Ribadiso Albuergue
8 October 2019
This Tuesday in Arzua is Féria! It happens on the 8th and 22nd of each month. It’s kind of a festival market. Our American Pilgrims on the Camino contact person, Annie who is an American who lives in Santiago, said we should go and experience it because it’s part of the Spanish culture. And so we did. We took a cab into Azura and had the driver drop us at the Féria.
It was a rainy day but the Féria goes on. It takes place from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. It was huge and far bigger and much more than I anticipated. There were countless vendors who sell housewares …
… lots of clothing …
… hardware …
… underwear …
… plants …
… cheese …
… many types of salted fish …
… Meat …
… really good bread …
… fruits and vegetables …
… hooves …
… this is a bit gross for me. I don’t think it’s a Halloween mask … and there is so much more that can be found at the Féria. I think this is where the locals do much of their shopping. Whether they need a winter jacket, a frying pan, a rake or whatever. There are no big department stores near here. I was told that the vendors move from town to town and it’s a regular schedule for them.
There is a covered area with tables and benches where they serve lunch. We had some pulpo (octopus) and wine. The wine comes in a pitcher and you drink it from a bowl … that is the traditional way of drinking this particular kind of wine.
They also serve charcuterie which is an assortment of grilled meat. The ribs were awesome. We took a lot of leftovers home with us. The cost was far less expensive than if we had eaten in a restaurant and the quality was exceptional.
This is the grill they cook the charcuterie on. Needless to say, we filled up on protein and wine … it was so hard to stay awake in the afternoon.
The First Pilgrim Today is Ken from Taiwan. It was rainy and cold so I hung out in the Albuergue’s pilgrim’s kitchen for awhile. Ken was making rice.
Pilgrim of the Day: Marie from Stockholm, Sweden — Marie is a retired flight attendant from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). She’s flown internationally and everywhere else. She lives in Valencia, Spain in a house her mother owns. This is her first camino and she is in no hurry and will be taking her time to finish.
Around 5:00 pm, Terry and I headed for our cottage. The heavy meat filled lunch had done us in. We both zonked out and had a nice nap. We skipped dinner. Around 7:30 I went over to Meson Rural to do some blogging. A woman asked if she could sit at my table. Of course I welcomed this pilgrim to join me.
It was Helen from Ireland and she was charming and blessed with the gift to gab. I knew there would be no blogging so I folded up my iPad and listened. She had been walking alone so I understand she may have needed to connect with someone. We talked about so many things such as Fungi the Dingle Dolphin. I told her how David and I traveled around Ireland in the late 80s and how I liked the Dingle peninsula and the Dingle Dolphin who I assumed would no longer be around. She assured me that Fungi the Dingle Dolphin is still alive but very old. He’s not as active but he is still entertaining visitors. We talked a lot about Northern Ireland.
It was fascinating to hear Helen’s take on the Catholic Church today. She said they are the McDonalds for Catholics and only interested in their numbers and income. She also told me about the smoke test they do on new housing in Ireland to test how well a house is sealed. They fill the house with some type of harmless smoke. The inspector stands outside and watches to see if it seeps out. The house is then rated. The conversation went on and on. I finally excused myself and headed back to the cottage. Helen stayed around for last call which takes place around 9:15 pm.
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Jane in Spain 