We are slowly making our way to Bordeaux where tomorrow we will catch a train direct to the Paris airport.
Such intricate architecture on these old buildings. I would love a tour.
Beautiful immaculate beaches. I’m sure they are crowded in summer.
How does this tree keep living?
Hottentot fig.
We’re back for more churros! Yay! Two dozen this time. And don’t leave them in the back seat with Ken. No no no!
The hills are getting much Rockier with little agriculture.
Back in Basque country where we can neither read nor begin to pronounce the words.
If you are not paying attention, you can cross the border into France without even noticing. No strip searches either!
Saint Jean de Luz.
We couldn’t quite make out what happened here. There was a van which deals with emergency gas release, fire trucks, ambulance, etc. But they weren’t blocking people from walking by so it couldn’t have been too serious.
And we got to watch some guys playing pelota on the fronton.
French dining at its finest.
The place we are staying in.
Tonight we begin packing. We walked for 3 months with 3 packs and now we have to buy extra bags. Oh well!
We say goodbye to Antonio as he flies home to Malaga. It really meant a lot to us for him to join us. I miss him already!
We had to leave for the airport at 640 in the morning – that’s the earliest we’ve been up on this entire trip! Still dark that early in the morning. We’re all trying to avoid Ken and his coughing fits, which is a little difficult. We hope he’s better by the time we get on the plane on Friday.
The orange juice is always fresh squeezed. They have big machines that they throw the whole orange into, skins and all.
ColaCao is Spain’s version of Nestle Quik (although it doesn’t dissolve in cold milk). It’s served in every bar and cafe with steamed milk. Great that they have anti-bullying messaging on their label.
Saw a few stork nests Ong the way. My mother used to say that it wS a sign of good luck if the storks built a nest on your chimney. Although I am not sure how that worked as her family would have heated the house with wood in those eay days in Slovakia.
I’m still feeling a bit of nostalgia for the Camino and so we took Scott on a short detour to Portomarín. Nancy will recognize these stairs that you had to climb to get into the town. The original Town was flooded when they built the reservoir and you can still see the foundations of houses when the water levels are low, as well as an old Roman bridge which now gets covered as well by water.
You had to come down this narrow little canyon. Ken helped a few women get down while I chickened out and snuck through a vineyard beside it, which I see is still there.
The look on Ken’s face indicates that he has once again said something bad about me. What a weasel!
In 2019 we had tortilla almost every day. It was in every bar and cafe and was standard lgrim fare. We only had it a couple times on this trip. Basically a shaped potato and onion omelette. Hearty walking food.
Back at the coast and seeing a lot of estuaries. I’m a little discombobulated as the countryside is incredibly scenic, verdant greens, with hills and mountains on the right and Rocky shoes and villages on the left. But instead of slow walking with time to absorb it all, we speeding through the countryside.
Apparently I (a) Whimpered (b) Whined or (c) whinged when I saw this house and wanted it for my own.
Very different architecture on the churches in this region.
The beach in Santander.
Bicycle locker. Theft proof and protects your bike from the elements and the salty air.
Dog parking area outside the grocery store. What a neat idea!
That’s an industrial size box of ColaCao! And KitKat cereal??? Me wants some.
Oh look. There’s a casino.
Where’s your mother, Scott?
Do we have to start a GoFundMe page to get home?
More padron pepper roulette but sadly (or maybe not so sadly) no spicy hot ones.
The smallest IKEA ever. It is only 9 cars wide. I know because I counted. We stopped here looking for their blue plastic bags with zippers. They are great for putting your backpacks in to protect your straps from mean old baggage handlers.
Same stuff, same lit arrows on the floor, just not much of it. No separate marketplace. Sad.
The look of a man settling in for an afternoon nap and who has stolen every pillow for himself.
What a gorgeous place.
Two very sad penguins in a not very nice enclosure.
Scott and I were convinced one of the seals wS dead as it was floating in the water on its side and was not movi g at all for several minutes. I mentioned it to the keeper and he said it was sleeping. I was obviously dubious as he came out with a small bucket of fish to prove it wS alive. I can’t say I was impressed with the seal enclosure… Or the poor penguins’ habitat.
Two lighthouses… Managed to capture both lights.
The town has built brick posts to support the wind blown trees.
Ken is buying churros for the BugSnax.
What a cheap guy. He only bought a dozen and ate most of them himself!
I had very much wanted to walk to Muxia and then down the coastal path to Fisterra, a variant of the Camino, but it was an extra day and 30 km to walk, so I was sadly outvoted (quite vociferously by one unnamed person).
We had one extra non-walking day so we decided to go to Muxia by car and explore the northern coast a bit.
As I was putting on my jacket I realized that I had “stolen” the keys to our room at Pension Lopez so we decided to first go back to Fisterre to return them. Of course the lady was “that was unnecessary, people take keys all the time” but it just felt like the right thing to do.
On the way to Fisterre we came across what we thought was a lost pilgrim totally off the Camino and staring at his phone, so we stopped to see if he needed help and ended up driving home to Fisterre. His name was Rick, not a pilgrim, but a lonely man spending 6 months or more caravanning and hiking through Europe. He was waiting for the bus to Fisterre and was going to walk up to the lighthouse then walk 30 km back to his camper. He had started walking with two people on the Camino Portugues but both dropped out over injury and illness. He had been looking forward to being with others and seemed quite disappointed to be alone again. He had recently lost his partner and had just retired and seemed to be searching for something. They say “the Camino provides ” and I hope he finds what he needs, if not what he thinks he is looking for. Walking the Camino reminds you that other people have their own stories outside of yours.
Enough philosophizing!
We wanted to get down to this beach but the road quickly degraded into sand. So we continued on down the road.
Waaay in the background of this photo is a group of hunters with a pack of loose hu ting dogs. These two were on the road and I think they lived at the nearby farm. I didn’t get my window closed in time!
The lighthouse in Muxia.
Ken searches every post for this guy. We figure he must have walked to Muxia first, then down to Fisterre, which is why we never saw him for a couple of days on the Fisterre route. The Camino does wierd thi as to you when you start connecting to a person you have never met but who has left his signature behind.
Very very windy.
Our lady of the boat. Nostra Dame de la Barca.
Thanks for a Camino that was major injury and illness free.
So windy that the candles have to be behind glass.
Ken loves these smiling cookies.
Another lighthouse in A Coruna. Torre de Hercules. Built by the Roman’s in the first century. I imagine they had slaves who carried the wood up all those stairs to keep the beacon lit.
Thirsty puppy.
And then off to the aquarium.
Cuttlefish.
We are grateful that the museums / aquarium have signs in English. The local children painted this recycled sail which will be used on a boat that will be sailing around the world.
Doesn’t he look happy?
Fish made of garbage pulled from the sea.
Their sea pool is 5 meters deep and has a constant flow through of fresh sea water.
Pilgrim stamps are an important part of the Caminos. They are the proof that you have walked the route and you need to show them at the pilgrim office in Santiago in order to get your Compestelle.
Some stamps are special, some have more meaning than others – perhaps they represent a milestone, others are boring. Tonight, even though we have completed our Camino, I could not resist getting a wax stamp in the Mexican restaurant we have eaten in three nights in a row food was excellent and there was nothing else open in O Pedrouzo).
This gentleman made the stamps for you. You got to choose the colour of wax and then he would seal the stamp and guild it.
As befitting a Mexican restaurant, the symbol represents the “day of the dead”, which is the theme of the restaurant (ie filled with colorful skulls).
OK, I admit to losing 5 euros and 80 cents in this machine.
And back to our room in the rain (Ken stayed home as he was coming down with a cold).
With the pilgrimage walk over, we are slowly making our way home. Today we spent the morning in Fisterra, losing each other (no phone on me), looking for each other, eating churros and picking up beach glass on the beach…because where else would it b? Then a 3 hour bus ride to Santiago (only 100 km but lots of stops) over winding roads along the coast. We spent the rest of the day wandering Santiago.
Apparently only carnosaurs may eat in this restaurant. No vegetarians or vegans are allowed.
Yellow painted arrows on a giant rock arrow pointing the way to the Camino.
Our hostess loves her knick-knacks. The Christmas town covers two large tables.
This cabinet was hand-made by the grandfather in honour of a grand daughter who died as a child. It took him five years and was obviously a labor of love. Both of their “portraits” are hanging the house.
This pigeon is watching television through the window.
Peek-a-boo kitty.
A type of passion fruit flower.
Bit of a rocky climb down to this small beach.
This black kitty was not interested in Ken’s blandishments.
Going.
Going.
Gone.
From the bus window.
Ken thought they were very sweet.
For the first hour we kept crossing the Camino path we walked. Certainly a different perspective to be racing down the highway instead of strolling along noticing all the small things.
The garage where I petted the pretty kitty.
Why don’t we get a window seat?!?
A peregrina in the traffic circle…but no backpack and apparently no clothes on either.
Mussel traps.
And we didn’t hit any of them. Our bus driver was good and very very fast.
When we hit Santiago we took the bus back to the airport to pick up the car. Luckily I noticed someone getting off the bus in front of our car park, so we avoided having to actually going to the airport and catching a shuttle back to the car.
This barely visible Santiago de Compestela sign is yet another of the handful of iconic places where every pilgrim takes a photo. I wasn’t trying to take a picture of the sleeping guy!
And I wasn’t trying to take a picture of hopefully not sleeping Scott. I wanted the pilgrim statue at the airport.
A photo of Nicky whom we had met at O Cebreiro, letting us know that he made it to Santiago.
So it never fails. I have been carrying a pack of Lakeland Scouting badges with me in the hopes of meeting some Scouts. I had them with me all the time because I was wearing my pack all the time. Except today. Heavy sigh. I saw this troop approaching a few pilgrims but they were being ignored so I went over to talk to them. Turns out they were on a scavenger hunt and only needed one more thing to finish – a photo with a peregrina (but not a peregrino) – I was happy to oblige. And am still kicking myself for not having my pack and badges to give them.
Walking around town in the evening, checking out the restaurants I am definitely not going to eat at.
Just your random street knife sharpener guy.
Scott figures we can each bring home a leg if cured ham and still be under the limit for Canada customs. I worry about the pig who now only has one leg left. Scott felt he had to deliver the bad news to me about the fate of the pig. What?!?
Ken now searches every post he sees that have stickers on them, looking for Dave the Goblin. And here he is in the square by the Cathedral in Santiago.
The local Mexican restaurant, full of pilgrims, at least 35 of them, and so so loud. Ken and Scott had eaten here the last time we stayed in O Pedrouzo and the service was very fast. This time, not so much, as it was so crowded. And remember the signs of no bare feet in the restaurant? Some old pilgrim spent half an hour giving a much younger peregrine a bare foot massage… At the table. They were in an outer section but still… Yuck.
No photo of that but here’s two lads enjoying their beers.
And here’s two lads once again begging at the window to be let in.
Our last day of walking! Today we reach the end of the Camino de Fisterra, the final 100(ish) kilometers from Santiago to the Atlantic Ocean. Many pilgrims stop in Santiago but there are always some who continue on to complete their journey.
Ken was too sick to walk it in 2019 and we drove to Fisterre. But that isnt the same as walking and so we have returned to complete it as true pilgrims.
We were blessed with a beautiful day with only one small shower. Galicia is known for its rainy windy weather so we were grateful to end on a high note weather-wise. Actually, we’ve had good weather for most of the trip with only one day of heavy soaking downpour back in France.
Back to the bar in the morning for our usual breakfast of tostadas, 2 cafes con leche, ColaCao (hot chocolate), and a cafe Americano.
This mess of electrical wires looks like…I don’t know what, other than maybe frightening.
So here we are, all bright and shiny and smiling for our last day of walking.
We started with a steep climb…because that’s just how mornings start. But we are getting good at them. No huffing and puffing.
Cape honeysuckle.
This albergue said it was open all year but it looked closed to me. I think pilgrims walking this time of year struggle to find a bed if they don’t plan ahead.
Scott liked the albergue across the road because not only was it open, it had jungle-themed rooms.
The ocean becomes tantalizingly close again.
We are seeing tons of citrus trees. Not quite ripe yet.
Pilgrim rest stop with a pilgrim stamp, vending machine and a working stove, for some reason.
Off and on spitting rain but not enough to bother with the rain gear.
Down to sea level.
Such a cutie!
STOP, Terry! You are not allowed in here! But when has that ever stopped me? Check out the Camino shell art. Alas I bought nada.
So. These two dogs. The four of us were fairly spread out, as usually happens on a hill, and the pilgrim detection system was working at full strength. Ie the dogs start barking whenever someone walks by so you always know how far ahead of you the next guy is. By the time I went by these two dogs had already been yipping and yapping very annoyingly for several minutes. I was the last in line, and the owner finally stuck his head out presumably to tell the dogs to shut up. Instead, he said “senora” and waved his hand and shushed me along as if all the barking was my fault. Instead of his own issue by putting two little yappers on a porch beside a road that pilgrims pass all day long. But I just rolled my eyes and left. But it’s really Ken’s fault since he started them barking in the first place.
Finally at the beach and my fingers are itching to collect Camino scallop shells. In ancient times, people who undertook the Camino had to return with a scallop shell to prove they had actually completed the walk. That is how the shell became the symbol of the modern-day Camino de Santiago, except now people put one on their packs at the beginning of their Camino instead of the end.
Norfolk Island Pine. I have one at home that is over five feet tall. Ken refuses to move it anymore.
Scott proves his strength in the exercise park.
No, Ken. We are not eating there. Michelin starred restaurant. I never realized these restaurants are associated with the Michelin Tire Man. The company started the Michelin restaurant guides as a means to sell more tires by encouraging people to drive farther but know that there was a place to eat. Menu with very expensive seafood selections below. The euro is about $1.62 Canadian. So… $160 for a lobster that was probably caught 5 miles from here.
Ken chose another restaurant that only had seafood on the menu, nothing I could eat, not even a salad, so I went down to water’s edge and picked up shells.
We saw more cats in this town as we walked to our rooms for the night than we’ve seen on the entire trip. They are everywhere. But they don’t look skinny or under-fed.
The view from our balcony. Only $100 for two very nice rooms for the night. The Camino ends at the lighthouse 3 km up the hill. So Ken and I took the opportunity to lighten the loads in our packs and Antonio and Scott just left theirs behind.
End of Chemin de Saint-Jaques, Jacob’s Way, Jakebsweg, el Camino de Santiago. All are names for the same pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestelle and to the end at Finisterre. Tradition states that St James is buried in Santiago. Iago is James in Spanish. Jacob and James and Jaques are all inter-changeable.
Hey, can you find Dave the Goblin? We were so worried about him as we haven’t seen him for two days
Just chilling by the souvenir shop.
Our good friend, my Spanish son, Antonio. So happy he joined us!
These four little guys have walked the Via Francigena from London to Rome in 2022 and 2023, and in 2025 have walked from London to Dover, and Reims to SJPDP, and Santiago to Fisterra. We’ll, actually, they hitched a ride in my pack.
WE MADE IT!!! The 0.000 kilometer marker. As Ken says, this time we “earned it”, as in 2019 he was too sick to walk it and this was Antonio’s first time on this particular Camino.
Three human pilgrims, one triceratops and three Bugsnax, the latter three were made by Peter.
There is a brass boot on the last rocks.
Can you find Dave for one last time? Maybe he ran out of stickers which might explain his worrisome absence the last while.
The lighthouse (faro).
Two brothers.
Peter wanted Teensy to have a solo photoshoot. We found Teensy years ago on the lawn of the Travelodge in Drumheller.
If I fits, I sits.
The beeline for the beer after we’ve headed back down to town.
The boys just couldn’t resist another round of padron pepper roulette. Not sure the winner was – Scott or the pepper!
I end today’s blog with this sad note.
Part of my journey has included carrying my friend Ethel in my heart as she battled cancer. I have lit candles for her in magnificent cathedrals and in humble churches, as her faith was important to her. Ethel sadly passed a few days ago. There is no chapel here at Finisterra, Land’s End, the final stopping place of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. No candle to light.
So in pilgrim fashion I lay a rock on the cross which looks benevolently across the Atlantic Ocean at Ethel’s Newfoundland home and I bid Ethel a final good bye and wish her Buen Camino and Ultreia on her next journey.
And to Christine, who was always there in so many ways for Ethel over the last several months, you are the epitome of a Camino angel and Ethel was so lucky and proud to call you friend.
Only two days of walking left, so let’s start the day with a very steep slippery downhill and then a long climb to get back on the Camino, just for giggles.
Sun shine over there, rain on our heads. The joke is that as soon as Ken takes off his rain jacket, the rain starts up again.
We are so close! Just over 31 km to go!!!
That’s the place we stayed in last night, way over there.
Them thar’s some pretty big boots to fill!
Trust Ken to find live music along the way. James from Australia gave Ken a private violin concert. I only caught the tail end of it but it was a magical Camino moment for Ken. Ken also introduced James to the song “On the Road to Santiago” plus some French tunes.
Left to Finisterre. Right to Muxia.
How exciting to come across a donativo! I bought the double shell on the end plus a banana and a drink. These donations are such nice surprises. Seven euros for what we took.
And now we find out about the wolf posters. I think. The English translation of who the Vakner was is below. A pilgrim from the 1490’s claimed to have met ferocious beasts at this crossroads.
The Snax and Teensy very bravely tried to protect me from the Vakner by biting his toes. My heroes!!!
This is the important crossroads where left goes to Fisterre and right goes to Muxia further up the coast.
Make up your mind Scott!!!
I love how there are taxi stickers plastered everywhere. I know from experience that as a pilgrim you have days when you are just done – there is no physical or mental motivation to help you put that one step in front of another.
Oh oh! Can we go left so we can go downhill…instead of right to go uphill? No? Waaaah!
Walking through a large clear-cut. Spain is planting so much Eucalyptis because it is so fast growing. Antonio says its used for furniture and also to make charcoal / pellets for heating. But it is a non-native species. species so the environmentalists don’t like it. Plus it is extremely flammable so between all the Eucalyptus and pine they are planting, these are forest fires waiting to happen. The saving grace is this region (Galicia) is very wet…very rainy.
We’ve been walking dirt tracks and all of a sudden there is this random beautiful sidewalk in the middle of nowhere and only about 20 feet long. Ken thought it meant we were getting close to a town with a beer…and when he saw there was no town and no beer, he went “waaaah “!
A lunch spot out of the rain.
These are the flowers from the Eucalyptus trees. The tops look like acorn tops.
Another smile moment – a man and his dog. The dog was splashing happily in the ditch and the man in question was walking along singing at 7the top of his lungs. Very badly i might add. Video below – its quite charming.
The ocean comes closer.
As weird as this sounds, I’d rather climb a hill than walk down a hill of this length and grade. Really hurts the feet and if you have a bad knee or two, watch out!
Just about at sea level.
Scott’s a meanie. I have glasses that turn dark in the sun. But if you put something on part of the lens it stays clear while the other part turns dark. Scott deliberately turned one of my lenses into half and half. Hah! I shall have my revenge.
The little dog in the window was guarding his house from the invasion of pilgrims and the big dog, who turned out to be the splashing dog of earlier in the day.
The Atlantic, very quiet in this sheltered bay.
The boys went out for a tapas supper. This was their waiter in the bar.
Ken thought it was pretty funny (and it is) that there are children’s drawings in the bar similar to school kids drawing thank you cards when they’ve been on a tour somewhere. “My Favourite bar Tio Monchin”.
The favourite bar. Note the old stone horreo beside it.
Apparently that was their favourite bar too. Look at those hopeful faces asking to be let in.
Tomorrow is our last day of walking, although we don’t fly home for a week yet. Always a bittersweet mix of emotions – excited at achievement, relief at no illness or injuries, melancholy as the adventure is ending – so difficult to describe.
It’s been very special having Antonio walk with us. He was in Red Rock with us when Peter was born (1990-91 school year) and before his “little” brother Scott was. We get to see other every few years. Not often enough but we are grateful for the time we have together.
Up a little earlier as we had a 20+ kilometer day ahead of us. The owners have a bar/restaurant at the main road level, plus a 3 room 6 person hotel (which we stayed in) and the albergue. They had just closed the hotel for the season but opened it for us as we were 4 people. A single person had to stay in the dorms (where you basically need to supply your own towels and sleep sack and sleeping bag, although some will give you blankets). We started off the morning with “toast” which was a toasted half-baguette each…it was huge!
And what’s with pilgrims who think it’s okay to take their shoes off in a bar/cafe/restaurant? Gross.
Our hotel had a water chain from the gutter to keep the water flowing down into the drain instead of splashing about. It does look better than a gutter downspouts (but not as much fun as a gargoyle).
Lost already?
A random vending machine. I couldn’t pass up a chocolate bar that Ken was paying for!
Mandarins orange tree.
Princess Flower. Such a gorgeous colour. Unfortunately hardy in Zone Spain and not Zone Lac La Biche 😕.
Early morning light with a bit of cloud, bit of mist.
Apparently I walked right by these guys without noticing them.
One of the few times I’m in the lead!
Hola, ladies!
Pet me pet me pet me pet me!!!!!
We are starting to see stone horreos. By the way, the “h” is silent.
The tiniest muffin I have ever seen. I mean, what’s the point? The chocolate chip is almost as big as the muffin. But of course I ate it anyway.
The bar dog.
The rain started two minutes after leaving the cafe.
It started pouring and we took shelter in this hay barn. The Snax decided to check it out too.
Time to take off the rain jacket. But it’s off and on all day.
The nasty hill of the day.
If you real close you can see one of the concrete Camino distance markers sort of giving us the finger so to speak.
Always fun to follow the poop spreader 💩!
Is she going to make it?
More to the point, am I?!?
Hello, Dave the Goblin. He’s become like an old friend.
Big reservoir in the distance.
Tell me we are not going up there!
Whew! Nope, we turned right and went down.
Random artist? Lovely bum?
It’s difficult to see but there are four pilgrims sitting on the benches about as far apart as they physically can. Do they smell?
The poor lad in the bus shelter later came up to me and Scott embarassedly asking for tissues as he was having, well, let’s just say issues. We gave him what we had (with a lot of sympathy because what pilgrim hasnt been there at one time or another) plus I gave him some Immodium (after explaining what it was) and was about to say swallow it whole with water when he said “oh jelly”. Yeah, not supposed to chew these ones. We wish him well.
Four leaf clover just sitting on the bench waiting for me.
Almost there. Only five km to go but Antonio had told Ken there was a taxi for the last 3 km, which became a point of focus for little Kenny, especially since it started raining again.
Where is Dave the Goblin?
We made it into Olievrio and decided to to just walk and forgot the taxi.
This horreo is twice the size, maybe larger, than the ones we’ve seen so far.
The mushroom tops on the pillars prevent the rodents from getting to the grain.
They were cleaning the algae off the roof and house using bleach. OMG! Hold your breath as you go by.
What are these wolf posters??
We get down to this spot where the Camino splits off from the road again. The boys take off when I notice a little sign that says there is a temporary diversion and we have to take the busy road. So we decide to call the taxi after all (for 12 euros). Scott decides to take the trail anyway, as it’s not blocked off but we take his pack for him. None of us paid attention to the little sign in the back of this photo warning cyclists there was a 6% grade for 1.5 km.
Later Scott tells us that we would have been VERY unhappy if we had walked with our packs as he found it difficult without a pack. Very steep. He did rub in the fact that he passed a sheepdog guarding his four sheep.
Supper consisted of Caldo Gallego…Galician soup (so good) plus cod for Ken and Antonio and spaghetti for Scott and me. But the boys started playing Russian roulette with Padron peppers. You get a large plate of fried peppers with large flaky salt. Ken says it like a big appetizer plate of chicken wings. Most of the peppers are sweet but some are insanely spicy and you never which you are going to get. Ken says it was fun watching Scott’s eyes bug out of his head while the sweat popped out of his forehead and his face turned fluorescent red. Scott plans on growing them as you can’t buy them at home but you can get the seeds.
There are two other pilgrims in the background. The guy was a cyclist and we had passed him going up the big hill on the way. They were lucky to find rooms here. The town 3 kilometers earlier has a lot of albergues for pilgrims but every one of them was closed. They were being sent to this place (we had reservations) and some of them were being sent to the owner’s mother’s house. The owner was a little miffed that every albergue closed and she wasn’t notified.
Back to our apartment to do a load of laundry in the hopes it would dry by morning. We don’t always have control of the heat in the rooms, which can be frustrating as we are usually pretty damp with sweat when we arrive and are always looking for heat. That usually means a hot hot shower.
As this was going to be a short day to try to recover from yesterday, we took our time getting out.
At the grocery store a woman stopped us, saying it had been so long since she had heard anyone speaking English. She proceeded to tell us she’d lived in Maine about 10 miles from the Canadian border then to Miami and mentioned the extreme differences in weather but here you got everything and she talked so fast in a stream of consciousness without breathing in a twangy accent. Obviously she was excited to talk but we did need to move on.
I had washed our fruit the night before to save time in the morning and could not understand why Antonio had bought five pears and two apples. I had bought 2 apples and 2 mandarins. Then this morning I asked Antonio if he was going to pack his pears. He said they weren’t his pears and he wondered why I had bought so many. Ha ha. Neither of us bought the pears. We think some poor person put them in our basket-cart by mistake and since there were three of us throwing things in the cart, no one noticed. Oops. So now we have a ton of pears to eat. Too funny.
This was such a great place. We especially appreciated the thoughtful pilgrim items – 4 little cakes, 4 apple juice boxes, 4 little milk boxes plus a pilgrim stamp, Camino de Fisterre pilgrim passports, luggage transfer available, clothes drying rack and washing machine. Large rooms. Hot shower. A pilgrim paradise.
Apparently stinky–footed pilgrims like to take their shoes/boots off in the bars and cafes to give their feet a break. But it is verboten as it drives other customers away.
Ken continues to have a pinched nerve issue in his hip, which hits on the downhills and the flats but is fine going uphill. Luckily today was mostly uphill (did i just say “luckily” in the same sentence as “mostly uphill”?) And he has learned to manage it with regular stretches. This happened in France about a month ago but it went away after a couple of days that time.
We would love to understand the meaning of this statue. The earth sits on top. The father is literally rooted to the ground. A small boy leans out the window pulling at his father’s pant leg. Inside a mother sits with another child. It’s beautiful and so different in terms of using the wall as a divider with the window and boy to connect the two sides. There was no description sign.
A foggy start to the morning.
Scott stops to talk to every kitty. Can you see it just to the left of his pack?
I think I could make a home out of this place.
Old town fountain and wash house.
Hello, Snax. Teensy is in the back keeping watch.
Lots of Eucalyptus plantations.
I was taking a photo of the green tiles on the front of the house when a small van drove up and honked
A lady jumped out, I thought i was going to get yelled at, but she is the bread delivery lady. She put the bread on the windowsill, the window opened, another lady took the bread and said good morning and thank you
I want that job!
We’ve been seeing Dave the Goblin stickers everywhere…but i don’t think he’s ever put them on the actual sign
This place is for sale and, look. It even has a balcony. Better than the last place.
We stopped at this rock for lunch and joked there would be a bench 200 meters down the trail, which has happened to us countless times.
The predicted bench 200 meters down the trail. Heavy sigh.
Our trail turned into creeks a few times during the day. We have been accompanied by the sound of rushing water all day. It’s quite pleasant.
The stickers on poles are one thing. Actually defaming the signs is another. Thankfully on this route there seems to be more respect and the distance pylon markers are not scribbled on as they are on the Camino Frances. Can you find Dave the Goblin?
These hydrangeas are HUGE! I used Ken’s head for comparison. Keep in mind he has a very big head!
Ken: I am having a really hard time taking you seriously, Mr. Ferocious Guard Dog.
The ferocious guard dog. What a cutie with his little bandana! He wanted pets so badly.
This horse did not move an inch while we were sitting there. Was it sleeping? Depressed because it was lonely? It just looked sad 😔
Scott failed in his attempt to lure this cat over.
Los moos.
Some form of turnip green used for their traditional Galician soup.
I don’t usually like when pilgrims leave graffiti but this time I can relate – we’ve been climbing all day.
Oh, to live in a country where you have veggies ready to harvest on one side of the yard and young seedlings growing on the other side.
This house is literally right on the highway and the cutest little kitten came running over to Scott. Then the momma came running up the shoulder of the highway when she saw us near her baby. I hope they are car/truck/tractor-wise. I was afraid the little boy was going to follow us but they did go closer to the house.
The boys had shots of coffee orujo, a local liqueur, after dinner.
A Belgian pilgrim took this photo of us. He started from his home and walked all the way to Santiago and like us is going to Finesterre (land’s end). There was another pilgrim there who had walked all the way from Santiago today…about 35+ kilometers. OMG! She did in one day what we did in two. Impressive. But we are happy doing 15 to 20 km a day. The Belgian said he is very slow and only likes to do 15 km. That’s our sweet spot for walking too.
We head to the airport to pick up Antonio. Antonio was an exchange student who lived with us in Red Rock, Ontario for a year. His brother came a few years laters We’ve maintained close “family” ties and it is so special that he is joining us for this Camino.
Ken is running after the car as Scott tries to drive away.
We left the car in airport parking for the week and caught the shuttle bus into Santiago. We did warn Antonio about the “get coffee into Ken as soon as possible” routine but turns out Antonio is the same.
Looks like Bud the Spud from the bright red mud was here. There were two guys with trolleys dropping off potatoes by people’s front doors (couldn’t drive a vehicle down the narrow streets).
And we are four again.
The Cathedral. 500000 pilgrims walked at least 100 km last year to reach this place, a pilgrimage in existence for over a thousand years.
This is the traditional gate for pilgrims to walk through. There is always one and only one musician there – they have to apply and it is strictly controlled. We had a piper the first time and this time we were treated to a gentleman singing a melancholy song while playing a hurdy-gurdy, a medieval string instrument that produces musical notes like a violin – it was a hancranked wheel that rubs against the strings.
And now the walking begins.
What I see.
What Ken sees.
Fairy tale mushrooms! Don’t touch them, Strawbie! No tocar! They are poisonous.
Eucalyptus forests.
Ken says this is could be our cheapest albergue. He wanted to take a nap. If he knew what was coming, he would have!
There is bread delivery in these towns – they leave it in s bag hanging from your door knob. We were hungry. It was tempting…
The water in the creeks is so clear.
We were looking forward to this cafe, as we weren’t carrying much food (we didn’t see anywhere to pick some up) but, shades of France, it was closed. Heavy sigh. We made do with leftover chicken quesadilla from last night (it came with a lot of chicken and only a few small bits of tomato and lettuce), cornbread, carrots and green pepper. A girl pilgrim came up just as we were leaving, also hoping for a snack…and probably a toilet.
Every house seems to have a grape arbour here.
This chicken hopped up to pose for me and then a friend joined her.
But…the bus is right here! I’m sure it’s going where we are going!??
May my feet and I just take a moment to read this sign and say…
Waaaaaaaaah!!!
Random piece of wasp nest lying in the road.
Eucalyptus leaf with acorn-like seeds.
Some of the steeper parts are cobbled.
If I actually make it to the top of the hill and see Scott sitting in his chair waiting for us, I am gonna be really mad.
Thar was one of the most difficult hills on this whole trip, certainly the longest. Saved only by the fact that the footing on the trail itself was excellent.
In Galicia, we see more and more of these horreos. They were used for storing grain and corn and were constructed in such a way as to keep rodents out.
Look out, Ken!
There has been a lot of rain and the river is very high.
Cormorant just chilling on his rock.
El Gato just chilling on his rock. His buddy by the gate was not so chill.
Eucalyptus plantation.
We ignore the barricade and head down the trail.
The evening view from our balcony.
We headed out for a grocery run and Scott made us another super delicious batch of soup – lifesaver soup in Ken’s opinion, as this had been a very difficult day.
With the very long climbs and similar long descents, the day was tough and Ken limped into our house. But we were all pretty stiff and sore. As we were going into the grocery sore, the girl pilgrim (she had a really big pack) went walking by with another pilgrim who was following his phone. He told her “only another 15 minutes” and I thought she was going to cry. I knew exactly how she felt. I told her that she was almost there…perhaps provide a bit of commiseration.
Oof. Still raining this morning plus a healthy dose of fog. The plan today is to backtrack to the Cruz de Ferro (iron cross) as we feel it is a place that Scott should see.
Our small pension was all wood – small and cosy, and very interestingly designed. The sink is made to look like wood but could be stone or Scott thought concrete.
The bench and clothes rack took up a lot of space.
The thatched roofs are so cool. I suspect there are few craftsmen leftcwho know how to thatched a roof
The bar / cafe restaurant and gift shops are all together in the same building and you don’t even have to go outside.
I snuck a picture of him making our first fresh squeezed jugo de naranja (orange juice).
This peregrina (female pilgrim in Spanish) waits patiently to welcome you to the top of the long steep hill, the most difficult after the Pyrenees – you know you’ve reached O Cebreiro when you see her. I see that someone has given her a walking stick! That’s good, because it is a very steep climb, as you can see to the right.
The colours in the valleys are stunning, with the grape vines a vibrant golden orange, with occasional splashes of red.
I have to give Scott credit for quick reflexes when I yelled “pull in here” right at the road where I wanted him to “pull in here”, which he did. The Camino crosses the road here at a pilgrim rest area and off to one side is a sculptor’s yard which I recognized at the last minute. In 2019 the gate was unlocked and Ken and an Australian lady and I snuck in and wandered through the yard. Some sculptures were bizarre, others beautifully crafted, and some were in various stages of completion. It looked completely abandoned at that time. But now the gate is locked, and the sculptor has left his name and phone number, so it looks like things are happening again. The BugSnax would have loved to go in for a photoshoot but…locked gate. We saw some of his work in the local towns.
A much photographed (by pilgrims) house on a hill.
Up into hills again. Ken keeps reflecting on how he can’t believe we walked over these hills.
El Acebo has these medieval houses with balconies that hang over the street.
The Cruz de Ferro. This is such an important place on the Camino, second only to finally arriving at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compestelle. Pilgrims carry a stone from home and leave it at the base of the cross. The stone is meant to be a prayer or an atonement for a sin or the release of a burden. Recently pilgrims have been leaving momentos of lost loved ones. It can be quite an emotional experience.
In 2019 I left a horse chestnut for my brother-in-law Garry who had passed away in 2017. We had an ongoing joke about horse chestnuts because I had given him one when I was 7 years old and he was just starting to date my sister. I was sitting on a park bench in Sahagun, still a 2 week from the Cruz de Ferro and a horse chestnut fell and sat on the bench beside. Spooky. But I carried it the rest of the way for Garry. I also left a rock for my Scouter friend’s son, who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully he is in remission today.
When we arrived there was a South Korean girl, walking around the cross almost like a ritual. I talked to her afterward and we shared some tears. I asked if she needed anything (no) and wished her a Buen Camino.
We follow the Camino trail back down the mountain from the Cruz de Ferro, which is at the highest point on the Camino.
This is Manjarin. A few falling down stone buildings where one eccentric man was running a rustic albergue. It was an odd place when we stopped in in 2019 with lots of cats. I thought it was shut down permanently but there are a lot place names on signs. There was a Slovakia one front and centre last time and I see it is freshly painted so…who knows? Scott wouldn’t stop so I couldn’t get any great picture.
Ken’s apple tree. He stood here in 2019 listening to one of his favourite songs: I Must Be In A Good Place Now.
We saw these old Seats (Spanish made car) 6pulling into a large albergue/spa that we stayed at last time and had to follow them into the parking lot because…old cars.
Scott took the opportunity to walk on the Camino for a bit, hoping for a better photo shot of Ponferrado in the valley below. The views are incredible and the rain had given us a little break.
Tiny ancient chapel and cemetery right beside the new out-of-place albergue and spa.
Knights Templar castle in Ponferrado.
This place has special meaning for Ken. I assume it was an old mill as it has / had a small stream running underneath the building. It was a very hot day and Ken took off his shoes and soaked them in the cool water. He said it saved him that day. Sadly today it looked like the creek was drying up.
The heights of these bridges are a feat of Spanish engineering.
When I get home, I am going to check my 2019 photos because I would swear I have this same photo from back then (different pumpkins though 🤔😊)
Who says pilgrims have no sense of humour? Someone put bandaids on the statues feet to help him with his blisters. This guy is just past O Cebreiro and is twice the height of me.
Finally got into O Pedrouzo just as night was falling. We were still seeing pilgrims walking and I felt bad for one who was moving so slowly. I hope he was going to the albergue around the corner. I wanted to go back and offer him a ride but had no takers in the car on that suggestion.
So many albergues are closed now. In El Acebo the albergue owner (where Ken got himself a piece of carrot cake) told us that he had planned to close now but the Pilgrims keep coming so he will stay open for another month.
Some photos Ken took yesterday of a heavily managed forest stand.
Random out-of-place pilgrims in front of the Santiago sign.
Even the man hole covers have the Camino shell.
Snug in our pilgrim pension for the night. The boys went out for Mexican while I did laundry and reorganized my stuff. I bought a duffel bag in which we are putting all the stuff we don’t need to carry with us. Odds and ends, a few souvenirs, Scott’s spices that he’s been carrying from France. The stuff I tried to mail home a few weeks ago but Canada Post told France La Poste not to send parcels for a while. At any rate, all of our bags will be lighter for our next Camino.
VF Britannica Via Campaniensis Voie de Vezelay 2025 