Day Twenty: Santiago and the Route of Routes

As if we had not gotten enough walking on this trip, we spent the day touring Santiago on a walking tour that takes you along the traditional entry routes of all the Caminos into the city. We started at the oldest church there that is a Romanesque building that is very unusual because all of its walls are leaning outward upon added buttresses. It appears to be collapsing and is very unusual. We also stopped at a Benedictine convent where the nuns make cookies and sell them from behind a rotating doorway so that they are not seen. We walked the way of the Caminos Ingles, Portuges, Norte, Primitivo, de la Plata, and Frances. We also saw many arts of the city we did not know about and visited the pilgrim museum and a Monestary where they had a huge museum of prints and relics. 

That evening, we went to the Pilgrim's mass where they swing the giant incense burner, the botofumeiro. This is not done at every mass, so it was very special to get to see it. 

We then went out to eat with a large group that we had met along the Camino and shared stories and rememberances. 

Day Nineteen: Finesterre and Muxia

It is legend that pilgrims, after reaching Santiago and paying their respects, would continue on to Finesterre, the Westernmost point known to man at that time. Here they would burn their clothes they had used during the journey as a symbol of their rebirth. 

We started our day with a traditional Spanish breakfast of churros and chocolate. 

Afterwards, David and I packed up and made our version of this trip by car. We stopped on the way at a store and bought new clothes to be worn on the flight home, got some uniquely Spanish foods to take back, and drove to Muxia. 

The famous church here burned at Christmas and then was even more damaged by a severe storm in the following days. It is now closed and under full reconstruction. But the location is beautiful and we enjoyed walking the rocks at the sea and having lunch in the sleepy little fishing town. 

Finesterre has a lighthouse and several monuments to pilgrims and the conclusion of the Camino. Here we saw the mile 0 marker showing there was no further to walk. We also saw where many folks had burned items or left their boots. 

Normally you would stay here for the sunset, but it was a cloudy day and we needed to get back because I had a surprise for David. 

He thought that we did not have a place to stay in Santiago and that we had to find somewhere. As we walked back into the city from the car rental, I asked David if he wanted to get our final stamp in our credentials from the historic Hospital de Los Reis, which was now a parador hotel. He was shocked when we not only got stamps but checked in! This was our celebration for having accomplished our Camino. 

Day Eighteen: Santiago- Walking a marathon

I should have never said a thing...

It took one comment to get it into David's head. I only said "Caroline and I walked the rest of the way in from Arzua to Santiago in one day, and we are only 2 miles from there." David's competitive nature kicked in and he is looking at the maps. "Dad, we are 26.2 miles from Santiago. Isn't that the distance for a marathon?"

Next morning we got up at 5am (we weren't the first) and headed out in the dark. It was the earliest we had walked and the cool felt good. It is interesting to see how towns and villages wake up. 

We walked through fields and forest of  Eucalytus trees that have been taking over this area of Spain. On through Santa Irene, and past our original stopping point. With only a short stop for drinks, we soon found ourselves on Mount Gozo, facing the city of Santiago. There you see the church spires for the first time. 

Here is a famous sculpture there of two pilgrims pointing to the church as they crest the "mountain of joy". From there, the heat, the traffic, even the lack of Maria cookies would not stop us. 

We pushed on into the city and to the cathedral. It is quite a feeling to enter the square and see the front of the church and know you really did finish it. We will have walked 300 miles by the end of our trip. After celebrating with hugs and pictures, we went to the pilgrim's office to receive our compostelas, that show our completion of the pilgrimage. We also went to the Franciscan church and received a special compostela in honor of St Francis' pilgrimage 800 years ago. 

Then food, a hotel, and a shower. I was bushed!

Day Seventeen: Ribadiso

Want to know a perfect albergue, come to the xunta one in Ribadiso. It is not modern, or overly clean or new, but it is a collection of stone buildings right next to a lovely river.

Here you can soak your feet, sun, and catch up with pilgrim friends that you know you may not see again. We have run into Vince from Charlotte the last several evenings and kept him company as he ate dinner. He is  the avid hiker just finishing section hiking the AT. Having just retired, HHS decided to come do this because it sounded interesting.

In the albergue, the rooms are cool but not too crowded and the clothes drying lines plentiful. There is a good bar next door, and lots of space to relax outside. Earlier all the young adults were playing in the river and now they are taking naps or talking at the bar. 

It is sunny and warm and beautiful in this little place. I realize that this adventure will soon end and our days as pilgrims are almost over. But for right now, life is pretty good. 

Day Sixteen: Palas de Rei

I realized today I am walking with a machine. David again charged through a 20 mile day and still wanted to watch Germany and Portugal play in the World Cup (Germany won 4-0 if you weren't paying attention.) He is one of the strongest hikers I have been with and can seemingly continue on with nothing more than chocolate, Maria cookies, and the occasional Kas Limón. When we get to a hill, he seems to get faster and we pass people right and left.

He never complains, always looking at the churches and testing me "So what style is this one?" (Fortunately for me, we are in a part of Spain right now where they are mostly Romanesque.)

It has been interesting comparing the pilgrimages with both my kids. Each brings a special quality to them that I will always cherish. I was talking to an Italian girl today that was doing the Camino with her father and she made the point that out here it is timeless. You have time to enjoy your relationship together and not be bounded by responsibilities. 

I wish we all had more "timelessness" with our kids. We would remember how very special they really are.

Day Fifteen: Ferrerios

Today was another 20 Mile day and not as easy as we thought. Normally we're awakened at 6am by the hospitalero turning on the lights of the refugio, but today he did not do it until after 6.30, so we were late getting out and then we had to eat breakfast in Samos because there was nowhere else for 3 hours of walking. This made us late the whole day, but it did not help any that we had a craving for Italian food and had a place recommended as we came to Sarria. Here we met up again with Lucy, the Aussie that we had shared several days with and walked on till she stopped and we continued on in the heat. We luckily got the last room in the hostel where we are staying. It is quite a purple one with everything some shade of the color. 

It is a bit more than an albergue, but we were beat, as you can see from David crashed on the bed. What a wonderful way to spend Father's Day--with my son on the Camino de Santiago!

Day Fourteen: Samos Monastery

Our walk from O Cebriero to Samos started out cool and ended in the heat. It was another 20 mile day, which is very trying on David and me. We started with the moon in the sky and a beautiful rising sun.

The clouds were all down in the valley and it was quite beautiful. Galicia is known for its lush farmland and we were able to walk in some of the best areas. It was pretty much all downhill to Triacastela, where I finally got to have pimientos de Padron, the wonderful peppers that are from this region. They were excellent. We continued on and followed a river down through small farms and into Samos, know for its famous Monestary. It is one of the oldest in Iberia, and we stayed in the albergue that the Benedictine monks provide. Here we met a wonderful English couple that shared a table with us for dinner twice (long story) and a group from NYC. That evening was capped off by the monks chanting Vespers and mass. 

Day Thirteen: O Cebriero

It was a cool morning when we left ave Felix and crossed through Villafranca to head up the Camino. And I do mean up because we immediately began climbing out of the town and up the side of a hill that put us above the highway and the usual path taken next to a road. This was beautiful with many flowers and great views of the countryside. It also had many flies, that all seemed to be following David. Lucy joined us as we walked through the fields and aspect up with a German named Kirby. He was very entertaining as we connected with the main track and started up the last main climb into Galicia. As it became hotter, Lucy fell behind and we had to stop for lunch. She passed and we said our goodbyes as she was not going as far as we. The rest of the day was extremely hot with climbing the whole time up into some of the most wonderful country in the world. 

It is hard to describe how far you see and how amazing it is. 

I kept stopping for pictures and to catch my breath. 

Finally we reached O Cebriero, the first Galician town on the Camino and one of the most interesting. We were able to get a room above a restaurant and it happened to be the same room that Caroline and I had stayed in six years before. We went to mass in the oldest church on the Camino, ate our first Gallego meal, and went to bed. We were bushed. 

Day Twelve: Villafranca de Bierzo

Tonight we are staying in the albergue ave Fenix, which is quite famous on the Camino. It is a bit if a hodge podge of building pieces all put together by Jesus Jato, the owner and proprietor. It's eclectic style is based on the available materials he had.

Once the albergue burned, but it is my understanding that he had a vision to rebuild it, this the name Phoenix. 

The dorm rooms are a bit attic and a bit tree house. 

But it is one of the special places to meet other pilgrims, share a meal, and be open to the friendships that will come.

We are here with Lucy, an Aussie we met along the way. She had been studying in France and decided to walk the Camino before heading home. 

Day Eleven: Ponferrada

This section was one of the hardest for us as it was a long distance (20 miles) and a strenuous day with climbing and significant descent. The cool of the day gave way to sunshine and we spent most of the day in above tree line expanses with snow capped mountains on our side. 

The vista here are gorgeous and we reached the Cruz de Ferro with our Dutch friend, Martinique that we met in the morning. At this point on top of a mountain, each pilgrim leaves a stone that they brought with them to signify the releasing of the burdens of their sins for which they are walking. 

This is also where the descent starts and we walked on down through small mountain towns and through more nature. 

The yellows and purples of the flowers made the walk very colorful and I constantly stopped to take pictures. 

But this led us well into the heat of the day and we struggled with the heat to get to Ponferrada and our albergue. 

After we checked in, we immediately went to the Templar Castle to tour the ruins. 

This albergue is very nice with a fountain and a garden covered for sitting out. The rooms have several bunk beds and a separate place for our boots. 

 David is so tired, he went to sleep.

Day Ten: Rabanal

Today we had our best weather and an easy walk. Having now walked well over 100 miles, it does seem to be getting easier. 

Rabanal is a small pueblo that is pretty much just there for the pilgrims. It has only a couple of small stores and restaurants. Tonight we will get to hear the Benedictine monks chant their vespers. It is a very uplifting experience. David is sleeping now as we got in early and have already washed clothes and eaten lunch. Tomorrow is our longest planned section on the trip and includes the Cruz de Ferro, an ancient rock mound where pilgrims leave stones from their home as a sign of releasing the burden of their sins. It is always very emotional to be there. 

For me right now, I am soaking my feet and relaxing. 

Day Nine: A bittersweet day Logroño, Burgos, Leon, and Astorga

Today at 5am I heard Don and Ben leaving for their next leg by foot and it was sad to think that we were not joining then. But sleeping later was not hard to do given my knee and Achilles have been hurting, so we left later and walked the quiet streets to the train station and picked up our rental car.

From there we drove to Burgos and got to tour the cathedral there. David thought it was beautiful and was impressed with how massive it was, yet still being bright and airy. The rotunda and art work were amazing.

But we still had many miles to go, so we drove on down the autovia Camino, and came to Leon. Here we were able to tour the cathedral, museum, St Isidoro cloister, and have lunch.  We even went to the alberge where Caroline and I started our pilgrimage. Soon we gassed the car and returned it and were on a train headed to Astorga.

Here we walked up to the old town and our treat for the day, a hotel room. Not only do we have our own bath and towels, but a great view onto the Gaudi bishop's house.

And a kind hospitalero at the nearby albergue let us wash our clothes in their machine. We think we went to heaven. But we now have to make new friends and build a new pilgrim family. For that, we miss our band of brothers and wish them well.

Day Eight: Logroño and a farewell to friends.

Today was the hottest day we have had and that was even with an early start. Six of us began before the sun was even proving much light on the sky, but the air was col and it was easy to walk. We quickly began going through quaint towns like Sonbol and Torres del Rio

where we had a coffee and got supplies for lunch. Much of the rest of the day was walking in farmland.

This is why as the temperature creeps up, the sun can become unbearable. We stopped in Viana for our homemade lunch of a chorizo bocadillo and fruit and cold coke. Maria cookies made a great dessert. 

Soon we were being beaten on again by the sun but able to make it to Logroño. 

Here we get our car and will leave our pilgrim family and move forward to Astorga. Craig, Bowde, Dom and Ben have been great traveling companions. We hate to see our crossed paths end as they continue on and we move to a different part of the Camino. 

Day Seven: Los Arcos and the bulls

So what do you get on a hot day in a sleepy town on the Camino? Well we were lucky enough to be in Los Arcos on the day that the bulls are run through town. It was a warm day leaving Estella and it only got hotter. For some reason the sun here really takes a toll and you have little shade to be able to get away from the blistering effects. David's new hat is protecting his face and ears better, but sunscreen still cannot seem to keep it away. We all are burned. As we entered Los Arcos we saw the big barranca idea that were up at each door and I asked a woman why they were there. She said they have a running of bulls that evening and we should come and watch.

Once we check into the municipal albergue and get a 4 reason room with Don and Ben, the Ohio father son we are walking with, we head to town to walk around and see where is best for watching. The church here is amazingly ornate and beautiful inside. We walked in with others behind a barrack to await the start of the event. 

Three bulls were released and they ran the roads for over and hour. Amazingly only one person got hurt. 

Soon after we are in a restaurant and sat out at the albergue talking till time for bed. It was so hot we planned a 5:30 start in the morning. 

How is the second time different?

It has been interesting to compare my two Caminos so far. Much is similar, but much is different:

Americans- There are significantly more Americans on the Camino this year. Where before we were the minority, this time you can not stop without meeting new Americans. Today we met Phillip that went to OLA and Marist. What are the odds of that? It has made this a bit harder to spend time only with Europeans. 

Albergues- David and I have stayed in several Albergues this time that have been very basic and crowded. The first time, Caroline and I were fortunate enough to not stay at one of these, but it has also given a good perspective on what we do have and to be thankful for it. 

Youth- on our first Camino, Caroline at 16  was one of the youngest pilgrims on the Camino. Now, we just were passed by a 12 year old boy today and a 13 year old girl. There are also several parent child teams out this time of various ages. 

Similarities: People are still struggling each day and many walk slower and slower. It is still hot in the sun and you still make great friendships. Your clothes still get dirty and you have to wash them. 

You will also still find it can change your life. 

Day Six: Estella

It was hard to leave such a nice alberge, but the morning was cool and beautiful when a group of six of us Americans and Boude, a Dutch guy that has joined our group headed out. He is great. 

The area is becoming more farmland, with small towns every once in awhile. We stopped for breakfast at a panaderia. The  day was sunny and became very hot quickly. We were laughing and talking the whole time. It was so sunny that we were very tired when we arrived in Estrella. We found new sunscreen and blister packs, a new hat for David and a great dinner on the river in the old part of the city. 

At mass the priest gave a special pilgrim prayer to us. 

Day Five: Cizur Menor

Today's walk took us into Pamplona and made us many new friends. From wilderness to suburbs to the old city, we saw many changes. We met a mother and daughter from Valdosta that were doing the camino for a high school graduation gift. We also met a very nice Spanish man that took David under his wing and led us all the way to the city wall. He even took pictures with David. In the city we toured the cathedral and bought a Mobile card so we could use our phone. It had lightly rained the entire time, but stopped as we got Pinxas for lunch and began the walk out to our albergue. It was very basic and run by Maltese Templar volunteers. We went to mass in the small church in Cizur Menor and had dinner with another Atlantan and a German woman living in California. We also met up with Craig, a guy from the camino forum that had connected me before we left. Many new friends have made their way into our lives. 

Day Four: Akerretta

Ok I've procrastinated long enough about writing this entry. Today I was rudely awakened at around 5:30 after a fitful sleep next to one of the loudest snorers I have ever heard.

Our hike definitely was longer than yesterday, but a lot more enjoyable with small villages that looked like they came straight out of a fairy tale.

I now feel like a 80 year old now that my knees ache and it's a struggle just to stand up. I'm definitely tired, but happy to be here and eager to learn more about the region.

Day Three Saint Jean to Roncevalles

This day is known to most as the hardest walk of the entire Camino. That is quite intimidating to anyone, but you have to begin sometime and we did with Jodi, our Aussie friend we met in our hostel. We passed the mother daughter from California just as we crossed under the Spanish gate out of the old city and began the walk up.  It was cloudy but not raining at the start. We had very pretty, misty views back into the valleys of France. Our walking pace got us to Hunto and Orrison rather quickly, so we stopped here for a coffee and the last restroom break before the end of the day. By this point it was lightly raining and we put on our rain jackets and continued up into the mist and clouds. 

I am sure the views from this area are gorgeous, but we saw nothing but white 40 feet all around. This made for very little reason to stop and everyone was feeling very good so we kept going and got into an area of significant wind and mud. At its start was a food truck giving stamps and offering food and hot drinks for sale. We all were getting cold and could really have used the warmth, but we went on.  Soon the trail leveled into a very muddy road and crossed over into Navarra and Spain at the fountain of Roland. By this point there were about 10 of us all picking our way through the mud. Soon we began to see better and our Irish trio from Dublin passed us and made sure we followed the safer, less muddy way going down. This ended up being part road and part trail, but Roncevalles soon came in view as the sky cleared a bit and we could see the monastery and alberge. They have built a new very modern albergue here and it was amazing how nice it is. Dutch hospitaleros were volunteering and we soon got our bunks and showered and washed clothes. Also we went into the old alberge that is still set up as on large dorm room for overflow. For dinner, we had the pilgrim menu at La Posada, the restaurant that was used in the movie as the first alberge. It was a community dinner with a Catalan couple and our Aussie compadre. Soon we went to mass and received the pilgrim's blessing as millions before have as they started the pilgrimage in Spain. The priest then kindly gave all of us a tour of the crypt and the cloisters and the choir loft and finished the tour with a short video a pilgrim stating there had just made of his camino. Soon though we dragged ourselves back up to our beds and quickly went to sleep. 

I was so proud of how David did and how he talked so much with Jodi. It was fun to walk slightly ahead and listen to them talk about cultures and other topics. She is a psychologist that had a family wedding in late June in Paris, so decided to walk to Burgos on the Camino. She has been good company and David seems to enjoy the friendship. 

Day Two: Saint Jean

Today was our day to overcome jet lag and we did it by getting up and walking all over St Jean. This picture is the view from our hostel. We went to the pilgrim's office and got our starting stamp in the credential we must carry with us showing we are pilgrims. This has to be stamped each day in the places you eat, sleep, or go to church. Next we got a knife and the scallop shells that are the traditional symbol of the pilgrim. And then we walked all over town touring the citadel, museum. And other sights here. They are very proud of their Basque history, so we saw many signs of that around. Tomorrow is our hardest day so we are going to sleep now to wake early. We are both very eager to begin.

Day One: Paris and Saint Jean Pied du Port

Our adventure began as most of ours do; at the airport in Atlanta. We decided to have lunch at the Varsity and Pei Wei, both foods we do not expect to find on the Camino. We then spent the time sitting in the outdoor lounge getting sun and earth before the flight. Everything went off without a hitch and we were several movies later in Paris at the CDG airport. Here we got our train tickets to start one of the many rides to get to our destination. Our first train took us into the heart of Paris And our first stop at Notre Dame cathedral. Here we got the pilgrim's stamp in our credential. Next we walked along the Seine river to the Louvre and saw the glass pyramid and outside of the enormous museum. The day was perfect: sunny and just the right temperature for walking. Bayonne. 

Next stop was the Eiffel Tower, where a huge line had already formed to go up. A tennis tournament was also taking place here, and they had a clay cout set up in the middle of the park and a giant tennis ball hanging from the tower. As we passed the military college, we stopped to have breakfast of croissants and cafe au lait in a sidewalk cafe called the Cafe des les officers. A short walk from there was Napoleon's grave and the museum that surrounds it. But our final destination was the Gare Parnassee where we caught the TGV tran to Bayonne. 

These trains are very comfortable and we began snoozing and reading and looking at the passing scenery. On e we reached Bayonne, we took a bus the hour and a half to St Jean. This is a quiet, tourist town aimed at the pilgrims. Our hostel, the Gite Ultreia, has lovely host. We are getting good nights rest and then plan to expire.