Jane in Spain

24 September 2019

CAMINO INGLES DAY 6

We started the day with a quick breakfast and Maria the cab driver picked us up promptly at 8:30. Since we would be staying in the Ordes Nogallas hotel, we did not need to carry full packs. Just water and snacks. It was very nice to be in the same place for three consecutive nights.

Maria brought us back to where we finished yesterday, the Mesón-Museo restaurant.

Henk and Annette from South Africa were also being shuttled around by. Maria. We all started out at Mesón-Museo. They are fast walkers and will arrive in Bruma before us.

It was very convenient that we could just walk through the gate behind the Mesón-Museo restaurant and be on the Camino.

The first critter we saw today was an orange snail with eyes. There were several orange snails on the trails today.

We started with a beautiful walk through the Galician landscape.

A historic wall blocks the view of Church of Santa Eulalia de Leiro.

This church has a very large cemetery attached to it. Down a flight of stairs behind the church is a small shrine and an open restroom with hot and cold running water. That’s a first.

We do stop and smell the roses and this one was a beauty.

We stopped to admire this house. I was chattering about how beautiful it was. I looked up and there was a woman watching us from the window. I was startled. After a little scream and some laughter, I greeted her and asked if I could take a photo.

There was a long climb on a gravel road. At least it wasn’t a steep climb like we had been experiencing the day before. It’s always reassuring to see a Camino marker and realize you’re walking in the right direction.

Another eucalyptus forest. Lovely to smell.

We came to a parque called Encoro de Beche. It has a small reservoir and a dam in addition to restrooms with running water, hand towels, soap and toilet paper. We don’t see such good facilities very often.

Typical rest break snacks.

As these people came walking up to the park, I mentioned to Terry that the guy reminded me of my old friend Raul from Argentina. I started laughing when Melena told me that she and Miguel were from Buenos Aires. I told her why I was laughing.

Also stopping to rest and chat is pilgrim Juan Manuel from the Canary Islands.

Back on the trail we see a camouflaged tree house that some one is living in.

This is an amazing flower. We haven’t seen one like it anywhere.

Back on the road and the climb levels out but soon becomes steep.

We walked the fenced circumference of what appears to have been a very large chicken farm. No chickens in sight here.

A wonderful view from the top — there’s a village but it’s hard to see in this photo.

If you like mushrooms, Ordes is the place to be. They hold the Festa do Champinon (mushroom festival) during the last weekend of April.

Coming out of the woods and entering the outskirts of the village of Bruma.

A rooster and a few hens in a yard as we get closer to our Bruma destination.

A little rest stop.

The little village is in sight. Perfect pumpkins growing through the fence.

Next to the Bruma albuergue is a small stream that runs through the town.

Finally we have made it to Bruma and stop at the Casa Grana restaurant. Henk and Annette had been there for hours and had finished lunch. They were going to get a head start on the next day’s miles and walk a few kilometers. They asked us to pick them up on our cab ride back to Ordes and the Nogallas hotel which is where they too were staying tonight.

Casa Grana was an interesting restaurant with a big hearth shown in the upper left corner of the photo. The lunch crowd was just starting to clear out. Having just finished a strenuous 10 mile day, we opted for the pilgrim’s lunch which started with salad mixta. Terry had the chicken and I had pork. The bartender was kind enough to call Maria our cab driver for us. We did find and pick up Henk and Annette on our way out of town.

Next to the restaurant was an old church. We couldn’t find a name or any markings. This was our end stop for today and our starting place for tomorrow.

We were back in Ordes at the Nogallas hotel where we connected with Henk and Annette. We all went to the Verde Galicia Pulperia which specializes in Octopus. It is across from our hotel. Wine was served in these funny little cups. I was the only one with a wine glass and beer was served in it.

Iberico ham is one of the delicacies of Spain and it is found everywhere. It is sliced very thin and often served as a tapa with a slice or two of bread.

Interesting stonework on the entrance of Verde Galicia Pulperia.

Artwork on the entrance wall to the Pulperia. Combination of corks and moss and plants.

We ended the day with a gelato-like sorbet.

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23 September 2019

CAMINO INGLES DAY 5

We started the day with breakfast at Hotel Garelos. It cost about 5E and included the usual assortment of breads, meat, cheese, fruit, cereals, yogurt, juice and coffee. No eggs.

Most of the people in the breakfast room were from Spain or Europe.

Terry is working on today’s route with the guidebook and our South African friends Annette and Henk are getting ready for their walk.

It’s very common for hotels to offer a buffet type breakfast.

This is a residence complex. Today is a very strenuous hike uphill.

“There’s no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is get to the top. It’s experiencing the climb itself — in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue — that has to be the goal.” Karyn Kusama, American Film Director

Mural to Fatima on the Terrace Wall

You know you’re going the right way when a pilgrim image is pointing to the direction.

By the time we reached the railroad tracks, the climb was almost over.

We always stop to smell the roses and other flowers.

These looks like Fuchia and they are growing wild here.

This looks like a holly tree with a rose growing in front of it. We have seen a wide variety of flowers and plant life … even succulents growing in this area.

Not sure what these are but I love the purple color.

Finally a nice road, in the tranquil country side and it’s not uphill.

A little river breaks up the walk giving us something new to look at.

On the edge of town, we start to see houses and guard dogs. This one doesn’t look too ferocious.

Entering the town of Cos and a pile of timber waiting to be moved.

Lovely old chapel in the Parroquia San Esteban De Cos. The courtyard of the church grounds was open but not the church itself.

Sheep grazing in the field. Presedo is getting closer.

The view of a hillside village can be seen from the Camino.

Dos cerveza por favour! Time for another stamp in the credential. We need to obtain two stamps per day in order to receive our Compostela at the end of the Camino in Santiago. It is suppose to prove that we walked it.

These are the door markers for the men’s and ladies rest rooms at the little tavern we stopped at. I had to look twice to figure it out — the Lady is blowing smoke rings with a cigarette. The man has a pipe.

Terry missed the signage. She excitedly reported that the bathroom had a “squatty-pottie”. I didn’t think so but took a second look anyway. It was the Men’s room and it had a floor urinal — no squatty-pottie. We had a good laugh and I was relieved to hear that Terry had used the correct restroom and not the squatty.

Beautiful yard full of flowers on the way to Sequero.

Not sure what these clusters of pine are but in this area we saw them hanging in a few places.

Finally — the outskirts of Presedo. We were very tired because of the steep hills. We had planned to stay at the Presedo Albuergue, which is the only place in town to stay. It has only 16 beds and it’s first come. We are slow walkers and were pretty sure that we would not get beds. Our good friend Begonia from our Betanzos hotel had called ahead to reserve beds for us. She was told that there was a big party in town and that we should not plan to stay there. We made reservations at Nogallas Hostal in the nearby town of Ordes and would have to take a cab back and forth.

We did walk by the Presedo albuergue and there was a line of pilgrims waiting around 2:00 pm. The albuergue never opened. The “party” we had been forewarned of was a feast day celebration for San Antonio who was probably the patron saint of the area.

Our end stop for the day was at a funky restaurant called Mesón-Museo. It was calling us.

We were so ready for some vino tinto.

This is Caldo Gallego. It is a specialty soup with potatoes, greens and chicken broth.

I also had cuddlefish served on potatoes. Terry had a salad mixta and a chickpea & sausage soup that reminded me of Pozole.

This is our cab driver Maria. She is a friend of Begonia from our hotel in Betanzos. The next two towns also had very small Albuergues. We decided not to take a chance getting stuck without beds so we booked the Nogalles hotel in Ordes for three nights. Maria was going to drive us back and forth to our end and starting points.

This is the strangest dinner ever. It was in the small dining room of the Nogallas hotel. We’re not sure what the attendant was trying to tell us but we ended up with a casserole kind of thing. It was a combination of potatoes, green beans and a hard boiled egg cut in half. Add the bread and that was dinner. We had a big lunch that day, so it was fine. Don’t think I’d order it again.

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22 September 2019

CAMINO INGLES DAY 4

Leaving LaTerraza Hostal in Miño, we start walking through the village on the Camino.

La Terraza was a good place to stay — very comfortable and convenient location.

Miño is a coastal town with three beaches. The Playa Grande is a sandy beach with calm waters.

A boardwalk leads through the park.

… And along a river with fishing boats.

Not sure what this interesting vine or plant is.

Here we come upon a statue that represents the noble Andrade family.

It’s a bear and a boar that represent the Andrade family … this image looks like a combination of the two.

Beautiful houses along the river trail.

The freeway lanes pass high over the village and looks very out of place in this serene setting. It looks like it would be really scary to drive over it too.

A beautiful walk today … at least here. It became very hilly with lots of ups and downs.

Lots of squash and pumpkins growing everywhere.

Ancient Galician bridge over the Miño river.

The Miño river is the longest river in Galicia and in the south, it shares the border with Portugal.

This cute little pup was so small he was able to escape through the lattice bars of the gate. Terry put him back in through a lattice opening and he jumped back out before she could turn around.

Looking back down a steep hill I just climbed.

This fountain flowing with spring water has been around since 1884. It is a very refreshing rest stop.

We started seeing these funny trees.

Gray mare in the barn eating squash.

Lots of squash piled up in the barn for the horse.

Down another steep hill. The countryside is beautiful.

These are the first grapes we’ve ever seen in Spain. We’re usually here in April or May and there’s nothing on the vines at that time.

Little colt on the hill.

Country church surrounded by a grave yard. Very common in Spain.

What goes up must come down. Lots of steep climbs today.

Just past the vineyard we can see Betanzos.

Another church on the way into town.

Over another river and on to Betanzos which maintains an authentic medieval feel. Until the 19th century it was the capital of the province of Galicia and home to the legendary Andrade family, the feared feudal lords of Galicia. Notice the white Galician glass balconies and red tiled roofs that cut into the hill, There is no formal town plan and no symmetry in the way the town evolved.

The Betanzos river splits into two branches that surround the city, the Rio Mendo on one side and the Rio Mandeo on the other.

The medieval gate into Old Town Betanzos is called the Arco da Ponte Nova. It is one of the original entry gates in the medieval wall. Once through the gateway it’s a steep climb into the old quarter.

A view from the other side looking out of the gothic gateway.

The medieval plaza of old town Betanzos with the focal point of the Church of Santo Domingo.

This is our hotel for tonight — Hotel Garelos.

Nice room. Very comfortable.

This is Begonia, the front desk person at the Garelos. She spoke English and was a wealth of information. It took us an hour to check in because she talked a lot and enthusiastically gave us a tour of some rooms.

This statue in the town square is of the brothers Garcia Naveira, to whom the square is dedicated and who were huge benefactors to the city.

Doorway of the Church of San Francisco. The tympanum (arched area above door) has a representation of the Adoration of the Kings and Saint Francis.

Later we met up with Henk and Anitz from South Africa. We went out for a beer, did some touring and had dinner together.

This small tavern was our first stop.

Betanzos is known for its Tortilla de Betanzos which is basically a very runny version of an omelette. Terry and I ordered a couple pieces … sorry, we ate it before we remembered to take a photo. It was savory and delicious. I did take a photo of the “salad”. It was tomato slices halved with onion and bathed in olive oil. It looked awesome and tasted awesome too.

On the way back to the hotel we cut through the old town square by the fountain of Diana the Huntress. It is a cast iron copy of the statue housed in the Louvre.

What a long day.

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CAMINO INGLES DAY 3

21 September 2019

Pontedeuma is a beautiful town which has developed over time thanks to its historical and heavily-trafficked bridge. Located at the mouth of the Eume River on the side of Breamo Hill, it maintains its medieval feel and preserves the legacy of the Andrade family who played a pivotal role in the town’s growth.

This bronze statue is called “The Panadera” (the bread woman) in the plaza del Pan (the Plaza of Bread).

Ancient statue of a monk greets those climbing the stairs to the Church of Santiago.

Galician two-sided crosses are commonly found on street corners.

A local enjoying the morning sun on her patio.

Lots of gardens everywhere with fall harvest in abundance. Looks like a watermelon.

Not sure what these are … squash? Pumpkin?

Morning glories seem to grow everywhere.

And the road continues.

This is the first time we’ve ever seen grapes on the Camino. The previous two caminoes were during the months of April and May which are too early for grapes on the vine./

This is the bread truck on his route. He pulls up and beeps the horn. Someone usually runs out of the house to get the bread …

And at some houses, they leave the bread hanging on the door or in a special bread box.

The camino cuts through a golf course.

There was actually a golfer golfing over the camino.

And the camino continues after cutting through a golf green.

We saw berries that looked like raspberries and blackberries coming from the same vine. They tasted terrible.

A horreo (corn crib) with a wonderful view.

Freshly painted house with color coordinated gate and horreo.

This giant fungi (about 10″ in diameter) was awesome looking but it is the enemy of the Eucalyptus trees.

Interesting stop sign graffiti.

Stopped at a coffee shop that had a statue of a pilgrim and his dog.

The coffee shop owner was happy to chat about the other antiques she had on display.

Snow White and the seven dwarfs on a display shelf on somebody’s second floor shelf.

Finally, we reached our destination, the La Terraza hotel.

The room was very similar to last night’s accommodations at Hostal Luis.

We joined Annette & Henk for tapas at a convenient restaurant across the street from our hotel. Then we all went shopping at the nearby Gadis grocery store.

It was cold and raining and we were tired from the day’s walk, Dinner from Gadis grocery store served in what Terry called, the “top drawer deli”.

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20 September 2019

CAMINO INGLES DAY 2

It wasn’t even daylight when we left the room at about 7:40 am. Since the little cafe under our room didn’t open until 8:00 we sat down on the steps and waited. Eventually a group of four men showed up and were also expecting the cafe to be open. One of them asked us “Ocho? Ocho?” We nodded and we all waited. They spoke Spanish and were from the Isle of Majorca (in the Mediterranean) which is located just off the east coast of Spain.

We had a quick breakfast of coffee and toast. The cost is 2 euro which is just a little bit more than $2.

The gents of Majorca are getting ready to hike out. We never caught up to them.

Lemon trees are everywhere.

Leaving Neda, we walked this lovely boardwalk around the Ria de Ferrol.

It’s always interesting when your walking through the countryside.

Great views of the village from another boardwalk.

This is the biggest snail I’ve ever seen. I think it was a good 5-6″ long.

This seemed to be the hot spot for taking a lunch break on the Camino today.

We took a break with Annette (and Henk) from South Africa.

This Siamese tabby shows off its tabby tail.

Today’s Camino walk had several lovely trails. We prefer the dirt trails.

This kind old dog escorted me off its property. No barking, just showed me the way.

Lots of apples hanging from trees. An entrepreneur of apple sales left a donation box along with apples in a chair making it convenient for pilgrims.

Your choice … long route or the short route that has one dangerous crossing. We took the short route. It wasn’t that dangerous.

A beautiful wall of what appears to be morning glories.

I’m a fan of sponge Bob. The rabbit it cute too.

Entering the Pontedeuma area with a view of Rio Eume.

We seem to be keeping pace with Henk and Annette. Time for a cerveza before they stopped for the day at Cabanas. We were trekking on to Pontedeuma.

We continued across the Pontedeuma bridge. The water was very clear and we could see large fish from the bridge. Many colorful fishing boats moored in the riverside gave this town the feel of a fishing village.

Pontedeuma is a medieval city with narrow streets cut into a steep hillside. We stayed in the old quarter.

Hostal Luis above Restaurant Luis is our final destination today. And a very noisy one. When we arrived around 2:30 pm, the restaurant was packed with locals enjoying Friday afternoon. Also, there is a popular square across the street from the restaurant.

Across from Hostal Luis, is a cement park where everyone hangs out. The parents sit at the outdoor restaurant while the kids play soccer on a very slanted court.

Salad mixta was the start of our Octopus dinner at Restaurant Luis.

Our room was small but very tidy and clean. Glad to be done walking for the day.

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19 September 2019

CAMINO INGLES DAY 1:

Time to leave the Parador and hit the road to Neda. Finally, we are starting Camino Ingles. We were packed up and out of the room by 8:00 am but it was still dark outside. Couldn’t resist — had to have breakfast at the Parador.

The breakfast room at the Parador.

Among the items offered was an assortment of fresh fruit.

The Camino route took us through the main shopping street of Ferrol. We found an unusual statue. Viewing through American eyes, one would think this was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist hate group. Through Spanish eyes, it is a penitent from the Semana Santa procession that takes place the week before Easter. It has no sinister significance and, in fact, their symbolic meaning of the cone-shaped hat is that it is rising to heaven and bringing the penitent closer to heaven. It’s still scary looking.

The route passes by a number of Naval training bases.

… and a few churches.

The coastal views continue as the route wraps around Praia de Caranza, a volleyball beach (shown below).

Coffee break time! Chatted with a nice couple from Pretoria, South Africa … Annette and Henk. Being it was our first day on the Camino, chances are good that we’ll be crossing paths with them again.

Back on the road and through the industrial area. Not very interesting.

Oooops! We got on this path by mistake. It was very eroded, full of vines with thorns and led to a drainage tunnel where either a troll or an axe murderer lived. We quickly realized the error and got out of there.

The pampas grass is beautiful and it’s everywhere.

This is the monastery of St. Martin. It appears that someone is living there or at least having services there but we found it to be totally quiet.

We took a little break in the shade. It was very warm — maybe in the high 70s and full sun.

It’s nice to be out walking in the country again.

Even though we took the shorter route, it was miserable walking along the sandspit area in the heat and full sun.

Finally over the footbridge and into Neda. Day 1 accomplished.

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16 September 2019

Late to bed, early to rise. All packed up and heading for the subway station on a brisk Tuesday morning. The air was crisp with a light breeze and the narrow streets were already humming with activity. The sound of suitcase wheels being dragged over cobblestone, diesel engines, supplies being unloaded from trucks, the rev of motor scooters and the clink of coffee cups from outdoor cafes serenaded us as we scurried down Calle de Carettas to the Metro.

Puerto del Sol was buzzing with energy. The usual tourists and tourist magnets were gearing up for the day. We entered the outer hump entrance of the Metro station and descended down several escalators and through ticket gates. We have become somewhat competent at maneuvering the subways and found our track. It was packed with morning commuters. We squeezed into the crowded car and a half dozen people squeezed in along with us. The Metro trains not only allow bicycles but scooters too. The ride to the airport was not pleasant but that’s the reality of rush hour on a Tuesday morning.

Our flight to A Coruna on a mid-size Iberia airbus was short and sweet. I was delighted to find recipes for Gallago Octopus and Paella (in Spanish and English) in one of the airplane seat pocket magazines. We chose to do the cheap flight alternative so that meant we didn’t get to choose seats. I had a window seat with two locals sitting next to me … Señora Dona and Señor Macho. The flight attendant was nice enough to move Mr. Macho to a better seat so we could all spread out. Mrs. Dona didn’t understand this. She rattled something to me in Spanish. I smiled and said, “habla usted English?” She looked at me, laughed and indicated that she spoke very little English. Then she said, “you English”. I nodded. In broken english she communicated that the flight attendant wanted both of us to move over to the open aisle seat. I said I wanted to stay by the window. She said ok and remained in the middle seat. The plane was stuffy and I don’t know how she survived in her thermal outer jacket. Her arm was secured by the arm rest and her elbow was poking into my ribs the entire flight. The seat next to her remained empty. At least it was a very short flight.

It was a quick Uber ride to our hostel. Like pack mules we hiked up three generous flights of stairs to our room with backpacks in tow. It was small, clean and comfortable with a large window draped so you couldn’t tell you were looking at a wall.

After settling in and shedding the hiking boots, we went out to explore. We chose to stay at Hostel Linar because it was located in the middle of two bodies of water. One was a beach and the other a harbor. Both were a short walk from the Hostel in opposite directions.

Being a warm, sunny day we chose to do the beach side first. We took the higgely piggely route because there is no other way to get there. Weaving through the town’s small narrow streets we window shopped and made a few stops. The cool breeze and smell of salt water led the way. One of the interesting things about A Coruna are the beautiful glass fronted balconies.

A Coruna is often called the Crystal City because of the glass fronted balconies on the sea promenade. On a clear day when the sun faces the harbor front during the evening, the reflection can be blinding.

It was about 80 degrees and sunny. The long sprawling beach was empty. Sun bathers were few and far between even though it felt like a beach day to us Minnesotans. A Coruna has a population of about 200,000 … where was everybody? Maybe this felt cold to them and September isn’t typically a ‘beach’ month and maybe not high season for tourists. We saw a few unsuccessful surfers. The waves just weren’t there today. And yes, the water was cold.

There are five beaches in the A Coruna area.

After testing the water, we spread out a Zubana (backpacker’s lightweight nylon version of a ground cloth) and began to enjoy the sun, sand and surf. The grainy sand was coarse and it felt good to grind my feet around in it. There was something sparkly in its composition. I examined it carefully but couldn’t identify what it was. For a brief moment, I thought about bringing some sand home to add to my beach sand collection which was started many years ago with several sands from Hawaii. I quickly realized that it would not be a good idea to haul it around in my backpack for five weeks. Customs might not like it either.

Looks like were the only ones on the beach today.

After we soaked up enough sun to feel rested and replenished with vitamin D, we set out for the harbor side. It was a slow walk because we went down the shopping street instead of the sea promenade. So many interesting things to look at. We have become Hyper Bazaar junkies. This store is a version of the dollar store but on steroids.

We weren’t really looking for anything but enjoyed perusing the maze-like aisles. Around every corner is a surprise … it could be hardware, cookware, toys, underwear, lawn ornaments and lots of plastic stuff.

Welcome to the Real Bazaar store! Very similar to Hyper Bazaar.

Tons of merchandise is compacted into an extremely small store space. Anything you might need to survive the Camino can be found for cheap at the Hyper Bazaar. They have many locations all over Spain and they are usually run by Asians.

It was about 3:00 pm and we hadn’t eaten since the fast food quiche found at the airport. Hunger was setting in. We beelined to the harbor side.

The harbor side promenade was interesting but not as pretty as the beach side. Lots of sailboats.

Terry with a giant flock of parrots.

We are back in the land of big drinks and tapas. Gin Tonica hits the spot followed by calamari, croquettes and Russian salad which is similar to what we know as potato salad.

From our seaside table Terry, who is employed as a business administrator for a church in St.Paul, Minnesota was conducting daily business via cell phone. What a lovely place to work from.

On to Old Town

We went to the Maria Pita square which was beautiful but a little quiet. Maria Pita lived in the 16th century and was a heroine in the defense of Coruna.

Leaving the square, we entered what is known as old town.

We continued walking around Old Town until we realized there were many flights of stairs to reach the rest of old town.

After a long day of hiking around, I wasn’t too excited to climb the stairs. It wasn’t just a few steps, it was many. I spotted something that looked like an elevator. Out of curiosity, I had to see what this elevator thing was. As I thought, it was an elevator but it looked more like a grain silo. I really wanted to ride it and so we did.

This is the elevator we took out of curiosity and to avoid flights of stairs.

The “grain silo’ style elevator had a glass ceiling and walls.

We stumbled across a beautiful courtyard with very tall trees that canopied the square.

Large blossoms hung from trees.

As we were soaking in the ambiance, we discovered a church. Of course we had to take a look at it. We circled to the front and eventually tried the door. Disappointed, we started to walk away when a local came running up to us and started speaking in Spanish.

The Church of Santiago La Coruna

He pulled out a ring of keys and directed us to the side door. To the best of my Spanish knowledge, he kept saying he was San Pedro. We just laughed and smiled as he led us into the dark church.

We sat down in pews as he locked the door and walked away. We were in the dark. Slowly and dramatically the lights went on one by one. Eventually, he came back and opened the main doors. This church had really good energy.

Santiago La Coruna is an ancient monument built in the 17th century. It is the start of the English Camino pilgrimage that leads to the tomb of Santiago (aka St. James) the apostle in Compostela.

San Pedro (aka Saint Peter) holds the key to heaven.

As we were leaving the Church of Santiago La Coruna, we crossed paths with a young man from the Netherlands named Thomas. He was starting his Camino the next day. This church was the start of the A Coruna leg of the Ingles Camino. We will be starting from the Ferrol branch which is longer.

Buen Camino! Terry chatted with a pilgrim from the Netherlands who was starting the Ingles Camino.

This was Thomas’s first Camino and he was very excited to start. Perhaps we will cross paths with him somewhere. We wished him a Buen Camino and we were all on our way.

Shoes and Tambourines

Heading back to the Hostal, we made one major stop. Terry has a fondness for footwear stores and this one was a gem. It was a combination shoe store and tambourine store. That is not a spell check error. Yes, I said shoes and tambourines. Both are made by hand at this store and you can pick the color and fabric of the shoes you want.

Handmade shoes and handmade tambourines.

You can buy a tambourine to match your shoes.

There was even a pair of tambourine boots. Can you imagine Mick Jagger, Prince or James Brown bangling around in these??

Terry was in shoe heaven and needed to call her daughter Helen in Peru for shoe consultation. There are only two places you can buy these shoes one being the store in A Coruna and the other in Pontevedre, Spain. The brand is Eferro and they do have a website which is quite interesting to look at.

http://elenaferro.com/en/content/16-galerias

We made a pit stop at our hostal to freshen up and then hit the streets again to find dinner. Being in a harbor town, we were looking for seafood.

Sea Scallops hit the spot.

Another pleasant day in Spain. Our next stop is the nearby city of Ferrol.

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16 September 2019

Terry slept like a rock … for 14 hours straight. I’m not so lucky. I was restless and kept waking up off and on with intermittent periods of reading and blogging. Needless-to-say, we got a late start today.

The first few hours were spent chasing around Puerto del Sol. The ‘grab & go’ vendors were busy. We call them Grab & Go because their ground cloth has a rope attached to it that lets them quickly escape with all of their goods and hightail it out of there for whatever reason … the police, find a new corner or to stop working for the day.

Busy day for the ‘Grab & Go’ vendors.

Our first stop was the Apple Store to resolve some problems I was having with my login. Mission accomplished. Next we tried to find a Fitbit charger. Mission not accomplished. In between we found a few non-essential stores that were fun to look through. A few non-essential purchases made.

By the time we got around to finding breakfast it was 5:00 pm or more like around 10:00 am Minneapolis time. Anytime is a good time for Sangria.

After a wonderful roast chicken ‘breakfast’ we decided to go to our favorite park which is El Retiro. But first, we had to stop and check out a church.

This is the Church San Jose which is on the World Heritage site. Simone Bolivar, the conquistador who founded Bolivia and killed a bunch of people, was married there.

We noticed that they seem to like putting bars in front of Baby Jesus. Maybe they think someone might steal him.

Very interesting architecture all over Madrid. Eventually, we made it to the park where it was so pleasant and a great place to work off some jet lag.

This is the formal entrance to Parque de El Retiro.

Pleasant music with a pleasant setting. El Retiro was an awesome place to relax.

We walked back to our neighborhood and ended the evening at Plaza Major.

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15 September 2019

We flew Delta to Boston and Norwegian Air to Madrid which was a six hour flight where they don’t even give you a drink of water. If you desire food on the flight, it must be ordered in advance. Otherwise your option is to order something from the Snack Bar via the entertainment monitor located on each seat. Norwegian Air is like Spirit Airline only you’re on a bigger plane … uncomfortable seats and no food. Lost my toothbrush somewhere between MSP and MAD.

Took the Metro from the airport to Puerto del Sol. A little bit of confusion at airport because Metro was under reconstruction. Found our way to the JQC Rooms. Great location but we had to hike up five flights of stairs. Room is an odd shape but very clean and with a newly remodeled bathroom. Beds with memory foam mattresses were comfortable and we tested them out real quick. Spent most of the afternoon sleeping.

Our JQC Rooms room had all the essentials.

Just to the left of my bed was a weird little hallway that led to nothing but a window that faced a gloomy brick interior courtyard. The weird hallway was useful for organizing.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

After a short but restless nap it was time to get moving. We knew of a double-header of a deal … an Irish bar that was a Packer hang out. Don’t want to miss the Packer-Viking game. The James Joyce Irish Pub was our destination.

Terry and I like to check out churches because they are always peaceful, quiet and usually very interesting. We found a good one on our way. From the outside you could hardly tell it was a church. It was not freestanding and blended in with everything else.

This is the Church of Salvador and Nicholas. Inside there was a handful of people, mostly old and mostly women praying the rosary out loud in Spanish.

We like to refer to this as the Church of rubba-dub-dub (3 cherubs in a tub). This is the statuary that is front and center in the church. If you look a little harder you can find the a cross in the photo below.

This congregation gave a nod to Pope John Paul II with a bigger than life portrait over a small chapel.

Enough church, time to get back to our destination. We wandered in the general direction of Madrid’s El Retiro park and Paseo del Prado which runs along the park and Prado museum. It was a beautiful afternoon for some serendipity. Terry spotted a large gathering of people a few blocks away so we headed that direction to see what was happening.

The traffic circle near Atocha station was cordoned off, there were lots of police and many people waiting to see something. We were a little relieved it wasn’t a protest which we knew because we saw a two story carousel and lots of pop-up tents which made us think it was some kind of carnival.

Suddenly an entourage of vehicles blew through the traffic circle. Then a mix of motorcycles and more speeding cars. Was the president of Spain or some other dignitary in town?? Nobody moved. Someone said it was the Tour de Spain which was ending in Madrid. Come to think of it, on a TV monitor at the airport earlier I did see some coverage of a bicycle race and thought maybe it was the Tour de France.

Two story carousel looks like fun but no one was riding it … at least not during the race.

So now we had to wait and see what was coming. More speeding cars and then eventually the peloton arrived.

The “Vuelta a Espana” (Tour de Spain) is a race done in various locations throughout Spain. This afternoon’s 50K segment rolled out from Fuenlabrada. The entire competition is three weeks long.

So we saw the peloton go by followed by countless support cars with racks of bikes on top.

The above photo is one of the support cars. Most had a rack with 10 bikes mounted on top of the car. They were speeding along behind the group.

The intensity of the race picks up as they enter the final loop in Madrid. A Jumbotron screen projects the competition as spectators catch a blurred glimpse of riders as they speed by.

Ok, we saw the group of riders go through. Why isn’t anyone leaving??? It’s because they do nine 5.8K laps around one of the most prestigious venues in Madrid, specifically the one we were walking down to reach our Irish Pub destination.

Well that was all very exciting. I’m not much of a cycling fan but this was exhilarating to watch. We continued plowing through crowds to reach our Irish pub destination. Every so often the peloton would fly by.

We saw this really cool building wall covered with different grasses and vines. What a work of art!

There were many vendors along the race route selling everything imaginable. We finally found our destination bar, the James Joyce Irish pub and it wasn’t crowded either. I initially thought that was because of the race but then I recalled that in Spain, people don’t go out to eat dinner until 9-10 pm. Sure enough, the place was packed by 9:00.

I was giddy with joy — the Pack was winning 21-16. I think jet lag, lack of sleep, beer and Tour de Spain contributed to the giddiness.

This was our first meal since boarding the plane in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. The roast beef dinner hit the spot.

We observed two obvious packer fans watching the game intensely. Like us, they arrived long before the Spanish dinner hour of 9pm. They were sitting about two feet from the extra large screen … had to be Americans. Yep … they were.

David and Jenny joined us at our table for the last bit of the game. This delightful couple is from San Francisco. They moved to Madrid about three weeks ago. Jenny will be teaching English for one year while David works his San Francisco job remotely from Madrid. The conversation drifted in and out of football covering many topics about life in Spain, things to do in Madrid, Tour de Spain traffic, Washington, owls and much more.

After celebrating a Packer victory, Terry and I walked back to our JQV room. We passed a beautiful building lit with red lights. I think it was in honor of the Tour de Spain.

We returned safely to our quiet Puerto del Sol neighborhood. What a wonderful first day in Spain.

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14 September 2019

Super Shortcut Through Security at MSP Airport

Most locals know that MSP is restructuring it’s TSA security check points which means there’s only one station open with extremely long lines. As usual, Terry and I were dreading it and planned to arrive extra extra early.

At work yesterday, David learned about a treasure of a short cut — the new Intercontinental Hotel at MSP has a TSA check point at the entrance to the skyway into the airport’s concourse. It’s open to the public, not just hotel guests. Having nothing to lose we decided to try it.

We dropped my backpack at the Delta curbside. David drove us to the front door of the Intercontinental where we said goodbye. We took the elevator to floor 3 and were delighted to see the TSA people and absolutely nobody around. I was giddy with joy. It took minutes to get through security and minutes to walk the skyway to the concourse. The only downside is that this TSA check-in is only open from 5-10 am … and also that we now have lots of time to kill.

The corridor from Intercontinental TSA to MSP corridor was totally empty.

I really love the new Intercontinental Hotel. My sister Mary has flown in twice this summer and we have checked it out. I read in the newspaper a year ago that there was an observation deck on the top floor. Observation hallway was more like it. There is a big conference center on top and it has great views.

We loved the cocktail lounge … especially the wall-size scrabble board. There is a billiard room and just about every board game imaginable.

The cocktail lounge at the Intercontinental hotel has awesome games.

We noticed that they have a good happy hour too. Last time Mary was flying home, I dropped her off. I hadn’t even left the airport and she called and asked me to retrieve her because her airline’s gate didn’t open for another hour or so.

We cruised over to the Intercontinental for a delightful lunch. They will validate your parking ticket if you eat lunch there. Parking was $5 for two hours. However, both times we were there, the machine that you pay for parking at was broken … so for now, parking is free.

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13 September 2019

Meeting and Greeting the World

Tomorrow my Camino buddy, Theresa (aka Terry) and I set out for Spain. On Sunday, we arrive in Madrid and stay for a couple days. On Tuesday we fly to A Coruna, work our way over to Ferrol and will start Camino Ingles there.

The European camino network leads to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago. In ancient days and today, the Ingles route is where those starting in England and Ireland would boat to and continue walking through Spain to Santiago. Many walk the routes for spiritual growth. It’s also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and tourists.

Camino Ingles is a short one … about 60 miles and takes about a week to walk. We will finish in Santiago around the end of September. We look forward to meeting pilgrims from all over the world.

From October 1-15, we will be in Ribadiso which is about 30 miles east of Santiago. This little village in the Galicia region of Spain features beautiful terraced green hills. There is evidence to suggest connections to the Celts in Ireland and Scotland. In previous walks through Galicia, we have come across a few bagpipe players.

On the map below, the route we are doing is the magenta colored English Way. Ribadiso is on the red colored French Way and is close to Arzua.

In Ribadiso, we will be volunteer hosts at an Albuergue which has 70 beds and costs about 5 euro ($5.50) to stay overnight. This albuergue has a paid local staff, so our job will be to greet pilgrims who are walking Camino Frances, show them to their beds and direct them to laundry facilities, showers, nearby amenities and make them feel welcome. We will be staying in a two bedroom apartment and our work day begins at 1:00 pm. Last year, Terry and I went through Hospitalero training which prepared us for this adventure. We look forward to greeting pilgrims from all over the world.

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2018 CAMINO FISTERRA-MUXIA WAY

Diane walked the entire route with us which went from Santiago to Finisterre to Muxia and back to Santiago. However, we did it in a higgelty piggelty way to accommodate travel schedules for Peggy and Ellen.

The photo below shows the village of Finisterre at the far end of the beach.

There were four of us when we left Finisterre.

Peggy (far right photo below) is a Science teacher who was on Spring Break. She was able to walk the Finnistere to Muxia segment.

Below (Ellen, me, Diane) are in front of the city of Toledo. This was the beginning of our adventure. Ellen, a Spanish teacher, was on Spring break and had to return home before we started the Camino.

For more photos about the 2018 Camino, scroll back on the blog. It’s all there.

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2017 Camino Frances

This was our 550 mile Camino that took us 45 days to walk. We prepared for two years and I had a very rigorous training schedule. During the year prior to the trip, I walked 500 miles while wearing my 25-lb backpack to prepare. Lots of research was done and much was learned.

All Camino pilgrimages end in Santiago. We were happy to reach our destination but sad to end the adventure. In Santiago, we crossed paths with many people we had met along the way. It was like graduation day and there were many celebrations.

Below is the region by region route that we walked.

My son Quinn and wife Emily met Terry and me in Santo Domingo.

It was fun to explore Santo Domingo with them.

Emily, shown below, is a global animal lover.

My husband David met us in Santiago the day we arrived. The next day we took a bus to Finisterre and the photo below was taken near Lires at the Costa da Morte … the coast of death.

Forty-five days and 550 miles wasn’t enough … David and I spent two weeks touring Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona and San Sebastián which is shown below.

In 2017, Spain was the most awesome adventure ever … which is why we went back in 2018 and now 2019.

For more photos and information about our Camino 2017, scroll way way back to the beginning of this blog.

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16 APRIL 2018

This is the start of our last day walking Camino Finisterre.

Sardinario is a peaceful village on the sea.

I think these are used for catching Octopus and other sea creatures.

Beautiful beaches.

Cute house with a patio on the road.

Trail follows the highway for a bit.

Back in the woods.

In Spain, there’s always another hill.

Awesome view of the road that lies ahead. Finisterre is the village on the far side of the beach. If you look closely, you can see the lighthouse past the village and at the very end of the land.

Another walk through the woods to get to the beach.

Getting closer to the water. Beautiful view.

Finally we reach the beach. The tide is out and the sand is hard enough to walk on. It’s a two-mile walk on the beach to reach Finisterre.

We picked up a few shells as we wandered.

The two mile beach walk was my favorite part of this Camino.

Being mid-April, the beach was empty which made it even more appealing.

Getting closer to Santiago

Little streams flowed through the beach to the Ocean.

Picturesque scene. Upside down boat was a great resting spot.

We emerge from the beach. This is the cross where we started our walk weeks ago. We have come full circle.

Our Camino Finisterre has been completed. Time to celebrate.

Seafood casserole for lunch.

We checked into the Mariquito.

The view from our room.

View of the harbor from the Mariquito.

We went to the Pilgrim’s Office to pick up our Finisterre Camino certificates. I started talking to a woman and she said she knew me. All of a sudden I hear a loud, “FLANNIGAN!” Without thinking I yell out, “FINNEGAN!”  and there was a roar of loud boisterous laughter. It was my Irish pub-cousin Mike Finnegan who we had crossed paths with last week in Aquapaseda. He was now traveling with the woman from Michigan whom we had met in Negreira. Walking the Camino is so much fun.

 

Back down to the harbor area. Heading for the fish market.

The fish market is like the stock exchange. There are brokers auctioning the fish and customers buying it. We were watching from a second floor observation deck.

Lots of different kinds of fish coming and going. The buyers make their selections and then the market delivers it to their restaurant.

I’ve never seen a fish with a face like this … hahah.

We had seen these boats in the same spot for days. The locals said they were laying internet cable under water.

Dinner at a seafood restaurant. Someone is loading the fresh fish tank.

In the ladies’ room at the restaurant was some kind of curling or flattening iron. Only 1 euro to touch up your do.

Waiting for the sunset at the lighthouse. Beautiful way to end the Camino.

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15 APRIL 2018

Still at the Cee apartment. We had a bunch of eggs, cheese and peppers left over. We couldn’t figure out how to work the stove but could get the oven going so we made an egg bake. No toaster so we toasted the bread in the oven.

Short walk today, only about five miles to Sardinario. We left Cee about 9:00 am and the next town over, Corcubion, was about a mile away. This was a very ornate yard that we passed on the way to Corcubion.

Low tide. We saw several people digging for clams or something on the beaches.

Corcubion seemed to be an artsy kind of place as evidenced by this tile bench. The tiles reminded me of Portugal.

This bench had a glass wall behind it as a wind break. Very beautiful well maintained village.

Lots of tile work.  Notice the hand shaped seat rests on this pillar.

Oh yay! Sunday morning and we found a church …. it was around 10:30 am and the bells were ringing — doors were all locked.

One of the town squares featured a ping pong table. Nice contrast to the Horreo (corn crib) in the background.

Such a well marked Camino trail! So inviting!

And it was a beautiful walk.

Lots of green and tall walls on a sunny day.

Very lush with the feel of spring in the air.

 

Don’t know what these are but I always call them the upside down Christmas trees. Reminds me of Hawaii.

Beautiful route today. Only one bad steep hill. When we reached the top a man jumped out of a car and handed us a flyer for an albuergue in Finisterre. It’s probably hard to scratch out a living with seasonal pilgrims. I admire the effort he made considering there are very few ways to market to transient visitors who are just passing through like us.

Back on the highway for a stretch. We’re not back in Cee … it’s a sign depicting Cee county.

There’s our little village of Sardinario.

Nice beaches. There were two boats we could see for several days. We inquired about them and were told they are laying underwater cable. That’s a good thing because their current WiFi was not very good.

Lunch break on a little bridge over a waterway.

At the edge of town walking into Sardinario.

Nice beaches!

 

We checked into our hostel and the room was very cold. We all curled up in our beds and sacked out for a while. Still chilled, we went to the bar and asked for a hot brandy. The bartender didn’t really know what we were asking for … she poured a generous glass of brandy and then tried steaming it like a latte. We shook our heads no. Then she took her cigarette lighter and started it on fire. We shook our heads no. Then she poured another glass with hot water … we shook our heads yes, but then we needed a bigger glass to mix them in. We knew miel was the word for honey and somehow we got a lemon. Not exactly how a hot brandy is made but we got the end results we were seeking.

Afterward, we walked down the shoreline. It’s a beautiful area.

This little canal led to the ocean. Must be low tide.

We stopped at another bar for gin-tonika and ended up watching a Spanish chick-flick with the bartender.

Eventually, we made it back to our hotel for dinner. Tomorrow would be our last day of walking this camino.

 

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14 APRIL 2018

DUMBRIA TO CEE

Big coincidence … we were at the Shrine of Our Lady of Snows when Minnesota was hit with the Blizzard of the Century. You know how us Catholic girls connect with our Shrines! Hope you enjoyed the fruit of our worship.

Here’s where we had to back track a little to cover all the miles. This photo is from APRIL 8TH (GREEN ROUTE) when we were going from Dumbria to Santiago. It’s the fork in the road.

 

Hioiop

Our cab driver Carlos picked us up at 8:00 am on Saturday, April 14th in Cee (YELLOW ROUTE) and back tracked us to the fork in the road where we would take the other direction toward Finisterre. It was a very foggy morning.

We started in a fog. This was going to be an 8-mile hike into Cee. This photo shows “DUMBRIA” spelled out in stones but its hidden in the fog today.

This is a dream route … scenic, quiet, and pleasant.

A little bit of gentle rain.

This is my best attempt at being artsy. Dew drops on the pine needles.

And this is an awesome cobweb covered in dew. Best I could do.

We crossed paths with a few people but not many.

This was the ideal trail … no pavement, and mostly downhill.

So scenic, peaceful and what you dream of hiking!!

Little village which we hoped to pass through only because we needed a bathroom break.  The road did not lead us there.

Fun to see bikers coming through.

Just around the bend is “Our Lady of Snows” shrine.

Sweet little chapel. Unfortunately it was locked.

They did have a little place with a guest book. This was the exact time that Minnesota was being hit with the snow storm of the century.

Interesting how that Queen of the Snows has a naked baby in tow. You would expect to see the baby bundled some how. There is a celebration every year on September 8.

This cross is down by the sacred secret healing waters. We did not drink of the waters and thank goodness … you  might have had twice as much snow!

Awesome road … so peaceful and serene frangranced with Pine and other aromatics.

Whatever this tree is, we love it. The pine cones look like candles.

Beautiful view of the hillsides.

This is the Hermitage of San Pedro the Martir. According to the Brierly guidebook, “Here the sacred waters cure bodily aches and rheumatism with the simple expedient of placing the diseased part of the body in the waters of the holy spring.” I just drank the stuff and hoped it did whatever it was suppose to do.

Bonus … extra 100 meter walk to the Cruceiro do Armada.

According to the Brierly guidebook, the original cross is gone but a substitute marks the spot. It’s the first glimpse of the ocean and village of Cee.

Just a bit down the road we found an awesome view of Cee. People kept telling us about the very steep hill going down into Cee. It was nothing worse than what we had already experienced. This was one of my favorite walks.

The factory on the water’s edge is the “unsightly” carbide factory. According to the Brierly guidebook, “it’s giant chimneys spew smoke into the sky making it visible for miles around. Trucks laden with iron ore thunder up and down the road between here and it’s sister factory at the industrial port in Cee.” It’s still a beautiful view.

Getting closer.

Little shrine on the side of the road.

Beautiful view walking into Cee.

Finally, we have reached the village edge.

Diane is not bored, she’s tired. We just walked 8 miles. This was the first stop for a restroom.

The trail dumped us off at the far side of town.

Tomb with a view! Prime burial spots with a view of the ocean.

Walking through town to get back to our apartment.

We found a good bakery. This size of these donuts is crazy … they are about 8” in diameter.

Hotel Larry! We would have definitely forgone our luxury apartment to stay at Hotel Larry.

The bakery and the main mall in town are quiet now but in a few weeks this place will be hoppin.

We found an awesome places for dinner. It was the Fogo de Chao of CEE at a fraction of the cost. Wine included!

Back to the apartment! So nice to have our charming little place. A wonderful respite!

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13 APRIL 2018

SANTIAGO TO CEE

Why are we heading back to Finisterre?? We’ve had to explain this many times. The logical way to do this Camino would be to start in Santiago and walk to Finisterre, then to Muxia and then back to Santiago. Our route was anything but typical and we did much of it backwards. Why?

I guess one good reason would be that we started in Finisterre and that’s where we needed to finish, however, most people do not start in Finisterre. The following is a full explanation of our route.

BLUE ROUTE #1: THE MUXIANA: Our good friend Peggy had a limited number of days to walk with us on the Camino before she had to return to her job as a teacher after spring break. I’m sure she would have enjoyed the land-locked towns of Aquapesada, Negreira and Oleveiroa. However, Finisterre to Muxia (blue line #1) would be along the Atlantic and far more interesting. So, to accommodate Peggy, we walked that route and we are so glad she got to see that part … it was awesome. When we arrived in Muxia (#1) Peggy, Terry, Diane and I received our Muxianna certificates. Peggy took a bus back to Santiago. Then flew to Madrid and home.

GREEN ROUTE #2: THE COMPOSTELA: In the meantime, Terry, Diane and I walked back to Santiago, the green route. The three of us walked from Finisterre (Fisterra) to Muxia to Santiago. This was about 120K which qualified us for a Compostela when we arrived in Santiago. It also required that we walk nine days straight and much of it was in cold and rain. Usually, it was a nice gentle rain that lasted for awhile and cleared up. Not so bad but we all ended up with the “Galicia Cough”. We were the traveling Barkaderos.

And here’s where we are now:

YELLOW ROUTE #3: THE FINISTERRE: All we have to do is walk this little yellow stretch which when combined with out backward green route into Santiago, would qualify us for a Finisterre Certificate. We didn’t have time to walk from Santiago to Finisterre, so we went to where the road split rather than duplicating where we had already walked.

We took the Mon Bus from Santiago to the village of Cee (pronounced Thee).

It’s a beautiful ride that goes along the rocky hillside and many beach towns.

We arrived at the bus station in Cee and we had to kill three hours until our bargain Bookings.com accommodations were ready. Across the street happen to be a spa. We all had manicures and later Diane and I went back for massages. A one-hour full body massage was about $24.

Our bargain accommodations from Bookings.com exceeded our expectations. It was a 3-bedroom, 2 bath apartment and it was lovely. We each had our own room plus a full kitchen, dining room and a great view. We booked it for two nights.

We are entering a new world of tapas here. Everywhere we went, they would bring out a tray of tapas and you could pick one. We offered to buy some but they wouldn’t allow it. Some of the items weren’t even on their menu.

 

Also found in Cee, is a Chino-Bazaar which we find fascinating. It’s kind of like a dollar store but much much bigger.  Where else could you find a full-size fuzzy deer? We have never seen a real deer anywhere in Spain.

Where else would a homesick Viking fan find her horns other than at a Chino-Bazaar?

After massages we made our way to the shopping mall and the grocery store. We had too much to carry back to the apartment so we went to the cab stand. We also needed to find a cab to get us back to our hiking start tomorrow morning. We grabbed the first cab in the line.

Turns out that our driver, Carlos, lived in the same building we were staying in. He parked in the underground garage and we chatted for a bit. Shortly, his daughter Katarina made an appearance from the elevator. She was learning English and going to school for some form of Tourism.  Really nice people. Eventually, we figured out they were more German than Spanish.

Easy dinner at the apartment …. salads mixta and pizza.

Another exciting but exhausting day. The traveling barkadaros each had their own room tonight.

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12 April 2018

We had breakfast with Sophie from Wales. She stayed at the Albuergue last night too. She is a poet and performed a poem for us at breakfast. She is a burst of sunshine on a rainy day! She was heading to Finisterre, the opposite direction that we were going which was to Santiago.

Spring flowers were blooming at Casa Riamonte. Lots of Calla Lillies growing wild.

Wisteria woven into the fence had a few blooms starting.

Not sure what this purple plant is but it was beautiful to look at.

The “Pan” Box: Walking down the Main Street of Aquapesada, I noticed that someone had a “Pan” (Bread) box under their mailbox.  I assume they were getting their bread delivered on a regular basis.

Lots of granite in the area. This business had several granite and stone slabs on display outside their building.

Liked the camino motif on this gate entry of a house.

After walking in the rain for awhile we stopped for tea. We came to the realization that after paying for last night’s albuergue, we were out of cash. We would soon be in Santiago where ATM’s are abundant but for now, we had about 10 euro between us. Most places in this area did not take credit cards.

Interesting place we stopped at … it must have been some type of steak house. They had a huge indoor grill which the man in the red shirt on the right is cleaning. There were several bags of charcoal underneath it.

And who should walk into the restaurant as we were leaving … Mike Finnegan, my “pub cousin” from Langford, Ireland, who now resides in Massachusetts. He said, “America has been very good to me.” He wanted to walk with us but we are heading to Santiago and Mike is heading to Finisterre — opposite directions.

Back on the road … on to Santiago! It’s raining.

Everything is blooming and it looks lovely and smells fragrant.

Stopped to chat with Alexandro from Monterrey, Mexico.

We had an uphill hike in a wooded area.

We poor pilgrims had to split a bocadillo for lunch … we each got 1/3 of a sandwich but they are really big sandwiches. Now were down to 5 euros. Wi-Fi available … time to check in with the world.

Lots of interesting things blooming. Not sure what this was but it was really interesting to look at.

We crossed paths with Belinda and David from Australia. Even though they were walking on the Camino, they had no idea what the Camino is. They were vacationing nearby and thought it was a nice trail. Terry filled them in with details and they seemed interested in learning more about it.

Beautiful walk leading into Santiago.

Up a few hills and around the corner … it was breathtaking and exciting to see our first glimpse of the Cathedral of Santiago. Close but yet so far away.

I like camping but this is a little too rugged for me. It’s been raining for weeks and cold.

 

Onward! We crossed a river and spotted another tent.

Another milepost. Getting close to Santiago.

As I passed this tent a voice hollered out, “Buen Camino.” I turned around and saw a face looking out of the tent door. Meet Darrin from Holland but originally from Australia. He is camped here waiting for his girlfriend from Holland to join him in a couple weeks. It was damp and cold … don’t know how he kept that tent dry. We said goodbye and as we were walking off he asked if we had a few coins to spare. We had to laugh because we had less than 5 euros between us.

Another village along the way as we closed in on Santiago.

More uphill.

Finally we started entering the city streets. It was a long walk on pavement and our feet were feeling it.

The excitement of reaching Santiago kept us going.

Finally we made it to the Cathedral. Much less scaffolding on it this year. They’re making progress but it’s slow. Not sure if we’ll ever see the finished Cathedral.

Since we walked 120K from Finisterre to Muxia to Santiago, we earned a Compostela. We stood in line at the pilgrim’s office to collect our certificates. It’s kind of like waiting in line at the DMV … very automated. The line was very short (about a half hour or so) compared to the line we had to wait in last summer.

Now that we’re back in the land of ATMs and credit cards, time to celebrate with a gin tonika.

We snacked on Octopus.

Diane wanted to make sure her brothers saw here eating Octopus. She actually is a big fan and enjoys it as much as Terry and I do.

After happy hour, we had shoppy hour. Found a local artisan shop that we really like a lot. The owner got out her glue gun and decor. She gift wrapped everything little thing that we bought. This took forever. Diane and I went next door for a Gin & Tonic while Terry made her purchases.

We didn’t check into the Nest Style hotel until after 8:00 pm. Long day. Terry was feeling tired and under the weather. Diane and I went out for dinner. In the lobby we saw what looked like the Red Power Ranger delivering a pizza. He was traveling on a red motorcycle. The pizza shop he worked for was close to the hotel and it was tempting but we passed. Had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant.

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11 APRIL 2018

We see a lot of Horreos (corn cribs) but this was one of the few made with wood panels. I think they use them for various things other than storing grain. I did see a man inside one hanging laundry. Because they are elevated, they are not particularly easy to access. Some do have steps going up to them but most use a ladder.

A gated estate in the wealthier neighborhood just outside the town.

Never saw a Camino marker like this before.

The trail followed the river.

Many large houses along the river.

We saw something that looked like snow but it was strange. Then we thought it was salt. We kept walking by piles of this white substance. We finally figured out that it was like sleet or ice. Must have stormed during the night and it was cool enough that it didn’t melt.

 

Next along the Tambre river is Ponte Maceira.

This little medieval village is well preserved. Several mansions line the river banks.

A very pleasant place to rest.

An old Roman bridge stretches over the wide Tambre river.

There is a legend that is reminiscent of the Red Sea biblical story. According to the Brierly guidebook …”we are told that God destroyed the bridge in a single stroke to prevent Roman soldiers pursuing the followers of St. James.”

This enduring myth lives on in the coat of arms of the local council.

Bovine World: Just past the eucalyptus & pine forest and up the hill is the wealthier neighborhood and Bovine World.  We could see a few bovines in the fenced in wooded area.

 

The little hamlet of Transmonte was just past Bovine World at the top of the hill.

Bacon and eggs for lunch at Casa Pancho.

Red flowers entwined in tree that resembles a basket.

Very old fountain with fresh spring water.

Patrol dogs doing their duty.

And now it’s a long downhill trail into Aquapesada. Glad we don’t have to walk up it.

Took a foot break at a funky little place entering the town of Aquapesada.

We still had a ways to walk on pavement to get to our Albuergue. It was quite warm this afternoon too.

Here is our albuergue … Casa Riamonte.

They were just about out of space. Diane took a bed in the dorm room while Terry and I shared a double room. The cable show Alaskan Bush People is in Spanish.

This was the view from our bedroom window. Several sheep grazing in the green pasture below.

Julian and Rosa are the proprietors. Rosa did the cooking and Julian did the serving.

We had a salad for a starter followed by pork with gravy and white beans.

 

We ate at their kitchen table. One of the tables had fish painted on it.

It was a very delightful meal that came with rice pudding for dessert.

Lights out at 10:00 pm.

 

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10 APRIL 2018

Beautiful Sunrise in Moranos.

We had breakfast with our friends. Afterward, we stepped outside for a group photo. Sarah & Bernard from Germany and on the far right is Taso from Holland. We were going in opposite directions so we said our goodbyes and headed out.

 

The day started out sunny.

The sun lit the fields which were backed by a very gray sky.

Fresh country air. A bit of a rainbow trying to squeeze through the gray sky on the left.

 

Had to keep the rain gear close at hand.

Stopped for a footrest in a bus shelter in Cornado.

This fancy fountain was next to the bus stop.

Diane bent over to tie her boot and all of a sudden heard the sound of hooves coming down the road.

Another cow parade. This group of cows had an escort.

We stepped aside and let them mooove on.

The cows headed for Quintela but we took a left turn here.

Long roads through farmland.

More threatening gray sky. We just kept walking.

A very old camino marker is shown at the bottom of the photo … it is a cement pillar with a shell embedded in it. The newer markers are the blue and gold ones on the utility post.

More country roads.

Another old camino marker.

Hiking through more pasture land.

Back in the woods.

A valley ahead but don’t think it’s our final destination.

We’ve never seen a Weber kettle or any type of barbecue grill like we have at home. We did see several brick grills.

Diane’s boots were bothering her so she wore her clogs for awhile. The road became very muddy so she walked along the mossy edge while eating a bocadillo sandwich — she’s got good balance. Terry is helping her get down on the road again.

This was our 12-mile day. It went on forever. Our feet were feeling it too.

We called this the enchanted forest. It was a beautiful walk.

We stopped to chat with Joan from Tasmania. She was hiking alone and going the opposite direction to Finisterre.

A humble little chapel along the way.

As we walked into town, we chatted with a local woman who was planting her garden. Not sure but we think she was planting garlic.

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Oh happy day … finally we are close to our destination Negreira.

Negreira is a medieval village with an old entrance gate.

Walk a bit further and it becomes modern. Tonight we are staying at Albuergue El Carmen.

We were the only ones staying at the El Carmen. It was a bit chilly in the the dorm room but they provided lots of blankets. The cold damp weather combined with the long exhausting 12 mile day caused a lot of coughing and grumpy feet. Probably a good thing that we were the only ones staying here tonight.

Next to the bunk room is a social room with WiFi. That is not Pepto Bismol on the table … it’s nail polish remover. Nails were looking pretty bad at this point.

We ate dinner downstairs at the Masquito restaurant. We did make a few jokes about the restaurant’s name.  Bedtime couldn’t come quick enough. We piled on the blankets and called it a day.

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April 9, 2018

Scenic start to the day. Very lush and green thanks to all the rain.

Back on the pavement.

Chapel and cemetary

Dark gray moody sky. We had half rain, half sun and a few threatening clouds.

We don’t know what these things are. They look like giant burrs … they’re about 2” in diameter.

Stopped to chat with Felix from Santiago.

These are the kind of roads we love walking down. No pavement, easy on the feet and scenic.

A woman and her German Shepherd keep an eye on the sheep.

We’re definitely in Galician farmland now.

First cow parade. These cows were unattended. They just started walking down the road.

We stayed out of their way and observed where they were going. They seem to know what they were doing even though there was no one escorting them.

They just kept going.

Turned the corner and eventually the cows found a place to graze.

Time for a lunch break. Too wet to sit on the ground.

The guidebook was in error. We were hoping we didn’t have to climb Monte Aro.

Very scenic farmland today.

There’s a docile watch dog on top of the stone wall just above the door.

We wandered through another little village.

It seems like everyone has watch dogs. When one starts barking the whole town starts barking.

We walked by another cow barn.

Peaceful cat sitting in the flowers.

And finally we reach Moranos.

Tonight were staying at Casa Pepa.

Very nice accommodations at this albuergue.

The sun came out in time for happy hour. Tosa is a doctor from Holland. She is sitting to the right of Diane. We also met Sarah and Bernard from Muenster, Germany.

Bernard was busted … he didn’t attend Michigan State … he bought the sweatshirt somewhere cheap.

Ended the day by having dinner with our new friends.

 

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8 APRIL 2018

Another foggy, rainy morning as we leave Dumbría.

This is the courtyard in front of the church. It looks like they have grown the tree branches together. When it all blooms it looks very nice.

This Is the church of St. Eulalia. It has a lot of charm. Even though it was Sunday morning, the church was locked tight. Just down the road a bit was a sports arena with a few soccer teams practicing.

On our way out of town, we crossed by a pasture of horses.

This is somebody’s homemade bench swing. It needs a few branches replaced.

We left Dumbría and had to walk for awhile on the highway.

We stopped at little diner a coffee break.

Next town, Logoso.

Beautiful trail leading out of Logoso. Two horses wandered and grazed their way down the trail.

We met the Ryan brothers, Bill and Paul from Tipperary, Ireland.

The trail led us downhill until we came to a bridge which crossed the river.

After the bridge the trail went uphill. It was a beautiful river gorge that we followed for quite a distance.

We were passed by several bicycles.

It was a beautiful walk into Olveiroa.

;

These were our accommodations, the Albuergue Hórreo. It is a large dormitory style albuergue with about 20 bunks in our room which were mostly filled.

It rained most of the evening and night. Albuegue Hórreo had a washer and dryer —- it was laundry night.

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