More from Santiago

Today we attended the Pilgrims´Mass at Santiago Cathedral. The names of the countries of origin of pilgrims who have arrived in Santiago the previous day were read out. While we Canadians get grouped with Americans and called Norte Americanos, it was still great to hear Norte America read out.

The mass was actually very nicely done. A nun with a wonderful soprano voice sang several hymns and engaged a multilingual audience in the singing. A priest welcomed pilgrims with a short welcome in five different languages. It was quite an experience to experience the interior of a gothic cathedral with a mass going on. One can really understand the awe that medieval pilgrims must have viewed the magnificence of the Cathedral!

After the pain in our feet subsided and we had a day to rest we are already thinking of our next walk in two years time. We think we will forego a trip to Finnestre by by bus and instead walk it as part of our next trip. While we are not sure which part of which road we might do in two years, but Jim is leaning to he southern route that begins in Sevilla.

We purchased our train tickets for the 11 hour train ride to Bilbao on Wednesday.. Given our experience with the volcano ash cloud and our flight to Bilbao as our trip began, we decided to take the train to Bilbao instead.

Looking forward to home, family, friends, and pets!

All our best,
Jim and Wendy

The Final Day to Santiago

Yesterday morning we set out at 6:30 a.m. to walk what was traditionally pilgrims ´last leg´ to Santiago, a distance of 40 kilometers. A hotel reservation and the desire to finish drove us on. Some notable highlights of of final day included:

The first day in four where the sun came out and stayed out all day. It was glorious after the steady downpours!

A Spanish woman eating the largest meat boccadillo we had every seen, washed down with beer and two espressos.

A sense of poignancy walking 10 of the last 20 kilometers with a huge group (100 to 150 people) of deaf and hard of hearing adults (some with multiple disabilities). They were supported by a dedicated group of volunteers so they could walk at least part of the Camino. Someone we met today said they walked in later yesterday. Wendy knew that waving her hands was the deaf sign for applause. She and I were a big hit with the deaf and hard of hearing walkers as we waved our hands as they went by us at lunch today!

We walked into the plaza where Santiago Cathedral is located at about 4:30 p.m. We Both of us were pretty tired after 40 kilometers and our feet ached. It was surreal to finish in the square which was filled with tourists taking pictures. For both of us, arriving was less important than the process of the journey that took us 455 kilometers together through approximately 60% of the Camino Frances.

Once we arrived in Santiago, both wondered what to do next. A woman approached us who had finished her walk yesterday. She said she felt just as stunned when she walked in at 40 kilomters the day before. She recommended getting some rest and coming back to the square tomorrow to see the cathedral and get our compostella(certificate of completion).

This morning after a great sleep and brunch we cabbed it back to the square. Santiago Cathedral is impressive, but we both agreed that Burgos cathedral is more magnificent. We lined up with other pilgrims and received our certificates of completion which are printed in Latin. While Wendy´s name is the same, my Latin name is ¨Jacobam¨.

After getting our certificates for completing our pilgrimage, we visited Santiago Cathedral and watched part of the Sunday mass. It was interesting to experience the mass and the church interior at the same time.

Now that we have finished our journey, we become tourists for the next five days. We will spend the next few days exploring Santiago. On Wednesday we will take the train to Bilbao and spend Thursday checking out the Guggenhim Museum. On Friday, fingers crossed that the volcanic ash cloud does not interfere, we will fly home via Munich.

We look forward to returning to family, friends, and our pets. We look forward to sharing our adventures with you accompanied by a reasonable number of pictures!

All our best wishes,
Jim and Wendy

A Pulpo Party and then on to Azura

Our extra day in Melida allowed us to attend a pulpo (octopus) party. A restaurant that seats 200 people with lines of picnic tables where the staff bring you a tray of octopus (yes, all parts of the octopus)coated with Spanish paprika, sea salt, and olive oil. Accompanying the pulpo is a basket of peasant bread to soak up the juices. A local white wine is also a feature of the meal. Wendy had a salad and watched as Jim consumed the entire pulpo portion (designed for at least two persons). The pulpo was succulent and did not at all smell fishy. It was interesting to see that the Spaniards also ordered garlic potatoes and red wine or Gallician beer with their pulpo. The Spanish pilgrims had no hesitation in ordering second and third botles of wine. Obviously they were not intending to continue their journey that day.

Today we thought we had ¨missed the memo¨since the Camino was devoid of any other walkers other than the two of us for at least an hour. We then realized we had stayed at the far end of Melida so had a 20 - 30 minute head start over the other pilgrims. They soon overtook us, but for that hour it felt like the early days of the Camino when there were very few of us on the trail.

Tomorrow we are doing a marathon distance to finish the Camino. Literally, it is about 40 kilometers to Santiago. We are ready to finish and want to finish- tomorrow.

We witnessed an interesting altercation in the local restaurant today. A Spanish man complained about his black umbrella being stolen. Another man came in at that moment with a grey checkered umbrella and apologized for taking the wrong umbrella. Great hilarity ensued as no one could figure out how you could possibly take a grey checkered umbrella in place of a black umbrella! Our theory is that it is too much red wine consumption that caused this alleged crime. Oh how exciting life is in a town of 6,000 people!

Here Comes the Rain, Part 2

Yesterday we slogged through 16 kilometers of a constant Gallician cloudburst. We arrived in Melide soaking wet and covered in mud. Around us was beautiful rural countryside. However, it is difficult to stop and appreciate it while traversing muddy paths and having rain water dripping down your back!

With just fifty kilometers to go, we decided to dry off in a hotel and finish off the remaining miles over next two days. This decision was easy to make since it is still raining today.

Melida has the distinction of being the octopus capital of Gallicia. ¨Polpo¨ is served with Spanish paprika and sea salt. Jim is looking forward to sampling some while Wendy will watch in horror. One of the women we were talking to yesterday asked if they served the octopus with their suckers still attached. Jim´s experience was, yes, indeed, that is exactly how they are served and they are yummy!

We are both looking forward to just one final alburgue stay before we conclude our journey in Santiago and begin a four day stay in a luxurious four star hotel. One can only take so much group togetherness and the growing competition to race for a bed, shower, toilets, coffee, etc. etc. etc.

Here Comes the Rain Again

Our first day of rain in the whole trip. It started as a drizzle and luckily, by the time it came down in buckets we were already in Palais del Rais. We are still walking through forested area which helped distract us from the rain. We also had a chance to use our raingear for the first time in nearly a month. The taxis were busy running wet pilgrims down to town all morning.

Would you believe the Spaniards were getting ready to leave this morning before 5 a.m. this morning? Then, for some mysterious reason, there was no light in the kitchen so they ate their breakfast outside the sleeping area. They laughed, they sang, they woke up everyone.

Pailais del Rais is a really boring place that has absolutely no monuments of any note. We spent the afternoon snoozing on our bunks in the alburgue. We can happily report that we booked a hotel in Santiago for four days, beginning with our planned arrival on June 12th. As of today, just 66 kilometers to go to Santiago.

Tomorrow we go to the octopus capital of the Camino. Jim intends to consume a full tray of octopus ¨polpo¨ while Wendy will be several kilometers away to avoid the stench!

The Hills Are Alive...With the Sound of Pilgrims

After a strenuous climb out of Sarria this morning, we found the roads increasingly full with a Japanese tour group and a Spanish school group. The hills were alive for a while with the sound of music as these youngsters could really wail!

We passed a major milestone today: the 100 kilometer marker until Santiago. Everyone was having their picture taken there. Jim took at least five photos for various groups of pilgrims and, in turn, one of them took our picture.

The scenery today took us through woodlands, pastures, and a series of small hamlets made up of anywhere between six and 12 people. We have arrived at the town of Portomarin, which was actually moved in 1950 to make way for the flooding of old town for a reservoir. The church was actually numbered brick by brick, moved to the new town site and reassembled.

Once again, our entry into town involved a long climb up a steep set of stairs. Just what you want after walking for six hours! Portmarin is a larger town of 2000 people that can truly is a tourist town. One sees tour buses and people walking around in large groups looking at the few local sites of interest. Lots of souvenir shops and even a pizza joint.

We now have 90 kilomters till Santiago.

Running with the Bulls

Today Jim lived out a long time dream. He ran with the bulls. Well, no they were actually cows and he didn´t run, he walked with a herd of some dozen cows that came onto the Camino this morning. So did Wendy and another half dozen young Spaniards. The cows were well behaved and no one was gored.

We walked in overcast, muggy weather today from Triacastela to Sarria through thick forested area, a distance of about 24 kilometers. When we arrived in Sarria just after noon, there was a line up of some 30 backpacks of pilgrims waiting to getting into the main alburgue. We added ours to the lineup and were among the lucky 42 people who got a bed. There are at least five other alburgues in this town. However, it shows you the bed space in the alburgues is filling up a lot earlier as we get closer to Santiago.

Sometime tomorrow morning, we will pass the 100 kilomter mark left in our journey until Santiago. You can see the growing relief in people´s expressions as they realize they will be finishing their walk sometime later this week. No doubt they see the look in our faces.

It is fun to watch people reconnect with those they met earlier on the route. The atomosphere here in Sarria was made more festive by a local celebration that was concluding as we arrived. The mainstreet was lined with a carpet made with flower petals. Under the petals are lines of gunpowder which are ignited and blow the fours into the air. We missed seeing this occurrance but did hear it quite well!

Over the Mountain Via Taxi

The spirit was willing but our flesh was weak. What was apparently food poisoning with Wendy turns out to be a flu bug affecting both of us. We decided rather than sit out another day and wait for our stomachs to improve, we would take a cab over the mountain. This morning we drove from Villafranca to Triacastela, a distance of 39kilometers. The views along the way were pleasant, but somehow it felt better knowing we did not have to try and make it over the mountain and down again.

Our taxi driver was part tour guide, providing information about the towns we passed through and stopping so we could take pictures. We entered into Galicia proper today and the weather is cooler and overcast, a nice change from scorching heat. The Galician accents and vocabulary are also different, so we don´t always understand it the first time we hear it.

We are now settled into an alburgue in Triacastela and have about 139 kilomters left to Santiago. There is little in this town of 900 inhabitants that is worh seeing. We have noticed quite a few pilgrims who walking wounded and have taxied or bused here.

We are hopeful that we will both feel well enough tomorrow to resume our travels.

One Can Never Start Walking Too Early?!%$

The alburgue was awash with zippers zipping and plastic bags rustling at 5 a.m. this morning. People were obviously anxious to either make it to the top of the mountain at O Cebreiro, some 30 kilometers away from Villafranca. Still others were planning to make it to the town before the hill.

There is an intensity to the pilgrims that was not evident when we began our walk in mid-May. Everyone is clearly tired, stressed by the heat, and injuries to legs and feet are appearing more commonly. This makes people more intense and cranky. There are fewer alburgues (and therefore fewer beds) to accomodate all those who are on the road. We are fortunate to have the option of private hotels or hostels, so we can escape the almost frenetic push being made daily for the next, best alburgue.

The locals continue to comment about the heat in every town and village we pass through. We are starting to hear Galician which is roughly the same as patois is French. It is still recognizable as Spanish (but just).

We walked 15 kilomters today to position ourselves for the push up the mountain to O Cebreiro tomorrow. This will officially take us into the region of Galicia.

Unexpected Break in Our Walking Schedule

We took two days off in Ponferrada: one for both of us to get a rest and a second day for Wendy with what seemed to be food poisoning. She spent a quiet day at the hotel watching Spanish television while I did a little food shopping and went for a few cafe con leches. Wendy is doing much better today and was able to walk.

We chuckled at some of the big news items on Spanish television. One item that received big coverage was the story that broke the news that people were not going to the beaches or the local fairs because the temperature was in excess of 35 degrees Celsius. A follow up to this big news item was a cloud of mosquitoes that had bitten people in Mallorca. Several people were interviewed showing as many as three mosquito bites on their arms and legs. One of the interesting aspects of Spanish news is that the commentator tells the story quite quickly and then the reporter interview at least five eyewitnesses to give their perspectives. One does not need too much Spanish to realize the perspectives are often dully similar!

We headed back out on the road today and walked 26 kilometers to Villefranca. We got started before 7 a.m. which was good. By noon, it must have been in the high 20s and it was hottttt! We took an alternative route for the last six kilometers which was, as always, scenic but tougher walking with many climbs and descents.Both of us had sore tired feet by the time we rolled into town. We had a great lunch at a modern restaurant that seemed almost out of place with this town of about 3,300 people.
As of now, we have walked a little over 300 kilometers with another 186 kilometers to Santiago. We are now aiming to be in Santiago on June 13th, a day later than we originally scheduled.