Melide

Melide is famous for its Octopus. It is great! We spent a couple of hours in a Pulpeteria, probably one of the best in the world. The octopus was great. Served with a bottle of wine, bread, boiled potatoes with paprika and a wooden platter of octopus and toothpicks to eat it with. The octopus is served with plenty of olive oil and a lot of paprika.

There was a mix of locals and perigrinos. It is a fiesta day here, so most everything was closed. I am not sure if the locals are more in evidence at the pulperia, but I think not. The local panaderia (baker) was swamped with locals stocking up for fiesta.

The Camino is full of people. Mostly young people doing the last 100 km for their credential, but including the people we have seen before. We saw the Korean priest we met in Logrono, the guitar player from Texas and others. Vicky was in the Pulperia and she is from Conroe, not far from The Woodlands.

The character of the Camino is much different the last 100 km. Many more people and not the same camradarie that we have seen before. But it is well supported by the Spanish.

We are about 50 km from Santiago, which we plan to do in three easy days. We did our last long day yesterday, with about 16 miles of walking. The weather is generally cool, but it heats up later in the day. The people on a schedule are walking a great distance these days, but we are ahead of schedule so we are taking it easy. Eating lots of octopus in Melide.

Portomorin

We are about 90 km from Santiago. Patsy is doing much better. The weather has been hot later in the day, but otherwise very nice.
We were in Sarria yesterday and it was in the middle of the annual festival. All the perigrinos (pilgrims) are in bed by the time the festivals are winding up, but it was still nice. Also, Sarria is the last place to start the Camino and get a certificate from the cathedral in Sangiago, so a lot more pilgrims are on the way. It was sort of amazing how many people were walking today. It could be that since today was Sunday, many of the people were just walking today, but I think we will see them tomorrow also. Many of the new walkers are teen agers. With the change in walkers, the Camino has a much different character here.
Galecia is hilly and the Camino has been mostly through small farms. Many are dairy farms with the famous ¨Rubio Galigo¨ cattle. Rubio in this case means Blonde. The route is up and down small hills and along paths with stone walls on both sides. In some cases, it was like walking in a tunnel, the walls were so high. There were a fair number of bars along the way. We stop about 10 am to get a drink and rest a bit, then we stop about noon for a bocadillo(sandwich). Then it is a few more hours to get to the town.
Portomarin was along the river here, but the town was moved up the hill in the 1950s when the river was dammed. Now there is a nice lake. The town is supposed to have a population of 2000, but it has at least 15 and perhaps 20 bar restaurants. It also has about 5 albergue for the pilgrims. The town is actually nice enough, even if it is not old.
Tomorrow is Palais de Rae, about 24 kilometers away, our last long day. The day after we go to Melide, a short day of about 10 miles and the day after to Azura, another 10 mile day and then two 12 mile days to Santiago.
We plan to take a bus to Finnistera from Santiago, just to see it. Some people walk the 90 some kilometers but we want to take the time with Seth and family.
We are still seeing many of the same people along the way. Very many do about the same distance as we do. It is always nice to recognize people you know among the other pilgrims.
I noticed in the shower today that my legs look different. I would not have thought that walking would require much change in my muscles from cycling, but they are distinctly different. I am sure I am not losing any weight. It might be I am eating a lot or that I have a few beers and a half bottle of wine every day.

O Cebriero and Triacastela, Spain

Patsy is done with her antibiotics, hopefully she will feel a bit better from now on. They made her nauseus and susceptible to sunburn.

We are in Triacastela, about 130 km from Compestala de Santiago. Almost at the end now. We crossed the last of the mountains today and yesterday. We were lucky to get beautiful weather both days. I got some great photos. Actually, the day before Patsy insisted that we do the scenic route out of Ponferrada. I think we climbed as high that day as the great mountain at O´Cebriero yesterday. Both days were great but Patsy was burned out by the time we got the necessary mountain, so we only did 10 km yesterday and spent the night in O´Cebriero. It was nice, though. It rained during the night and there were a few clouds still around in the morning, but it is hot now.

We are feeling the end of our Camino and I am not sure what I think about that. I am really into the walking each day. A Dutch woman I spoke to yesterday came from La Puey in France and she was saying the number of people on the Camino is in stark contrast with the French part of the Camino, and she was feeling the stress. It really makes me want to hike the Vezelay or La Puey routes!

We have been travelling though small dairy farm country. The villages in Spain are just making it, many of them. I am sure many young people move out to the big cities. I suspect the business from the Camino is all that keeps some of them alive. O Cebriero has a population of 50, all doing tourist business. There is a highway through there and at least 3 tour buses were parked there at one time. It is about as high as as major highways in Spain go I think.

Villafranca

We are finally getting some hot weather. We had a long but flat walk today, but it did get hot. The heat does take something out of you. We did daudle along the route today. Tomorrow we won´t go so far and will start a bit earlier. We left Ponferrada while it was still very cool and walked along the Sid river until we got out of town and joined the Camino. The first half of the walk was through sort of suburbs but with increasing large vegetable gardens, vineyards and orchards. The mountains are all around us, but none today.

We are meeting people we have seen before and then a few new ones. We came upon Yentz, a german we have not seen in two weeks and had dinner with him last night.

Villafranca has three huge churches and a castle. We are staying in yet another, although smaller, church at the edge of town. Of course, the city is sort of vertical, meaning a walk into the city center, with its very nice plaza, is far downhill and then back up a steep incline. Not what many of the perigrinos are looking forward to.

Look up Villafranca on the internet to see the churches.

Ponferrada 200 km

We are getting great, perfect weather now. It was beautiful going over the mountain to get here, but just slightly cool. It has warmed up today to about 75 degrees F, still clear as a crystal. The trip over the mountain was absolutely beautiful. The villages on the way were perfect. We even got a really good meal yesterday night at the Albergue where we stayed in El Acebo.

There are still few people who are not amoung the halt and lame. Luckily, I am in that minority. Almost all limp around the albergue and town after the day´s walk. Of course many are walking 20 miles a day or even more. Many are going at our pace, though. We see some of the same people day after day. We have slept in the same 4 person room with a french couple at least 3 times over the last week. (A good thing, as they dont snore.)

Astorga

We are getting stronger and Patsy´s feet are getting better. She is still not carrying her pack, but she is enjoying walking more. We have had some cold and windy days, but today we are getting clear weather and warm. The walks the last three days have been great. We have taken quiet alternative routes. Today was cold to start but warmed quickly as we walked through almost complete silence. The mountains were in view all the route and are noticeably closer now. The wildflowers are still profusely in bloom. The land here is dryer and full of small round stones. I would say it is marginal crop land although on the level parts it is cultivated. The view into Astorga was exceptional. We approached it from quite high and could look down on the city. Only five churches were visible as the rest were on the other side of the city. The city center is where the tallest church is, always.

The Albergue´s have been very nice, although the beds in the last two were enough to give me a back ache. They are set up more for warmer weather, which hopefully, we will get more of now. They mostly have kitchens and cooking is a nice alternative.

We find that figuring to walk 10 miles a day rather than our originally planned 15 works out better. We did our 10 miles today by about noon which will leave us the rest of the day to explore Astorga. The main church was designed by Gaudi and we plan to see it for sure. There are supposedly lots of Roman remains here.

I think we have about 270 kilometers or less to Santiago. It should be quite doable for us.

We walked with a couple of men from Belgium. They had both been in some trouble and their judge gave them the option of prison or walking to Sangiago. The judge gives them 15 euro a day for expenses which forces them to find a church or free albergue and to be careful what they spend their money on. An older couple from Belgium has been walking with them and buying them coffee at the bars to ease their way. It seems a very practical alternative to jail to me. The judge reasoned that it would get them away from their bad friends for 3 months or so and give them a chance to get their life straight. And it is cheaper than putting them in jail.

The local people we meet are friendly and helpful. Of course the other pilgrims are pleasant, with many ¨Buen Camino¨ greetings.

Leon

We took a bus from Burgos to Leon. Our original plan was to go from Burgos to Sahagun, but the bus did not go there. We will still have a few days in the Mesita, a very flat hot dry plains. That does not sound to bad to us, as we left very cold, wet weather behind. The forecast for Burgos for the week was cloudy and wet with a high for the entire week of 20 degrees C. It was 25 degrees C when we got off the bus yesterday evening and delightfully dry.

From the bus ride of 140 kilometers, we could see that the land was getting steadily less cultivated. We guessed that it was usually drier although covered with puddles from the recent rain. Not all the land was cultivated and more of it was in dry land crops. The villages seemed a bit more poor to me, especially after the land surrounding Burgos.

When we got into Leon, we did not know where the Albergue (pilgrim´s refuge) was located but headed for the tall spires of the main cathedral, usually a sure bet. The cathedral is impressive, as in every major Spanish city. I would recommend looking for pictures of the cathedrals of Burgos and Leon on the internet. I am sure the photos there are better than any I could take. They have a long history and are beautiful. The scale and detail are both astounding. I spent a lot of time in the one in Burgos and it seemed every surface was intricately carved wood or stone. The main vaults seem to reach up forever and much of the light is from stained glass windows, high above you.

We spent the night last night in the Benedictine Monestary in Leon. It was a beautiful old place which welcomed Pilgrims very graciously. The only downside is the Pilgrims want to get up too early. People are up and stirring before 6 am.

We are staying the morning in Leon to see more of the city and to replace one of our rain ponchos. We think we mistakenly placed one poncho on a rack with items left at the Albergue for anyone to take. As it was raining, someone borrowed it immediately. I expect we will not see more rain, but Patsy is forever the pessimist.

We are not able to do as many miles as we had hoped but after the bus ride, we should be able to maintain walking the remainder of the way. If not, we can adapt easily enough.

We are meeting people from everywhere. Because we had only heard of the Camino when we crossed in on our European bicycle ride, I was surprised how many Americans we are meeting.

I am still trying to figure out how to download photos. Hopefully they will be along, if not soon, then eventually.

Santa Domingo de Caldez

We are in a bar about 6 km from Santa Domingo. We have had some slow going but seem to be doing ok now. The countryside is still gorgeous. We walked today through mostly rolling land that is almost all cultivated with wheat, barley, beets and grapes. Near villages we see well tended gardens with potatoes and fruit trees.
Yesterday we were in Najera, where it was a regional fiesta day. The big event was the regional championships for bull fighting. Najera is squeezed between an impressive cliff face and the river egro. The church in Najera is built into the cliff and has survived intact for many centuries. It is impressive. I am sure there are photos on the internet if you are interested. I did not take any in the church as I am sure there are better than I could do. We slept in a large room last night with about 60 people. If we were not so tired by the end of the day, it would have been impossible to sleep. But we did just fine.
We will have completed 190 kilometers by the end of the day, about 120 miles. It is hard work but still nice to do.
We usually find a menu de perigrino, a menu of the day served at 7 pm for the pilgrims. (Dinner in Spain starts about 9 pm, 10 pm in large cities.) The menu of the day includes a starter course with salad spagetti or soup, then the main course is meat of various sorts and then dessert. It includes wine or water and bread. They generally taste pretty good and will fill up a hungry Pilgrim.
I wish I could describe the fourty colors of green in the fields along our path. The sun shines down through the clouds and spotlights different places as we walk along. Randy is having a great time. There are so many people for him to talk to. I have found that iñ some of the villages they have a backpack service to transport your backpack to the next stop on the trip. Now the question was, am I a purest and wish to carry my pack or do I use the service. No contest, I am supporting the local economy. This trip is supposed to be fun. I feel so free without the pack.
I am getting into the spirit of the walk. Without seeing any Tv or news, the stress level goes way down and I have the time to contemplate life in general. At this point it seem to be pretty satisfactory. Thank goodness for our Alpine poles. They make walking so much easier especially in the rougher parts. Most everyone uses them and now I can see why.

All the people at the Refuge with us have bandaged feet and big blisters except for Randy who has been bouncing up and down the mountain trail like a baby goat. I have filled his pack with some of my stuff but it has not helped. I am going to start picking up rocks to add. There are a lot of people walking the Camino, most of them just want to do it for the adventure. It is a great way to experience the country and it´s culture. Most of the people are French or Spanish with the Germans coming up strong. Then there are people from all over Europe, Finland, Sweden, South Am. Australia, well you get the idea. There are a surprising number of Americans. Last night we stayed in a refuge where about one third of the people spoke English. Usually only a few have any English but I like the Spanish people. They don´t laugh at my bad accent and try to understand what I am saying. We are out of the steep mountains for now and into the steep hills. This is the wine growing region. The different crops and the vineyards and olive orchards make a beautiful mosaic below the stone villages built on the top of the hills above them. These are very small villages usually, built around a church at the very top. The streets are unbelievably steep. So we have been walking along getting in touch with our inner selves so here are my insights so far. Just because they say you can drink the water in the pilgrim fountains doesn´t mean that I can. Randy´s guide book is very inaccurate concerning mileage and topography and pretty much everything else. You can use the public toilets in Germany but you don´t want to try it in Spain. The Spanish people are wonderful and caring hosts who try very hard to make your stay pleasant. One week down and I think it may be getting easier. I will try for more profound insights on this second week.

Trinidad

From Zibriz, the path was generally through woods and hills. Beautiful scenery. We are getting along well with walking but took a short day today while walking through Pamplona. The old city is really quite nice, with its high walls and narrow streets.
We have seen wild flowers in profusion the entire trip. Spring is a good time to be here.
The houses and buildings in this part of Spain are mostly stone with stucco and they all have red tile roofs. When you see a village from a distance, they are too pretty to describe.

The grocery stores vary in size from tiny to small. The small village we are in now has 3 very small groceries and a fruit market.

Randy

This part of Spain is unbelievably lovely. The villages we pass through are neat, clean and a well cared for blend of the very old and new. The farms look well tended and prosperous. The Spanish people are very friendly and helpful. We have met lots of people from all parts of Europe and even a few Americans. It is suprising how many people are doing this walk. The refuges are clean and comfortable and not too noisy. A bed and hot shower are all I need. The paths are rocky and steep and walking in Texas did not prepare us for this. At times it is gruelling but the vistas are sometimes worth it. Three days out and I am still hanging in there.

Patsy