Day 10 - Buen Camino - We made it!

O'Predrouzo to Santiago de Compostella - Distance traveled 13 miles. Total distance 134. We were really happy to wake up to clear skies and warm temperatures. Made for a fun and easy walk. We still had some hills to climb but it seemed so much easier knowing we were at the end of our journey.

Looking kind of goofy on the last day

We went though several wooded areas and had to laugh when we started seeing boots stuck on trees. Don't know if they fell off backpacks or the hikers finally just said screw it.

We didn't cross paths with our original crew but we stop to chat with the girls from Japan that we have seen on and off the last couple of days.

We saw some interesting sculpture, path markers and crosses made with sticks in the fence.

Lovely day to sit outside and have a beer....finally!

Got our first glimps of Santiago and then passed through a newer area to reach old town with the narrow streets and the cathedral.

We passed by an elementary school that was getting out and had to take a picture of the school bus. Don't think my kids would have fought riding this type of school bus.

We can see the cathedral in the distance! Getting close. Feeling excited about finishing such an accomplishment.

This arch leads to the plaza in front of the cathedral. So close!

Covered in scaffolding but the cathedral was sure a welcome sight. We headed to the Pilgrims Office to pick up our compostella/completion certificate. I had to take a picture of all the discarded walking sticks - ha! I look pretty rough and desperately in need of a pedicure.

We are staying at the San Francisco which is a eighteenth century Fransiscan convent converted to a really cool hotel in the middle of old town. This is a picture of the outside.

A few pictures of the old town area. We will spend the next 5 days as tourists! Buen Camino everyone which means "Good Journey". Thanks for following along with us. It has definitely been an awesome experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 9 - The commercial side of the Camino

Arzua to O'Pedrouzo: Distance traveled 13.25 miles. We were really spoiled last night. Miguel the manager of the Santa Maria catered to every wish and made the stay "perfecto". Dinner consisted of pumpkin soup, local cheese, veal for Mark and sea bass for me and I was just a little too excited to see fresh veggies on my plate. A very light strawberry dessert, coffee and great wine. The icing on the cake was an omelet for breakfast with fresh fruit. The Spanish people love their bread for breakfast and I have been craving eggs! Miguel even took our boots for night and dried them. Such a sweet treat!!

It took us nine days to figure out why we walk much longer than the guidebook indicates. Today was supposed to be 12 miles and yesterday only 18. Well, it is the commercial side of the Camino. We found out that bars, cafes, albergues and restaurants hijack the Camino. They will often redirect the path to pass by their business. And it would have worked "if" those businesses had been open but most are closed for the winter. In the summer time, I imagine they have a very healthy business trade for beer and food breaks. Today, we got wise a few times and said we are not going down into the little village just to have to hike out.

The rain in Spain had fallen mainly on our heads. So today Mark made us makeshift ponchos out of trash bags. They worked well to keep us from being drenched. I regret not bringing our umbrellas but we figured that they would be hard to carry and use our walking poles. Then saw a pilgrim using one quite well. It was open with the handle shoved down between him and his pack. Worked pretty well. But I think we looked great in our "ponchos"!

We lost our original Camino group and have been on the same timing with a solo German man about our age and two Asain girls walking together. The surprise new Camino travelers we saw today was a young family. The dad carried the two year old in a backpack and mom carried an infant in a moby sling. Absolutely no way I would ever have done that! The lime green is the two year old. They must have chartered someone to transport their clothes. No way they could carry packs as well.

Today, we walked through thick pine groves, more eucalyptus, chestnut and a neat area lined with peonies. Really pretty. We also got to share the road with some dairy cows. The lady was talking to them and giving them directions like pets and the cows seemed to follow her directions. I am sure the stick that she was carrying helped a bit.

I wish that I would have gotten a picture of the old farmer and his wife in a field. She was literally cutting tall grass with a scythe. That is tough lawn mowing! She was cutting it and throwing it in a trailer attached to the tractor her husband was driving. The tractor passed us on the path with the wife riding in the trailor. We were smiling big at her and she gave us a big toothless grin back. We were thinking I can't believe you were cutting grass with an old farm tool by hand and she was probably thinking crazy Americans walking in Spain in the rain wearing trash bags!

We are in another tiny town so we think the anniversary dinner tonight is going to be pizza at a place a couple of doors down. Then we will head out to finish our last day of the Cowling Way tomorrow as we arrive in Santiago. Again we are hoping for better weather tomorrow and it looked like the weather girl on TV finally agreed. But then I don't think my Spanish is as good as it used to be.

 

 

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Day 8 - The Silver Lining

Palas de Rei to Arzua: Total distance hiked today 19.96. So for this blog post, I decided to focus on all the silver lining items and not how cold and rainy it was. Ok, done with the negative. First, we hiked almost 20 miles. Wow, that sure feels like an accomplishment and I really still feel pretty good. The weather forecast calls for great weather the rest of our trip! Hope it comes true. Tomorrow is our 36th wedding anniversary and in celebration, I booked us in the best hotel that I could find for tonight! The town we are in tomorrow doesn't have much offer. So I have a very comfy bed for tonight. They have a five star restaurant so I am looking forward to dinner! Plus they have laundry service!!!

We headed out before sun up today because we knew it was a long hike and we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy the hotel.

We walked through many tiny hamlets today.

Mark and I had to keep our sense of humor today and fight the desire to call a taxi. Really it never entered our mind.

The path today was covered in water. SO much water. Boots got a little wet and Mark had to stop and change sock around noon.

We found a small place to stop for some warmth. I ordered a coffee and he asked large or small. I laughed out loud and said as big as you can make.

We walked through many forest areas with eucalyptus trees. It smelled wonderful.

All things being relative, we have two short hikes left until we reach Santiago de Compostella and tomorrow I will reflect on how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband, partner and friend that has given me our wonderful children (and their gift of grandchildren) and this wonderful journey in Spain and life.

 

 

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Day 7 - A long "mental" day

Portomarin to Palas de Rei - Didn't sleep well for some reason last night. At 4 am, I kept thinking "what will the day be like with about six hours sleep". The answer - a bit tough. Hike was 16.84 miles and I kept asking Mark if we were there yet? We must have looked like we were dragging because as we were getting close some kid on a bike yelled just three more kilometers. I felt just like this statue by the time we arrived.

We jokingly said that we survived the Bate's Motel last night. Look at the size of this place and it had a grand total of 4 guests. Us and one other couple.

These are a few pictures of Portomarin. The city has a public swimming pool, overlooking the lake and a really neat town center and church. I think this is a little resort community. The way to Santiago was shown to us by St.James himself and I had to join in. The Camino was not very nice to its pilgrim's leaving town. A huge set of stairs down and a wicked climb out of the valley.

I really need to figure out these trees!

There really isn't much to comment about today. We did get to stop several times for a coffee, beer and restroom breaks. Much more is open on this portion of the Camino. We met several new pilgrims and most of the hike was on trails with not much to see. Thus the "mental" part. Mark kept me in good spirits but the long walk just about got the better of me.

We did come across the tiny church that was not in a town. It looked like it was there to serve the few houses around it, maybe even one family.

Next, we passed the Pilgrims Cementary for those that didn't survive the trip to Santiago. Notice the rocks left by travelers at the base of the monument.

Karen Adams (laundry queen) check out this outside tub and washboard that we came across for travelers to use. HA! We saw about 3 of these along the trail today.

However, the highlight of the day for me had to be dinner. A real American burger. It was a little slice of heaven!!!

We have three days hiking left before we spend some time as tourists. Tomorrow will be another challenging hike. We will go a little over18 miles on our way to Arzua. Our longest hike of the trip and we will try to leave out early to make it a slow and steady journey.

The weather was a little wet for the last half of the day. A light rain and some wind. Tomorrow they are skipping right over the light rain and calling for rain. Could get a little wet out there. Should make for an interesting day. The forecast looks like it will improve after that so we should have a good last couple of days walking and a sunny day to tour Santiago. Buen Camino!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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