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.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, June 7, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, June 4, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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.
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.
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