Postscript

This blog is now complete, no new postings will be done to it. 

To make it easier to follow my adventure in chronological order (Blogger only order the posts according to the post date, newest first) I suggest that you expand the Blog Archive in the panel on the right hand side of this page and then click at each post in turn, starting from the first post (at the bottom of the list) to the last. 

I hope this blog inspires you to to do the same and walk the Camino, one step at a time, from whatever starting point is suitable to you, all the way to Santiago de Compostela. 

 Buen Camino!

Map of our Pigrimage to Santiago de Compostela

Map of our pilgrimage, each place marker indicates a city/village where we overnighted.

Our Route from St. Jean to Santiago de Compostela


  

2012-10-09 Tuesday

2012-10-09 Tuesday

Santiago de Compostela / Finisterre / Santiago de Compostela

Woke up to a rainy day. The Gang of Four plus Gunther, Yvonne and Jeovan met for breakfast at 0830. After breakfast the "tour directors" declared a free time, everyone on their own, until 1130, when we should meet in front of the Cathedral to attend the daily noon mass for Pilgrims. After Mass, we (minus Yvonne) are to congregate back at the hostal for the walk to the van pickup point for our trip to Finisterre. 

Terry and Nancy went to the post office to mail postcards, Gunther and Jeovan went back to the hostal. Paulo, Yvonne, and I decided to go together to visit the Cathedral before the mass. We found the main doors closed because of a mass being celebrated in one of the chapels, but Paulo and I figured that there must be a side door open for the locals to enter the Cathedral to attend this Mass. We circled the Cathedral and found an open door. We proceeded to do the things that Pilgrims traditionally do upon arrival: visit Santiago tomb below the altar, climb the stairs behind the altar and embrace, from behind, Santiago's statue that figures preeminently in the altar. Rituals accomplished, we walked around to see the magnificent Cathedral. At this point, the Mass had finished, and the main doors were open. Pilgrims and bus loads of tourists started to pour in, creating a long line to visit the tomb and to embrace the statue. 

Erico in Santiago de Compostela

The Cathedral plaza in a rainy day

The Cathedral

Cathedral interior

Botafumeiro

Botafumeiro

Botafumeiro

There was a third ritual for pilgrims, which is to touch a spot in one of the main columns with your full hand, the spot is well indented by millions of pilgrims that have palmed that same spot. The column was cordoned off with a security guard standing by, Paulo asked why the column was out of limits now, and the guard told us that the Church officials blocked the area off to protect the column from further damage, the oils and acids of Pilgrim's hands were damaging the stone. He also told us that if we wanted a good spot for the mass, we better find a good pew now, because the Cathedral gets completely full and they stop letting people in 20 minutes before the mass. 

It was 1030, and the pews were starting to fill. The three of us found a spot on the second row. This threw a monkey wrench on our plan to meet in front of the Cathedral at 1130, we could not reserve 4 additional spots for the others. We decided to stay put, Yvonne and Paulo reserved a spot for me between them, and I went out to the main square in the hope of seeing the others before the appointed time, when it would be too late to find a place to sit. It was raining heavily, and I took cover under some arches, from where I could see the meeting spot. I called Gunther on his cell, he was nearby but did not know the whereabouts of the others and immediately headed to the Cathedral to find a spot. I called Jeovan's cell, but it was turned off. I just waited for them to arrive. Shortly before 1100 I saw Terry and Nancy entering the square, I met them and we went in. The Cathedral was full, all seats taken, Gunther was able to squeeze in the pew behind ours, Terry and Nancy tried to find a seat elsewhere. They ended up siting at the base of one of the columns. Jeovan came to the meeting point shortly before 1130, did not see us there, and came to the Cathedral, figuring that we must be in there.

Now, let me talk about the "Botafumeiro." It is a huge metal incense burner, weighting hundreds of kilos, and it was installed during the middle ages to burn a lot of incense to mask the "aroma" of the masses of pilgrims just arriving from their long pilgrimage; baths were rare those days. It takes 8 trained men to lower it and make it swing from ceiling height to ceiling high to spread the incense smoke over the heads of the gathered pilgrims. The original intent no longer applies, and the Botafumeiro is now only used on the major church holidays. Unless you pay. For a "contribution" of 300 euros the Roman Catholic Church will put on a Botafumeiro show at the end of the Pilgrim's Mass. So the pilgrims never know for sure if there the Botafumeiro will be used or not. 

A few minutes before the Mass, a nun came in, and after giving a speech about being respectful during the Ceremony, no cameras, no filming, etc., she guided us in singing some of the chants to be used in the ceremony, and in the responses to the prayers. A deacon came in afterwards, and made several announcements, all in Spanish, welcoming visiting congregations and religious groups completing the pilgrimage today, and he thanked the generosity of a German congregation for the Botafumeiro.

Then the solemn mass began. Fifteen priests came in in procession. Six of the priests had just finished the pilgrimage, and each said a pray in their native language. It was a beautiful ceremony. For the Communion, the priests spread out through put the huge Cathedral to handle the long lines of people. 

When the mass was over, the celebrating priest announced the Botafumeiro. The 8 operators lowered it, another person poured burning incense in it, and the show began, with the oohs and aahs of the congregation. Many people - ignoring the admonitions, starting taking pictures, I was reticent at first, but when I saw the visiting priests at the altar taking photos, I joined the crowd. It was an amazing show, a fitting end to the celebration. 

When it was all over, we walked to our hostal, we found Jeovan as we were exiting the church, he told us that when Communion started, he saw Terry and Nancy get up and leave the Cathedral, he tried to wave to them for them to stay put for the Botafumeiro, but they did not see him and he could not yell to call them. 

When we arrived at the hostal Terry and Nancy were there, we asked them why they left early, they said that the lines for the Communion were long and assumed that the Mass would take too long to finish, and doubting that there would be Botafumeiro, they left. They had missed the announcement in Spanish. When we told them that we did have the Botafumeiro, they were crestfallen. 

We grabbed our backpacks and walked to the van pickup point, we are taking our packs because, upon our return from Finisterre, the driver will drop us off at the train station, except for Gunther, he is staying a couple of days more in Santiago. 

I am glad we went to Finisterre, but it was raining on and off, and although the rain had stopped by the time we got there, the cape was enveloped in fog. We could not see the ocean and the magnificent cape, just hear the roar of the Atlantic waves crashing on the rocks below. 

Gunther, Erico, Jeovan, Terry and Nancy in Finisterre

Erico and the Cape Finisterre lighthouse in fog

Cape Finisterre lighthouse in fog

Pilgrims burn some of their clothes in Finisterre

Jeovan, Erico and Paulo in Finisterre

Erico in Finisterre

A pilgrim's cairn

Bronzed boot

We arrived back in Santiago at 1830, and the driver dropped us off at the train station before taking Gunther back to the hostal. It was too early, our sleeper train departs at 2230. Paulo and Jeovan decided to take a taxi to a nearby "El Corte Ingles," a large department store, to buy shoes and clothes; Terry Nancy and I walked to a nearby bar for drinks, food, and wi-fi. 

We all met back at the station at 2130. We boarded the train and settled into our cabins. Terry, Nancy, Paulo and I are sharing a cabin for four (I told the booking agent we were members of the same family, and after 31 days on the Camino we certainly are, not by blood, but by solidarity) and Jeovan is in another cabin with three strangers. The Cabin is tiny, but functional, it's just 2 bunk beds and a small sink. We quickly settled into our bunks for the overnight trip, we will arrive at 0800.

Well, faithful reader, this ends this narrative. Thanks for following me in this adventure.

Did I enjoy it? YES!

Am I glad I did it? YES!

Was it easy? NO!

Toughest segment ? The first day, crossing the Pyrenees. 

Best (most beautiful) segment? The first day, crossing the Pyrenees. 

Worst moments? When my left knee was hurting and throbbing on each step. Luckily, after the 3 treatments I did in Leon, my knee gradually improved, and at the end I was in great physical shape. I did not have blisters, I did not have back pain, even on the days I carried the pack. 

Best moments? Apart from the moment you take your boots off at the end of the day? The lunch//dinners with friends at the end of the day, where the conversations. the laughs, and the wine flowed.

Would you do it again? YES!

What have I learned from the Camino?

1. Follow the Yellow Arrow.

2. Don't carry unnecessary stuff (physical or emotional.)

Did the Camino change me? Only time will tell. 

--------------

I want to give many thanks to my fellow original pilgrims, members of the Gang of Four. Terry, Nancy and Paulo were excellent Camino companions. At first I was a bit apprehensive whether or not these four quite different individuals, each with a strong personality would gel together. We did, we got along fabulously. They made this experience unique and, I believe, much better than if I had gone alone. And to Jeovan, who joined our group, as originally planned, for the last 100 Km, he fit right in. Special thanks to Paulo, for suggesting this adventure three years ago, for keeping the idea alive, and insisting I come. 

I also want to express my appreciation to several other people who serependitiously, I met on the Camino, and who enriched my Camino experience, I will never forget them: Gunther for joining our group for the last 12 days of the Camino, and becoming an integral member;  Linda and Cathy, two fearless and indomitable world travelers; Toni from Barcelona, always a gentleman; Eric and Jamil, we had many good laughs together. There were many that left their positive imprint on my experience on the Camino, people like Yvonne - the shaman- from California, Ruth from Germany, Osmar from Brasil, Nancy and Ollie from California, Michelle from Canada, and last but not least, the group from Saragossa. I am grateful our paths crossed on this Camino adventure.

2012-10-08 Monday

2012-10-08 Monday

O Pedrouzo / Santiago de Compostela

Camino day 31: Just 20 Km to go!

We woke up to a rainy day. The forecast is for heavier rain in the morning, tapering off after 1200, with occasional rain in the afternoon. During our breakfast at 0730 we debated what to do: go out in the rain? Wait until after noon? Paulo suggested we just go by bus - suggestion immediately rejected. I suggested we all send our packs so we could walk faster, but Terry said he will carry his pack, which made the issue moot, if one carries the pack the others will reduce speed, we all wanted to  walk together into Compostela. Finally, we settled to wait until 1000, hopefully the rain would diminish by then, and then reconsider the issue. 

Gunther called Dieter to inform him that we had decided to postpone departure until 1000 at the earliest, but Dieter did not want to wait, he was eager to get going, and went out in the rain, by himself. 

I think everybody else was antsy to depart, because at 0900, I was comfortable seated in the living room reading the news on my iPhone, when Nancy came in to tell me that everybody else was suited up and ready to go. I quickly put on my rain pants and rain jacket, put the rain cover on my pack, and joined the others to start the walk under a light rain. Jeovan had already departed 10 minutes earlier, he was walking with a stiff knee and said he needed the head start. 

It was miserable walking under the light rain, everything gray and cold, I quickened up the pace to get faster to the first rest stop, about 8 Km away. Going faster got me warmer and reduced the time in the rain. I gradually distanced from the others, eventually I reaching Jeovan; I reduced my pace for a while, to keep him company, he was walking slower, with a stiff knee. When he stopped for a nature call I kept going, resuming my fast pace. I got to the first bar ahead of the others, and waited for the rest to arrive having my usual "cafe con leche." The bar was jam packed, people jostling for the seats, everybody wanted a respite from the rain.

Terry was the first to depart the bar, I was next, but soon I overtook him. It continued to rain on and off, I continued to walk by myself and again reached the rest stop ahead of the others and waited for their arrival. By then the rain had stopped, and we were able to sit at outside tables, avoiding the crowded bar room. I was the first to head out, but Paulo soon joined me and we walked together for a while, at a fast pace, distancing from the others. We began to came across some of our acquaintances that had left O Pedrouzo earlier than us, and Paulo slowed down to chat with each group. He enjoys talking to everybody, but I kept going, and soon I was well ahead, walking by myself again. 

When I began the ascend of the Mount of Joy ( "Monte do Gozo"), that got this name for the happiness pilgrims of earlier times felt when they first saw the Cathedral from the top of the mountain, a thick fog formed quickly, enveloping the mountain, visibility dropped to less than 150 feet. I kept the pace up while focusing in making sure I did not miss any of the yellow arrows marking the way. I reached the first bar near the mountain top, our third and final stop before Santiago, the bar was small and completely full, with some people drinking their coffee standing up outside in the mist, so I kept going, my guide showed another bar just ahead. The second one was not as crowded, I went in, saw Maude, the young French-Canadian, at a table and I joined her after placing my order for "cafe con leche." I kept a lookout for the others and called Paulo in when I saw him walk by. We both stayed in the bar, with an eye out for the others, and after waiting for quite a while, we concluded that they must have stopped at the first bar, and we departed to the top of Mount of Joy, where there's a monument and a chapel. We stamped our credentials at the chapel, took some pics of the monument still enveloped in fog, we barely could see the huge monument, much less the Cathedral down in the valley. We hung in there to wait for the rest of our group, greeting the arriving acquaintances. When one hour passed since I had stopped at the bar, we concluded that the rest of the group must have bypassed us without us seeing there, and we decided to march down to Compostela. I called Gunther's phone in an attempt to reach the others, but it was turned off. 

Paulo and I walked down the mountain together, went through the suburbs, towards the city center and the Cathedral. When we were about 15 minutes away, Gunther called me, they had reached the Cathedral, they had stopped at the first bar and then went ahead to Santiago, thinking that Paulo and I were ahead of them. They did not check the second bar or the monument on top of the mountain, to see if we were there.

We caught up with Yvonne, the shaman, a few blocks before the Cathedral, and the three of us walked together, stopping to take some pics as we approached the Cathedral, and then walked into it's majestic front plaza. We arrived. The time was 1445. The walking part of the pilgrimage is over, what's left are the final rituals. I felt relief and happiness. Happiness for having accomplished my goal, for having completed the Camino with my friends; relief for all of us having arrived without major incidents or illness. We stood there for a moment, taking in all the sights, and the grandeur of the place.

Paulo and Erico

Paulo, Yvonne and Erico

We saw Terry and Nancy, and we went to the nearby Pilgrim's Office to present our dully stamped "credentials" showing our stops along the way, evidence of our walking the Camino, and received our "Compostelana," our certificate that we accomplished the pilgrimage. My Latin name is Ericum. 

Gunther and Jeovan were waiting for us at a sidewalk bar across the street from the Pilgrim's Office, and we all had a celebratory beer. We all returned to the front of the Cathedral for group pictures, and then went to our hotel, checked in and then Terry, Nancy, Jeovan, Paulo and I went out right away to have lunch, before the restaurants close for the siesta. Yvonne did not have hotel reservations, she came along with us to the  hotel and was able to get a room there.

The Gang of Four made it! Terry, Erico, Nancy and Paulo

Gunther, Nancy, Terru, Jeovan, Paulo and Erico

The rest of the afternoon was a blur of activity: we booked the overnight sleeper trains to Madrid for Tuesday evening. The ticketing agent wanted to put Nancy in a separate, woman's only cabin, I convinced her to put the four of us in the same cabin saying that we were a family. We booked a hotel in Madrid (very hard to find a hotel, Friday is a major holiday, Spain's National Day) and booked a van, with a driver, to take us to Finisterre tomorrow afternoon, at 1400. 

Terry and Nancy, as usual, did not want to go out in the evening to eat. Paulo, Jeovan and I did not want a full dinner, but Gunther did, so he went at 1930 to have dinner with Dieter; Paulo Jeovan and I would go out later to a bar to eat something light, and Gunther would join us for drinks after his dinner. 

We ended up finding a small bar, it was really a small cheese, ham and wine store with a bar in the back room. We ordered a platter of local cheeses and another of cold cuts and called this "dinner," all was washed down with good wine. Günther called when he finished his dinner and he joined us. We had a good time remembering our journey together, the challenges, funny moments, and the interesting (in many different ways) people we met. We ended the night with a round of "chupitos de orujo de cafe," shots of coffee liqueur. 

2012-10-07 Sunday

2012-10-07 Sunday

Ribadiso de Baixo / O Pedrouzo

Camino Day 30. Today's segment is 22Km. 

Nancy, Terry and I met for breakfast at 0730 as usual and hit the road at 0810, and 30 minutes we reached Arzua, 3 Km away, where Günther and Jeovan were waiting for us. Adele stayed behind, she got up late for breakfast. 

The six of us walked, sometimes in pairs, sometimes alone. Along the way we met some of our Camino friends. One of them is Yvonne, from California, whom we first met 3 days ago. It was a great day for walking, not hot, not cold either, a bit overcast, with the sun appearing on and off. 

I was chatting with Yvonne, during our first stop for coffee, and asked what were her plans after reaching Compostela on Monday, she said that on Tuesday, she was planning to catch a bus to Finisterre, where she would drop the ashes she brought along the Camino in the sea, she will then attend the Pilgrim's Mass on Wednesday at noon. I did not ask who's ashes they were, and she did not volunteer.

We arrived at O Pedrouzo at 1445, after walking walking 22 Km in 5.5 hrs with 3 rest stops. We showered, left our dirty clothes to be laundered, and then Terry, Nancy, Paulo, Jeovan, and I went out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Gunther prefers to have his larger meal for dinner, and Alene is staying at the municipal albergue, on the other side of town. We had an excellent Sunday lunch. We had just finished desert and coffee when I saw Yvonne seating alone, at the other end of the room. I went there and invited her to join us at our table for after meal "chupitos." 

My appetizer. The broth was fantastic

We chatted for a while, enjoying our "orujo de yervas", and when we were leaving the restaurant, she told Nancy if she could help her with her knee. They sat at two chairs at the sidewalk, and Yvonne started to massage Nancy's knee. I asked if she was a physical therapist and she said no, she was a healer, a Shaman. She started to chant in some strange language as she massaged Nancy's knee. Jeovan was next, I had walked along with him for the last part of today's segment, and he was complaining of severe knee pain.

I went next, asking for help with my left knee. She massaged my left knee a bit, but then said that my biggest problem was not with my knee, but with my spleen, that I had emotional issues to resolve, and emotional issues affect the spleen. She then touched my left ribs, over the spleen, and did her chanting. I asked what language was that, and she said Mongolian. After she finished my treatment she told Terry to sit down at the chair, she needed to work on his left shoulder. Paulo asked her how did she know that, and she replied that she was a "human MRI" and could feel people's physical or emotional pains. She then proceeded to work on Terry's left shoulder. That was another Camino magical moment.

Terry and Nancy said that they were tired and not hungry, and did not want to go out in the evening to eat. Paulo and went out to meet Gunther at the restaurant where he was having dinner with his German friend, Dieter (I think?) the senior gentleman he met on his first day on the Camino. Paulo and I ordered some appetizers and wine, Jeonan arrived a few minutes later, and we all stayed there chatting and enjoying our drinks. Dieter asked us if he could join our group tomorrow, for our last day on the Camino. We said off course, he was welcome to join us. 

Our destination tomorrow? Santiago de Compostela!

2012-10-06 Saturday

2012-10-06 Saturday

Palas de Rey / Ribadiso de Baixo 

Camino day 29: Today's segment is 26 Km. 

The seven of us (Terry, Nancy, Paulo, Jeovan, Gunther, Adela and I) met for breakfast and departed at 0815. 

The first opportunity for a coffee break was only 8.5 Km from Palas. During our break I called Carmen's  cousin in Melide, saying that we would be there shortly after noon, we agreed that I would call again when I get to the city. When I first posted in Facebook that I was doing the Camino, my friend Carmen insisted that I stop in Melide, the ancestral home of her parents, and visit with her relatives. She contact her cousin, Susito, and he said he would be waiting for us. Both of Carmen's parents were born in Melide and later immigrated to Brazil. 

Pigeon house

Jorge, Jeovan, Erico

Gunther and Erico, taking a break on an old bridge

All along this Camino I have been telling my companions that we would be stopping either for lunch or dinner in Melide, to see Carmen's relatives and to have a feast of octopus, Melide is famous for that. Today I reminded them again that we would have a long break for lunch, that I was looking forward to meeting Carmen's cousin, and to eat the famous octopus ("pulpos" in Spanish.) Gunther and Jeovan could not get a place in the little village we are staying tonight, so they will have to walk 3 Km beyond our destination, and decided not want to stop for lunch and keep going. Anyways, Gunther is vegetarian and would not eat pulpos. Terry also said he would not eat octopus, he finds the suction cups disgusting.

When we arrived in Melide we stopped at a bar, and I called Susito again. While we were waiting for Susito to arrive, Nancy and Terry pulled sandwiches from their packs and started eating. I assumed that it was their way of saying they no way they were having pulpos. Susito arrived a few minutes later, greeting us warmly, and he took us to his favorite "pulperia," a restaurant specializing in "pulpos," octopus. He was known to everyone in there, and he knew everybody by name. Right at the entrance of the restaurant there was the octopus cooking station and to Terry's horror, the guy cooking the octopus pulled a huge one from the pot to show it to us. He snipped off a tentacles and cut samples for us to taste, Terry refused. When the guy, surprised, asked why, Paulo explained that Terry did not like the idea of eating the suction cups. 

Delicious Pulpo from Melide

We went in and were seated at a long table, and Susito took control, ordering the pulpos and the local young red wine, which we drank mixed with sparkling water. The pulpos were the best I have ever eaten, soft and tasty. Susito told me that they are cooked with just salt water and olive oil for 4-5 hours. Nancy tasted a few, but Terry took a pass and asked for a beer. Paulo, Susito, and I were enjoying the pulpos when the waiter came with a plate of something that looked like little white disks. Susito asked what was that, that he did not order it, and the waiter said it was sent by the cook, after some back and forth between Susito and the waiter he burst into laughter, the cook had removed the skin and suction cups from a few tentacles, cut them up, and sent them over for Terry! We all doubled over laughing. Poor Terry had no choice, but to try them, he proceeded to do it as someone takes a pill, he put one disk in his mouth and gulped it down with beer, we doubted he even chewed it! One more story for the Camino, this moment was retold over and over by us over drinks, for the rest of the Camino.

Pulpo

Pulpo without suction cups, for Terry

Paulo, Terry, Nancy, Erico and Susito

Susito and Adele

Erico and Susito drinking with orujo blanco

Susito was distraught that Terry and Nancy were not eating anything and wanted to order other foods for them, but they were full, having just finished their sandwiches. Susito ordered a fresh local cow cheese and marmalade, for desert, it was delicious. Then it was time for the after meal drinks, he insisted that we  tried the restaurant's house made liquor made of grapes, "Orujo blanco", it's just like the Italian grappa, it's 60 proof fire water, and it's served ice cold like vodka. Terry and Nancy excused themselves and took off, saying they were tired and there was still 10Km to go, but Susito held Paulo and I back. After a couple of rounds of "orujo blanco," Paulo made the mistake of saying that he also liked the other kind of orujo, the "orujo con yervas," made with local herbs; Susito immediately ordered a bottle, we had a few more rounds for everybody.  We were having a grand time, Susito was a great host, but we still had 10Km to go that day; when we had just  managed to convince Susito that we needed to go, in walked Ruth, the German woman friend of Gunther's, and she stopped by our table to say hello. Susito asked us if she was our friend, we said yes, and he immediately invited her to sit at our table, saying that our friends are also his friends. She joined us, declined the wine, but accepted a beer; we tried to leave, but Susito insisted that we drink another round of "yervas" while Ruth drank her beer, saying that we could not let a lady drink alone. Ruth speaks Spanish fluently, she teaches Spanish in a German high school, and we all had a lively conversation. Finally, we managed to pry ourselves from Susito's enthusiastic hospitality, and hit the road at full speed. Susito is a great guy, fun to be with, a great host, we enjoyed tremendously our lunch together. 

The last 10 Km that day was a bit of a blur. We were walking fast, full of pulpos, wine, and orujo. Oh, and carrying our backpacks.

Girl's band animating a church "fiesta" in the outskirts of Melide

We really walked fast, because we cough up with Terry and Nancy about 2Km from our destination, we arrived dead tired at around 1700 and checked in at our hostal, the Complexo La Cabana. Terry said that today was his most demanding day of the Camino, he had never felt this tired before. 

After dinner, Paulo and I were in the hostal lounge, checking email and waiting for our laundry to finish, when in came two your woman that are staying at the albergue side of the Complexo, and we started talking, they are from Romania. One is an electronics engineer and project manager at a mobile phone company, the other is a shaman. That's the second one I meet on the Camino! Both are part of a large group of Romanian pilgrims, organized by a tour company, they started the walk in Sarria. The shaman's feet were full of blisters, maybe she does not have the power to heal herself.

2012-10-05 Friday

2012-10-05 Friday

Portomarin / Palas de Rey

Camino day 28. Today's segment is 26Km. 

We all (Terry, Nancy, Paulo, Gunther, Jeovan, Adela and I) got together for breakfast at 0730, and we hit the trail by 0820.  It was very cold, due to a mist that covered the valley. A steep hill faced us as soon as we left the town, and by the time we reached the top and the sun light began to hit us, and we had to stop to take jackets off, we were sweating from the exhaustion. 

The day turned out to be a beautiful one, sunny, very few clouds, in the high 60s to low 70s range with a cool breeze blowing; a perfect day for walking. 

The first village with a bar was 8 Km away (Gonzar,) we arrived there eager for a coffee break. When were having our coffee with pastries, seated at an outdoors table, Adela took her tennis shoes off, her feet were full of blisters, she had started walking just a few days ago. Later, when we got up to leave, Adela was still tending to her feet. About 10 minutes later, Terry caught up with us, I asked him "Where's Nancy?" and he replied that she had stayed behind in the cafe with Adela. 

We arrived at the next village with a bar, Hospital, 5 Km further away, and stopped for a lunch break and to wait for Nancy. We finished eating our sandwiches, and Nancy still had not arrived, Terry started to became worried and nervous. We usually are spread out at most 10-15 minutes apart between stops. The most Terry and Nancy have felt behind because of difficult terrain is 20 minutes. Nancy was now 45 minutes late. Terry told us to go ahead, saying he would stay and wait for her, but we had none of that, we will stay together to wait for Nancy. 

There was a taxi parked nearby, but no taxi driver. Terry wanted to hire the taxi and drive back looking for Nancy, and wanted someone who spoke Spanish to go with him. I said I would go with him, but that we should wait a bit longer. I was not too concerned yet because the trail in this segment is well marked and there is a lot of people walking this segment since many pilgrims came just for the last 100 Km; there was no way she would go off trail, and if something had happened to her and Adele we would find out sooner or later. The trail splits just before the village, the main one is thru the village, the alternate one bypasses the village. From where we were seated we could see the split and the two trails, if Nancy followed our protocol, she would not take the alternate, she would come to the village to find us in the first open bar. But, nevertheless, just in case she takes the bypass, Paulo went out and sat on a low stone fence at the split, to wait for Nancy.

Terry was impatient and went off to find the taxi driver, and he came back with a local guy Terry thought was the driver, but he was only a friend of the driver who was somewhere else in the village. The guy spoke a little bit of a broken English, I engaged the guy in Spanish, dragging the process a bit to give more time for Nancy to arrive, but unfortunately, the guy told Terry, in his broken English, that his wife was not the only person that was "missing", that the local police was searching for a Korean woman that had been missing for 3 days! Terry almost had a heart attack when he heard that. Luckily, Nancy and Adela just came around the bend, she was more than one hour behind. Adela was wearing Nancy's Teva sandals. Nancy was late because she stayed a long time in the previous bar helping Adela tend to her feet. 

Since all's well, we left Nancy and Adela at the bar for their lunch break and we took off, Terry stayed with them. We took another break about one hour later and waited for Terry, Nancy and Adela to catch up with us. Finally, at 1530, we reached our destination in Palas del Rey, the Pousada Las Cabañas. 

We showered and ate "Octopus Galega Style" for snack, delicious. Laundry was self service, and it was my turn to do it. There was only one washer and one drier, with people waiting line. Ahead of me were a Californian couple, she in her late 60s, he in early 80s, and Gunther. The "laundry room " was just a shed between two of the buildings, Gunther and I brought chairs to sit on in the shade between the buildings while we waited our turn. The Californian woman was standing there waiting for her laundry to finish, and I brought another chair for her to sit as well, and she said "why don't we all have a party while we wait for the laundry?" She went the bar and came back with a bottle of a good chilled white wine. We went back to our rooms to get glasses, and we all chatted and drank wine while we did our laundry! This is the Camino, there is always something unexpected. 

We all (party of 7) had dinner together at the hotel's restaurant, we were too tired to go anyplace else for dinner.  The menu did not have many options, but the food was good and plentiful. Unfortunately, our waiter was brusque, impatient, and had a terrible body odor. We gradually won him over, and he mellowed out a bit, but nothing could be done about his BO. We had a long dinner and enjoyed each other company, the jokes and the wine flowed freely.

2012-10-04 Thursday

2012-10-04 Thursday

Sarria / Portomarin

Camino day 27. Today's segment is 22Km. 

Terry, Nancy, Paulo, Jeovan and I met at 0730 for breakfast. The only neighborhood bar open was full of people, with only one person attending everyone, so we were late finishing breakfast. Gunther is staying in another hotel, on the other side of the town, near the exit point of the Camino, we had planned to meet at the Roman Bridge, where the Camino exits the town, but we were very late. He called me at 0820 to say that he was waiting for us there since 0800, but we only left the hostel 15 minutes later.

As we were crossing the town, Jeovan was ahead walking with Adele, with the rest of us following them. We were walking fast because we were late to meet up with Gunther, and the two in front missed a yellow arrow sign to make a turn and kept going straight. When I noticed that I had not seen one of the yellow arrows for quite some time we were way off the trail, we ended up walking almost 2 extra miles before we got back to the Camino. It was past 0900 when we finally met with Gunther, the poor guy had been waiting for us in the cold since 0800.

Today was another beautiful walk, we only had one long gradual ascend and one hill to climb, followed by a long descend. I carried my pack, I felt muscle soreness at the end of the day, but no joint pains. We arrived at 1430, Jeovan, Gunther and I arrived ahead of the rest and waited for the others in the first bar as you arrive in the village, drinking beer. 

Paulo and Gunther on the Camino

Erico and a local farm lady

Erico and Gunther on the Camino 

Pilgrim's mementoes

Erico arriving in Portomarim. After a long walk, a staircase to reach the old town!

Portomarin unique chuch-fortress

Erico and the church

We checked into our hostel, the Albergue Complejo Jacobeo, and rested for the remainder of the afternoon. Early evening we went out for a drink in the hotel bar where Gunther is staying, and he joined us. Ruth walked by, and she also joined us for drinks.

The four Spaniards from Saragossa are taking a rest day tomorrow and doing a side trip to Lugo, another city about 30Km from here, before resuming their walk. Tonight is our last time together, and we agreed to have a farewell dinner. The problem is that, as typical Spaniards, they never have dinner before 2100, too late for Terry and Nancy, they had an earlier dinner with Jeovan and Adele while Paulo, Gunther and I waited for the Spaniards and we had our "farewell " dinner at 2130. After our long dinner Paulo, Gunther and I went back to our hotels to sleep, the four Spaniards went bar hoping, for their nightcap.

There are now only 93Km to go, 4 more days! Tomorrow's segment is 25Km. 

2012-10-03 Wednesday

2012-10-03 Wednesday

Triacastela / Sarria

Camino day 26. Today's segment is only 19Km.  It rained on and off overnight, and we woke up to a chilly and drizzly day. The Gang of Four and Gunther started walking at 0820, there was a long line of pilgrims heading out of Triacastela. Today, again, Nancy and I shipped our backpacks. 

Even though we were walking under light rain most of the morning, it was a beautiful trail and landscape. Quite often, we were walking through a "tunnel" formed by large overhanging trees on either side of the narrow trail. We had only one hill, climbing up 300 meters and climbing down 300 meters on the other side. 

The "tunnel"

Stone walls and the Yellow Arrow pointing the way

Farm house

Pilgrims in the rain

Erico on the Camino

The only problem with this segment is that there is only one bar right on the Camino, about 10 Km down the trail from Triacastela. 

We arrived in Sarria at 1230. The Gang of Four checked in at the Pension A Pedra, Gunther had to walk to the other side of town to get to his hotel, our was already full by the time he had called to make reservations. We showered, put our laundry to wash in the self-service washer-drier and we went out to have lunch at a nearby restaurant recommended by the innkeeper, were we had an excellent Pilgrim's lunch. 

Lunch - the soup

Lunch -pork with fries

When we returned to our hostel after lunch and went to check our laundry we saw Maude in there wearing her rain poncho. The poor thing had slept last night in an albergue that was infested with bed bugs, our hostel has a private albergue in the next building, that's where she is staying, and the innkeeper helped her disinfect all her clothes. First he sprayed ALL her clothes and put them in a tightly closed plastic bag and left the bag in the sun for a while, all she was wearing was he poncho; he did the same with her backpack. He also gave her a shampoo for her to take a thorough shower, she was now waiting for her clothes to finish washing to put them in the drier, with the highest heat setting, to finish off any remaining bed bugs. She showed me the bytes on her arms and legs, poor thing.

I went by myself for a walk in the old town center, but there is nothing really interesting to see. The others opted for a "siesta."

Sarria (population 13,000) is about 115 Km from Santiago de Compostela, and since the requirement to obtain the pilgrimage certificate is to walk at least the last 100Km (if biking or horseback riding the requirement is at least 200 KM) it is a convenient starting point for many pilgrims doing the least amount of walking. There are tour companies that offer pilgrimage packages that drop the pilgrims in this town and pick them up in Santiago 7-10 days later.

In the evening, Geovan, Paulo's Brazilian friend that lives in Norway, arrived to walk the rest of the Camino with us. Gunther and Ruth, a German woman we all had met back in O Cebreiro, came to our hostel for after dinner drinks. The innkeeper closed the bar at 2100, but let us stay there drinking, he joined us at our table.  Ruth is married, but is doing the Camino alone, her husband does not like this kind of things, she teaches Spanish for high school, she speaks it fluently. Adele was also there, she is a 30-something single woman from Barcelona, Paulo and Terry had met her while they were walking to O Cebreiro. Terry and Nancy retired at around 2200 or so, the rest of us stayed past 2300.

2012-10-02 Tuesday

2012-10-02 Tuesday

O Cebreiro / Triacastela 

Camino day 25: today's segment is 25Km. We met at 0730 for breakfast, Gunther joined us, Toni had departed earlier. Last night was very cold, but this morning it was a bit warmer, but still cold, we walked briskly.  Nancy and I dispatched our backpacks to our destination. 

While we were eating breakfast, a German woman, a Camino friend of Gunther's, came to our table looking distraught, and she addressed Gunther in German, she was very agitated, talking and gesticulating, I don't understand German, but it was clear that she was extremely upset with something. Later, when we were in the Camino, I asked Gunther what that was all about, and he told us what happened. She had been walking for the last couple of days with a tall, heavy set American, he has been sending his pack by courier every day, and Yesterday, in Vega de Valcarce, they had a late start and missed the courier service. He then hired a taxi service to take his pack to O Cebreiro; she was with the American when he was delivering his pack to the driver, who told them that O Cebreiro lodgings were getting full (it was true, it became full and many people had to keep walking to the next towns) and said that if she sent her pack with him as well, he would find accommodations for them because he is friends with all innkeepers in O Cebreiro. And that was what she did. Confident that the lodging problems were resolved, they took their sweet time to climb up the mountain, stopping for long rests at all bars along the way, arriving in O Cebreiro late in the afternoon. The driver assumed, wrongly, that they were a couple and booked a room with a "cama matrimonial ", which, in Spain, is barely a full-sized bed. There were no other lodgings available and was too late for the German woman to walk to the next village, so she stayed to share the same bad with the tall heavyset guy. She was furious in the morning because she said she could not sleep at all; she barely fit in the bed since he took up most of the space with his bulky frame, and he loudly snored all night long! After a sleepless night, she got up quietly, before he woke up, and was leaving town, she didn't want to see him anymore. We had a few laughs at the expense of the poor woman. 

Gunther had relationship problems too. Last night he had dinner with a German man, in his late 60s to early 70s. I sat at their table when I came down to the bar to have a bowl of soup and a glass of wine, they were drinking their after dinner drinks. Gunther introduced him to me as a Camino friend that he had met on the first day, in St. Jean, and they walked together for the first few days. They had separated when Gunther decided to walk the Camino alone, saying that he had spiritual and personal issues to think about. Yesterday they bumped into each other again and now the old German wanted to resume walking with Gunther (the old fellow speak very little English or Spanish,) and could not understand why Gunther preferred to walk with us instead of with him.

When we left it was still a bit dark, but the light gradually came revealing an overcast sky. We shed the windbreakers when we started the first of the two small (compared with Yesterday's) hills, the temperature eventually raised to low 50s.

Today, for the second time on this Camino, we went off the trail. We had stopped at a bar on a cross roads, for a coffee break. While we were putting our packs back on Nancy and Terry started down a road, and we followed them. About 500 yards later, I started to worry that I had not seen the yellow arrow or trail marker, I looked around and saw pilgrims walking along another trail, a couple of backtracking pilgrims confirmed that we, like them, took the wrong road. We backtracked and took the right trail.

Halfway along today's segment we had to put the jackets back on, a mist formed on the rolling hills. Even though it was overcast, the scenery was beautiful. Think the rolling hills of Pennsylvania or West Virginia with small dairy farms with stone walls for fence. 

Guard dog

By the way, I read in several books about the Camino that stray dogs were a problem, and they suggested carrying a walking stick for protection. I encoutered very few stray dogs and never felt threatened by any of them.

Beautiful scenary

Erico

Erico and a monument to Pilgrims

More of the countryside

VIllage church

After the last hill, about 5 Km from Triacastela, we started a long descend into the small village (600 inhabitants.) We arrivef at 1415, with three rest breaks for drinks/snack along the way. We checked into the Albergue Xacobeo, showered quickly to give the dirty clothes to the inkeeper for wash and dry, and went out for our late lunch/early dinner.

Lunch was the pilgrim's menu. I chose mixed salad for the first course, grilled steak with fries for the second, and "Torta de Santiago" for desert. And a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of the house wine. All of this for 10 Euros. We also got a bottle of a good Rioja Reserve that we ordered separately.