Spain
Padornelo

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    • Day 37

      Windy and Rainy Walk to Triacastela

      October 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 46 °F

      Today we walked 22 km or so to Triacastela. It was super windy and quite rainy at times. The trail was beautiful, sometimes through farmland and sometimes through the woods. It was pretty cold, especially when our gloves and shoes and hats got wet. I’m not an expert on wind speed but the gusts up on top of the ridge today were hard enough to knock us off balance!

      We stopped for hot chocolate and a sandwich when our fingers were getting super cold. It helped a lot!

      We saw a few cows out grazing but many cows were in their barns in the little villages. We were surprised to see the pilgrim monument we took a picture of. Poor pilgrim looks like he’s been fighting the wind since the Middle Ages.

      We were glad to get out of O Cebreiro. It’s cute but it’s a place that has a “we don’t really like pilgrims” vibe. The innkeepers and residents were not friendly at all. I kept waking up at 4, then 5, then 6 because I was anxious to leave. Triacastela is cute and our Belgian innkeepers are nice!

      Can you believe that tomorrow night we’ll be in Sarría, the starting point for 100 km pilgrimages? We have to be sure to get two dated stamps in our pilgrim’s credentials each day to qualify for a compostela, a certificate of completion, at the end of our Camino. It should not be hard; each day we’ll get a stamp at our lodging place and at any bar (coffee shop) or church we stop at. The distance markers we are seeing are now in the 130 km range! In Galicia, the markers are very precise, measuring the distance to Santiago in thousandths of kilometers, which means each marker tells you the precise number of meters to St. James’ tomb in Santiago.

      Edit: Here in Triacastela we are in such a nice pension (inn). We just went out for a wonderful dinner (for 13€ each we got first course, second course, water, wine for me, and dessert). David’s been fun, joking and having a great time, and I’m having a great time with him. Still, sitting by the fire at the inn before we go up to our room he asked, “What country are we in again?” We choose to be upbeat and joyful in spite of our challenges but sometimes it’s hard to watch his cognitive abilities slip away 😢.
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    • Day 23

      On the way...

      April 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

      با مهدی مسیر رو که کاملا کوهستانی شده ادامه دادیم. هوا دیروز و امروز بارونی و سرد شده. دیروز که یک ریز بارون بارید و مسیر هم بیشتر سربالایی بود بعد از حدود ۱۶ کیلومتر به یه خوابگاه پناه بردیم. هردو خیس شده بودیم. وقتی مناظر رو با هفته پیش مقایسه میکنم اصلا نمیفهمم که کی و چجوری از یه منظره بدون کوه وارد کوه‌ها شدیم. خیلی به تدریج مسیر عوض شد. چالش‌های روز اول بیشتر فیزیکی بودن و اینکه انگیزه داشته باشی علی رغم درد های مختلف برای راه رو ادامه بدی. ولی کیلومترها زودتر میگذشتن. الان ولی حدود ۱۵۰ کیلومتر از مسیر باقی مونده و شاید بشه گفت چالش ها ذهنی هستن. من که دیگه درد خاصی تو پاهام حس نمیکنم موقع راه رفتن برعکس روزهای اول. ولی یه خستگی به مرور زمان توم جمع شده و بعضی جاها میاد سراغم. خیلی مهمه که مواظب انرژیت باشی تا در طول زمان افت نکنه. تغذیه هم خیلی مهمه.

      دیروز تو خوابگاه یه خانوم انگلیسی حدود ۷۰ ساله دیدیم که خودش به تنهایی از دی ماه پیاده‌روی رو شروع کرده بود و مسیرهای مختلفی رفته بود. دیدن آدم‌ها و شنیدن قصه‌هاشون به آدم کمک میکنه تا از شر غروری که به مرور تو آدم شکل میگیره رها بشه.
      به تعطیلات عید پاک داریم نزدیک میشیم و رفته رفته به تعداد آدم‌های تو مسیر هم اضافه میشه. شاید لازم باشه از چند روز بعد خوابگاه‌هارو از قبل رزرو کنیم. باید حواسمون به این موضوع باشه.
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    • Day 31

      Padornelo

      June 17, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

      Desayuno numero uno

      Hector is from Ponferrada. The Way passes right in front of his house and he watched Pilgrims pass by every day of his life
      So couple of days ago he just threw his backpack on... and walked out the door 🙃

      And this little puppy met me on top of the hill (yes apparently I still have to go up a little more before really started to descend) and decided to take my walking pole for a playstick... but by this time he was done with my poles and tried to steal the lady's socks

      Speaking of - ONLY on Camino does a bunch of people walk into a bar/Cafe and proceeds to take their smelly socks off 😆
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    • Day 13

      A Balsa from Hospital de la Condesa

      October 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      Spain changed to daylight savings time last night. Nice to see light at 7:30 instead of 8:30. Did laundry when I woke up. Got breakfast at the town bar, and started walking around 10. It was ups and downs all day, but an overall loss of altitude coming down from O Cebreiro.

      This was a very mixed up day weather wise. Started out in a light drizzle, then a good stretch of sun, then high wind and hard rain, then sun, then rain again as I finished the day’s walk a little after 5. I’m thinking of adopting that old fisherman’s proverb “the worst day fishing is better than the best day at work.” With this much practice it has become easy to get in and out of my slicker. I can do it without taking my pack off and don’t even stop walking any more. A few other people walking, but not as many as previous days.

      I’ve been working through some physical problems as I walk. My walking style has adjusted accordingly. At home I usually walk if not briskly, at least at a good consistent pace. For a long haul like the camino, that pace has been causing me some problems as I get into shape. I’ve found that I do much better if I walk slower. It’s more like I’m moseying the camino rather than walking it. Today felt much better. I’m sure I’ll finally get in shape about the time I get to Santiago!

      Tonight I’m staying at a nice family run albergue. A Dutch man and an Italian woman opened this albergue 10 years ago. They have a young daughter who speaks multiple languages. I had a very nice vegan meal by myself, I’m the only one staying here tonight. I like supporting the smaller family run businesses.
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    • Day 30

      Samos

      September 20, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Patti und ich sind 24 km bis nach Samos gelaufen, durch ein wunderschönes Tal, aber viel Auf und Ab. Wir schlafen im Kloster, aber es ist weniger spektakulär, als man annehmen sollte. Natürlich kein WLAN und kaum Steckdosen, aber ich habe ja die gute Powerbank :).Read more

    • Day 25

      climb to O Cebreiro and on

      May 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

      Today I walked 21 miles and climbed about 700m total. It felt so good to finally have some climbing to do after the flat mesetas. When I arrived to the top of O Cebreiro (where many stay for the night after the climb), I was resting, having a drink, and 5 separate people offered to buy me a drink because they were so impressed by how fast I walked up the climb😂. If only they knew the climbs the Sierra Nevada has. After that ego boost and since it was only 11:30 when I arrived to the top, I decided to push on about 7.5mi to the next town with an adequate stay, Fonfria (where I write this). For the next two hours, it rained hard and pilgrims were few and far between since many chose not to walk in the rain. It was nice.Read more

    • Day 38

      Sporty Climb to Start

      July 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

      The albergue in Hospital de Condesa was lovely. Much better than I expected for 8€.
      And I enjoyed watching locals hang out, chatting at the bar in slanting sunlight while cows strolled along, bells jangling and happy dogs at their heels.

      A fine evening with cool air for sleeping and a quiet crowd... I'll never take non-snorers for granted again. It's so nice.

      The morning was misty and cool, but is burning off quickly to give us sparkling green views of rolling hills and mossy dwarven forests. The trail didn't mess around, jumps right into a very peppy climb for about 2km... But then coffee. Yay, coffee!

      No pan de chocolate at 1st breakfast, but possibly the heftiest tortilla I've yet seen!
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    • Day 35

      Day 34, O Cebreiro to Fonfria

      June 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      What a difference a day makes! We woke up this morning to find O Cebreiro shrouded in mist with last night’s magnificent views completely obscured by cloud. Even though it had been hard to climb in yesterday’s heat, I was hugely grateful to have seen the village in all its glory. Given its elevation I imagine today’s misty conditions are more common.
      We were in no rush to get on the road because we only had a 12km walk so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the bar where we’d eaten dinner last night. We tried to pop back into the church before we left but found it locked this morning.
      For much of today’s walk the weather was cool and the visibility limited though gradually we got a better peek at the mountains which had been hidden by cloud for much of the morning. The wild flowers on the route seemed more like the vegetation you’d see in England and Ireland, perhaps because the climate here is cooler and wetter than earlier sections of our walk.
      We’re staying at an albergue which has been highly recommended by Nick, the vegan chef from Brighton, who we met at Verde. He shares a birthday with me and spent it here (when I was still in Pamplona in my first week of walking). Soon after we arrived, Fiona and I sat out on the terrace with a lovely view of the hills and had a very wholesome bowl of lentil soup with some of the local cheese. The sun is shining but it’s pleasant rather than scorching. The cheese we’re eating is the same variety as the one we ate in such quantities yesterday but we’ve discovered it’s not goats’ cheese - it’s described as raw cows’ cheese and is a local speciality served with honey.
      We know a few people who are staying here tonight, including our Canadian friend, Anna, and I’m looking forward to our communal meal this evening.
      We have a room to ourselves which does feel like a treat, especially since a couple of our Camino friends have got bed bugs in the last few days in different municipal dormitories. We were thinking the municipal albergue was an essential part of the Camino experience - now I’m not at all sorry to have skipped it.
      Dinner was held in a traditional thatched Galician building and was a very enjoyable affair. I sat next to a 78 year old Australian called Paul who described himself as a 10 pound pom although in fact he’d emigrated as a geology graduate to work in the nickel mines. He lives in a remote desert area of Australia north of Perth where his nearest town is 450 kms away. This is his 8th Camino - he always cycles - and he is taking it easy this time. We talked about faith, the Catholic Church, the advantages of life in a remote Australian town and the sale of council houses in UK. It felt very typical of the sort of meaningful conversation you can have with a complete stranger on the Camino.
      Before we retired to bed, I used the pharmaceutical vending machine to stock up on moisturiser although impressively, foot treatments and bandages were also available. And finally we got tempted to try the local
      Liqueur which is very like Bailey’s but perhaps a bit less sweet (I fear I look like Boris Johnson in the photo recording this moment) before a quick catch up with Anna and off to bed.
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    • Day 9

      Quick break in Tricastela

      June 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Got a bad cough. It's driving me mad as I'm trying to suppress it. Very damp day. Beautiful villages and scenery. Feet are very sore. Blisters. One of our group left in a strop about having to obey rules. Then turned up again late last night. Seems the grass isn't always greener after all... And I don't suppose there are many other places to stay at this time of year when it is so popular here.Read more

    • Day 38

      Herrerias to Padornelo - 17 kms

      October 29, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      Wow! If yesterday was my best day on the camino, today was the toughest. A 595 meter climb, almost 1955 feet.

      A very nice day for the climb though. Stopped often for coffee, juice, and my favorite chocolate pastry. Well worth the effort.

      The small communities I passed through must have had their weekly cow parade yesterday through main street and one could tell. Nothing insults the senses more and the reason pilgrims have to leave their shoes outside, but the good thing was that it had not rained around here in quite some time. Very thankful for that. A picture of those wonderful critters is attached for your enjoyment and as a reminder why we do not allow cows on the mountain as pets or otherwise. They appear to be preparing for next weeks parade.

      Early morning sunlight on the hills highlights the color and veriation of the terrain. Now I know why I so love the mountains...just gorgeous.

      I ran across the three ladies from Wales again halfway up the mountain. One had to return to a cafe to look for her glasses as she thought she had left them. Glad it wasn't me that left my glasses as it was a long way in the wrong direction.

      O'Cebreio (the church) Is attached and a picture of the distant haze that again reminds me of those mornings when I am enjoying coffee and looking at the "cats paws " in the valley below. This valley is a very distant valley, but the general direction that I will be walking.

      The last picture is a memorial to pilgrims that are trying not to lose their Tillies in a stiff breeze. Too bad the angle of the light was not better, but you get the picture. I've had to grab mine several times to keep it on my head and out of the pastures and ravines.

      I stopped about one PM today. Tired after the climb and we changed to standard time last night so DST is no more in Spain until next year. Found a hostel that would do my laundry and served a wonderful lunch (salad, fried egg, two huge pieces of bacon and fries), and I ate the whole thing to include flan for dessert. I even licked the plate it was so good. Now for dinner!

      Dinner was another excellent salad, a pork chop, potatoes and beans. Good meal and I had another flan (and licked the plate yet again).

      Might try to reach Sarria tomorrow. Just depends on the trail condition and my energy level.
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