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!