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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Leon to St Martin del camino
April 25, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
We were glad to be back walking today after a couple of days sightseeing in Leon. It felt good to get our limbs moving again. The highlight of this trip is how much we have learnt, it has been mind-blowing.

Our walk out of Leon was very mediocre; a long walk through a more rundown part of the city with lots of shabby apartments and a big motorway.

We had breakfast at a cafe on the way out 10 Eoros for croissant, coffees, toastardas, cokes and tortillas - maybe our cheapest yet.

We chose "the scenic" off the motorway route to San Martin. We thought we had made a mistake as it added to our journey and we had to make a diversionsion through some back roads to get to our destination. However, our friends Barry and John assured us it was a good decision as the normal route was brutally boring travelling all day alongside a motorway.

Our albergue tonight is 2 years old, modern and well set up. We have paid 60 Euors for the night - it's cheap 15 Euros for a bunk bed each, and because some of the bunk rooms come in 4's we have our own for no extra cost. Result! We had the Pilgrim's menu at 14 Euros each; chickpea and vegetable soup, oven baked fish and potatoes, chocolate pudding or cornettos for dessert and a carafe of red wine. Delicious.

We have been so fortunate so far with the weather with beautiful clear cool days without a hint of rain. However, tomorrow, there are serious threats of rain or at least showers. We guess it had to happen sometime. We have walked more than 500 kilometers now and have just 10 days left of walking. We are a little sad about that.

Tomorrow we pass through the town of Astorga. We understand that it has a palace designed by Gauldi a famous architect, it is a do-not-miss-stop. We know nothing about Gauldi, but there was a Gauldi museum in Leon, so we guess he is a big deal. We are researching him tonight to be more informed tomorrow.

Good night all, we have a 30+ km trip tomorrow.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Astorga experience
April 26, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We walked through Astorga (walking between San Martin and Santa Catalina). Part of me wished we had stayed here. However, this would have meant missing out on the awesome accommodation in Santa Catalina.

Check out the photos of Gaudis palace. The Episcopal Palace of Astorga (Spanish: Palacio Episcopal de Astorga) is a building by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. It was built between 1889 and 1913. Designed in the Catalan Modernisme style, it is one of only three buildings by Gaudí outside Catalonia.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
San Martin to Santa Catalina
April 26, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
A fabulous day; we got up early and ate our homemade jam sandwiches and on the road at 6.30, we had a 34km day ahead of us and there was a slight possibility of rain.

Pretty cruisy 8kms into our first town, which had an amazing bridge, this town also has a major jousting competition each June... however nothing was open, so we had to walk on to the next town for breakfast. We met a nice couple from Sydney.

About 6kms out of Astorga, we came across a food rest area accepting donations for all kinds of food, including muesli and vegimite.

We got into Astorga with enough time to visit the Palace and also see the outside of Cathedral as it was closed. We spent 2 hrs in Astorga, and then pushed on for the last 10kms to our next town, expected time of arrival 5pm...last 10kms were a little difficult, but we made it just before the rain started and our accommodation was the best yet..photos to comeRead more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Santa Catalina to El Acebo
April 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
We were on the road by 6.45am, and even though we only had a 28km day, the weather wasn't looking great.

Todays walk turned out to be my favourite so far as we got to walk in the snow through some amazing scenery as well as dropping our rock at Cruz de ferro and actually getting g a photo of a cuckoo bird which we have heard many times throughout our walk,but never seen.

We arrived at our accommodation early to find they had missed our reservation and couldn't give us the rooms we were after, they had other rooms which were basic and only charged us for one and gave us free dinner which we were happy with.

We caught up with Dave from the States and Ben from Australia we hadn't seen for a while, which was greatRead more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
El Acebo to Cacabelos
April 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
32kms today....rain is forecasted, we are very excited (not). The first 8kms drops from 1200m to 600m and is quite dodgy with rain falling, but once in molinseca (8km from departure) we have coffees and hot chocolates by the river..rain has stopped and we are happy.

We walk on to ponferrado and check out the castle, have dome lunch and then brace ourselves for the last 16kms. It starts to get warm as we walk through vineyards after vineyards to cacabelos... given today is Sunday, literally everything is shut, but luckily they have a wine festival happening...see video so we are sorted....We so got the feeling from 5his toen that they did not value the Pilgrim's. The restaurants shut at 6pm and the reopen at 8.. Seriouslywho wants to wait until 8 for dinner...Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Cacabelos to Las Herrias...
April 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
A 28km walk today,through vineyards and beautiful towns in sunshine... we are expecting this to be the last of our sunshine.

We walked through Villa franca around 8kms and stopped for breakfast. There was also a shop open so we could get gloves for the girls and Michelle. We should have taken the opportunity to stop at the supermarket as the food options were not great for the last 20kms...Anyway it was a beautiful walk. We met Nikki from Australia and chatted with her for a while.

We arrived at our place early enough to rest up, ready for the steep and long walk tomorrow.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Las Herrias to Tricastela
April 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
We started early this morning, out the door at 6.30. 29kms today and climbing to 1300m over 8kms. To be honest, we were a little worried about this so-called mountain, however, we crushed it and we were having breakfast at 9am...we even met the Italian couple on the way up, which was cool.

Lunch was planned at the 20km mark, which left us with a downhill of 9 km to our destination. Breakfast turned into an hour it was a great cafe. The next 11 km to lunch was ok terrain wise, however it rained all the way.

We found (by chance) a great cafe for lunch. The girls and I had burgers (plus a beer for me) while Michelle had two coffees and cake...we met a guy from Ireland who told us that his return flights to Spain cost him 80 euro...wow. We didn't want to leave, however, after an hour, we had to get on our wet gear and get back on the way and tackle the last 10kms, which was all downhill.

As we walked, the rain eased, the clouds parted, but the wind picked up. In summary, today was not the best weather wise, but we put our heads down and walked. The scenery was awesome, and the time spent walking as a family was amazing. I am very proud of Emily and Lucy... with no training (they never walked with their backpacks in NZ), they are doing it pretty easy, with no complaints, and they are enjoying meeting people from all across the world..

We arrived at our destination in the rain and were grateful to have a nice hotel to stay at. Tomorrow is a rest day just 18kms... happy days. Only 140kms to go in 5 days.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Tricastela to Sarria
May 1, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
It's a sort of a rest day for us, just 18kms. We passed an amazing art gallery 2kms out of tricastela in the middle of the trail...see belowhttps://artworkbyart.com/2019/06/18/the-gallery….

It threatened to rain all day, however we were extremely lucky. The walk was basically up and down. mainly down and through agricultural villages full of cow sheds and cow shit, not the greatest, but o.k.

We arrived in Sarria, which is the town where a lot of people start as it is 115 km from Santiago, with the minimum to walk to get your Compostella is 100kms (hence the starting point). Once we arrived, it started to rain, but stopped in time for us to go out for dinner. To be honest, the town is not the greatest, very industrial... we are definitely looking forward to departing. We just met an Irish lady staying in our accommodation who has done plenty of caminos and the conversation quickly turned to (in her teminology) this town is a shithole....

Anyway, we only have 4 more days until we arrive in Santiago, very close, but it is forecasted to rain each of these days...

Upon leaving Sarria this morning, what we walked past changed our mind about Sarria. It was a beautiful town,it was just our accommodation was in the wrong part...Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Sarria to Gonzar
May 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Today was a beautiful walk through meadows and ancient oak forests. There was, however, at no point an even surface to walk on. We seemed to be on a steady incline all day, accept a decline into the town of Portamarine for lunch.

The forecast was for rain, but we managed to dodge rain for most of the day. We enjoyed walking in about 10 degrees. Tomorrow it looks like our fortunes will change with 80% chance of rain for our 30+km walk.

We have landed on our feet tonight with a lovely modern purpose built hostel/albergue. We have learned that the photos online do not always match the reality of the accommodation (I.e last night). But tonight is great! And there is a hearty salad on the menu - vegetables are very very hard to come by on the Camino. Alcohol is very cheap. 2 Euros for a lovely glass of red (and 5 Euros for a packet of cigarettes; if that's your gig).

Today, we passed through the "100km to go to Santiago" marker - it's a big deal, and we had our photo taken.
It means we have survived 700kms and are on the home stretch. The girls and I (Michelle) are fantasizing about throwing our trail shoes and various items of camino clothing; we cannot wait to get our everyday clothing suitcases back! So many people say that walking the Camino made them realize how little they need in terms of material possessions (I think it is having the opposite effect on us - we dream of nail salons and shopping malls!).

We caught up with both Emma and Kim today, we met them way back on day seven, so it was great to hear about their travels...

Only 3 days of walking to go...it has been great walking as a family, even though some days there is a few metres between us all...we are creating awesome memories.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Gonzar to Melide
May 3, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
A 32km day today, with the threat of rain, however it didn't bucket down until the last 30 minutes, so we were OK.

We left around 6.30 am and pretty much spent most of the morning climbing gradually. We met two families from Spain walking with 5 year olds.. extremely slowly but great to see.

We walked through forests and agricultural towns, we have found since passing the 100km mark the towns are very small and nothing really remarkable in them.

Melide, the town we were staying in, was pretty run down, but famous for Pulpo (Octopus). I tried it and really enjoyed it. We met a group from the UK who had just started and only doing the last 100kms they were such a nice group...I sort of feel sorry for them as they have missed the best parts.

Two days to go and most likely in the rain.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
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Melide to Salceda
May 4, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 15 °C
Today we walked 25kms and from the first step to the last step it rained...to date we have walked in wind, heat, cold, snow, and now rain. It had been threatening to rain for the last few days, and we had been lucky, so to be honest, having it on day 29 was better than day 1. Looking at the forecast, we will walk into Santiago tomorrow in the rain as well, but for our rest day on Monday, the sun will shine.

We now only have 27kms to go, we are all excited and not 100% what to expect, but we are looking forward to arriving.

Many of the people we have met and have walked with will be arriving a day after us, so we are looking forward to joining them for a celebration dinner.

Happy days.Read more
Traveler Such a happy photo!
5/4/24Reply
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
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Last day...Salceda to Santiago
May 5, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
The albergue was fantastic, but there were some heavy-duty snorers in the bunk room. Michelle and Brian slept through it all, but Emily and Lucy had to find refuge on the lounge room sofas mid-way through the night.

We got up at 6am and had cold pizza and diet cokes for breakfast. The weather forecast was for rain all day, and it was correct in its prediction. There was no damping down of our spirits and enthusiasm, though. We could not believe we were on our last day of the camino, excitement levels were high. We had a great walk together in the mud, puddles and rain. The scenery was beautiful; lush meadows, magical forests with tree branches reaching over our heads, waterfalls, gushing waterways and pretty homes.

There was a quick 2nd breakfast stop for tostardas con mermalada and coffee. When we re-joined the Camino after 2nd breakfast we could not believe the shear volume of walkers on the way. It was incredible, and we had not seen this before.

To get your Compostella you need to complete 100kms of walking so many people begin their camino in Sarria and today we meet them! (Not us we did the 800kms), including a school group from Ireland, a total of 50 students plus teachers, who started 3 days ago from Portomarin and were extremely excited to be finishing today.

We had one last Camino lunch and chanced upon a very clean and well run bar. Tostardas, tortillas, coffee, magdellanas, and diet cokes was our last super. We will miss the feeling of being hungry as a result of walking long and hard. At almost no time on the Camino are you walking flat. We feel we have gotten much stronger physically over the past month. We considered ourselves to be fit before we started, and although we didn't struggle with blisters, injuries, or with the long days, it was a big physical challenge and not suitable for all.

On entering the Santiago Compostella Plaza we were super happy to be there, and there was a lot of others there too. We took a quick photo to record the moment and decided to come back early the next day to go to pilgrims mass, maybe take a more orderly photo or two and welcome in some of our friends we had meet along the way who are due to arrive in.

We found it easy to collect our certificates (Compostellas) and were shortly after reunited with our pre Camino suitcases, which meant clean dry shoes and clothes.

We are in a little modern apartment for two nights and are currently adjusting to not walking and not being in a different Albergue every night. It is quite something to process. We must admit the thought of three touristy days in Portugal are very appealing, and we are looking forward to them.

We will post more photos tomorrow as sunshine is forecasted.Read more
Traveler Fantastic! Well done you Thompsons. That's quite an amazing achievement. Thanks for sharing. xxx
5/5/24Reply
TravelerFantastic effort and great family memories made, you will enjoy relaxing in Portugal
5/6/24Reply
Congratulations to you all, an amazing achievement. I don’t think I will ever mention my walks around Hagley Park again😅. [Peter J]
5/6/24Reply
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
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Santiago
May 6, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
We had a well-deserved sleep in this morning, and we didn't leave the apartment until 10 am. Sun was shining, and we hung outside the cathedral, watching people come in and finish their Camino... We caught up with Dave, Emma, John, and Barry as they walked in...it was great yo see them. Saw a few other familiar faces.

Mass in the Cathedral was at 12, so it was enough time for a coffee and then grabbed a seat early.

It was a good way to finish. We also saw Reece at the mass, the only other Kiwi we met on the Camino.

The rest of the day was spent shopping (all three ladies doent slong time in Zara), sightseeing, and eating (Sarah, we finally did the churros and chocolate). Tonight, we will be relaxing in the apartment, getting ready for our last three days in Portugal. Bus leaves at 11.30 and will take 4 hours. We will continue to post from Portugal.Read more
Traveler Wow. What a beautiful certificate. That's really something.
5/8/24Reply
Traveler I wish my handwriting was that lovely.
5/8/24Reply
Traveler Wow. that's beautiful.
5/8/24Reply
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Santiago to Porto
May 7, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
We were scheduled to catch the 11.30 bus to Porto, and we had sorted the taxi... which is another story, so while the 3 ladies chilled in the apartment, I went for a last look at Cathedral. I sat for a while just watching people come in and managed to get a great photo of the cathedral with no people in it, and just as I was leaving, I saw our italian friends. I was so happy to see them and managed to get a photo.

Then we were off on our 4-hour bus trip to Porto. Bus was extremely clean and quick, we arrived neatly 30mins early. We trudged the 20 minutes to our apartment as we couldn't check in to 3pm. The walk was ok, Porto is definitely cleaner than spain.

The street our apartment on was really cool, then when we checked in, we were blown away... a huge 2 bedroom, with a balcony, a view of the garden, very modern and immaculate with 4 glasses of port poured and waiting, we were all super excited.

While the girls caught up with social media, Michelle and I went for a walk into the center of town. We quickly fell in love with Porto. We even thought it was better than Paris. We visited the majestic cafe (took photo from out front...but will visit for coffee tomorrow) Café Majestic (dating from 1921) is one of the emblematic establishments in the city and it is in the Top 10 of the most beautiful cafes in the world and is where J. K. Rowling wrote his favorite chapter of the book, “The Mirror of Erised”?

It was also university graduation, and many streets were closed for the parade it was amazing to see.

We finished the walk with a visit to the local markets, which were huge. You could grab a beer or wine while you walked around shopping for your groceries...the Portuguese know how to shop.

Dinner was at a restaurant called the honest green...very healthy, and it was amazing after the types of food we have experienced in Spain.

We finished the night off with Gelato and walked across the Duro River, and saw the bridge (designed by the same person who designed the Eiffel tower) all lit up.

Yah. Porto is super cool, and we are all excited to finish our holiday here.Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Porto
May 8, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Sun was shining, and we had our first hot day in a while. Sightseeing and shopping was the plan today.

We cruised around the shops and food markets in the morning,visited Sao Bento railway station, and then had a guided tuk tuk tour of the city. This was very cool and educational.

In the afternoon, we walked across the bridge into the port cellar area of Vila Nova de Gaia for a river cruise, which was very relaxing. Dinner in the apartment tonight...Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Porto day 2
May 9, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Another awesome day weather wise for sightseeing on the plan to visit (see photos attached over three posts).

Imperial McDonald's
(The art deco stained glass windows and the chandeliers will blow your mind!) The name “Imperial” comes from the Eagle, still preeminent in the facade.

The Twin Churches
What looks like just one big church is actually two connected by what is one of the world's narrowest houses - just 1 meter wide! To the right is Carmo Church, built in the 18th century. Outside, it is covered in blue and white tile panels. The house that separates the two churches was inhabited until about 20 years ago, and it was built due to a law that stated that no two churches could share a wall. To the left is Carmelitas Church, built in the 17th century it has also a richly gilded interior. Under the church lies a cemetery with 400 people buried... On top of the building you can access the bell tower which has great views of the city.

Porto Cathedral
The Porto Cathedral is a building with a Roman-Gothic structure from the 17th century. XII and XIII, having undergone major renovations in the Baroque period (17th-18th century). Inside, it still retains the appearance of a fortress church, with battlements.

After all this walking around, we chilled in the apartment for a while, lucy and Emily went shopping in the afternoon, and Michelle and I visited Matosinhos Beach

The Praia de Matosinhos is a beautiful sandy beach, which is regarded as the best beach close to Porto. We chilled and admired the view over a couple of drinks, then walked along the promenade (1 hr walk) to catch the tram back to Porto...which was an experience, it traveled next to the seaside and once the tram was full, people simply jumped onto the outside of the tram for their journey holding on tight...

We headed back to Honest Greens for dinner, probably our favorite restaurant on this trip...

Anyway, big travel day tomorrow starting with a 4hr bus ride to Lisbon, a 5hr wait before we fly out to Dubai (8hr flight), 2 hr wait at airport before we fly to Christchurch via stop in Sydney ( 19 hrs)...the joys of traveling from NZ.

However, it is definitely worth it....Read more
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
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Porto day 2 more photos
May 9, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Traveler Is that man holding on to the outside of a tram?
5/12/24Reply
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THE WAY OF ST JAMES Thompson's Camino 2024
Porto day 2 more photos
May 9, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
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Trip end
May 12, 2024