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Vía Serrana and El InviernoVía Serrana and El Invierno
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  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    4
    Day 36

    Last day in Santiago?

    May 16 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    The question mark is there because Iberia workers have announced a partial work stoppage at the Santiago airport for today and tomorrow. In my opinion, it is totally justified. The nearby airport in Vigo is closed for runway repairs. Many of the flights have been diverted to Santiago, but there has been no increase in staffing by the big cheeses at Iberia. The workers are stressed and overworked, and they are only asking for more help to be brought on. It looks like there have been some concessions made, and today’s strike apparently only involved the cancellation of three flights. So I am mildly optimistic that my flight will go tomorrow morning as scheduled to Madrid.

    I’m glad to have had this day here, because I did have a lot of last-minute shopping to do. I was also able to have a nice long coffee with Ivar (who owns the Santiago internet forum). And I enjoyed having more time with Faith in the Pilgrim House. It always seems like I need her help. A few years ago she helped me take a Covid test online. In spite of how stressful it was, it did get me onto the plane! Another year she gave me a pair of walking sticks for me to take to Finisterre because my Z poles had broken. This year she brought me some duct tape to try to piece together the fraying fabric on my 24-year-old backpack. I was afraid that some of the baggage handling equipment might catch one of the little holes and just rip the whole pack open. Imagine how happy I was when an Australian pilgrim offered to undertake the repair job. She obviously knew what she was doing.

    The afternoon has been kind of flat, just wrapping olive oil in bubble wrap, packing up, and the very last of my shopping. It’s not that I get a lot, it’s just that I’m very indecisive and take way too long to figure out important questions like which T-shirts to get which grandkids. And I decided to go back to my favorite bean and spices place, as well as the cheese store down the street. So I have a lot to take home! For those who like beans, this place has a huge selection of beans all from Spain. Lentils, white beans, and the garbanzos that I just love. The cheese store is owned by the cheese maker, so I always like to buy few of their really good Gallego cheeses. Unlike one of my dear Camino friends, I am not a fan of the tetilla cheese, but I tasted a few others and got some really good ones today. One I especially liked was a blue cheese that was not quite as creamy as La Peral (my all-time favorite Asturian cheese), but was yummy. End of food tutorial.

    I can’t believe it was five weeks ago that I arrived in Spain. These Camino walks are so medicinal (in a good way). Though my body is definitely tired, and I know it was time to stop walking, it’s a positive high-five-giving kind of exhaustion.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    2
    Day 35

    A few nighttime updates

    May 15 in Spain

    Who could ever tire of walking around Santiago at night? So beautiful.

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    2
    Day 35

    In Santiago

    May 15 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Well, today I got a 6am bus from Muxia back to Santiago. From 8 am till 8 pm, I was on the move. I’ve just sat down in a vegetarian restaurant, and the food looks fabulous. It’s called A Porta Verde, and I will let you know.

    I have walked all over town, visited the Pórtico de la Gloria (I knew that photography was prohibited in the Pórtico, but I thought it was OK in the Gelmirez Palace —after innocently taking pics of some of my favorite civil Romanesque carving, I was told it was prohibido but that I could keep the fotos), I went to Ivar’s office, I’ve started my olive oil purchasing (yikes, have prices risen!), I got my compostela (no wait in the pilgrims office at about 6 PM, after more than 2000 compostelas had been issued), bought bubble wrap, went to my favorite frutería, and have met three forum members in different places. Not necessarily in that order.

    The one sad event came in the late morning. I went up to the market and headed straight for my favorite little booth selling lots of canned Galician products — sardines, bonito (a special tuna), etc. The place was locked up. I asked the butcher in the next stall if she knew anything about the owners. I had met them about 15 years ago, and I went there every time I came to Santiago. About 10 years ago, the woman told me that her husband had dementia, and I got regular updates every time I got to Santiago. The butcher told me that the husband has died and that the woman has gone to A Coruña to live. No more Conservas de Galicia.

    My pictures are for my peregrino friends who will recognize all the spots, except for maybe my favorite frutería, where I got 4 clementinas and 4 mandarinas for 65 céntimos.

    P.s. I am eating my wok bowl and it is very good. Lots of vegetables and great seasoning.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    111
    Day 34

    In Muxia

    May 14 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 14 °C

    I have walked from Finisterre to Muxia (or the reverse) at least 5 times. 30 km, 600m. This time it was hard. The ascent at the end was a killer for me. If I’m lucky enough to walk this route again, I will split those 30 km in half. The little town of Lires, which used to have one old pensión and café, has had a small camino explosion.

    The weather was fine, with a little drizzle as I left and a few drops as I arrived. But nothing in between. I took a detour to the Lires beach, hoping the bar would be open, but it wasn’t. So I sat on a bench, looking out at the beautiful water, chomping on some nuts and drinking water, instead of my longed-for Fanta de Limón.

    I wasn’t feeling particularly social when I arrived, and after a good lunch alone of sea bass and razor clams, I walked out to the church on the rocky point. It’s a spectacular setting. The waves were ferociously pounding on the rocks and the tide was so high it would have been dangerous to walk out on any of them like I usually do. So I just sat, with the wind blowing like crazy and contemplated. The end of another walk —it always happens. No profound revelations after this month of walking, just a sense that life is good and that I am extremely lucky to have been able to walk another beautiful camino.

    It’s raining here and it looks like sunset will happen behind a thick veil of clouds. But I’m not disappointed because this has been a really full camino.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    34
    Day 33

    To Finisterre

    May 13 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    This was thankfully a very short day of walking. About 15 km. Every step in the rain. I left at about 7:30 and I just kept walking till I got here. I was very much hoping to be able to see the coastline. Except for my very first Camino, I have always walked into Finisterre from Muxia. The main reason I chose to walk into Finisterre first this time was to have that nice long walk along the beach. I got that long walk along the beach, but I wouldn’t describe it as nice. Oh well, it wasn’t meant to be.

    I had no idea what time it was when I rang the bell of my small hotel. It’s a family run place, and the owner was there cleaning rooms. In spite of the sign on the door that said check in at 4 PM, she very kindly looked at her books and said I could go up to a room she had just cleaned. But, she said, I’m sorry that that the bathroom floor will still be wet. I burst out laughing, since I was a walking puddle, and after a few minutes of a puzzled look, she too burst out laughing.

    It seems odd that after hours of walking in the rain, standing under a shower is the thing that appeals the most. But unlike when you’re walking, the water is hot, and when you step out of the shower, you have a towel to dry off, and dry clothes to put on!

    One of the reasons I had decided to do such a short stage today was because I had wanted to go up on the “back roads“ to the lighthouse. There are some sacred rocks, which apparently cured infertility, and also the ruins of a hermitage from early Christianity. I was just about to accept the offer of a nice lunch with a few people I had met, when the sky suddenly seemed a bit brighter. Feeling lucky, I decided to go up to the lighthouse instead.

    If you can believe it, there were about three hours of glorious sunshine. I was able to walk the entire planned 10 km loop. When I got back to town, the sky was dark once again. I was very very lucky. I am not going to push my luck and will forego the chance of a decent sunset.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    Day 32

    To Cee

    May 12 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This was originally going to be a short day. 15 km. Down to the coast. Not much elevation. But yesterday afternoon, after hearing Michael, Flavia, and the hospitalero go on about how beautiful the waterfalls at Ézaro were, I did some Wikiloc searching. I found tracks that would take me from right where I was, past the Piedra Cabalgada again, to Ézaro’s ocean overlook from up high, down to the Falls, and then over to my original destination, of Cee. It added 10 km and a couple hundred meters of elevation to my original plan, but it was well worth it.

    I have now earned the Triple Crown of waterfalls on my Camino this year. This one has the distinction of being the only waterfall in Europe (or maybe in the world, but that’s not been confirmed) that falls directly into the sea. I was glad to arrive midmorning, because the eight parking spots for buses were empty, and only a handful of cars were in the lot. I sat on a rock, ate some frutos secos, drank water, and just listened and watched as the water crashed down. Very peaceful.

    The route was a lot of forest track, kms on some untraveled roads, a couple of kilometers through some dense woods, and only a few on a wide shoulder of a fairly busy highway. I really enjoyed it. In one small village, the woman who was getting her cows ready to be milked told me a story of emigration that fits perfectly in the statue I saw yesterday. She is trying to keep the family dairy farm going, but she says it is very hard work without a man, though she has a brother who helps out when he can.

    I’m in a small hotel in Cee, a coastal town at the head of an inlet. Its restaurant was pretty highly rated so I didn’t waste time walking around and looking at menus. My first zamburiñas in a long time! After lunch, I went down to the beach and small harbor and then decided to continue along the water to the next village, Corcubión. Since it is Sunday, there were a lot of families out and about.

    The weather today was cloudy and cool. Perfect for walking. I’m hoping the forecast for a few days of rain is wrong, but oh well.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    111113
    Day 31

    To Logoso (30 km, 550 m)

    May 11 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I knew I was getting a visit from Michael and Flavia at my destination, so that put some pep in my step. For the first four hours, we were engulfed in mist, so there wasn’t much to see. But the time went quickly because I was walking with a few different people.

    I had a coffee break in an albergue’s café, where I ran into Grigor from Slovenia. He was describing Some sort of NGO work he was doing, and then said “I am a lawyer.” I said “I am too!”. At the table over from us, someone shouted — oh no, I’m a criminal! Well, it was funny at the time.

    I had a nice long lunch with my good buddies, and afterwards we walked up to see the Pedra Cabalgada, which is a rock positioned so precariously on top of another rock that you can’t believe it won’t fall. But it hasn’t yet. We also walked down to the nice river and enjoyed catching up on the last two years since we had seen each other. All in all, very nice day.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    1
    Day 30

    Day 1 to Finisterre

    May 10 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    I am feeling the effects of the advancing years. Every other time I’ve walked to the ocean, I’ve always stayed in a place about 4 km further than where I am today. It was a good idea to stop here, the Albergue Rectoral de Mamede. Private rooms are a bit pricier than I’ve encountered so far, but it’s nice, has hot water, a comfortable bed, and good places to hang the clothes outside to dry. My GPS shows 31 km and 800 m of ascent, so it wasn’t too shabby of a day.

    I left Santiago later than usual, almost 8 AM. This was because San Martin Pinario has a big buffet breakfast included in the Pilgrim price, so I thought I would take advantage and have some fruit salad, orange juice, toast with tomatoes and olive oil, it was glorious.

    I had not remembered the two pronounced climbs in today’s stage, but I will definitely remember them going forward. Another sign of advancing age! Thankfully, the last nine km were almost all shady, because the temperature was over 80 F (28 C) in the afternoon. Though that’s not extreme, it is hot to walk in the sun.

    One of the prettiest little villages anywhere on any Camino that I’ve seen is Ponte de Maceiras. An ancient bridge with a very full river, rushing underneath it, several old mills, an old church, and some beautiful stone houses. It’s always a good place to take off your shoes and soak your feet in the ice cold water. Someone had beat me to my favorite spot, but he graciously moved over so we could both fit.

    Leaving Negreira, I always stop at the sculpture dedicated to emigrants (Galicia had a huge number in the late 19th and early 20th century). I spend a few minutes sitting on a bench near there and thinking about all of the people in generations of my family who left their home country because of economic necessity. And that of course leads me to think about the millions of people who are suffering that same fate right now, for all sorts of reasons.

    There are lots of people walking to Finisterre. Predominant nationalities seem to be French, Italian, and US. There will be a group dinner for anyone who wanted to sign up, and since we are essentially in the middle of nowhere, I assume many will.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    12134
    Day 29

    Arrived in Santiago!

    May 9 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    I had a very short day today, less than 20 km, so I didn’t set an alarm and slept till after seven! By 8:00 I was on the way. Chatted with a lot of people, both people walking, and people out and about. As you get closer to a big city, you are bound to run into all sorts of people who are using the same space as you are to get to their own destinations. It’s sometimes a rude awakening to realize that not everyone who is out there is walking to Santiago! I had a particularly nice long chat with a woman who was planting potatoes. She had a daughter living in Illinois, but she was sure she would never go that far from home to see her. Luckily, her daughter comes back at least once a year.

    I was so happy to be able to finally visit the Colegiata de Sar, a beautiful 12C Romanesque church ear Santiago, which had buttresses added to keep it standing in the 14th or 15 century. The part of the cloister that remains is really beautiful, and I’m glad I got to see it. Free for pilgrims!

    This Camino crosses the bridge close to the spot where the terrible train accident happened. It’s been many years, but there are still memorials up there. So many lives at short.

    When I arrived in Santiago, it was pretty clear it was a holiday. Lots of music, a few parades, tons of people (but there’s nothing unusual about that). As I was watching a little band playing traditional Gallego instruments, I turned around to a tap on the back and saw it was Faith! We had a good long chat, and I’m thinking that on my return to Santiago, I may take her up on her offer of the Pilgrim House debrief. I’ve never done anything like that, but think it might be enlightening.

    Since I am leaving Santiago tomorrow to walk on to Finisterre and Muxia, today is more of a regular day than a celebratory ending. That will come in good time.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsVía Serrana and El Invierno
    1
    11
    Day 28

    Mosteiro de Carboeiro

    May 8 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Promptly at 4:30, José Manuel picked me up. A very knowledgeable and garrulous man, he was not content to take me only to the monastery, but also took me to a huge pazo (estate) and several scenic lookout points. But for me, the prize was the monastery.

    I had the church all to myself, and it was beyond what I had imagined. So many intersecting and overlapping arches, the high vaults— it gave almost a gothic-y feeling of soaring space (sorry, I really don’t know what I’m talking about, but that was the impression it gave me). No human figures on the capitals, but lots of very intricate plant designs. I was very happy that I had spent a lot of time outside yesterday, and today my focus was just on the beautiful interior.

    I learned that Enrique Iglesias made a music video in this church, and it scandalized the church authorities. I watched it, and I have to say I am shocked. Since the monastery is owned by the government, the church had no input, but there was a lot of controversy

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m3We7p78XTo

    I am ending the day sitting out on the terrace, eating a good salad, and feeling very grateful.    Read more

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