Via Regia 2016

Last day of walking was day-156; today, Sunday, was the first full day in Santiago highlighted appropriately by the pilgrims' mass at noon. We stood in line already at 10:30 in order to get a seat. It was a beautiful mass celebrated by two bishops, assisted by 8 or 9 other priests and capped with the swinging of the botafumeiro--all captured in the attached pictures.

After the mass we stood in line to enter the Cathedral through its Porta Santa, opened only during holy years, and for specially designated years such as 2016, the Year of Mercy.

Our entire crowd at the albergue this morning was overflowing with eagerness to get onto the road, Bob and I being no different. We covered our last 19 km (11.9 mi) with all stops pulled out. Out the door in the dark to a cafeteria for breakfast and one short coffee break on the way had us arriving in Santiago at noon.

The pilgrims' office was at a new location for me: down past the Parador and to the first right. An hour's wait produced two lovely Compostelas that I will treasure. The lady at the counter couldn't believe where I started until I showed her four credentials. The official distance actually walked was: 2936.6 km that equals 1835.4 mi!

The pics show everything important at the moment: my walking buddy Bob who spent nearly four weeks with me (almost as much as Eddie at the front end of the pilgrimage); the electronic board that indicated the next of 14 windows ready to serve you at the pilgrims' office; my Compostela; and the view of the Santiago Cathedral from our room at the Roots and Boots Albergue (for only 18€)! What a trip this has been--just now am I beginning to absorb it.

Today is all about sharing our Del Norte Camino with a wave of folks coming here from the Camino Frances--new faces and new stories. It was a perfect hiking day of mostly downhill with cool temperatures for the entire 20.3 km (12.7 mi). We started out in the dark and I couldn't see the first step coming out of the monastery so I took my fifth, and hopefully, final fall--luckily not a bad one. I felt sad later because I lost my cheapie water bottle from Poland (it was my friend) but I couldn't see it.

We're staying at the municipal albergue which opened at 1:00PM for 6€ and by 4:00 PM it was full, but there must be at least a dozen albergues in the town of Arzúa and pilgrims are wandering all about. Only about 40 km to go!

The first pic shows a typical backpack transport service that is available for pilgrims. The second is our municipal albergue with over 40 some beds. Then there I am smiling at lunch and the final pic of Bob and me in front of the albergue. We look forward to breakfast right across the small street--they open at 6:00 AM. No rush because tomorrow's destination has many albergues with capacity of hundreds.

During the 22.5 km (14 mi) today, I think I walked either uphill or downhill, but no level. It was tough and slow. The morning fog gave it a mystical sense especially while walking in the dark fir the first 40 minutes.

Arriving at the destination found me having to wait 3 hrs for the albergue, an old Cistercian Monastery founded in the 10th century by the Benedictines, the refounded in 1142 by the Cistercian Order. All this time Bob was locked in the albergue but had already reserved me a bed.

The place is amazing even though only a few monks are currently here. Pilgrims housed in one of the former cloisters which makes sleeping here very cold but special! The attached pics are from the church and courtyard.

We're well under 60 km from Santiago and I made all three legs of air reservations today: to Warsaw, to JFK, to LAX.

Today started my 6th month, but being only four days out from Santiago de Compostela, I don't plan on chewing into the 6th month very much. The day was much more comfortable temperature wise than yesterday, but the short but steep climbs made the 15 km (9+ mi) seem longer. We left last night's albergue at about 7:45 AM to have breakfast right next door, and we arrived here at Miraz by 11:30 AM.

Our albergue is run by the Confraternity of Saint James, meaning among other things that all the hospitaleros are British. A priest is staying here so there'll be a service at 7:00 PM. Since they didn't open until 3:00 PM, we had a very looong lunch break chitchatting with fellow pilgrims over some beer. Although having only 26 beds, the albergue is spacious, clean, newly painted and well equipped.

Tomorrow will be the last hard day, not because of the 23 km distance, but supposedly because of the climbs--we'll see.

The first pic shows an interesting reflection on the way that occurred  to me to be the metaphor for the Camino itself being full of one's own reflections on life; the second pic shows our backpacks patiently waiting in line; the third is where mass was held this evening; and last are the signs with a traffic mirror that also captured me.

Had to dig out my gloves this morning during 48 deg temp (thank you, Douglas)--they made the first few hours more tolerable. Stayed primarily on the bike trail portion of the Camino, and left at 7:30 AM and arrived at Baamonde by noon--huge and nice hostel here with nearly 100 beds. Again, only gentle climbs made the day a pleasant walk.

Bob and I committed to arriving at Santiago on Saturday the 24th (a day earlier than the last ETA)--that means only 5 remaining days of walking! We plan to stay at a hostel in Santiago called "Roots and Boots." And it's time to make plane reservations in the next few days after we see how our ETA holds up.

You can see the morning fog beyond the small kale field (a common ingredient in Galician Caldo (special, hardy soup) that we had for lunch (except the one at lunch was cabbage based) and also behind the typical Galician cemetery. The next pic shows some pilgrims checking in at the hostel (you need your passport, your pilgrim credentials, and 6€). The final pic is at lunch at the last course with Tarta de Santiago and a shot of liquor in the coffee. We much prefer to eat the big meal at about 2:00 PM, rather than waiting until 8:00 PM or even later for the kitchen to open up again for dinner.

I slowed my pace a bit from yesterday's over the 19 km (11.9 mi) to the albergue at Vilalba. It was an easy walk with partial cloud cover and a range of cool to mid 60s temp. I ended up at the municipal albergue and Bob at a private one (we just missed cues), but I walked over to his place after I got settled and we had a mid-afternoon meal together and coordinated for tomorrow. We're headed to Baamonde at which point we'll be only 94 km from Santiago!

This town of some 15,000 has a character all of its own: hilly; a touch of medieval with a remaining tower that now contains 6 rooms of a parador with a new structure close by as the remaining hotel; 40 to 50 pilgrims staying overnight, since Vilalba is on a major Camino Route (del Norte).

A few pics: a Galician cemetery along the way; motorcycle races 100 meters from our albergue (the left-most building you see); the remaining tower of the old citadel; a jamoneria, where I had to have some jamon iberico (see the hanging hams in the background).

One of the best days in weeks: somehow, not sure how it happened, I got my pace back over a long gentle climb of nearly 1000 feet over a 4 km run and then 1000 more feet for a total 14 km (8.8 mi) distance--a pretty short walk; met a bus, at our break, with a Boston Tour Group (mostly elderly ladies) who just fell in love with us seeing real pilgrims, since they just came from Santiago; then after arriving at our destination of Gontán (a small village of surely less than 1000) experiencing a street market that they hold only twice a month where we ate freshly cooked pulpo (octopus) and churros dipped in chocolate for desert. They even held an animal auction. What a great day! And then a short nap.

The pics: from raw octopus to the man snipping an octopus for our plate and me holding one fresh out of the boiling water; the view out our albergue window down on the street fair and last a street view of the street fair. BTW, the albergue here was completely filled last night. We were here #1 and #2, having left at 7:30 AM (in the dark) and arriving just before noon.

I welcomed today's rain over the short 14.2 km (8.9 mi), knowing it would stop the next three days. Lots of up-/downhill but all decently mild (10% or less). Bob went ahead and we met again at the Cafe on Cathedral Plaza in Mondoñedo near our goal. After a brief pause, we toured the cathedral and museum where I spotted an unusual painting: the descent of Jesus from the cross. Although others have painted the same theme, I think this is the earliest stage of descent I've ever seen painted. Jesus is still on the cross with only one hand freed and they're removing the nail from his second hand. It's a daringly bloody depiction so early in his descent that it focuses on the body and mechanics of freeing it from the cross rather than on the agony of those around him usually shown in other "descent" paintings (see the quad pic). I'd welcome comments.

Although we wanted to stay at a nearby special albergue two km further that was advertised to highlight authentic Galician country life, the Office of Tourism talked us out of it, and another couple of pilgrims that went there and changed their minds corroborated it--supposedly it wasn't recognized as an official albergue--lots of hype--no rules! Anyhow, the municipal albergue here rates as one of the best: elevators, handicapped equipped, spacious and clean. Now at 5:00PM it's only 1/3 filled.

With a 7:30 AM start and leaving a town of around 10,000, Bob and I figured we'd find breakfast. No such luck! Walked the 19 km only to find an albergue we both wanted to pass on--the shower, the toilet, and sink were in little outhouses. And besides, the little village had no store and no place to eat. We found a better albergue just a few km down the road with 16 beds and a restaurant and bar. Looking forward to some good Galician food.

The temp. has dropped into the 50s but the rain will stop for a while after tomorrow. We have only about a week to go, this being our first full day in Galicia. We're looking forward to tomorrow's 6-bed albergue whose advertising we found at the one we passed up--picture attached. We get to experience authentic Galician country life!

Today was extremely easy but also the most frightful aspect of my entire trip (equally so for Bob my walking buddy). We had only to cover 10 km (6.3 mi) under the threat of rain that didn't materialize for me until after I arrived at our Hostal Galicia in Ribadeo. My problem started when my bicycle path took a huge detour that I wanted to avoid, so I chose to walk a little over a mile along the A-8 Freeway--a HUGE no-no. I managed that, all the while rehearsing my story for the police that were surely going to stop me, but I arrived unscathed at the bridge crossing a deep and wide estuary that lead into Ribadeo.

This crossing was one of the most hair-raising experiences in my life: walking into a 40-knot wind (look at the wind sock in the top photo) in a 3-foot wide lane bounded on my left with a six-foot high fence grating and to my right with a railing only waste high. The wind was blowing me side to side--my poncho became a sail--and I imagined it blowing me over the railing and down into the estuary over 100 feet below! I carried both poles in my right hand so as to free my left one to grab the grating in case I was about to lose my footing. My head was looking down at my feet the whole time, lest I step on something that would cause me to stumble! Bob had the same experience, except some two hours later because he didn't venture the freeway shortcut and found himself walking an extra 12 km.

Luckily it all ended well. Good Pension (Hostal), great meal at lunch, accomplished chores with cell phone Internet extension, bank, and grocery shopping for tonight and tomorrow's breakfast. And tomorrow we start heading southwest through the autonomous community of Galicia in Spain with rain expected for the next two days.

First day in a long time I wore my pancho the entire 20 km (12.5 mi) during drizzling rain, but the good side was the absence of any steep climbs. Leaving Navia in the dark on a long gentle climb was the hardest, but a nice coffee break afterwards rewarded the effort.

I reached our albergue (donativo--donation only, which translates to about 5€) at about 12:30, while Bob beat me by an hour and he had already gone to the information office to get the key. We got settled and had the luxury again to have lunch as the big pilgrim's meal at about 2:00 PM with lentil soup for course 1, fried sardines and salad for course 2, and rice and creamy milk for desert, along with wine--all for 10€ (about 11 USD).

The ocean view from the albergue is breathtaking as you can see from the posted pictures. The top picture is taken about 200 meters before reaching the albergue and the lower one just catches our building. It's nearly 6:00 PM, and our 20-bed hostel still has 5 or 6 beds vacant.

Today may have been the last of the dry days with rain forecast for the next three days! Covered 19 km (11.9 mi) of moderate hills--only burning a bit the last hour. We both arrived a little after noon, so we took advantage of the earliness and enjoyed a super-sized lunch and then skipped supper. No albergue here in Navia, so we're staying at Pension Cantabria for 20€ each--a nice treat again.

Navia (pop. 9,000) is undoubtedly an old fishing village and still has a port with a small dry dock and a marina with smaller power boats. It looks like a sleepy little town with not much going on.

I'm still infatuated with the hórreos and their various incarnations as you can see in the picture, as well as Spanish villas that always have one or more palm trees at their side. And then there's the suspended interstate highway way above me. I also captured the rough backwoods trail that Bob took as a "shortcut" for part of the way and I decided to bypass taking the bicycle route instead; my tendinitis would have screamed for help at this incredibly steep stony portion!

While doing my 29 km. (18.1 mi) with relative ease--no big ascents--I never even thought about today being the 15th anniversary of that unforgettable 9/11 terrorist act. It took our daughter's Chris's email to remind me of it. It also shows how the Camino demands of us to focus on it to the exclusion of everything that isn't in our field of view.

Today was marked with more glimpses of the ocean, more typical hórreos (those grain storage structures, none of which were functional), and more typically Spanish houses with several palm trees, striking bright colors, and blooming plants, as well as the interstate freeway floating high above us. Some of these I've captured in these pics.

It never made it above the 60s during my walk today with Bob, as we covered the 18 km (11.3 mi). AND, from here, Muros de Nalón, it'll be only 300 km to Santiago de Compostela--that's not much compared to the 2637 km that I've actually walked thus far. We basically took the bicycle route to be kind to my Achilles' tendon and plan to continue that for the rest of the journey, some 15 or so days.

The eucalyptus tree, according to Wikipedia, is the town tree. But I've noticed along my walk the last week or so many eucalyptus trees and have wondered about their story. It turns out they were planted post WW II mainly for paper pulping. But in Spain environmentalists complain that eucalyptus is crowding out indigenous forests of native oak and beech in Galicia and La Coruna. Ecologists say that traditional rural lifestyles, while not as profitable, provide more employment. By one study, an Iberian olive grove requires 199 worker-days per hectare (2.47 acres) to maintain each year, vineyards 128 worker-days and a eucalyptus plantation four worker-days. So there you have it and here's a picture of one along the path:

Heaven today--a down-day going from Gijón to Avilés by train for just 1.90€ to cover 24 km (15 mi). Bob and I arrived at our albergue at 10:00 AM and had 3 hrs to enjoy a bit of the city but mostly the exhibits at the Niemeyer Cultural Center. The exhibit, "Seeking shelter for my children," was a photojournalist collection of deeply touching pictures of the refugees captured by Javier Bauluz. Having met and talked with a number of aid workers in Germany and France involved in the effort of helping the refugees, I felt closer to the crisis than before my walk.

Rest for the remainder of the day is doing wonders for the body. Am trying to keep the days down to 25 km, but that's not always easy and it will stretch the schedule out a bit. Even at 25 km, it seems that the extreme hills take their toll.

Bob took a picture of me at my bunk in a bay of 40 stacked beds--so far not too crowded, maybe half filled at 4:00 PM.

It was a hard 27 km (17 mi) that started out with a 90-minute climb I thought would never end. There were a succession of climbs, and downhills, and luckily the day was relatively cool.

At breakfast five of our group went separate ways: Lisa and Susanne headed down the Primitivo, Hildegard by bus started her journey to Diva, and Bob and I headed to Gijón. We had arranged to meet at a restaurant about 5 km before Gijón, but he never made it--his guide book just didn't do the trick compared to electronic technology. I waited at the restaurant for three hours, then gave up and headed to our hotel. Luckily he arrived at the hotel in Gijón just twenty minutes after I did! We won't do this again, pitting paper against electronics.

At the restaurant, I rehydrated with mineral water and ended up having a special regional dish of squid (see picture).

The early fog and low-hanging clouds kept the weather cool for most of the21.7 km (13.6 mi), but the BIG hills today heated me up as if it were in the 90s. My burning tendinitis was unrelenting. I've been resting all afternoon. That is after I had my phone fixed (SIM card passcode from my carrier) and chores done.

The reward for the big hills was another super albergue in the middle of town. Lots of room around my bunk, clean and good amenities. At the reception, I was greeted with a glass of orange juice--how cool is that?

Had to include a great fixer-upper as potential investment property and a few pictures of the path, one quite a bit under the freeway system, and a picture of city hall here in Villaviciosa. The last two are from dinner tonight with the five of us and me pouring cider that's available almost everywhere.

Two ladies, Lisa and Susanne, are peeling off tomorrow to go on the Primitivo, and Bob (retired Air Force) and I are continuing on. Hildegard is also leaving to go by bus ahead to Santiago. We'll try to meet up in Santiago and celebrate.