A Day in Santaigo

Oh Santaigo! What a wonderful town! You have to see t to belive it. Always fun getting lost and finding something new! Some shops have been here over 100 years. Others only one. Its hard finding what you want. Thats what makes it so much fun!

After a day of walking around you will soon fall in love and want to return the moment you leave. Here are some photos from a day in. Santiago. I hope you enjoy them.

Our Final Destantion

We have arrived at our vacarions final destanation! Santiago de Compostela.

With only 40 miles to go with a battery good for 39 , we headed out at the moment there was enough light to be safe. The roads we were travelling on are truck routes so we wanted to be seen. So 8:30 would be enough time to make it by at least 1:00 riding in low power and for a good part, no power. The end of any of the Camino routes are always filled with Pilgrims with their huge packs. After a long hard walk, I'm sure tha last thing they want to see is an ebike, so staying off the trail was best. Most of the last 20 miles was down hill with a short climb every 3 miles or so. We had more than enough power to make the stage. With 10 miles to go, we just both went to full Turbo mode and zoomed into town. We had never come into Santaigo on this route so getting a little lost was to be expected. Following our instincts, we did well. Only a few one way streets the wrong way, walking at times. We made it to a bike shop and asked if they knew of the ebike rental and as it turned out, it was only a few blocks away, around the corner. Dropping the bikes off went smoothly. Having to explain the crank falling off and the loss of power on the second day went well. We were out of there in no time. Our hotel was only about a mile walk away. Santiago was packed with people. Slow walkers,(slower than me) were taking their time to enjoy the day. We made it to the Hotel with time to spare for our renovations at 2:00 at out favorite restraunt"Casa Marcello" Our bags had not arrived so we went dressed in out bike clothing, that are more comfortable street clothes and not multi colored licra. All Good!

Our man Marten at work!

Chilly start to a great day.

Fall is in the air. Cool start for todays ride. The second to the last on the Way to Santiago. We are looking forward to being there. The riding is fun, but its been a long vacation. No complaints, but washing clothing in a sink is getting old. Enough complaining (if thats w hat it is.) It was an absolutely beautiful day today. Not a cloud in the sky. 70° in the sun. Super smooth pavement. It amazing how nice the roadsyate around here. We started off aronndr 10. I like to start a little late to be able to check out the shops that would be closed if we were earlyer. This is one of my favorite this trip.

I can think of more than a few friends that would want this shop in their home town. Wonderful! The smell alone was hevenly!

Smooth going, untill i noticed a small black part fall off Barbaras bike. It was her left crank bolt.

If we had been in the woods or me out front of Barb, we might have never found. it. Back on the road in short order. Bicycle Repair Man at your service!

We came to a point where we noticed that we had gone past our turn off and decided to stop fpr a bite before turning around. This was the first time in Spain we found our favorite beer and snack. 1906 and Tortilla de patatas. Perfect.

Back on the road, we found the cut off and were now on back country roads. Farmland for the mist part Quite and nice.

After looking like we were lost, we found our hotel. More of a hostel, again with a common kitchen for breakfast. We are to be picked up at 8pm by a van to take the people staying here to dinner.

Walk in fireplace!

Monday, back on the road.

Without going into details, yesterdays ride had many stops. Mild case of food poisoning made slow going. We have figured out that our bikes batterys are way underpowered to make anything more than 40 miles even in low. We spent most of yesterdays and todays ride pedaling with no power at all. Hard going, fighting the motor, its like being on a mag trainer with hills. That being said, the down hills are fast coasting with the extra weight of the bike, battery And motor. So we have chosen to ride on the road. No less scenic, but not in the woods.

Our hotel last night was great. The first thing I noticed was a huge Bunny running away to hide under a bush.(he thought he wa hiding but his huge butt and cotton tail was still out in the open.)

Soon later, others appeared to see what was up. There was a good sized swimming pool that was green. We realized that it was the ducks pool. They spent most their time under a huge fig tree, only to come out for a dip every once and a while.

The place was amazing. Like a dormitory of sorts, it had a good sized common kitchen for breakfast. The folks that own the place also have a full on pastry bakery in the main building away from the dorm.

Me ot being any shape to eat anything, Barb made her way downtown and found this place. Here is Barb: I found this typical Spanish bar_cafe.I thought huevos rotos was a safe bet and this is what I got. all my favorite Spanish foods, especially Padron peppers. it was perfectly delicious cooked by a real everyday cook. it was so good i had to kiss the cook!

We packed our bikes as the Baggage transport loaded our suitcases for the next hotel.

On the road again. No traffic to speak of, Barbara soon noticed that her bike battery did not charge over night. Whoops!

We made it to town, Me with no power and Barb with one bar. We went to the room and then straight to the bar!

O