2011 - Day 17 - Sea and smoke - Part 2 Smoke

After a little bit of re-packing we headed off into town, our first stop the Cathedral to see if the botafumeiro was in place or not, it was! And there was a Mass about to start. We decided to stay even though the Mass was going to be in Galician rather that Castilian Spanish, and we had no hope of understanding any of it, but the draw of the Botafumeiro is so strong. Having been to and even taken a number of high Masses myself in the past, I began to doubt. At a high mass you would cense the Altar, People and Gospel quite early in the service and none of this happened. The Botafumeiro just hung there looking large and silver, without a single wisp of smoke coming from it. After the preacher had been going on for about 10 or 12 minutes, I said to Lesley “its not going to happen, lets go and get something to eat” as we couldn’t really engage with the service, and so we left the Cathedral.

As we were walking along one of the little back streets, we bumped into the Austrian man from Norway and got talking about our trip to A Corunna, and the Botafumeiro, and how we had left as I got bored with the sermon going on to long, he joked that it was a lesson for me with my sermons and then told us that he thought it was swung at the end of the service and not in the way a usual thurible is used, he added if you go back now you might just see it. (Lesley is convinced he was sent to us and I must admit I think she is right).

We headed back to the Cathedral as the Mass was beginning to draw to an end. I spied a group of men dressed in dark crimson robes, I pointed them out to Lesley and said “let’s follow them” so we did, but they did not seem in any particular hurry so a big part of us still didn’t believe that it would be swung.


The end of the service came and just before the blessing, the priest announced the Botafumeiro, I think he also said that a large group of American Pilgrims from California had paid for it to be swung, certainly it was their priest who added the incense.

The men suddenly swung into action, untying the retaining ropes from the wall, and lowering the Botafumeiro to the ground, a man took of the top and another put in a plate of burning coals, the incense was added and it was hauled up into place. Then the man gave it the smallest of swings, and through the action of the men on the main rope (about eight in total) it arc got bigger and bigger across the Cathedral from North to South, nearly hitting the transept roofs.

Inside with all the fresh air the coals burst into flames and through the slits in it as well as smoke coming out we could see flames, it was quite breathtaking to watch and I was pleased I wasn’t under it. The health and safety brigade in this country would have a fit, and it certainly wouldn’t ever be allowed in the UK. Eventually the men let it slow down, and with a little spin on the spot the man who started it going made it stop. It was followed by a round of applause, the priest thanked everyone for their applause for St James and gave the blessing.

After the priests had left, the top came off the coals were removed and it was hoisted back into position about 10 – 15 foot above the floor.
The spectacle over (And that is all you can really describe it as is a spectacle, in truth it was probably good that the Botafumeiro wasn’t there when we had our pilgrims Mass and we would have been concentrating on it rather than the Mass itself); we went off in search of food. We decided to go to a restaurant recommended by our Pension, and it proved to be a good choice, after our starters; salad for Lesley and grilled peppers for me, we both had kebabs, followed by Santiago tart, a lovely rich almond tart. This was washed down with a nice bottle of house wine. Technically I was eating off the menu rather than the meal of the day which Lesley had, and we wondered if we would be charged a lot more for my meal. We had told the restaurant owner how our hotel had recommended his restaurant and I don’t know if it was this or just that he was a nice man, but when the bill came he only charged us for two meals of the day!

Full up, we then headed off to listen to the Tuna group again, who we had seen two nights before,


Yet again they were very entertaining and among their songs they sung a song "Cielito Lindo" with the chorus
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
canta y no Hores...
which I remember singing in Spanish classes at Jack Hunt School in Peterborough, when I was 11 or 12 back in the 1970's. I was so taken with nostalgia that I brought a copy of their CD. As we sat and listened we spied Christina from America and her husband. Christina had been on the Camino for three weeks while her husband joined her for the last week. We had last seen Christina in Sarria as she waited for her husband and had a rest day so it was good to see that she had got to Santiago.

We then headed off to a bar we had visited before for a glass of wine before heading back to the pension and bed.

2011 - Day 17 - Sea and smoke - Part 1 Sea

After a broken nights sleep (on Thursday I started to go down with another cold and cough). We had a leisurely start going down for breakfast of coffee and toast before packing and heading off. The bar owner offered to look after our rucksack but we were happy after 15 days of carrying it to continue. He was most amused that Lesley had the rucksack and I only had a small string bag.

We went to the main square and into the tourist information (which was now open) and got a map of the town (and congratulated on our Spanish) and discovered that both of us had been wrong yesterday about the angle we should have taken to get to the beach area. We also discovered that Cafe Meio was the only available accommodation in that part of town, so had struck it lucky. We head for the coast and followed the sea front around past sailing schools, the harbour masters control tower, a big sports and water sports centre, and a couple of small sandy beaches. We then came to a headland adorned with giant sculptures, a stone henge, a menhir park, and a whole variety of other things, before coming to the big A Corunna lighthouse.

As we walked we saw many people out for a walk, run or even a bike ride, eventually we came to a beautiful sandy beach, and as the sun was out we decided to stop for a while and have a paddle. Boots off, I unzipped the bottom of my walking trousers and waded in, the water was only up to my ankles so I decided to go in just a little bit further.

Suddenly a big wave came in and my shorts and bum bag were soaked. Fortunately being a hot sunny day I dried out quite quickly while I sat down and brought my blog up to date.

After a nice relax by the sea we headed off along the sea front, passing a sculpture of a couple of surfers, (I often wonder why, in Europe they have such interesting public art and sculptures,

even in the smallest villages whilst in Britain except for in our largest cities, we have very little public art.) and looked out for somewhere to eat.

After a pleasant lunch we consulted our map and found the quickest way to get to the station for the 3:45 train. The route was far more direct than the one we took yesterday, and as a result we even had time to pop into a supermarket to buy some Pimenton (much loved by Rick Stein) and some other supplies to take home. Soon we were back on the station and settled into our seats on the train, for our return to Santiago.

A Corunna used to be the starting point for many English pilgrims to Santiago in the Medieval period, unlike in Santander two years ago A Corunna no longer has any markings for the route to Santiago, as we travelled back we thought how a track parallel to the railway line would make an ideal pilgrim route from A Corunna to Santiago.

We eventually got back to Santiago and headed back to our pension, when we arrived were greeted by the owner’s wife like long lost friends. After checking here diary a couple of times, she selected a bunch of keys and took us up to our room, it was one floor higher than our previous room and had an even better view of the Cathedral,

she joked with us that the next time we stayed we would be on the third floor which had the best view of them all.

2011 - Day 16 part 2 - A Coruna

After the Mass we went off and got a coffee and sandwich before heading to the railway station to catch the train to A Corunna, our return tickets costing about 16€. Eventualy a state of the art high speed train came into the station, it was packed but everyone found a seat. The seats were like high class airline seats with tray tables, foot rests, and they reclined, also between each pair of seats were plug sockets to charge your mobile or laptop. Above on a screen were details of the stations and a readout of the trains speed (max 160kph, or 100 mph). As we approached each station, an anouncement was made in Spanish and English with the details.

Eventually we arived at A Corunna, we left the station and looked for some signs for the town centre, there weren't any, we went back into the station and asked at an information desk, the woman behind looked a bit puzzled but pointed in a vague direction. We decided to give it a go and reasoned that as A Corunna was a port, the town would be near the port as it was in Santader two years ago. I stopped a passing man and asked directions and we continued on our way, eventually hitting the port but no town, as we could see a luxuary cruise liner and a mariner over to our left we headed for them. Eventualy we found a street map that indicated there was a tourist information, we carried on but there wasn't, but we then saw signs for the historic town centre. At last we spotted a tourist office, run by the regional government, it was shut despite it's advertised opening hours. It also showed on a map another tourist office in the main square near the town hall. We plodded on got to the town square and that tourist office was also shut. In fact most of the shops we passed were shut. I began to get a bit suspicious, could it be a public holiday? But then again no, because it certainly wasn't a feast at Santiago or we would have had the Botofumori, although the Gospel was about the announciation.

In front of the townhall was a large floral display obviously very new. The town square looked like a good place to eat later. On the map we had seen it looked like there was a beach the other side of the town hall, and so we headed of in what we thought was the right direction, although we differed to what it was.

I was getting grumpy and following my sense of direction, brought us back to the town hall, in all this time we hadn't seen a single, hotel, pension or Hostal, we then followed Lesley's lead we headed off at a diffrent angle a few streets later at the end of the road I spotted the blue H sign that indicated a Hostal,

the only one we had seen, we went in and got a room for 40€ with breakfast and Wi-fi.

We checked in were given a bottle of water each and went up to our room. After some laundry we headed out, and found a beach of rocky sea defences, we needed a beer, so headed back past the town hall to in front of the marina where there were a number of cafes. We selected one ordered a beer each and discused our options, we would try tourist information in the morning, this evening we would walk around the marina and see the world go by, as we sat we saw s number of people in identical evening dress go by, clutching folders, obviously members of a choral society, we speculated as to what piece they would be playing.

As we stood up to leave, a police car appeared and shut off the road. O dear I thought what's going down? Next we heard trumpets and drums coming from the side road near the police car. We went to investigate, some sort of religious festival was taking place, behind the band were Bout fifty women with their hair covered with black mantillas held over their heads by tortoise shell combs. Behind them were a number of people in White carrying staffs with silver medallions on the end of them. They were followed by Mary on a big platform on wheels, bedecked with flowers and illuminated with electric lights. Behind Mary were about six priests, twenty odd policemen and women, and then a full brass band.

As we approached the procession stopped while the members of the choral society we had seen earlier sang a hymn in praise of Mary. Soon they were off again and Mary came abreast of us,

we speculated what it was all about and a lady told us that Mary of Fatima - Our Lady of the Rosery was the towns patron saint. We followed the procession for about half an hour as part of a crowd of hundreds. We speculated that in England the only place you might see such an event would be Walsingham.

The next excitement was the departure of the Cruise liner, Inderpendance of the Sea, with much hooting of it horn and waving from the decks, it left in reverse at quite a lick, it then backed down an inlet, streightened up and sailed off, later I looked up the port records, which showed she had docked that morning.

We strolled down the harbour front and looked at the boats before going of to the main square to look for some food. The majority were selling seafood from mixed platters, to lobster and octopus. Not rearly our cup of tea or price bracket, so we plumped for an Italian restaurant and had. Pizza and pasta.

We then returned to our accomodation for coffees and a night cap for me.

2011 - Day 16 - part 1- Santiago - The pilgrims Mass

Again we have had an extreamly busy day and I will be splitting the day into two posts.

After an extreamly good nights sleep we woke up at about 8. Just after nine we went down to brekfast, and what a brekfast! Bread with a selection of meats, jams, fresh honey, orange juice, tea or coffee, toast and a fried egg.

Fortified we were ready for the pilgrims mass. We had aranged with Pension Alfonso to leave one rucksack with them as we were planning to go off to A Coruna for the night after the Mass. In the rucksack we had stuffed all the things we no longer required, such as sleeping bags and towels. Before we left
I offered to pay for the night we had just had, in fact my intension was to pay for both. But they would have none of it, you can pay when you come back. Spanish trust is amazing, like the bars where you sit outside drink multiple beers and could leg it, but they trust you won't. Wouldn't it be great to have such trust in the UK!

Fortified both in body and soul, we headed off to the Mass, as we had been told to get there early we arrived just before 11, as a result we got seats nearly at the front. The first thing I saw was that the Botafumeiro was missing. Was it because it was a Friday? or was it because no one had paid for it!

As we waited we began to see other pilgrims we knew, the tall Norwegians arrived and sat behind us, our Austrian friend sat next to me, across the isle were the couple from the Nethelands with Artis de partis the creature from Amsterdam zoo. We then saw one of the Finnish doctors and a tall Dutch girl. Suddenly the lights were switched on and we saw St James over the high altar in all his glory

A nun with a serene face and a beautiful singing voice talked us through the various responses, the organ struck up and five priests processed in, including the priest from Rabanal who had given the pilgrims blessing there.

The mass had begun, the lead Priest welcomed us in a number of languages and the read out by starting point where people had come from. Somewhere in the mids was Le Puy and also Reino Unido which threw us somwhat as we were expecting England or Gt Britain rather than the United Kingdom.

The priest then started the service with the words "The lord be with you" in a number of languages including English. He then continued in Spanish and Latin for the various responses, which were sung and lead by the nun. At the distribution nothing was said about who was in and who was out, and so I went and recieved, the bread was given by the priest with the words in Latin Corpus Christi. And during communion the nun led the congregation in the Taize chant Ubi Caritas. At the end the priest dismissed us in a variety of tongues. All in all it was very moving and the most spiritual service I had attended on the whole camino. The only off putting thing being the constant stream of St James huggers, hugging St James statue while the mass took place.

After the service we headed out and again bumped into a variety of people we had seen on the trip, recieving huggs and kisses from people we had only said "Buen Camino" to as we passed and repassed them, including a trio of Spaniards, two lads and a girl we had been seeing since staying at Jesus Albergue on our third day.

All in all it was a very special series of moments.

2011 - Day 15 - Santiago de Compostella - part 2

Compostelas duly recieved we went off to find our accomodation, we had booked the previous evening at an office of the Santiago Hoteliers Association, that they had set up in the village of Arca, one day's walk away. We had booked a room at the Pension Alfonso which turned out to be like the best of English B & B's. The owner is very friendly, like me with Spanish, he has been learning English for a few years but finds it quite hard. He showed us our room which has a wonderful view of the cathedtral as seen in the stop press. He then gave us a map of the City and marked on it restaurent in a variety of price bracket away from the tourist areas, and various other places of note.

After showers and laundry, we set off to get a bite to eat as it was coming up to 3 pm. Taking our hosts advice we ended up in an area of Tapas bars and had a hamburger and beer each.

Fortified, we went back to the Cathedral to pay our respects to Saint James. To the right of the high altar is a passageway that was a bit like being in a cage, this lead to a staircase of very worn stone stairs to the back of St James statue, which is probably slightly larger than life size and made of some sort of metal, when it's your turn you wrap your arms around his neck and give him a hug or if you want a kiss. You then decended another set of warn stone stairs to the left. Unfortunatly photo's are banned, I will have to see what I can find on the net.

Our route then took us down another set of stairs into the crypt benieth the high altar, where behind bars is a silver reliquary, which is believed to contain the bones of St James and two of his followers. The reason why after Jerusalem and Rome, Santiago was the most important place of pilgrimage for Christians in the medieval world.

It struck me quite powerfully that if the Reliquary does indeed contain James' bones, then I was standing at the grave of someone who had walked with, eaten with, talked to, listened to, and spent time with Jesus himself, not counting witnessing Jesus perform miracles and of course witnessing the ressurection and spending time with Jesus after his ressurection! Wow.

We than came back into the main Cathedral and saw the famous Botafumerio the vast incence censer used in the past to cover up the smell of unwashed pilgrims, now it is more of a spectacal, used on high days and holidays, or more sadly if groups with enough money pay for it to be used. (I have seen on details of organised pilgrim tours the words "Botafumerio booked" and it saddens me that it's use has been commercialised, I personally think it should be used at all the pilgrims Masses.

Our fellow pilgrims who arrived yesterday or in time for the Mass today had witnessed it in action, we will have to wait for our pilgrims Mass tommorow to see if we will have it as well.

Our second visit to the cathedral over we then took a look around the shops, bought and wrote some postcards pver s beer and then back to our pension for a rest and change of clothes before out again for food.

Like other towns on the way, although Santiago was built on the back of pilgrims it is now not so pilgrim friendly, especially when it comes to food. For the last two weeks all but two nights (when we were away from regular pilgrim stopping points) we had been able to get a very filling pilgrims meal for between 8€ & 10€ including a bottles (once a litre) of wine. Not so in Santiago, very few restaurants offered a pilgrims menu and when they did the choice was very limited. We settled on one where we were given 1 small glass of wine, and our food came out at breakneck speed. (not rearly necessary with us being the only customers in at the time, the Spanish tend to eat at about 10 pm). I had steamed mussels, (about 10 but with no sauce) and meatballs, while Lesley had mixed salad (letice, tomato & onion), and Salmon. It all tasted very nice but the portions were not exactly big and the service was not relaxed.

After the meal we wandered about to walk off our food as we planned to get to the main square for about 10, at about 9:30 the heavens opened with a sudden cloud burst, our first rain in two weeks.

Our meanderings then got us to the main square because our landlord had told us that a group from the University called Tuna were giving a performance, Tuna is a particular style of traditional singing dating from the 14th centuary, the men who sing it are all dressed in achademic dress from that time. We sat listening for about half an hour or so and then went in search of a night cap, outside the bar we had chosen a very different type of music was being played, earthy Gallacian music played on drums and bagpipes. Nightcaps consumed we headed to our hotel for bed after an eventful day.

2011 - Day 15 - Santiago de Compostella Part 1

So after 1500 km about 62 days walking we had arrived at the door of the Cathedtral of Santiago de Compostella. To comlete our pilgrimage we needed to give the statue of St James above the altar a hug and get our Compostellas from the Pilgrims Office.

In the square we bumped into the young Frenchman we hat met at Rabanal who was playing the recorder in the church there so exquisitly, after congratulating us on our arrival, he gave us the full low down of what to do and where to go.

[What has been so very special, since our arrival in Santiago is the way fellow, long term pilgrims, (those who have been walking for at least 10 days, often longer), are so pleased for us that we have safely arrived, as we are for them, there is a special bond we all now have, that only people who have walked the way can have.]

It was now time for us to enter the Cathedral,

The main door was barred as 2011 is not a holy year (years when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday) it won't be opened again untill 2020! So we had make do with the side door

My first impression was that the Cathedral was not as big as I expected, the nave is not particularly long or wide, certainly not as big as Norwich Cathedral or many other British Cathedrals I know. But it is special, for someone from Britain the Gilt and statuary takes a bit of getting use to but there is somthing about the place, probably the fact that thousands upon thousands of peole have journeyed there from the four corners of the world and have offered their prayers of thanks and intercession to God.

as an American we met said, "you can't walk the way without it becoming a spiritual experience," if you walk for long enough it will change from being a cultural experience to a spiritual one, which while true is very diffrent from the medieval pilgrim saying, "begin a pilgrim ..." (if you want the rest look it up or ask me, but be prepared for the explanation in full detail, as well as the answer).

The queue to hug St James was a little long, so we decided to get our Compestellas and find our accomodation for the night first.

So after saying midday prayer we headed for the pilgrims office, and joined a queue of pilgrims waiting to be interview for their compostellas,

eventually we were at the front of the line, a buzzer sounded and No 9 came up on a box telling us which counter to go to. A young lady took our credentials, examined them, page by page, she then confirmed where we started and why we had walked the camino. She typed furiously on her computer, stamped our credentials with the official Cathedral stamp and handed us our Compostellas

with our names Latinized. (to be added at a later date!)

2011 Day 15 - Amenal to Santiago de Compostella - The journey

Scores on the doors 20.4 km, up 180m down 244m

Last night we did not get to bed untill 11:45 (a very un-pilgrim like hour) so as a result had a very leisurely start, the latest yet at 8:45.

We set out to a misty day with a light drizzle walking through woods of eucalyptus trees

an Australian who I had met yesterday had said that except for the lack of Koalas & Kangaroos, he could have been walking in the hills outside Melborne.

After an hour and a bit we passed by the airport, and then stopped in the village of Lavacola for breakfast of toast and coffee. Lavacola was the place where pilgrims traditionally washed before the final approach to Santiago.

We carried on and after another hour got to another landmark on the pilgrim trail, Monte del Gozo (Monxoi), which was the hill where pilgrims would get their first sight of the Cathedral at Santiago. Unfortunatly the hill was levelled and a large monument errected

to comemorate Pope John Paul II visit to Santiago in 1989, now all you can see is trees and the suburbs of Santiago, we stopped by the little church and said morning prayer, before continuing our journey.

We decended towards the town crossed a motorway and eventually reached the outskirts of Santiago and the city sign.

It was another 3/4 hour before we got our first view of the Cathedral, but before we had to pass through busy suburbs and modern housing estates. During this time the familiar yellow arrows deserted us and we had to rely on civic signage. At last when we had nearly given up hope of ever seeing the Cathederal we got our first glympse of it's spires sticking up above the city

With a renewed bounce in our step we carried on and at a crossing over a main road, we saw on the other side of the road Roshine from Ireland and Andraias from Holand, they had just come from the pilgrims Mass having got into Santiago at about 10. A few minutes later we passed the South door of the Cathedral and saw the two Finnish doctors, who had walked 40km the day before. After greetings and huggs we carried on through an arch and into Praza Do Obradoiro, the Cathedral Square and we had arrived at last after walking for over 1500 km.

2011 -Day 15 - Stop press

We have safley arrived in Santiago and recieved our Compostellas, however we have been to busy enjoying the experience to write a blog

Here the view from our hotel room, a full report will follow in the next few days.

2011 - Day 14 - Arzua to Amenal

Scores on the doors 27.7 km 204m and 774m down

We only have approximatly 10 miles to go! (so have to average 2.5 miles a day to get to Santiago). So God willing we will arrive tomorrow.

We had a reasonable nights sleep, however, over the last few days I have been bitten all over by mosquitos my left arm must have 20 bites, as well as bites on my back, bottom stomach and feet. They itch like mad and so at 3am I was taking anti-histemine to try and get some relief.

We had a leisurely start, setting off at 8:15. We walked for about 7km before finding anywhere to stop for breakfast, we had been joined by an American living in South Africa who regailed us with tales of trips on a number of different camio routes. The km's passed quickly but we were begining to think we would not be getting any breakfast, when a bar came into sight. The seats outside awash with pilgrims.

Breakfast over we carried on traveling on woodland tracks never very far from the Santiago to Lugo road, which we occationaly walked alongside, the KM posts slowly being counted off.

After a couple more hours we stopped for cokes and to rest our feet, where we were joined by the tall "German" and his wife, who turned out to be Norwegian! (well how were we to know, they spoke German and their guide book was in German). It turned out that over three years they had walked from the otherside of Switzerland.

Suitably impressed we carried on
and stopped about 1/2 later to eat our lunch, a massive ham and cheese pie Lesley had seen in the supermarket for 3€.

As we entered the village of Arca (Pedrouzo) there was an information booth set up by the Santiago Hoteliers Association where in English we were able to book a hotel in Santiago for a couple of nights and also one in the village of Amenal for today.

We arrived at a very nice hotel, to get in we had to use an intercom as the door was locked. When we eventually got in to the locked reception we were met by this sign

And it's fellow about checking out

We checked in and were given a pleasant room, but when after showers and laundry we went to the bar, we were told it was closing, but we could have takeaways. I protested that we were guests and were grudgingly given glasses, we then ordered all we thought we might want to drink. Lesley wanted an ice cream to be told the cook had the key to the freezer! I then asked what time food to be told 8 pm, all this from a hotel which is supposed to be 2 star. Our fellow pilgrims staying hear, the Norwegians and a very nice Austrian are not impressed. Hopefully the food will be worth waiting for.

At eight we went down to eat, as well as the Norwegians and Austrian there was another couple as well all talking together, it transpired that they were also Norwegian and our Austrian friend actualy lived in Norway and was a fluent Norwegian speaker. I wonder what the odds were on us spending an evening with five Norwegians? As I would guess that as a percentage of pilgrims their numbers are as small as the English.

The menu was al a carte, and the food good and plentiful, we expected to pay more than our usual 10€ each but a bill of over 80€ was a bit of a shock, They had charged us for 7 bottles of wine, I like my wine but even I couldn't drink 7 bottles in one sitting! On comparing bills all the others had also been given incorect bills. As we seven were the only customers at that time it did seem a tad suspicious!

But all in all we had a very nice enening with good food and excelent company.

2012 - Day 13 - Palas de Rei - Arzua

Scores on the doors (approx GPS out of batteries) 30.5 km up 290m down 464m

Two days ago in my rucksack I had two sets of batteries for the GPS, one new and one old. As I was sorting my stuff I threw out the old set, five minutes later I decided that I had thrown out the good ones, retrieved them from the bin and threw out the other pair. Today when I came to replace the battries I discovered that I should have gone with my original decision, as with my change of heart I threw out a pair of brand new batteries. The first shop for new batteries was Melide (15km from our start) so hence the guestimate about today's distance.

Last night we had found a bar with Wi-Fi and so had checked our e-mail and posted our blogs. We were then joined by a pair of very nice women Dr's from Finland, and had a good chat, as we sat outside we watched a string of pilgrims visit the Pharmacist oppersite obviously looking for treaments for sore feet.

After our beers we went for a pilgrims meal at the place that most of the pilgrims we know semed to be eating at. As we ate a larger than life Irishman, (a real James Joyce like figure,) came into eat, he had just walked over 40km to meet up with camino friends in Santiago for his birthday, an amazing feat. (his start point, our breakfast stop the day before).

And so to today! As usual we set off just before 8, for the first 10
minutes it was dark, but the sun was begining to rise, the cafes were full of pilgrims getting their breakfast, but as is our custom we decided to get a few miles under our belts before we had ours.

After about 4/5 minutes we came into a small village with an Cafe/alberge we went in and ordered breakfast, the tables had tableclothes and opera was playing in the background. Out came some very nice soft brown bread with jam and butter, a glass of orange juice and a large cup of coffee.

As we ate a pack of pilgrims arrived, not to eat but to stamp their pilgrim's pasport with the albergue stamp, (a pointless exercise as they hadn't even set foot in the establishment!). One even had the cheek to ask the owner if they could borrow a pen to add the date to their passport.

Fortified with food we set off again, the road was mainly woodland track and country road, but we had got behind the pack, that was untill a sign appeared Sellos (stamp), and by it on a table was a rubber stamp and ink pad, like sharkes in a feeding frenzy, the pack pounced, suddenly the way was clear and we motored on.

We then hit another significant point, the place where we crossed from the Galacian region of Lupo to the Galacian region of La Coruna the last local authority boundary to pass before Santiago

At about 11 we arrived at the town of Melide where I got the batteries and we stopped for a drink and rest, (if it had been at lunchtime I would have tried the Pulpo, as Melide has the best in Galacia) shortly afterwards we crossed another line (all be it, one that is actually wrong, the 50km marker stone.

Then it was a slog up hill and down dale, crossing six rivers until

our destination at Arzua where we found a room and after showers, laundry etc. Went into town. First picking up supplies and information about tommorow and then to the church for our pilgrims stamp.
We the headed for a bar for a beer and bumped into the Finnish Dr's so talked to them for a while.
And then to eat, we selected a restaurant with the logo of a grinning buddha, because it's menu looked different from the standard pilgrims menus. Inside were many people we recognized including Roshine from Ireland who when we last saw her and her friends in Triacadtella were planning to go for the four day push to Santiago.

For our meal we both went for scrambled eggs with asparagus and prawns, followed by pork fillet with a White sauce with hot peppercorns, followed by pudding and coffee, I asked for a brandy and for just over a 1€ and must have been a quadruple!

2011 - Day 12 - Portmarin to Palas de Rai

Scores on the doors 26.5 km Up 584m down 342m

The road has started to get busy again as it was at Le Puy and at St Jean Pied de Port/Roncesvalles. There are a number of distinct types of pilgrim, firstly those who like us have been on the road for a while and carry our own gear, we tend to recognize each other and will wave, smile and pass the time of day as we pass and repass each other. The next group are also the semi-long distance walkers, but these are the ones who use bag carrying services, not quite as authentic.

Then come the bicigrims again two types, the proper pilgrim on good old fashioned road bikes laden down with panniers following the road at a steady pace and the others in Lycra, on high tec mountain bikes with disc brakes, carrying only water and going hell for leather down the pedestrian paths, and appear to be on the way purely for a great bike ride.

All these types of pilgrim have been with us all the way, but now we are on the home straight we have new types of pilgrim as well, these are the minimum distance brigade. Cyclists who have to go 200km and walkers who have to go 100km. Many of them only carry day pacs and seem to travel arround in packs. They are now at the blister stage and are begining to suffer a bit. There are also a number of the long distance brigade who have injuries mainly to knees who are gamely going on with grim determination. I myself have been getting a few twinges in the Left knee but nothing which will stop me at this stage.

Last of all are the sudo-pilgrims, who arrive at a section of the path in a bright yellow luxury airconditioned mini-bus. They walk for pehaps 1/2 an hour, take lots of photos, and then remount their bus to a cafe for a snack or lunch before another walk on a different part of the way. Sadly I am convinced they think they are getting an authentic experience of the Camino, but it can only be truly expierenced over at least a couple of weeks.

Having got this off my chest, I will get on with today's walk. We stayed last night in the Albergue Manuel, where for 5€ extra we had our own room with sheets and towels. After another good night's sleep only disturbed by howling dogs at 4am, we set out at about 7:35, it was still dark, but the sun was begining to rise, as we walked past the bus station we saw two women who had been in our accommodation getting onto a bus with their rucksacks (not that we are suspicious). On leaving town we climbed up into woodland and gently rose for the next couple of hours, playing tag with main road.
After two hours we stopped at the village of Gonzar for breakfast , so many pilgrims had gone before us that all the toast was gone, so we had to make do with pan-O-chocolate with our coffee. As we ate we spoke with couple from Holand who we had seen on and off since Villafranca, they are carrying a knitted toy who apparently comes from Amsterdam Zoo and goes on holiday with people and has his picture posted to a social network site. We were also joined by the tallest German man we have ever seen (must be at least 6ft 6 & as thin as a rake), who with his wife started at Roncesvalles and like his technology, high tec pedometers and GPS's.

Refreshed we plodded on passing a special store for sweetcorn or potatoes that feature in this area

this particular one we have carried a picture of (on the front cover of one of our guides) since we first came into Spain).

A couple of hours on we stopped for Cokes and coffee, (a cold can of coke is great for cooling overheated feet!). Shortly after we passed another significant marker post - km 71 (takeing into account the Galician optimism about distance) why? you might ask, well 80 km is of course 50 miles.

With a short stop for lunch we arrived in Palas de Rei (palace of the King) although no palace exists now. Only another 73.1km or 45.68 miles to go!!!!!!!

2011 - Day 11 - Sarria to Portomarin

Scores on the doors 22.9 km up 350m and 379 down.

We both got a good nights sleep and so were good to resume the trail. We have already passed the 100 mile mark at O Cebreiro, today we will be passing the 100 km mark as well. Before the sun rose fully it was quite cool but with the occasional blasts of hot air a fortaste of the day to come.

Again like yesterday we were blessed with small tracks and paths and very little tamac,

as I think I said yesterday now we are nearing Santiago we are expected to get two stamps in our pilgrims pasport each day, preferably from Churches, so after an hours walking we stopped in the church at Barbadelo to get our first. We then continued on for a while longer when a bar came into sight, where we stopped for Cafe con leche and toast for breakfast.

We continued on and the day got hotter and hotter. In Galicia the Km's to Santiago are marked down 1/2 km at a time, one guide book says about the first one on the border with Castilla y Leon "the distance given is somewhat optimistic". However, I was still looking forward to seeing the 100km post, at 101.5 we were suddenly diverted off the route, as they were repairing the track, we walked and walked and I was convinced that the diversion would cause us to miss this memorable point, fortunately just in the nick of time our path was back on course.

Sadly it had been covered in Graffitti, but then it was only symbolic as the real 100km point was 9km later at the 91km marker post,

which I thought we would miss as the camino menders had taken us on another diversion.

Eventually our destination for the day the new town Portomarin, the original town being drowned by the Embalse de Belesar, a vast reservoir, a project built in the 1960's during the Franco era, all that was preserved were the Churches and other historic buildings, which were moved stone by stone to their new destination. As 1960's new towns go the Spanish have got it right in a way that we failed miserably in Britain.

With the present heat wave the reservoir is very low and the foundations of the old buildings can be seen.

We entered town up some steps and through a portico that had also been preserved

And found our Albergue where being very brave we had booked a room on the telephone yesterday.

After showers, laundary and a nap (Jeremy only) we headed into town got our third stamp of the day, had a beer and then some food, me squid stew and steak!

2011 - Day 10 - Triacastela - Sarria via Samos

Scores on the doors 27.4km up 224m down 395m

Today was to be a short day! 25km to Sarria with a stop at the monastery at Samos, a piece of cake.

We started fairly early at 7:35, Lesley had not had aa good night on account of my snoring, a result of this cough and cold I started a couple of weeks before we came here, which I just can't throw, it's ok during the day but comes back at night and first thing in the morning.

Our first stop was a busy cafe for breakfast, of coffee and toast (the biggest so far). We also availed ourselves of their Internet, receiving messages from pilgrim friends in Belgium and France.

Then it was off on the road with less than 100 miles to travel. After an initial start on a path alongside the main road, we then turned right into a hamlet and then followed an undulating path along side a river, through woods full of sweet chestnuts

passing through hamlets and farms that reminded me of walking through Hoathwaite farm in the English Lake District.

The road took us along a path over looking the monastery at Samos, a Benedictine Monastery,

That had links to the great monastery at Cluny now ruined but so close to Taize which has made a diffrence in so many young peoples life including my own.

We decided to go on the tour of the monastery as it only cost 3€ each and was worth every penny, the English guide sheet was great the translation literal but inaccurate and even beat the "Jam and eggs" we had seen in a number of places, our favorite being the church being divided into three ships rather than three naves.

Tour over it was back on the road, I had glanced at one of the guide books who had suggested that we followed the river all the way into Sarria, we began to follow a river, then after a couple of Km's we went up hill and off into the country, like dutifully pilgrims we followed the yellow arrows which became sparcer and sparcer, we began to doubt and considered going back, but in the end kept the faith and hit the other trail from Triacadtela via San Xai. After another hour we ended up in Sarria and eventually. Found a room in a Hotel, with wi-fi in all the rooms.

Sarria is about 120 km from Santiago and 100k is the minimum for getting a compostella, from this point on idealy we need two stamps in our pilgrims pasports each day,

to get our Compestella, but if we forget, the fact we started in Le Puy should count in our favour.

After getting a stamp from the church we went and got food and had a long conversation with Christina from America, who I've promised to send my Paella recipe to her, then back to the hotel to publish bloggs and go to sleep.

2011 - Day 9 - O Cebreiro to Triacastela

Scores on the doors 26.8 km, up 305m down 824m

Today was just a lovely day's walk. Just as I had imagined the camio to be, before we set out from England. The vast majority was on tracks and paths, traveling through rolling countryside, passing through little hamlets with fields of grazing cows.

As the day according to the books was comparativly short, we decided to start late (8:25), the route the yellow arrows took us was not that of the books and after ten minutes we began to panic as there was no one about and there were no yellow arrows. Just as we were about to turn back we say an arrow, turned a corner and spotted a herd of pilgrims.

After walking for an hour we stopped for brekfast, and whilst eating, chaos broke out outside, an errant herd of cows had decided they wanted brekfast, until with much shouting and waving of sticks the farmers wife got them back on the correct course. We set off again and popped into the village church and got a stamp in our credential. We then walked from hamlet to hamlet, enjoying the beautiful countyrside.

Eventualy our days destination of Tricastelar came into view, however, the only three castles we have seen are carved into the church tower! We found a room, showered, and laundered, and headed into town to visit the church, another peaceful place (could it be because the priest is pilgrim friendly and holds prayers and daily communion services for the pilgrims). These Galician churches are wonderful, open and not full of the usual over the top bling.

We then a went off to a bar with wi-fi for a beer and to post our blogs, the wi-fi was a bit flakey, but spent time with Roisin from Ireland & Andraeas from Holand, (hope I've spelt your names OK), who we have bumped into a few times since Astorga. Tommorow they are planing to go for 5 day Orion to Santiago whilst we are going for the Six day option.

2011 - Day 8 - Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro

scores on the doors 28.1 km up 500m down 236m altitude 1300m

Again it was an 8am start, the description of this part of the walk from "Travels with my Donkey" "I'm off now" and various of the guide books was going to be hairy to say the least. There were three options, the longest 40k was totaly out of the question, the second involved a climb and then a rapid down, not much fun with blistered feet, so we went for no 3 the road route.

Three roads occupied the valley floor, the old road, the new road and the shinny new moterway towering above us on stilts. The camino follows bits of the old and
New roads, and all the books had said that you would be walking along side the carriageway being narrowly missed by cars, that might have been then but now most tragic is on the moterway and secondly the authorities have put a wall between pilgrims and cars on the worst bits.

But most of the time we walked through lovely villages on very quiet roads

After about an hour we stopped for breakfast and met a pilgrim dog, who like us carried his own kit

The road carried on in this manner and miricle of miricles most of the churches were open and offering a stamp for peoples credentials. At about 1 the road began to rise and rise with a vengance! Leading to the mountains that seperate Galicia from Castilla Y Leon. When we stopped for lunch my feet needed cooling down so I plunged them into one of the roadside fondas

Which was certainly bracing, after lunch it was back to the climb, fortunately all on soft tracks, we then passed the border between the two regions

And were then we were in Galicia and on the home stretch, just around the corner was our destination of O Cebreiro a village who's only real purpose is the camino.
It has a wonderfully simple and peaceful church, maintained by the Spanish Franciscians. Which you could sit in for hours. We popped into a gift shop to buy cards and bumped into the English quartered we met last night, who had walked up the last couple of miles and got a feel of what the pilgrimage is like.

At 7 we went to the church for the Mass for St Michael and all the Angels, where they made an effort by having the responses in four languages on a large tv screen so we could al join in in our own languages. And they didn't say anything about who was in who was put at the distribution.

In a side chapel there was a wonderful pilgrims prayer, the prayer of La Faba

A lovely prayer not just for pilgrims but for anyone who aspires to the Christian life.

2011 - Day 8 - Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro

Scores on the doors 28.1 km up 500m down 236m altitude 1300m

Again it was an 8am start, the description of this part of the walk from "Travels with my Donkey" "I'm off now" and various of the guide books was going to be hairy to say the least. There were three options, the longest 40k was totaly out of the question, the second involved a climb and then a rapid down, not much fun with blistered feet, so we went for no 3 the road route.

Three roads occupied the valley floor, the old road, the new road and the shinny new moterway towering above us on stilts. The camino follows bits of the old and
New roads, and all the books had said that you would be walking along side the carriageway being narrowly missed by cars, that might have been then but now most tragic is on the moterway and secondly the authorities have put a wall between pilgrims and cars on the worst bits.

But most of the time we walked through lovely villages on very quiet roads

After about an hour we stopped for breakfast and met a pilgrim dog, who like us carried his own kit

The road carried on in this manner and miricle of miricles most of the churches were open and offering a stamp for peoples credentials. At about 1 the road began to rise and rise with a vengance! Leading to the mountains that seperate Galicia from Castilla Y Leon. When we stopped for lunch my feet needed cooling down so I plunged them into one of the roadside fondas

Which was certainly bracing, after lunch it was back to the climb, fortunately all on soft tracks, we then passed the border between the two regions

And were then we were in Galicia and on the home stretch, just around the corner was our destination of O Cebreiro a village who's only real purpose is the camino.
It has a wonderfully simple and peaceful church, maintained by the Spanish Franciscians. Which you could sit in for hours. We popped into a gift shop to buy cards and bumped into the English quartered we met last night, who had walked up the last couple of miles and got a feel of what the pilgrimage is like.

At 7 we went to the church for the Mass for St Michael and all the Angels, where they made an effort by having the responses in four languages on a large tv screen so we could al join in in our own languages. And they didn't say anything about who was in who was put at the distribution.

In a side chapel there was a wonderful pilgrims prayer, the prayer of La Faba

A lovely prayer not just for pilgrims but for anyone who aspires to the Christian life.