A very early start for us saw us catching the ferry to Vigo at 9am, unfortunately it also coincided with a torrential downpour of biblical proportions. We had arranged to hire a car from Vigo and as we walked squelching along towards the Enterprise office (recommended by the way) enthusiasm was low.
Luckily Veronica was very helpful, spoke excellent English and was able to recommend a good cafe while we waited for our car to be washed, After the usual formalities, we then had a 16 kilometre trip around the Ria before the bridge we had sailed under nearly 7 months ago headed back towards Cangas.
We had a slight detour to stock up at Lidl, great to have a car to carry the shopping! after dropping off groceries at the marina we thought it would be nice to visit Aldan, just a little too far to walk but just a 10 minute drive. The weather continued to be unsettled.
Aldan is a small town at the bottom of a minor Ria off the Ria Pontevedra. It is surprisingly shallow in parts and although only a hop skip and jump from Cangas feels a world away. It was sheltered from the strong southerly's that had been blowing consistently for a good few days.
In another surprise the church was open, we availed ourselves of the opportunity to have a look in a small provincial church. It came as no surprise that the church was .......................surprising.
It was the weekend that the pope was visiting Portugal to celebrate the canonisation of the miracle of Fatima. The two children who witnessed the virgin Mary were canonised and as our eyes adjusted to the light we saw a lady decorating a statue to honour our lady of Fatima.
we were again amazed at the richness and vitality of the church in a small village, The sense that the building was a vital part of the fabric of local life was reinforced by the small acts of decoration that were becoming very familiar. The altarpiece was another gilded work of art. In this instance the beauty was in the detail, small statues in niches and alcoves.
A particular item that had me puzzled for a short time was a statue of pope John Paul who I had not realised had been canonised. Lynne quickly corrected me on this......the lady of sorrows I believe is hiding in the alcove behind John paul.
As well as being the anniversary of the Fatima miracle it was also lynnes birthday, so we adjourned along the sandy harbour to seek out a restaurant or taperia for lunch.
Of course this being Galicia we were duty bound to pay our respects to the local literary figures before eating.
We decided on a small taperia which seemed popular with the locals (this was a Saturday)
Lynne was tempted by the pulpo enpenada, or octopus pie, I was a little more conservative with fries and Zorza (pork, spiced) After lunch we decided to risk the unsettled weather and explore the other notable thing to do in Aldan which was to explore the "Enchanted forest"
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