I visited Galicia recently. It was a great trip and with better company!
My main goal was to visit Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. And we spent nearly a full day seeing it inside, outside, in the roofs, etc.
Seeing Santiago Apostol from roof
It is a building with a very rich history starting from a Romanesque foundation to several changes of style in the next centuries. The most impressive part was the “Portico de la Gloria”. I didn’t have much idea about the actual setup of the Cathedral as I thought the external facade would be the most important part. The “Portico” is indoors and you can only see it with a tour. But it is worth it. It is a piece of 12th century and has been under restoration for 10 years: the colors, figures and setup are really impressive.
We visited Combarro and Islas Cies. Really beautiful places. We were lucky at the end in Cies and we could trek the whole island. Pity we couldn’t have a swim.
Islas Cies
Combarro
And by luck, we stopped in Bueu, and saw dolphins! from a very nice terrace.
We swam there!
And food wise, very important in Galicia, I tried “arroz negro” with just squid and its ink. Definitely I need to try at home.
Another thing we discovered was “pan de maiz“, really tasty! I need to try the recipe too.
The last thing we visited and really without planning was the “Monasterio de Armenteira” It was a very peaceful place. We couldnt visit the church due to Covid restrictions but we could walk in the claustro that was nice too. And by the way we discovered a very nice trekking route that we couldn’t do due to time constraints. It was beautiful, very green, following a river and with several water mills in the way.
So very good trip and as usual, with the best company. Can’t ask for more.
Finished today the third book of the Foundation series. It was short but really engaging. I liked again all the twists, meta-histories, etc around the “mystery” of the Second Foundation from the First Foundation members and others. The planning, the plots, the thrills, move your opinion to every direction but it is nice to follow the flow and hit the end wanting more.
My goal is to read all books of the series(and Dune) without much gap between of them as at the beginning of this one I was a bit lost remembering the earlier book. So I have homework!
I finished this book yesterday. After climbing, the sport I most enjoy is running. I am not a great runner and I am going by seasons but still there are few things better that a good run (with a good sweat) to feel you alive!
Due to injuries and time (I can’t have it all) I haven’t run as much as I would like but now with more daylight, I want to start doing it again and rest a bit of the bike.
This book is a bit of motivation and improvement. Mainly to run better without getting injured and coping with current ones.
The main idea is the body to move fluently as it was done in the past before we became office / chair-addicted. So it is not just a mechanic system of muscles, tendons, bones, etc. The missing element is the fascia (info1)
So taking that point of view, running takes a different approach. The author uses plenty of examples for natural African runners to ultra runners.
The summary is:
Foot Placement: Dont be afraid to using the whole foot. Thing of the tripod position
Cadence: around 175-180
Stride length: The key is to “cycle”.
Posture: Stand tall!
The head: look at the horizon, not down!
Arms: coordination with body
Natural lean: I think this is connected to the posture
Breathing: control it for not over-breathing
Mind: Some of the points above, need our mind to be conscious to make them happen and as well to remind us we are doing well. And this is very important for ultra races.
So, in my next runs, I will try to put in practice some of these points!
While updating Debian, I have seen this warning in the last days:
Fetched 11.4 kB in 3s (3,605 B/s)
W: http://www.deb-multimedia.org/dists/testing/InRelease: Key is stored in legacy trusted.gpg keyring (/etc/apt/trusted.gpg), see the DEPRECATION section in apt-key(8) for details.
W: http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org/dists/testing/InRelease: Key is stored in legacy trusted.gpg keyring (/etc/apt/trusted.gpg), see the DEPRECATION section in apt-key(8) for details.
I did read the apt-key manual but I wasn’t very clear how to proceed. So I searched for a bit and found this article. And it was exactly what I needed.
$ sudo apt-key list
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
/etc/apt/trusted.gpg
--------------------
pub rsa4096 2014-03-05 [SC]
A401 FF99 368F A1F9 8152 DE75 5C80 8C2B 6555 8117
uid [ unknown] Christian Marillat <marillat@debian.org>
uid [ unknown] Christian Marillat <marillat@free.fr>
uid [ unknown] Christian Marillat <marillat@deb-multimedia>
uid [ unknown] Christian Marillat <marillat@deb-multimedia.org>
sub rsa4096 2014-03-05 [E]
pub rsa2048 2009-09-04 [SC] [expires: 2024-11-17]
A3C4 F0F9 79CA A22C DBA8 F512 EE8C BC9E 886D DD89
uid [ unknown] deb.torproject.org archive signing key
sub rsa2048 2009-09-04 [S] [expires: 2022-06-11]
...
...
Export the keys:
$ sudo apt-key export 65558117 | sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/repo-debian-multimedia-testing.gpg
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
$
$ sudo apt-key export 886DDD89 | sudo gpg --dearmour -o /usr/share/keyrings/repo-torproject-testing.gpg
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
$
BTW, something I keep forgetting is what part of the pub key I needed. It is the last 8 digits (that you can see in the output of apt-key list). And that was mentioned in the article but I didnt pay attention…
Now update “/etc/apt/sources.list” adding “signed-by=/path to file created above” for each repo:
###Debian Multimedia
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/repo-debian-multimedia-testing.gpg] http://www.deb-multimedia.org testing main non-free
###TOR
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/repo-torproject-testing.gpg] http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org testing main
Update and see if warning is gone:
# aptitude update
Hit http://security.debian.org/debian-security testing-security InRelease
Hit http://deb.debian.org/debian testing InRelease
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops InRelease
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Release
Hit http://www.deb-multimedia.org testing InRelease
Hit https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt cloud-sdk InRelease
Hit http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org testing InRelease
Get: 1 https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Packages
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Translation-en_GB
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Translation-en
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Contents (deb)
Ign https://apt.fury.io/netdevops Contents (deb)
Fetched 11.4 kB in 3s (3,650 B/s)
#
All good
And clean-up before finishing:
$ sudo apt-key del 65558117
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
OK
$ sudo apt-key del 886DDD89
Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead (see apt-key(8)).
OK
$
I finished this book this week. I have been climbing for a while and I really love it. But as well, for several years I think I am not improving. I dont make a living with climbing but I want to try more difficult routes and challenge myself.
So I decided I was going to start to try different things to get stronger and climb harder. First of all, early this year, after watching this video, I decided to put in use my beastmaker board that was gathering dust…
It took me a weekend of DIY for completing it…. But has been worth it. Although I haven’t managed to get an schedule to do it twice a day. I do it on weekends morning and some non-climbing weekdays. I think I feel some improvement though.
Later on, I started to do weighted pull-ups as recommended by a fellow climber from the gym. This was the excuse to buy a harness after soooo many years! 🙂
Since last year, I had a finger injury so that kept me out of proper climbing for several months but I discovered endurance. I was only able to make easy routes and put low stress in my finger so with time I managed an expected endurance. So I was happy with that and I am trying to get an endurance session each week (if my skin agrees with that).
As well, I had watched this video several times and it helped too.
In the last couple of months I started to get back to the normal climbing checking how my finger was feeling. So I decided to keep adding things. And the book has clarified many things. I really need to improve my finger strength. Something I have ignored as I always thought it was too much for me and it was easy to get injured.
Prioritise fingers and flexibility. Work in your “core”
Do high-intensity strength training when you are fresh and well rested.
Finger strength takes time, it is a slow process, dont rush it. And dont get injured!
Important is to warm-up and stretch. So this is always do so I am happy I have it in my routine.
The book gives a lot examples (and have very nice pictures) for exercises.
So I need to try things and build my training plan. And very likely get back to the book to refresh things.
Venice was one place I wanted to visit for some time. But I always wanted to avoid the peak season with too many people. So this weekend was ideal, already warm weather and not yet too crowed.
From one side, I had low expectations (typical mental self-defence) but I really enjoyed.
I travelled superlight and every mornig, I left my stay with debit card, some cash, phone, keys and mask. No backpack, guide, etc. I felt super comfy and “light”. And the best part was walking without a direction once I visited the places I wanted.
My favourite place was Saint Mark’s Basilica. I got my pre-booked ticket and attend side in the first slot. Totally worth it. I am not in expert in Art, Architecture, etc but I really like this type of building, I feel they are the TV/Internet/Mobile phones of those days. The architecture is so different from what I expected. I could feel similarities to Hagia Sofia and not very Renaissance. Strong Bizantinian influence. With touches of Romanesque. The mosaics are amazing. A lot of pan d’or and the initial characteristics of Renaissance and moving away from the Middle Age style.
As a geek of Indiana Jones, I wanted to visit one of the places from “Last Crusade”, it was the church of San Barnabas. I didnt enter it, they was an exhibition and just sat around, enjoying the sun. And another of my goals were to visit some bakeries, I found just one by the church, it didnt have good references but I was curious and I got inside trying to find something interesting…. and by luck, I did:
To be honest, I didnt catch the name of this sweet but thanks to the recipe and some internet search, I found out this is “Pinza Veneta”. I must try this recipe soon!!!
The ingredients are simple- white flour, yellow flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs are mixed together. Candied fruits, dried figs, raisins, and fennel seeds are added too.
Another thing that really surprised me, it was seeing kids playing football, running, skating, etc in the squares!!!! No complaints from anybody, no signs of anything forbidden (like where I live) I was so mesmerized….. I wanted to play so badly…. but my legs were destroyed of walking and likely would look like be very weird….
As well, I tried a local biscuit “Bussolai”. It was a big and simple biscuit. And tasty, I dont need anything fancy. Perfect with a thick hot chocolate or cold milk.
Other things that caught my eye:
Actually that Palazzo looked abandoned but there was something in the ground floor.
needed.
and this one made my laugh for a bit (well, more than that, I am still laughing)
As I didnt want to spend all my time in Venice, I decided to pay a visit to Padova. There are many places close to Venice worth a visit (trains are quick and cheap) and in Padova just wanted to visit the Scrovegni Chapel but I failed because I didnt book my ticket the day before…. and the Padova University where Galileo taught for several years. It was interesting to learn about the history of the University from the origin of the main building, the podium of Galileo, the anatomy theatre and the first woman to graduate from University, Elena Cornaro.
As well, I wanted to visit the Saint Anthony’s Basilica. It was bigger than expected and it was quite busy (it was Sunday). I couldnt take pictures inside but I was really surprised by the frescos (mainly in the “bottom” of the basilica) and the remains of the saint. It was quite different from Saint Mark’s.
Something that surprised me, there was a big Sri Lanka community that day. I guess it is related to this.
As well, I wanted to try some local sweets and this blog was in two words a-mazing! I went to the Pasticceria Europa that wasn’t too far from the center and I tried a hot chocolate and two local sweets. The first one was a rice custard cake and the other I couldnt identify.
I walked through the historic center and it was nice stroll.
