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Cress on the Camino Francés 24Cress on the Camino Francés 24
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Cress on the Camino Francés 24

May 2024 - July 2025
  • Cressida Borrett
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I'm taking time out to do something I have always wanted to do as part of celebrating turning 60. Read more
  • Cressida Borrett
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  • Spain Spain
  • France France
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  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    Tough day is a understatement

    May 19 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    There aren't many photos today as it rained so I was encased in waterproof jacket, trousers and poncho thing. The phone was somewhere inside it all, but I sweated so much everything got wet on the inside too. Backpack was ok though.
    We left at about 6.30 just as it was getting light, and starting to rain more heavily. 33.4 km later I am finally sitting on my bed in a nice hotel room, no mud, and feet which were soggy all day drying out nicely.
    Highlights of the day, as I'm too tired to write properly:
    1.Discovering that walking in soggy trainers in merino socks is refreshing and pleasant, although maybe not for 9 hours
    2. Asturias is so beautiful, green, hilly and like Devon meets Germany, Slovakia amd Poland.
    3. Walking 20km without food is not a good idea
    4. A really sad looking tatty bar can be the best thing all day if it serves good tortilla and coffee
    5. Don't try to get dinner on a Monday, all the kitchens are closed, even in our apparently 4 star hotel. Opposite a sawmill.
    6. A tractor in a made to size layby, shrink wrapped
    7. Lots of baby animals    Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24
    1

    Camino Primitivo 25

    May 18 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Back again for another camino. Allegedly the original route, hence the name. From Villaviciosa in Asturias on the north coast, across the mountains and down to Santiago.
    Today was spent relaxing in Avilés where we spent the night, getting a bus to Gijon, exploring a bit and then another bus to Villaviciosa from where we start walking tommorow very early. It's a 30km day nearly, very hilly, so we are going to get started at dawn. Any walking before about 11 is never as tiring as after that for some reason. And walking before 8 doesn't feel like effort, as I should be in bed or just getting up.
    Gijon is a lovely city. Lots of 1930s architecture as shown in the photos. It has lovely golden beaches and a port. There's a pretty old town with nice beer and kikos in a warm square full of bar tables. Sunny with a cold edge, so perfect walking weather. Rain forecast though    Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    Santiago

    June 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    I now have a piece of paper saying I walked 500 miles, which is unreal. We found ourselves,walking a bit slower today and talking to more people, but the last 19km still seemed long. We met our friend David who has been ahead of us for a couple of weeks at a cafe and walked in to Santiago together. Other people we knew were in the square, and the whole thing was sureal. The others took more pictures so I will post those when they send them.Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    Last night on the camino

    June 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After walking 29km yesterday I was too hot and tired to write this. We spent the afternoon at a pool in another hostel, ate a lot of ice-cream, Fiona finally found banana flavour, and had some food. The walk in to O Pedrouzo was hilly, more woods than anything else and the town itself as ordinary as I remembered it from staying here once before. Most natable were the hydrangeas and a strange American priest called Luke who Fiona made friends with.Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24
    3
    2

    28.6km in 7 hours

    June 25, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    And I wonder why I'm so tired I fell asleep at 8pm last night.
    Today started so humid and misty the trees were dripping on us. We left at 6.30 again and had breakfast in the town where the large groups were staying but managed to get ahead of them.
    The rest of the morning was just woodland, small villages and landscapes that could have been the North Downs Way in places. There were still plenty of people walking including a guy with a huge boom box blaring music. I instantly wanted to kill him until I realised he was pushing a giant buggy with 3 children in, and there were other hospital stretcher things in the group carried by two men each and with sick kids in. Every few meters they were stopping to dance and jump around. It is hard enough to carry a backpack and walk, let alone that so the noise pollution is forgiven.
    In other strange sights, we came across an American author selling copies of her book from a table outside her house.    Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    Tetleys or Yorkshire?

    June 24, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After a really tasty meal last night with "Berni from Austria " on the beers and weed as usual, a lovely french girl and a dutch cheese trader who we didn't like, the day started at 6. We couldn't get out of the hostel so we climbed over a dry stone wall in the dark, on to a dark foggy camino. The idea was to walk the first 6km to Portomarin for breakfast and get ahead of the crowds. However, as we were eating breakfast they all started pouring off their buses so that was the end of the peace and quiet.
    The day started foggy and then cloudy, walking downhill through woodland and many abandoned or semi abandoned villages. In one hamlet there was a table set out by o e Richard and Evelyn, with Tetleys,Yorkshire tea, milk etc. And a sign saying pay for it if you can. Really not what you expect.
    The second half of the walk was through countryside that looked like England, in bright sunshine that got steadily hotter. I somehow managed to overtake Fiona, and arrived at another very nice hostal, this one with our first pool in weeks. Only us and a couple of german girls here so a nice relaxing afternoon.    Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    Last 100km

    June 23, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We got up early, after a better sleep and had a quiet Sunday morning wander into Sarria, the first proper town in several days, and a good place for breakfast. The town is the starting point for most people as it lies 113km away from Santiago which is enough to qualify for the pilgrim certificate at the end. As we sat drinking coffee groups started emerging from the many hotels and hostels, shiny new trainers and very excited and loud for 9am on a Sunday. They included the bus load of mexicans we encountered yesterday and what seemed like about 100 people in bright pink charity t shirts from Málaga. I felt like it was a completely different walk. The Málaga lot are raising money for bone marrow donation and a few of the families had large cart things to push sick or tired kids in. It is hard enough walking, let alone pushing a heavy buggy. I talked to a couple who turned out to be ex fencing champion of Ukraine and her disciples, current spanish kid champions. Also a large American called Mike,from Illinois who was clearly not fit. He is training to walk up to Everest base camp. Good luck with that as he thinks 10 miles is really far.
    We stopped at an overcrowded cafe for 2nd coffee with Ryan and Kyle the father and son from New Jersey we met the other day, and then struggled up the last hill to Pena where we are staying in a very new and squeaky clean hostel. It's on the 100km marker, so not far to go.    Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24
    1

    Tough day

    June 22, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    So what goes up must come down. Today I had no energy, and it was all down folkowed by another up to Pintin where we are staying tonight. Fiona had already had lunch by the time I got here and was sitting with some people we made friends with last night. The walk was pretty, and went through many farms and hamlets, lots of which are abandoned. We we t past an 800 year old chestnut tree, and a hippy place where I got fruit and a snack in return for a donation.Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24

    32km day

    June 22, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Yesterday was a really lovely walk. 32km though and I was too tired to write.
    We crept out of the hostel at 6 and walked up through a damp mostly morning, stopping for breakfast in a small village. Gradually the mist started to burn off and it turned into the most beautiful day. We climbed up steeply through the most beautiful temperate rain forest, eventually reaching O Cebreiro, which is the start of the more touristy bit of the camino. It's a tiny medieval looking hamlet wthe ith the most beautiful church. We had lunch there and then continued up to the hostel, arriving after 10 hours. Nice hostel, nice people and fun evening.Read more

  • Cressida BorrettTravelerCress on the Camino Francés 24
    1

    Not often...

    June 21, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Can you take a photo of montains and have walked from the horizon to where you are taking the photo. These are the mountains we have crossed in the last few days

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