You are probably wondering who the heck was this Froilan dude? He was born in Lugo in 833, became Bishop of Leon in 900 and died in Leon in 905. He was known for his generosity to the poor and for living a simple life, and is patron saint of the Province of Lugo & the Diocese of Leon.
Here we are 1100 years later, having an 8-day annual festival in memory of this local boy who made good. Not many of us are likely to be that well remembered.
At 8:30 this morning as we made our way to the cafe, there were many people either still partying or staggering and swaying their way home. Much more stamina than me.
Today we followed the Camino de Santiago, towards Santiago, for about 8 km, to the village of San Xoan do Alto. The entire walk was on the road, reinforcing our lack of interest in ever walking the whole trail. It was downhill to the river and then uphill all the way to San Xoan. It was no wonder that we set a new daily record with 32,020 steps (23.3 km), and 1,220 feet of elevation gain - wouldn't it be fun doing that for 40 days carrying a full size back pack? I think not.
As we walked towards the river, we met two men, and one asked us in very slow precise English "do you speak any English?". I answered "a little", and after we all stopped laughing, started a conversation. It turned out that these two men were from Nanaimo, and are walking part of the Camino de Santiago. So we have met only 4 anglophones in 9 days and all 4 of them are from Vancouver Island. How weird is that?
Lugo has very little in the way of non-Spanish cuisine, so we have been snacking more than eating, and getting a little tired of cheese in a bun, so tonight we ate a real meal in the one and only Mexican restaurant in Lugo - La Capital Azteca Nevala. The restaurant was hard to find, in the back of a bar, at the end of a long hallway, off Rua Nova, but the food was good and filled a need. Like all local restaurants it did not begin serving food until 8 pm - the locals sit in the cafes and bars in the early evening, drinking coffee, wine or beer, but there is no sign of any food on the tables until after 8 pm. We have no idea what time these places close, or even if they do close, as we have not stayed up long enough to find out, but we do know that we are very hungry by 8 pm.
As we wandered the streets we spotted one of the best statue mimes that I have seen, so had to grab a photo.
At 8:45 pm there was fireworks, but we did not have a very good vantage point on the wall, and only saw the really high ones. We gave up trying and went to wait for the evening entertainment, Lucia Perezot, a Lugo girl who was Spain's entry in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. Unlike yesterday's shows there was no seating, and so we stood with our backs to the church wall as thousands of people pressed in around us.
The music was not really our thing, so we fought our way out of Praza Santa Maria (no easy feat) and wandered the streets for a while, before heading back to the hotel.
Remember that pan flute that was so serene and soothing last night? Well, 24 hours later it has become bloody annoying, as they only seem to know about 3 songs, and so we have to hear them repeatedly all day long.
The ear plugs are certainly getting a workout this week!
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