Sunday, 21 st May – From Silleda to Pazo de Galegos – ” Bottle of Wine, Fruit of the Vine….” Not to mention feeling ” Glad All Over ” !

https://youtu.be/4FkbkisG3Po Joe Brown’s version of Tom Paxton’s “Bottle of Wine” – it’s almost Punk!

We were leaving our accommodating Albergue, en route to a Manor House, in its own vineyard, hence the anticipation of a bottle of wine…Silleda will not be a memorable place, but for two things. First, I had a wonderful cup of tea with my chocolate croissant. Second, the house of culture displayed a banner, publicing the work and contribution of Carlos Caseres; would not have expected that in such a workmanlike town.

It was a fine morning, the paths went through pockets of woodland, mainly Oak, Pine an some Eucalyptus. The vistas were not so grand, but relaxing; quality farmland, some bijou shrubs.

Unexpectedly, and a good way on, we came across an Albergue/ Bar, run by an Italian guy. We had earlier met his wife and two beautiful,twin two year olds on the path. They accepted my offering of two fruit gums, after some encouragement from mum. It is a good, little Albergue; I hope it works out for them, as more pilgrims attempt the Via Sanabres/ de la Plata.

You find cruceiros in every Pueblo , but unusually, this little shrine was encompassed within a dead tree.

Pazo de Galegos , just past Ponte Ulla, was to be a Sunday Benediction. M 800 off the Camino, it looked so enticing as we entered the gateway. A real Galician country house – elegant,full of light, surrounded by its own vineyard, with distant views of the mountains. A warm ,but unfussy welcome as e were urged to go to our rooms , before bothering with passports, etc. The rooms, furnishings and views did not disappoint and an air of blessed tranquility overcame our understandable fatigue.

We were invited to a talk about the house, with its special connection to the Cathedral of Santiago and the vineyard at 7 pm. To be followed by dinner . Manolo, the owner, was to prove to be both a genial host and a mine of information, in very good English. He explained how the house had been the residence of D. Antonio Lopez Ferrero ( 1837 – 1910 ), canon of the cathedral, discoverer of the tomb of St, James and one of the great Galician writers.The relics had been moved because of a possible invasion by Francis Drake, whose fleet was threatening La Coruna , however, he was defeated and sent back empty handed to England. All of this disinterrement took place secretly, after midnight; “skulduggery” you might call it….

A fascinating story, which probably needs embellishment….but not here. We then moved out into the vineyards, where amongst the vines, were many different varieties of Camellias. My favourite white wine , Albariño is produced here, in modest quantities and with great care to be as organic as possible. Their own weather station helps to establish the best time to prevent fungus in the grapes, with minimum use of pesticides. All the grapes are hand picked, crushed, macerated and fermented on site. Pride of place is a near 500 year old vine unique in Spain and still producing many kilograms of grapes each harvest.

Dinner followed and Manolo entertained us with more anecdotes and his revelstion that he really enjoyed 60s pop music ; this showed another side to this genial, knowledgeable man. He remembered seeeing Olivia Newton John at the London Palladium and the Dave Clark Five was one of hid favourite groups! We took our leave the next morning, after an excellent breakfast ; if you are ever out this way, it’s a must do – Manolo, the perfect host.