19th Feb A PORTENOVA – LUGO (32 miles)

A lovely aire today; it’s right at the top of the town, with fabulous views down to the river. Lugo is the only Spanish town to remain completely enclosed within superb roman walls; 10-15 metres high with 85 circular towers (The Rough Guide to Spain, pp 584-585 – I’ve forgotten how to do it but you get the gist!).

We’re here on a Sunday, so all the proper shops are closed which is a shame. We went for a walk around midday, when the Spanish do one of their promenades, and all the children were dressed up in fancy dress (cowboys, Zorro, aliens, pirates etc) outside the tourist (trash) shops were models of witches with broomsticks and pumpkins (a bit like Halloween), but I can’t find any reference to today in any of my travel books (any ideas?).

Another walk this evening, walled city which is full of churches.

The children were still dressed up, as were some of the adults and teenagers. Gangs of youths were setting off bangers, throwing eggs and flour – exactly like Halloween in Brynaman!

We came across a brilliant brass band (all the members were dressed up like ‘Ghostbusters’) playing down a side alley. I wish I could have taken a video to add to my blog; they and their audience were having a great time, people were dancing, clapping, singing and swaying in time to the music.

Everywhere we’ve been in Spain there’s graffiti; it’s covering walls, sculptures, statues, tourist information boards, trailers, motorway signs (the ones on the motorway!), in fact anything that’s static! – Some of it is very artistic and some is obviously political with reference to the Mafia (the only bit we could understand).