The Cheats Route to Santiago De Compostela - fly there. I know not very green.

Thinking I was about to get a dog, I thought I must have a quick holiday before they arrive, where have I always wanted to go to and the answer was Galicia, with a focus on Santiago de Compostela.  I first heard of Galicia in my teens when my Dad explained they were blue eyed and dark haired, which appealed to me (now I did not even notice) and then on various trips to Spain The Camino became almost mythical.  So I can now claim to have wondered all the streets and all the streets again. I even went to the Palm Sunday service, which i enoyed I understood the word for word for example,  and the welcome to Pilgrims and for reasons I do not fully understand it just felt right to be there.  It then felt right to sit in the sun and have Sunday dinner and though the next two days were cold I managed to dip in very briefly to La or A Coruna which I studied in the Penisular Wars and most importantly enjoyed sitting in bars having coffee or wine and just relaxed.      And I was definitely a little envious of the people with their back packs who had the satisfaction of knowing that they, unlike me, had walked there.   I need to get fitter. 

La Coruna

Highly recommended the Galician Museum. 

                                                                                                                 

The Beginning of Holy Week, masked penitents. 

The Cathedral. 

A Yak in the Classroom and Women in Revolt.

 Have finally seen the film " The Yak in the Classroom." Of course it is lovely to see Bhutan and to hear Dzongka spoken, but the subject just also took me back to the village I worked in in Kyrgystan 10 years ago.  My village was not as basic, but the humanity and love of music and animals was so similar.  Heartfelt. 

Years ago at Tribal Earth, one of the other gate people was a woman called Christine, who said she had no claim to fame.  Which given that it turned out that she was a well known naturist artist was not quite true. Interestingly several august art institutes have been looking at women's recent activist art so her art has suddenly been on show at the Barbican, Tate and at the William Morris museum.  I did not get to see the latter exbition ,but went to the first over Christmas and have just got to the Tate this week.  Luckily I went with a friend who was much more active in the women's movement than I was and she knew lots of the people represented and had met some of them too.   One of the art works featured Cherry Groce, whose shooting set off the Brixton Rights.  Her brother is now called Mooji and this week my son is back with him on security duty,  is that life imitating art?  

Tate a Tate Trees

The end of a long walk!

 Many moons ago, before I was ill I was part of a community tow path walking group.  We did bits of the walk from Cambridge to Kings Lynn every few weeks going up by railway and walking the next chunk to the next station. We  had almost got to Lynn when I became ill so I have always wanted to complete the walk, but on my own and now useless at walking I really did not know how to do it.  In the last few years I have researched the route and pondered doing it, but even though it was only about another 7 miles that needed doing, it felt like a huge mountain to climb.  And then I suddenly found a solution.  I found a B and B half way down the route and that gave me the confidence ot do it and of course in the end, even though I am tired this week, I did it despite the rain and I did it much more quickly than I could have ever imagined.

It does not mean I am about to become a major long distance walker, but it gives me hope.