Our extra day in Melida allowed us to attend a pulpo (octopus) party. A restaurant that seats 200 people with lines of picnic tables where the staff bring you a tray of octopus (yes, all parts of the octopus)coated with Spanish paprika, sea salt, and olive oil. Accompanying the pulpo is a basket of peasant bread to soak up the juices. A local white wine is also a feature of the meal. Wendy had a salad and watched as Jim consumed the entire pulpo portion (designed for at least two persons). The pulpo was succulent and did not at all smell fishy. It was interesting to see that the Spaniards also ordered garlic potatoes and red wine or Gallician beer with their pulpo. The Spanish pilgrims had no hesitation in ordering second and third botles of wine. Obviously they were not intending to continue their journey that day.
Today we thought we had ¨missed the memo¨since the Camino was devoid of any other walkers other than the two of us for at least an hour. We then realized we had stayed at the far end of Melida so had a 20 - 30 minute head start over the other pilgrims. They soon overtook us, but for that hour it felt like the early days of the Camino when there were very few of us on the trail.
Tomorrow we are doing a marathon distance to finish the Camino. Literally, it is about 40 kilometers to Santiago. We are ready to finish and want to finish- tomorrow.
We witnessed an interesting altercation in the local restaurant today. A Spanish man complained about his black umbrella being stolen. Another man came in at that moment with a grey checkered umbrella and apologized for taking the wrong umbrella. Great hilarity ensued as no one could figure out how you could possibly take a grey checkered umbrella in place of a black umbrella! Our theory is that it is too much red wine consumption that caused this alleged crime. Oh how exciting life is in a town of 6,000 people!
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