las calles estrechas como en un antiguo video juego de Atari

May 24: Galicia, Spain
One of the keys to getting around cheaply is persuading everyone and her mother to share their network of friends and families in faraway places. That, and a willingness to show up at a stranger’s doorstep with a smile, a bottle of wine and the conviction that, even if one’s habit is to shake hands rather than kiss cheeks, the offense will be forgiven and the fool accepted into the home.
That’s how I came to meet Miguel, on a roadside outside Bealo, a tiny village in Galicia on Spain’s verdant northwest coast. He was the cousin of a friend of a friend, and had been text messaging me all day. That night, Miguel took me to Vagalume Pensión, where I had the best octopus I’ve ever tasted — pulpo a la gallega, dressed in olive oil, rock salt and pimentón.
The next morning we set off to explore the peninsula, from the free museum at the Castro de Neixón, site of a 2,000-year-old settlement, to the dune beach and lighthouse at Corrubedo (partly closed for preservation) and on to the Castro de Baroña, the area’s largest and most impressive ancient settlement. The drive itself was marvelous — glorious green hills punctuated by villages with narrow streets and houses whose tiled walls resembled old, low-resolution Atari video games.
The busy day ended with dinner at Miguel’s, where we ate a tortilla that his wife, Pili, had made, and cheered as Barcelona managed to beat Arsenal and win the Champions League trophy. Firecrackers banged out in the streets. I sent a text message to a friend (of a friend) in the Catalonian capital: “Visca Barça!”