October 4: An Albergue Like a Spa

 Saturday there was a light rain all day. Many of us chose a short walk- like 12 miles— to Baamonde, a town 100 km from Santiago.

This was very exciting but we arrived so early the town albergue was not yet open. It was only 12:30. A friend a few days ahead of me wrote to tell me about an albergue that was on a slightly different hiking path headed in the same direction. If I followed it, I would shorten my Camino by several kilometers. Plus it goes through a nature preserve. The only kicker is, you must hike a 25km section the next day.

I decided to push on; the albergue was 8 miles from Baamonde. Here’s a picture of the Camino markers, one heading north, one south. I don’t know if you can read the kilometers, but I decided to go for it.

The albergue was indeed really nice. Here is a picture of the living room, with a view out the back window.

At supper I sat with Angela, a nurse from Australia who’s here on her third Camino, a couple from Sweden and a couple from Spain.

On Sunday I am walking 15 miles to a famous old monastery that has been restored.

Friday, October 3: Two Camino Friends

 Nearing 100km left in our walk to Santiago. There sre two nurses from Barcelona who I keep running into. 

Aine, a nurse from  Barcelona

I first met them sitting on a bench in the woods a week or so ago.. I hadn't seen them before; it was their first day and they asked if I needed to sit down, and made space for me on the bench. They were so delightful I stopped to talk with them and have seen them almost every day since. Yesterday I mentioned that the chest strap in my backpack was broken, and that not having it operational was hurting my shoulders. Aina looked at it and fixed it in less than a minute, and Andrea asked me for a needle and thread, and sewed a couple rounds to keep it from coming apart again.

Andrea, one of the “ Barcelona Girls”

Tonight we ended the day in Abadín. I took some pictures in town, evidently a big cattle and animal sale area, because they had a lovely new sale barn in the center of town.

On the sale barn was posted a big homemade sign advertising natural, environmentally-sensitive lawn mowing services:

Offering sheep, goats or llamas to come trim your lawn the natural way.

There was also a big community building, a pavilion with glass sides. Posted all over the two buildings and also all around town weee posters that I took to be an invitation to a wedding.

“This Saturday there won’t be a referee, but there will be a priest”

There are two players but the woman is wearing a wedding dress and a photo-shopped face. But if it actually did refer to a real couple marrying-why wouldn’t the groom’s face also appear? I asked Andrea and Aine, and they thought it was a prank.

September 30, Mom’s Birthday

 On Mom’s birthday my siblings and I exchanged our usual birthday greetings. I took a short walk and veered off the Camino a few hundred yards to stay at a farmhouse in Villamartín Pequeño, Granja de Calor. Here I am walking with Claire, a really lovely woman from the south of England.

The farm where I was headed is owned by a German couple, Freddy and Nicole.

They have bought a run-down farm and are working to build up the soil. They offer 3 beds to pilgrims. I was lucky to get one. It’s a very humble place but they are great hosts and really good cooks.

Here I am in the pilgrims’ area  two sisters from Quebec were there with me that night.

Before we came in to supper, Freddy was out calling an animal. We asked what he was looking for and he said, one of their cats. This seemed odd to me, but he said they have to get everything in before dark, that the wild boars would attack them, otherwise. Here is the sunset from their backyard.

Ribadeo: Monday September 29

 

September 29 was a really good walking day. It was misty and cool. I met a man from Leeds, in England, who walks a lot and usually walks very fast. He graciously slowed down to walk and talk with me for about an hour and we went 5.5 km. This wasn’t fast for him, but was flying for me. He walked 50 km one day- like 30 miles- but usually does around 40km. I won’t see someone like that again. His name was Andy and he took a picture for me, before he took off as we approached Ribadeo.

I ran into the Malaysian group again. Thomas said they didn’t have that evening’s mass location yet, but he would let me know where it was going to be.

As I approached the river there were a few more pretty beaches again. I was looking forward to crossing the river over the bridge, which is 600 meters across. My guide book says that some people who are afraid of heights take a bus.

Here’s one of the last beaches on the Northern Way.

A selfie on the bridge. It took a long time to cross.

My albergue had a beautiful overgrown garden with lots of fig trees dropping figs everywhere, and this little old shed, that I thought might be a dovecote.

That afternoon I got a text and directions from Thomas Yap. The mass was in a convent of cloistered sisters. Their pastor is delightful, a really good preacher. After mass they invited me to supper, and then we all went out for ice cream. Some of them have come on several Caminos and for others this is their first one. They’re a really fun group. They’re walking further than I am. So I probably won’t get to see them again.

Sunday September 28

 

Sunday was  long walk day. Since Saturday was so short, Sunday was going to be 30 or 31 kilometers. Fortunately it was gentle ups and downs, no huge hills.

I was walking with Elizabeth, a pilgrim from Australia and England, who knows Spanish really well and can also read the mass listings much better than I can. We stayed together and finished in really good time. We ended up after 18 or 19 miles in a town called La Caridad, “ Charity.”

We saw lots if animals again today, among them my very first geese. They were guard-dog geese. You can’t tell in the picture but they were hissing loudly at us.

We also saw the first herd of dairy cows thst I noticed. Holsteins.

Elizabeth told me that it was the feast day of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. So I had to take a picture if this mutant Ninja Turtle that someone put up as a yard decoration to encourage passing pilgrims. I have no idea which one of the three this turtle represents.

When we finally arrived in Caridad, we found out they were celebrating their town street fair. There were s lot of rides for kids, my favorite was the bull ride. The guy who ran that one had a microphone and would yell, “ everyone put your hands up!” And the kids would, and then he’d pull a lever and all the little bulls would glip sideways and toss off their riders. The kids loved it. The floor was well- padded, and they kept jumping back on. They loved it.

There was also a Duck Pond, like the one I worked at in Hershey Park.

Saturday I Met Group From Malaysia

 

Here is the sign out on the road by the albergue where I stayed Friday night. I think the 226 kilometers between here and Santiago is a little low. We’ll see.

On Saturday morning I started out late from my albergue because I only had 7 or 8 miles to walk to reach Luarca. My friend Elizabeth offered to split a hotel room with me if I wanted to stay in Luarca for Mass Saturday night. Which I did, and we had dinner and had a nice time.

I set out Saturday morning a few minutes ahead of two German friends, Andrea and Martina. I stayed at the same places they did the past two or three nights, so we knew each other pretty well. They, too, were looking forward to mass on Saturday night. We seem to be missing it, and if you’re on a religious pilgrimage it’s something you especially look forward to.

After walking a few minutes we came around a corner to this church where a small group of people were standing. It seemed to me to be people waiting to go inside. I asked if there was going to be a mass there. They said no, they were just looking at it, and it only opens at noon.

I realized they were pilgrims too.  They said, and anyway, we have our own priest, we have mass every day. Their English was native, and I assumed they were from the United States. No, they said, we are from Malaysia, and they gave us little Malaysian flags. I think their pastor has come on a half dozen pilgrimages now, he said. Thomas was their tour manager. He said “I am a human selfie stick,” and he took a picture of all of us. He flipped it, you can see the church is reversed.

This was such nice news I forwarded this photo to Elizabeth. I didn’t know she was ahead of me in the very next albergue, getting ready to go to the cafe for breakfast.

I walked past her cafe, a few minutes before she came downstairs and sat down. She read my message and looked up to see the Malaysian group walking towards her. They had a nice conversation and said they would be in touch. So maybe we will hear mass in English.

On Saturday night I finally got to mass in a beautiful church called Santa Eulalia. A pilgrim came in wearing a Parks Half Marathon shirt. It turns out he is a friend of Elizabeth’s.

I did several Parks races, and asked him about the shirt. He also served in the Marines and did a bunch of Marine Corps Marathons. I sent this picture to Rick, who thought he looked familiar. Steve is a Deacon at s Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland,

Another Gorgeous Day

 On Friday I walked the Coastal route instead of going over the mountain. I walked down to a stone beach. A pilgrim I was walking with told me she had been sick, and  was taking a slow day. She lay down and took a nap in the sun.

There were stone cairns there that people had made. So I made my first-ever cairn. No telling when I will get a selection like that to work with again!

It was Kya’s birthday on Friday and it would’ve been great to make one with 19, but I had to stop at 7.

Then I went up and down more hills and saw a really pretty sand beach. This is looking down from a cliff. I promise I didn’t go near the edge.

The upper picture is the hill to the right. The stone beach is east of that. The bottom picture shows me taking the picture, the beach is far below me.

The Camino guide says that those who take the beach route do the same total ascending as those who climb over the mountain.  I think my tracker said 55 staircases. And of course every time I went up I had to go all the way down soon after.

Last night I stayed in a beautiful hostel called Yalga. I’m only 10km from the town of Luarca where I will go to mass and then spend Saturday night with a pilgrim friend named Elizabeth. Because of only walking 6 or 7 miles today I will need to do 18 tomorrow. I have done 18 miles, specifically the muddy, logging day.

Lisa Arrived in Santiago!

 

The very first morning in Irún, I left my albergue looking for an ATM. For some reason my bank card didn’t work and I was worried. José, a kind pilgrim from Valencia gave me 20€ to sign in at the albergue, but I had no euros. Liz, a woman from Australia who sat across from me at breakfast told me to try a big bank, so I was out walking in Irún looking for one.

A pilgrim walked towards me and we introduced ourselves. Her name was Lisa, she just arrived at the bus stop from San Sebastián, and she was from Australia. She only had three weeks to spend on the Camino, and her plan was to hike a few sections and then take the bus further west and walk continuously for the last hundred kilometers to earn the Compostela,

I wound up hiking with Lisa off and on for the next week. She’s a lovely person and lots of fun. She said she gave herself this trip as a birthday gift, but sometimes if it was a tough day’s hiking she didn’t think she’d picked a very good gift for herself. I might add here that she is really athletic and walked some very long days in the heat. Also, she’s a surfer.

Yesterday I texted her to see how she was doing, and she had just arrived in Santiago! She went to the pilgrims’ office and got her Compostela certificate. I’m so happy for her. I know some people think it’s difficult for me to be here alone, but Lisa came halfway around the world and doesn’t speak Spanish, Congratulations Lisa!

Gijón or Xixón as They Write in Asturian

 

This is the view from the sitting room in the Boogalow Hostel in Gijon. It’s a beautiful hostel with a lot of services. I would stay here again!

After the hike in the rain to arrive here, I decided to take the bus to the next town, Avilés. My guidebook suggested it, saying the walk was 18 miles beside a highway and that 5 of that was through an industrial area.

When I got to Avilés I walked a few miles then went to another albergue.

A Hard Day Hiking

 Last night I had dinner with Sarah from Lancaster, Mateusz from Poland and Ernest from England.

Sarah and Ernest are hiking the Primitivo, the first trail that was created after the tomb of St James was discovered. I am going to miss the ones that are taking the mountain path, but may see them again in Santiago.

Last night I stayed in a very nice hotel because I missed getting a bed in an albergue. Hotels cost more, unless you share the room, and you miss out on seeing your friends. The albergues are very social. 

This morning I had tortilla española  and a cup of cafe con leche before leaving. Tortilla in Spain is a big thick omelet of potatoes, a little onion, and beaten eggs. There is usually some on the counter of all the cafes. It’s very cheap and I like how it tastes so I get it every day if I can.

I had a text from my friend Rachael before I left, saying that there was logging going on in the mountains on the way today. This was troubling since it was raining pretty hard. In fact, it was pretty bad.

There was a big, long hill I was not looking forward to, and it turned out that was beside the logging operation.  So today’s hike checked all the boxes— cold, wet, steep, slippery and muddy!

A muddy walk

If it wasn’t bad enough to be in the mud, trucks were coming and going, so I had to step off the trail to get out of the way.

I was so glad to get to the other side of that mountain. There was lots more mud, and more inclines, but it was easier to handle without the trucks passing.

The guidebook said there was a cafe after the first 12 miles in Peon. It was closed for vacation. In 2 more miles there  was a tiny cafe. I sat for a half hour, then finally got up and finished the walk. I am hoping to rest tomorrow.

I took this rainbow photo earlier in the day. Hope you can see it!

Lots of Horses

 This morning dawned beautiful at the surfing hostel in La Isla:

Rain is predicted but we started walking before 8am and only had 13-14 miles to go. We met a lot of friends on the way. 

On the old farms in Spain there are grain storage buildings called horreos. They are very like our corn cribs on farms back home. They are built up on pillars and the top of each pillar has a big dome or lid, to prevent mice and rats from running straight up the pillars to get at the stored food. As cities gradually took over the old farming communities the horreos got absorbed into the neighborhoods. So you see some in yards that are not used as farms, but you still see some in use. Today we saw one that had a design on the side that looked like a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

Sitting under this horreo was Cami, eating lunch. There were also some very beautiful and friendly horses we stopped to visit. Three at this spot, but several others from earlier in our walk I will include here.

First, the Appaloosa and two others at the horreo.

Here is a cream- colored one that wanted to come along with Sarah.

And here’s one from yesterday’s walk who seemed like he wanted to tell me something. He walked right up to the fence and looked me straight the eyes. We looked at each other awhile. I hated to walk away.

I’m now in Villaviciosa. It’s a beautiful little place. Sarah looked up the name and said it came from “ town of bad habits.” I saw this antidote-town name sign about 5 miles before we arrived here. Maybe this town is trying to make up for whatever bad habits led to viciosa’s getting its name.

A Surfer Hostel

 I am the last bed in this row, bottom bunk. My friend Sarah is across the way. This is a hostel right on the beach, but it was Sunday night so a lot of the weekend surfing crowd was gone. We had the whole dormitory to ourselves. This is how an old-time albergue looked.  Some of the old church and municipal albergues still look like this, but many now have the individual, built-in-the-wall ship’s berths and we each have shelves with a reading light and charging station.

We were right on the beach. There is a restaurant downstairs and loads of tables and umbrellas out on the grass out front. Here’s my view from beside my bed. That’s the bar on the left.

We paid 33€ for the bed, dinner and breakfast this morning. Today I am walking to Villaviciosa, which is a nice town even if it doesn’t sound like it.

The Tiniest Beach and the Biggest Pack of Poodles

 Yesterday I walked from Llanes to Cuerres. Lots and lots of views of the beautiful mountains to the south of me and beaches to the north.

I walked the first part alone, but kept running into different pilgrims I’d been walking with in previous days.

Here is a cafe on the way. Usually, if you have been staying in the pilgrim albergues, there will be people you know in the cafe. You can just say hi as you pass, or you can stop for a coffee and something to eat if you’re hungry.

I walked in to this cafe and stopped to talk with Maria Jesus(“Chus”) from Toledo, and her friend Emi, on the right. I arrived with the couple to the left, Canadians Kim and Diane from Vancouver. They stopped to talk with a Dutch couple they knew. My family asked me if there are other people around. Yes, they are all around,

I left the cafe and Chus and Emi caught up with me. Chus has a list of beautiful spots and historic sites to look for, and yesterday her goal was to see one if the most beautiful beaches in Spain, the beach of Gulpiyuri.

I don’t always have the energy or time to leave the Camino to go see something. Gulpiyuri would take me out of my way maybe a mile. But the weather was nice — rained in the morning but now the sun was out— so I said I’d go along to see Gulpiyuri.

As we were walking, we met a French girl, Cami. I first met her about two weeks ago. She is carrying everything she needs to camp. She only stays in an albergue every few nights, mostly she sleeps out in her tent. I hadn’t seen her for 4or 5 nights, so this was a nice surprise.

Cami and I both have to finish up before October 15. She needs to finish an early childhood training and take the test, and I am going to work in an albergue in Astorga. So hopefully we will be walking at the same pace and will see each other some more. I told her about the beach and invited her to come with us. She decided to join the group.

I have to confess to not understanding everything people say in Spanish, so in addition to being a “gem” and a jewel of a beach, I think I missed the point that it was a tiny beach. Teeny.

We walked towards it, following Chus’s directions. Gradually we came to lots of cars parked along the side of the road. If people were returning to their cars I asked them if it were worth the trouble to go see this beach. (remember, we have been walking past miles and miles of gorgeous beaches!) They all said Si, vale la pena.

So when we finally got there, I have to admit to you- I was disappointed. It was a tiny pocket beach. A little cove. There was a big, stone mountain between it and the open sea, A channel or cave perforated the stone in the mountain, and water gushed in and out. Cami and I looked at each other. It was cute, but kind of a let-down.

Until the poodles arrived. A family came, and brought their poodles to the beach.  There were a dozen poodles and they had a blast. It was a circus of poodles. The family members must’ve liked poodles and I think they bought them from the same breeder. The poodles ran around and played and posed and tumbled in the surf.

These photos don’t quite convey it, but the poodles made the side trip worth it to me.

It was lunchtime and we crawled down to the beach and walked in the water and had a good time.

I only got to my hotel at 5:30, with the detour and all, but it was a fun afternoon. Above is Chus and me at la playa Gulpiyuri.  And below is my hotel, where I met up with another Pilgrim I’ve been walking with, Sarah, who’s from Lancaster.