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. 

Day 3: transition day

Hello,  everyone.  The first 2 days of this year's Camino were the flight over and a night of rest. Today we are going to Ribadeo on the train. 

View from the train platform

The seats are comfortable, and Renfe has free on board wifi. 😃

Ultreia!

Pilgrimage 2027 is on the road!

Hello, everyone.  We're officially en route for Ruta del Mar and Camino Inglés. 

another angle on the famous McAllen Airport butterflies 

A new stash project started

Hello, everyone. The previous stash project, a 36"^2 future field-trip "blanket", is awaiting quilting.  This one is more in the fidget space, dimensios 18" tall by 20" wide before backing and binding. 

Here are some details: 

A shiny, glittery button with a spinnable octagon behind it. Also some Minky type fabric for pleasant texture.

Behind those triangle flaps, a couple of hens resting on straw. Are they sitting or setting? No one knows!

Some strips of Minky type fabric in the middle of the Courthouse Steps block.

 The applique Christmas tree is big enough to see in the main photo. It has beaded button ornaments and some shiny garland. The garland was sewn down along both sides. I thought about addding a line of backstitched beads down its middle but concluded the extra beads wouldn't add anything really. All of the beads are attached with 6 pound strength braided fishing line, at least 2 strands through each bead. 

This will go in the to-be-finished pile with the other top as right now I don't have time to tackle that.

Low carb Friday dinner

Hello, everyone. We're doing more walks these days and have started wearing a small weighted vest. We can feel the difference! 

A week or so back, I made low carb Friday night dinner. 

The picture (of course!) turned sideways. 

The patty is one of the salmon, jalapeño,  cheddar patties from our local HEB store. I cook them in a little butter in the skillet anf they're so yummy.

The salad is our new summer favorite, cucumber slices with yogurt vinaigrette. I added the last of the snacking peppers when I  was cutting vegetables. (Forgot to half-peel the cucumbers before slicing.) These vegetables, with some nice onion-y herbal sprinkle, taste good and avoid stressing out over whether the leafy salad things at the store are washed well enough before shipping. Actually,  when I buy fresh leafy greens I always wash and spin them at home. The few minutes to do this are worth every second in my opnion.

The yogurt vinaigrette is usually a combination of the very plain bottled vinaigrette at the store (I check to make sure there is no sugar in it.) and a couple tablespoons of plain, whole milk yogurt. S & P to taste.