The Bathroom of San Roman
Aug 1st, 2008, 07:52 AM
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The Bathroom of San Roman
Disguised Trip Report
El Aseo de San Roman
The horse was dead three times but they continued to beat it. The discussions wore on and on and even after a lull of a couple of days, just the word bathroom would crate a new furor. The volume always built and there could be four conversations among eight people and it was if they disagreed but did not. The town wanted to add a bathroom on the outside of the Church. There is a separation of church and state here but it is just a few feet. The Church only holds maybe 100 people, the priest is on circuit and visits the Church on Sunday and special occasions, and the family was convinced the fix was in. Who was going to use the bathroom? Who was going to clean the bathroom? How come the cost had increased already and had not even been approved? How would be it be appointed? How many were needed? One for men, another for women, another for the priest? How about an extra for the saints?
The church is in San Roman, a town of five houses approximately twelve miles from Santiago. There are other towns nearby with Cabanas being the largest with about 100 people. We visit a different town every day to see different cousins, most of whom have the same last name. My wife is doing a genealogy and she is gathering information. She does not speak Gallego, whose ingredients include Spanish and Portuguese shaped by some local flavor. So up to seven us march up and down tiny roads to visit cousins, no ever phones before hand and we could start our visit as late as 11 PM and we are always welcomed with grace, hugs, and an offer of food and drink. There is no need for a genealogy, everyone is a cousin. I look closely for something resembling the Hapsburg chins and lips.
Every house has a history and the rooms to prove it. As late as 30 years ago families shared living quarters with cows, pigs, and chickens. Now they all have heat, electricity, running water, and children who are seeking lives elsewhere. We trekked to one house where a family still makes home made chorizos (Spanish sausage) and cured hams. The give us the recipe which includes the parts of two pigs and smoke for eight days from a wood burning fire to perfect the chorizos. They knew we are from NY and asked if we could do this at home. We told them using the smoke easy; it is getting the pigs into the elevator that is the hard part.
Santiago de Compostela is filled with pergrinos (pilgrims) who are as easy to spot as a rhino in an aviary. They all tote backpacks, are concealed in a layer of grime, and appear emaciated. They mix with the well scrubbed tourists who are easier to identify because they are all carrying staffs from the many tourist shops, the students from the university and the Gallegos. It is a hilly city with the center piece being the Cathedral that shares a square with the Parador. We stayed at two places in Santiago, one being the Parador. Add us to the list of those who say it is overpriced but interesting. A Trafuna do Peregrino is an excellent choice for Santiago with an amiable staff and well appointed rooms.
No family trip is complete to Santiago without visiting the insane asylum. One cousin has worked there for thirty five years and she gives us the tour and the introduction of the patients, every time as if it is the first time. It is in a building that dates back to 12th century but of course, there have modernizations, with the last apparent one some time after the Civil War. There are atria and cloisters. The staff is their family and they treat them as family.
Later we met some of the other pilgrims my wife and her sister encountered on the Camino. One Basque was making his 33rd pilgrimage. He is not religious but says that this the only time he gets a word in edgewise outside his home although his wife seemed most congenial. A gregarious Catalan was walking with his wife and 11 year old daughter who was outgoing and charming. We were joined by a 38 year old American woman who looked like and thought like an 18 year and Isabel. Isabel is a modern Spanish woman, extremely well educated, divorced polyglot who loves to speak of love and sex and hates the characters the women from Pedro Almodovar movies, as she smokes quickly and looks furtively around the room.
We visited a number of new sights including the Las Islas Cies. http://www.vigoenfotos.com/cies.html
This is a just hydrofoil ride away from Vigo. (The trip varies from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on who knows what.) The fare is steep at 18.5 Euros for a round trip. I suspect this keeps the riff raff at bay from this tranquil setting of a perfect beach and walking trails. There is a discrete area for camping and the cafeteria by the dock was surprisingly good. If you are seeking a day of rest in the middle of your trip, the isles are well worth while. When we returned to the family farm, fiollas were waiting for us. Fiollas are crepes made on a tilted stone heated by wood from underneath and take hours to make.
Another spot that is dedicated to quietude is the Casa Grande do Bachao.
http://www.hotel-casagrandedobachao.com/en/photos.html
This beautiful building with a panorama is far off the road from Santiago to Santa Comba on a narrow curvy stretch that must be treacherous in winter. The staff is gracious and the rooms well appointed.
One day we went to Portugal for lunch at Restaurante Escondido which means hidden restaurant and is just that. Fifteen minutes from Tui, Spain. Bacalhau and meat are the specialties and it seemed like the place for an important date by the hand holding and feeding of boy friends and girl friends by what seemed to otherwise able people. Portions are large but not graceful and the food was fine.
Franco killed many of the teachers in Spain and the essential artists and writers of that generation left Spain to live elsewhere. A new culture is being formed but Galicia is very conservative and a breeding grounds for Opus Dei. One household we knew had 6 members from 11 children. One older cousin thought Tito of Yugoslavia was a buen hombre. There is a forty year gap in culture and living. My younger cousins are not only the first to go to university but the first to go beyond seventh or eighth grade. Cow farmer is brutal work. Ours cousins will not abandon the farm but it will be interesting to see what they embrace.
BTW- I flew Vueling from Paris to Santiago. CDG is a loony bin and Vueling was a bit disorganized.
El Aseo de San Roman
The horse was dead three times but they continued to beat it. The discussions wore on and on and even after a lull of a couple of days, just the word bathroom would crate a new furor. The volume always built and there could be four conversations among eight people and it was if they disagreed but did not. The town wanted to add a bathroom on the outside of the Church. There is a separation of church and state here but it is just a few feet. The Church only holds maybe 100 people, the priest is on circuit and visits the Church on Sunday and special occasions, and the family was convinced the fix was in. Who was going to use the bathroom? Who was going to clean the bathroom? How come the cost had increased already and had not even been approved? How would be it be appointed? How many were needed? One for men, another for women, another for the priest? How about an extra for the saints?
The church is in San Roman, a town of five houses approximately twelve miles from Santiago. There are other towns nearby with Cabanas being the largest with about 100 people. We visit a different town every day to see different cousins, most of whom have the same last name. My wife is doing a genealogy and she is gathering information. She does not speak Gallego, whose ingredients include Spanish and Portuguese shaped by some local flavor. So up to seven us march up and down tiny roads to visit cousins, no ever phones before hand and we could start our visit as late as 11 PM and we are always welcomed with grace, hugs, and an offer of food and drink. There is no need for a genealogy, everyone is a cousin. I look closely for something resembling the Hapsburg chins and lips.
Every house has a history and the rooms to prove it. As late as 30 years ago families shared living quarters with cows, pigs, and chickens. Now they all have heat, electricity, running water, and children who are seeking lives elsewhere. We trekked to one house where a family still makes home made chorizos (Spanish sausage) and cured hams. The give us the recipe which includes the parts of two pigs and smoke for eight days from a wood burning fire to perfect the chorizos. They knew we are from NY and asked if we could do this at home. We told them using the smoke easy; it is getting the pigs into the elevator that is the hard part.
Santiago de Compostela is filled with pergrinos (pilgrims) who are as easy to spot as a rhino in an aviary. They all tote backpacks, are concealed in a layer of grime, and appear emaciated. They mix with the well scrubbed tourists who are easier to identify because they are all carrying staffs from the many tourist shops, the students from the university and the Gallegos. It is a hilly city with the center piece being the Cathedral that shares a square with the Parador. We stayed at two places in Santiago, one being the Parador. Add us to the list of those who say it is overpriced but interesting. A Trafuna do Peregrino is an excellent choice for Santiago with an amiable staff and well appointed rooms.
No family trip is complete to Santiago without visiting the insane asylum. One cousin has worked there for thirty five years and she gives us the tour and the introduction of the patients, every time as if it is the first time. It is in a building that dates back to 12th century but of course, there have modernizations, with the last apparent one some time after the Civil War. There are atria and cloisters. The staff is their family and they treat them as family.
Later we met some of the other pilgrims my wife and her sister encountered on the Camino. One Basque was making his 33rd pilgrimage. He is not religious but says that this the only time he gets a word in edgewise outside his home although his wife seemed most congenial. A gregarious Catalan was walking with his wife and 11 year old daughter who was outgoing and charming. We were joined by a 38 year old American woman who looked like and thought like an 18 year and Isabel. Isabel is a modern Spanish woman, extremely well educated, divorced polyglot who loves to speak of love and sex and hates the characters the women from Pedro Almodovar movies, as she smokes quickly and looks furtively around the room.
We visited a number of new sights including the Las Islas Cies. http://www.vigoenfotos.com/cies.html
This is a just hydrofoil ride away from Vigo. (The trip varies from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on who knows what.) The fare is steep at 18.5 Euros for a round trip. I suspect this keeps the riff raff at bay from this tranquil setting of a perfect beach and walking trails. There is a discrete area for camping and the cafeteria by the dock was surprisingly good. If you are seeking a day of rest in the middle of your trip, the isles are well worth while. When we returned to the family farm, fiollas were waiting for us. Fiollas are crepes made on a tilted stone heated by wood from underneath and take hours to make.
Another spot that is dedicated to quietude is the Casa Grande do Bachao.
http://www.hotel-casagrandedobachao.com/en/photos.html
This beautiful building with a panorama is far off the road from Santiago to Santa Comba on a narrow curvy stretch that must be treacherous in winter. The staff is gracious and the rooms well appointed.
One day we went to Portugal for lunch at Restaurante Escondido which means hidden restaurant and is just that. Fifteen minutes from Tui, Spain. Bacalhau and meat are the specialties and it seemed like the place for an important date by the hand holding and feeding of boy friends and girl friends by what seemed to otherwise able people. Portions are large but not graceful and the food was fine.
Franco killed many of the teachers in Spain and the essential artists and writers of that generation left Spain to live elsewhere. A new culture is being formed but Galicia is very conservative and a breeding grounds for Opus Dei. One household we knew had 6 members from 11 children. One older cousin thought Tito of Yugoslavia was a buen hombre. There is a forty year gap in culture and living. My younger cousins are not only the first to go to university but the first to go beyond seventh or eighth grade. Cow farmer is brutal work. Ours cousins will not abandon the farm but it will be interesting to see what they embrace.
BTW- I flew Vueling from Paris to Santiago. CDG is a loony bin and Vueling was a bit disorganized.
Aug 2nd, 2008, 09:38 PM
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Opus Dei (Work of God in Latin)is an organization of basically lay Catholics that was founded in Spain. They are extremely conservative in their political and religious views and were powerful under Franco. The members are often highly educated snd are still influential in the Church and Spanish governemnt.
I am one of the few living humans that did not read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or see the movie but know it something to do with Opus Dei, the Mona Lisa, Mary Magdalene, and Tom Hanks.
Frano and the Fidel Castro's parents were all born in Galicia, an agarian area whuch remains one of the most conservative areas of the country. In fact there was little fighting in the area during the Spanish Civil War, since there was little resistence by the Republicans.
It seems to be changing with those who attend college and are not tied to the land. Om the other hand their limited work for the young college eeducated gallegos and their future and reactions will be interesting to monitor.
My comment about my own report was written rooted in sarcasm.
I am one of the few living humans that did not read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code or see the movie but know it something to do with Opus Dei, the Mona Lisa, Mary Magdalene, and Tom Hanks.
Frano and the Fidel Castro's parents were all born in Galicia, an agarian area whuch remains one of the most conservative areas of the country. In fact there was little fighting in the area during the Spanish Civil War, since there was little resistence by the Republicans.
It seems to be changing with those who attend college and are not tied to the land. Om the other hand their limited work for the young college eeducated gallegos and their future and reactions will be interesting to monitor.
My comment about my own report was written rooted in sarcasm.
Aug 2nd, 2008, 10:09 PM
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Thank you. You took me back. I hadn't been to Northern Spain since the '80s until we took our children there last winter. We didn't make it to Santiago de Compostela that time; we spent too much time in Los Picos. I still tell my children about the trainride to Santiago de Compostela with a woman carrying a live suckling and squeeling piglet in a basket on her lap. Did you make it to San Sebastian? Santander?
Lovely job on your report.
Lovely job on your report.
Aug 3rd, 2008, 05:10 AM
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Aduchamp1-- outstanding report! I loved most the fact that you focused in the actual region, the towns, the geography, and are not obsessed wIth providing every single detail of every morsel of food you put in your mouth, THANK YOU!!
I have added the Hotel Casa Grande do Bachao to my list of hotels to stay in the future. Just lovely. El Camino is my retirement trip; I am already training!!
I have added the Hotel Casa Grande do Bachao to my list of hotels to stay in the future. Just lovely. El Camino is my retirement trip; I am already training!!
Aug 3rd, 2008, 08:01 AM
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Viajero2
Thank you.
Please note there is not a phone in every town along the Camino nor locatorios (stores that just have computers with Internet connections and phones.)
Also be knowledgable of blister and foot care.
Good luck, it was an adventure of a life time for wife and her sister.
Thank you.
Please note there is not a phone in every town along the Camino nor locatorios (stores that just have computers with Internet connections and phones.)
Also be knowledgable of blister and foot care.
Good luck, it was an adventure of a life time for wife and her sister.
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