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.