Ribadeo June 25 + 26

 I am staying in Ribadeo two nights, but I did not walk here today, as the walk was over 20 miles, and, yes, I could have done it, but decided to break it at a place called Tapia de Casariego, take a taxi to Ribadeo, go back to Tapia in the morning, walk to Ribadeo, AND go beyond some 6-8 kilometers into the next day´s walk because it, too, is super long.  In other words, take two really long days and turn them into three more manageable day and bag the rest day.  

The bed-on-wheels hotel was a good mile from the start in Navia and the walk to town was all down hill, meaning that the walk out of town was all up hill, as these things go.  I had two GPS possibilities and, not realizing that the routing was not the same for both,  unknowingly picked the one that put me on the highway from hell until I realized, after about an hour, that, hey, I do not have to be here.

Fortunately, it was easy to get to the alternate route, even though it, too, sometimes met up with the hellish road. 

Overall, the walk was unremarkable, mostly boring with a few stretches on path, real path as in dirt, and a few sights, such as this cat:

And these rhodies:

And a man walking his dog:

Then there was a lesson in agriculture.  Have you ever wondered how bales of hay hanging around a field:

get to be placed all neat and tidy?

 

Well, a guy in a tractor that has two huge spikes sticking out the back, the tractor, that is, backs up and spears a bale, and then backs up to another one and spears it—how he has the aim, I have no idea, ´casue that must take some skill—then drives over to the deposit place and there must be a release mechanism that drops the bales from the spikes.

Here is one bale patiently waiting its turn:

I was pretty hungry when I arrived in Ribadeo because the taxi took a long time coming, diez minutos turned out to be about 25, so I headed to the local Eroski, not one of my favorite chains, and on the way saw a place that had take-out chicken.  This was truly exciting! Until I ate it.  Stringy and flavorless.  There is a kebab place across the street; I will investigate there tomorrow.  In the meantime, I replenished my supply of nuts, added some not great raisins to the supplies and was able to secure a particular bread I like.  Depending on the walking situation tomorrow, maybe there will be time to explore some of the beeches.

I, keeping up somewhat with the local news, read that there have been 40 reported bear sightings in CT so far this year, and residents are being advised to "exercise caution." I would love to know how one does that...do you learn it at a gym?

And  one more bit of news that some may have missed.  If this does not make you shake your head in wonderment, nothing will.

Taxi came at 6:30, a really nice Mercedes as opposed to the you-will-be-car-sick-in-five-minutes one of yesterday and deposited me in the start place even though the driver did not know where it was until a local advised him.  This is so Spain!  The walk to Ribadeo was fine.  Mostly flat after one big hill.

Plastic wrapped bales of hay make for good bathroom stops as they are tall enough to hide behind:

View:

Typical section:

And then, wow!  All of a sudden....

But the views did not last long.  However, for about 1/8 of a mile there was a boardwalk:

You cross a 1/2 mile bridge to get to Ribadeo.  It shook and vibrated as the enormous trucks roared by:

It looks très sleek, does it not, from the harbor at Ribadeo:

My plans were more ambitious than their execution.  I did not walk as far into tomorrow´s walk as I had planned because after speaking to the taxista this morning, I had an uneasy feeling that it might be difficult to get a taxi back to Ribado, so I conquered the first major hill and then turned around and walked back to town, which is a major city, really.  Took a stroll along the harbor, then a stroll along some of the streets, then a stroll to the Alimerka that sells the bread I like, then strolled back to the hotel where I decided to just RELAX.  There were some ambitious possibilities had I felt like it, but I didn´t, and tomorrow´s stage looks demanding.

Tonight I was able to join the siyum to celebrate finishing Bava Metziah, a tractate that ends with an utterly charming discussion about gardens.  If you live upstairs, and your downstairs neighbor has a garden whose, let´s say lemon tree grows such that some of the branches are near you, are you allowed to take those lemons?  Yes, says one rabbi, so long as you just reach your hand out naturally and dont´t stand on a stool or hang your kid over the railing to reach them or indulge in any shenanigans!  Actually, at the very end, the king of Persia weighs in on the matter!  Surprises at every turn in the Talmud.