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Camino
  • Laura Allec
  • WendyTravels
Sep – Oct 2024

Camino

My crazy friend invited me to go on a 164 mile hike with her. Since I’m now retired I said, “of course I’ll go.” Read more
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  • Camino
    This church was built for the pilgrims. It is in the shape of a shell.
    Chapel of St. BartholomewWe sat and listened to the beautiful singing during the service here.Another old bridge. We will continue across it tomorrow.Last church of the day. Wendy wanted to climb the bell tower but it was closed.2I'm not sure who this is - he was just a random statue with no information. But I liked him.Gelato level was getting low...again!

    Day 15 Rest day in Pontevedra

    September 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Today Wendy and I took a walking tour around Pontevedra. This city has been a major thoroughfare for Pilgrims going to Santiago so there are many churches here. We visited three today. Because it is Sunday, there were services going on in two of them. We sat through one of them. They were taking communion so there was music, which was beautiful in the cathedral. Their voices echoed around in the stone building and sounded so majestic. It was a feeling that I don’t think we get in our churches all the time because our surroundings are not quite so grand.
    We also walked by the river, which is beautiful. Greg picked an Italian spot for dinner, which was as delicious for our carb loading for tomorrow. It’s a longer day tomorrow over another “big hill.”    Read more

  • Camino
    1The beginning of the day, when the rain was just misty.
    A small fishing village we passed through.Funny mural posted for pilgrims. It was in the middle of a steep climb.1It says, "Pilgrims, remember to be optimistic. 8.5 km. "The top of the mountain was very foggy. It was difficult to see the road.

    Day 16 Pontevedra to Armenteira

    September 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    🎶 This is the road that never ends. It just goes on and on my friends. 🎶
    Today was a long day diverting to the spiritual variant - an extension of the Camino. We walked 16 miles today, in the rain, slogging through mud, over a 1200 foot peak. Not my favorite day. Thanks to Wendy, who kept giving me electrolytes and encouraging me when I was tired.
    We stayed in a lovely hotel (most bougie we've been in) when we arrived and Wendy went to the nun's mass for pilgrims at the nearby monastery. I took a bath and just soaked my sore feet and muscles and then went to sleep in a very comfy bed.    Read more

  • Camino
    1This WAS the way the Camino went, but it was impossible hereNew friends, Steve and Peter2The road less traveled

    Day 17 Armenteira to Vilanova de Arousa

    October 1, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 66 °F

    Rain...rain...
    Absolutely POURED today and all I've got to say is weather apps stink, but fortunately none of us melt.

    Wendy forged ahead the 15 miles through the exquisite (but treacherous in the rain) Ruta de la Piedra y del Agua - route of stone and water. This was just the first 3 miles but continued to follow streams and rivers to the bay where we'll take the water route tomorrow.

    Hiked with two kind gentlemen from the states while Laura and Greg in the taxi picked up drowned pilgrims along their way to the hotel. My feet hurt! But the Camino is not supposed to be easy; that's when our best lessons are learned, right?!    Read more

  • Camino
    Crosses along the river where James' body traveled.
    Wendy and I after we got off the boat. It wasn't raining anymore!Walking from the dock to Padron - about a mile.Ran into our Australian friends, Jim and Marie, at dinner.Church of St. James.This rock is under the altar. It is the stone that the boat carrying St. James body pulled up to

    Day 18 Vilanova de Arousa to Padron

    October 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    The last 24 hours were a bit of a whirlwind. Due to the heavy rain forecast for today, our boat tour operator canceled our trip. . Most smaller boats were canceled, which left a lot of people scrambling to figure out how to get back to Padron. This piece of the trip is supposed to include a boat ride along the river where St. James’ body was brought. It’s a long walk if you don’t go by boat. Wendy found us tickets on a larger boat that was still going. It was pouring rain this morning when we left the hotel. My boots and pants were soaked on the short walk to the pier. Once we got on the boat, it was dry and cozy inside. As we rode along we passed crosses that were erected along the shore to show the way St. James' beheaded body passed with his disciples in their stone boat on the way to Santiago. When we got to Padron, it had stopped raining. Everyone was so excited. Slogging through the rain the last couple days has been tough for everyone. We walked the last bit to our hotel.
    After settling in, we decided we needed to find a laundromat with washers to get rid of all the mud we’ve accumulated over the last couple days and dryers, because there’s so much moisture in the air our clothes are not drying out between days. We found one, got our clothes going, and went to the restaurant next door to eat an early dinner. We snuck in just before siesta. Not long after, our Australian friends, Jim and Marie, came in. They did not make the cutoff time, so could only have tea. We all sat together, enjoying the company. Then we all walked over to St. James Church. Inside is the piece of rock that the boat carrying James tied up to when they arrived. We said goodbye to Jim and Maria, and chilled for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is our last long day - 10 miles. Friday we arrive in Santiago. It’s hard to believe this is coming to an end soon.    Read more

  • Camino
    This pretty table was in a backyard we walked by. I thought of you, Donna.
    Pilgrims stick stickers on a lot of things as they go by. They've completely covered the sign.Someone creative made a resting place for pilgrims.Walked through a forest today past this pretty stream.Wendy and Greg.1We were resting and a passerby took our picture.Our friend, Ingrid, from the Netherlands

    Day 19 Padron to O Mirradoira

    October 3, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    No rain today. Yay! We had a long way to go today. About 12.5 miles through farmland and forest. We saw many animals on the way: a bunch of beagles in a yard, baying at the pilgrims going by, many cats on the trail today, some goats, roosters, and turkeys. We’ve been moving away from the coast, so we are climbing in elevation, which is not my strong suit, but I am getting faster up the hills. My feet were pretty tired by the end of the day.

    As we were waiting for the restaurant to open (we didn’t make it before siesta today) I came downstairs to get some tea, and who should I see but Ingrid, our fire alarm friend from very early in the trip. We drank tea and talked about our journey, which ends tomorrow when we reach Santiago, thinking about all we’ve accomplished. This trip has taken up so much of our time and thoughts for so long with planning, packing, and walking, it’s hard to believe it’s almost over. We agreed that it may take some time to process the whole thing. Finding Ingrid again was another gift from the Camino.    Read more

  • Camino
    One of the YouTubers we watched always said this on his Caminos
    A mural we passed representing the diversity on the Camino.Laura's retirement house4I did it!1We all did it!The best bagpiper we've heard yet. He even played Scotland the Brave.Inside the cathedral at the Pilgrims mass.Catedral de SantiagoJim and Maree found the best sign.1Peter, Maree, Jim, Wendy, Laura, and Steve.1Memorial space1I added the sea glass I've had to remember Chris.

    Day 20 Mirradoira to Santiago

    October 4, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    We had about 5 miles this morning to walk before arriving in Santiago. We left about 8:30 in the misty drizzle, but it cleared up later. We walked through suburbs to get into the city, so the walk was not so beautiful. The Camino ends at the Cathedral of Santiago, so we had to go through the old city to get there. The cathedral is beautiful.

    So do we feel different? We've been processing that. It's been such a long journey, especially when you consider all the prep and planning. I think some of it is that it's about the journey not the destination (beautiful as it is). The physical and mental duration...the people and relationships created...hearing what God has in store for us individually. That's the Camino...the Way.

    The large plaza in front of the cathedral was packed with people arriving from the many different Camino walks through France, Spain, and Portugal. There were many different languages being spoken and lots of exuberance for completing the journey. There was another bagpipe player playing and he was all decked out in Spanish costume and playing quite well. The Celts were in this area many years ago, which is why there are bagpipe players here. After taking pictures, we went to get in line for the Pilgrim’s mass in the cathedral. The priest announced all the counties that pilgrims had come from today. There was music, a sermon in Spanish, communion, and the swinging of the botafumiero, the giant incense burner that symbolizes the rising of the prayers of the people to heaven. There were so many people it was difficult to see, but the singer was very good. His voice and the organ in the old stone building was fantastic.
    After we left the cathedral we came across a small memorial space where people were honoring a loved one. I had brought a piece of sea glass I received at my first Blue Christmas in memory of Chris’ passing, and I left that on the memorial. It was my way of bringing him along.

    After mass, we had lunch, checked into our airbnb, and went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we have shopping, a night tour of the cathedral, and meeting up with Ingrid, so tonight we rest a bit.

    Our total mileage was 168.62 miles!    Read more

  • Camino
    1The 0 km sign, in the pouring rain.
    Night shot of the cathedral.The altar from far away.The altar more up close. Zoom is awesome.1My necklace.My patch.

    Day 2 in Santiago

    October 6, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Today we wanted to do a little shopping, but it was pouring rain. I bought an umbrella because my rain slicker wasn’t helping with the driving rain in my face. We went to their market (indoor) and saw some strange things: a pig face, lots of pig feet, cheese in the shape of breasts, barnacles, chickens from head to foot that were really yellow. They will tell you here that’s what color they are supposed to be. I’m not convinced. I bought a patch to put on my backpack and a necklace to remember my journey. We also found the 0 km sign. This is funny to us because all along the way on the posts with arrows, the remaining km were posted.

    After awhile we were tired of being in the wind and rain, so we returned to our airbnb. We made grilled cheese sandwiches with our cheese. It was very soft and creamy. Good buy, but weird packaging.
    Greg turned one channel to an English and we watched a couple movies to spend the afternoon and evening. The rain finally let up, which was great because we had tickets to a night tour of the cathedral. It was from 10:30 pm - 12:00 am. Normally I would be in bed by then, but this was the time they gave tours. The cathedral is too busy during the day. It was a very interesting tour and I’m glad we stayed up for it. We got to see things we couldn’t get to during mass because of crowd.
    The cathedral is 1,000 years old and is like a second Rome, so they want their cathedral to cause awe as you enter, which it does. Supposedly, the story goes, James came here to the Iberian Peninsula because of Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8 to go and be his witnesses ….to the ends of the earth, which to their knowledge back then, was the Iberian Peninsula. But he wasn’t received well and went back to Jerusalem, where he was beheaded. Two of his followers took his body back to Spain to bury him. Supposedly they have his bones in a box under the altar. This is why people started having pilgrimages. No picture taking was allowed except in the back on the second floor. I have a great zoom lens, so if you zoom in the pictures you can see lots of details. I couldn’t get a good shot of the organ from there, but it has 2,000 pipes on each side. They created an image of James that people can touch. So I did, just because that’s what pilgrims apparently do.    Read more

  • Camino
    1
    1A funny paint job on this boat. There was a pirate themed restaurant nearby.1Finisterre11

    Day Trip to Finisterre

    October 6, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Today we took a day trip to Finisterre, Spain. It is supposedly the most western part of Europe. It means. “Finished earth.” Or the end of the earth as they knew it back then. It is a small fishing village by the sea. This was the end of the pilgrimage originally. Pilgrims would come and swim in the sea here to end their journey. The weather was supposed to be rainy, so no swimming plans for us. The weather turned out to be lovely in Finisterre, we had a really nice day.Read more

  • Camino
    View from the train.

    Travel Day to Madrid

    October 8, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 66 °F

    This morning we got up very early in order to catch our train to Madrid. The train travelled about 240 km per hour, the total trip being 3.25 hours. The terrain seemed much like the Midwest. These were the plains mentioned in “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.” When we arrived, we had lunch in a cute cafe, and did the grocery shopping. We will be here six days. The Airbnb is pretty sparse. We think we may be the first ones to ever rent it.Read more

  • Camino
    The train was crowded. Can you find me?Monument to Goya outside The Prado

    Madrid - The Prado

    October 9, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 66 °F

    Today we had tickets to The Prado Museum. It was a bit rainy all day, so a good day to be indoors. We took the Metro to get there. On our way we noticed that we started traveling in the opposite direction that we started, but hadn’t gotten off the train. After talking with some locals, we found out that in order to continue straight on this train, we had to get off and take a different train. In all the subway systems we’ve been on around the world, none of us had ever encountered that before.

    The Prado is very well done. They had a large collection of Spanish artists I’d never heard of, and many excellent statues. Pictures weren’t allowed, so I don’t have any of the art.    Read more

  • Camino
    2Symbol of Madrid - the bear and the strawberry tree.
    Equestrian statue of King Charles III of Spain.Main Square in Madrid - Plaza MayorRoyal Post OfficeLa Gloria y Los PegasusMonument to Christopher ColumbusMayor's officeFountain of Cibele1Mayor's office - they add lights in the colors of the flag.Peurta de San VicenteWaiting for the flamenco show to start.The guitarist was outstanding.1

    Madrid - Walking Tour & Flamenco

    October 10, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F

    What a beautiful day today! The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was perfect.

    We started our day today with a walking tour in the city. No one else signed up, so we got a private tour. We realized as we were walking around how beautiful the city of Madrid is. Old buildings (actually newer, but rebuilt in the old style), artistic statues abound, narrow streets with quaint shops, beautiful green spaces - what’s not to love? Crowds, perhaps, but the Spanish national celebration akin to our Independence Day is in two days, and many people have time off of work, so there were a lot of people around today. We could see them setting up grandstands for the parade, sound equipment for the concerts, a communication center for the police. Preparations are being made for a big crowd.

    We went to a flamenco show in the evening. That was a real wow! I’ve never seen a guitarist play like this guy did. And the dancers feet move lightning fast. It was a real treat. I’ve included some video for a taste.    Read more

  • Camino
    2Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza.
    Monument to Miguel Cervantes.The gang with Andrea.Royal Palace side.Royal Palace front.1Lunch at a tapas bar.Guernica, by Picasso. By far the most famous painting at Reina Sophia, done about the town's bombing

    Madrid - Day 3

    October 11, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Today we took another walking tour, and who should show up as our tour guide but Andrea, from yesterday. There were more people today, so no private tour today. We saw the monument to Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, Spain’s Shakespeare. Then we walked by the Royal Palace. We saw several more fountains today. The Spanish seem to love their fountains.
    After the tour, we went to the Reina Sophia Museum of Modern Art and saw works by Picasso, Dali, and other Spanish artists.
    Later we took the bus tour of parts of Madrid we hadn’t seen.    Read more

  • Camino
    1Monestary of El Escorial
    The Martrydom of San Lorenzo - apparently he was roasted over a grill.Royal Pantheon Crypt. Five centuries of Royal family are entombed.Space for Royal children who died.Valley of the FallenPieta over the entrance.Inside the chapel.Pieta in the chapel.The altar in the chapel.Stone figures overlooking the congregation. There were probably eight of these.500' cross - the largest in the world.Part of the wedding party.The bride arrived in a Rolls Royce.11

    Madrid - Day 4

    October 12, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Today was Fiesta Nacional de España, or the National Day of Spain. It is a big holiday here, complete with military parade, concerts, and fireworks. The biggest celebration takes place in Madrid, so to avoid the crowds, we took a trip out to The Royal Monastery and Site of St Lawrence of the Escurial and Valley of the Fallen. St. Lawrence (Lorenzo) was martyred by being cooked on a grill. I’d never heard that one before. The royal monastery is where the royal families of Spain for the last five centuries are buried. Several of the kings worked from here as well. The royal family members are buried in one chamber, and the kings and queens in another. Pictures were not allowed in the kings and queen’s chamber, but it was quite lavish, with marble walls, ceilings, and floors, and gold chandeliers and embellishments. Before they are put in that room, their bodies are put in a decomposing room for 30-40 years. This was closed to the public, as the last king is still decomposing in there.

    The Valley of the Fallen was a place to honor those who died in the civil war here - from both sides of the conflict (over a million died). The chapel is built right in the granite. It was very beautiful and appropriate for a somber place. There was a wedding about to take place, so we had to hurry through here. It would have been great to crash the wedding and see how they are done in Spain. We all agreed that it was a beautiful, if not odd place for a wedding.    Read more

  • Camino
    2Sour cucumber we saw at a market.
    Ship model in the Naval Museum.1Sextant used back in the day.More models.More models.Royal marking on a ship.Figurehead.Stained glass ceiling.Model of the mast rigging.Uniform of the captain.Laura getting a free hug this couple were giving out.Street signs have descriptive pictures also for when people were illiterate.The Rastro flea market, with origins back to 1500s.1La Torre del Oro taberna - note famous bulls on wall1And the matador survived this!

    Madrid - Day 5

    October 13, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Today we ventured into the city to find El Rostro, the biggest flea market in Europe. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life! Greg saw the crowd and bowed out, while Wendy and I jumped in. There was a lot of clothes, jewelry, shoes, and such. It didn’t take long until I was peopled out. We had a snack in a bakery, and then headed to the Naval Museum. It seemed like every person in Madrid was out walking on the street. The museum was a little quieter, thank goodness.
    The museum had lots of models of the kinds of ships used over the years, and told the story of the Spanish navy. They were masters of the sea for years, so there was a lot of history there. It was a very nicely done museum. The floors were made of wood, like decking, and creaked when you walked. A nice touch.

    After the museum, we walked to a bullfighting bar, where they had bull heads on the wall. Wendy enjoyed a few minutes inside talking to people. We said goodbye to Madrid and headed for the subway go back and start packing. We return to Lisbon tomorrow.    Read more

  • Camino

    Travel Day Back to Lisbon

    October 14, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 68 °F

    We took a loooong bus ride today back to Lisbon. There are not trains direct from Madrid to Lisbon, so bus was our mode of transportation. I have one more day, and then it’s back to the USA. Wendy and Greg have a couple more days here before they , too, will return home.Read more

  • Camino

    My Last Day in Lisbon

    October 15, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 70 °F

    This is my last day in Lisbon. Greg and Wendy are here a couple more days. Wendy went to another local market, but I passed on that and met her later for some shopping. We wandered up and down the quaint old streets, in and out of shops to find souvenirs we couldn’t buy earlier because we didn’t want to carry them for a month. We had our last gelato and headed back to the apartment to pack. Later we had dinner at a Portuguese restaurant and toasted our successful completion of this trip. It’s been long, but pretty great. Many thanks and much love to my crazy friend who does things like this and invited me along.Read more

  • Camino

    Travel Day Home

    October 16, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    It was raining this morning as I headed to the airport, fitting for the end of my adventure. Perhaps Portugal is as sad as I am to see it end. The sun came out later, a reminder that as the new day dawns, there are more adventures to come.Read more

    Trip end
    October 16, 2024
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