CAMINO

Day 16 to the mountain overlooking Santiago

Preliminary view of Santiago

With both of us suffering from a cold, Dave and I managed to persuade poor Steven and his sore feet to go the extra km (or 5 + km) to get us within 5km of the Santiago cathedral.  We expect to get an early morning view of the city tomorrow, get in line for the Compostela and attend a special mass for Pelegrinos at noon.

The weather today was perfect for hiking. It had rained over night but stopped by 7am which is when we got underway.  The barkeeper from last night served us croissants right out of the oven.  Of course there wAs one gynormous hill to climb and we all asked the same question ” why do they always build  cafes at the base of hills?”

 

 

Day 15 Only 27 km to Santiago.

Because of the view we were encouraged to see of Santiago early in the am, we have scheduled our hikes, in part, to be within 5-7 km of Santiago for Wed moening. So we have roughly 20km to walk tomorrow.

Today was cool but mainly sunny.  There was some fog as we climbed to elevations but not many photographic opportunities.  Still the wild and domestic flowers were pleasant.  Steve’s foot is really bothering him and he moves slowly.  So tomorrow may be a challenge.  We did find a fun restaurant owner who satisfied even Dave,’s palate.

Our delightful barkeeper

Day 13 and the long hike to Palas de Rei

Local city hall
Octupus Spanish favourite dish

A long hike today which for me means 25kms with a lot of hills.  We climbed 450 metres.   There was constant drizzle as well but it didnt really affect the hike but it  certainly removed the opportunity for photos. Dave Scribner joined us last night so we passed the time well enough.  We found a bar that will be showing the Real Madrid  vs Juventus championship game tonight

Day 12 Moving on to Portomarin

Beautiful walk today only overshadowed slightly by overshooting our Albergue.  We climbed up to the top of the steps and asked directions.  However worked out because there are no restaurants near the Albergue  we had brunch and retraced some steps crossing back over the long bridge and found the Albergue.  Its very nice and the young girls running it try hard to speak English.

There were some ups and downs today and i was getting tired tiward the end

View of Portomarin from bedroom window

Day 11 day of rest at Vilei

The ‘inn next door’

Arose early and wandered to the inn next door which has a restaurant and a swimming pool.  We sat around the pool with Steve and Sarah from Perth sipping sangria and later had dinner with them.  This morning i said goodbye to just about everyone ive met on the Camino as all seem to be partaking of breakfast at the same time.   But what a lot of Pilgrims!  There seemed to

Early morning view

be a constant swarm of them and im sure it will be more of the same as we head out tomorrow

Day 9 Camino to Triacastela

Roses on albergue rest stop
Evening view from O’cibreiera
View from the trail

A pleasant walk down a 20km mountainside although it started with some significant hill climbs that got the heart pumping quickly.  I dumped a water container early to lighten the load but i was able to take multiple rest stops waiting for Steve who kept the same pace all morning.  Leaving at 7 we walked until 10 to have breakfast and then stopped at 1130 to see if we should end it for the day. Having gained a full day on our schedule we would miss Dave Scribner who planned to meet is in Sarria. It was finally agreed ti move on to Tricastella and change the renmaining schedule.

Yezterday we saw lots of horse dung which indicated horsez from various hamlets had been busy ferryng pilgrims up the long hill.  Today our nostrils were  full of cow manure as every bend in the trail passed fhrough a farm community.

But the day was great, starting with heavy fog and finally ending bright sun. There were beautiful roses in farmers gardens and bright wild flowers. A farmers wife emerged from her home offering homemade crepes and she was eager to know what Canadians called them.

Ended the evening with a ton of salad and a great salmon filet, of course, served with all the wine you could drink