Wrapping up This Camino

Saturday,  Tina and I finally ditched our smelly blue ponchos. 

I know our kids will be relieved,  but we do have four more where those came from.

There were moments on this walk which never made it into the blog and which I fear will be lost.  You don't want to overload readers any given day.

My favorite chuckle came in Asturias, walking with Fran and Nuria, after leaving Luarca, on Day 22.  We were walking past cornfields taller than we were that came right up to the Camino.

I kept thinking "All that's missing is Shoeless Joe Jackson."  This led to me trying to explain the movie "Field of Dreams" to them in Spanish.

Needless to say, it wasn't easy.  I didn't even try to explain "If you build it, they will come."

Another sunny, beautiful morning, I was admiring the plants growing along the roadside: arugula, mint, fennel,  lavender, all edible.  I heard a rumble behind me. It was a huge tractor like Jeremy Clarkson's on "Clarkson's Farm". I moved to the left edge of the road, but then noticed a Mercedes coming the other way.  I stepped off the road.

What I hadn't noticed was that the culvert where these plants were growing was full of water as deep as my ankles! It wasn't even raining!  Boy was I pissed. And wet.

 

How can you take a town named "Poo" seriously?  I just kept snapping photos of signs with Poo in the name.
 

So here are some lessons from this Camino.

1. It's possible to be too competitive.  You don't have to walk the fastest, get there first, carry the most on your back. Being that way can actually be destructive.  This leads to number 2.

2. Enjoy the moment.  Make time to enjoy the moment.  Don't miss a chance to go to the beach even if it's just to sit and enjoy the sights. The Northern Route is reputed to be the most beautiful, for good reason.  The young people on the Camino stopped and enjoyed the beaches.  In hindsight...

3.  Making it to the top of a hill feels really,  really good. Savor that moment and that feeling. And the view.

 

4.  A mobile phone is a terrible replacement for a laptop or larger form factor device. The Android versions of apps lack features that the laptop versions have--useful features.  I spent a whole month on my phone, and this old man was very unhappy with the experience!

 

5. Organize your stuff.  For the first time, on this trip, I lost nothing.  I put a lot of time into thinking into which bag each item would go and why.  After the last Camino, we bought a set of nylon bags to subdivide what went into our packs.  No more rummaging around!  It was simple but very effective.

 

6. Don't presume that albergues all suck.  After I was prepared not to stay in one again, yet I had some of the best experiences of my life in the ones that followed.  I met cool people, got a great night's sleep, and was glad I'd made that decision. 

7. Like the Boy Scouts, be prepared.  If breakfast isn't likely for three or four hours, buy stuff the night before to provide your own.  Tina discovered refrigerated coffee drinks, like Starbucks Canned Lattes at home.  We bought those whenever we could, and they made the mornings tolerable.  The moral: don't complain--plan ahead.

8. Bringing extra shoes was a good idea.  Each of us brought a second set of shoes, actually sneakers.  I thought that mine would just be for walking around afterwards, but they were a good alternative for hiking, especially when there was rain. Sneakers dry faster than boots.

9. Drinking and exercise don't mix.  Having lunch with wine one day made the afternoon's walk tougher.  Dave from England had the same story about how nice cold beers made the following walk more tedious.  Digesting the alcohol saps your strength.  Save it until you're done.

10.  I lost ten pounds that needed to go.  Don't wait four years and go through a month long marathon event.  Eating right, eating and drinking less, and exercising more should be a regular part of your life.

11.  Finally, eat your fruit and vegetables.  Your mother was right: you need your roughage.  Walking like this, you sweat a lot and lose a lot of water.  Combine dehydration with Spanish restaurant menus that are chronically short on vegetables... and you know what's going to result.

*  *  *

I must confess, by the end of the walk, I was ready for a break.... but now, I'm excited that I get to go back when Tina resumes her Camino, starting in Gijon!  Stay tuned!

Epilog: Pilgrim's Mass

It's weird not to be spending a third of the day walking.  It's been nice to go to restaurants and cafés.  Friday's rains didn't encourage much else.

Check out these effigies.  They used to be stored in a corner of the cathedral.  They appear to be from the feast of the three kings.   We found them in the old pilgrim's office,  next to the cathedral. 

Tina and I walked to the cathedral to catch the 9:30 AM pilgrim's mass.

The cathedral has been beautifully renovated, inside and out.   Mass wasn't too long, but one of the cool parts was that a part of it was done in Polish by two of the three priests celebrating the mass.  Tina appreciated that.

If you look closely at the photo,  in the center of the altarpiece, there's a large figure of Saint James.  Before the mass, we climbed up behind the altar and gave him a hug.  It's a very special tradition. 

On our way to lunch,  Tina had the idea to duck into an alley that she'd seen someone come out of.  We discovered a community garden not two blocks from the cathedral.  Who knew?

Lunch was at a restaurant that we discovered in 2006 when I lived here with the kids. We'd come back over the years, and the owner would recognize us. I mentioned it to our waitress, and she said "That's my grandfather."  It was apparent that she ran the place now.  Later, he came out and said hello to us.  He was very old...

I did not buy any of this wine,  but I thought "what a good name!"

It's now Saturday,  our last full day here.  This afternoon,  our friends Dave and Andy should be arriving... and I'll finally get those beers Dave owes me.

There'll be one more post on this Camino, and that'll be one on lessons learned and funny bits that got left out.  After that, we'll pick up in Gijon when Tina's ready to finish.

Day 29: Santiago!

I had a private room in an albergue in Pedrouzo.  Yes, there is such a thing.  I had a private bath, towels... what more could you ask? 

I was on the road, again sneaking out the back door, at 5:50 AM. I was not the only pilgrim on the street.

Main street in Pedrouzo.  There was actually a coffee bar open at six,  and it had a line. I broke my own rule and kept walking.

The Camino doesn't go through town. I runs north of it, so I angled on side streets to find it.  It was pitch black but there were no dogs...  

Up ahead, I saw someone else's flashlight.  I remember this from four years ago: confirming the way based upon the lights of those before you. 

That's what I'm talking about...

Eventually,  I caught up with the person and introduced myself so it wouldn't be creepy.  I ended up walking all the way to Santiago with Manuela,  an elementary school teacher from Rome. She spoke excellent Spanish (and English too, I later learned. )

By 7:15, we'd reached the Santiago airport and the town of Lavacolla.  We both snapped photos of this monument. 

Honestly,  there's not much else to photograph that early in the morning.  Shortly afterwards,  we found an open bar.  Given the choice of yet another Spanish Omelet or Gluten-free Tarta de Santiago,  I chose: 

You guessed it.

Today's hike was 20 kilometers for me and 23 for Manuela.  She'd started in the small town of Santa Irene at 5:30.  Here was a kindred spirit.

An hour later, 8:30 AM,  in the small town of Vilamaior,  we met a 22 year old American from Nashville named Brock.

The fact is that the signage at Vilamaior started to get confusing.   There seemed to be only one route to follow, but for a while it seemed that the three of us were on an alternate route. (At least that's what the signs said...) The lack of other pilgrims made it worse.  Had we made a wrong turn?

We hadn't.  In fact,  we were making great time and reached Monte de Gozo about an hour an a half later.  There were lots of pilgrims. 

Monte de Gozo, as the name implies,  is a mountain.  It's overlooking Santiago, and you can see the spires of the cathedral for the first time from there. After weeks on the road,  that gets to a lot of people. 

There's also a famous pilgrim statue there which we intended to photograph,  but it was 500 meters from the road.  Walk an extra kilometer?  You've got to be kidding! 

Manuela and I trudged on, and Brock stayed behind to write down his thoughts.

Shortly after 10, we were in the city limits.   This part if the walk seems to take forever. 

I held back the urge to get a celebratory tattoo for a mere 40 euros. 

Just before 11 AM, we got the Praza de Obradoiro, in front of the cathedral. We were met there by Tina, my son Chris and my new daughter in law, Laura.  We exchanged hugs and introductions,  and took photos. 

It's hard to smile after anticipating something for four weeks.  You kind of just want to sob.  It's over. It's really over.

We said goodbye to Manuela who still needed to find a bed for the night, and went to the pilgrims office, where I got my Compostela. 

Right after this photo,  I finally got my gluten-free beer!  While we were sitting there, we saw Brock,  and I introduced him to the family. 

There are two more things on the list, but they may wait for tomorrow:  1. Attend the pilgrim's mass at the cathedral,  and, 2. Give Saint James' statue a big hug.  It's a thing. 

Next up is a nice lunch with the family wearing different clothing than I've worn for the past month.

I'll share some closing thoughts soon. Thanks for following the blog!

Day 28: Boimorto to Pedrouzo, I did it!

As you recall, I was hurting at the end of yesterday.  I'd booked a room in a hotel that had been open for three months on the site of a 16th century palace in the woods.  It felt like a bad idea as I walked the extra distance there on a dirt road, but boy was I wrong.

The Hotel Pazo de Bieite may be one of the nicest places I've stayed.  It's in Boimorto, i.e. in the middle of nowhere.  Everything about it screams 4 or 5 stars, but because they don't have AC, they've got 2, count 'em 2 stars.

There's an original Camino marker on the front yard of the hotel 

They made me a gluten-free sandwich on arrival,  ham and cheese, accompanied by a nice Albariño.   Yes, I was already feeling better. 

So here we are, the next day, and I'm feeling like yesterday never happened.   That's the cumulative effect of 17 hours of rest,  3 square meals, and 400 mg of ibuprofen,  courtesy of the hotel. Best hotel ever.

I started out on the day's walk at 8:30, well after my usual time.  My personal marching orders were to keep the pace reasonable and avoid feeling any negative feedback from the knee that gave me problems yesterday. 

As always, the walk was beautiful,  and I was alone as I walked through the countryside. 

Eucalyptus forests. They smell good, but they're here purely until they get harvested. 

Approaching Sendelle,  about a half hour out of Boimorto. 

Today's plan was to walk to Arzua, about 9.7 kilometers, to join with the French Route of the Camino.   From there,  I'd walk 21.9 kilometers to Pedrouzo. 

At this point, let me point out that the app, the books, and reality don't agree on these names or distances! I feel very lucky,  after a day of walking,  to be in the place I reserved two days ago... I digress.

So, after two hours, I make it to Arzua,  and it's immediately apparent that there are a lot more pilgrims on the French Route than where I came from. Heck, the only pilgrim I met this morning was walking home. 

The pause that refreshes...

As I sat there, having this Coke and communicating with Tina who'd just arrived in Santiago,  I couldn't help but notice the groups of pilgrims passing by.  In 15 minutes, you saw a day's worth of pilgrims on the Northern Route. 

I finished up and joined them. From here, it would be 19.3 Km.  (Already a discrepancy.) I need to share some first impressions. 

After four weeks of the sparsely traveled Northern Route, people hogging up the entire path was a new experience. 

Pilgrims carrying bags of groceries?  That's not sustainable...

I saw people pushing baby carriages,  school groups, people with commercial radio stations turned up loud... This was not my miserable existence from just an hour earlier!

Then there were the amenities. 

It seemed like every kilometer or two there was another bar catering to pilgrims.   Food. Coffee.  Mojitos!  I admit it.  I was jealous. 

These people,  many of them were miserable.  They'd just started a few days earlier in Sarria,  and they were limping. I talked to a really nice Irish lady who was powering through the pain.  God bless her.

What struck me were the parents with their adolescent kids.  Dad's strutting up front while the son is shuffling in the most negative body-language way possible behind... Dads carrying everyone's backpacks...  Folks, don't force this on your kids.

At 1 PM, I sat on a stone wall and carved chorizo and cheese with a pocket knife.  I felt like a Spanish Boy Scout. That was my 15 minute food break. People I had passed en route now passed me by saying "Buen Provecho" (enjoy your meal) or "Buen Camino".  Belatedly,  I felt that I needed to be in the moment and not just speeding through the day like yesterday. 

I resumed the walk at 1:15 PM.

There is wheat in Spain.  It contains gluten. 

As it approached 2 PM, the bars and restaurants along the Camino filled up.  I still had an hour to go, but I was getting jealous.   What a nice existence:  walk until mealtime,  and then have a real meal. Then resume your Camino...

Tina and I realized that having a nice meal,  especially if it's accompanied by wine, makes walking afterwards much more tedious. My British friend Dave said the same thing about having beers en route.  Let it wait until you get there...  But that wasn't the case on this route...

At 3 PM, I got to my albergue (where I have a private room, thank you very much). I showered and got a real lunch at a local restaurant.   Afterwards,  I did laundry and hung it up outside.   It's hot today,  in the 80's. Hopefully everything dries.

Let the record show that I will finish this Camino with clean clothes. 

Today was officially 29.58 kilometers,  but who really knows?  I made it through the day with no pain.  I have two spare ibuprofen pills if anyone needs one.

Tomorrow,  I walk to Santiago.  It's maybe 20 kilometers.   Tina, my son Chris,  and my daughter-in-law Laura will be there to meet me. I think I'll shave in the morning so I don't look as crappy as I did in 2015 and 2019.

After the Portuguese Camino 2015...

Finishing the French Route in 2019. Nice poncho...

Between you and me, it will be nice to stop walking. 

I'll let you be the judge.

Day 27: I probably overdid it.

My albergue was really nice, and I actually got a good night's sleep, but it was no accident. 

I selected a bed by one of the windows, and since the place wasn't full, people spread out in the dormitory.   As bedtime approached,  I noticed that the other windows had somehow shut, but not mine.

I went to bed with eyeshades on, but every time I heard a noise, I checked my window.   If there was going to be a window closing fairy, I was going to catch her how you catch the tooth fairy. 

She never came and the sauna never developed. 

One of the hospitaliers, Martin, set his alarm for 5:45 AM so he could make me coffee.  This may be the best albergue ever.  It was also a donativo,  so you give what you can.

Leaving a little town is darker than starting out from larger places.  There are no skylines this morning. 

The freakiest thing happened.  I'm following the markers, which were few, I have my Camino app open to make sure,  and the physical presence of a road, rut or path is my confirmation... until I found myself entering a barren rocky area. Where's the path? No idea.

Here's a picture from the second time it happened.  There are places in the forest where what I guess were lava flows have created large barren expanses.  You just have to cross and hope you connect to your route.  It was easier the second time.

Today's plan was to walk 25 kilometers to a town named Sobrado dos Monxes and then another 12 to Boimorto. That's a long way, but I've got all day, right?

It was chilly, and you could see your breath-in July! I kept my hoodie on until the afternoon. I have gloves in the backpack,  but I didn't want to empty everything just to find them.  The wind was keeping the windmills turning. 

It was beautiful.   About ten kilometers into it, after passing two albergues,  other pilgrims finally appeared. 

It's a good thing Martin made me coffee, because the first refreshment break was at 10:45 in the town of Meson, 20 kilometers into the walk. I was dragging. 

I had a bite before snapping the shot. Sorry. The caffeine and protein had the desired, and I started zipping along like an idiot.

Five kilometers later was the cool town of Sobrado dos Monxes. I refilled my water bottles in the main square,

checked the route, and roared out of town. I snapped this on the way out:

The town is dominated by an enormous monastery,  but did I investigate?  Nope. I had places to go.

Five kilometers later, about 30 K into this walk, my right knee starts complaining as I walk uphill. That's not good.  There's 7 more today, and 50 more over the next two  days.

I start walking (uphill) like Frankenstein.  It looks stupid,  but it works. If you don't bend your knee, it can't complain,  right?

Here's the real answer.  After 50,761 steps, my knee has had enough. Period.  I'm going to chill out until tomorrow,  get a later start, and not push it.

Tomorrow,  I walk to Arca. It's about 29 kilometers.  I hope my knee doesn't have other ideas.  Oh, yeah,  it's our anniversary, and Tina's flying in to Santiago to wait for me.  I can't pull up lame now!

I'll let you know what happens. 

Day 26: Vilalba to Miraz, 33 Km.

Last night, I went out and found a Camino arrow so I'd know where to start today.  It was a good plan. 

I leave my hotel at 6:10 and walk to the arrow.  I walk in the direction it says. And walk. No follow-on arrows visible. I look at the app, and it says that I'm blocks from the yellow line that represents the Camino.

I retrace my steps to my starting place, and I see someone with a backpack and walking stick, so I head to follow him. (This worked in Luarca...) I turn the corner, and he's not on the street.

But there's an open door, and I see him inside.  It's a bar. I go in and ask him if he's walking to Santiago.  He answers, "No, I've just been there. I'm heading home."

So much for my plan... But, I found a cup of coffee at 6:15 AM!

I find the Camino on my second try. It goes onto gravel paths through woods before it's even out of the city.  I snap this picture as I rise into the hills.

That's about as good as Vilalba looks. Sorry to sound negative. 

Today's plan is to walk 18 kilometers to a place named Baamonde, and then another 15 to a small town named Miraz.  The books say to buy groceries at Baamonde because there won't be any stores.  OK,  then that's the plan.

About 45 minutes into the walk, I cross a bridge in the forest, and I see this picture perfect scene.

It's a private home, but the Camino goes straight between its buildings. In the photo, starting from the left, there's a perfect horreo, a historic Camino cross, and a perfectly restored stone building.  What you can't see is the gorgeous main house to the right.  Its name is "A Casa do Ponte" (the Bridge House.)

Not fifty feet away, here's the neighbor's wood shed:

I can imagine some colorful dinnertime conversation at the Bridge House.

The walk is good, but it's chilly.  The temperature was 58 degrees when I started out. At least it wasn't raining.  The forecast said the odds of rain were 70% by early afternoon.  Darn.

Just before 8 AM, I came upon the church of San Xoan de Alba and its adjacent cemetery. 

It's an amazing example of Gothic architecture.  In the middle of nowhere.

The Camino goes by lots of small town cemeteries.   They're all walled, and space is therefore finite.   You pay rent on the grave.  If you stop paying,  you get evicted,  and your bones go... somewhere.  An ossuary, I guess.  Nobody remembers uncle Ralph? That's one less bill I have to pay...

In Central Spain, we saw lots of storks on rooftops,  especially church steeples.  Today I saw some, but they were in the fields feeding.

They're enormous birds. 

I don't really know the difference between flagstone and slate, but whichever it is, they use it for everything here.

Perfect fences made of large stones on either side of the Camino. 

This whole house is made of slate pieces. 

I crossed the A8 highway twice today. The first time, on a bridge overpass, and the second through a huge tunnel.  The tunnel had the usual juvenile graffiti,  until I reached this:

I had to stop and stare. It's like a piece by Banksy. If you look closely,  the man's shirt is a collage of the glassed in porches so typical of Galician cities like A Coruña. In his hand, he's holding a wooden shoe, something they used to wear in this very wet, but poor, area.

Baamonde isn't much of a town,  but it has at least two bars and two food stores. At a bar, I got some omelet.  I'd been feeling sluggish on the walk and decided that fruit may be healthy,  but the two peaches I ate in the morning were largely sugar and water.

I decided to buy both cheese and chorizo to tide me over in the upcoming food desert. I ended up going to both stores and having the same experience in each: after putting my stuff at the register, a local lady put her stuff at the bagging end of the cashier station. In each case, she was served first.  It was lame. I guess pilgrims don't matter. 

After Baamonde, the Camino split with no warning and I ended up walking a long way through the woods.  I was pissed.  After the two routes recombined, I came across this: 

The beautiful chapel of Saint Albert.  I thought Tina would appreciate that. Albert was her dad's name.

The promised rain started in the afternoon,  on and off. The smelly ugly blue poncho went on and off until I realized the rain wasn't leaving.  The walk was nice, but not worth photographing if it meant getting my phone wet.

At about 2 PM, I took refuge in a park.

I used the break to answer messages and to check with Google how far I was from my albergue.   37 minutes!  Yay!

This is it. It's run by the Confraternity of Saint James, from England.   Practically speaking, that means that three old British people run the place.  It's very nice, but they don't serve meals.

I walked the half kilometer to the local bar, but lunch service was finished.  So after doing my laundry and hanging it to dry in the humidity,  I served myself lunch from my backpack. 

Yum! Cheese, chorizo, almonds, gluten free bread sticks called "picos", and water.  Pilgrim life.

It's time to charge the phone and get some rest.

Tomorrow's going to be a challenging day, but the last two days will be shorter. The plan is 37 kilometers to a place named Boimorto.  At least I'll get to stay in a hotel.

I'll tell you how it turns out.