We headed off into Lugo at the end of siesta time and first sought out a pharmacy to acquire Mabel’s antibiotics. Fortunately the shop I chose had two English speaking pharmacists, but unfortunately they told me that although Mabel had been prescribed 300mg tablets they, and other human based pharmacists only stocked 500mg. They assured me that one 500mg tablet per day would be fine for a dog of Mabel’s weight so we bought a pack at only €8, a bargain we thought.
Lugo is really only known for one thing and that is it’s complete Roman Walls, all 2 km of them, that fully encircle the old town. They have been given UNESCO World Heritage status because they are said to be the finest example of late Roman walls in the world.
We duly mounted the walls and completed the 2 km circuit, along with joggers and walkers who seem to use this ancient monument as a substitute athletics track. The walls were very impressive, as walls go. Probably 10 metres high and 8 metres wide for the whole distance. But when’s all’s said and done, they are only walls.
The Wall
The Tourist Information office pointed out 3 other sets of Roman remains, now only visible under street level through scuffed glass screens. There are a nice set of small Roman baths and some diminutive, but impressive pieces of mosaic.
Cathedral and Old Town
The Cathedral was smelly, dirty and very sombre (they don’t put that in the Rough Guide). Both Sarah and I got a quite unpleasant feeling looking round.
Another Cathedral – Lugo
A small section of the old town, around the Cathedral was picturesque but the rest was a bit down and heel, with many tumble down buildings which were in desperate need of some love and attention.
Anyone fancy a “doer upper” in old town Lugo?
In summary, Lugo is worth a visit if you are passing by, as we were, but personally I would not go out of my way to visit, even for the the Roman Walls. The Roman Walls we saw in Leon the day before, although not complete, were very much of the same standard.
Today was supposed to be a quick dash to LIDL’s and then onwards to the famous Santiago de Compostela, but things did not run quite as smoothly as anticipated. I telephoned the Veterinary Hospital to confirm that the 500 mg tablets for Mabel were safe, only to be told that in reality she needed three 300 mg tablets a day, not one 500 mg one. So we arranged to revisit the hospital for a new prescription and instructions on where in Lugo we could purchase them.
Having picked up the prescription we followed SatNav to an industrial park in a completely different part of Lugo and after much searching found a huge warehouse full of veterinary medication and equipment. They did indeed stock the correct 300 mg tablet, especially for dogs, but instead of the €8 for 28 500 mg human tablets it was €90 for 56 special doggy 300 mg tablets!! I swallowed hard, but Mabel was not just for Christmas she was for life – so I coughed up – almost literally.
We followed this up with a quick LIDL stop and headed for Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately Santiago does not have an official aire close to the city centre, so I had been studying some alternative wild camping spots. The first one, which my parking app said was ideal and quiet, turned out to be on a University Campus, was extremely busy and noisy. I can only think that most people have parked here in the summer, while the University was on holiday, but we decided it was not suitable during term time.
We have moved on to a much quieter dirt car park next to a sports stadium (42.876294, -8.529730), which seems far less hectic and full of other motorhomers. It is free and about 20 minutes walk from the centre. We are currently, as usual, waiting for siesta time to finish so we can head in to explore this famous site of pilgrimage.