30th May 2024 Melide to Arzua

Breakfast was consumed downstairs in the hotel’s bar before we headed to the outskirts of Melide and to the beautiful little Igrexa de Santa Maria de Melide.  This was the little church I went into last time and there was a lovely young man there who I did water divining with and I wondered if he would be there again today.  I was so excited to recognise him and used Google Translate to ask if he was there six years ago.  He nodded and I showed him the rest of the translation which said that I had been there and we had divined water together.  He was thrilled and kept coming back to me in between other people arriving.  The divining rods were brought out again and we had some fun doing it.

A bit of history:

The Romanesque stye church is believed to have been built at the end of the 12th Century and is perfectly preserved with a single nave with a semicircular apse and a shell vault.

The interior is decorated with Renaissance Art.  The theophany of the Holy Trinity stands out with that of the apse, surrounded by the four tetramorphs of the four Evangelists, that is, the animals that represent them. In addition, one of the capitals that supports the triumphal arch of the church stands out, in which we can see an engraving of a man between a lion and a basilisk, which represent Jesus and the devil respectively.

In the sacristy of the temple we can also find a unique relic on display in Galicia, it is a Romanesque-style grille fence with spiral fittings, which was formerly used to close the triumphal arch when masses were not celebrated.

When I was here last time he mentioned that during the war the interior of the church was protected and somehow almost forgotten about and the art was rediscovered some years later.  It was certainly lovely to come back and spend some time here.

The walk to Arzua felt like it went quickly and we headed to where we thought we had to check in but had actually gone to their restaurant so we headed back down the street and up the hill on the other side of the street but there was no one there as we were a little bit early so we sat in a kebab shop and had a soft drink while waiting.  Casona de Nene was a terrific place and the lovely host Adrian told us about the situation in Arzua and how there are only three restaurants remaining due to the lack of staff for serving etc.  He advised that our breakfast will be in the restaurant tomorrow morning and, if we wanted dinner tonight, we should book very soon as they fill up very quickly.  We said that we would check with our friends and get back to him.  Ron and Esther were quick to confirm!

We hadn’t really had any lunch and didn’t want to spoil our dinner so we headed down to the icecream shop for our second icecream of the trip. The reason?  Last time I was here I had the most delicious icecream – membrillo y queso (quince paste and cheese).  I know it sounds strange but I was so glad I tried it and wanted to have it again.  It is a combination where there is a contrast of textures; the slight grittiness of the ricotta-type cheese and the quince paste and the smoothness of the icecream base.  Even Steve loved it as it isn’t very sweet.

A few hours later we met the gang there and had a lovely dinner before heading back to our different places.  We won’t see them now until we get to Santiago where Ron’s wife and Esther’s husband will also arrive so it will be a bit of a celebration.