Month: June 2014

This morning and afternoon we completed our Camino. We walked to the ocean and washed our feet. We walked to the Finesterra lighthouse (the westernmost point) and completed Camino. We ran out of Europe.

We walked back to town and received our gaelic credential from Finesterra. We are done!

Just going to celebrate now and begin the 3day trip home in the morning.

Well, there was a large Samba festival being held at the albergue we were going to stay in so despite very sore feet and a couple new blisters each, we pressed on for 38km to Finesterra. Technically we aren’t finished yet but we’ve checked into a beautiful hotel for two nights and will walk the ½ mile to the end tomorrow morning.

We started the day by walking along some beautiful woodlands and hills. Because we were on the last day and nearing the ocean, we both thought it would be mostly downhill. But as Allison and I found out, Spain only seems to go uphill.

We saw re see for the first time and got a thrill. I told Allison that she should feel so proud of the accomplishment but we both joked that proud felt an awful lot like sore feet and painful blisters.

The views only got better though as we approached Finesterra. Check out the view from our place.

I’ll post some final thoughts tomorrow, but for now we are going to relish in the hotel, view and a nice dinner.

The pilgrims cry is “Ultreia” or “still further”. This is our next to last day. Weather looks good but neither Allison nor I remember what it is like to be without pain! :). Not real pain like some other have to suffer with on a day to day basis, but nagging pain associated with 33 days of hiking.

Regardless we are otherwise healthy and very happy but also worn and ready to be home.

It only sprinkled through the first part of the day and we managed to stay dry for the most part. The sky was magnificent with the clouds breaking up and parting.

Allison has two new blisters thanks to today’s 33km hike unfortunately.

Tomorrow is easier (24km) and the final day even easier (16km). What a great way to end.

After 32 days with only 1 rainy day you can’t complain but we’ve woken to a downpour this morning. It looks like we will be getting soaked today. The camera and phone are getting packed up in the dry sac. Wish us luck.

The human body has an amazing tendency to both heal and get lazy quickly. It was really hard to put our boots on this morning and our leg muscles groaned at the first several steps. Funny that two days ago we wouldn’t have even noticed the first several kms, but this morning it was very difficult.

Good thing it is a short day today (21km).

We enjoyed our sleep in day and a nice bfast and then walked outside to the main plaza here. We almost immediately met up again with some friends from the Camino including a young Korean girl we’d met on day one and only seen one other day since. Amazing.

We enjoyed getting our 2nd Compostellas and the pilgrims mass at the cathedral here. Allison and I, not being catholic, never partook in mass per se but enjoyed the services nonetheless. Instead, we celebrated our own private communion in the courtyard of the hotel – just the two of us and God.

We then went on a futile shopping excursion and spent too many hours at a travel agent trying to arrange the trip home.

After a nice, but pricey dinner we’ve come back to the parador to pack and get ready for the last four days of the extended pilgrimage as we make it 100 more kms to Finesterra.

Pictures to follow.

After pushing through to Santiago yesterday we are both understandably sore and tired.
We celebrated the past month’s accomplishment by checking into the Parador which is in the same plaza as the cathedral. It is a beautifully old 5star hotel and we both took advantage of the rare opportunity. More on that later. First some pictures.

No posts tonight. But rest assured we made it to Santiago. More later when we are able.

Call us crazy (we know you already do), but we started seeing light at the end of the tunnel and have decided to walk two days at once. Yea I know – bad idea right?

But awaiting us in Santiago tonight is a 5star hotel just as I promised Allison there would be. I’m a man of my word if nothing else.

We are now only 1-½ hrs from Santiago cathedral. We will be there by 7:30pm our time. It has been quite the journey and Finesterra still awaits.

Oh! Before today’s pictures. I forgot to mention we passed the 50km marker today.

We started off late from the albergue 7-ish, and found ourselves really pushing the pace for no reason at all other than we were used to it and the seemingly inbred urge to be in front of the people just ahead on the trail. Unfortunately with the number of perigrinos walking now there is almost always someone in front of you.
Lest you all think that it was me that was pushing us, I’ll have you know that my wife has a competitive streak of her own. :).
Regardless we made it to Melide by noon (20km in 4hrs once you take out the coffee and Danish and shoe adjusting and bathroom stops). We were haulin.
Now Melide is not a pretty town, but is famous for a specialty cuisine – pulpo.
Despite Allison’s reservations, we HAD to stop and have lunch at the most famous pulporia. Ok, you are curious aren’t you. Well, pictures will follow.
After lunch, we slowed way down and stopped after only an additional 8kms.

The day was a bit dreary, foggy and misty so not many pictures today.

Santiago is only 2-½ days away. Then after another 4 days we will have made it to Finesterra. Crazy.

Some albergues just stand out and tonight has been one of those. There was a special time set out to look over the thoughts and requests of pilgrims have had over the last few days and then a time to make and post your own requests. It was neat to see what everyone was going through.

There was a movie (complete with popcorn).

There was an amazing communal pilgrims dinner with tons of food.

And the conversation was awesome.

There is a guy here that started his pilgrimage in Prague. There is an older couple that started in Munich. It kind of makes us feel like newbies again.

It is going to be hard to go back to real life in a week.

The whole concept of donativo remains a pleasant mystery to me.
Tonight we are staying in a Refugio associated with CRU. One, it is cool that CRU are working here in Spain, but Two, it is the second refugio we’ve stayed at during our stay. The difference is remarkable.
Most albergues are government run (Municipals). They are modern , efficient and generally clean , but a bit sterile – sometimes in purpose built buildings. Other Albergues are “association” run. These are private, for profit albergues and vary widely in service and efficiency (the German ones are clean, cheap and efficient for example).
But these Refugio’s are unique. They are typically run by individuals or sometimes religious groups. They have the most character (typically in restored abandoned houses). But it is the people that make them unique. Right off the bat, you are treated differently. Their care for the pilgrims seem so much more genuine. Today, for example, once “checked in” we weren’t allowed to carry our packs. They were graciously toted up the steps an hung by our bunks by the volunteers.
Tonight at this one there is a movie and a communal dinner. I’m looking forward to it.

We walked 24+km today at are very fast pace such that we checked in by 1pm. So we have the afternoon to kick back and relax. We are only 3-½ days from Santiago. It is so hard to believe we are this close. Time is now flying by. We have yet to decide what to do with out “extra” days but – believe it or not – we will likely walk another 100km from Santiago to Finesterra (the end of the earth) – a fitting end to our Camino

The crowds have definitely grown. We walked about 3hrs in relative solitude until Portamarine where we ran into the famed bus loads of pilgrims replete with taxis driving slowly along like buzzards waiting to feed off of unprepared or overly ambitious newbies. It was quite a site.

More a bit later as we absorb this wonderful spot.

Today we started in Triacastela (three castles) which is an ironic name since there are no castles nearby … At least none that have survived.

Continuing through really nice wooded areas we came into (and pretty quickly out of) Sarria. Sarria is the town that is know for its influx (literally bus loads and train loads) of pilgrims that have limited time and wish to receive the Compostella by completing the minimum 100k.

Maybe because if the time of day, or the fact that today is Sunday, we only noticed a small increase in folks on the Camino.

Sarria did have one surprise in store. Along the center of the Calle Maxor (old street) there were strewn flowers and evergreens for several hundred meters (see the pictures).

It had only been a short day when we reached Sarria so we marched on through and up the “steps of Sarria” and continued for a further 12km. This made it 30+ for the day (just under 20mi).

The day was mostly small towns and farm land but the path was quiet and shaded. In general it was a pleasant day.

Funny ending: not meaning to judge, but judging nonetheless, while washing our days hiking clothes in the cold water sink with a bar of soap as is our daily routine, I overheard three Americans on vacation. They were obviously of a higher social class but were “roughing it” by driving (in their rented Mercedes) through the country. One lady remarked that it felt so good to experience the Camino by driving through these small towns. She said “I feel like a REAL pilgrim”. I can’t tell you the restraint required to not go and tell her, “if you really want the full experience, I’ll let you hand wash my dirty socks and underwear – for only a small fee”. The thought made me laugh.

Pictures to follow.

We crossed over from Castille y Leon and into Galicia today cresting new ridges and beginning the weeklong descent into Santiago. The clouds raked by the mountains made for some dramatic scenery and Allison and I were really walking fast, happy to be in the mountains. The day began in dense fog followed by a 30sec rain shower and then beautiful sun and clouds for the rest of the day.

We started talking today about what it will be like to be home and we both were quiet for a few minutes processing that the end is closer than the beginning and that we will actually stop walking (at least to this extent) soon.

Tomorrow we cross the 100k mark and the Camino will quadruple in population. (To receive a “Compostela” you have to walk at least 100km) reportedly bus loads of new pilgrims are dropped off to begin their journey. Supposedly it is a tough thing for those beginning their journey so long ago to be comfortable with.

Pictures to follow.

“There was mighty wind, but he wasn’t in it
There was an earthquake, but he wasn’t in it.
There was a fire, but he wasn’t in it.
There was a whisper and he was there.”

Folks, for those of you that understand the reference above, in a nearly silent moment in this town – there was a whisper.
More later. 🙂

This evening was odd. There is no WIFI in this small village ( so these posts may be out of order ), and there is only one shop selling a few onions, soft drinks, chips, etc. Basically we are forced to do nothing.
It is such an unnatural thing. But clearly I needed some rest and an afternoon nap came easily.
Dinner tonight will be different as well. The supper is donativo and will be supplied by a young couple operating the “other” Albergue in town (also donativo). This couple have started up this operation offering free lodging and free supper and breakfast as well as fresh juices. The offering is a gift to the pilgrims and they use whatever donations people supply to feed and house themselves and to maintain their place. It is hard to grasp.
How can they do this, and with such joy?

Tough end of the day by climbing for the last hour. We stopped for the night before the top in order to save some for the morning. 🙂

Sometimes the Camino is breathtaking and other times it isn’t pretty at all.

Pictures to follow.

Woke after too little sleep (stayed up to watch England v Uruguay) and felt slightly “off” all morning.
The day started with a seriously steep climb with swarms of annoying flies buzzing about. The climb was followed by a steep descent which wasn’t rewarded by beautiful views since they were mostly marred by power lines unfortunately.

Just before lunch now but i’m whipped. Today has much more in store however because it ends with another steep climb for the entire last 2 hours. Should sleep well tonight!

On day 1 of our pilgrimage I learned this phrase ( two red wines please). Today we walked through the second wine region in Spain. Lining the road were several bodegas that offered wine tasting. Generous as we are we decided it was our duty to support the local economies and Allison and I stopped by two. Different from the U.S. you typically only taste one wine in Spain, but you also get a tapa to go along with it. But two small tastes were quite enough in the summer heat.

File this next tidbit in the category of (should be in the guidebooks, but isn’t). Compeed is a British made bandaid product that is ideal for walking with blisters. It is ultra sticky but really expensive. I don’t know how they can justify the cost but along the Camino anyway, the stuff is golden. I estimate we’ve spent nearly $200 on these band-aides alone and we are not alone I scarfing them up at the local pharmacias. I wish I’d bought some stock in this company because the markup must be enormous.

We reached Villafranca del Bierzo, the last good-sized village before we leave Castille y Leon and journey into Galicia. Villafranca was (as the name suggests) settled by the French returning from Santiago. In the Middle Ages, if you were deemed too ill to continue on your pilgrimage across the mountains you could receive your indulgence here and it would “count”.

Most of today was a walk through busy suburbs so not too much else to report except we had a wonderful dinner again last night and an early start today.

Pictures to follow.

Because of yesterday Allison and I decided to enjoy our private room and sleep in and make a short day of it (17km). It was very hot out today and without my hat I was suffering a bit.

We are staying the night in the largish city of Ponferrada. It has a cool restored castle built by/for the Knights Templar.

After waking here, checking in to the municipal albergue, showering and washing the clothes we set out for a quick tour of the castle and a search for a store that would sell me a hat.

It turned out to be over a 4km round trip but now I have a cheap hat to cover the noggin. It is O so stylish.

We are pretty near the Portugal border and just into the “thumb” of Spain.

Pictures to follow.

Well…that was different.

We began the morning just a tad late just outside of Astorga after a wonderful night at our Albergue. We met a great group of young adults that were together part of a BSU group. A uniquely homemade dinner of soup, chicken and rice was followed by some games and a wonderfully cool – even chilly- night.

Starting out we has to have our cold weather gear on, but as usual as soon as the sun was up for an hour we were back into shorts and tshirts.

We walked 4km (about an hour at our pace) and came to Santa Catalina de Somoza where we hit upon a bar serving fried eggs and back with toast. Ah! Delightful!

We passed through a few towns today that were once major pilgrim stopovers in the Middle Ages (ruins of places and evidence of old activity). However with the recent revival of the Camino, they are springing back to life. It is very encouraging. One place even had a cowboy bar.

By lunch we’d reached Rabanal del Camino having already climbed almost 1000’. Rabanal was a major pilgrimage stop because it was a last stop before the dangerous crossing of the mountains. Here we had our first chance to stop but we’d already decided to go a bit further.

The next chance was another 1-¾ hrs down the road and we got there with another chance to stop. The town was so interesting. It was clearly once a major place that was once again springing to life. Allison and I saw that there was however an interestingly described place to stay only one hour further along so we decided to push just a bit more. This ended up being a mistake.

We had climbed a total of 1600 ft in elevation and walked a total of 29km (a long day for us) when we reached the peak and La Cruz de Ferro.

This is the spot where tradition holds that you place a stone or other object that you’ve carried the entire pilgrimage at the foot of the iron cross – symbolically laying your burdens at the cross – giving them up to God’s son.

It was a moving memorial. People had left many tributes, bad habits, pictures of loved ones, at this cross. It was nice.

It was a fun day and Allison and I had only 30 more minutes of walking to our proposed spot to rest our very weary legs. That’s when things went a bit badly.

The spot was … well… filthy. It was just pretty nasty and faced with another 2-½ hours of walking we still chose not to stay. However my feet were aching and I had to stop for a moment and remove my boots. Surprise! One big blister on each of my heels.

I bandaged them up and we headed off for about another half hour when we realized we’d left our hiking poles behind where I’d worked on my feet! But two Australian ladies had picked then up and we didn’t have to backtrack too far.

Bad to worse – about an hour farther into the journey it dawned on me that I’d my glasses were very blurry and there was a lot of glare. Funny – normally my hat kept the glare off – oh NO I’d let my hat back at the Dirty Albergue.

In the end, slightly sunburned, and out of water we stumbled into Acebo. This was our longest day ever and we are both worn. In disappointed about my hat and hope someone will find it and be good and call my cell number written inside.

But we are healthy otherwise and safe in a private room we’ve treated ourselves to for our efforts and bad luck. Oddly enough we are nearly 2 days ahead of schedule now and will have to slow down lest we end up in Santiago too soon.

Pictures to follow.

Will write more later but had a crazy 20.6 mile day with a lot of elevation chance. So tired and sore. More later.

Tomorrow starts week 3 of Camino. It is impossible to adequately describe the swing of emotions this week.
A week ago I was worn and emotionally shot after it looked certain that we’d have to abandon our Camino. Allison and I had packed our bags and checked out of our hotel resolved to not feel too awful about having home but both of us unable to accept it totally.

We set on a bench knowing we had about 12 hrs before the overnight train would leave and wondering what to do. Allison said “let’s give it one more day” and so we did. The next morning, one week from tomorrow morning we decided to walk for 30 minutes and then turn back if it looked bad.

After 30 minutes we decided to evaluate again at the 1 hr mark. We changed the way we walked Camino and every hour that turned into two became a gift. Soon hours turned into days and each day since had been cherished all the more.

Resting became a way forward and not a delay. After Burgos I changed. I saw the time to allow Allison to fix her shoes or ice her ankles as a gift and not an inconvenience. I saw an early end to the day as an opportunity to continue and not a delay to some artificial plan.

I think I know why I’ve come.

Let’s see what else is in store.

Somehow life is just better when you see mountains. After Astorga around lunch we will begin the climb back into the mountains and will be in them until we descend into Santiago.

Struggling to keep up with Allison’s pace reminds me how blessed we are and how fortunate that we decided to keep going. I’m sure there is a life lesson in this somewhere.

The number of pilgrims has increased as three paths to Santiago have now merged. This means that a lot of new faces are blending in with many of the old friends we keep meeting from the first week of our Camino.

Pictures to follow.

I had blessing from my kiddos and made 20+ miles today. Allison seems to be nearly fully recovered. It was the first day in a while that I had to work to keep up with her.

Saw mountains on the horizon as we finished up the day 21miles west of Leon.

The messages from the kids and my mom took me back a bit because I’d totally forgotten about it being Father’s Day.

“Best of” to my brothers and BIL’s who are all Fathers to their own children. I hope each of their kiddos takes a moment to let their dads know they are grateful for the love that was given. God knows we are all flawed and would love to have done better but each of my brother’s kids know they are loved and that’s a fine tribute to my brothers.

Happy Father’s Day gents.