Spiritual
I think we both found that the early parts of the French way seemed to have more "soul" in that the people were friendlier and would call out "Buen Camino" or honk their horns as they passed nearby. Also the churches in the small towns held a Perigrino Mass in the evening with usually a special blessing afterwards. In the last 100 KM we could not really go to mass as we were staying in smaller towns that did not do an evening service. Perhaps it was the end of the pilgrimage season. Perigrinos shared the reasons they were on the Camino so there was discussion when one finally reached Santiago whether one had received the spiritual or other gifts one was looking for. Some felt that just by having done the Way had given them the time off their normal schedules to have regained some energy.
I did the Camino for a number of reasons; one being the actual physical test; the other being the time to think about life's current challenges at this stage in our lives - elderly parents, friends coping with life threatening illnesses, and to search for better understanding and patience with the elderly. Everyday a Rosary was prayed along with way - along with chants of "Go Forward" (for Athena from Chris Reeves Foundation). While I had hoped to achieve a certain calmer stance towards a particular environment, I have to say that I did not really achieve that goal, however, now I do walk away from that needling environment and let others be in control of it.
Did we become physically fit and lose weight? Yes we did! You could not eat enough for all the calories you were burning. Dinner times were leisurely to some degree, and we generally ate everything that the pilgrim's menu put in front of us! This also included at least one bottle of local house wine, and sometimes two between us.
I would love to do some other sections of the Camino as it was very challenging but also spiritually, emotionally and physically a wonderful experience and not something to forget. Best of all I was lucky enough to have done it with my soul mate who knew that the Camino was important to me and pushed me along when I needed encouragement and prodding.
Practical
The packing list - a wonderful place to start, but really weigh every thing and then try and remove a pound or two as you will feel those pounds all along the way.
CAMINO PACKING LIST
Full pack plus water and food should not exceed 10% of your body weight. – max 20 lbs
Everything is stored in plastic bags, essential as it can rain a lot.
CLOTHING /EQUIPMENT
2 pair pants – 2 pr zip off shorts (1 pr used as sleeping gear)
2 long sleeve T-shirt
1 short sleeve T-shirt
3 pair thick socks
4 pair sock liners or thin socks
3 panties/underpants
2 bras
1 fleece jacket
Bandanna- for various uses
Bandanna – cooling gel
Rain jacket - gortex
Backpack rain cover
Sandals
Sleep sheet
Collapsible titanium walking poles
Hiking boots (gel inserts/orthotics)
Extra pair shoe laces
Sun hat - Tilley
Travel towel- medium sized
Water bottle
Heart monitor
ELECTRONICS
Camera charger
Blackberry charger
Flash drive UBS (for putting camera pictures on)
Camera to computer cord
Vonage flashdrive for calling USA
Electrical plug adapter
MPG Flash drive with Spanish language lessons
TOILETRIES
Foot care
Needle & cotton thread for blisters
Corn Huskers for feet
Foot Powder
New Skin liquid bandage
Moleskin
Band-Aids
Nail clipper
Daily care
Hair Brush
Deodorant
Emery board
Moisturizer
Nailbrush – for washing clothes and cleaning boots
Campsuds – for shampoo/ soap and laundry detergent
Sunscreen (SPF 30)
Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss
Prescription medications/vitamins
Ear plugs
Advil PM
Sweetener
Useful or emergency care
Diaper pins for clothes line on back pack
Flashlight (LED-type)
Ziploc-type bags, various sizes
Antibiotic/Z pack
Insect repellent
Antibiotic cream plus betadine solution for threading blisters
Compass
Plastic case on lanyard for putting map in
Guidebooks and notes
Knife with sheath for cutting bread, cheese, fruits
Small light weight flexible cutting “board”
Metal “ball” for mixing up protein drink in water container
Swiss army knife
Plastic spoons
Gum
Hand Sanitizer/ moisture towelettes
WAIST BELT PACK, WORN IN FRONT W/ VALUABLES: NEVER LEAVE IT!
Blackberry
Passports
Driver’s license (you never know!)
Air and train tickets, hotel confirmations
Pilgrim passport (Your most valuable possession!)
Pen/pencil
Small diary
ATM/Debit card for cash
Credit card
Euro Passport card for obtaining cash if ATM card doesn't work
Sunglasses/reading glasses
Camera
Cash
Lip balm/gloss
Wear your boots on the plane. If baggage is lost, you can buy everything else in Europe, but the boots should be broken in to your feet. Don’t lose them!
To travel overseas, put your backpack in a suitcase. (We left the empty suitcase with our hotel in Bilboa as we would be flying back to the USA from there.) Before hitting the trail, go to the post office (correos) in Spain and buy boxes there to send-ahead different items that you consider necessary but are heavy (protein powder, GORP, more sweetener, sun screen etc) so that thay are impractical to carry the whole way. Mail a final package to yourself “lista de correos” in Santiago with make-up and some other clothes. Mail other smaller care packages to other correos along the trail. We made 5 postal stops, picking up and using all the protein powder and the GORP, did not use all the razors, sunscreens, first aid supplies. Moleskin is a must to carry as it was not available. The European version, Compede was a mess and ruined your socks with sticky goo. Voltarene, which reduces inflammation is very reasonably priced and does not require a prescription like in the USA. The Protein Powder was the most valuable item because you did not have access to a good protein source first thing in the morning. You could have gotten something similar to GORP along the way; however, not with the edamame.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Santiago de Compostela
We had an unbelievably special pilgrim mass at noon today at the Cathedral. We were in the Cathedral before 11 am as I had wanted to complete a few of the pilgrim rituals before mass but the place was so crowded that we decided to just grab a seat in one of the first few pews and wait for mass to start at noon. It was wonderful to sit there and enjoy the church and the greeting and congratulating among perigrinos. I had all of my various mementos with me for this special mass and had time to say a rosary while we waited. Then a nun came out and tried to train the attendees as to how the songs were going to be sung. When mass started 3 priests came in and the organ started playing just above us and everyone singing - gave me goose bumps. One of the priests announced the the number and nationality of the perigrinos who had arrived in Santiago and received their Compostelas yesterday. We heard him say ¨dos perigrinos estatus unidos¨ which we believe was us.
The ritual for perigrinos over the centuries is to enter the cathedral up the steps to the elaborately sculptured doorway called the Portico de la Gloria (Door of Glory). Pilgrims used to place their hands on the Tree of Jesse, the center column under the statue of St. James. As so many hands have touched the stone pillar it has worn down and now there is a barrier so you can not reach it. The point of this symbolic touch was to reaffirm your belief in the Christian faith. The whole door way was covered with scaffolding and plastic so we had a hard time deciphering the biblical stories depicted but St. James was uncovered and very easy to see clearly.
The next ritual is to embrace the statue of St. James that presides at the main alter, this being the manifestation of your commitment to visit the tomb of St. James through walking the Camino and also to be more open to the Christian message he brought us. You climb up a small narrow passage and are behind the alter and from directly behind the statue you touch the statue and then go down the stairs on the other side.
Near that exit area is another small set of stairs down to the crypt under the alter where St. James relics lie in a silver urn, along with relics of two of his followers.
We had noted that during mass perigrinos could continue their embrace of the statue and also visiting the crypt so we decided that after receiving communion we would go and do the rest of the perigrino rituals. So we did these last two steps with the organ playing and everyone singing. We exited from the crypt just at the front where now the incense burner,the botafumeiro, was being lowered so it could be lit and swung sending the smell of incense through out the church. It took six men to hold the ropes and did they send that incense burner soaring up, swinging over both naves on the sides of the main alter. We had heard that since Saturday the incense device had been broken, so we were not sure if we would be fortunate enough to see this ritual performed. In the old days it was thought to help cleanse the dirty and disease ridden perigrinos. Question: Will the smoke kill bed bugs?
We did not see the rest of the cathedral nor light any candles today, so we will come back again for the perigrino mass tomorrow, but will let others have a seat up front.
It has rained off and on today so when the sun is out we take pictures and otherwise are in our rain gear. The information office told us where there was a laundromat so we have taken all the clothes we can there to be cleaned and are now at an internet cafe doing today and yesterday´s blog as we got behind.
Santiago´s old quarters are really lovely and as it rains so much here, the old streets have little porticos so people still sit outside to people watch. There is a real upscale cafe bar that we hung out in yesterday with other perigrinos and we will go back there after the laundry is done and before we meet our Canadian friends who should have walked in today. Our hotel is the Convento de San Francisco which is near the Cathedral and has some character. We booked it online for a rate of 107 euros per night and we have the room until the morning of Oct 9th when we get our rental car. Santiago has a university with it´s campus right in the old town so of course in addition to all the perigrino activity you have all the students as well, so there is an active tapas bar street Rua Franco that we visited for dinner last night. We will enjoy that area more over the next few nights as we get more energy. We both bought big thick paperback novels at the book store and plan to put our feet up at the various cafes and just read and watch the world go bye.
The ritual for perigrinos over the centuries is to enter the cathedral up the steps to the elaborately sculptured doorway called the Portico de la Gloria (Door of Glory). Pilgrims used to place their hands on the Tree of Jesse, the center column under the statue of St. James. As so many hands have touched the stone pillar it has worn down and now there is a barrier so you can not reach it. The point of this symbolic touch was to reaffirm your belief in the Christian faith. The whole door way was covered with scaffolding and plastic so we had a hard time deciphering the biblical stories depicted but St. James was uncovered and very easy to see clearly.
The next ritual is to embrace the statue of St. James that presides at the main alter, this being the manifestation of your commitment to visit the tomb of St. James through walking the Camino and also to be more open to the Christian message he brought us. You climb up a small narrow passage and are behind the alter and from directly behind the statue you touch the statue and then go down the stairs on the other side.
Near that exit area is another small set of stairs down to the crypt under the alter where St. James relics lie in a silver urn, along with relics of two of his followers.
We had noted that during mass perigrinos could continue their embrace of the statue and also visiting the crypt so we decided that after receiving communion we would go and do the rest of the perigrino rituals. So we did these last two steps with the organ playing and everyone singing. We exited from the crypt just at the front where now the incense burner,the botafumeiro, was being lowered so it could be lit and swung sending the smell of incense through out the church. It took six men to hold the ropes and did they send that incense burner soaring up, swinging over both naves on the sides of the main alter. We had heard that since Saturday the incense device had been broken, so we were not sure if we would be fortunate enough to see this ritual performed. In the old days it was thought to help cleanse the dirty and disease ridden perigrinos. Question: Will the smoke kill bed bugs?
We did not see the rest of the cathedral nor light any candles today, so we will come back again for the perigrino mass tomorrow, but will let others have a seat up front.
It has rained off and on today so when the sun is out we take pictures and otherwise are in our rain gear. The information office told us where there was a laundromat so we have taken all the clothes we can there to be cleaned and are now at an internet cafe doing today and yesterday´s blog as we got behind.
Santiago´s old quarters are really lovely and as it rains so much here, the old streets have little porticos so people still sit outside to people watch. There is a real upscale cafe bar that we hung out in yesterday with other perigrinos and we will go back there after the laundry is done and before we meet our Canadian friends who should have walked in today. Our hotel is the Convento de San Francisco which is near the Cathedral and has some character. We booked it online for a rate of 107 euros per night and we have the room until the morning of Oct 9th when we get our rental car. Santiago has a university with it´s campus right in the old town so of course in addition to all the perigrino activity you have all the students as well, so there is an active tapas bar street Rua Franco that we visited for dinner last night. We will enjoy that area more over the next few nights as we get more energy. We both bought big thick paperback novels at the book store and plan to put our feet up at the various cafes and just read and watch the world go bye.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Arca to Santiago de Compostelo
We stayed at a cute water mill made into a Casa Rural with about 6 rooms, very quiet and clean, run by three partners, one of whom (Javier)spoke English.
We had decided to get an early start and not to wait for breakfast at the inn, since that service would only start at 8 AM. So we rose at 6:30, packed our stuff up for the last time, and used up the last two of our precious protein powders to fortify us with 42 grams of protein each. Javier dropped us off on the Camino right where he picked us up just at 8:00 AM, when it was getting almost light enough to see the Camino markers on the trail.
The first part of the walk was mostly through eucalyptus forest, and it was dark inside the trees as the faint light from impending dawn did not penetrate the path. We walked carefully, enjoying the smell of the trees in the wet, but longing for coffee. We took off our rain gear, which is hot, as it was not raining hard enough to warrant it, and we were thankful for every minute of walking without rain because of hearing a negative weather report.
The first coffee came about 9:30 and the only substantial food they had was a tuna fish empanada. This was rejected loudly by a new camino walker (those with less than 100 kilometers under their belts) with ¨I do not eat fish before noon¨ but we veterans had no such squeamishness and scarfed it down. Leslie also fortified herself with a diet coke can placed in her side pack. We changed our socks and cooled our feet for the last time before the final 12 Km into center of the old city.
It rained as we left the cafe, and we climbed up and up a seemingly interminable mountain that was not shown in our guide. Then another one. The guide shows a relatively small series of climbs for the day but this was quite inaccurate but we were psychologically prepared for this as we had read our friends' Kay and Roger Heigel's description of the last day.
We ran into Camino friends in the cafe, and all along the way, walking with some of them for a while, and meeting some that we had not met or talked to before. All of us shared the experience and the excitement that we would soon make it to our destination. We were expecting to be walking in a large long line but this did not happen, as it was only a few of us together at anyone time and usually they were perigrinos from many miles ago. There was no remaining social reserve, and people offered to photograph others as we passed kilometer markers, signs, and churches. We talked to a German girl with a sprained ankle that we last saw just below O'Cebreiro, and she was still limping but cheerful after walking on it over 150 Kms. She had to get back to college in a few days, flying out of Barcelona.
We were hit by a deluge and some wind as we came close to the top of Mount Gozo, which overlooks the city, and we sheltered under a deserted village roof for a few minutes, joined by a German man who came up a few minutes after us and recognized the advantages of our position. Leslie happily consumed her diet coke saved for just such an occasion. Then it cleared again as we went down into the outskirts of the city, following the yellow arrows and pectin shells placed in the sidewalks. Past the modern car dealers, furniture stores, and the nondescript buildings to reach the edge of the old city and be greeted with another deluge that kept us sheltering under a cafe's awning until it slowed. When the trail became unclear, a stranger saw our uncertainty and pointed us in the right direction.
As we walked the last few hundred meters through the cute old city, we saw the tall and somewhat thinner and more bearded figure of Mark, the young German, leaning out of a cafe' door, and greeted him. He had come in on Saturday, although he had been forced by an injured knee to take a bus for the descent from O'Cebreiro, and he said he limped 40 Km to get in. He directed us to the place to get our certificate, or Compostella, certifying we had walked far enough to qualify as pilgrims. There was an enormous line, and we were soaked, carrying our packs, and dying to get off our feet. No such luck! We had to wait for 45 minutes, gradually moving forward in the line, and finally were given our compostellas. We promptly bought a plastic carrying case and put them in for safe keeping.
Next we went to our hotel, which kept us standing while the room was fixed up, and then we finally got a hot shower. After putting on our social clothes (the alternative to the wet hiking attire), we went out to get some lunch at 3:30 PM or so, and also to find friends from the Way. Several waved at us from open cafe's, including Mark, and we told them we would be cruising the cute streets filled with bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops for the next several days. We have not seen anything like it in any of the cities we visited, and certainly not for the last 100 Km, which has been through farms and small villages.
It is certainly great to make it to Santiago. We are planning to visit the Cathedral for the visit and noon Pilgrim's Mass tomorrow, hopefully with many friends who have been arriving about the same time as us.
We had decided to get an early start and not to wait for breakfast at the inn, since that service would only start at 8 AM. So we rose at 6:30, packed our stuff up for the last time, and used up the last two of our precious protein powders to fortify us with 42 grams of protein each. Javier dropped us off on the Camino right where he picked us up just at 8:00 AM, when it was getting almost light enough to see the Camino markers on the trail.
The first part of the walk was mostly through eucalyptus forest, and it was dark inside the trees as the faint light from impending dawn did not penetrate the path. We walked carefully, enjoying the smell of the trees in the wet, but longing for coffee. We took off our rain gear, which is hot, as it was not raining hard enough to warrant it, and we were thankful for every minute of walking without rain because of hearing a negative weather report.
The first coffee came about 9:30 and the only substantial food they had was a tuna fish empanada. This was rejected loudly by a new camino walker (those with less than 100 kilometers under their belts) with ¨I do not eat fish before noon¨ but we veterans had no such squeamishness and scarfed it down. Leslie also fortified herself with a diet coke can placed in her side pack. We changed our socks and cooled our feet for the last time before the final 12 Km into center of the old city.
It rained as we left the cafe, and we climbed up and up a seemingly interminable mountain that was not shown in our guide. Then another one. The guide shows a relatively small series of climbs for the day but this was quite inaccurate but we were psychologically prepared for this as we had read our friends' Kay and Roger Heigel's description of the last day.
We ran into Camino friends in the cafe, and all along the way, walking with some of them for a while, and meeting some that we had not met or talked to before. All of us shared the experience and the excitement that we would soon make it to our destination. We were expecting to be walking in a large long line but this did not happen, as it was only a few of us together at anyone time and usually they were perigrinos from many miles ago. There was no remaining social reserve, and people offered to photograph others as we passed kilometer markers, signs, and churches. We talked to a German girl with a sprained ankle that we last saw just below O'Cebreiro, and she was still limping but cheerful after walking on it over 150 Kms. She had to get back to college in a few days, flying out of Barcelona.
We were hit by a deluge and some wind as we came close to the top of Mount Gozo, which overlooks the city, and we sheltered under a deserted village roof for a few minutes, joined by a German man who came up a few minutes after us and recognized the advantages of our position. Leslie happily consumed her diet coke saved for just such an occasion. Then it cleared again as we went down into the outskirts of the city, following the yellow arrows and pectin shells placed in the sidewalks. Past the modern car dealers, furniture stores, and the nondescript buildings to reach the edge of the old city and be greeted with another deluge that kept us sheltering under a cafe's awning until it slowed. When the trail became unclear, a stranger saw our uncertainty and pointed us in the right direction.
As we walked the last few hundred meters through the cute old city, we saw the tall and somewhat thinner and more bearded figure of Mark, the young German, leaning out of a cafe' door, and greeted him. He had come in on Saturday, although he had been forced by an injured knee to take a bus for the descent from O'Cebreiro, and he said he limped 40 Km to get in. He directed us to the place to get our certificate, or Compostella, certifying we had walked far enough to qualify as pilgrims. There was an enormous line, and we were soaked, carrying our packs, and dying to get off our feet. No such luck! We had to wait for 45 minutes, gradually moving forward in the line, and finally were given our compostellas. We promptly bought a plastic carrying case and put them in for safe keeping.
Next we went to our hotel, which kept us standing while the room was fixed up, and then we finally got a hot shower. After putting on our social clothes (the alternative to the wet hiking attire), we went out to get some lunch at 3:30 PM or so, and also to find friends from the Way. Several waved at us from open cafe's, including Mark, and we told them we would be cruising the cute streets filled with bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops for the next several days. We have not seen anything like it in any of the cities we visited, and certainly not for the last 100 Km, which has been through farms and small villages.
It is certainly great to make it to Santiago. We are planning to visit the Cathedral for the visit and noon Pilgrim's Mass tomorrow, hopefully with many friends who have been arriving about the same time as us.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Castaneda to Arca
We had breakfast at our lovely noble man's house and it cost is 12 €s each! Today we did about 23KM with various ups and downs and because of the rain the pathway got slippery. Yes, we were in rain gear all day! We had a very slow start and it wasn't until lunch at a small random cafe in Calle that was packed with perigrinos trying to get dried out that we finally were really moving well after our lunch. While we had a few peregrinos with us, it wasn't until close to our finish at 19KM that we started walking in a line of 15 peregrinos in sight. Many are those we recognize by sight if not by name because they have been with us a different times before, so there is a sense of camaraderie that we are close to the end. We shared our lunch bottle of wine with a french lady that was finally completing the Camino after 4 yrs. She started in Le Puy and because she has a B & B in Alsace, she only gets 2 weeks off a year.
All day you could hear fireworks going off. I assumed it was hunters as it was a Sunday and early in the day a car had passed us with a driver in camo clothes pulling a trailer full of beagles. Obviously they were out for a day of hunting.
Chestnut trees are now dropping the nuts on the ground. No one seems to be harvesting them as far as we can tell.
Our casa rural owner came and picked us up when we called from kilometer 19 and took us to our room at a restored water mill. Wonderful place that in season is 75€s but after Oct 1 it is low season, so the rooms are 45€s. They will take us back to the trail tomorrow morning at 8am to start the final walk into Santiago. Rain is expected again tomorrow, and as there were no laundry facilities here, and we didn't arrive until 4:30pm, only the very basic items have been washed in the sink.
We had a lovely dinner including scalllops and a local speciality of their cheese with mince jelly for dessert. It continues to rain outside so they made a fire for us in the dining room stove which was nice. We are excited about tomorrow and our arrival at Santiago!
All day you could hear fireworks going off. I assumed it was hunters as it was a Sunday and early in the day a car had passed us with a driver in camo clothes pulling a trailer full of beagles. Obviously they were out for a day of hunting.
Chestnut trees are now dropping the nuts on the ground. No one seems to be harvesting them as far as we can tell.
Our casa rural owner came and picked us up when we called from kilometer 19 and took us to our room at a restored water mill. Wonderful place that in season is 75€s but after Oct 1 it is low season, so the rooms are 45€s. They will take us back to the trail tomorrow morning at 8am to start the final walk into Santiago. Rain is expected again tomorrow, and as there were no laundry facilities here, and we didn't arrive until 4:30pm, only the very basic items have been washed in the sink.
We had a lovely dinner including scalllops and a local speciality of their cheese with mince jelly for dessert. It continues to rain outside so they made a fire for us in the dining room stove which was nice. We are excited about tomorrow and our arrival at Santiago!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Church of Santiago Boente
Palas de Rei to Castaneda
Again we had a little mist in the morning but basically sunshine and a beautiful day walking about 24 KM with most of it being rolling hills, so total ascent was only 150 meters. (Heigels, rain is expected tomorrow so we might experience a bit of your Camino)
We got a late start this morning so while we left our room at Los Calbos (44€ with bath) at 8:30 we did not leave our first café and desayuno place until 9:30am. We did not arrive at our casa rural until 5:30pm, so only washed the bare essentials and have those hanging around the room. Tomorrow will be the 3rd walking day in the same clothes so tomorrow we have got to get to our destination earlier in the day so we can get some laundry done!
I (Leslie) don't know what it is with me right now but I keep reacting to bug bites. Last night we had sprayed ourselves with our bug spray and went to bed. I heard mosquitoes and hid under the covers so I thought I would be OK. Somehow I got bitten on my right eyelid and also just under my left eye so needless to say I needed an antihistamine and walked a little sightless for awhile. At this time my eyes are looking better so I am hopeful for tomorrow and thankful I never tripped on anything today!
The path today was mostly on pathways through the woods with wonderful shade. When we were on a couple of the altos (high points) where there were pine trees and in other areas blooming heather plants along with some small little yellow flowers that we don't know. Wonderful bird songs today to keep us company.
Today we did not see that many peregrinos other than the familiar hiking ones we know so this was nice. Many were having the pulpo (octopus) specialty which we tried as well. You need to go to a special Pulperia place that serves the octopus on wooden platters along with the white Ribeiro wine. We have arranged to meet with our Camino family in the Santiago square on Tuesday the 6th at 7pm.
From the high point a few days back at O'Cebreiro we have been primarily going down hill but the last few days will be basically flat but there a lot of ups and downs along the way and we have heard that these small river valleys can be more arduous than one would expect. There is no flat on the Camino!
We are now at a wonderfully restored 16th century noble house with 7 bedrooms. The hot water in the bath went on and on! Pazo de Sedor (55 €s with bath) has a swimming pool and also a paddle tennis court. There are apparently many noble casa rurals like this. A lot more soul than some of the places we have stayed in! We have a reservation in another casa rural for tomorrow night. We will call them (somehow) and they will pick is up from the Camino at a mile marker we say and take us back to it in the following morning.
We are now at about kilometer 44 from Santiago and walked through our first eucalyptus forrest of the Camino at the end of the day. We saw many robin like birds today along with some hawks.
We got a late start this morning so while we left our room at Los Calbos (44€ with bath) at 8:30 we did not leave our first café and desayuno place until 9:30am. We did not arrive at our casa rural until 5:30pm, so only washed the bare essentials and have those hanging around the room. Tomorrow will be the 3rd walking day in the same clothes so tomorrow we have got to get to our destination earlier in the day so we can get some laundry done!
I (Leslie) don't know what it is with me right now but I keep reacting to bug bites. Last night we had sprayed ourselves with our bug spray and went to bed. I heard mosquitoes and hid under the covers so I thought I would be OK. Somehow I got bitten on my right eyelid and also just under my left eye so needless to say I needed an antihistamine and walked a little sightless for awhile. At this time my eyes are looking better so I am hopeful for tomorrow and thankful I never tripped on anything today!
The path today was mostly on pathways through the woods with wonderful shade. When we were on a couple of the altos (high points) where there were pine trees and in other areas blooming heather plants along with some small little yellow flowers that we don't know. Wonderful bird songs today to keep us company.
Today we did not see that many peregrinos other than the familiar hiking ones we know so this was nice. Many were having the pulpo (octopus) specialty which we tried as well. You need to go to a special Pulperia place that serves the octopus on wooden platters along with the white Ribeiro wine. We have arranged to meet with our Camino family in the Santiago square on Tuesday the 6th at 7pm.
From the high point a few days back at O'Cebreiro we have been primarily going down hill but the last few days will be basically flat but there a lot of ups and downs along the way and we have heard that these small river valleys can be more arduous than one would expect. There is no flat on the Camino!
We are now at a wonderfully restored 16th century noble house with 7 bedrooms. The hot water in the bath went on and on! Pazo de Sedor (55 €s with bath) has a swimming pool and also a paddle tennis court. There are apparently many noble casa rurals like this. A lot more soul than some of the places we have stayed in! We have a reservation in another casa rural for tomorrow night. We will call them (somehow) and they will pick is up from the Camino at a mile marker we say and take us back to it in the following morning.
We are now at about kilometer 44 from Santiago and walked through our first eucalyptus forrest of the Camino at the end of the day. We saw many robin like birds today along with some hawks.
Pulpo Galega (octopus) in Melide
Friday, October 2, 2009
Portomarin to Palas de Rei
After a night listening to barking dogs and dreaming of bedbugs, we rose and organized ourselves to get walking at 8:15 and finished coffee and started out of town by 8:30 AM. Luckily the antihistamines seem to be taking hold and Leslie´s bites look under control. It was a cute albergue with some of the people we walked with staying under the same roof, a family of Irish pilgrims, a German couple we have seen for several days and who have also had problems with shin splints that delayed them for several days.
We knew it was going to be a hard day especially with Leslie´s delicate condition. It was a distance of 26 KM but also a rise of 450 meters, with the walk being about two third ascent. But we had a reservation for a room with private bath at the end of the trail, so that was a reasonable motivation. And the weather provided the 32nd day without rain, and the sun came out after the mist cleared at 11 AM after being absent for a day or so. Weather reports predict that we should be OK Saturday but that rain might start on Sunday.
The track ascended steeply out of Portamarin and it was almost 9 Km before we found a place to break for second coffee, which was a necessity since the antihistamine pills for the bug bites made us both sleepy. Then we stopped for a third coffee just a few KMs down the road and some French fellow travellers observed that we were apparently ¨checking out all local the bistros" not doing the Camino! Seems like it sometimes.
We ran into a colorful pilgrim with a donkey, the first we had seen with a donkey, and David engaged him in conversation while Leslie discretely photographed him. He was pleased to talk about his experience, as he was returning to France after completing the pilgrimage and going on to Finisterre. His donkey was bleeding from its hindquarters, and he said that the donkey was attacked by wild dogs at Finisterre while he was sleeping in his camp in a field just a bit away from the donkey. We later saw our French friend Fabien travelling with her dog Belle, who (Belle) loves donkeys, but Fabien said the dog could not make friends with the donkey because the donkey had had such a bad experience with dogs so recently!
The road seemed to go up forever but we ran into our group of Canadian friends in Ligonde 18 KM out, where they were having wine after checking into the local albergue for the night. They invited us to join them in the main square for a celebration in Santiago on the evening of the 6th, and we said we would try to make it. We decided to have some wine and a salad with them to strengthen us for the last 8 Km or so into Palas de Rei. We had them call our hostel to advise that we would be late, and we did get in at about 5 PM pretty tired.
After showering and doing a quick wash of clothes, we went into town to get our sello from the local church, buy some orange juice for our protein shake breakfast, and get some more gauze bandages for Leslie´s injuries. We then had a quick meal and discussed plans for future walks, accommodations, and for reaching Santiago. We made arrangements to have a room with bath both about 20 Kms up for the next two days, but the second one will be a Casa Rural who will have to pick us up on the Camino, take us to the house, and get us back next morning. There is a shortage of rooms or even of sizable villages in this part of the Camino.
We knew it was going to be a hard day especially with Leslie´s delicate condition. It was a distance of 26 KM but also a rise of 450 meters, with the walk being about two third ascent. But we had a reservation for a room with private bath at the end of the trail, so that was a reasonable motivation. And the weather provided the 32nd day without rain, and the sun came out after the mist cleared at 11 AM after being absent for a day or so. Weather reports predict that we should be OK Saturday but that rain might start on Sunday.
The track ascended steeply out of Portamarin and it was almost 9 Km before we found a place to break for second coffee, which was a necessity since the antihistamine pills for the bug bites made us both sleepy. Then we stopped for a third coffee just a few KMs down the road and some French fellow travellers observed that we were apparently ¨checking out all local the bistros" not doing the Camino! Seems like it sometimes.
We ran into a colorful pilgrim with a donkey, the first we had seen with a donkey, and David engaged him in conversation while Leslie discretely photographed him. He was pleased to talk about his experience, as he was returning to France after completing the pilgrimage and going on to Finisterre. His donkey was bleeding from its hindquarters, and he said that the donkey was attacked by wild dogs at Finisterre while he was sleeping in his camp in a field just a bit away from the donkey. We later saw our French friend Fabien travelling with her dog Belle, who (Belle) loves donkeys, but Fabien said the dog could not make friends with the donkey because the donkey had had such a bad experience with dogs so recently!
The road seemed to go up forever but we ran into our group of Canadian friends in Ligonde 18 KM out, where they were having wine after checking into the local albergue for the night. They invited us to join them in the main square for a celebration in Santiago on the evening of the 6th, and we said we would try to make it. We decided to have some wine and a salad with them to strengthen us for the last 8 Km or so into Palas de Rei. We had them call our hostel to advise that we would be late, and we did get in at about 5 PM pretty tired.
After showering and doing a quick wash of clothes, we went into town to get our sello from the local church, buy some orange juice for our protein shake breakfast, and get some more gauze bandages for Leslie´s injuries. We then had a quick meal and discussed plans for future walks, accommodations, and for reaching Santiago. We made arrangements to have a room with bath both about 20 Kms up for the next two days, but the second one will be a Casa Rural who will have to pick us up on the Camino, take us to the house, and get us back next morning. There is a shortage of rooms or even of sizable villages in this part of the Camino.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Sarria to Portomarin
A very mist filled walk as until we stopped at 2pm the sun only peeked out once around noon. We left our pension at few minutes after 7am in total darkness and hiked the 1 KM up through town, having breakfast on the way through.
At 8am, just before day break, we were on the upper edge of town and a mass of probably 50 perigrinos went by, primarily new people doing the 100KM for the compestella. We were not used to having so many people on the trail.
We hiked 23 KM today with an ascent of 300 meters and about the same distance a steep descent at the end of the day. Both of us carried our packs today.
With it being so misty you mainly focused on the stone walls with all the moss, ferns, and birds. We had many robin like birds with us today. We passed through many small hamlets where cattle were being raised and for the first time saw some pigs. We had 2 cafe stops on the way in addition to breakfast so that helps me move along.
We are in Albergues Porto Santiago (29 € s) double room sharing bath room with 10 people. This is the best accommodation we could find. The lady in charge took care of washing and drying our clothes in the machines for the usual 6€ s. Once we had the laundry started we went to the Farmacia to get advice on my bites that were breaking out like chicken pox. She confirmed our suspicions of bed bugs and gave me some antihistamine pills and cream.
What is so funny is that in Triacastela David climbed into my twin bed with me saying he was getting bitten by bed bugs in his bed. I said it must be mosquitoes as I had heard one buzzing. He didn't get any bites in my bed but I sure did!
Lunch was at the main square near the church and I ran in to get our 2nd sello of the day. Now that we are within 100 KM we need 2 stamps per day. Unfortunately the church stamp took up 2 places! Drats as I had only enough squares to get to Santiago. I have a spare credential for us as now it looks like we will need it to put in a few more sellos.
Tomorrow we will play it by ear and see how far we can go.
At 8am, just before day break, we were on the upper edge of town and a mass of probably 50 perigrinos went by, primarily new people doing the 100KM for the compestella. We were not used to having so many people on the trail.
We hiked 23 KM today with an ascent of 300 meters and about the same distance a steep descent at the end of the day. Both of us carried our packs today.
With it being so misty you mainly focused on the stone walls with all the moss, ferns, and birds. We had many robin like birds with us today. We passed through many small hamlets where cattle were being raised and for the first time saw some pigs. We had 2 cafe stops on the way in addition to breakfast so that helps me move along.
We are in Albergues Porto Santiago (29 € s) double room sharing bath room with 10 people. This is the best accommodation we could find. The lady in charge took care of washing and drying our clothes in the machines for the usual 6€ s. Once we had the laundry started we went to the Farmacia to get advice on my bites that were breaking out like chicken pox. She confirmed our suspicions of bed bugs and gave me some antihistamine pills and cream.
What is so funny is that in Triacastela David climbed into my twin bed with me saying he was getting bitten by bed bugs in his bed. I said it must be mosquitoes as I had heard one buzzing. He didn't get any bites in my bed but I sure did!
Lunch was at the main square near the church and I ran in to get our 2nd sello of the day. Now that we are within 100 KM we need 2 stamps per day. Unfortunately the church stamp took up 2 places! Drats as I had only enough squares to get to Santiago. I have a spare credential for us as now it looks like we will need it to put in a few more sellos.
Tomorrow we will play it by ear and see how far we can go.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Triacastela to Sarria
We were up and on the road around 8am as we did not have a wonderful night. We are still trying to determine if we have a lot of mosquito bites (didn´t hear much buzzing) or are we dealing with bed bugs. There are many topics that one can not adequately deal with on a BlackBerry and that we might consider later, and one of those is the plague of bedbugs on the Camino; how they pass from hostel to hostel in pilgrims bedding, how the swelling can appear a day after the actual bites, the question of how to control the insects and to treat the victims.
Today´s walk was 20 KM on primarily a quiet road and some natural paths. Ascent was probably 300 meters and we climbed very steeply at first and then leveled off. The first place for cafe con leche didn´t appear until 10:30 so we had covered 11 KM BC (before cafe) which is never an easy thing! We continued to dodge the cow pies on the trails and through the small hamlets. Like yesterday we walked though many narrow lanes walled-in with granite "corredoria" which many perigrinos and cattle have walked down.
We had finally managed last night to get some help in arranging the last day of transportation for my pack and in making a reservation in an albergues/pension which is working out very well as we have our own room and share the bathroom with another double room and we had just finished using the washing machine and clothes were on the line to dry when there was a sprinkling of rain. The Albergue had a dryer so that took care of the problem of wet clothes.
Before using the washing machine we had dashed to the Correos to send about 5 lbs of stuff on to Santiago to lighten our packs. After the laundry was done we repacked and again found a few more things to leave behind in addition to the pages from our guide book for today´s walk.
We hiked up into the old town and got our sello from the Romanesque church, and then visited the ancient convent called Mosterio da Madalena (Convent of Mary Magdalene).
We also found an urgent care facility which looked at Leslie´s left inside heel which had been infected and is still healing. They cleaned the wound and prescribed an antibiotic to apply daily for the next few days and said not to walk far. That is a bit of a problem because tomorrow we enter the last 100 Km and we have to cover a lot of ground to reach our evening destination. We will play it by ear and see how she feels.
We have reservations for the next 2 nights in albergues that also provide a private double room, as when we don´t have easy access to laundry facilities the room becomes the laundromat and not everything is dry in the morning. I think you saw on the pack a couple of days ago several pairs of socks drying.
While we had originally intended to have another rest day at this point, the drive is to complete the last 100KM.. At Sarria there are many albergues as many will be joining us on the trail tomorrow. We have already planned out the first cafe con leche stop.
Today´s walk was 20 KM on primarily a quiet road and some natural paths. Ascent was probably 300 meters and we climbed very steeply at first and then leveled off. The first place for cafe con leche didn´t appear until 10:30 so we had covered 11 KM BC (before cafe) which is never an easy thing! We continued to dodge the cow pies on the trails and through the small hamlets. Like yesterday we walked though many narrow lanes walled-in with granite "corredoria" which many perigrinos and cattle have walked down.
We had finally managed last night to get some help in arranging the last day of transportation for my pack and in making a reservation in an albergues/pension which is working out very well as we have our own room and share the bathroom with another double room and we had just finished using the washing machine and clothes were on the line to dry when there was a sprinkling of rain. The Albergue had a dryer so that took care of the problem of wet clothes.
Before using the washing machine we had dashed to the Correos to send about 5 lbs of stuff on to Santiago to lighten our packs. After the laundry was done we repacked and again found a few more things to leave behind in addition to the pages from our guide book for today´s walk.
We hiked up into the old town and got our sello from the Romanesque church, and then visited the ancient convent called Mosterio da Madalena (Convent of Mary Magdalene).
We also found an urgent care facility which looked at Leslie´s left inside heel which had been infected and is still healing. They cleaned the wound and prescribed an antibiotic to apply daily for the next few days and said not to walk far. That is a bit of a problem because tomorrow we enter the last 100 Km and we have to cover a lot of ground to reach our evening destination. We will play it by ear and see how she feels.
We have reservations for the next 2 nights in albergues that also provide a private double room, as when we don´t have easy access to laundry facilities the room becomes the laundromat and not everything is dry in the morning. I think you saw on the pack a couple of days ago several pairs of socks drying.
While we had originally intended to have another rest day at this point, the drive is to complete the last 100KM.. At Sarria there are many albergues as many will be joining us on the trail tomorrow. We have already planned out the first cafe con leche stop.
O'Cebreiro to Triacastela
We left O'Cebreiro just a shade before 8am having had our first coffee and we were walking as the sun rose. It was quiet a chilly morning with the wind and we both had jackets on. The total distance for the day was 20.7 KM and the total ascent was 200 meters. The total down hill was around 700 meters which can be just as slow as an uphill! And hard on knees!
At about 12 KM we stopped in Fonderia, another town heavily into cattle. As we walked by an old lady came out selling fresh crepes which were delicious. We stopped at the cafe and we were going to sit outside for our cafe and tuna empenada but as we were settling down some cows started coming out of their barns, a little old lady and some dogs directing them, then a bull, with a ring in his nose stopped in front of the cafe. At this point we had headed indoors with the rest of the customers! This was the second time today we were chased off the Camino by cows. There was ample evidence that cows were major users of our Camino path!
We have started to see kilometer markers every half kilometer counting down the distance to Santiago. Now down to about 130 KM and soon we should be on the busy homestretch of the last 100 KM and struggling for accommodation.
We arrived into Tricastela around 2pm to the Pension Villasante (35 €) which has no charm but is close to a cute restaurant that we ate at twice. This evening we ate with 2 Canadians we had shared a dorm room with many days ago and see each other on and off. They have other friends joining them in Sarria for the last 100 KM.
We were able to book a room with shared bath in an albergues for tomorrow night and have my pack transported by taxi we think. The transport of baggage in this stretch seems to be very disorganized!
For dessert in this area they serve a thick soft cheese with honey. Kind of like a cheese cake without a crust and honey.
At about 12 KM we stopped in Fonderia, another town heavily into cattle. As we walked by an old lady came out selling fresh crepes which were delicious. We stopped at the cafe and we were going to sit outside for our cafe and tuna empenada but as we were settling down some cows started coming out of their barns, a little old lady and some dogs directing them, then a bull, with a ring in his nose stopped in front of the cafe. At this point we had headed indoors with the rest of the customers! This was the second time today we were chased off the Camino by cows. There was ample evidence that cows were major users of our Camino path!
We have started to see kilometer markers every half kilometer counting down the distance to Santiago. Now down to about 130 KM and soon we should be on the busy homestretch of the last 100 KM and struggling for accommodation.
We arrived into Tricastela around 2pm to the Pension Villasante (35 €) which has no charm but is close to a cute restaurant that we ate at twice. This evening we ate with 2 Canadians we had shared a dorm room with many days ago and see each other on and off. They have other friends joining them in Sarria for the last 100 KM.
We were able to book a room with shared bath in an albergues for tomorrow night and have my pack transported by taxi we think. The transport of baggage in this stretch seems to be very disorganized!
For dessert in this area they serve a thick soft cheese with honey. Kind of like a cheese cake without a crust and honey.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
La Portela de Vacarce to O'Cebreiro
Today was a 15KM day all uphill. Total ascent was 700 meters in clear sunny skies and not too hot because of the altitude 1,300 meters and also the fact we hiked a shorter distance and left our soulless truck stop a little before 8 am. We walked along the old highway by flashlight in the initial stage and had the new autopista high above us on trestles. Sometimes even 2 highways above us - it did mean we were safer walking on the old road.
We stopped at a church in Ruitan, lit a candle and got a sello. I was not going to put a truck stop sello in my credential!
We had cafe con leche in Herrerias and then started the more serious climb with cow pastures around us and forest glens. When we walked through vineyards your could smell the fermenting grapes at the bodegas. (Reminded us of poor Aniesa's closet when she was a baby and we made our own wine). When we walked through the trail along the pastures you had the farm odor and had to watch where you were stepping!
We were coming into the last small town before O'Cebreiro and we were literally jumping out of the path for the cows being directed by 2 dogs and 1 female herder.
We made it to the San Giraldo de Aurillac hostal (48 €) by 2pm and are now in a small Celtic town with the real soul of the Camino. We went to the church to get our sello and they stamped 3 in the credentials taking up 4 spaces! We don't have much room on our credential given that we need 2 per day the last 100KM.
We went to communion mass at 8pm and there was a perigrino blessing after mass. We lit a candle. The church is one of the oldest churches on the Camino, 9th century. The town has been servicing pilgrims since the end of the first millennium. A deceased parish priest is the one responsible for marking the Camino with the yellow arrows and restoring and preserving it. This place has the old thatched roofs like in Ireland. There are even 2 tourist shops in this town of maybe 20 buildings! We understand some tourist buses stop regularly.
A delightful day and we are now in the province of Galacia. We have been told that as the mountains of this area are the first ones that the westerly winds from the Atlantic hit, we can expect an immediate change of weather with frequent rain showers and thunderstorms. I hope we can go a few more days without rain. Today's walk would have been a real ordeal in parts in the rain.
The wine they serve here does not even have an official branded label and tastes a little young. They make their own liquors as well. We have been enjoying the thick soups called caldo gallego and they have the tarta de Santiago here which we like.
We believe we have an arrangement to have my backpack moved for another day. Today we were really struggling to make our selves understood and even resorted to google translator. We finally decided the fellow we were working with might be a bit simple and our needs were beyond him.
We stopped at a church in Ruitan, lit a candle and got a sello. I was not going to put a truck stop sello in my credential!
We had cafe con leche in Herrerias and then started the more serious climb with cow pastures around us and forest glens. When we walked through vineyards your could smell the fermenting grapes at the bodegas. (Reminded us of poor Aniesa's closet when she was a baby and we made our own wine). When we walked through the trail along the pastures you had the farm odor and had to watch where you were stepping!
We were coming into the last small town before O'Cebreiro and we were literally jumping out of the path for the cows being directed by 2 dogs and 1 female herder.
We made it to the San Giraldo de Aurillac hostal (48 €) by 2pm and are now in a small Celtic town with the real soul of the Camino. We went to the church to get our sello and they stamped 3 in the credentials taking up 4 spaces! We don't have much room on our credential given that we need 2 per day the last 100KM.
We went to communion mass at 8pm and there was a perigrino blessing after mass. We lit a candle. The church is one of the oldest churches on the Camino, 9th century. The town has been servicing pilgrims since the end of the first millennium. A deceased parish priest is the one responsible for marking the Camino with the yellow arrows and restoring and preserving it. This place has the old thatched roofs like in Ireland. There are even 2 tourist shops in this town of maybe 20 buildings! We understand some tourist buses stop regularly.
A delightful day and we are now in the province of Galacia. We have been told that as the mountains of this area are the first ones that the westerly winds from the Atlantic hit, we can expect an immediate change of weather with frequent rain showers and thunderstorms. I hope we can go a few more days without rain. Today's walk would have been a real ordeal in parts in the rain.
The wine they serve here does not even have an official branded label and tastes a little young. They make their own liquors as well. We have been enjoying the thick soups called caldo gallego and they have the tarta de Santiago here which we like.
We believe we have an arrangement to have my backpack moved for another day. Today we were really struggling to make our selves understood and even resorted to google translator. We finally decided the fellow we were working with might be a bit simple and our needs were beyond him.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Cacabelos to La Portela de Vacarce
Another beautiful day with a moderate 23 KM walk, 430 meters ascent, which started late at 9:15am out of our charming room and through the town with a stop for coffee and pastry.
We walked through the vineyards to Villafranca del Bierzo through the delightful town of Valtuille, which had an old wine press. We passed farmers with carts full of grapes and they insisted we accept some grapes before wishing us well, buen Camino.
Coming into Villafranca you came down a hill and suddenly we were in the town as the valley was so narrow you did not see the town in advance. Coming into town we stopped at the 12th century Romanesque church of Santiago with its Puerta del Perdon, again a place where pilgrims can go if they can not travel further to Santiago because they are sick and injured, and by walking through the door receive the same indulgences as if they had gone to Santiago. The church was very simple but very beautiful and and the place was lit with red candles. There were white Oriental lilies giving off their fragrance. We lit a candle for our families and friends and departed ones. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed as I would have loved to have taken one as this church really drew me in.
There was a large cross with Jesus and a very simple white alter cloth with the red cross associated with the Camino. The nave on the right had a more traditional carved golden alter with Mary and Jesus and the opposite nave was bare and contained the door of forgiveness.
We had an excellent peregrino lunch menu at a cafe in the main square. Fun to just sit there with our boots off, cooling our feet, and watching the world go by. At 2:30 we left the town and climbed up a narrow gorge following the Rio Valcarce (330 meters of ascent). There were 3 walking options and some how we got on the "senda". This is basically a pedestrian walk path along the highway. We were following the Rio Valcares on our left and the highway on on right with crash barriers between us and the cars. A new autopista has been made so the traffic on this road has been reduced. The trees by the river provided some much needed shade as the temperature was around 85. So while the second part of the day after lunch was pretty, it was not as nice as the morning. We arrived here around 6pm so made a mad dash to do the laundry as the previous place did not have a balcony , so no laundry had been done. The upside of the Albergues is that they have washing and drying facilities as well as internet.
Our hotel tonight is basically a truck stop! The first hotel we booked ahead and wished we could have kept on walking! Of course we were stuck here for dinner too. Bonus is they serve breakfast at 6 am.
The path tomorrow continues along the highway and then we have the climb up the mountain to O'Ceberieo basically 600 meters in 7 KM. Tomorrow is the last day I will send my pack forward and we want to get an early start on the day.
Our weather adviser Bob, advises no rain coming for 10 days so we can expect the heat to continue.
We wear the little neck scarves that have some water absorbing gel filler to help keep us cool.
There is a group of 8 French day packers that have been with us the past couple of days. In their 70s I would say and walk with poles and very light backpacks. They met the definition of day packer because of the size of the pack they carry, they wear white, and they have more than 2 changes of clothes. Anyway, one petite lady made us laugh at the way she was mincing down the trail, hips swaying, poles dancing out to the side. Any way saw her today at our lunch spot and the group here tonight and she is in a sling and husband seems to be driving a car. I feel very sorry for them.
David has caught a cold so we think we will take a rest day after tomorrow. Two nights of church bells every hour and on the half hour does not make a good nights rest. No church bells tonight only truckers.
The photo of the diet coke is an expression of my displeasure over a 200ml coke size versus the usual can of 330ml!
We walked through the vineyards to Villafranca del Bierzo through the delightful town of Valtuille, which had an old wine press. We passed farmers with carts full of grapes and they insisted we accept some grapes before wishing us well, buen Camino.
Coming into Villafranca you came down a hill and suddenly we were in the town as the valley was so narrow you did not see the town in advance. Coming into town we stopped at the 12th century Romanesque church of Santiago with its Puerta del Perdon, again a place where pilgrims can go if they can not travel further to Santiago because they are sick and injured, and by walking through the door receive the same indulgences as if they had gone to Santiago. The church was very simple but very beautiful and and the place was lit with red candles. There were white Oriental lilies giving off their fragrance. We lit a candle for our families and friends and departed ones. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed as I would have loved to have taken one as this church really drew me in.
There was a large cross with Jesus and a very simple white alter cloth with the red cross associated with the Camino. The nave on the right had a more traditional carved golden alter with Mary and Jesus and the opposite nave was bare and contained the door of forgiveness.
We had an excellent peregrino lunch menu at a cafe in the main square. Fun to just sit there with our boots off, cooling our feet, and watching the world go by. At 2:30 we left the town and climbed up a narrow gorge following the Rio Valcarce (330 meters of ascent). There were 3 walking options and some how we got on the "senda". This is basically a pedestrian walk path along the highway. We were following the Rio Valcares on our left and the highway on on right with crash barriers between us and the cars. A new autopista has been made so the traffic on this road has been reduced. The trees by the river provided some much needed shade as the temperature was around 85. So while the second part of the day after lunch was pretty, it was not as nice as the morning. We arrived here around 6pm so made a mad dash to do the laundry as the previous place did not have a balcony , so no laundry had been done. The upside of the Albergues is that they have washing and drying facilities as well as internet.
Our hotel tonight is basically a truck stop! The first hotel we booked ahead and wished we could have kept on walking! Of course we were stuck here for dinner too. Bonus is they serve breakfast at 6 am.
The path tomorrow continues along the highway and then we have the climb up the mountain to O'Ceberieo basically 600 meters in 7 KM. Tomorrow is the last day I will send my pack forward and we want to get an early start on the day.
Our weather adviser Bob, advises no rain coming for 10 days so we can expect the heat to continue.
We wear the little neck scarves that have some water absorbing gel filler to help keep us cool.
There is a group of 8 French day packers that have been with us the past couple of days. In their 70s I would say and walk with poles and very light backpacks. They met the definition of day packer because of the size of the pack they carry, they wear white, and they have more than 2 changes of clothes. Anyway, one petite lady made us laugh at the way she was mincing down the trail, hips swaying, poles dancing out to the side. Any way saw her today at our lunch spot and the group here tonight and she is in a sling and husband seems to be driving a car. I feel very sorry for them.
David has caught a cold so we think we will take a rest day after tomorrow. Two nights of church bells every hour and on the half hour does not make a good nights rest. No church bells tonight only truckers.
The photo of the diet coke is an expression of my displeasure over a 200ml coke size versus the usual can of 330ml!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Molinaseca to Cacabelos
What a beautiful day we had today - one of the prettiest stages on the Camino!We were out the door by 8:30am and on the road to Ponferrada, where we wanted to do some sight seeing and take care of some administration issues, like collecting another care package at the post office, arranging accommodations for the next two nights and replacing my broken Canon camera.
We had breakfast at a cafe just across from the Templar Castle and then bugged the poor lady in the visitor´s center to assist us with reservations for accommodation. It did not seem like this is was something she routinely did as when being told the room was 30 euros and shared one bath with 10 people she hung up and said we could do better! She was very helpful and we are happy with the hotels she booked and distances we need to walk over the next 2 days.
Today we walked about 20 KM and arrived here in Cacabelos around 5:30pm. We visited some churches and hermitages along the way here and this takes time.
We were also fascinated that it was the harvesting of the grapes today for the cooperative of Bierzo. One farmer with a load of grapes stopped to take a phone call and invited us to take any pictures we wanted and to sample his grapes. Delicious! We then had an omelet for lunch at Componaraya before walking on through beautiful vineyards with a lot of activity. Whole families were out picking the grapes by hand. We walked out to some of the pickers and they showed us that some of the grapes had been dried out because there was not enough rain but they said they were the best grapes in the world. We then walked by the Cooperative and saw all the little tractors coming in with the grapes, being weighed and then a funny machine sampled the quality of the grapes. The farmer was then paid based on the quality and quantity of his grapes.
We are now in a lovely hotel which David has splurged on - also only place that had a room - La Moncloa de San Lazaro and our honey moon suite is featured in their ad with a Jacuzzi for 4 persons. (120 euros per night) My back pack had arrived here so when ever I don´t carry it I am happy to see it arrive!
David dragged me down to the emergency care here once he determined there was one so that my left heel could be checked again as it continues to look very messy. The Doctor said no infection and just put some iodine on and another really good foam bandage (drats- means I can´t get my foot in the jacuzzi!) and he also asked for an additional bandage for a couple of days from now, which they kindly gave him. He had tried to get this type of bandage in various pharmacies in Leon and it was not available. He is so sweet as he knows how much I want to finish this Camino. He carried the backpack all day today and tomorrow is a 25KM day. I am sending my pack as in addition to the distance there is about 400 meters of ascent.
We had breakfast at a cafe just across from the Templar Castle and then bugged the poor lady in the visitor´s center to assist us with reservations for accommodation. It did not seem like this is was something she routinely did as when being told the room was 30 euros and shared one bath with 10 people she hung up and said we could do better! She was very helpful and we are happy with the hotels she booked and distances we need to walk over the next 2 days.
Today we walked about 20 KM and arrived here in Cacabelos around 5:30pm. We visited some churches and hermitages along the way here and this takes time.
We were also fascinated that it was the harvesting of the grapes today for the cooperative of Bierzo. One farmer with a load of grapes stopped to take a phone call and invited us to take any pictures we wanted and to sample his grapes. Delicious! We then had an omelet for lunch at Componaraya before walking on through beautiful vineyards with a lot of activity. Whole families were out picking the grapes by hand. We walked out to some of the pickers and they showed us that some of the grapes had been dried out because there was not enough rain but they said they were the best grapes in the world. We then walked by the Cooperative and saw all the little tractors coming in with the grapes, being weighed and then a funny machine sampled the quality of the grapes. The farmer was then paid based on the quality and quantity of his grapes.
We are now in a lovely hotel which David has splurged on - also only place that had a room - La Moncloa de San Lazaro and our honey moon suite is featured in their ad with a Jacuzzi for 4 persons. (120 euros per night) My back pack had arrived here so when ever I don´t carry it I am happy to see it arrive!
David dragged me down to the emergency care here once he determined there was one so that my left heel could be checked again as it continues to look very messy. The Doctor said no infection and just put some iodine on and another really good foam bandage (drats- means I can´t get my foot in the jacuzzi!) and he also asked for an additional bandage for a couple of days from now, which they kindly gave him. He had tried to get this type of bandage in various pharmacies in Leon and it was not available. He is so sweet as he knows how much I want to finish this Camino. He carried the backpack all day today and tomorrow is a 25KM day. I am sending my pack as in addition to the distance there is about 400 meters of ascent.
One Roman bridge and the Hosteria Palacio our hotel (in pink) in sight.
Rabanal Del Camino to Molinaseca
What beautiful weather we had today for our 26.5 KM hike over the mountains (600 meters ascent). We started out from Rabanal as day light was breaking at 8:10 am with only David carrying a pack. I am still hobbling about and when I add the weight of the pack to my poor left foot not much progess is made.
Within 7 KM we climbed 400 meters, which actually at the beginning of the day was not too bad. We had a coffee and tea at Foncebadon. While sitting there some perigrinos went by on horse back. We could tell they did not look like they could ride by the way they held onto the pummel! Anyway it looks those horses came all the way here based on the droppings on the trail. One way to do this very picturesque stage.
Another way is to be a black lab dog on a small platform on the back of a bike. We saw the lab at dinner tonight and tales of him have spread along the Camino. Also there is a French woman walking since July 16th with her little Tesian (sp ?) dog. The dog is carried infront of Fabian along with her own camelback hose. Fabian sends her pack ahead and carries the dog and a day pack! Dog weighs 5 Kilos. The dog does walk sometimes as well as the lab running by the bike.
At the high point of our walk today was the Cruz de Ferro which is 1,504 meters above sea level and the highest point of the Camino. There is a simple iron cross at the top of a pole and perigrinos have been bringing rocks and other mementos and tokens of love and blessings. It is an interesting monument to a collective journey. We left the Tau wood cross that the nuns of the Convent de Santa Clara had made in recognition of Robin (my Mother) and Athena who are watching over us, for our families and particularly our elderly and their caregivers. Prior to August there were monks in Rabanal who at the mass would bless the items that were going to be left at this spot. Apparantly the mass also included memorable gregorian chants. When I had finally dragged myself out of bed yesterday late afternoon to find out about mass I learned there was no mass. The Monks had been thrown out by the local townspeople over the ownership of the church. So Rabanal no longer meets the spiritual needs of the perigrinos, which is a shame as it is a lovely old town.
We passed through several old towns that have come back to life with the increased traffic on the Camino.
We had lunch around 2 pm in Acebo along with a walking tour bus of 29 Austrailians and 1 from (71 year old) lady from Barbados. This group hiked down 8 KM and then had lunch and then got back on their big bus and drove off. The tour company was from Canada and related to teachers. They made an interesting fashion statement in their white shirts, scarfs and pearl earings. I am so glad I have my scarf and David his ascot for our evening (thank you Kay for that tip). I have also decided that kakhi is the best color to wear on the Camino as the dirt doesn't show. Wearing white is a dead give away that you are not walking the Way!
We arrived in town at 6pm and then were scrambling to get our laundry done- it is now hanging all over the room to dry. We each have a new blister to deal with because we did not stop the last 2 hours to cool our feet. We knew we should have stopped!
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Within 7 KM we climbed 400 meters, which actually at the beginning of the day was not too bad. We had a coffee and tea at Foncebadon. While sitting there some perigrinos went by on horse back. We could tell they did not look like they could ride by the way they held onto the pummel! Anyway it looks those horses came all the way here based on the droppings on the trail. One way to do this very picturesque stage.
Another way is to be a black lab dog on a small platform on the back of a bike. We saw the lab at dinner tonight and tales of him have spread along the Camino. Also there is a French woman walking since July 16th with her little Tesian (sp ?) dog. The dog is carried infront of Fabian along with her own camelback hose. Fabian sends her pack ahead and carries the dog and a day pack! Dog weighs 5 Kilos. The dog does walk sometimes as well as the lab running by the bike.
At the high point of our walk today was the Cruz de Ferro which is 1,504 meters above sea level and the highest point of the Camino. There is a simple iron cross at the top of a pole and perigrinos have been bringing rocks and other mementos and tokens of love and blessings. It is an interesting monument to a collective journey. We left the Tau wood cross that the nuns of the Convent de Santa Clara had made in recognition of Robin (my Mother) and Athena who are watching over us, for our families and particularly our elderly and their caregivers. Prior to August there were monks in Rabanal who at the mass would bless the items that were going to be left at this spot. Apparantly the mass also included memorable gregorian chants. When I had finally dragged myself out of bed yesterday late afternoon to find out about mass I learned there was no mass. The Monks had been thrown out by the local townspeople over the ownership of the church. So Rabanal no longer meets the spiritual needs of the perigrinos, which is a shame as it is a lovely old town.
We passed through several old towns that have come back to life with the increased traffic on the Camino.
We had lunch around 2 pm in Acebo along with a walking tour bus of 29 Austrailians and 1 from (71 year old) lady from Barbados. This group hiked down 8 KM and then had lunch and then got back on their big bus and drove off. The tour company was from Canada and related to teachers. They made an interesting fashion statement in their white shirts, scarfs and pearl earings. I am so glad I have my scarf and David his ascot for our evening (thank you Kay for that tip). I have also decided that kakhi is the best color to wear on the Camino as the dirt doesn't show. Wearing white is a dead give away that you are not walking the Way!
We arrived in town at 6pm and then were scrambling to get our laundry done- it is now hanging all over the room to dry. We each have a new blister to deal with because we did not stop the last 2 hours to cool our feet. We knew we should have stopped!
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Astorga by bus then hike up to Rabanal
This will be a short report subject to later improvement as Leslie, the usual drafter of these notes, is exhausted after our climb to Rabinal just below the highest point on the Camino.
We rose at 4am to get checked out and catch the 6am bus from Leon to Astorga, arriving at 7am still in the dark. We saw the church designed by Gaudi and other points of interest as we walked through the sleeping town, stopped at an old church where an old priest greeted each pilgrim, had a coffee at Santa Catalina, lunch at Ganso, and ran out of water on the last 5 Km into Rabanal. Made it by 2pm and had a basic double room.
The local monks at the monestery have been chased out so no pilgrim mass or Gregorian chants. More on this later. Cute village.
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We rose at 4am to get checked out and catch the 6am bus from Leon to Astorga, arriving at 7am still in the dark. We saw the church designed by Gaudi and other points of interest as we walked through the sleeping town, stopped at an old church where an old priest greeted each pilgrim, had a coffee at Santa Catalina, lunch at Ganso, and ran out of water on the last 5 Km into Rabanal. Made it by 2pm and had a basic double room.
The local monks at the monestery have been chased out so no pilgrim mass or Gregorian chants. More on this later. Cute village.
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Leon Last Day
We are really enjoying our days off and spend a lot of time in the reclined position. We now have our plans in place for moving forward tomorrow in that we booked the next 2 nights accomodation and we have tentatively mapped out our days to reach Santiago on October 7th in the evening. On October 8th we will complete the documentation for the Compestella, pilgramage completion document, and attend the pilgrim mass at noon.
Tomorrow night at Rabanal our first choice place was booked but we found a spot in another pension. We have arranged to send 1 pack ahead . The next 3 days are some of the prettiest of the Camino and we climb to the highest point on Friday.
We went to the bus station to see about bus tickets and now have 2 tickets on the 6am bus to Astorga, from where we will then start walking and ascend 400 meters during the 21.4 KM.
I spent some time in a nearby beauty salon getting my hair done. A lovely pampered feeling and now not a grey hair shows!
We went to the Basilica de San Isidoro and were very impressed with the murals from the 11th century. We saw our fellow perigrino, the widow walking in her deceased husband's favorite skirt, and were happy to see she was still going forward.
The church has evidences of Moorish craftsman on both sides of the transcript with the multifoiled arches. We also stood under the "door of forgiveness" which those perigrinos too sick and ill to continue on to Santiago could go to and still receive the same indulgences.
Purchased a number of foot dressings for the next week and are hoping any problems encountered will be minor.
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Tomorrow night at Rabanal our first choice place was booked but we found a spot in another pension. We have arranged to send 1 pack ahead . The next 3 days are some of the prettiest of the Camino and we climb to the highest point on Friday.
We went to the bus station to see about bus tickets and now have 2 tickets on the 6am bus to Astorga, from where we will then start walking and ascend 400 meters during the 21.4 KM.
I spent some time in a nearby beauty salon getting my hair done. A lovely pampered feeling and now not a grey hair shows!
We went to the Basilica de San Isidoro and were very impressed with the murals from the 11th century. We saw our fellow perigrino, the widow walking in her deceased husband's favorite skirt, and were happy to see she was still going forward.
The church has evidences of Moorish craftsman on both sides of the transcript with the multifoiled arches. We also stood under the "door of forgiveness" which those perigrinos too sick and ill to continue on to Santiago could go to and still receive the same indulgences.
Purchased a number of foot dressings for the next week and are hoping any problems encountered will be minor.
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Leon Day 2
A lovely sunny day that warmed up to low 70s. We took a taxi over to the Corroes to get our mail package of GORP, protein powder, Febreze, camel back cleaning tablets, antiseptic wipes etc. We also sent on to Santiago a package weighing about 1 1/2 lbs of stuff we had not used - mainly extra vitamins. In the post office I asked the assitance from anothe elderly customer as to what service button we needed to push in order to get a number for the correct line. She was helpful and realized we could do better conversing in French than in Spanish. She understood we were peregrinos from the USA and invited us to come home with her for a meal and we could sleep there. We thanked her very much but said we had a hotel and were on our way to the hospital. What a random act of kindness she offered!
We then walked a couple of blocks to the Santos Central Hospital that is noted in a pilgrim guide for services we had gotten from the Convent of Santa Clara. We had looked at it when I had my fever trying to determine where the nearest medical facility was. Anyway we went to this clinic to check on David's shin as it is the leg he broke and damaged some 42 years ago in India on his motorcycle. We wanted to be sure he didn't have a stress fracture and could continue to walk. We were told by the lady at information " perigrinos to the 4th floor" (nice to know our ailments are seen together as all probably relate to long distance walking). We saw a Dr. Gil who understood English better than he spoke it and after examing David said with two days rest and an anti- inflamatory medication David should be good to start the Camino again. No charges for medical advice.
We got the prescription filled and then went to our Chinese buffet for lunch. Washed our clothes and used the Febreze on our stinky backpacks, boots, and gloves as we were having drinks with E2 at the hotel bar and wanted to share this specialty item with them.
Elaine has gotten bed bugs over the last few days but Errol hasn't. They have been staying in their own rooms and not in the dorm albergues so are not happy with her problem!
We went to the cathedral which has lovely intact stained glass windows from the 13th century. I remember traveling with my family (Zinola) through France visiting churches with famous stained glass windows and Dad had quiet a few books on the subject.
Tomorrow we will do a little bit of touring but mostly rest and plan for moving forward Thursday, Sept 24th.
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We then walked a couple of blocks to the Santos Central Hospital that is noted in a pilgrim guide for services we had gotten from the Convent of Santa Clara. We had looked at it when I had my fever trying to determine where the nearest medical facility was. Anyway we went to this clinic to check on David's shin as it is the leg he broke and damaged some 42 years ago in India on his motorcycle. We wanted to be sure he didn't have a stress fracture and could continue to walk. We were told by the lady at information " perigrinos to the 4th floor" (nice to know our ailments are seen together as all probably relate to long distance walking). We saw a Dr. Gil who understood English better than he spoke it and after examing David said with two days rest and an anti- inflamatory medication David should be good to start the Camino again. No charges for medical advice.
We got the prescription filled and then went to our Chinese buffet for lunch. Washed our clothes and used the Febreze on our stinky backpacks, boots, and gloves as we were having drinks with E2 at the hotel bar and wanted to share this specialty item with them.
Elaine has gotten bed bugs over the last few days but Errol hasn't. They have been staying in their own rooms and not in the dorm albergues so are not happy with her problem!
We went to the cathedral which has lovely intact stained glass windows from the 13th century. I remember traveling with my family (Zinola) through France visiting churches with famous stained glass windows and Dad had quiet a few books on the subject.
Tomorrow we will do a little bit of touring but mostly rest and plan for moving forward Thursday, Sept 24th.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
El Burgo Ranero to Leon by taxi
We see the mountains off to our north/west, as it is another very clear, cool (40s) and sunny morning.
We had booked the Parador Hostal San Marcos (100€s per night) back in Burgos over the internet. As we were now showing up a day early they agreed to let us stay tonight at the same rate. This is a gorgeous historic building built by the king as a hospital for pilgrims. Now serving our needs for R and R! We have a lovely room with a view over trees and manicured hedges and a balcony with table and chairs.
After we arrived, we made our way to the Centro de Salud Hospital and saw a couple of doctors. Within an hour we were sent home, Leslie having a special bandage and with we believe the instructions to continue the Z pack antibiotic we started last night and to rest for 2 days. She also had some additional draining and bandages only for the price of her pain (no money charged).
We are in the perfect hotel for rest as the hotel has CNN in English. First time we have seen or heard news since we arrived in Spain. Across the street is a Chinese buffet and, as the world over, they are cheap and this place is delicious. We are overjoyed to have vegetables!
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