• Kathy Thielen
  • Kathy Thielen

Camino De Santiago

Een 79-daags avontuur van Kathy Meer informatie
  • Heading Toward Galicia

    4 oktober 2016, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Left the Castilla region and started heading into Galicia. Beautiful! Pictures can't come close to what I've actally been seeing, but I'll post some of them nonetheless.

    Oct 2: Ponferrada to Villafranca, 25 km
    Pic #3 me from our albergue terrace with a bit of Villafranca in the background
    Pics # 4-5 dinner that night had extra entertainment from a local dog who was quite charming as he tried to beg for food. He wasn't homeless or underfed, he just knew how to work it.
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  • Villafranca to O'Cebreiro

    4 oktober 2016, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Mon, Oct 3, 30 km

    This day was pretty tough - long and very uphill the final 10 km. We officially left the Castillo region and came into Galicia today. Things are starting to green up!

    Pic #1 leaving Villafranca
    Pic #2 friendly Camino kitty with Ben (from Germany)
    Pic #4 these cows out here have to be some of the prettiest I can remember seeing
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  • Dinner, Sky & Sunset

    4 oktober 2016, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Tues, Oct 4 in O'Cebreiro

    Pics #1-2 modern day pilgrims don't lack for much out here in the way of food; pic 1 is the first course, ensalada mixta (there are usually 4-5 options to choose from) & pic 2 was my main course; a dessert of local cheese with honey was the 3rd course . . . incredible
    Pic #2 pilgrim family; we don't always walk so much together, but tend to meet up in the evenings
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  • On the Road to & intoTricastela

    4 oktober 2016, Spanje ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Pic #1 local dog doing an excellent job of begging
    Pic #2 Doggie Pilgrims
    Pic #3 youngin's napping in late morning sun

  • Tricastela to Barbadelo

    15 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    Day 29, Oct 5; 26k day

    The Gaicia region is so much greener and parts of it even remind me of Portland. Coming into fall, the morning light isn't really present until after 8am or even 8:30am, but most of my Camino family continues to hit the road in the dark, before or by 7am. I've decided to hang back a little each moring in order to get an eyeful of whatever I'm passing on my walk. We all still meet at the same destination though each afternoon and they've always made sure I've had a bed waiting for me. I'm so blessed!

    There are also 2 others in the group who have been getting a later start with me. Somedays we walk almost the whole way with each other's company, but there are also plenty of times when I peel off and walk on my own. The scenery is gorgeous and my camera doesn't come close to relaying all that I actually saw, but that certainly didn't stop me from taking photos.
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  • Day 29 Continued

    16 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    In late morning I came across a very sweet and fantastic "Donativo" spot where they offered fruits, hard boiled eggs and other treats such as coffee, hot chocolate and tea for whatever amount you might be able to contribute. It had a bit of a little hippie commune feel to it, complete with artwork, a bare bones place to stay for the night and (my favorite) cats!Meer informatie

  • Day 29, More Scenery Along the Way

    17 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Pic #1 crazy spider webs; there are quite a few of these along the way now, but never a spider sighting . . . where & what are these arachnids?

    Pic #2 Passing through the city of Sarria, there was a park with some beautiful geese

    Pics #3-4 gorgeous old chestnut tree; there are many (young & old) in this region and the path is often littered with the fallen nuts

    Pic #5 getting closer to Santiago; just over 112k to go!
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  • Barbadelo to Hospital

    17 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Day 30, Oct 6
    30+ km

    This was a loooong day as I strolled along with 2 pals Antonio & Adrian (I think of them as The A Team), stopping for some leisurely breaks and food along the way. We didn't arrive to our destination town until 7pm that night, but of course our faster friends had beds reserved and ready for us.

    Pic #1 this horse wanted absolutely nothing to do with me since I had no food for him; he seemed to enjoy trying to intimidate me by showing me his teeth as he bit on the metal gate

    Pic #6 me and The A Team in front of a typical kale garden; these things got over 6 ft tall!
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  • Day 30, More Pics

    17 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Pic #2 handsome beast perched on a wall

    Pic #3 this soda was consumed on our final break this day, about 4k from our destination; orange soda never tasted so good

    Pic #4 Antonio saying hello to a giant pig in a pen we came across; there were probably 8 pigs altogether there and they were all huge and very friendly

    Pic #5 Ah, the end of a long day
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  • Day 33, Santiago de Compostela

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Oct 9
    20km

    A lovely walk this morning. The whole "family" stuck together for the entire walk so we could all arrive together. Bittersweet, of course. Glad to reach the destination, but very sad to have it ending.

    Reaching the big plaza in front of the Cathedral de Santiago was a little crazy. We were elated to be there, but because it's a destination point for soooo many pilgrims and tourists it was also a bit hectic there.

    Feeling of accomplishment, yes. Feeling of peacefullness, definitely not. After 10 min there I could scarce wait to find a hotel and depilgrimize.
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  • Pilgrim No More

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    I found a beautiful boutique hotel to splurge on (€60 per night) just off of the plaza and had a long soak in the bath. I also wasted no time in finding a place to get a pedicure. Transition from pilgrim to tourist went very smoothly. Santiago is a beautiful city.

    Pic #3 a delicious salad centered around fried cheese; my first meal as a tourist in Santiago

    Pic #5 the start of a long celebratory evening

    Pic #6 I call this one "Pilgrim No More"; taken from the balcony of my hotel room
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  • Day 2 in Santiago

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Oct 10

    Although I was technically no longer a pilgrim, I still had a final pilgrim meal with the family. Pic #2 was my first course, seafood chowder. Second course was salad and a beautiful cut of grilled salmon. Again, modern day pilgrims do not suffer a bit as far as food goes . . . unless you happen to be a vegetarian or vegan . . . then I suspect it could be more challenging.

    Pic #3 this is a shadow cast against a section of the cathedral; it's just a very simple column whose shadow presents a great silohouette of a pilgrim
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  • Finisterre, The End of the World

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Oct 11

    Back in the day, explorers believed this was where the land ended on the west coast. Many pilgrims continue to walk from Santiago to reach this point, typically taking 3 days to do so.

    I, no longer a pilgrim, hopped my lazy tail onto a bus on Tues, Oct 11, and arrived in this beautiful beach town a mere 2 hours later. I spent 2 days here, again splurging (€42 per night) at a hotel directly across the street from the water. Feast your eyes . . .

    Pics #1-3 sunrise from my room
    Pics #4-5 at the beach, a 3 min walk from my room
    Pic #6 on the way to the beach
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  • Finiaterre, Day 2

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Oct 12

    My second night in town, I walked a final 3 km to the 0 km mark - the lighthouse at the "end of the world". A gorgeous walk and the amazing experience of watching the sun go down over the ocean in the west and seeing the moon come up in the east. The photos don't even come close to conveying what I saw and certainly not how I was feeling as I sat there trying to take it all in.

    This is going to take 2 "footprints" to share the photos.

    Pics #1-4 on the walk up
    Pic #4 the slugs here come in a tight 2nd in size to the Portland slugs!
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  • Sunset/Moonrise in Finisterre

    21 oktober 2016, Verenigde Staten ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Kind of hard to see the near full moon in Pic #4, but it's there on the left.

    Pic #5 the 0 km marker

    Het einde van de reis
    21 oktober 2016