Every day starts the same

Including putting on the clothes I wore the day before. Sort of reminds me of a ski holiday where you just vary the layers depending on the wind and cold. 

Today we headed to the first bar and ordered bacon and eggs and coffee. A great start to a cold day. The temperature is freezing or slightly above until at least noon. Makes for some lovely photos. 

We all eagerly walked into Melide, 15km to enjoy the pulpo. It was fabulous and gave us a break of just over an hour. 

Live octopus just before cooking. 

Just about to drop it into boiling water and then we were served. 

We had some fun, but oh, the next 20 km were steep up and down. Nick and I gave the locals a few laughs as we came down the hills backwards. Andreu's blue jacket was a welcome sight as he led us the last .5km to the albergue arriving after 6pm. It's freezing here and the Hospitalero just drove Andreu to the bar to buy dinner (beer) for us. His wife is doing our laundry and we are feeling cold and pampered. 

Snowman one

Tonight about ten of us went to a restaurant to eat and celebrate Paul's bday. Early in the evening he said that he had seen his snowman on the news. He said that he had built snowmen from Rabanal on down to Cruz de Ferro and the one that was on TV was one he had it on a bench. But on TV, another one was beside it and he was wondering who had put it there. Andreu and I looked at each other and I pulled out my photo of the snowman I had built. 

Paul was so pleased to meet the person who had built his snowman a friend. The Camino seems to be full of moments like this. 

And now we are five

As with many caminos, by the last couple of days, people are getting tired, they've had lots of time alone and are now walking together. I am walking with Japan, Portland, Barcelona and UK. 

This morning we left Portomarin in a heavy fog, very cold, and lovely natural beauty. 

Spider webs but o think the spider died. 

Lunch was caldo gallego, a lovely nutritious soup, beer and followed by ice cream. And then the sun shone. 

And Nick has happily taken up walking backwards down hills, as he too finds it easier on the knees. 

We are in a private albergue in Palas de Rei. Very clean, lots of hot water, and an Irish guy in the room with a bottle of cava as it's his birthday. We're waiting for everyone to have their showers and then we'll head out to celebrate. 

Triacastela, Sarria y Portomarin

I'm now walking on and off with Nick from the UK and Andreu from Barcelona. Yesterday Nick and I stopped for a bit, to take off jackets and have some water. He's the only guy here walking in shorts. 

We landed at a cafe that was under renovation but they welcomed us and served some steaming chickpea soup. 

After this I was stuffed but something got lost in translation and the woman in the bar came out with a platter holding two thin steaks and a pile of chips. Fortunately Nick has a healthy appetite and was able to demolish much of it. I headed off while he rounded out the meal with a coffee and herbes (sp?), a liquor. When I arrived in Sarria, Andreu and Naoki had already arrived as had Lawrence from Portland. Because we we'd all had fairly big lunches, dinner was beer and bar snacks. 

This morning we headed off just after 8, going to get breakfast in Barbadelo but nothing was open. Finally at the 6km mark we found a small mercado that also served bocadillas, so that was breakfast. 8km later we found a bar in the sun and had coffee and nut cake outside. Fabulous. 

It's now 4:30 and we've arrived in Portomarin which is a tough sharp downhill and then a million steps up to the town, but the views are lovely. 

They are replacing the old markets with beautiful new ones and already there is graffiti. 

Old and below is the new, which has likely been in place for less than one week. 

Downhill is the hardest

After the fog settled last night, it didn't lift. Seven of us stumbled out into the dark to have dinner in the only place open. The caldo gallego, a greens and potato soup (sometimes with beans) is fabulous. Very warming. And now for dessert we are being offered tarta de Santiago as well as the usual flan, rice pudding, ice cream. In fact we started the morning back at the same place, having coffee and tarta. And so we set out. Matteus and Andreu at 9am. 

Admiring the views......none to be had. 

And this is me with a very famous statue a few km down the road. 

There is a project afoot in Galicia to redo the markers so today I saw at least 30 of these. They are newly dug in and someone will come along and put the blue and yellow shell in the top section, a yellow arrow below it and then a brass plaque (usually) displaying the number of km from Santiago. Currently I'm 133.8km from Santiago. 

I walked for an hour with Lawrence from Portland and after our 10 am coffee, he blitzed. I told him to please not wait up for me as much of today was downhill and I had to go backwards. I finally stopped for lunch at the 18km mark and for 4.60€ this is what I ate, including beer!

I've now arrived at an albergue in Triacastela and I'm the only one here. I have a single bed, with no bunk above, right beside the heater. Luxury. There's also a hair dryer in the bathroom but I washed my hair last night so don't need it. First one I've seen though. 

I've rec'd a text from Nick, a Welsh guy, who's at a different albergue and he's going to pick me up to go hunting for food. Over and out!

Aretha and James

It's finally started to rain. A very misty rain, occasionally helped along with a wind. So for the first 8km I felt I needed a little help, so I had that funky lady, Aretha Franklin, shuffling along beside me and boy, the kms flew by. By the time I reached Trabadelo, I was ready for my tortilla and café, so stopped here. 

Matteus and Nick came in 10 minutes later and the three of us sat by the fire and rested. They left and I rested some more. I find if I can rest my legs for about an hour, every ten km, then I can carry on with good energy. 

Most of today has been on tarmac but it's quiet. 

When I took the next picture, I was dancing to James Taylor. Must have been quite the sight but I'm by myself so....

When I stopped for coffee I realized that I had left my pocket open and my maps were wet so I spread them out. I get all sorts of comments but many others refer to the maps. 

Andreu passed by my second stop so rested a bit and we walked the last 10km together to O'Cebreiro. We walked on mud but also had great views. 

We arrived at 5:30, checked the church to have our Credencial stamped and by the time we walked out of the church the fog had rolled in and the temperature had plummeted. We're now at the albergue, washed and in clean clothes. The dirty clothes are in the washer as there is actually a dryer here. Bonus!

Cold mornings

We left El Acebo, happily bundled up as the albergue was sooooo cold because the heat is turned off by 8pm. We were greeted with a beautiful sky as we set off. 

We had shared some figs and a chocolate bar and now were in search of breakfast. I remembered Molineseca as a bustling town and it is in May but not so much in November. This picture would lead you to believe there are cafés open but not so. 

We finally did find one place with two tables, four seats, and had warmed up tortilla and coffee. Fabulous. 

At one juncture in the road we went seepage ways. I walked along a longer, more picturesque route and the two guys took the road route into Ponferrada. 

This was in the little village I passed through. At Ponferrada I checked at the albergue and received a very brusque "cerrado". It was 1pm and it opened at 3. I moved on and bumped into Andreo who told me that Ferdinand had gone ahead......with my extra gloves but that's ok. So we went into a cafe and ate. 

Waffles and chocolate. It was still very cold outside and everything was closed so we tried the other albergue. The difference in greeting was like night and day so we decided to stay. Nice sheets and blankets, sharing a room with a Korean man and his mother. She speaks no English. 

Then Matteus from Sweden appears. I had shared dinner with him in Astorga so it was good to see him again. He joined Andreo and I in baileys (me), chocolate (them) and then we walked around Ponferrada and found a place for a glass of wine and dinner. 

This morning we walked on, through vineyards and am now in Pieros resting my legs. I may walk another 5 km to Villafranca. 

Made it to Villafranca del bierzo to a beautiful WARM  albergue. And it's now wine time. 

Good thing I love snow

We woke this morning (about 10 in the albergue) to snow and a welcoming breakfast from the hospitalero. We trickled out in 2's and 3's. 

As we went towards Foncebadón, the snow was really coming down and it was wonderful to hear nothing but the crunch of our boots. I walked today with Andreo from Barcelona and Ferdinand from Mexico and we stopped often for pictures. 

And after a refreshment stop, (me, a mandarin orange; them, 2 glasses of wine and some jamon) we came to the Cruz de Ferro. It looks very different in the snow. 

On our way to Manjarin, I saw a lonely snowman on a bench, so quickly built him a friend. 

At Manjarin, Tomas told us that the path was not safe and we should stick to the road, which we did. Much easier for walking backwards on the way down as well. And walking backwards also minimized the pain of the sleet hitting our faces. And then the snow stopped and El Acebo came into view. 

It started raining while we had lunch so at 4pm we decided to stay in this town. Tomorrow is supposed  to be clear and sunny so I've put out my sunglasses to wear! 

Sun, sun, sun

Today, as I sat down for a break at 10:30 with five people from last night's albergue, we all remarked on how wonderful it was to walk in the sun. The fog had provided a time for introspection since there were no distractions, like a view, bit enough. Now there are views and shadows.  

So here is the Gaudi bldg in Astorga at 9:30 when we finally pried ourselves out of our egg and bacon breakfast seats. 

I walked alone again today and thoroughly enjoyed it although there was a strong wind, at times from the north and at times from the west. I was well bundled, but still, I found it exhausting so by the time I arrived in Rabanal and there was snow in the air, I was exhausted.   Only 20km and I was done in. As I napped, more pilgrims arrived and now there are about ten staying at the albergue......which has the hottest showers I've enjoyed this far! I ambled about 200m to the bar/restaurant at 5:30, had a glass of wine, read my book and then moved on to dinner. It's lovely and warm in here and I'm not looking forward to the short walk back as it will be below 0C  and tomorrow there is a 40% chance of snow, so should be interesting. I can make plans as to how far I go, but I think just walking would be a better idea. 

A quick postscript

Inez and I are still marvelling about the odds of us meeting on the camino again 10 years later. 

Here we are at dinner tonight. Victoria, Australia and Victoria, BC. 

And also at dinner were Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden and the U.K.!

The quote of the day......

Your name isn't Mary Virtue is it? If that isn't a weird thing to happen in an albergue, I don't know what is. 

I have arrived in Astorga after 17km walking. I put on a few extra km this morning, in the fog, by crossing a road instead of turning left. Nice path, but the wrong way. 

So I reversed steps and handed down the correct road, where I saw this....

I took this photo at 50 paces. As I got closer, I could finally see the yellow arrows. 

I reached Hospital del Órbigo about 12:30 and fell hungrily on some tortilla and coffee. Breakfast had been so light that I was starving. 

So I decided on taking a bus to Astorga as I knew I was not up to another 16km. 

At the albergue a lovely young man named Alex introduced himself and said there was another woman from Victoria, nodding to the bed at the end of the room. So I went to chat and she's from Victoria, Australia and a Camino veteran (7 times). And after some chat, she asks me if I'm Mary Virtue. She had stayed in Grañón in 2005 on the night that was my first day as a Hospitalera and was totally jet lagged. Very small world. And she had stay at Rebekah's house last week as well. 

And this is where we are spending the night. There's about 10 of us so far, but no sign of Nick from UK yet. 

The Camino provides......

A fabulous breakfast 

that lasted me until past 1, when I ate the extra toast and jam that were served to me a bit later with my coffee. Casa Simón is a great place. Even has bikes available if you want to cycle around León. 

I left at 8:30, once it was light enough to see my feet, heading to the bar where I  thought I'd left my mapbook and indeed, it was there, waiting for me. I left a Canadian pin for the young man who put it aside and had told the other staff that it was there. I walked out of the bar and almost bumped into the young man from Tours, who I met the first night in Sahagún. He had walked 60 Km over two days, while I was fannying about, visiting, shopping for poles, and taking another train. He was off at a much faster pace and I doubt we will meet up again.  

So I spent the day walking alone, through the fog. Below is the weather for the area. Please note that there was no rain, but 100% humidity. 

And a few views for the day. 

More bodegas in the ground. 

A photo that also appears in my map book. 

The road ahead looks much the same as the road behind. 

This is where I planned on staying but it's closed. So I am at Tio Pepés and here there is the best shower in the world!!! I could have stood under it forever, but I also needed a cup of tea, so down to the bar I went. And as I was having my tea, another pilgrim came in. Nick from England. He has been given the room next to mine ( with bunks for 4) and we have date tonight! Dinner at 7, as that's when its served and it's the only place open in Villar de Mazarife. Nice to be able to speak fluent English for a bit. It's been two days! 

I'm determined or to not have a nap and hopefully I can sleep through the night. Short stories by Truman Cappte was fine st 2am, but I'd rather not.