Sixteenth update on pilgrimage 2021: honor to trustworthy companions

 Hello, everyone. 

Today I wish to honor our faithful companions--indeed our very guardians agaist catastrophe: our hiking poles.

These faithful aids were there for every scary moment. They kept us from falling numerous times. And now, since we have passed them on to aid other pilgrims on the Camino, I want to honor their service. 

They were the balancing aid on rocks both ascending and descending. They gave us needed information about muddy patches. Once they spotted a missing board on a bridge. Imagine if the pole had not gone before in the overgrown weeds and discovered the missing board! 

Thus I honor their service.

They were bought from K2 Planeta sports shop in Leon, before we started walking on the Ruta San Salvador. They proved their worth over and over, going up and down on the Salvador, then up and down on the Primitivo. 

Today we delivered them to the volunteers at Pilgrim House in Santiago, to be passed along to other pilgrims who need poles.

Fifteenth update: entered Santiago yesterday!

 Hello, everyone. 

My last post was about arriving in Arzua. 

The next morning we walked to Pedrouzo, a bit over 19 kilometers. 

Dawn leaving Arzua.

We left Pedrouzo too early for a good dawn photo, and it was cloudy when the sun did appear. Also we were eager to finish and didn't want to slow down and get the tablet out.

The final day was also a bit over 19 kilometers.  We didn't take pictures on Monte de Gozo as not only was the sculpture no longer there, but the day was cloudy and we thought we wouldn't be able to photograph the Cathedral from the hilltop.

The new ramp from just past the youth camp down to the bridge over the freeway was nice.

Other than that the entry into the city was much as we remembered it from prior pilgrimages.

Fourteenth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello,  everyone. 

Yesterday we walked from Melide to Arzua. This is a really short walk as Camino days go, only 14 kilometers.  In fact, we looked at making it a little longer, hoping to move some kilometers from the last day to this one. It didn't really work out,  so we decided to go with the traditional Ruta Frances stopping points of Arzua, Pedrouzo, and (of course) Santiago. 

When we got into Arzua, around noonish, we had some time to use up, so we stopped at a bar where the most amazing huge pan of paella was being cooked.

Seafood paella. And it was very good!

Thirteenth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we walked from Ferreira to Melide, a short walk of about 20 km. Melide is the town where the Camino Primitivo merges into the general flow of the Camino de Santiago. 

The day began, we thought, with a fine, early start. We left the room and headed out the front door at 8, only to discover that the sky was pitch black and the clouds were sitting on the ground as well. Oops. Went back inside to wait for enough light to walk by. After a while the clouds lifted up and the day was beautiful. 

I forgot to take any pictures with the tablet yestderday, so photos will wait until we get home.

Twelvth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we walked from Lugo to Ferreira. This was about 25 kilometers. 

We didn't take pictures on the Samsung tablet of the day's walk, sorry. It was a walk that started before sunrise and continued until about 3 pm. We were actually surprised at ending that early! 

We stayed at an alburgue with some pension style rooms. It was nice to have some privacy and also they turned on ghe radiators for heat.

In the morning we got up about 0700 and we tried to leave about 0800 but it was too dark and too foggy. We turned bback and waited for morexlight, then set out again.  We finished the day's walk in Melide, where we ate pulpo (octopus chunks) and rejoiced in our progress.

Today's walk, about 20 km.

Eleventh update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

We walked from O Cadavo to Lugo, about 30 km, and the walk was nice. Long, but nice.

One of the bridges of Lugo. 

The city, founded by the Romans, is surrounded by three rivers.

One of the first things we saw, a bar, reminding all that this is one of the 100 kilometer cities of the Caminos de Santiago. (If you want to qualify for a Compostela certificate for walking the pilgrimage, you have to get two sellos (stamps) per day in your pilgrim credencial for the last 100 kilometers...you must personally walk those last 100 kilometers, too.)

We took a rest day here.

Tenth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

We left Fonsagrada at about sunrise, a little before 9, in misty clouds. It wasn't actually wet enough to be rain, but it was chilly. It stayed chilly for much of the day. The sun barely peeped out later on.

I wore my Buff as a kerchief to keep my ears warm and it worked very well.

There was a portion of the day's walk with some steep ups and downs,  but there were also some very pretty bits. There was also road walking, the kind where you keep your left foot hitting the white line on the left side of the road. Most drivers also move over about half a lane to give room, but it's good to hug the edge if there is no shoulder to walk in.

We ended the day in O Cadavo, a small place with 2 grocery stores to choose from and a couple of bars. We stayed in a pension type room at the Albergue Porta Santa and went to the grocery store for easy, simple DIY supper and breakfast food. If you do this, by the way, don't just grab the first small jar of olives you see! You might end up with the very spicy ones canned with loads of hot peppers. 😉 

Our easy breakfast was prepared salad with some canned mussels added to improve the protein profile.  The easy breakfast was a half dozen eggs, boiled and cooled before we opened out creamy-salad packages for dinner. In the morning we pulled the boiled egs out of the kitchen fridge and peeled and salted them. Manzanilla to drink, we put our little tea bags into glasses, added cool water, and let the microwave do its thing.

At Fontaneira, after A Lastra, the local authorities are working on a beautiful boardwalk alongside the road. It's broad, they're using a board with little carved in stripes to make it textured, and they are putting in a fence along the edge where there is a drop off. All they need is a foot joint to be a very attractive rest point. (A Lastra apparently had 2 bars in the past but just we only saw the one and it was tiny...too chilly for sitting outside.) If the Camino Primitivo begins catching on the way it was starting to before 2020, improvements like this boardwalk should make people walking happy to pass through Fontaneira and look for a bar to snack at and rest a little. 

Ninth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we walked from Grandas de Salime to A Fonsagrada. Because the sun comes up later and later, it's become almost normal to leave after 8:30 in the morning.

I was impressed with the kale planting here; the plants being trained on tall stalks like this is fairly typical of the family gardens we see while walking.

Due partly to the last couple of years'  craziness, there were a lot fewer places to stop for snacks than we had expected. We had very healthy appetites when we walked up the last hill!

We stayed at the Pension Manolo, a very comfortable room with a double bed. The pension has a bar-restaurant and serves a tasty Menu del Dia. We enjoyed caldo gallega, braised beef cheeks in brown gravy with fries, and the local specialty for dessert. I think it's related to the clan of egg based foods called "pastel de ..." and it was sauced with a vanilla drizzle.

Eighth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday,  after our really, really long day of walking over the ridges of the Hospitales route (ten hours of walking, oh my!) We had a shorter day in the route plan. We walked from Berducedo to Grandas de Salime. This involved a really long descent, with some level bobbles, in increasing wind gusts as we went, to the dam Embalse de Grandas de Salime, across the top of the dam, then up to a bar for a sip--much welcomed!--and on to the town.

We didn't realize it at the time but the region was on a gusty winds warning. (Learned that later while looking at forecasts!) It was really windy and I started wearing my Buff like a kibbutznik lady's scarf. It looks a little funny on me to have the front of the buff below my hairline but it keeps the hair out of my eyes and gor a bonus keeps the cold winds out of my ears.

Regarding the gusty winds,  the gusts got stronger as we approached and began crossing the dam. The winds were roaring down the canyon! The last fourth of the distance across the dam we got hit with gusts that had to be well up into tropical storm force winds. They nearly blew us over backwards. A young fellow was passing and he asked me, as I clung go my poles and bent nearly double and even reached for the sidewalk, if I was okay?  I told him, I am fine it's just that the wind is too strong. A few seconds later the gust faded and we all beat feet to finish the crossing. We have never felt such strong winds before.

That was enough excitement for one day. We walked the rest of the way into town, got a couple of beds in the Albergue Porta de Grandas, paid for a wash and dry load--so happy to find the lady offered this service!--and went to find food. We found Galician style octopus, shared a group serving of this delight, and called it a night.

Kilometers for the day, since we stayed on the road at the end instead of climbing the official path up and over, probably about 25. 

At the bar of the Hotel Grandas de Salime I think it's called,  I saw a flower pot with a geranium and a healthy peppermint plant. It was pretty.

The Galician style octopus with potatoes and bread. Yum! The potatoes are cooked separately and then seasoned with the octobus pieces. 

Seventh update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

We left Tineo about 8 in the morning.  It was dark but the town had put street lights on the trail out of town for at least a quarter mile. We walked to  Campiello, a short day but a restful one. (14 km about) We got there about noon. We did some proteining up for the next day: egg and chorizo bocadillo tapas with our coffee, Mediterranean salad with ea sticks--these are fake crab legs--and vegetables gor a cnack, and then split a pizza with jamon york, cheese, bacon, and tuna for dinner. 

The pre-prepared packaged salad.

We also obtained packed bocadillos for the following day as there are no facilities on the Hospitales route.

We left Campiello about 8 and began walking toward Borres and the split in the trail. 

One of the ruins of former pilgrim shelters in the mountains.

We ended our day at Berducedo, about a 30 km walk. This was long but not impossible. In the future when there are recap posts from other cameras, there will be more discussion of this. Suffice to say that we were too tired to go grocery shopping or do much else. But the beauty of the mountains was amazing.

Enough for now!

Sixth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we left Salas at around 9 in the morning. This was late for us.

We arrived in Tineo around 3:30 pm, just before the daily siesta started.  We stayed in the albergue of Hotel de Meras. The setup was fresh and modern. (In other words, nothing was old enough to be broken, the bunks were sturdy and comfortable, and they were set up in 4 bed nooks.) We were assigned to the two bottom bunks in one nook. It had a big red curtain for noise control and privacy.

A parish church along the way. It is dedicated to the martyrs St. Justo and his companion, who were shepherds.

We had a lovely snack of vino tinto and croquetas at a bar near our alburgue. This was their terrace view of Tineo. 

Later, instead of signing up for the fix price pilgrim's menu, we had burgers in the bar of the hotel. They weren't bad at all.

Fifth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we left Grado at around 0800, when there was enough light to walk by.

There were both ups and downs, and about 4 pm we arrived in Salas.

We stayed at the Albergue La Campa. The hospitalero was very friendly. He told us that the albergue had a community supper, which was vegetarian, a`d that they also offered a breakfast.

The vegetarian supper was very tasty, mushroom broth and the a thick pottage of vegetables with some rice for thickening.  The dessert was fresh-made ice cream...I don't want to know if it was made from almond milk. 

Next morning we hung around for the breakfast as not much is open on Sunday morning...turned out there was no tortilla espana (this is a perfectly wonderful egg dish) and the choices were some Greek style yogurt with fruit or pancakes. DH went for the pancakes, they didn't look at all like American pancakes. The yogurt was nicely tangy. 

Fourth update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

We left our hostel in Oviedo, Hostal Fidalgo, abefore sunrise but but there was light enough. t a couple minutes past 8 in the morning.  It was around 30 minutes before sunrise but there was light enough to walk.  And getting to the edge of the city took about an hour, so it was easy to see when we got into the countryside.

We walked to Grado, around 25 km. The walk went through some beautiful little valleys. We enjoyed seeing the rivers with water so clear you can count the stones on the bottom.

High points: ate jamon bocadillo at about 10:30 for breakfast at a little bar en route. The trail was much less difficult than the first three days of the Salvador. We were able to look up from the next step and see things...there were still places that were either uphill or downhill with enough steepness that we slowed down to prevent falls. About 5 km before the end we found a bar-albergue that looked new and very nice. We stopped for a drink because we were thirsty and hot. (Hot means something different when carrying a pack up and down hills, I doubt it got far past 70F the whole day.) That place was called Villa Palatina i think. 

The weather was beautiful, starting out around the low 40s F and getting up to maybe 72F. We wore layers of course, and gradually got down to walking in our shirts. 

We stayed at the Albergue Quintana in Grado. This building began as an old Iniano house. The present owners bought and fixed it up. They have a small bar, too, so if a tired pilgrim is thirsty he doesn't have to wander the town in search of refreshment. 

This is the amazingly beautiful chandelier light in the pension room we stayed in. The whole place is beautiful.

That was all for yesterday. 

Third update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone.

We reached Oviedo the day before yesterday and had a rest day. Today we will walk to Grado.

This has been such a crazy couple of years that, since our Spain phone is now reactivated at the convenient Orange shop here in Oviedo, we are making reservations a day or two ahead.

In Pola de Lena, where we stayed at a small hotel, they were having a fiesta. A few fellows brought out instruments and did a song fest with their friends in front of the bar. (This was the bar whose owners had the little hotel. La Payareta I think it's called.)  

This was the first fiesta in 2 years, a long time. Everyone was out enjoying the evening.

More in next post. 

Second update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we started in Poladura, where we had stayed in the lovely Hotel Rural El Embrujo. (No signs of any actual wizarding here! Just a very nice room, great shower, wonderful dinner.) 

We were "scheduled" for an 18.7 km day. Well. Those were some long kilometers! We started by  walking up to the Cruz del Salvador. This was a bit steeep.  Happily, a fellow pilgrim from Chlekia arrived as we did and snapped a picture for us. Then we passed the high point of the Camino...don't know which crest of the trail it was exactly...then down and when we reached Puerto de Pajares we found the first bar all day. Cafe leche a little strong on the coffee side for my taste. Left there and passed around the back side through the most beautiful autumn crocuses, went through a gate and on down to cross the highway. Then through a nature park and up to the hamlet of Santa Marina (4 inhabitants, they told us) where we asked after the albergue and the nice bartender took us outside and pointed to the next peak in the mountains. "Only 30 minutes, I did it all the time when I was a kid," the nice man said. His older neighbor muttered "more like 50" as we thanked them and left, greeting the old ladies sitting on their stoops enjoying the late afternoon. The trail around the mountainside was lovely, thank God it wasn't dark yet.

About 8 pm, as the albergue was commencing to serve the very good supper, our Chek fellow pilgrim arrived. The sun had set about 7:25, I know how he did that trail in falling darkness!

At the end, in Llanos de Someron (alternate spelling Chanos de Someron) we found alovely, new albergue. Great supper, too. 

Update on pilgrimage 2021

 Hello, everyone.

I left off with our (long) day getting to Leon. 

What with all of the ridiculous airline changes (looking at you Air Canada) we ended up leaving on a different day altogether and because of the date changes we only spent one night in Leon. 

We walked to La Robla the next day, 27 km by the book. That's the same distance as the walk from Deba to Markina on the Norte route, which is famously difficult with much climbing. This was was nearly as hard for us, with a bunch of ups and downs in the middle third. The countryside is beautiful and we saw a lot more flowers than I had expected.

The following day we set off to Poladura. This began gently but we began climbing even before Buiza and there was a big climb after the town.

The city sign is a popular photo spot.

The big climb of the day went over a mountain and the down to the village of Poladura. The info on Gronze.com says 24 km but they were tough ones.

More in next post!

Pilgrimade 2021 is on the road!!!

 Hello everyone. 

We thought this walk would fail like the last two attempts did. It almost did fail. But some date changes, a ticket cancellation, and totally new tickets saved the day. Or at least the pilgrimage walk.

We stayed up for around 36 hours, flying from our home airport to DFW. Then DFW to Madrid.

We then bussed to the northern region of Spain. It was a really long day Wednesday-Thursday so I didn't make a post.

This very unusual machine was at a remote-area stop on the way to Leon. It is really big and tall. I took the photo through the bus window.

Today was also very tiring so I will discuss it in the next post.