Camino de los Viejos

The relatively short remaining hike to the Cathedral and the Plaza do Obradoiro was, once again, rainy and cool. We arrived at the Pilgrims Office ten minutes before it opened and there were still 30 – 40 pilgrims in line ahead of us. That number would grow by several hundreds before the afternoon. No matter which Camino taken, the pilgrims’s credentials need to be audited to ensure the proper number of stamps and validation of the route before being awarded the ‘Compostela’ certificate.

There is a universal feeling of accomplishment among our group – after all we just hiked almost 200 miles, with a quarter of that in very difficult weather conditions!! Great job team!
It is also important to reflect on the reasons beyond mere goal attainment that we, and so many others, do this crazy thing. We sat at a table in a small breakfast cafe this morning where three men from different parts of the U.S. were eating. All three were probably in the their late 60s or early 70s, and let’s just say, were not “fitness instructors”. Upon talking with them, one volunteered that he had decided to walk the Camino when his 36 year old son died suddenly, and that his two friends insisted on accompanying him. This and stories like this are very common on the Camino, and help explain why hundreds of thousands attempt the journey each year.

It is also very special that we were able to begin our Camino on David and Brenda’s 39th anniversary and end it on Dee Dee and Jim’s 45th. We are truly blessed in so many ways!

If you have never been to Santiago de Compostela I am not sure you can adequately comprehend the sheer number of pilgrims that arrive each day from one of the multiple Camino routes, nor the infrastructure of restaurants, bars and shops open in the historical district to serve them. To illustrate, we first tried to attend the noon Pilgrims Mass, one of four services held each day in the Cathedral. After winding through a several block long line of pilgrims to find its end we realized that we had little to no chance of making that service. So, after a late lunch and probably too much time browsing in local shops, we decided to tour the cathedral between masses. We arrived at 6:15 pm, walked through the incredible 1200 year old structure, and then decided to remain in the cathedral for an hour in order to attend the 7:30 mass. Great decision! By the time the service started not only were all pews filled in each of the three wings, but there were several hundred pilgrims forced to stand.

Following mass, and after a celebratory anniversary dinner, we decided that with the improved weather forecast we should wait and take our external pictures for the blog in the morning.

While certainly not easy at times, this has been an incredible experience for the four of us. We truly hope you have enjoyed following our journey, and want to thank our longtime friend, Kevin Vanderwall, for providing us this platform.

Now, on to RIBERA DEL DUERO wine country

Our original plans called for completing the approximately 15.5 miles remaining on the Camino in two parts. The primary reason is that if we tried to do the entire thing in one day we would arrive in the late afternoon and most likely not have enough time to have our Pilgrim Credentials validated because of the number of hikers that had already entered Santiago from all six routes. Our first leg was supposed to be about 10 miles and would end in a town just outside the city limits of Santiago, named Milladoiro. The following day we would get up early and walk the remaining 5 miles, ensuring that we would be one of the earlier groups to complete the Camino for the day.

As luck would have it, our reservations that we thought were in Milladoiro were in fact seven miles to the west and would have meant an extra 14 miles! Now we were scrambling, since reservations anywhere near Santiago are booked almost completely on a daily basis. Shortly before departing our apartment in Radon this morning we were very fortunate to find a hotel just barely inside the city limits of Santiago with two rooms available. Of course, this would increase our planned distance significantly on a day that promised strong winds and constant hard rain.

A decision was made to follow the N550 highway to Santiago, thus reducing the mileage slightly, but more importantly keeping us out of untold hours of walking on slick, crowded muddy paths. The rains never let up until just before we reached our hotel. The wind gusts were often time brutal and we had to inch close to guard rails as trucks and cars sped by. One of the highlights of day was entering a 15th century cathedral about seven miles into our 12.5 mile trek. Absolutely stunning inside, and we were able to observe mass in progress.

Tomorrow morning we will have less than a mile before reaching our final destination :

CATHEDRAL of SANTIAGO de COMPOSTELA

While rain in Galicia is a virtual certainty, we may have had more than our share. Furthermore, on Monday, the DAY AFTER WE FINISH and for the foreseeable future, perfect weather is forecasted.

With that backdrop, today promises to be challenging in that rain is forecasted for the entire day. Not that you ever get used to walking in constant rain, but generally if you have the right gear you are able to stay semi-dry. The problem becomes the heat generated while climbing a steep path is trapped within the waterproof jacket with no way to escape. Cold rain on the outside – —- burning up on the inside!

Today we hiked just under 12 miles and most of it was on either sandy stone paths or very muddy trails exasperated by Camino bikers eliminating what solid footing we could have had.

Everyone should understand one thing – this is absolutely beautiful country that is probably not being fairly portrayed by our blog because of the extended preponderance of RAIN.

We were blessed to see several old church structures along the way, with an untold number of medieval stone crosses and other relics that dated back more than 1500 years.

Crossed a very windy and rainy bridge as we entered the town of Radon, where we will spend the night.

TWO MORE DAYS!

As you have seen for the past few days, the rain gear has come on and off based on intermittent showers – occasionally hard – but never too long. We turned a new chapter today, however, as we walked the first hour and a half in a continuous downpour. The result was often muddy paths with large pools of water.
Today’s hike was 13.5 miles with 800 feet in elevation gain, and a section that followed a 2,500 year old Roman road. Normally we try to rest about every four miles, but with everything everywhere so wet, that was impossible. We were finally able to stop about 5.5 miles into our hike when we found a small cafe on the side of our path. As has been the case for the last few days, it was very crowded with other pilgrims. This is such a change from the French Way – and not a good one.
Not much time or inclination to stop in the rain and take many pictures today. The early afternoon improved slightly, but not enough to remove our rain gear.

TWENTY SEVEN MILES TO GO!

You know the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men ……..,”

While from a pure physical standpoint this is a perfect day to take off, we did not account in our “ancillary benefit” planning that May 1st is Labor Day in Spain and almost everything is closed!

It turned out that there was still a good bit of activity in the town despite virtually nothing other than bars and restaurants being open. We were able to see a couple of the more important landmarks., including: (1) Igrexa da Virxe Perigrina site of the original virgin pilgrim church (2) Ruins of San Domingo, a 13th century remnant of a Dominican convenant, and (3) Iglesia de Santa Maria Mayor, a 15th century cathedral.

The entire day was filled with sporadic periods of rain and sun. Even with most stores being closed and given the original purpose of this day …… we still managed to walk 4 miles, and ate a traditional Pulgrim’s Meal.

Letting our “battle scars” heal, and will march on tomorrow.

BUEN CAMINO

Awoke to dark overcast skies with moderate rain. Temperatures were still chilly, but probably ten degrees warmer than yesterday. Today’s adventure called for roughly 12 miles and in excess of 1,000 ft of climb. Not knowing the type of terrain ahead, wet footing was a big question mark as we began.
In order to get back on the Camino trail we had to carefully walk a busy highway with more than its share of speeding truck traffic for about 2 miles. Also started looking for a potential breakfast cafes in the first town we saw. It is becoming increasingly apparent that one of the bigger challenges on this section of the Camino is finding dining spots that are not already overflowing with pilgrims. Very difficult – especially when you are hungry.

As we left our restaurant the skies completely opened up and we were forced to continue in heavy rain. The paths became muddy as we started to climb. The terrain changed to a bed of smooth topped boulders positioned erratically up an increasingly steep path. Careful footing and shortness of breath accompanied us for the next several miles.

The rain stopped for a while and allowed us to shed our rain gear. …. until it didn’t … and made us open our packs and start over! This and the seemingly constant temperature and wind changes made for an interesting day.

We reached the outskirts of the beautiful city of Pontevedra in time for a late lunch and our customary sangria. We have changed our plans a bit since we are a couple days ahead of schedule, and have decided to book an extra night in Pontevedra and spend tomorrow exploring.

BUEN CAMINO

Once you pass the 100 kms remaining on the Camiño, in addition to the larger number of pilgrims mentioned yesterday. you begin seeing specially designed concrete markers with the traditional Camino shell and yellow arrow. On the bottom of these markers is a brass plate marking the exact number of kilometers remaining to the Cathedral in Santiago …… to the hundredth of a km. It became apparent that these markers can stimulate paradoxical emotions. They undoubtably provide constant motivation and reinforcement of goal attainment, but also begin to inject the reality that our special journey is getting close to the end.

Last night we decided that since our pending hike to Redondela provided us with only one apparent town along the way that served food – we needed to get an early start. We left our apartment at 6:30am, a clear 30 minutes before sunrise. Needed to make sure that we were ahead of the mass of pilgrims we expected to see today. Strangely enough we were joined by one other pre-dawn pilgrim as we walked through and out of the beautiful town of O Perrino in a cold 41 degree morning.
We reached the only interim town, Mos, four miles later and found a great little cafe and ordered breakfast. We were able to easily find a table and order our food. However, just twenty minutes later and for the rest of the day we were joined by hundreds of fellow pilgrims. Had we not left when we did breakfast could have been much more difficult. Later discovered that this portion of the Portuguese Camino has been attracting over 130,000 pilgrims per year!
1000 well, it was the day
The house we rented north of Redondela sits on a bluff overlooking a beautiful inlet of water off of the Atlantic Ocean.
Great finish to a 13 mile day that saw us climb over 1,200 feet of elevation, descend steeply 850 feet, hike by Roman artifacts, and visit another amazing 16th century church and convent.

BUEN CAMINO

One thing we learned on the French Camino, but only after 440 miles, is that the pilgrim traffic expands greatly the last 60 miles (100km). No matter which Camino route you choose, if you walk the last 100 km and get the required passport stamps each day, you will earn the same certificate as any other pilgrim, regardless of their starting point. Well, guess what ……. TODAY we hit the 100km mark, and it would be impossible to accurately reflect the number of pilgrims that joined us on our journey . I can only say to those of you who have walked the French Camino and remarked about crowds beginning in Sarria, the numbers were three times greater today!

Chilly morning to start our hike, but the body heat eliminated the need for our jackets within the first 2 to 3 miles. An abundance of gorgeous paths, ancient landmarks, countless crosses and numerous chapels provided real inspiration today. The significance and importance of this nearly 2,000 year old journey is growing the further we walk. We are truly blessed.

After 11 miles we reached the town of O’Perrino, had lunch, checked-in to our two bedroom apartment, and began our daily laundry ritual. Have no fear, SANGRIA TO FOLLOW.

Love the Camino

A very cool and rainy day greeted us as we departed our alburgue and headed north, Trying to be an optimist, I suppose that since we had purchased and carried our rain gear the entire way we should be excited to wear it!

We found a small cafe on the south side of Valenca and ate a late “breakfast” (Hot Dog / Hamburger !!!) From there we proceeded toward the town center and the border. Valenca appeared to be very picturesque, with a blend of modern and medieval structures, including a fortress overlooking the river.

The bridge crossing the Mino river seemed strangely familiar…… perhaps because we have watched too many Camino videos. We finally reached ESPANA, and now we can more effectively ‘stumble’ through language barriers. I can assure you that we had no chance in Portugal!

Had a great afternoon exploring the town of Tui, which we discovered had orgins dating back to the Roman Empire. Visited the Cathedral of Tui and the site of a hospital that was built specifically to attend to Camino Pilgrims 1200 years ago. Walked the beautiful boardwalk along the river below the city, and of course, found our first sangria stop.

We are one day ahead of our original schedule because of the distance we went yesterday. We booked a wonderful private alburgue and finished our 9 mile hike about 2:00 pm. This place has a wonderful restaurant, spa and hot tub – a real unexpected gem in this section of rural terrain.
The twin cities of Valenca and Tui are separated by the river Minho, and divide the countries of Portugal and Spain. Tomorrow, we will have breakfast in Valenca, Portugal and stop for the day in Tui Spain. We had planned to spend two full days here, but since it is such a short walk, will continue on after only one night in Tui .
Today was spent totally hiking very old stone paths with intermittent time on country roads. Elevation was about 700+ feet. Very easy day by previous “standards”.

The SANGRIA SQUAD is happy. After almost two full days of hiking without ……, finally found it !!!

BUEN CAMINO