Thursday, 5/23. Not much to see here that we haven’t already seen. Unusual church. Terrain on the way here was sorta Arizona with centuries of development and agriculture. Lots of castles in the distance. Highway is remarkably modern.

Anticipating the end of this leg. Looking ahead to Egypt. Yoriko’s looking ahead to home cooking.

No photos. Next report will be on Sunday.

Wednesday, 5/22. Drove over the Pyrenees. First was a little jog along the last 35 kilometers of the 14th stage of the 2019 Tour de France, up Col du Tourmalet, site of the highest paved road in the Pyrenees. It’s a big deal on the Tour. Set your calendar to watch on July 20th. Absolutely stunning views. We did it fairly early in the morning so there was hardly any traffic, which was good for my stress level. Some of the road does not appear truly two-way. Getting over the top was over in a heartbeat, so we didn’t stop. There wasn’t formal parking lot. Both sides offer lots of skiing, but neither seem to have warmed to the summer mountain biking generation. Ghost towns in May. One lone hairy donkey.

The day was mostly on local roads. I am 1) tired of roundabouts (“At the roundabout, take the (1st/2nd/3rd) exit.”), and 2) very tired of standard transmission (in cars). The drive seemed to take forever. Arrived in Andorra de Ville without mishap though. Beautiful modern tunnel. Very new pretty buildings everywhere, hugging cliffs. Ultra-fancy shopping “mile” with buildings that hid the mountains (no rooftop bars!). Very few souvenir shops, unless your idea of souvenirs include perfumes, watches sunglasses or booze. High prices. The high hills surrounding the town reminded me of Deadwood South Dakota, on a ridiculously more garish level. For a country famous for physical activity, a lot of smoking. Sort of disappointing. I was expecting Sound of Music, I got Devil Wears Prada.

Anyway, added one more country to my list (39). Overall, a scenic wonderland.

Tuesday, 5/21. Nearly errorless navigation today. Lots of tolls though. Great roads. While entering France we merged with what must be a major highway for transportation. Incredible number of trucks. Our route quickly diverged, happily.

San Sebastian is what everyone has described. Friendly and vibrant. Massive number of tapas restaurants, all opening at noon. Far greater number per block than anywhere else. Yoriko had a tapas of bread topped with large mushrooms. Heaven. Beautiful view from the top of the opposing hill which can be reached by a funicular. We were too early for it, so I drove the narrow, winding, under repairs road to the top. The children’s park at the top was closed, but it was still interesting. A few hours in the city was far too few.

For some reason France looked just like France (i.e., not like Spain). Architecture changed immediately. Nice route until we reached Lourdes, when the GPS took us on a weird, winding detour which included a drive through the heart of tourist country. Like Grenada, it was an obstacle course of pedestrians. The (very French) desk clerk apologized for the routing. We weren’t the first to be sent hither and yon. Hotel was great.

I didn’t do much research on Lourdes before booking. I knew the name somehow and vaguely understood it to be the second most visited french city after Paris. But I was shocked to learn that it’s the third most revered catholic site in the world (behind Rome and the Holy Lands). Five million visit annually, with a steady population of only 15,000. The source for its fame involves an 1858 incident with a young woman, an appearance by the Virgin Mary, and water in a grotto. The water is considered to have great healing power, so the city is filled with disabled and aging people. And a host of the appropriate nursing staff. Nightly candlelight events occur. It’s so routine the desk clerk just assumed that that’s why we came. Anyway, it’s a charming little town surrounded by green hills. Catholic or not, it’s an interesting place.

Monday, 5/20. From A Coruña we headed along the coast. The primary route of The Way is in fact far inland. Our Tour Book of Spain barely mentions the coastline, so I had to do some individual research. Wonderful roads with some impressive views. Spain has incredible bridges and tunnels. And they are all modern.

We drove into Gijon when, after many wrong turns, we realized we should have gone past it. Their one claim to fame, a failed university complex offering the largest oval church in the world and a high tower (complete with elevator) was mostly closed and largely unwelcome. It’s been confirmed several times that the north coast of Spain is unprepared for non-Spanish speaking tourists.

Santander, however, was a revelation. Pretty as a picture views, beautiful buildings, friendly people, cheap prices. Simple layout, making transportation easy. (Except our #$%&^ GPS tried to navigate us a mile away from the hotel, when I was parked right in front of it.) Lots of things to see. My first two story carousel, among other things. While it’s true southern Spain has the ancient architecture and Moorish history, the north side has its own charms that are well worth the time. It’s nice to walk around without the incessant souvenir shops.

Sunday, 5/20. Left the ship at 6:30, an hour earlier than planned, which worked out well. Driving today was without a wrong turn!! Exited Portugal. Arrived Santiago de Compostela. Everyone calls it just Santiago. Lots of hikers, most with small to medium sized backpacks. Apparently The Way can be done without full camping gear. Some were in loud celebration, but it seemed most were introspective, which seems the proper approach. Generally a typical tourist town. The Cathedral is undergoing significant renovations inside, though one can still see St. James’s tomb and hug (from behind) a statue of him. I was intrigued that the original chapel facade is inside the enlarged cathedral building, but sadly it was unavailable for viewing. Had small lunch, left sooner than expected.

Drive to A Coruña was short. Hotel is right on the shore. Big room was a happy departure from the ship’s. A Coruña is home to the Roman Tower of Hercules, a lighthouse/lookout in (perhaps) continuous use since the 2nd century AD. The only Roman lighthouse still in existence. Rebuilt/renovated several times with some effort to be faithful to its original design. Remaining Roman foundation is visible below the tower by way of an ingenious underground walkway. Gorgeous view from the top. The shoreline is populated by various pieces of modern art.

The city is very beautiful and seems unknown to foreigners. Very few souvenir shops. A view curious stares at us. Our extremely early dinner was at a small restaurant that took advantage of the language difficulties and served us much more than we’d asked for. Large bill. But it was all good. Their local delicacy is chopped up octopus (pulpo). Another very popular food is ice cream. The waterfront promenade had a multitude of ice cream shops, most with long lines. The one I choose continuously swirls the ice cream to keep it semi-soft. Very good. The Sunday crowd was clearly locals out for a customary stroll.

Hotel’s restaurant didn’t open until 8:30. Sunset was at 9:53. I missed it.

Saturday, 5/18. The one paid excursion we signed up for was canceled due to non-appearance of the guide. Took the free tour instead. Dramatic shrine at the top of 600 steps, which we didn’t have to climb. We did decide to go down. Nice walk. Cold day. Small town with a small museum and only a few souvenir shops. All full of rooster images. The story of the rooster escaped my comprehension.

The river view was, again, marvelous. The locks are still impressive. Excellent farewell dinner. Spent the day sober in preparation of our drive tomorrow. We spend the next seven nights in seven beds. Each day is a short drive, so not so bad.

Friday, 5/17.  Another bus drive, but shorter this time.  A fun visit to a town that is essentially one big co-op for wine and bread.  The wine is largely a table wine of muscatel.  Huge production facility using locally grown grapes.  Fun place. Bought a t-shirt with “Follow Me! I know where the wine is!” on the back.  They traditionally bottle the production in tiny bottles that can be placed in a lady’s purse.  Excellent tour.

The bread is called four corner bread.  See the photo.  We visited one of the eight remaining bakeries.  The entire town is at risk of disappearing because of a low birth rate coupled with youth relocation to big cities.  Excellent bread.  The town has a very modern museum of both wine and bread.

Then a wonderfully entertaining lunch at another local winery.  The owner was an Andy Kaufman-type comedian.  Food was terrific.

Late afternoon cruise down the Douro was also fun.  The evening had a concert by what’s called a tuna band. Looked a lot like a jewish group, but certainly weren’t.

Great day.

Thursday, 5/16. Two hour drive to Salamanca, home to one of the oldest universities in the world (1218). 30,000 students. Tourism. No other industry. While it was fairly interesting, it wasn’t worth a four hour round trip drive.

Among the images on a university facade is a small skull with a frog on top. Finding it on the facade is considered good luck. Praying to it is also good luck. This is the city’s symbol. You can find frogs everywhere with or without the skull. The main cathedral has a rebuilt facade with the image of an astronaut. These two images were essentially the high point of the tour. The city is notable in having a new cathedral (18th century) immediately next to an old one (13th century).

It wasn’t a ground breaking day. Honestly, the high point of the cruise has been the river and shores. The excursions are so-so.

Wednesday, 5/15. Beautiful cruising. Two high locks. Nice tour of an old castle guarding Portugal at the end of the day. Captain’s Cocktails. Lovely tender local pork with wine bought in Spain. Flamenco dancing. Wonderful day.

Tuesday, 5/14. Departed Porto into a bright sunrise. Fascinating cruise upriver, at times extraordinarily close to the shore. Beautiful views, and we hadn’t yet made it to wine country yet. Second lock was 38 meters high! They lowered all the equipment to go under the lock structure, but nicely let passengers stay on the upper deck, but warned everyone to sit down. Really fun.

Bought a cork ball cap. Waterproof and much more flexible than I expected. Yoriko got a little pocketbook made with cork.

After lunch the vineyards appeared. Napa was put in the shade, in spades. Stunning sites that resist adequate description. Our excursion included the estate of Mateus Winery. Beautiful gardens, nicely preserved mansion. Then Sandeman Port Wine. The drive up was scary. The views were remarkable. The port was good.

Dinner featured traditional Portuguese food and entertainment. Not to my liking. Music was via an accordion duet. Food was foreign. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t familiar. Great film showing the river before dams. Life threatening efforts to bring port barrels down white water. Captain did a Q&A.

A great day.