, no?

I am sitting on a comfy bed in Vigo, Spain right now and it's been a few days since I arrived, enjoyed, and departed from Santiago.

What did we do upon arrival? We cried. I think each of us shed at least one tear.

Then we attended to logistics, because that's what you do when the day's walk is done. For me it was checking into a slightly overpriced but very pleasant little hotel near the Cathedral.

Then we celebrated with food.

I've been anticipating delicious seafood for weeks while enjoying "pilgrim fare" that was sometimes great yet often monotonous. Seafood is something about which I am passionate, and Santiago de Compostella has a well deserved reputation for excellence in this arena.

1st lunch was ok. Some steamed stuff. I don't think I even took pictures (hunger and mediocre presentation)... But while seated I noticed a small sign over a busy door and intuition told me: "Go"

Petiscos do Cardeal is the real deal. Fantastic food, friendly service, tasty wine. My mouth is watering now at the memory! Bruce and I dug into 2nd lunch with gusto, and I invited friends. Parker, Theresa, and Bridget joined quickly. As we gluttonously enjoyed the fare and the experience, Jamie, Klara, and Jayne found us and we all had a few laughs around plates of ultrafresh, perfectly prepared delights from the sea.

That meal wound down in time for everyone to get some rest or shopping or showers taken care of and then several of us reunited on the main Plaza to find (1st?) Dinner.

Fate and our keen sense of culinary adventure led many of us to find the rest of us at a cute little street front restaurant called Lume.

Lume does not have a star (yet) but is in the Michelin Guide and with good reason. It was one if the best dinners I have had in years.

The highlight for me was a mind-bendingly delicious "Salpicon acevichado" dish of scorpionfish with mussels in a tomatillo lime marinade. I make a *lot* of ceviche, and I am damn good at it. This redefined my idea of how good ceviche can be.

I'll add dish descriptions to the photos... Each was fantastic amd there were 6? 7? Courses with perfect country-style bread and delicious local wine. We spent about two hours enjoying dusk, excellent company, and wonderful service. The price was so low I'm reluctant to share.... I would have happily paid double and still it would have been less than many "that was good" meals I have purchased in California.

We wrapped the evening by sitting in a square behind the cathedral, sipping drinks with a fluid cast of various friends we had made along the Way while listening to five Spanish men sip wine and play string-instruments. Because apparently that is what they do until 2AM every now and then. The music was beautiful, the acoustics magical, the cathedral bells accompanied the songs regularly... And when they rang a second time after two the party wound to a close for this happily exhausted traveller.

I strolled through mostly-empty streets to find my comfy rest, alternately grinning and whistling Asturias.Read more