Madrid, the final frontier!

How funny is it that when we flew back to Madrid from Porto, we felt like we were home again! Spain became our home away from home.
We had a great couple of last days in this beautiful city. After the rain in Porto, the sunny warm days and cool nights were a welcome change. We took the Circanea train from the airport like pros and had no trouble finding our little hotel/apartments in the city. After recognizing that the guy at the hotel desk had a Russian accent, John used his best Russian and said the only phrase he knew ("four beers, please!) which amused the guy enough that he gave us a fantastic room! The sun was setting as we checked in and we snapped a few photos out the window. The view was of the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace.

The view out our hotel window. Seriously.

On Wednesday, we played tourists in Madrid. I had to see the Prado and the Sophia Reina Art museums, dreams of mine for a very long time. John was a good sport and came along and I think he even enjoyed it. My favorite part of Madrid, though, was the incredible markets that we found. Both nights that we were there, we ate dinner at a market, which was just a huge open building with booths offering different foods. The way it worked was that you found a place to either sit or stand at a table and then took turns wandering out foraging and coming back with little tidbits and drinks to enjoy. This continued until a) you were stuffed, b) you were broke, c) you were too inebriated to continue, or d) some combination of all of these. We had a blast and ate and drank way too much.
Thursday we were up at dawn and on the train back to the airport in our semi-clean clothes, although we both realized that our gear smelled bad and was all dirty. We had an uneventful 9 hour and 15 minute flight back to Atlanta and a quick hop back to Asheville.
We managed to stay up until 9:00 and then crashed and slept until about 5:00am, glad to be finally home and in our own bed.
We're still processing the trip and the camino, and what it meant to us both. It was a trip of a lifetime and we have friends and stories and a few calluses to remind us that it wasn't just a crazy dream!

Pretty easy to translate!

Don't know what it was but it was beautiful!

They love their olives in this country.

Yum!

Ah, the market...

Greetings from Porto!

Tour of the port cellar at Ramos Pintos

Hello from Porto, Portugal. Because we kept pace with our friend Mike on the Camino, we actually finished it three days earlier than we expected. At the end in Santiago I was sick and worn down and the weather was turning to rain after a beautiful month of sunshine. Mike and Maureen were leaving on Sunday to fly back to the UK. John and I decided that rather than a rainy long bus ride to Finisterre for a short visit prolonging our Camino experience instead we would leave the Camino and Spain and just go someplace to relax and be tourists.

We left Santiago at lunchtime yesterday. I mostly slept on the bus and we arrived in Porto on a rainy afternoon. Our hotel room turned out to be fantastic! (Thank you, Tripadvisor!!) We have a suite overlooking the river with an actual king sized bed!!(in Spain it was all twin beds!) This city of a million people is one beautiful postcard everywhere you look. We had a nice walk and early dinner last night and went to bed at 10. I slept ten straight hours and woke up feeling human for the first time in a week.

Today we rode a cable car and a funicular railway, saw the old part of the city including an ancient bookstore which was part of the inspiration for Rowlings' "Hogwarts". It was an architectural marvel. We toured one of the big Port wine producers including the cellars and a tasting. I learned so much about port and have become a fan.

We've eaten a lot of cod, learned to say about four words in Portuguese including cerveza, pronounced "sayer-vay-zha", and had time to talk about the Camino and think about it. We are relaxed and recovered.

Tomorrow, we will fly from here to Madrid and spend a couple of days sightseeing and then it's home on Thursday as this adventure winds up.

It's been a buen camino!

tiled buildings



Look! We found the Camino Portuguese!

the beautiful city of Porto

beautiful tiles

the view from our balcony

Arriving at Santiago!

arriving at the square in Santiago

We have arrived, two worn but happy pilgrims. The walk into Santiago flew by and we walked into the square at around noon on Friday. It was an odd moment, a jackhammer pounding the pavement, lots of pilgrims arriving, people busking and begging nearby. I thought I would feel elated but I felt more just relieved. It was a much more emotional experience to stand in line at the Pilgrims Office and receive a Compostela.

We have spent two days now exploring Santiago, celebrating, greeting friends, and relaxing. What a beautiful city! You could spend a week here. The markets, parks and ancient buildings are fantastic. I love it but its time for us to go. Rather than go to Finisterre or Muxia, we have decided to leave the Camino (sort of!) and go down to Porto, Portugal for a couple of days to relax. I'm still trying to kick this cold and am looking forward to being a lazy tourist for a few days!!
More from Porto!

touring the city

at the market

view of the city and the cathedral

Santiago cathedral at night

the botafumiero swinging at the Mass on Friday

our celebratory meal

Pedrouzo

Just 20 kilometers out of Santiago tonight and we are excited, tired, and ready to get there. We're staying in a brand new albergue with two school groups of about high school aged kids so its more rowdy than usual. Tomorrow we will get up and do our last long walk of the trip. I'm still struggling with a bad cold so it's hard to get out in the 45 degree mist pre dawn and walk. This morning I dressed like an Eskimo until things warmed up.
Our diet will have to change dramatically after tomorrow. Today this is what I ate:
Half of a huge custard filled donut
Cafe con leche
Two pieces of French bread with butter and jam
Cafe con leche with sugar
Mixed nuts
Two Oreos and a soda
A hamburger with fries and mayo
Half a candy bar
Half a slice of Santiago torta with a cup of tea
A large mixed salad
A huge egg, ham and potato tortilla
Wine (albariño- a specialty of the region)
And this was a pretty light day, food-wise. You can get away with that when you walk 15 miles a day. As of Saturday, it's back to healthy eating, if we can do it here!
More from Santiago tomorrow!


Pulpo being cooked in Melide

the new crowd

Palas de Rei

on the way to Sarria

Another day, another albergue... Hello from Palas de Rei. I'm sitting in the cafe of our home for the night, enjoying some M&Ms, interspersed with Hall's Mentholyptus. Somewhere between Triacastela and Sarria I picked up a wicked cold. So far I'm the only one in our group to get it but we are in close quarters tonight so anything could happen.

We're making our way rapidly to Santiago now. We passed through Sarria on Sunday, which is about at the 100k point and we picked up 400 more pilgrims! These are folks who want to walk the last 100k to get their certificate in Santiago but for whatever reason they can't go the distance. Sometimes it's frustrating because every coffee stop has a line now and accommodation is suddenly in short supply. The people who have been on the road for a month or more waiver between feeling smug or just frustrated. (I don't mean me, of course).

We've had absolutely phenomenal weather and we count our lucky stars every morning (literally as we walk out in the darkness and there are millions in the sky. )The forecast is good for the next three days and then we will be sitting in the square at Santiago, drinking champagne and celebrating.

I'd have to say that we are trail worn and ready to get there. The cold probably doesn't help. For now, I will enjoy my brief rest and put my feet up in the sunshine.

strange things along the path

lunch at Sarria

Villafranca del Bierzo and Triacastela

Magnificent!

a wooden sign in Cacabelos

We made it into Galicia at last- land of pulpo(octopus) and padron peppers and music with bagpipes!
Thursday was a very long day's walk. We went through the big city of Ponferrada, which had a beautiful old castle structure. One thing that I have learned about seeing cities on foot is that they're pretty in the middle but walking through the industrial outskirts is never fun. By the time we reached Cacabelos, about 22k into the walk, I was having some leg muscle cramps. Knowing that the next day was the toughest day on the Camino, I opted for a taxi for the last 8k and the guys walked. We all met at the albergue in Villafranca del Bierzo, a nice town with four huge medieval structures, where I had my best shower on the whole Camino - 6 jets and two shower heads and water pressure!! It's the little things.

 

Yesterday, I sent my pack with a transport service for 7€ and was able to walk to O'Cebreiro with the guys. This stage is the toughest not because it is the highest but because the last 8k takes over three hours due to intense elevation gain. The track is rough and rocky and switch backed and frequent stops are necessary but you are rewarded with views that are just spectacular. When you get to the very top of the mountain there is a tiny village and that's where everyone stays. It feels like Switzerland.

Mike's wife Maureen flew in from the UK and joined us. She said it wasn't easy to get up there.We had a great dinner together and were in bed by 9:30.

Today we came down the other side of the mountain ( which is harder than going up!) We are staying in an unremarkable town called Tricastela, but maybe we're just spoiled now by yesterday's views. We did walk through one little old tree lined village and came upon a table of little trays with freshly picked raspberries and currants and a box which said 1€ on it. We dropped two euros in the box and took two trays of berries and ate them while we walked. What a treat!

Tomorrow we will reach Sarria, where we expect to see many more pilgrims joining. From now on, we will book accommodations at least a day or two ahead.

walk to O'Cebreiro

Into Galicia at last!

Cruz de Ferro and Molinaseca

my rock and mom's rock for Cruz de Ferro

What a day we had today! Yesterday, we were dragging into Rabanal in the rain. It was only a 12 mile walk but we were all beat after the long day before that. When we arrived in the little village of Rabanal, we had intended to stay at the albergue run by the British Confraternity. It didn't open until 1:30 and we arrived soaking wet and tired at 12:00 so it was a unanimous decision to check into a very old hostel in town which was in a renovated 17th century pilgrim's hospital. Every so often it is nice to have a private room in which to dump out your whole pack and sort through everything. I won't lie- the bathtub was pretty nice, too! We did stop by the British albergue later in the afternoon and were invited to stay for afternoon tea so that was fun.

Today dawned much clearer and we walked about the first 8k pre- dawn all uphill. We had a beautiful walk up into the mountains and made it to the Cruz de Ferro by about 11:00. That was an emotional and powerful experience. It's a place to leave behind the baggage in your life or remember good things or say a prayer or just be grateful you made it. It was intensely personal for everyone and our normally crazy group was very subdued for a little while. Then we all pulled on our sunglasses and started down the long descent into Molinaseca.

We walked 25 k today but about half of it was very steep and jagged, and we are pretty tired. We're staying at a great place and had a nice communal dinner. We met a lovely older French woman named Teresa who is walking because she lost a grandchild. We had to converse with her in Spanish because she spoke no English and we don't speak French. Our language deficiencies were aided by an Irishman who took French in school. Between all of us, we managed to have a very meaningful conversation.

We avoided the rain today but tomorrow is a 30 k stage in the rain. Look for a blog post in a day or two.

placing my rocks

my rocks join the pile

a mountain walk

arriving in Molinaseca

Manjarin, just past the Cruz de Ferro

Leon and Astorga

Leon Cathedral in the Rain

We had a wonderful two days languishing in Leon while my foot was recovering. We were able to visit the incredible cathedral and the cloisters and museum next to it which house religious relics and statues from all the old churches in this region, a collection the likes of which I have never seen. I walked out in my own one evening while the guys were having a siesta and watched a bride arriving at the cathedral in a flowing wedding gown. How great would that be to marry in such a magnificent structure? We ate such good food and many pastries and cafes con leche that we felt like we had to make an escape. We were getting soft!

The good news is that my foot is completely recovered. Four days' rest did the trick. The bad news is that, although the 20k stage yesterday felt great, today we went 32k or about 20 miles, one of the longest stages on the Camino and I managed to get a few good blisters. Luckily tomorrow is 20k again so it's a little easier.

We are now in Astorga, a lovely town with the prettiest cathedral yet. There's a strange race of people here believed to be descended from the Berber tribes called the Maragatos and they still serve traditional Maragato food and cakes. We had some for dinner and it was interesting-a lot of very fatty pork, pork broth soup and some vegetables which tasted like cabbage and I'm pretty sure that there was some pork in them. Did I mention that the  Maragatos are dying out now? I wonder if heart disease is playing a part....

We're in the attic of a huge albergue tonight and for once, John and I have single beds side by side pushed together. It's nice just to hold hands. The rain is beating down on the roof. Tomorrow our rain gear will come out again but tonight we're going to sleep like rocks!

Market day in Leon

Most popular dog in Spain

 

Coming into Astorga

I loved this door!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leon

exceptional albergue in Calzadilla last night

Hola from Leon! Today we have taken the bus here, jumping ahead two stages so that I can rest my foot for a couple of days. We have missed a couple of stages through the Meseta (the plains) but at this point we are thinking strategically for what will get us to the finish line.

 

Here is the strange phenomenon of time on the Camino. There's a sensation of time travel here that is like nothing else. We travel along within this bubble of people where everyone walking within a day before or after us is known to us. It's our 'present'. The day our friends came from the UK, they drove us back to Burgos, which was at that point about three stages behind us. Suddenly, we didn't recognize any of the pilgrims around that area. When we chatted with them and explained that we had come back three stages, they looked at us as if we were these mysterious time travelers! "Wow-you're from our future! What does the future hold for us? How is the walk, the albergues..." It was so weird. Yesterday our friends drove us back to catch up with Mike again and as we passed pilgrims walking, we began to see people we knew again until eventually we found Mike and we were back in our own bubble again.

Now today we have taken a bus and jumped two stages ahead and suddenly we're in the future and there are tons of pilgrims but we don't know anyone. By the time we leave in two days, our bubble will have caught up again. It's pretty weird. 

We knew a lot about what to expect regarding the walking, the albergues, and the food here. The friendships we are forging are a pleasant and touching surprise. 

xx

rain in Leon today

 

Eeeeeeuuuu!!

Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

dinner with the Riches

The wind is howling outside across the plains and I am lying on my twin bed (with sheets and a towel!!) in strangely what is one of the nicest albergues we have stayed in yet but one of the most desolate towns out in the middle of nowhere. It looks like a ghost town scene from a Clint Eastwood movie. The only thing missing is the tumbleweeds.

After blissfully sunny warm weather for nearly our whole walk so far, there is a change coming tomorrow but we're okay with that.

Yesterday, we took a rest day and spent a fantastic day with our good friends from the UK Jon and Marianne. They coordinated their vacation plans with our walk so that they could meet us here in Spain. Because they had a rental car, we were able to drive up north and see some of Spain not on the Camino. We went to a medieval village and castle in Frias, which was built on a mountain and was picturesque and charming. We had a nice picnic, came back to Burgos and toured the cathedral (opulent and spectacular!) and had another fabulous tapas dinner. 

This morning they drove us back to continue our Camino but my foot was extremely sore and the ankle still quite swollen so I went to the urgent care in Sahagun while John walked. 

From what I could understand since no one in the hospital spoke English,  I have a strained ligament in my foot and was told that I need 3-4 days of not walking. Since we are now just two days outside of Leon, we are doing some strategizing to see how I can jump ahead a little. Still haven't worked out the details but we will figure it out.

Passed the halfway point today. I feel like we've been gone for months! Boy, am I sick of these clothes!!!

Frias from up in the castle

Streets of Frias



Up in the castle in Frias

Castrojeriz

sunrise over the plains

We were happy to leave the desolate and fly-ridden town of Hornillos del Camino today. We were lucky to be in a brand new albergue. Heard that a girl was robbed at the municipal one and lost all her money and her passport. We are VERY careful with our important stuff.

Walked through wide open land today, past a town called Hontanas that we didn't even see until we were about a kilometer away because it was built in a huge rift or canyon in the plain. It was the craziest thing. It wasn't a place I'd want to be during a flash flood.

We also passed the ruins of a convent that were beautiful. You had to walk right through it on the trail. 

We're in Castrojeriz tonight at a lovely place that has a terrace with big shade trees and great tapas. We ate some pulpo(octopus), patatas bravas(fried potato chunks with a remoulade style sauce), mejillones(mussels with the same sauce), mocilla(a sliced up rice and sausage thing-a specialty of Burgos), and rabas(unidentified deep fried French fry shaped somethings).

Tomorrow we head to Fromista and will hopefully successfully rendezvous with our friends from the UK.

Now for a little siesta before our 8pm dinner.

xx

coming to Castrojeriz

walking through the ruins of a convent

flies drinking moisture from our clothes in Hornillos