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camino 2017

mayo - julio 2017
Una aventura de 49 días de Laurie Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    Changing it up in Mondoñedo

    23 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Had a terrible sleep last night. Lights and noise in the albergue till after 11, lights and noise starting at 5, and lots of snoring in a stinky room in between.

    I had planned to walk 32 km with two of my little group today but last night I got an email from a Spanish friend who has an albergue (two actually) on the Camino Primitivo. He has most of the day off, lives about 80 km away from here, and has never visited this very pretty little city (with its own cathedral to boot). When I also realized that I was getting a tickle in my throat, it just made sense to get a pension here in Mondoñedo. So after a 9 km walk, a cafe con leche with my buddies, we said goodbye. We all know that's just the way the camino goes, but we were a great little group.

    This feels like a day off, which is not a bad idea for me. And this town is very pretty!!!!

    There is some confusion about whether the new "camino oficial," which is 6 km shorter (not trivial) and up in the monte is a good idea or not. We got a lot of hype from the hospitalera last night, saying it was treacherous and should be avoided at all costs. Lucky me -- I will get a first hand report from my buddies who went ahead. I'm betting it's perfectly fine, but I will take their advice if they say it was rough.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In albergue heaven

    24 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Leaving Mondoñedo, I couldn't find the new official route-- a forest track that is 6 km shorter than the "complementary" route. So I wound up walking the first 18 km almost entirely on asphalt. The views were very nice, the temperature cool, not too much sun, so I really can't complain.

    Until recently I wouldn't have had much of an answer to the question--what is your favorite tree? Since walking in the Bierzo in late spring a few years ago, I have fallen in love with chestnuts. And on today's walk there were many--not as ancient as the ones in the Bierzo where new trees grew out of enormous dead trunks, but beautiful. And when they are in bloom with those long cream colored buds, the smell is sweet and pungent. It was great.

    In the first town of Abadin there is a private albergue that gets good reviews, but I had been alerted to a new Albergue in a restored old stone home about 6 km further on. I think this is probably the nicest Albergue I have ever stayed in, though Casa Carmina last week comes close.

    The owners bought this several hundred year old home four years ago, gutted it, and renovated it all themselves with the help of friends. They've left as much of the original as possible, including the stone oven, some beams, slate, some huge granite vats, etc. The showers are really hot and the water pressure very high- no lukewarm drip on a dirty tile floor today! It is just beautiful, in the middle of nowhere with lots of open yard and lots of shade with reclining chairs.

    Fingers crossed that the owners are successful with their labor of love, O Xistral. I will sing their praises at every opportunity!!    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    Baamonde

    25 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Today has been one of those low days. First the three German boys in my lovely albergue room got up at 5. I couldn't go back to sleep so at 5:45 I got up, made some coffee and was walking by 6:45. It was actually not a bad start time since I had 35 km to go today. Not much elevation, so I thought I'd be fine. But by the time I got here, I was dragging.

    Leaving the lovely Albergue, I turned the corner to find that what had clearly once been a narrow grassy green tunnel had been bulldozed and filled with crushed rock. Gripe#1. Then a few hours later I arrived in Vilalba, a little less than halfway. It is an UGLY town. Gripe# 2. The guy at my coffee stop put fake crab, melted cheese, and ham in my tortilla sandwich. Gripe#3. From there, it was 18 more km with a lot of asphalt and sun, and nowhere to rest. Gripe#4. Then I told myself to stop griping and enjoy the day. And there were some gorgeous chestnut trees, one of which had a little plaque saying it was 700 years old!

    Finally, on the outskirts of town, a Spanish couple passed me and seemed pretty unfriendly. A Portuguese couple came up (you can see I am dragging if everyone is passing me) and I walked with them into the Albergue and the explosion started. The Portuguese guy took one look at the unfriendly Spanish lady and started cursing her out. There must have been a big conflict of some sort that triggered his outburst. It was a bit tense but luckily the woman checking all of us in put them at opposite ends of the Albergue.

    All in all it was not a 5***** day but that happens. I also think my body is running out of gas slowly. But after a shower and the therapeutic hand washing of clothes, all seemed much better. And imagine my delight when I learned that in the bunk next to me is my Australian friend Ann. We had split up a few days ago when she had foot problems. She is walking again and is feeling good.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In A Roxica

    26 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    I don't want to alarm my family and friends (I am FINE and unharmed) but it was not a pleasant morning.

    This morning I left the Albergue around 7, about ten minutes after a single Spanish peregrina left. The camino goes along the national highway N-6 for about two km and then turns left into a wooded area where there is an old church. I was about 5 minutes before that turn-off when I saw the Spanish woman running back towards me. She was crying hysterically. A masked man had pointed a gun at her and told her to get down on the ground. She offered him all her money but he repeated the threat. She took off her mochila and threw it on the ground and took off running. She runs marathons so she knew she could outrun him, and she thought to herself-- he's not going to shoot me in the back. Luckily she was right.

    I was with her and the police for a while. The Guardia Civil is involved and she will file a denuncia. When we got back to the point where it happened, her backpack was right where she dropped it and untouched. She is lucky but I'm sure it will take a while to get over.

    I walked for the next few hours with several pilgrims who came up while we were with the police. But they stopped for the day way too early for me, so I went on by myself. I think it's like what people say about falling off a horse, you just have to get up and do it again. I did feel a little nervous but realize that's not rational. By the end of the walk I was feeling more confident and able to focus again on my aching tired feet. Though it's easy to fall into panic or fear, I keep telling myself that the rational response is that this is one of a miniscule number of bad incidents on the Camino, and that I am surely safer walking alone in Spain than I am walking alone in many places I frequent. Hopefully, I will get back into the swing of walking alone and loving it.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    A night in an ancient monastery

    27 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    So today I am not feeling frightened or nervous, just kind of flat. Five us walked together (4 single women and one guy) into Sobrado dos Monxes, a town with a Cistercian monastery with 13th century origins. What's now standing is mostly from the 16th century onwards, and there is a much improved albergue. When Dana and I slept here 10 years ago, it was a hygienic disaster. Now there are decent and clean beds, clean hot showers, but tons more people than when we were here. This is good preparation for what we will find tomorrow when we get to Arzua and the Camino Frances.

    After a very nice lunch with ten other amigos, the topic turned to tomorrow's lodging. Turns out three of them had had a hard time finding a place, and the rest of us hadn't even started looking. Half an hour and many phone calls later, the rest of us finally found something. Same thing for the next day. I did have a reservation in Santiago but I had to cancel because I am a day behind. So things are unclear but I do have a bed for the next two nights!    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In Arzua

    28 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Well this was another uneventful day. I left the monastery at about 7:30, knowing I had only 21 km to walk and no big hills or descents. Feels kind of decadent since my earlier stages were so much longer and harder, but my body is kind of winding down and hinting that it wouldn't mind stopping.

    The day was windy and alternated between brilliant blue skies and short hard rain showers. We had the luxury and the luck of being right outside a bar for the first downpour and right next to a covered bus stop for the second. Right before we arrived in Arzua, it started again but by then we were just a hop, skip and a jump from town. The walk was pleasant enough through very typical Galician countryside--rolling hills, lots of green, very rural. Luckily there are still some parts of the walk that haven't been "improved" by the government. For some reason they pour crushed rock on lovely wooded trails and call it an improvement.

    Wow how this place has changed. When Dana and I stayed here in 2007, there was one albergue and one old hotel. Now there are st least 15 albergues and lots of pensiones, etc. Even our old charming Hotel Teodora has doubled or tripled its size.

    Culture shock is inevitable when you leave one camino with an average of 40 pilgrims per night to the camino Frances with hundreds and hundreds each day, if not thousands.

    Feeling slightly better and less discombobulated. I will get to Santiago in two days, spend Friday night there, and then walk, I think, to Muxia in 3 days. Then back to Santiago for two nights before my flight home. One thing that could disrupt that plan, however, is an ongoing sporadic bus strike. We will see.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In Pedrouzo with thousands of others

    29 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    I am glad I have slowed down to walk shorter stages, because that means that I have been able to stay with my three new friends from Madrid and Ann.

    The 20 km from Arzua were not the most spectacular but most was pretty countryside. There are now thousands of pilgrims, lots of Spaniards, lots of large groups of jubilant teens. And a few old coots like us who have been slugging along for weeks.

    I have managed to stay totally dry these last few days. Since I'm walking short stages and there are so many bars on the camino Francés, I've just popped into a bar or a bus stop shelter every time the rain started to fall.

    The town of Pedrouzo where we are today has a total of 2000 beds, and not one is empty. Crazy, what will happen in high season? Tomorrow into Santiago. Can't believe it.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    1

    Made it to Santiago

    30 de junio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today was rainy off and on, but since the stage was so short I was able to sit out the occasional downpours in one cafe or another. So when I arrived in Santiago my feet were nice and dry. I really don't mind getting wet except for my feet. I have had a couple of days' walking this year when I really felt like I was walking on a sponge. It's not a lot of fun to take off your shoes and wring out your socks and then have to put them back on still sopping after the break. So let's just say I've been kind of a wimp these last few days.

    Ann and I both left around 7 with plans to meet at the cafe directly behind the Plaza San Lázaro. We walk at different paces on the hills, and I have learned that it is really annoying to someone slogging up a hill to know that her pal is waiting up at the top and will probably take off again as soon as the two have seen each other. So I thought I had plenty of time and wound up sitting inside during all the rain. That meant that poor Ann arrived about a half hour before me and though she's too nice to say it, she was probably a bit perturbed to have pushed on through the rain to "catch up with me."

    In any event I know we both enjoyed walking in together--with the endless stream of humanity pouring into Santiago, all strangers to us, the companionship was good.

    I have walked into Santiago many many times. Sometimes it's euphoria, sometimes flat, sometimes bummed out -- but this has to be the weirdest entrance ever. I knew the cathedral would be in scaffolding, but I wasn't prepared for the rest. As we went through the arches, the bagpipes were playing, but no sooner had we dropped our coins in appreciation than he closed up shop. Then as we entered the square, we saw lines of soldiers, and two tanks, I kid you not. Some sort of military celebration was taking place and we were just in time for the salutes, the marches, and the music. It was all very disconcerting.

    I had trouble finding a cheap room but booking.com led me out of the historic core to the "real" city. I'm in a very nice pension,28 €, about 12 minutes from the cathedral but in a very different world. I actually got a good menu del dia for 9 €, unheard of up in pilgrim-land.

    This afternoon Ann and I will go visit a German friend who lives in Santiago, and then tomorrow I'll start my last three days of walking.    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In Vilaserio, two more days of walking!

    1 de julio de 2017, España ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Yesterday after showers and clothes wash, Ann and I met up and went to visit a German friend who has packed up and moved to Santiago. There were about 7 of us, all off of different Caminos, and all the interaction was fun.

    For some inexplicable reason, I went to get my Compostela, the cathedral-issued "certificate of completion.". I have more than a dozen, so why do I bother? Even at 7 pm and with about 12 people working, there was an hour's wait. It's just part of the ritual, I guess.

    This morning I was on my way around 7. By 10:30 I was resting with boots off in the prettiest little village on this route. At noon I was buying fruit at my favorite little fruit store on this route and at 2:30 another boots off rest with a Fanta de Limón. An hour after that, my long 35 km day was over and I was checking into a lovely new albergue in Vilaserio. Many hundreds of years old, in the family for generations, and turned into a very cozy place. The woman who checked me in told me that her 70-something year old mother is actually in charge, but she comes out to help on weekends. Before the albergue idea, she told me her mother was in bad health, declining, unsettled. The albergue, she said, has breathed new life into her, and she loves it. The leson I take from that is that a purpose in life is a good thing, no matter what your age!

    Good day walking but my body is going to be very happy to stop in two days!!!    Leer más

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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017

    In Dumbria at the Zara albergue

    2 de julio de 2017, España ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Well I am really slowing down. These 32 km were much harder than I remembered them, and I arrived at the albergue at least an hour later than last time. But maybe I took longer breaks this year 😁

    There is nothing spectacular about today's walk, and some of it goes through fairly ugly hills with one half growing eucalyptus and the other half stripped of vegetation. But the camino went through some nice hamlets, where the villagers are usually eager to talk.

    As part of my camino education, today I learned that the tall green stalks with leaves sprouting out and which are cut off from the bottom up are not grelos but something called "col," which translates as "cabbage" but is just leaves with no head. Anyway I had always wondered why even the smallest gardens had hundreds of these plants. Today I learned that the tough leaves are for the animals while the tender ones go into making that delicious soup caldo gallego (very similar to Portuguese caldo verde). The woman who explained this all to me told me that after she finished feeding her pigs, she would make some and I was very welcome to stay. Unfortunately I still had 22 km to walk, so I declined. What a tempting invitation though!

    I am in the Dumbria albergue, which was built with funds from the owner of the Zara empire. It's the only albergue I've ever been in with hot water in the sink for washing clothes. The albergue itself is huge, with common areas, balconies with tables, a kitchen, but only three bedrooms, each one with 4 bunk beds. So far in my room there is a Brazilian man of Japanese descent, and a French couple. The French guy looks like he could be a snorer and so I will use my wonderful silicone earplugs.

    Tomorrow a short day to Muxia. I will meet up with a friend there. If you saw The Way and remember the final scene with all the characters standing on the amazing boulders near the ancient church, that was Muxia. I far prefer it to the touristy Finisterre, though the ritual of going up to the lighthouse for sunset is something I'll miss.

    Home on Thursday!!!!    Leer más

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