David's Camino

  So, back home. Back to Beeston with its Beekeeper seat statue. Mass this morning with people I know; and unlike the slight chaos of the multi-background Masses along the way, everyone stands, sits and kneels at the same times. A quick shop for the stuff I need to tide me over to a proper shop during the week. Drinks with family rather than with Camino friends. I said in my last post from Santiago that I was a little sad that it was coming to an end. But I don't think it is an end. I think I'll be walking the Camino again - probably a different route, but it's still the Camino. (And if I do next time I'll take a Bluetooth keyboard. Phone ones really don't encourage longer text!) On the Camino one finds togetherness. The life of the Albergue; living alongside, sometimes uncomfortably alongside, other people in their humanity. Walking with people - feeling together the fatigue and the blisters, and the lifted spirits and the joys. Talking to people, someti...

Just a quick post, so you all know I'm home safely.  Definitely hairier, but I'll break out the trimmer before bed!

Today could have been very difficult. It would have been - should have been - our 44th wedding anniversary. I hadn't much to fill the day. But it sufficed, and in wandering round Santiago, taking some of the backstreets to see where they went, and in a few bits of shopping for souvenirs (all the souvenir shops have nearly the same stuff, but not quite!), time passed.   And I still had a stone destined for Santiago - not the one that's coming home. There's a surprisingly quiet garden opposite the exit from the Cathedral. Everyone passing is either coming into the square at the end of their Camino, or hurrying out of it, and the garden is overlooked - I'd overlooked it until today. There's a statue of Pope St John Paul II there, the Pope in whose time we married, and all our children were born. So he can look after that stone for me. Time for a coffee or two, and for lunch. And then for trying to pack; fitting the walking s...

I'd booked a half day tour of Fistera and Muxia, but then had a phone call from the organiser saying that as few people had booked the half day I'd been transferred to a full-day version (at the same price).  This meant getting on the move a little earlier, but it was well worth it.   The tour started at 9 on the other side of the centre of Santiago.  Arrived, registered just after a lady who had had to leave the queue to get phone signal to retrieve her ticket.  I kept her place for her, and then found mine wouldn't reload either - but it turned out not to matter as they had the list of people and didn't check the tickets anyway. Everyone else was in twos or fours - so I ended up talking to her (she was Mantina, from Prague, and had walked the Camino Portuguese from Porto) while we waited for the coach and we stayed together for the day.  Which was really nice. The tour covered the ria at Noia (a ria is the Galician equivalent of a fjord), Muro...

Yesterday's post was brief, and with good reason - not only was arriving a little overwhelming, but there didn't seem to be much time in the rest of the day! So, rewind a little.  The hostel in O Pedrouso was a good one, with beds with curtains and well laid out.   We found food just across the road, and Ben had his first pilgrim menu. Yesterday morning we started with just 19km to go.  The route was quite busy, and initially quite dark as we were fairly early.   The sun came up and chased away the early mistiness, and we walked on through a fairly hilly, wooded section, finding breakfast at a cafe called 'km15', which was actually 16km from Santiago.  This featured a ridiculously large pain au chocolat - which seems to be normal around here. We shared it! The next stage took us round the airport perimeter and then up and down a few more hills, overall rising steadily until Santiago appeared below us, the Cathedral t...

Wow.  We have arrived. And by way of a total surprise, Mary - who basically told me to come on the Camino - and her fiancé, Simon, were there to greet us  Most of the afternoon has involved drinks with them and one or two other people I've met along the Way.   And we're planning drinks and food this evening. I'm going to add more in tomorrow's post.  For today, that's all I can say.

An Albergue with a pool, but it's rather too chilly to use! 19km left.   That's pretty unbelievable. A really good meal yesterday with Ben.   After checking in and a rest we went back about half a kilometre and down quite a steep hill to the restaurant, and decided to order a bottle of wine to drink before and during the meal.   It was a bit early to eat, and we understood the waitress to say that the kitchen didn't open until 6. So shortly before that we decided what to eat, then found that we'd misunderstood - the kitchen was closed from 6 to 7.   More wine was consumed - and we moved inside as it was getting cooler. When we did get food, though, it was very good, and plentiful - a plate of cold meats, grilled octopus, and scallops.  The climb back up the hill felt justified. Today we were off out into an initially dull morning at about 8, and found breakfast half an hour or so later in Arzua - Ben went f...

Ribadiso seems to be a small but prosperous place almost entered dedicated to the Camino! So this was the first day walking with Ben!   He arrived yesterday evening after a short panic as to exactly where the bus left from Santiago airport, and then another as to exactly where to get off in Palas de Rei.   A stroll up the hill to the place we were staying, a quick beer at the bar opposite, and a session on the things I've learnt so far about Albergues, the Camino etiquette etc! Today we didn't rush out early but started at about 8.  It had rained steadily much of the night, and stopped just about as we started, but there was still a lot of cloud and it was fairly dark.   We had breakfast about 7km along, the places up to there not being open, and were slightly surprised to find egg and bacon on the menu (must be Ben's influence - though he had egg and chorizo). The plan for today was 26km, and we did a little more, using a coupl...

This turned out to be a good day to be going nowhere - it's rained steadily and at times heavily most of the afternoon! Yesterday afternoon and evening were spending mainly looking round the town - which to be frank doesn't take that much looking round! - and at the Pilgrim Mass in the Church, which was very enthusiastic and welcoming.  Then there was dinner - octopus is a Galician speciality - and the sunset! Today I've mainly just been restful, reading and doing the Guardian crossword.  I've had forays out for breakfast and lunch, but the town isn't the most exciting place for those either.  Perhaps adjusting to the timing of the pilgrim flow, places open early (if at all) in the morning then close and don't open again until mid afternoon; the siesta here seems earlier and longer than most. I'm looking forward to Ben getting here later!

I've arrived at Palas de Rei, which is where Ben is due to meet me tomorrow. It's not a very big town but big enough to have a good reasonable range of shops and cafes.  So I've got quite a peaceful 24 hours to look forward to.  Yesterday afternoon brought something of a coincidence. I'd arrived at the alburgue and selected my bed for the night, and then other people started to turn up. One of them was Jimmy Lee, who spoke with an English accent so we started to chat. He was telling me that he had walked some of the new English Camino which starts at Finchale near Durham, and mentioned that he had been to University at Durham. The next natural question of course was 'which college' and it turned out to be Castle (University College, for the uninitiated). So what are the chances of two Castlemen separated by some 30 years meeting up at an Alburgue in a small village in Northern Spain?   We ate at the Albergue with Toby (from Holland) and M...

A stay selected because it was part way between Portomarin and Palais de Rei.  Ben is due to arrive in Palais de Rei on Friday, and I've booked a two-night stay there for tomorrow and Friday.   Which meant two really rather short walking days from Portomarin.  This place is small, rural and apart from one farm seems entirely dedicated to the Camino. Yesterday afternoon in Portomarin was busy! The town itself is popular and the main streets are flanked with restaurant tables. And I was hailed several times by people I recognised and who knew my name; I have to confess to not always remembering theirs, but they come back to me after a bit!    This morning was chilly, misty and damp. The change since Sarria which was noticeable yesterday was unmistakable today.   It's downright crowded at times - in fact most of the time!  Coming out of Portomarin you cross a bridge, and it was a stream of people; not quite Oxford Street but it f...

Portomarin has a history - it was a town by a Roman bridge over the river Miño.   Then the river became the site of a reservoir, which drowned the town - and the whole place was moved up the hill, complete with rebuilt medieval buildings!   So it all has a fairly clean and new feel. Last night's Albergue was quite remote, which meant that everyone had the meal on offer.  It was a noisy, talkative and sociable occasion.  I found myself next to Christophe, from Lyon, who has walked the Camino from his home town through France and Spain (in installments), and had reached 1700 km in total!   I have an invitation to go to Lyon and then with him to Le Puy en Velay sometime.  (And once again, after a conversation in mixed English and French, all the Spanish has gone again!).   Further down the table were Denise (whom I've mentioned several times) and Linda (ditto), both of whom are in Portomarin tonight. Now that I'...

Barbadelo is a tiny place - basically a couple of Albergues, a church which was once a small monastery, and a farm or two. Yesterday's visit to the monastery at Samos was interesting - but the tour was entirely in Spanish and delivered in a quiet and quick voice.   Google translate could keep up with some of it, and I've been to monasteries before so could fill in some of the gaps from wider knowledge - but I did think they could increase the impact a lot by printing some of the tour details in other languages rather than relying on a single monk! The cloister paintings - mainly 20th century reworkings of more ancient ones after a fire in the 1960s - are quite impressive.  So is the reredos, which is made entirely of chestnut wood. After a meal at 6 I went to Mass in the monastery church; Patrick came too.  It didn't quite qualify as the fastest Mass I've ever heard but it was close!  Mass started at 7:30 and was o...