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  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 31–32

    100k TO GO! 🎉(Sarria to A Pena)

    May 14 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    For those who have little time, but want to experience the beauty of the Camino, you can walk the last 100km and receive the same pilgrimage certificate or Compostela as the pilgrims who have walked all 800k. The route begins in Sarria and ends in Santiago de Compostela, crossing the mountainous landscapes of Galicia.

    For this reason, the Camino becomes much busier after Sarria. There are even large school groups! Some pilgrims who have been walking for 4-5 weeks prior to Sarria have a really hard time adjusting to this culture shock, even if you know it’s coming. While it’s hard not to judge the influx of new pilgrims with their cute small day packs, clean shoes, and fresh legs, overall we have not been bothered. We understand that people have time and physical limitations that may prevent them from enjoy the whole route and welcome their new energy.    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 30

    Samos Monastery

    May 13 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    The Monastery of San Xulián de Samos is an active Benedictine monastery in Samos, province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. It was founded in the sixth century.

    The monastery was the School of Theology and Philosophy. It is also an important stop on the Way of Saint James, a pilgrimage leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great.

    The Large Cloister was built between 1685 and 1689 and has 3,000m², making it the largest in Spain. It is known as “Father Feijoo”. The style is an austere and simple combination of classicism and Herrerianism: nine semicircular arches on each side on the ground floor, Doric columns on the first two floors and Ionic columns on the windows of the third. The walls of the upper floor were decorated with scenes from the life of Saint Benedict and are the work of Enrique Navarro, Celia Cortés and José Luis Rodríguez.    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 29–30

    Trabedelo to Liñares (O’Cebreiro)

    May 12 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The climb up to the town of O’Cebreiro is legendary, only second to crossing the Pyrenees Mountains in Camino Francés folklore.

    Hmmmm, so how did we not know this when choosing to summit on “optional” mountain the day before tackling this beast?!?

    We don’t have many pics from the muddy, horse shit (yes, you can apparently take a horse) climb itself, but true to the stories it was rough going. Halfway up, while refilling our water bottles a run away horse came charging down the trail! We came to find out later by someone looking for said horse that it was kicked by a cow… we couldn’t make this up if we tried 😂.

    On the climb to O’Cebreiro we officially entered our last Region of Spain, the Glacia Region.

    Celtic cousin and western neighbour to the province of Asturias, this is Spain’s most north-westerly region, where the inhabitants are fiercely independent and the language spoken is more akin to Portuguese than Spanish. The misty green hills of Galicia are riddled with ancient paths, little hamlets and age-old superstitions, and its long Atlantic coastline is famed for rocky headlands and complex estuaries. They are also famous for Pulpo (octopus) in this Region. 🐙    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    232
    Day 28–29

    Casa Susi ~ Trabadelo

    May 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    In doing our Camino research, there was one small special Albergue “Casa Susi” where we were really hoping to snag a bed. A few weeks into our trip, we calculated when we might arrive in the Trabadelo area and called to see if there was an opening for May 12th. Unfortunately, the date was booked. After looking at our schedule a little more we checked for an opening on May 11th, and they had 2 beds available!!!! It was fate that we were treated to this wonderful Albergue on Kim’s 50th birthday.

    Our jaw dropping day in the mountains culminated with an incredible celebration at Casa Susi, with a home-cooked vegetarian dinner, birthday desserts & singing , followed by a special visit to La Torre de Villafranca del Bierzo Bodega 🍷 to see Dan Mullins (A famous Camino podcaster and musician) in concert! 🎶 . We were up way past our normal 10pm bedtime 😂. Susi and her wonderful husband, Fermín, were such wonderful hosts, we couldn’t have asked for a more special day on the Camino 💕    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 28

    Camponaraya to Trabadelo

    May 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Aka… Kim’s bday hike, Aka… that time we climbed a mountain just for fun when we didn’t realize we had to climb another the next day. 😬

    Along with following way markers “the yellow arrows” we also rely on our trusty guide book and a few different phone apps. Sometimes you are given a possible alternate route, like the “choose your own adventure” books from our childhood.

    Today’s choices according to the app were…

    Door #1: The shorter route taken by most where pilgrims keep along the road which winds along the valley floor following the old national VI road, in the shadow of its replacement highway which soars above. The camino here is on paved asphalt, the old road surface, but is separated from the road by a barrier wall. There are numerous places where it crosses the road, and you are encouraged to watch out for traffic here; it is infrequent but speedy.

    Or Door #2: If we fancied a climb and a not too long (2k) detour. The way offers much better views with little to no traffic and it passes through a chestnut forest. Although the route via Pradela adds less than two kilometers of distance to the day, there is a significant amount of elevation gain/loss. The app also warns that “There may be an old woman there warning against the dangers of wolves, of traveling alone as a single woman, or any other strange and deranged reasons. Ignore her and carry on your merry way.”

    We chose door #2 for Kim’s bday. It was a beautiful day and we did not fancy another concrete road march. Little did we know that we were going waaaaaay up to walk along a mountain ridge line. The views were stunning and we only saw one other pilgrim our whole time on the mountain, well worth the extra effort.

    As we were enjoying pre dinner conversation and a cocktail we were told that the following day we would be greeted by one of our steepest climbs. To quote the app “ When the trail begins to climb again the path is rocky and steep and slick with mud and horse shit. Tread carefully and think happy thoughts.”

    Oops, in retrospect, maybe the days optional climb was not the best idea 😂, but we didn’t regret it.    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    1
    Day 27–28

    The Concrete Jungle

    May 10 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    El Acebo to Camponaraya

    We make it a point to find beauty every day on the Camino, but some days are just harder than others.

    While the big cities are beautiful in their own unique ways. The walk in, through, then out of the cities is tough. Sometimes both mentally and physically as we literally pound the pavement for miles and miles on end. The big city cathedrals are stunning but it’s definitely the small towns along the Camino and earthen rural trails that have our hearts. 💞Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    1
    Day 26–27

    El Ganso to El Acebo (Cruz de Ferro)

    May 9 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today was a special day. We reached Cruz de Ferro and placed our special rocks from home at the base. The Iron Cross marks the highest part of the mountain pass and has become the place where pilgrims the world over leave behind a stone brought with them from home or elsewhere on the camino.

    We knew this day would be a tough 25k as we went up and over the highest peak on our Camino, but we did not realize just how steep and rocky the decent from Cruz de Ferro would be. Luckily we were rewarded with some amazing views!    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 25–26

    That Night We Slept in a Tipi 🪶

    May 8 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Tomorrow we will summit the highest peak during our Camino. Tonight in our tipi we will be lulled to sleep by the sounds of crickets and Cuckoo birds. 🪶

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