Camino to the Pulperia!

We were so moved by the pilgrims we saw walking by the house on a daily basis, on their way to Santiago de Compostella, that we decided we too would do part of the walk.

Ok, how many of you actually believed that we decided to go on a religious pilgrimage? For those who did: no, neither one of us has changed THAT much. Here’s the real story.

I was craving octopus like you wouldn’t believe. I saw it all over the place in Santiago and it really hit a soft spot in me. It reminded me of the octopuses I used to see hanging outside on lines by the port on the islands where we used to go to vacation during the summers of my childhood in Greece. The fishermen would bring them in and they would hang them there under the hot sun. I remembered walking by these scenes with great wonder, these amazing underwater creatures, purple and with tentacles! It was quite a spectacle for my young eyes. I remembered my mother’s story of having swam far out in the ocean one day, during one of those summer vacations, the way she loved to do, and feeling like something was pulling on her leg. She thought seaweed was getting caught around her legs and tried to shake it. She felt it several times and then decided to just head back to shore. As she got out she saw behind her a guy in a diving suit coming out with a spear in one hand and a big octopus in another. She said she almost fainted. I remembered the simple, and by today’s standards luxurious, plate of black rice with an octopus (or a big chunk of one) laid on top of it. I was craving octopus big time!

Eva mentioned there was a nice pulperia (a place where they serve octopus) by her place. It was 4 kilometres or so away. We decided to walk. The weather was great and we wanted to be outside. We were told that if we took the route the pilgrims take it would be very scenic and beautiful. Indeed it was!

While our mission was different than that of the pilgrims, our passion and determination was of the same calibre I believe. Check out the pictures! We found the pulperia, and we stuffed ourselves with pulpo. It was delicious and well worth the 7-8 kilometre roundtrip walk.