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  • Caroline Kerr
mai. – jul. 2023

Camino

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante

    Day 25, Leon to Villar de Mazarife

    17 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    So, today we were on the road again and it felt like a Monday morning as we set off. We passed Leon’s rather wonderful Parador and then gradually left the splendour of the city behind us as we moved into the suburbs. We stopped for breakfast at a place called La Virgien del Camino which reminded me of Tolworth, with its high street dissected by a dual carriage. I suspected it had been built at a similar time when the car was still a marvellous novelty. We stopped at its parish church, a brutalist building which was surprisingly serene inside and austerely beautiful outside. Its baroque altarpiece really worked in an otherwise plain interior.
    From there we took an alternative route which got us away from the road. The landscape was still flat, confirming that we haven’t yet left the Meseta, but at times looked a bit more like England with oak trees scattered through heathland.
    The most notable feature of today’s walk was the weather. Our usual mix of cloud and sun had been replaced with full and relentless sunshine. From about 10am it was quite hot and made a relatively easy walk feel harder.
    Among the few diversions were a series of ‘hobbit houses’, dwellings built into the hillside to guarantee a cool interior in the baking heat. They are hard to photograph because most of the house is below ground but you can see their chimneys poking up behind the front door. It’s difficult to be sure if anyone is still using them but they certainly don’t look abandoned.
    We made good time to our destination, a nice albergue where we have our own room (shared bathroom) and have the promise of a vegetarian meal tonight. After a welcome beer we washed some clothes, found the supermarket and had a lovely hour-long nap. Happy days!
    Dinner was veggie paradise - a salad, soup, vegetarian paella and a crepe with strawberries and cream for dessert. All much appreciated. We spoke to a Spanish artist who was travelling from Leon to Finisterre with his 24 year old son, an Australian couple and a Canadian family - a man with his 11 year old daughter, 14 year old son and his brother. It was a very nice evening but I wish I understood Spanish because much of tonight’s conversation was out of my range.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    1

    Day 26, Mazarife to Hospital de Orbigo

    18 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today life really felt like a bowl of cherries! Or a hatful - picked by our fellow pilgrims in the garden of our lovely albergue. On the Camino people are always saying it’s about the journey, not the destination. However, today it really was the destination which made this day so very special.
    We arrived at our albergue and were greeted with a cup of delicious herbal tea (the herbs grown in the garden). Lunch involved a lot of ladder-climbing in pursuit of the ripest cherries and was a social, happy affair. Fiona and I had bought gazpacho and were eating it when our fellow pilgrims joined us, shared our crisps and provided hatfuls of cherries.
    Later in the afternoon a fellow guest led an hour- long yoga session (with a little help from Fiona). And before dinner we were treated to a ‘sound bath’ held in honour of the founder of the albergue who died a year ago tomorrow. It’s hard to describe what this was - we lay on the floor while someone played Tibetan sound bowls. It may sound strange but it was deeply serene and meditative and felt like another significant spiritual moment on this pilgrimage. Afterwards, he offered to play the bowls on Fiona. I know this sounds stranger still, but a few of us volunteered to experience it too and it was really affecting to feel the music resonate through you.
    Next up was the most wonderful vegetarian meal in the garden polished off with cherry cake. One of the special things about this place is that it is a donativo - you only pay what you can afford for the food. The accommodation cost 13 euros. At the end of the meal the cook talked about the founder and how the three of them who worked with him had set up an association to continue his vision of looking after pilgrims after his death. She cried and was comforted by a lovely German woman called Ramona who had visited in 2016 and remembered him.

    Earlier in the day we had met Ramona, who we’d bumped into a couple of weeks ago and she said she’d had a couple of difficult days, had wanted to return to Albergue Verde today but they were full. When we arrived I asked if there might be a spare bed and they said they had one bed left so I sent her a WhatsApp and reserved it for her. She was delighted and very sweetly, said that we had been her Camino gift today. It was nothing at our end but very satisfying to have helped make someone happy.
    Another bonus today was being introduced to Nick, a vegan chef from Hove, who is helping out here. He shared a vegetarian map of the Camino which has set us trying to book up vegetarian places for the days we still need bookings for.
    Oh, and I have successfully walked without taping up my toes. I took the risk this morning of wearing a new pair of socks or, should I say, gloves for the feet.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    1

    Day 27, Hospital to Astorga

    19 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This afternoon we reached Astorga - this means we have roughly walked 520 kms and have about 270 kms to go. Every milestone we pass on the road seems to contradict the last one (and often your mileage increases as you progress) so all estimates are provisional.
    Today’s walk was the last of the Meseta and the landscape is softening and becoming more verdant. As always, there were wildflowers in abundance for most of the route. The entrance to the city was circuitous - it involved the most annoying railway crossing I have ever seen which we reckoned added a kilometre to our mileage.
    Astorga feels like an unremarkable city after the marvels of Leon and Burgos. I found it hard to love its cathedral which seemed second-rate after Leon.
    However, it has one absolute treasure in the Gaudi Palace which justifies a trip to the city all on its own. It was absolutely beautiful! And, inside, with its vibrant light was reminiscent of Leon’s cathedral. Most of today’s photographs are attempts to capture its combination of modernism and medievalism.
    In terms of people, we are bumping into a new group now. In the plaza at Astorga we met Brad who I had spoken to at Verde yesterday. When we stopped for coffee we met Ramona again. And this morning at breakfast we were fascinated as Georgie and Ben, an Australian couple, told us they’d retired even though they are both in their mid-forties. After a career in finance Ben said they had enough money to keep them going until they were 100 (though they insist they are not at all rich) so have decided to ‘live their life’. They have an 18 and 22 year old at home. G&B bought a camper van in December and started travelling, let their children know they’d decided not to return for Christmas and when they did get home, planned the Camino. They are now walking at their leisure - their only deadline a yoga retreat at the end of July! Fiona and I wondered if we were doing something wrong in our parenting!
    Tomorrow we head for the hills. We can see them now on the horizon and although I fear my hill-walking muscles have disappeared, I am excited to see new and, dare I say it, more interesting countryside!    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante

    Day 28, Astorga to Rabanal

    20 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today we left Astorga with few regrets - it felt like one of the least welcoming towns we’ve stayed at. The countryside became much more appealing - softer, greener and hillier - almost as soon as we left town. Today’s 20km walk was steadily uphill but the incline was so gradual that the ascent felt miraculously easy.
    We stopped for coffee at a little village called Santa Caterina which, with its geranium boxes and roses, would not have been out of place in the south of France. Outside the village I was intrigued by the ruins of old cottages - something we haven’t seen this before. Fiona was quite taken with some of the buildings for sale.
    During the mentally idle hours of walking I found myself thinking about the saying ‘taking the rough with the smooth’ and considering its literal meaning as I navigated some fairly stony paths with my new blisters (yes, I now have two new arrivals). I also remembered that when I was a student, Peter Campbell, the father of my good friend, Jane, said some of his happiest moments were spent marching during national service. It made absolutely no sense to me then but 40 years later I think I get it. The simplicity of repeatedly putting one foot in front of another seems to make me happy too.
    Today’s stop is at Rabanal at a donotivo hostel run by the Confraterity of St James which is based in London. The volunteers are English and provided tea and lemon drizzle cake in the garden this afternoon. I have thought about volunteering here myself another year. The village is very pretty and feels quite English. This evening we heard Gregorian chant at vespers at the simpler of tiny Rabanal’s two churches. It was led by two Benedictine monks - we were told the lead chanter had been called away because of an emergency but the monks who remained did pretty well as far as I could tell.
    Dinner was with Anna from Canada, Brad from Louisiana, Ramona from Germany and Lyn from the Netherlands. Not a brilliant meal but nice company and a lovely end to a lovely day.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    1

    Day 29, Rabanal to Riego de Ambos

    21 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    I didn’t sleep as long as I would have liked last night - I didn’t get to sleep until past midnight, partly because of noise in the dormitory and partly just me. Nonetheless I woke early and was up by 6am. We had a slow start and left Rabanal a bit later than usual - it was nearly 8 before we hit the road. We began the day, unusually, with a leisurely breakfast. The English volunteers at the Confraternity hostel provided tea with bread and marmalade in the kitchen and I loved it! I have been missing breakfast.
    The day began with a 7.5km climb to Cruz de Ferro (elevation of 1490m) the site where modern pilgrims place stones. Fiona had brought one from home and placed it at the foot of the iron cross and I think it was significant for her. Lots of other people seemed to be there just for the photo opportunity and I found this place less moving than other people I’d spoken to had suggested.
    As we started to walk downhill the sky cleared and we enjoyed the first wonderful views of a day that delivered hour upon hour of beauty. It was so refreshing to be back in the grandeur of the mountains surrounded by heather, birdsong and trees.
    The walking was pretty hard though. The long descent to Riego, where we are staying tonight, was tough going - we were walking on a mixture of bedrock, shake and dirt tracks. I was very grateful that we were doing it in dry weather (despite some threatening clouds) because I wouldn’t fancy it in slippery conditions.
    Eventually we arrived at the tiny village, still in the mountains (elevation 929, population 40) where we are sleeping tonight. We’re staying in a family enterprise which provides beds and the only bar or restaurant in the village. After a wonderful nap (didn’t want to wake up) we went for a little walk, picked more cherries and then settled for dinner on their terrace. The young man who looked after us clearly thought we were bonkers to want to sit outside but we insisted and held our nerve through a curious light shower which was accompanied by warm evening sunlight. We ate salad, padron peppers, bread and a plate of goat’s cheese, the usual (v nice) hard sheep’s cheese and walnuts washed down with red wine. It was delicious.
    We are now planning an early night.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    11

    Day 30, Riego to Ponferrado

    22 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    As usual, I woke up at 6am even though we’d agreed last night to a late start since we only had a short walk. However, I’d slept like a log and had no complaints. Fiona snoozed on until I woke her at 7.40 (an outrageous lie-in!) We set off around 8.30, stopping first in the garden of our albergue to pick cherries, following our hostess’s enthusiastic invitation yesterday evening. This was breakfast.
    Our walk began with a rather tricky descent along the bedrock of a river (luckily only a small stream at the moment). The weather was chilly and a mist hung over the mountains. I moved at a characteristically cautious rate which meant Fiona had a long rest at the bottom while she waited for me.
    Our first stop was at the lovely Alpine-like village of Molinaseca, approached across a Roman bridge, where we had coffee and toast and bumped into friends.
    The sun came out as we left the village and by the time we reached our destination it was quite hot. We’re staying tonight at Ponferrado which was a significant settlement even before Roman times. Its medieval castle dominates the old town, built around 1218 by the Knights Templar, apparently to protect pilgrims to Santiago. Despite visiting the castle I haven’t been able to work out why the Knights Templar needed a huge castle to protect pilgrims - I’d have thought it would have been more useful, though less heroic, to run a little police force along the route to protect from thieves and brigands. From what we’ve read, the Moors were defeated in this region around 850 and I haven’t managed to ascertain who the brave Templars were fighting in Ponferrado for a hundred years until the order was dissolved in 1312. Whether useful or not, their castle is very beautiful and well worth a visit.
    We returned to our albergue, Alea, which is in a residential area, close to a school and surrounded by flats. It feels urban and quite distinct from the tourist centre. Here we had a vegetarian meal - hurrah! Lentil soup, veggie quiche with salad and an orange. And red wine, sangria and water on offer besides. As usual, our fellow diners were an eclectic bunch. There was a Belgian who’d walked from Le Puy in France, a Japanese man who didn’t speak at all, a Spaniard who’d cycled the Camino from Seville and was in his way home to Gijon on the Northern coast, our Canadian friend, Anna, and a woman from Mexico who said she was walking in the hope of finding peace after the death of her son last year. This is the Camino.
    Tomorrow we have a longer walk and the weather appears to be hotting up alarmingly. We are planning a 6.30 start (I seem more enthusiastic about this than Fiona) to avoid walking in the warmest part of the day.
    Before I finish, I want to mention how cheap it is to be a pilgrim. Tonight’s accommodation, a five-woman dorm, cost 15 euros and dinner here was 12 euros. Last night we paid 20 euros each for a private en-suite room and about 15 each for dinner. At the moment, I think it probably costs less for me to be a pelegrina than to be living at home. Maybe this is why some people become perpetual pilgrims! Apparently they get to Santiago and then start walking the route in reverse. It’s a good thing I have work to return to and limited stamina or I might succumb to this madness.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
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    Day 31, Ponferrado to Pieros

    23 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We set out at 6.45 this morning because the forecast promised worryingly hot weather and I was keen to get as much mileage under our belt as possible while it was still cool. Anna, who’d stayed in our dorm last night, walked with us for the first couple of hours. This morning’s wasn’t the most exciting route - we left the city and walked along a surprisingly busy country road for several kilometres. It would have been more relaxing if there’s been a pavement but nonetheless it was interesting to see how people live on the outskirts of a small city like Ponferrado. Lots of small holdings, some with a few sheep, many with great vegetable gardens; very little of it looked affluent.
    After a couple of coffee breaks we were delighted to find ourselves among vineyards and olive groves and well away from traffic. This was an absolute treat, especially appreciated because we hadn’t expected it.
    We stopped a little while at the lovely town of Cacabelos where we bumped into Anna again and ordered iced coffees (hot coffee plus a glass of ice) and a plate of Padron peppers. Fiona and I were both taken with this place and wondered if we should have stayed here, as Anna was doing.
    Instead we pressed on to Pieros to our vegetarian albergue. The people are nice (mostly volunteers), it’s very cheap (20 euros for bed and dinner) but it really is in the middle of nowhere and I am seriously wondering if we haven’t made a mistake. Cacabelos was very appealing and the next town, Villafranca del Bierzo, is also supposed to be lovely. There’s nothing here but a closed-up church and some vineyards.
    We had hoped to visit an old monastery which is 4 kms away but it proved expensive and precarious to rely on a taxi and neither of us were keen to add another 8kms of walking to today’s mileage given the heat. We were both feeling a bit frustrated until we learned we could catch a local bus back to Cacabelos where we could do wild swimming. This was just what we needed - it was cooling and lovely in the river where, apart from us, the average age of swimmers was probably about 12 years old.
    Tonight we had a communal meal at our very quiet albergue - the two of us and a German man who we’ve met before but haven’t managed to speak to for lack of a common language (though he is friendly and often offers to take pictures for us on the route) and a German woman who we did manage to talk to a little with the help of Google translate.
    I’m feeling full and tired and am hoping for a good night’s sleep because we are planning to leave in the morning at 6.30. The weather forecast suggests temperatures of 36 degrees by lunchtime so we need to have covered as much ground as possible before then.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
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    Day 32, Pieros to Pradela

    24 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We started at 6.30 this morning to try to minimise the time we were spending in the heat of the day. Forgetting my charger slowed us down a bit but we still made good progress across the lovely hilly paths to our first town, Villafranca del Bierzo. We arrived around 8 and were impressed by its castle and multiple churches.
    Leaving Villafranca we had a choice - the normal route alongside a road and a river or the more arduous option of climbing into the hills and walking to our destination at a higher altitude. Obviously Fiona wanted to do the hill walk but I was in two minds about whether I should go with her or opt for the easier but more boring route.
    In the event I did climb the vertiginous concrete path out of town and became committed to walking into the mountains. I didn’t regret it. Before long we were looking down on the town and across the countryside. We enjoyed one of the most beautiful walks of the whole Camino and, amazingly, we didn’t meet another soul. The route was steeply uphill for a while and then plateaued, affording wonderful views of Villafranca and the hills that surround it.
    After a fairly arduous 10km we stopped at a tiny village, Pradela, where we had heard there was marvellous chestnut cake and coffee to be had. We liked it so much (it was only 11.30 am) we decided it was lunchtime. We ordered goats cheese salad and a plate of roasted peppers followed by yoghurt with chestnuts, all if it accompanied by the family’s own wine. We were enchanted.
    Instead of doing the sensible thing and walking another 40 minutes downhill to the town we were aiming for, we decided to stay the night in this little bit of paradise.
    After admiring the hostess’s cat family, having a snooze, a shower, some lovely phone calls and doing a bit of washing, we sat on the terrace with a beer waiting for dinner. We were surprised to be joined by another pilgrim, Matt from Galway, who had walked 45 kms today, had taken the harder route by mistake and thought he’d arrived in Trabadelo, the next town. Matt is an electrician at home and is walking to a strict deadline - hence the mad distances he’s covering each day. He told us his mother had been doing parts of the Camino for years and that was partly his inspiration.
    We sat on the terrace and are ate our pilgrim meal together. Matt is planning to leave at 5am tomorrow and Fiona and I have agreed to aim for a 6am departure.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    111

    Day 33, Pradela to O Cebreiro

    25 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Our Irish roommate, Matt, was worried before bed that he wouldn’t know what time to get up because his charger was broken and he had no watch. In the event he decided to get up at 4am and leave around 4.30 - his rattling around woke me up pretty thoroughly. A shrieking cockerel and a cacophony of barking dogs conspired to ensure I didn’t get back to sleep after his departure. I don’t know why I ever thought the deepest countryside would be tranquil. We left at 6am, before dawn, again hoping to get as much of the day’s walk done before it became too hot. We speculated about how far Matt had already walked.
    For our first 3kms, we made a steep (and in my case, cautious) descent into Trabadelo, the town where we had planned to stay the night before. And then there was a long stretch of fairly flat walking by the side of a road and a river. Many of the little places we passed through were quite pretty but somewhat blighted by an enormous highway overhead. The only saving grace was the absence of traffic - in stark contrast with the UK, the motorway infrastructure here seems to vastly exceed demand.
    The most challenging part of the day began about 13kms in when we began the steep ascent to O Cebreiro. We were expecting temperatures above 30. I fortified myself first with coffee and a banana and we began the climb after 9.30am. It’s a rise of 630m over about 8kms - and Dominic, who cycled it a few years ago, had mentioned that it was very demanding! Some was through wooded areas and I was grateful for the shade (although Fiona was tormented by flies). Once again, the views were stupendous. When the walking is so hot and arduous, I have to remind myself to stop and look around, because my instinct is just to plod on until the ordeal is over!
    We stopped at every opportunity to rehydrate and, were greatly surprised to bump into Matt, last night’s roommate. We thought he’d be at least 10 kilometres ahead of us but he said he’d realised it was too dark to walk at 4.30 so he’d gone back to sleep on a wall in the village. He intends to walk 40-45 kms every day but I find myself amazed that he ever reaches the destination he’s heading for. He’s an electrician at home - afraid I’d be reluctant to employ him! I really wanted to tell him to get a bus to Sarria to ensure he completes the Camino this time (he’s tried before but he didn’t manage it) however, I stopped myself, mindful that I not his mum.
    At the next village we stopped again and, after a recuperative choc ice, we carried on the climb and crossed into Gallacia, the final Spanish region of our Camino. Within another kilometre we had reached, O Cebreiro, the beautiful little village at the top of the mountain where we are sleeping tonight.
    After a very filling lunch of mounds of goats cheese with quince jelly and honey, we slipped away for a nap and a cold shower (no hot water at all in our albergue). We also rearranged some of our later bookings to try to avoid overly long days in the final week.
    With its curious thatched roofs, O Cebreiro looks quite different from the villages we’ve passed through in Castile and Leon. It’s got great charm and I’m very taken with its Celtic character. (Evident in the music and the jewellery). There are wonderful views from all sides - I’m not sure I’ve been anywhere surrounded by more natural beauty.
    At 7pm we went to mass in the Romanesque church in the village where the lovely priest played church music on his iPhone at strategic moments in the service and addressed the pilgrims in broken English as well as in Spanish, blessing us all before we left and giving each person a stone.
    We had dinner with Ramona and later watched the sun going down together over the hills. We had to stay up until 10pm to catch it but tomorrow is a short day and the temperatures are cooler up here in the mountains so we thought we could allow ourselves a lie-in.
    I’m feeling sad that we are approaching our final week but am trying to savour each day that remains.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante

    Day 34, O Cebreiro to Fonfria

    26 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    What a difference a day makes! We woke up this morning to find O Cebreiro shrouded in mist with last night’s magnificent views completely obscured by cloud. Even though it had been hard to climb in yesterday’s heat, I was hugely grateful to have seen the village in all its glory. Given its elevation I imagine today’s misty conditions are more common.
    We were in no rush to get on the road because we only had a 12km walk so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the bar where we’d eaten dinner last night. We tried to pop back into the church before we left but found it locked this morning.
    For much of today’s walk the weather was cool and the visibility limited though gradually we got a better peek at the mountains which had been hidden by cloud for much of the morning. The wild flowers on the route seemed more like the vegetation you’d see in England and Ireland, perhaps because the climate here is cooler and wetter than earlier sections of our walk.
    We’re staying at an albergue which has been highly recommended by Nick, the vegan chef from Brighton, who we met at Verde. He shares a birthday with me and spent it here (when I was still in Pamplona in my first week of walking). Soon after we arrived, Fiona and I sat out on the terrace with a lovely view of the hills and had a very wholesome bowl of lentil soup with some of the local cheese. The sun is shining but it’s pleasant rather than scorching. The cheese we’re eating is the same variety as the one we ate in such quantities yesterday but we’ve discovered it’s not goats’ cheese - it’s described as raw cows’ cheese and is a local speciality served with honey.
    We know a few people who are staying here tonight, including our Canadian friend, Anna, and I’m looking forward to our communal meal this evening.
    We have a room to ourselves which does feel like a treat, especially since a couple of our Camino friends have got bed bugs in the last few days in different municipal dormitories. We were thinking the municipal albergue was an essential part of the Camino experience - now I’m not at all sorry to have skipped it.
    Dinner was held in a traditional thatched Galician building and was a very enjoyable affair. I sat next to a 78 year old Australian called Paul who described himself as a 10 pound pom although in fact he’d emigrated as a geology graduate to work in the nickel mines. He lives in a remote desert area of Australia north of Perth where his nearest town is 450 kms away. This is his 8th Camino - he always cycles - and he is taking it easy this time. We talked about faith, the Catholic Church, the advantages of life in a remote Australian town and the sale of council houses in UK. It felt very typical of the sort of meaningful conversation you can have with a complete stranger on the Camino.
    Before we retired to bed, I used the pharmaceutical vending machine to stock up on moisturiser although impressively, foot treatments and bandages were also available. And finally we got tempted to try the local
    Liqueur which is very like Bailey’s but perhaps a bit less sweet (I fear I look like Boris Johnson in the photo recording this moment) before a quick catch up with Anna and off to bed.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
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    Day 35, Fonfriar to Samos

    27 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Oh dear. Yesterday’s conversations about bed bugs exacted a bit of a toll last night. I went to sleep easily but woke up at midnight fretting that I was being bitten, despite sleeping in crisp clean sheets. At one stage I got up and went to the bathroom to check how bad my bites were but couldn’t see any evidence of a single incursion. A night of imagined infestation resulted in lots of tossing and turning and meant I wasn’t on top form as we set off.
    To be fair, it was a lovely clear morning and the early views were beautiful. We were heading downhill for several kilometres and my left ankle was feeling the strain. It’s been a little bit unhappy since Ponferrado, particularly on the descent though it seems perfectly happy going uphill.
    As we walked downwards we were fascinated by the clouds - misty and mysterious to start with, and then appearing as a straight white line that looked like a shard of snowy ice cutting off an otherwise clear view of the hills. Before long we were walking in that cloud and our world became murky though we could see enough to be charmed by the handsome and serene cows who stared at us tolerantly as we passed by and offered overtures of friendship.
    There were some local novelties on the route. A thatched elevated grain store (Fiona knew about these from her trip to Galicia last year - the elevation is to prevent rats from entering the store). We also passed a 100-year old chestnut tree as well as medieval crucifix which, unusually, portrayed the virgin and child on the back. The second half of today’s walk was flat and mostly ran alongside a river so we enjoyed a lot of gurgling though we also heard a bit of traffic noise.
    Our destination was Samos, the site of a monastery for the last 1500 years. We went for a tour, conducted entirely in Spanish, by one of the 11 resident monks. I found the monastery rather strange and didn’t love it as I expected to. It has suffered two major fires over the years and much of what remains is baroque, though there was a lovely Romanesque portal. I was slightly surprised to see the monks were still displaying a picture of Franco’s visit to the monastery in 1943 and reminded myself that George Orwell in Homage to Catalonia observed that the church was seen as thoroughly aligned with the Fascists in the civil war.
    After our tour, I was ravenous but there was little food to be had in Samos; apparently Tuesday is a day of rest for restauranteurs, so we settled for a cheese sandwich and beer. Fiona’s stomach is unsettled and she did not eat hers but I needed crisps and a magnum to fill me up.
    We went to a rather flat mass at the monastery at 7.30. Something is really not working for me here. However, we were intrigued by Callie, our young friend from Arizona, who greeted us silently this evening and showed us on Google translate that she is observing a day of silence. We wondered whether we could manage one before we left. Intriguing idea.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
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    Day 36, Samos to Barbadello

    28 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I’m in a bit of a panic tonight. My ankle has been quite uncomfortable for about 6 days, especially when walking downhill. Today we walked 20km, which is very much our usual distance, but it became really sore. We are staying at an albergue with a pool and I swam this afternoon, hoping this would ease the problem and I did think it helped. We are due to walk 27kms tomorrow and I was concerned about how I’d cope. I started looking up exercises online to ease ankle problems and did a few.
    I’m not sure if I’ve made it worse but later this afternoon I went out to the tiny village where we’re staying and found walking very painful. By the time I got back my ankle was swollen and I began to wonder - for the first time really - whether I would be able to finish the Camino. I have grown confident over the last 5 weeks that I could do it and I would be so devastated to get this far and have to bail when we only have 5 more walking days to go.
    I’ve decided to take a taxi to the next town (19km to Portomarin) to visit a physiotherapist in the morning. The only appointment available was at 10am and there’s no way I could walk there by that time so a taxi seemed the only option. It’s expensive but I can live with that. I’m feeling worried about whether I can get the problem sorted out and, at the same time, guilty about not walking in the morning. I suppose the best outcome would be to meet Fiona at Portomarin and be able to walk the final 8kms with her to tomorrow’s destination and go on from there to Santiago.
    That’s enough anxiety. Brief highlights of today. We walked 15kms without passing a cafe for breakfast but did enjoy stopping at a private house where they had left out coffee and tea, fruit and cake for pilgrims. This wasn’t a commercial enterprise - they left out a donativo box to cover their expenses - but it is typical of the kindness local people offer to pilgrims on the camino.
    We were surprised to pass a herd of cows walking along the main thoroughfare in one of the villages we passed through, though I suppose they had as much right as we did to be there. The entourage included a very young and sweet little calf. We had a lovely lunch in a veggie cafe in Sarria. Some of the best food of the trip. And we are now 110 kms from Santiago.
    I am writing this with my leg elevated on a pillow with a bag of ice from the bar on my ankle. I’m very much hoping that I’ll be gearing up for a proper day’s walking when I’m writing tomorrow’s blog.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    3

    Day 37, Barbadello to Gonzar

    29 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Last night I wondered if I was making a fuss about nothing but this morning my ankle was still very sore. I felt really emotional. After Fiona had set off, I walked to the village church which is about a kilometre away to see how it would fare and was able to confirm to myself that it really hurt. I stayed a while in the church and felt how, in the end, despite the support of friends and family, we have to face life’s challenges, big and small, for ourselves and I wondered whether this sense of individual vulnerability is the source of faith. Then I walked against the flow of pilgrims back to our albergue and found myself wishing other people ‘Buen Camino’ in a strange role reversal after 5 weeks of walking the right way.
    My taxi arrived reliably at 9am and I was driven to Portomarin.
    I found the trip to the physiotherapist surprisingly painful. It occurred to me while Nurinha, my Spanish physio, was poking ruthlessly at the most tender points that, while I’ve financed many visits to physios (for my children), until now I have never attended one myself. When the pain seemed unreasonable I tried to gain perspective by thinking of Cromwell in the Tower facing the prospect of being burnt as a heretic or disembowelled as a traitor (I have at last reached this stage of The Mirror and the Light. And in case anyone is in doubt, in the end he was lucky enough to be beheaded, which was considered a mercy in those brutal days).
    So, all things being relative, I coped with 45 minutes of physiotherapy and at the end of the session I was taped up quite extensively and sent on my way. Nurinha and I struggled to communicate, neither of us being linguists, but she seemed to think I should continue walking if the pain was 3 out of 10 and get a taxi if it rose beyond that level.
    After a trip to the pharmacy, a coffee and a look at Portomarin’s Romanesque church, I decided to begin the walk to our destination. One curious fact about Portomarin is that the original village was deliberately flooded by the municipal authorities and its important buildings painstakingly reassembled at its current location, uphill from the original site, in 1962. This included a 12th century Romanesque church.
    Fiona and Anna were close to Portomarin when I was ready to set out. Unlike me, they had passed the sign that told them there was only another 100kms to Santiago! I reckoned I would walk more slowly than they would, so decided I was better getting a head start.
    The day was overcast and the walk nice but never amazing - for a lot of the way there was forest on one side and a road on the other. So, while it was easy walking and I was grateful for this, it was not spectacular.
    When Fiona arrived at Gonzar, the little village where we are staying tonight, we went together to the Gonzar hostel and had a shared lunch of padron peppers, goats cheese salad and chips. And then, despite having only walked about 12 kms in total today, I napped for an hour.
    After a shower we met Anna for dinner. It hardly seemed necessary to eat again but I managed nonetheless. Looking forward to doing a proper day’s walking!    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    1
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    Day 38, Gonzar to Ponte Compana

    30 de junho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I was really happy to be on the road again this morning at 7am on a bright but chilly day. I sent a lot of the heavier items from my rucksack on ahead in the hope that carrying a lighter bag would ease the pressure on my ankle. Armed with ibuprofen, Fiona and I set off with Anna in pretty perfect walking conditions. Our first stop was at a neglected but very intriguing archeological site at Castromaijor - the site of human habitation from the 4th century BC until the early Roman period. Only a small area appears to have been excavated and there was little explanation but it appeared that we were looking at homes and streets from almost 2 and a half thousand years ago.
    This was a day of gentle landscapes and happy livestock. We passed cattle calmly grazing and then I found myself fascinated to see them feeding as we passed through a village. We saw places where sheep could graze so safely that they appeared to be slumbering though the morning.
    Fiona went off in search of a Romanesque church which the guidebook warned was not always open, offering the advice that you should call Jesus first (number provided) to check whether you could get in. I knew for sure that an extra 4kms would not work for me so we split at this point. (Despite encouraging signage, unfortunately Fiona found the church closed).
    We met again in Palas de Rei, a reasonable sized town, where Anna managed to buy new underwear having mislaid hers a couple of days ago. Fiona and I stopped for a lovely cheese sandwich and then set off again for the final 5 kms.
    Before reaching our destination we stopped at a little artisan shop where we both bought Camino shell earrings. This was hardly the renunciation of worldly goods we thought we’d learned on the Camino - but I have always been sceptical of my ability to give up buying stuff once the opportunity arises again. The huge disincentive on the Camino is the added weight any new purchases would involve - who’s to say abstinence from material goods will have the same attraction when you no longer have to carry them on your back every day.
    Our accommodation tonight is lovely. It seems to be a former mill and is surrounded by water. Our room is charming with a multitude of hefty beams crisscrossing the ceiling and the whole site is beautifully presented.
    Dinner was also lovely. The vegetarian option was simple but really tasty and much appreciated. We spoke to two Australians (Rose and ?), an Italian vegetarian called Sylvia, Kim from California and Catherine from Montpellier.
    All in all, it’s been a lovely day. However, tonight I am worried about the ankle which is pretty sore. I walked 24.5kms today which in retrospect was too far. Tomorrow is just over 20kms - I will do the first 10 and then consider a taxi. I do wish I wasn’t finishing like this.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante

    Day 39, Ponte Campana to Ribadiso

    1 de julho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I started off rather gingerly this morning, unsure how far I’d manage to walk and wondering if I’d need to stop after about 10km and get a taxi to our destination which was about 22km away. I was happy for Fiona and Anna to go ahead because I didn’t want to feel any pressure to keep up. Bizarrely I actually overtook them at one stage and we all stopped outside the town of Melide at a nice little cafe serving vegetarian food.
    Anna spilt off from us in Melide because she had things to do there (you have to grab the chance to stock up on anything you need in these small towns). Fiona and I set off together but before long I was trailing behind.
    It was a lovely morning, cool and cloudy first thing but still very pleasant when the sun came out around 9.30. The countryside was also pretty and the walking not too demanding - fairly hilly at times but nothing brutal.
    This is our third from last day and I’m annoyed with myself that I am not really savouring it - I’m approaching it like an endurance test. I’m constantly in two minds about the right thing to do. Should I power on (which I’m sure I can do with a bit of help from ibuprofen) despite my ankle or should I stop and protect it to avoid doing longer term damage. I will be so angry with myself if I end up with a long term injury but I just don’t want to give up on the challenge when it’s so close to being complete.
    This afternoon I was very tired when I reached our accommodation. We’ve got a pool which nobody apart from Fiona and I used and I think swimming helped my ankle a bit. I also dipped my leg in the river in the hope the cold water would be beneficial.
    So, hoping for a good night’s sleep, an early start in the morning and a sunnier disposition for our penultimate walk tomorrow.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante

    Day 40, Ribadiso to O Pedrousa

    2 de julho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I am very happy to say that I loved today’s walk! I could pretend this was a triumph of mind over body but the miraculous truth is that my ankle felt much better this morning and for most of today’s walk I could almost forget there was anything wrong with it at all.
    We left before 7 and walked 3kms to the first town, Aruza, arriving in golden light, as some pilgrims who’d stopped overnight there were still eating their breakfast. I’m not saying we were smug but there is a satisfaction in getting a head start over people who walked further than you the day before!
    There is a lot of marginally uncharitable talk among veteran pilgrims who have walked all the way from St Jean about how busy the route gets in these final days, crowded with lightweights who only do 100km and don’t even carry their own rucksacks!! Top of the list for this polite criticism are the Spanish teenagers who do the Camino as our children do D of E. Today we spotted what looked like a little army of them. At one point I got stuck behind them and was touched by how polite they all were, with 14 year old boys wishing me a ‘Buen Camino’ as I passed.
    Today’s walking was lovely - we were shaded a lot of the time by trees and surrounded by beauty on all sides. I am going to miss so many things about this trip - the daily visual feast with its vibrant mix of greens and blues is definitely going to be hard to replicate in Kingston.
    This afternoon when we reached O Pedrousa we found a pool where we could pay 6 euros to swim. I’m hoping it’ll help my ankle again because I really think that swimming yesterday made a difference. Beside its medicinal value, it was really relaxing to laze around by a pool for a while.
    Our own accommodation may not have a pool but it does have a washing machine and, not wishing to look a gift horse in the eye, we were tempted to use it. At the pool, people had been saying that they felt the need to arrive in Santiago in clean clothes and the idea took hold. Unfortunately our eco wash lasted more then an hour and a half and, for some while, prevented us going out to eat. Currently everything I need to wear in the morning is hanging on a clothes line in our room, still pretty damp. (We do have the ability to turn the nicest accommodation into a slum dwelling). When we did venture out to eat (clothes still trapped on the longest wash cycle in history) we were surprised to find ourselves eating a Mexican meal - unexpected because we thought we’d chosen an Italian restaurant. It was good though. We intended to go to mass afterwards. I dashed back to hang up the benighted wash but we all missed the service because we got the time wrong. However we were then entertained by a group of young people giving an open air concert and so we stopped for a while to listen. I love the way everything seems more relaxed in a climate where you can hold these events outdoors in the evening. Finally, at the concert, Fiona spotted our first Spanish redhead. I had been telling Patrick about Gallicia’s celtic identity and he expressed a desire to see this evidenced in hair colour. Tonight I was pleased to fulfil this task and just in the nick of time.
    Tomorrow we’re planning to set out pretty early. Not sure how I’ll feel about walking the final 20kms. I’m immensely grateful to be doing it without pain, very content to finish the route but I expect it will be bitter-sweet to reach the end of the road. Fiona, like most of our friends here, will be going on to Finnesterre so it won’t be over for her. But for me, the Camino is very close to being done.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    11

    Day 41, Santiago de Compostella

    3 de julho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Well, the Camino continued to challenge us to the end. Fiona and I had the worst night’s sleep since we set out on 24 May. It was a really hot evening and, as usual, we had the window open but when we settled down to sleep we became tormented by the buzzing of a vociferous mosquito around our heads. Eventually Fiona was bitten. Lights on, she found the culprit creeping on the wall and, though usually a friend to all living creatures, she smashed it without mercy using my Camino guidebook. I’m sorry to say her blood oozed from the dead mosquito and splattered the bedroom wall. We closed the window despite the stifling heat and tried to settle down again only to discover a companion mosquito was still with us. We couldn’t see this one despite lots of effort on our part and had to sleep with heads under the sheets for protection. The heat was unbearable.
    So, when we set out around 7am, I felt dazed and slightly unwell as I always do when seriously sleep-deprived.
    We stopped for our last breakfast together on the road in a lovely little cafe opposite the church of San Paio in the village of the same name. Here we met up with Anna who walked the rest of the way with us. My guidebook had said that first 15 kms of the walk would be green and enjoyable despite skirting the airport and approaching a city but the final 5km was fairly urban. This was helpful expectation management because I braced myself for a difficult few kilometres at the end and was pleasantly surprised. Emotionally I felt in a state of suspension for the final hour -knowing this was momentous but finding it hard to define what I felt.
    The sun came out as we entered Plaza do Obradoiro to see the Cathedral of Santiago - the end of the pilgrimage for 1000 years.
    We cried, took a few obligatory photos (though we failed to get one of the two of us together), lay down for a while and then went off to the pilgrim’s office to get our certificate where Fiona was so tearful that she got a hug from the official there before being processed.
    We stopped at the little chapel on our way out where they were showing a slide show encouraging reflection on the experience of the Camino. It ended with a very familiar Irish blessing which sent me into floods of tears. It may well seem pretty cliched:

    May the road rise up to meet you
    May the wind be always at your back
    May the sun shine warm upon your face
    The rains fall soft upon your fields
    And until we meet again
    May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

    The blessing obviously had resonance for all of us who’d spent so much time on the road exposed to the elements (the need for rain on our fields perhaps less relevant) and subject to so many meetings, brief friendships and multiple partings.
    However, it touched me to the core because it reminded me powerfully of my mother. She’d had a copy of this blessing in her prayer book and I had read it at her funeral. All her life she wanted Marion and me to share her faith because she thought it was the most important gift you could have and I had always responded with rational rejection. I really don’t know where I am faith-wise at the end of this Camino but I do feel more open to some kind of spiritual experience than ever before and I know how happy that would make her. For some reason this made me very weepy.
    Fiona and I were shattered when we got to our hotel and slept heavily for a couple of hours. Then, after showering, we went off to the cathedral for the pilgrim mass.
    Many people report that this is the pinnacle of their Camino and find the service deeply moving. At some services they swing the botafumeiro (a giant incense dispenser) and everyone gets excited about seeing this.
    I was a little troubled when a man in a security uniform told us all the things we weren’t allowed to do during the service in the half hour we were waiting for it to begin. The mass itself was well done with an amazing bass singer leading the music. However, I was horrified that before communion the security guard came to the microphone to say only catholics could receive communion and then only if in a state of Grace. There was no invitation for non-Catholics to receive a blessing (which is the least the church can offer and is common practice everywhere else). It meant that Fiona, who had walked 800kms was excluded from being blessed at the main pilgrim mass and I felt a familiar fury at the stupidity and arrogance of the Church. All along the Camino local priests had been inclusive and inspiring. At the final destination it seemed to me the Santiago hierarchy blew that goodwill by reverting to the exclusive mentality which I have always objected to in Catholic thinking. I went to communion and wished I hadn’t. I should say that nobody else seemed to be offended by this. Others were disappointed the botafumeiro wasn’t swung. We’ve been told it happens more often at the noon mass and only then when a group of pilgrims pay for the spectacle. I felt double disgust and resolved not to attend another service at the cathedral despite the general consensus that this was the peak of the whole experience.
    We went to dinner with Anna. Bella, our beautiful young Australian friend came along too, bringing with her a middle-aged Italian journalist who appeared to be lusting after her. We ate healthy vegetarian food and stumbled back to the hotel to sleep.
    Although we have now reached the final destination I am going to write one final blog to round things off tomorrow because this has been such a day of emotion confusion and I would like to try to make more sense of things before signing off.    Leia mais

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  • Caroline KerrCaminoViajante
    1
    3

    Day 42 & 43, resting

    5 de julho de 2023, Espanha ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    It was probably a mistake to think I’d be more coherent after 48 hours. I am much more rested but I’m still feeling quite emotional and quite confused.
    Yesterday morning Fiona and I went to the English language mass at the Pilgrim’s Office where we were greeted by an elderly Irish volunteer called Joan. I told her how disappointed I was by what happened at the cathedral service the night before and she was very receptive and promised to pass a message on through the pilgrim office. The mass here was everything we could have hoped for. It was a much smaller affair and felt intimate because everyone was asked to introduce themselves at the start and invited to speak when it came to bidding prayers. Many did and revealed their reason for doing the Camino - one couple were praying for sick child, an older woman was praying for a family member with an addiction. The priest was thought-provoking, generous-spirited and inclusive. When it came to communion he specially invited non-Catholics for a blessing and took so long with Fiona (and the others, I think) that, for some time, the queue ground to a halt. Fiona was in tears again and said afterwards she really felt she was blessed.
    In the afternoon I had a one-to one conversation with Joan, the older woman we’d met as we arrived. She’s a nun who works with refugees in Dublin and was in Santiago for a fortnight as a volunteer. I talked to her about my nascent spiritual awakening, if that’s what it is, and found her wise, generous and calming. It felt like a valuable hour.
    In the evening we met up with Rachel who we’d last seen in Leon (about half way) and the three of us swopped our reflections of the Camino - all of us, I think, still processing things. Anna from Canada stopped by to say goodbye. She’s off to Finisterre and hopefully might see Fiona again before she flies to The Philippines to spend a month with her grandmother.
    After dinner we went back to the Cathedral where Rachel directed a little photoshoot to ensure Fiona and I had some happier pictures then the ones we’d managed the day before. They are so much more joyful, perhaps it’s a pity we have already shared the pictures of our exhausted and discombobulated selves arriving yesterday. In a way both capture the churn of emotions - delight and sadness are both in the mix even days later.
    This morning (Wednesday) Richard arrived before we’d even had breakfast. His flight from London left at 5.30am and he was remarkably good humour for one who had to get up at 2.30. We had breakfast, visited a Romanesque church, enjoyed a coffee at the Paradour and then did a tour of the cathedral roof. There was just time for a quick but delicious salad before I dashed back to the hotel to meet an American couple, Karen and John, with whom I was sharing a taxi to the airport. Only a couple of days ago we had walked past the airport on our way to Santiago - now it seemed too much to carry my rucksack a couple of kilometres to the bus station.
    I am delighted for Fiona that Richard is with her now and they have another week which will include more wonderful walking. For myself, it feels a wrench to be leaving although I know my body needs a rest.
    I will miss the simple rhythm of life on the Camino - getting up early, walking for an hour or two before breakfast, meeting fellow travellers on the way, hours without anything you have to think about, following the yellow arrows, eating your fill without worry, drinking beer and wine without guilt, visiting a new place every day, sleeping in a new bed every night and most nights, falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and waking up just before the alarm at 6am. Maybe the best thing of all was the time walking on your own without listening to a podcast or an audio book when your mind just drifts. It’s not that this has resulted in any great thoughts. It’s more then while your body was working, the rest of you was resting and that’s quite unusual in adult life. Right now I feel I’ve been refreshed by all that mental blankness.
    I’m finishing this off on the plane with Northern Spain about to recede as we approach the coast. They say in Santiago that the real Camino begins when you get home. I have no idea what that means or how long the benefits I am feeling will last. But for now, at least, I too feel blessed.    Leia mais

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    Final da viagem
    6 de julho de 2023