Author: bethstapleton0201@gmail.com

Last night we went to another nice pilgrim mass and today’s walk to Arzua was clear skies for the whole 26 K (16 miles).  We left early again and saw the full moon go down in the morning.

We walked through mostly farm country and woods today. Everything is so lush and green but we did find this field of purple and yellow wild flowers.

Last night was a rough night for sleeping in the bunk room. One pilgrim was obviously not feeling well. He spent the first half of the night having a coughing fit and then the second half of the night snoring up a storm. Seriously,the lack of sleep on a daily basis is amazing. We may look tired but our spirits are up.

We have 2 more days (approximately  42K or 26 miles) to go and we are pumped up to walk into Santiago and through the Holy Door. This door is only opened when there is is a Holy year which is about every 20 years or so but Pope Francis made this year a special Holy Year of Mercy.

Camino stories:

1. Today we saw Tom (UK) in an old church along the way. When he saw us later down the road, he said he lit a candle for us since it looked like we could use the help. When I asked him if it was 2 candles, he said it was only one but it was massive….like a flame thrower.

2. There was a elderly woman (Joan from Washington) who had her pack shipped ahead to her next albergue but then had to stop short and stay at another place because she couldn’t walk that far. She called to apologize and the albergue owner said he will send her pack to her and to not worry. “We’re all one big family” he told her.

 

---

We had such a fun time staying in Vilacha.  The Albergue is owned by Gordon from South Africa.  He took a building that was practically ruins and renovated it over 6 years.  There are only 10 beds so it was a small group that included our friends Kathy (New Hampshire), Jean Marie (France) and Glynnis and Robert (South Africa).  We all have a different plans for the last 4 days so this was our last evening together.  We were joined by 4 other peregrinos from California, England,  Canada and Germany. Dinner was delicious and we talked and laughed for hours.  By the end of the evening we were singing songs from each country.  It really was a blast.

Today’s walk was tough.  We walked 27 K or 16.7 miles, mostly in the rain. We really can’t complain about the weather, until this week it has been beautiful.

There are very few cafes along the route and because of the rain they were really crowded.

Camino fun facts:

1. We saw a pilgrim strip right down  to his underwear in front of a cafe for a quick wardrobe change when the weather got hotter a few days back.  We assumed he was French.
2. The standard pilgrim menu is the same in most of the restaurants in Spain.  By the time we got to Leon, we tried to avoid this whenever we could.  It was like eating airline food after awhile.  The only good thing good with the pilgrim menu is that it comes with a bottle of wine.
3.  After walking the first 10K we feel pretty good about ourselves; after 20 K we start to become very uncomfortable; after 25 K, we are hobbling around like circus clowns
4. We have taken enough ibuprofen to kill a HORSE

Today was a really beautiful day.  It started out with a hug and kiss from our hospitalario, Marcella, and a heart felt Buen Camino!  Tom selected our albergues based on the feedback about the owners and it makes a huge difference.

Our walk today was very much like yesterday.  The air was crisp and while it started out foggy, the sun came out and everything was so lush and green.  Most of our walk was alongside very old stone walls covered in moss.

Again, we got up close and personal with the live stock. Can you spot the jackass in this picture?

 

 

Only 4 days to go!

Camino Fun Facts:

Kids in Spain (8th or 9th grade) are required to walk the Camino.  It gives them a good understanding of the peregrinos and the walk.  We ran into this group today.

 

 

---

Reaching Sarria today was a huge milestone for us as it’s 100 k to Santiago.  We are 80% there and proud and happy that we’ve made it this far without any major issues.

Today’s walk started out very much like yesterday’s but the mist and fog did turn into rain. The Galicia Mountains are a bit like the Poconos, if it’s not raining it will be. It was also cold in the morning so wer’re wearing most if our clothes.

We walked through mostly farm country and were amazed at how close we walked next to huge bulls and how much bull crap we are stepping in.

 

Sarria is a more modern city than most we’ve seen but still very pretty.

Camino Fun Fact:

The Spanish people along the route are very proud to have the Camino in their city/village.  If you are lost they are quick to get you back on the right track.  We were standing on a corner in Burgos looking confused when a car stopped next to us, the driver honked his horn and pointed to where we needed to go.  On another occasion we were walking out of a small village when and old woman was clapping and waving to us from her window.

The greeting for peregrinos is “Buen Camino”.  We say this to each other and also hear it from the locals. 🙂

The weather report last night was for it to be rain all day today. We woke up and had cloudy skies (and morning fog) but no rain until we got close to Triacastella.  It was only a light rain as well (maybe that pilgrim mass we went to the night before helped us).

 

There was a long hard descent for the last 5K of a 21 K day. We checked into our albergue in Triacastela where they had a nice fire in the fire place going.   It’s starting to stay cool most of the day now.  We were able to get our clothes laundered in a washer and dryer. Having to hand wash clothes and dry them on a clothes line each day is starting to cut into our siesta time.

I thought I would be stronger by now but I guess the cumulative effect of walking every day is taking a toll on us. It won’t be long now. Tomorrow we head to Sarria where the final 100 k to Santiago begins.  We have 6 walking days left!

Camino fun facts:

1. There are many terms for the people that do the Camino: Peregrino (pilgrim that walks with their stuff on their back); Tourigrino (tourist that has their suitcase shipped to their next destination each day); Bicigrino (cyclist that do the Camino by bike).
2. We have a friend who calls the tourigrinos slacker packers 🙂

Last night we were joined by two ladies from Mexico as well as Emily and Jenna from the USA. We had a delicious dinner prepared by the host of our albergue. The next morning he woke us up by playing “Ave Maria”.  He continued to play wonderful music as we had a breakfast. Nothing sets the tone of the day more than leaving the albergue and hearing “Don’t worry, be happy” playing as you leave.

We did a 10K climb to O Cebreiro. The views rivaled what we saw in the Pyrenees on Day 1.  It was not as hard as we thought it would be.

The town of O Cebreiro is more of a tour bus stop. It’s a small village of cobblestone streets. We attended a nice pilgrim mass that night, where they had pilgrims do the readings in English, French and Spanish.

Camino fun facts: To walk the Camino Frances, all we need to do is follow yellow arrows painted along the way as well as the official Camino cement markers. It’s pretty amazing.

We were one of the first pilgrims to leave the albergue this morning  after being woken up by the local rooster.  We left Pieros in the dark (the sun isn’t up until about 8:15 am).  They don’t have daylight savings time in Spain and we got lost in the dark.  Fortunately a very nice man who was taking his grandson to school got us back on track.  This is what happens when you dress in the dark.  It made me think of Liz :-).

The walk today was uneventful with most of our time spent between a highway and a river.  There was an alternate path that required 3 big up and down climbs and we wanted to save ourselves for tomorrow which will be a 10K climb very similar to what we encountered in the Pyrenees on Day 1.

We are staying in a relaxing albergue at the foot of the mountain. Right now there are only 4 of us and we know Emily (Maine) and Jenna (Minnesota).

Camino Fun Facts:  The following are considered luxuries on the Camino

• Restroom with toilet seat and toilet paper
• Shower with a place to put your soap and shampoo
• An Albergue with no French guys
• An outlet by your bed
• A room with no bunk beds
• Lunch without flies
• A good WiFi connection

We left beautiful Molinasca and walked to Ponferrada which is a good size city.  The highlight of Ponferrada was the Templar Castle which, unfortunately, was closed.  As we walked up to the entrance a peregrino called out to us “good luck storming the castle!”  He then laughed and said, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

We visited the Church which had this pretty stained glass window of a pilgrim.

As we walked away from the church we met Robert and Glynnis on a bridge.  Robert had just taken a picture of a couple people fly fishing and dropped his trekking pole off the bridge onto a steep cliff ivy.  When he said he was going to climb down and get it we really didn’t want to believe it.  We started to leave but just couldn’t until we saw him make it back safely, which he did.

The walk was very scenic once we left the city.  After walking about 25 k we arrived at our Albergue where we met Peter, a very strange young man who has been walking the Camino for 3 years.

We had another vegetarian dinner and both slept on the top bunk which were very high!

Camino Fun fact: A can of Aquarius (lemon drink) costs 2 euros but a glass of wine costs 80 cents.  I love this country.

We walked 20.3 k or 12.6 mikes today.  It was one of the  most picturesque days we’ve had on the Camino and also one of the more challenging walks. We started with an uphill climb  to the Cruz de Ferro.  This monument has become an iconic image of the Camino.  It’s a simple iron cross where pilgrims add a stone or other token of love or blessing to the pile.  We added a simple stone from our vegetable garden at home. That’s me at top leaving our stone.

Next to the cross is a stone chapel.

We arrived early enough to see the sunrise behind the cross. It was really beautiful.

The rest of the walk was in the mountains.  The views were beautiful but it was difficult to look around to see them because the mostly steep downhill walk was so treacherous we didn’t dare take our eyes off the ground.

We stopped in Acebo for an early lunch.  It was such a pretty village.

Finally, we arrived at our destination Molinasca and the village is beautiful.

Camino Fun Fact:  If you walk into an Albergue and there are a group of men sitting in common areas in their underwear they are French. 🙂

 

We woke to 35 degree temperatures and had to layer on our clothes (practically all of our clothes).  This is Tom using socks as gloves and his buff as a hat. By early afternoon it was in the 70’s again.

We’re back in the mountains so the walk was a gradual uphill grade for most of the day.  We ran into these guys and their burros who didn’t mind posing for a photo but then asked for money to feed them.  It felt like Times Square.

We then met a knight of the Templar who introduced me to his falcon, Julie.  Yes, Julie. It was very cool holding her.

The terrain then became very challenging – all uphill for 6 kilometers until we reached Foncebadon.  We stayed in a former convent that was converted to an Albergue and hotel.  We were booked for 2 beds in the Albergue but they gave us a private room for the same price.  It was great having our own bathroom.

Camino fun fact: Many of the bathrooms and showers in the albergue are communal, shared by men and women.  The individual stalls are private so it’s really not a big deal.