Monday, May 28, 2007
92 km Santiago to Finisterre
Monday, May 14, 2007
20km SANTIAGO!
We walked through showers most of the day, but arrived in Santiago under sunny and warm skies. Good thing. I really didn't want to enter the cathedral in a dripping wet poncho.
We are now the proud owners of a registered "Compostela", which is issued by the Canonicus Deputatus pro Peregrinis and is written entirely in latin, so it must be official. I think it is kind of like a get-out-of-purgatory-free card. I'm actually going to lock in the indulgences by going to the Pilgrim Mass at noon tomorrow.
Compostelas are issued to those who make the pilgrimage to Santiago, although I think the standards have slipped some in the past few centuries. Now it can be obtained by anyone walking the last 100km on foot or horseback, or 200km by bike. Seems like different benefits should be conferred on those who walk further. Maybe give a compostela for each hundred kilometers walked, somthing like that. Oh well. We've got it and we feel like we earned it.
20km Silleda to Ponte Ulla
The weather that was forecast for yesterday arrived early this morning, with thunderstorms, high wind and LOTS of rain. We stalled our departure until check-out time. We hadn't gone 50 yards before the wind lifted our ponchos over our heads. I pulled out some extra shoe laces and fashioned a belt.
The weather improved as the day went on but was never nice. The showers decreased in frequency and intensity, and the wind died off, but we never took off our ponchos.
A correction to a previous entry: Pontevedra was not our last province. Today we crossed the Ulla River to enter Ponte Ulla and crossed into the province of La Coruna, our final stop.
30km Castro Dozon to Silleda
Last night making our way back to the hostel from the store in a beach-mist-type fog, I was dreading today's walk. A lot of kilometers lay ahead and the clouds to the west looked laden with rain. The forecast called for showers and cooler temperatures. We got the cooler weather, but the rain never materialized. Instead of putting on the ponchos I'd anticipated, we put on sunscreen. Even the terrain changed in our favor, with smooth dry paths and gentler climbs. We felt better today after 30km than we did after far shorter walks the previous 2 days.
We nearly got skunked on a room,though, when we got here. The town is full this weekend because of some sort oftesting convention. We finally scored after four tries.
It is really clear now that we are in Galicia. The spanish sounds like portuguese, the houses look different and the towns are now closer together. We no longer need to carry extra food and water because we can find everything we need on the trail.
We've got two reasonably easy days left till Santiago. A bit surreal.
Friday, May 11, 2007
17km Cea to Castro Dozon
Under most circumstances, I'd consider 17km a short day. This terrain really makes it tough, though.
We entered Pontevedra today, the final province of our trip. We're 68km from Santiago, which we intend to cover in the next 3 days.
We visited the Cistercian monastery in Oseira today on our way to Castro Dozon. We took a one-hour guided tour that was very interesting. Most of what exists today was built after a fire in 1552 burned everything but the church. More recently, it went through a 90-year period of abandonment. It has been a National Monument since 1923 and is undergoing restoration. The dozen or so monks currently living there occupy a fraction of the space.
Up until yesterday we hadn't seen a single north american on the trip. When we got to the albrgue in Cea, there were 14 US college students registered. They are studlying in Alicante and came with a guide who is taking them from Ourense to Santiago. I don't think these kids had a clue of what was coming when they signed up. They are hiking in tennis shoes! He marched them 40 kilometers today, through some tough terrain.
We ran into Martin, the Brit we met 10 days ago just before Dean & Marian arrived. I thought he'd gotten well ahead of us because he walks long days. Apparently those long days took a toll and he spent 3 days recovering in Ourense.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
21km Ourense to Cea
Today at our lunch stop we passed the 900km mark. We're down to double-digits and counting.
I had originally planned to walk 31km to the Cistercian monastery at Osiera which has lodging. I constructed that itinerary several weeks ago when we were walking through the relative flat lands of Badajoz and Caceres. The climb out of Ourense today was far more strenous than I'd imagined. It ranged from steep to stair-like. There is a nice albergue here in Cea and we can re-arrange the next few days to accommodate the shortfall. We'll probably arrange to visit the monastery at lunch time tomorrow. It sounds like quite a monument. This probably works out better. Had we pushed on, we would have arrived late and exhausted, without time to look around.
Ourense was a nice town. I was sorry to have to leave after such a short visit. The route into Ourense was through an industrial area, but the walk out was through small business and residential areas with lots of bars and shops. We were barely out of the city center when we started seeing vegetable gardens again. The percentage of homes with gardens the past several days has been astounding, and all very well kept.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
25km Vilar de Barrio to Ourense (kind of)
20km Laza to Vilar del Barrios
Monday, May 7, 2007
14km Campobecerros to Laza
20km A Gudina to Campobecerros
Saturday, May 5, 2007
12km Vilavella to A Gudina
Yesterday's cab ride made for a short day today. There really wasn't any way to continue on from here without making this a 35 km day. Just as well, as the walking in these mountains is more demanding.
We've crossed out of Castille-Leon and into Galicia, the last of the autonomous regions we'll visit. At the same time we left the province of Zamora and entered the province of Ourense. Most everything is written in gallego as well as spanish. It looks a lot like portuguese, which isn't surprising considering we are only about 20km from the Portuguese border.
Galicia is known for its high quality albergues, and tonight's stop reinforces that reputation. Everybody was happy to stay here. No rebellions.
21km Requejo to Lubian
The albergue was essentially like the previous night, but a bit smaller. The beds had pillows and a blanket and there was a small kitchen. Unfortunately, I was the only one willing to stay there. The alternatives were either full or overpriced. Before I knew it, the crew mutinied and we were in a cab to a town 10km away where there as another hotel. This was a nearly intollerable concession for me to make, as it moved us from the category of peregrino to "taxi tourist", an unpardonable offense in the eyes of the pilgrim purist. Not that I'm a purist, but I like to play by the rules if at all possible.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
12km Puebla de Sanabria to Requejo de Sanabria
A short day today to break in Dean & Marion.
We met them at the bus stop yesterday afternoon and started the one-kilometer walk to the hotel. We saw the first lightening bolts as we left the bus stop, and five minutes later we were drenched. We ducked into the first bar for cover, but by then we were soaked. The deluge and hail moved on, leaving a light but steady rain in its wake. D&M earned their pilgrim cred even before we got to the hotel.
It is hard under the best of circumstances to get started again after a rest day. Last night I feared we'd be walking in a kcold rain. It was a huge relief to see a sunny sky when we woke up this morning. The ground was still saturated, however, so we opted to walk along the highway. Much of today's route was on the highway anyway, so we didn't give up much. The new freeway has siphoned off nearly all the traffic, too, so the walk was quite pleasant. By 11am we were hiking in t-shirts.
We reached our destination before 1pm and staked our claim at the albergue. I had warned D&M that albergue-life was akin to camping indoors. They were still a bit taken aback. This albergue is spartan but not atypical. It is a large room with 10 sets of bunks and one bathroom with shower. It qualifies as spartan because of the lack of blankets, pillows or a heat source.
It has taken a few words of encouragement to keep D&M from checking into the hotel across the street.
We had the "menu del dia" at the meson across the street. A wood stove next to our table and a bottle of white wine made the meal very cozy. The albergue feels cold by comparison, so the other 3 are napping in their bags. The predictable afternoon cloud cover has rolled in, bringing the temperature down and the threat of showers.
We're a bit higher than last night, just about 1000 meters, so I imagine it will be cold tonight. There was fresh snow again this morning on the hilltops.
I saw a satellite image on the newscast this morning and it looks as though the worst of this system has moved east. Tomorrow will be a good day to cross the pass.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
25km Cernadilla to Puebla de Sanabria
At kilometer post 745, Puebla de Sanabria marks the three-quarter-way point. We're going to take a rest day here, our first since Salamanca 11 days ago. Dean & Mariana Larkin spend tomorrow night with us here and then walk with us for the following 6 days. Mariana and I were in the same student exchange program in Sevilla in 1978-79. She and Dean live in Pewuakee, WI. They flew into Madrid yesterday, smack in the middle of a four day weekend, and they are finding most everything closed. Today is May Day, the international labor day. Tomorrow is a holiday in the city of Madrid. Don't ask me what for.
Spring is just arriving in these parts. We've come quite a way north from sunny Sevilla. Plus, we're at 960 meters altitude, or about 3200 feet, roughly the same as Government Camp on the flanks of Mt. Hood. There was fresh snow on the hills above us this morning. I hope this weather system blows through before we cross the 4385-ft pass at Padornelo on Thursday.
Today started out clear and cold. It stayed cold with a disagreable headwind all day. I don't think the temperature got above 50F, and it felt a lot colder in the wind. With one kilometer between us and our hotel, it started to rain. A nuisance, but fortunately it came late. We knew we we'd be running that risk when we stopped for lunch. Oh, well.
We had been walking with the same group for the past 4 days, but they pulled ahead of us when we stopped here. It is always a bit sad to part company. We'd been walking with Jurgen from Germany, Josef from Holland, and a couple from Austria, Sepp & Grete.
17km Rionegro del Puente to Cernadilla
It turned cold again today. It was raining when we got up but it had stopped by the time we left at 9am. Still, there was a cold wind blowing all day and it looks like it could start raining at any minute.