Stacy: Day 14 - Boats, Peppers, and a Marqués!
The day started out a bit earlier, or maybe a just bit more rushed, because we had to catch a taxi to the boat dock for the boat taxi. We spent about almost 2 hours on the boat, seeing some pretty and interesting sights.
Why a boat? We retraced the path that St. James's followers took to bring his body to a safe place (where it would not be desecrated by unbelievers). That place became Santiago de Compostela.
They used the river to ferry his body to the queen of the Celts, where they requested safe passage through her lands, and a safe place in which to bury him. They asked Lupa, work of the Celts, for safe passage. At some point, she converted to Catholicism (I do not remember if it was from hearing St. James' preaching, or of it was after his death).
Our boat taxi's captain was a former fisherman. Just outside of our dock were mussel farmers collecting their ropes!
They bring the ropes up with a huge basket underneath it. Inside that basket is a contraption that rings/scrapes the mussels off of the ropes, and they fall into the basket.
Oysters are harvested in much the same manner, but farther out into the water.
Clams, however, are harvested by a much smaller basket, by hand.
We passed some interesting sights, like these three crosses--they're the final resting places of the three who brought St. James' body to Spain. Being on this boat taxi counts towards our mileage for the Compostela!
Landing in Padron, we began walking along the Way to the church.
Ran into John and Bill, again on our way to eat lunch!!! Tried to become FB friends, but was having a little trouble.
Ate Padron Peppers in Padron!! Absolutely delicious!
Due to a wedding occurring tomorrow, we had to rearrange our schedule--today we had a tour of Pazo of Faramello by the owner, Gonzalo Rivero de Aguilar (a Marqués). So today was basically a rest day with a little bit of official walking.
Oh my goodness, this place is gorgeous! His family is the only family in Spain (besides the royal family?) allowed to ride a horse through the doors of the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela. There are special items the horse and rider must wear, and boy are they old. (No photos allowed inside the house.)
The palace is the only Palace in Spain that produced their own income. All the others were either fortresses, and/or took taxes from their people.
His was originally a paper mill. In fact, his was the only paper mill authorized for royal use.
His ancestors were integral to defending the crown in a major war, and (I believe it was the French) killed the then Marqués.
Lastly, the old Camino used to go through his property until a major hurricane in the 1980s.
Then, I ate veal steak, again, for dinner. GF options are readily available, but they seem to be the same options.....
It was nice to have an easy day for once!
