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  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 67

    Fisterra/Finisterre/Land's End

    October 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    A 31 mile walk in driving rain was certainly one way to end a trip but it wasn't the end. I was at the lighthouse, trying to take it all in, when two ladies, Carmen and Frances from Barcelona, started talking to me. After a lovely chat Carmen told her husband to take a photo of me, she told me to get look after myself and asked me to remember them. I was heartbroken!

    So why did I do this walk? Bereavements and books.

    As far as bereavements go, I have had a lot of time to reflect on the wonderful people I've known but who are no longer here, and I think I needed that.

    Several books have played a part but it all started when I was given Laurie Lee's 'As I walked out one midsummer morning'. It's the true story of a rural lad who picks up his fiddle and walks across Spain, knowing only enough Spanish to ask for water. It's a wonderfully crafted account of his adventures and of his narrow escape when the Civil War breaks out. Highly recommended but be careful...you could do something out of the ordinary.

    Photos - the first or last milestone

    Proof that I did it

    I couldn't take many photos because of the weather but I just wanted one last one of wonderful Galicia.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 66

    Walking to Fisterra

    October 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    It was good to get back on the road and away from the bustle of Santiago de Compostela. However I wasn't in peak fitness for the walk. Last night a few of us got together for a meal. We had all walked the Northern coast of Spain, some of us were continuing to Fisterra but some were not so we thought a meal in Santiago would be fitting. After much wine and beer, it ended up being a lock-in and the landlord got his home made liqueurs for us to try. The liqueurs were poured from five litre plastic containers so the presentation wasn't great but they all tasted great, especially the coffee. The main thing was I managed to get to bed without waking the dorm up. The previous night, I managed to bring a curtain rail down!

    Photos - The river at Ponte Maceira

    The bridge at Ponte Maceira

    A gloomy Galicia this morning

    A great bunch of people with homemade liqueur    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 65

    Santiago de Compostela

    October 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    In the ninth century it was claimed that the remains of St James the Greater were found in Compostela. There are many apocryphal tales of St James in Spain so it would not have been odd to have suggested his remains were found there.

    From that discovery, Compestela became a centre for pilgrimage and in the 15th Century the pope declared it one of the three great Christian pilgrimages along with Rome and Jerusalem.

    Nowadays, between two and four thousand pilgrims arrive each day (except in winter). To qualify as a pilgrim you need to have walked 100km to reach Compestelaand the vast majority of people do just that. You don't have to walk it all in one go and many do it over several years, picking up where they left off each time

    At the end you receive a certificate which is known as the 'compostela'. It's written in Latin, including your name!

    Photos - the cathedral of Santiago

    A wet Santiago this morning

    The Botafumeiro in action at Mass. I learned afterwards that I was extremely lucky to see this. The Botafumeiro is one of the largest incense burners in the world. It gets up to 35mph at full speed!

    The queue for mass    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 64

    Walking to Santiago

    October 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Overexcited, I decided to get to Santiago today which meant setting off in the dark.

    It was lovely when I only had glow worms for company but it wasn't long before I saw three pairs of eyes reflecting in my headtorch. And then the barking started. If the Spanish section of this walk had a soundtrack it would be barking dogs. Normally, they are chained or behind a fence but it was too dark for me to tell whether that was the case here and they didn't sound like pooches. They started to move towards me. I didn't want to take any chances so I turned my torch off and ran into the eucalyptus plantation to the right. I'm guessing it was eucalyptus because the trunks were dead straight and so too were the rows. Fortunately the dogs were still barking so I could tell where they were. I needed to get deeper into the trees. Still they were barking but it was more distant. I fumbled in a direction that would take me beyond the dogs and, when the barking was dull enough, I turned my torch on and found my way to the road. I'd heard others talk about being scared by dogs here and I always thought they were exaggerating the threat but I was genuinely concerned whether those dogs were tethered or not.

    I've just eaten with a Colombian, Latvian, and a bloke from Stoke who lives on a barge. You get all sorts here!

    Photos - Pilgrims never miss a photo op

    Another beautiful sunrise in Galicia

    A Roman bridge over Río Mera

    Eucalyptus. They deserve a photo since I have walked past so many

    Dog "greeting" a pilgrim    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 63

    Boimorto

    October 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Wow! It can rain here! The only person I have spoken to is a barman. The pilgrims were just heads down, trying to keep the rain off their faces.

    Photos - Blustery on the road to Sobrado Dos Monxes

    The Trappist monastery at Sobrado. I could've stayed here tonight but I'm keen to reach Santiago so I kept walking

    I was standing in the middle of the road when I took this. You couldn't see where the edges of the road were. You'll notice I'm wearing a skirt - perfect for walking in the rain!

    Last night we had foraged chestnuts...Dario (Portugal), a Spanish guy whose name I don't know, me, Andrea and Michaela (Italy)    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 62

    Miraz

    October 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Tonight I'm staying in a hostel run by the British charity the Confraternity of St James. Their website has been a great resource. The hostel is manned by volunteers and I'm lucky in that the volunteers at the moment are from Formby and their daughter lives by Calderstones Park so it was nice to have a chat. Unfortunately I noticed my accent getting broader and broader as the conversation went on.

    Photos - Miraz tower, just around the corner from where I am staying.

    Sunrise. It has been really special to see this so often.

    I saw walls like this in Brittany too. It seems to me to be a difficult way to build a wall. I've tried to find out more about this method and failed

    Chestnuts (castañas) - I have been walking over these for days.

    Hórreo with autumn crocuses

    Sometimes it feels as though I'm back in Britain

    Today's laundry facilities    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 61

    Vilalba

    October 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Vilalba isn't the prettiest town I have walked through but the surrounding countryside is like Arcadia; green, fertile, babbling brooks, shady copses and rolling pasture. It's like Shropshire with mountains.

    I was talking to a young lady from the North of Italy. She has walked alone for over 700 kilometres and only (her word!) has a couple of hundred left to do. She was telling me that doing this has given her the confidence to be herself and not try to be what she thinks others expect her to be. This took her completely out of her comfort zone but she has surprised herself at how well she has coped. It was wonderful to hear her say that and to see her beaming smile too!

    Photos - The keep of Vilalba castle is now a luxury hotel

    Three photos of the route through Galicia. Lush.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 60

    Mondoñedo

    October 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Galicia is beautiful! And I've only been here for just over a day!

    I walked through a town called Lourenzá which has a one thousand year old monastery. Well it used to be a monastery. It's now a church, museum and town hall.

    What I learned was that in the mid 1800s the Spanish Government raised money by selling off stuff that wasn't theirs to sell. They sold monasteries, charities and common land. The Government asked some rich people to organise the sale. I guess the government equated rich with clever but maybe they didn't consider that perhaps you have to be a little bit selfish or even greedy to be rich. The rich folk divided the land into lots and auctioned it, but they made the size of the lots so large that only rich folk could afford them. Surprise! Surprise!Most of the land ended up in very few hands. Worse than that, the charities and monasteries used to provide education and medical aid to the common people, and the common land provided grazing, wood and hunting. All of that support disappeared. The result was that many people had to leave the countryside to take low wages in factories (owned by the rich) or emigrate, or lead an even tougher life if they stayed put.

    Anna was the wonderful Asturian host who took the time to speak to me in Spanish.

    Photos - Mondoñedo cathedral

    The Fonte Vella (old spring water source) at Mondoñedo

    The old monastery at Lourenzá

    Galicia

    A stand pipe. These have been a godsend ever since I landed in France so I had to get a photo

    A furry caterpillar. I see these, maybe, every other day and I love the way they bumble along

    Me with a camino sign    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 59

    Galicia!

    October 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    So this, Galicia, is the last autonomous community of Spain I'll pass through, having walked through the Basque country, Cantabria, and Asturias to get here. And Galician will be the fourth language I hope to hear/see after Spanish, Basque, and Asturleonese. It's a big country! I was told that it is so big that the sun rises in Barcelona one hour before it rises in A Coruña. I haven't fact checked that but I can believe it judging by how dark the mornings are in the West.

    Hopefully, the temperature starts to move towards the Galician norm (i.e. cold!) as the daily high has regularly been over 30 degrees for a week now. I brought one short sleeved shirt and two wool vests to wear so that shirt gets washed every night, and I wear it the next day regardless of whether it is dry or not.

    Photos - the view from the 600 meter long bridge that links Asturias on the left to Galicia on the right. I crossed the bridge with a German lady. She was shouting "Wunderschön" repeatedly (or at least that's how it sounded) in response to my "Not bad is it?"

    The footpath was very high, very narrow and windy enough for me to take my hat off before the wind did it for me.

    The last three photos are just some of the (yes, more) lovely beaches in Asturias (Penarronda, Tapia, Porcía). Today was the last time I will see the sea until I reach Fisterra (Land's End) in ten days or so.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 58

    Navia

    October 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This place, Navia, could be lovely but it feels like it has just become a place for motorways and railways to pass through. The good thing is that I've had conversations today.

    I was walking through Luarca, a pretty fishing village,and using my phone for navigation. This old lady told me where I should be heading so I started talking to her. The streets in Luarca are steep and we were walking uphill and talking. I could have fallen over when she told me she was eighty years old. Sure, we were walking slowly but the gradient was well over 10% yet she didn't break a sweat!

    The place I was going to stay at didn't do vegetarian food so I walked here ,which does no food). That was a bit of a downer but luckily for me Dublin Kevin is in the next bed so I'm sorted for a bit of chat.

    Photos - Navia complete with various viaducts...Luarca (very friendly town)...Río Esva this morning    Read more

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