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  • Jill GatwoodMemories

    A Gudiña to Laza

    April 17 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 54 °F

    Another long climb, mostly on a paved road surrounded by purple heather, yellow and white flowers. Every day so far has been perfect weather, cool in the morning, around 75f in the afternoon. We"re lucky because Galicia is often very rainy.
    We passed through several small villages with old stone buildings and a few modern houses, but everything locked up and no one in sight. We continued to climb and I watched Olivia ahead of me, hoping her figure would descend, signalling a break in the climb.

    Finally we reached the top of the ridge, with distant views in every direction. I had read a couple of things about the next town, where we planned to stay, Campobecerros. I knew that the descent to the town was steep and on unstable slate scree.

     I also read alarmingly bad reviews of the one hostal in Campobecerros; that the woman who ran it was rude and unwelcoming and the rooms were dingy. One reviewer said, " just keep walking, don't even stop at the bar for coffee!" The reviews were so bad, it almost made me more interested in staying there to experience it! I mean I dont care how we,'re treated; we just wanted a place to sleep.
    We entered the hostal through the bar, which was dark and full of locals, loud, either with joy or anger We recognized the sour owner right away, who pointedly ignored us. When I finally got her attention and asked for a room, she acted put out, led us to a room with two beds and left us. Dingy it was, and with that tell-tale musty aroma suggesting bedbugs. We lifted the sheet and all along the rim of the mattress was a line of spots of bood and scat from a long-term infestation. In case we weren't sure if the problem had been resolved, there was a dead bedbug on top of the sheet which meant either the bugs were still there or the sheet hadn't been changed since they were.

    We went back to the bar, itching all over just from what we'd seen, and asked the "lady" to call us a taxi to Laza. She said sure, no problem and it was the first time we saw her smile, as we walked out the door.
    (Pictures to come)

    .    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    Day 7

    A Gudiña - Laza

    April 16 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    This stage, described in a guide (A Gudiño to Laza) is 34 kilometers, and we weren't going to tackle that kind of mileage (kilometerage?). On gronze.
    com, a regularly updated online site for all the caminos, it said that halfway between these two towns is the pueblo, Campobecerros, which used to have an albergue, but now there's just a guesthouse there behind a bar with about 6-8 beds. It was a hilly 20k (12 miles) from Gudiña to Campobecerros which sounded doable, though the reviews of the place were so horrifyingly bad, it was almost comical. Actually it made me want to stay there more, just to experience it. Most of the reviews described a mean hostess and dingy accomodations, but we just wanted somwhere to sleep, so I called to reserve 2 beds. The lady answered the phone with racous bar noise in the background. I asked if she had room for us (she made me ask it twice), she said yes and as I started to ask the price she abruptly hung up on me.

    So off to walk!
    The path ascended on a quiet country road and then a dirt track, sometimes steeply, and didn't let up. We were on top of the hills, over 1000 meters elevation; only low scrub brush, purple heather and distant views in all directions. Quite beautiful and again no pilgrims in site.

    At one of the highest points, a large lake came into view below. There was a stone bench, a pilgrim fountain and something that was such a great idea I don't know why there aren't more of these. A swing! After swinging, we sat on the bench and had some cheese and bread. To our surprise, a sportscar showed up on the track and stopped in front of us. A.man with a neat beard, trendy clothes and a big camera with lots of lenses jumped out.
    He asked if he could photograph us, explaining he was working on a PR campaign for the region, so we said sure. Then he asked for an action shot, walking up the road. We both started to get up and he said that's ok, I just want one and of course looked at Olivia (she's better "PR" than this abuelita), who put on her pack and walked up the road for him a couple times. Then he sped off, stopping once ahead and taking pics of us from a distance.

    It was unseasonably warm for Galicia, but with a cool breeze, we had the mountains to ourselves, and just a gorgeous day. As we began to tire, we kept scanning ahead for the descent to Campobecerros. We saw a sloping ridge ahead that looked promising, and then some possible switchbacks in the distance.
    But we rounded a corner and found a steep slate scree slope, with Campobecerros straight down below us. I dont know anyone would make it down that in the rain!

    We scrabbled and slipped down the descent to Campobecerros and entered the dark, lively bar. A woman chatted and argued with men at the counter and ignored us. Finally I approached and told her we called about 2 beds. She looked resentful at our interruption and motioned for us to follow her, opened a room with two beds and walked away.

    Dingy was an apt description, with frayed bedspreads that didn't look to have been washed in a very long time on swayback twin beds. And the telltale musty aroma of bedbugs. We peeled up the sheets to find lines of accumulated blood and scat along the top rim of the mattresses that suggested a long term infestation. And a dead bug on top of the sheet to tell us the problem never did get addressed.

    Grabbed our packs, went back into the bar, ordered a couple of beers and felt itchy all over just from what we'd seen. I asked the hostess if she'd call us a taxi to Laza. She smiled for the first time and waved gaily as we walked out the door.    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodMemories
    1

    Lubian to A Gaduna

    April 16 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    This is not a walk for sissies! Soon after leaving Lubian, we start up an unrelenting, steep trail. Even better, there is water running down the path and deep mud. After each of us missing a stone and plunging a shoe in the water, we changed into sandals for the rest of the ascent to Portela de La Canda, on top of the ridge, the gateway to la provincia de Galicia.

    On the way down from the summit, we sighted in the distance a gas station up on N-252 highway, where we stopped with Brooks in the rental car on the way to the start of our walk in Puebla de Sanabria. That freeway passed through high hills, either barren, or covered in grey and brown, pretty grim looking, which made me dubious about our coming walk. I knew below us in the car) somewhere was the camino route.

    As it turned out, on the actual path across those hills, we walked through purple heather, yellow, white and pink flowers, through tiny medieval stone villages and past impossibly green meadows. And birds I couldn't recognise, with melodious songs. Except the Spanish Cookoo, with it's tell tale call "COOKOO, COOKOO". It sounded like a person doing a bad imitation of what the bird SHOULD sound like. "Get a voice coach!" I yelled at them, "You can do better than that!"

    Olivia was famished on the way to the next town, Vilavella. Ahead of her, I stopped at empty windows in abandoned stone houses and placed my order, "Yes, I'd like the combination plate with enchiladas, tacos, frijoles and papas. What"s that? Yes I'd like red chile and a fried egg on top." She never laughs at my jokes.    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    Day 7

    Lubian to A Gudiña

    April 16 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    (Not remembering I already wrote about this stage, I wrote about it again)
    We knew there would be a climb today, but we didn't know it would be an Epic climb.

    We headed out of town, meandering through woods down to a pretty stone bridge over the river. I had heard there was a 400 year old "wolf catcher" near here, but we didn't find it. It's a hole/gulch surrounded by overhanging slate slabs and they put a lamb in the middle. The wolf jumps in and can't get out, and then they paraded the wolf around town before they killed it
    Wolves are still seen in this area.. hope I see one!

    Back to the climb. After the bridge over the river, we turned up a forested trail that got steeper... and steeper. Not hard enough, so they added a rivulet of water running down the middle of the trail surrounded by quicksand-like mud. At first we tried hopping over stones or taking side paths, but it was useless. We changed into our sandals and continued sludging upward, sometimes sinking ankle deep in the mud. We could see Big Foot's prints and a couple of placed where he had dramatic slips with his big ol' shoes. It just wouldn't quit.
    We made it to the summit, Portela de la Canda, the gateway to Galicia, and continued with the descent. (Will clean this up and merge my two entries when I get home)    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    1
    Day 6–10

    Requejo de Sanabria to Lubian

    April 15 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We stayed at an older Albergue in Requejo, Casa Cervino. There were lots of trucks in this tiny strip town which was confusing until I started seeing guys who looked like they belonged in Tucumcari, New Mexico - drinking beer, wearing camo hats - and realized it was deer hunting season.

    We left Requejo, walking alongside a highway for a little ways until, just after the tiny town of Padornelo, there was a turn off with new-looking Camino markers and yellow markers.pointing to the right toward the village of Aciberos. All the guides pointed that way, EXCEPT for the WisePilgrim app we were using that told us to ignore that turnoff because it was "the old camino" and continue on the road till we saw a turnoff to the left, which was the "new camino."

    So we did that, heading down through a grassy meadow into the trees.
    We crossed a river and kept walking, almost bushwacking sometimes, seeing no evidence that anyone had walked that way before us, other than rare, tiny wooden signs with yellow arrows. If it weren't for the realtime map on the WisePilgrim app, showing our location on the trail, we would have gotten lost. But it was beautiful walking and we were glad we went that way.

    We didnt see one other walker until we reached Lubian, where we checked into the pilgrim Albergue and saw some familiar faces. Martin, a very tall (2 meters, 6' 5" with size 16 shoes) German, 30+ yrs old, with red hair and a silly sense of humor, Katarina, a Danish woman in her 40s, pretty, down-to-earth with whom we had several great conversations, a young Korean woman (we ran into her every time we stopped) who kept to herself and seemed not to speak Spanish or English (altho someone later told us she did speak English). She never joined our table and it was hard to get her to make eye contact. A very heavy French guy who was struggling on the trail... when he'd bend over, we were privileged to see at least 6" of his butt crack. An older snooty Dutch couple who took every opportunity to one-up others. We started dubbing them with trail names. Martin became Bigfoot, the Korean woman we called "the silent assassin", the French guy we named "Butt crack" but when we got to know him a little better and liked him, we shortened his name to BC.

    While sitting at dinner in Lubian a man came up to me and asked if I was American, then told me I needed to call Casa de Cervino, which we had left about 5 hours before in Requejo. I called and found out that we'd forgotten to pay. I started suggesting different ways I could get the money to her. She said No hay problema, I can drive there and get it from you at the cafe. I said are you sure?? That seems like a nig inconvenience. But 15 minutes later, she showed up before we'd finished eating. After walking all day, that seemed like a miracle!:    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    11
    Day 5

    Puebla Sanabria to Requejo

    April 14 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    First walking day; warm weather, very green, hopping stones across creeks, mountains with snow in the distance. Olivia has great stamina and has become a very good navigator.

    We did not see a single other pilgrim walking, but there are about 10 in the albergue in Requejo, ,all having walked a longer distance today. They are all walking Via de La Plata, a camino that starts way down south in Sevilla, 995 km/over 600 miles from Sevilla to Santiago. The ones I have talked to so far are from Germany, Korea, Denmark and Romania.

    While walking, we came upon a church in a meadow, built probably in medieval times. There were steps so we climbed up and came to very large bells which we rang. On the front of the church you can see a carved scallop shell, a symbol of the pilgrimage. Saw our first stork on a nest. Those 2 guys on the veranda are NOT from Tucumcari, NM. They are rural Spaniards up here doing some deer huntin'.    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodMemories

    Puebla de Sanabria

    April 13 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Brooks rented a car and drove us up here, where we start our walk from tomorrow morning. I am surprised at how hot it is - this part of Spain is often cold and rainy.

     It is a beautiful little village with narrow streets between stone buildings, a castle on top of the hill, and a lake down below. Lots of Spanish tourists here now. I had booked a room for us ahead of time in a small hotel and a sign on the door said it opened for check-in at 3, but was still locked up tight after that. So I called the number on the door and the lady gave me the code to get in, our room number and said the key would be in the room door. It was, and it appears we are the only guests staying here. So we have the run of the place including the cafe which doesnt open until breakfast tomorrow. Booze in there and everything, so strange (will add more town pics soon)Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    Day 2

    Braga

    April 11 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Olivia and I flew from Madrid to Porto, Portugal where we met my brother Brooks who had taken a train from Braga, where he and Necla have lived for the last two years. Then we ubered to Braga. Planes, trains and automobiles!

    Braga is a beautiful inland town with a medieval wall and very old cathedral which has a couryard full of carved stone artifacts from the Romans (in Braga 14 bc - 411 ad) and Celtics (600bc - whenever). who apparently had consecutive temples there before the Christians built on top of them as they were wont to do.

    Brooks is the best tour guide because, like me, he's curious about everything. But he's also smarter and has a better memory than me. He either knows everything about the history, of Braga, what the symbols on the coats of arms carved on buildings and walls mean (15 tassels with 5 on the bottom is for the archbishop, etc) or he was just making shit up the whole time, which would be almost as impressive. He also knows the best hole in the wall places for lunch, the lady in the big Saturday market stops serving other customers to reach out and hand him a cinnamon nata she knows he likes.

    Necla (from Turkey) is a whiz at languages, and seems fluent in Portugues already, chatting away to everybody. Brooks is still getting there (he's taking lessons) and yet we ran into people he knew all over town.

    Necla said this is the first place in a long time she wanted to settle down (she's from Turkey, where she and Brooks have lived, they met in Singapore while living there, she lived in China for awhile, etc). So they bought a place in Braga which is still being built.

    Portugal is the only country I've been to where they tile the outside of the houses. Not only is it beautiful, but seems to me that it would make for a very durable surface that is also easy to clean. Did I take many pictures of them? Guess. We also met Sergio, who runs a guitar store in Braga and he told us all about - and played -.all these different esoteric Portugues instruments. Video attached of him with a Fado guitar    Read more

  • Jill GatwoodCamino Sanabres
    Day 1

    Dallas airport

    April 10 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 59 °F

    On the layover in Dallas, I stopped in an airport restaurant to get something to eat and sat at the bar. I said to the guy next to me, while looking at the menu, "I can't decide whether to get the fish tacos or save that money for A DOWN PAYMENT ON A MASERATI". (then I noticed he was the actor/rapper, Common). He agreed that $30 was too much for a couple of tacos, (but then he probably already has a Maserati.)
    I could only eat one of them and offered him the other one. He said "no thanks. But you should eat it; you don't want to waste $15!" We had a nice chat.    Read more

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