Caminos 2026, a couple of days

Hello, everyone.  We're having a rest day today because the last two days were pretty near 30km each. Our feet were feeling it. We decided to take a no-travel day in Xubia/Naron.

We left Cedeira at 0800, walking the Coastal Route as far as state road 102, having forgotten to start the Strava, and used that route to transition from the Coastal to the Inland way. At the bar in Porto do Cabo, where the 102 meets the inland way, I remembered to start Strava. After 2 hours of walking! 🤣 We walked along the route, mostly except when confused, into the Xubia area. (Thank heavens for Mapy.com, which helped us get back on track more than once!) 

Contrary to route information in our Cicerone book--the older one--and app--the new book--that tiny bar/tabac  in Porto do Cabo was the very last of the day's walk. But the weather was nice. 

We found a place in Xubia and have discovered the new futuristic hotel. Maybe. We rang the intercom bell at the door, after asking about a place "today" they opened the door and we did the whole registration and payment by remote video. They even activated the room keycard by remote!

We then extended the stay by another night, also by remote.

The Chapel of Hunger which we passed by enroute. It was closed up.

Cool tree fungus at edge of Cedeira

The church in Xuvia. I believe the sculpure above the door is the Holy Trinity. The Father appears to be wearing something like a triple crown. Jesus is on the Father's right hand--our left side--and the Holy Spirit is the dove at the top. The parish has Sunday Mass at 1230 according to their posted schedule.

Catching up after a couple of days, Caminos 2026

Hello, everyone.  I don't think I've posted for a couple of days. This is a quick catch-up. 

We had taken a train ride for part of the planned day a couple of days back. We slept in Covas that night. I posted about that day. 

The next morning, we tried to fill our water bottles at the sink in our bathroom.  Whoops. The bottles were too tall, and we had no cups to pour water with. We figured that we could get water fairly soon when we found an open bar. We found no open bars, pretty much until we arrived in our destination village. That was a full morning eith only about a half bottle of water to share. Lesson learned: buy water bottles the night before when you see them. You won't be sorry.

The following morning I had a bit of the tummy, so we found a bus stop. As the bus wasn't due until 10:40, when 0900 hit we found a nearby bar and got--well, I got manzanilla (chamomile tea) and my sweetie got cafe con leche. We rode to Ortegueira, visited the climic for a script and bought the meds, then found a place and did some serious resting. 

Then, today, we started walking again, with goal of reaching Cariño. This was just shy of 20km. The day began a bit fresh, as we say in South Texas, and got only a bit warmer. I was walking in my long sleeved merino ter, so that was great. We met a very sweet soul, a gentleman who had walked the coast for 5000 km, and he told us some things about our next day's walk. It was great to meet someone who had walked such a long way.

We got into Cariño in time to have the Menu del Dia at the restaurant Cantabrica: caldo gallego, a protein course with maybe the best fries we've ever had, and dessert. (We didn't have the same protein choice, but both came with the lovely fries.) We visited the grocery store and picked up some yogurt and pudding and wine for a light, but hydrating, supper and called it a day.

View of the area from yhe balcony of our room in the Pension Hotel Cantabrica. Lovely room, pretty area, very comfortable little town.

4th Walking Day, Caminos 2026

Hello, everyone.  This was a short walking day, as the previous two days had taxed us and we needed to rest. 

Some sights along the (paved) path:

The waves were rolling over the rocks.

More pretty waves

Giant stone turtle?

The northern coast of Spain has so many cool rock formations. 

After walking 10 km to San Cibrao, we considered options. One of the thing we considered was that, despite what I had concluded from studying Google maps, the town that had been planned for a stop point seemed to have few lodgings for travelers. At least, if the travelers weren't using a car. We decided to skip ahead a day by bus or train.

We noticed that the town we were having coffee in appears to no longer have a bus station. We went to the train station, which doesn't sell tickets, and found the posted train schedule. (If the station doesn't sell tickets you either pay the conductor at boarding or, if there isn't one, pay at the departure gate on arrival.) Then we settled to wait. There was another pilgrim waiting for the train, too, and we enjoyed talking with her. We rode the train to Covas, found a place, and walked around figuring out our departure route for the next morning.

3rd Walking Day, Caminos 2026

Hello, everyone. 

On this day we encountered some hills. The route(s) has some confusing signage. (The day before's walk to Basilica San Martiño was marked with arrows and also with the brown Cantabrico painted signs. We used Google maps and what signs we found to get from there into Foz.)

Sunrise on the Cantabrico path.

Cool eroded rock. Can you see the tiny tunnel where the water goes all the way through?

Dinner that evening: paella!

We almost managed to finish the pan. It was delicious and full of sea protein foods.

2nd Walking Day, 2026 Camino do Mar & Ingles

Hello, everyone.  Today's walk began at 0700--before sunrise in this region--and ended at about 1530. Per Strava, we did a little over 25 km. Our first break, about 10 am, was a coffee and pastry bite at Cafe Moderna in San Cosmo. The owner was very friendly and he told us about his bike caminos. The coffee and pound cake were also very tasty. That little  bit kept us going until evening.

The Basilica of St. Martin sits in a secluded valley near Foz.

By working hard and pushing a little--thanks, mapy.com!--we got to the old former cathedral of St. Martin. This 1,000 years-plus old church had been the bishop's seat until the sea raids made it too dangerous to keep the seat exposed to the robbers. The bishop's seat moved down to Mondonedo and this church was declared a basilica. 

We got there at just before 2 pm--that time is the universal siesta closing time in Spain. We only had about 10 minutes to visit.

The Blessed Sacrament is conserved at an altar at the side. The church has 3 altars, this one is the left one. 

The waves in Foz harbor.

We stopped for the day at about 3:30 pm and found a place at Hotel Rego.

First walking day, 2026 Camino del Mar & Ingles

Hello, everyone. Today we started late, because we needed to visit the tourism office in Ribadeo before leaving, and they don't open before 10. 

The lady was very helpful and gave us route information. 

We walked out of town to the seaside, where we spent most of our 4.5 hours walk.

Birdies enjoying their day on a rock

Fat seagulls hanging out at low tide

As Catedrais beach requires appointments to visit from Holy Week through to the end of September. You're supposed to use the QR code on the sign. They want each appointment request to include names, number in party, and a passport number. We decided that was just too much information collection just to be allowed to walk past the scenic rock formations.

The people viewing the rocks at that moment. There was a parking lot full of cars. They do have a concession with restrooms, some snacks, and cold drinks. 

After seeing the general area and resting for a little while, we walked on. We found a room at Hotel Playa de las Catedrales. And that was our day.

Surprises happen

Hello, everyone.  This is the second post for today.

We had train tickets,  bought online, for a trip from Madrid through Oviedo ( train change) through to Ribadeo. We checked that our tickets, prepaid, were okay. We took the train to Oviedo. All was good. Then, in Oviedo, we talked to the lady at the service window of Renfe to ask about the platform for our continuation to Ribadeo was okay. The lady at the Renfe window said, it's a different ticket office, go upstairs and it will be fine. Look for a train labeled "Ferrol."  We went upstairs, this is a change from the Renfe system to the Cercanias system. (Both are run by Renfe.)  There were no trains that looked right. I sought out the Cercanias window, pointing out the trip info on our tickets, and she directed us to Platform 1. She said that the train we wanted would be labeled "Ferrol." We went to Platform 1 and waited. There was only 1 train that matched the departure time on our tickets. It did not match any other information. So we got on and rode it. The line route ended at Avilés. When we got off there, we asked at the window. No, there was no train going through to Ribadeo. We talked to the man at the window, he consulted with amother employee of the train system. He said there was no train from Avilés to Ribadeo. Fortunately he mentioned that there might be a bus going that way. We went 2 doors down to the bus station and got bus tickets through to Ribadeo. We had about 10 minutes to line up at the plaza for that bus (mumber 13) and then we were off! 

So we have no idea how they sold us tickets to Ribadeo when they had no train going there. But we got there anyway. 

So one never knows how things will work out. Thanks to the Alsa bus, we got to Ribadeo in time for our reservation.