Day 0 Travel day

I was up just after 8 and on the road before 9.

The trip to Dublin airport was uneventful and we made it before 10:45, for a 1 pm flight. The boss and the dog took the car home.

My brother Ricky texted to say his flight had been put back due to air traffic control problems in French air space

I didn’t fancy any of the cafe/restaurant options in Terminal 2 for lunch, so I just bought a sandwich off the shelf in Smiths, to be washed down with a bottle of Classic Coca Cola. If I’d realised in time I was leaving from Terminal 1, I’d have had the nice all day breakfast they do in the café there.

Then I got a text from Ricky saying his flight had been cancelled, completely. The next flight out of Bristol, where EasyJet had abandoned him, was next Thursday. He was looking at what options he could find.

My flight was delayed because the berth was still occupied by the previous plane when our plane arrived.

We took off about 30 minutes late, but, by then, the nice pilot had told us we’d be taking the scenic route, to avoid the air traffic control problems in French airspace.

There were two levels of cloud cover, but I’m sure I spotted Blessington lakes through a gap that aligned in both layers. I think I spotted Rosslare, fleetingly, as we headed out to sea.

On the bus leaving Bilbao airport for the city, I met a lovely bunch of Meath pensioners, heading for Pamplona, to do a stint on the Camino.

Arrived at Bilbao bus station at 5, found my bus company and bought my ticket for the next bus at 18:30. The Meath pensioners got their tickets for Pamplona, but having more time to kill, went off looking for a restaurant to eat. Buen camino, friends.

The bus tickets are very precise, even down to allocating you a seat. I got 41, right at the wheelchair access door, which meant there was acres of legroom for my little short legs.

I got word from Ricky that Easyjet was now taxiing him to Stansted, putting him up for the night, to let him get a flight out tomorrow. He wasn’t sure at what time or to which airport he’d be flying to. There’s Bilbao, Santander and Barcelona available, though Barcelona is a bit too far from Logroño, to be feasible.

When I got to Logroño, I found the hotel and told them Ricky wouldn’t be coming. It turned out the room has just a double bed. Its all mine, now. Sorry, Ricky.

I went out around town to find somewhere to eat. I don’t think I’ve ever bring totally in my own in a foreign city before. As usual, after walking around for ages, I found one near to the hotel, on my way back.

It was bright and cheerful, fairly full, with the patrons watching a soccer match. I could only get a seat at the bar. I ordered Lomo, not being sure what it was. I looked it up on Google Translate which told me it was loin.

It turned out to be 4 thin slices of pork loin, a fried egg, small green peppers and some crusty French (style) bread. I took a picture, but don’t think this is going to be a regular feature of the blog.

I forgot to photograph the bread, but it was lovely, too.

So back to Pension de la Redonda, and bed.

Goodnight all, tomorrow is another day.

2019 Camino Blog – Day before travel

I’m almost set.

Everything is in the new haversack except my toothbrush and comb.

It weighs 13 lbs, about 6 kilos. I should have no trouble bringing on the plane as hand luggage.

My flight is booked, Dublin to Bilbao, where I meet up with my brother Ricky, who arrives from Stansted. Our flights are due to land within minutes of each other. How’s that for precision co-ordination.

We bus it from Bilbao to Logroño, where we have a bed booked for the night.

We’re taking just over two weeks to cover the 320 Km from Logroño to León.

I’m off to bed, now, early start in the morning.

2018 Day -1 Final preparations

Putting my final arrangements in place today. My full checklist is below.

It is with a heavy heart I go through the motions. My beautiful Border Collie, Milly, is very weak; she may not be here when I get back. I’m heartbroken. She’s been with us for nearly 12 years, and you’ve never met a more loving, intelligent dog, anywhere. I’d cancel the trip only I’ve committed to my younger brother, Ricky. It wouldn’t be fair to him.

I took this picture only today:

Anyway, my bag is packed, my flights and train trip are booked. I’ll be up at 5 in the morning for a 5:30 start, driving to Dublin.

I haven’t a lot of training done. I started the year well; I got back running and eventually started running Parkrun 5k’s. I got my time down to 25:30 ish by the end of May. I thought that was quite respectable.

However, I started training for the Comeragh challenge, doing long mountain walks and I did damage to my already bad left knee. Then I got a summer flu for nearly 3 weeks. The lack of activity that caused gave my knee rest, so I think it’s recovered. However, I’ve only got a few long walks in, a 12 miler, a 16 and a 20 miler.

We’re doing 7 days walking, from St Jean Pied de Port to Logroño, a distance of 163 Km, 101 miles.

I’m off to bed now, I’ve got an early start in the morn

Camino checklist

Clothes:

Underpants X 3

Tops X 3

Trousers X 3

Socks X 3

Sunhat

Fleece

Raincoat

Rain pants

Sandals

Walking shoes

First Aid:

Compeeds & plasters

Knee bandages

Sunscreen

Vaseline

Moisturiser

Painkillers

Toiletry:

Bar of soap

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Toilet roll

Miscellaneous:

Phone

Passport

Money

Glasses

Spare glasses

Sunglasses

Tablets

Charger, leads, adaptor

Homeward Bound

Day 10 Santiago to Waterford.
We got up at 7:20 to see Ricky off.  His flight was at 10 am. We went back to bed and slept until 9:15, when we packed up and left, by the albergue deadline of 9:30.

We headed downtown for breakfast.  In a nice café, we had tostado (toast) and a toasted sandwich, both made from ordinary sliced pan white bread.  Owen was still a little peckish, so he ordered a croissant.  When we paid the bill on leaving, the waiter told him he hadn’t charged for the croissant.

We took a little too long for breakfast, because when we arrived at the church at 11:35 for 12 am mass, there was standing room only.  So we stood through mass, which took the bones of an hour. 

Inside Santiago Cathedral

The highlight of the mass is the swinging of the Botafumiero, which, I presume, was originally used to mask the smell of the unwashed peregrinos of old.

Here’s a video of the botafumiero:

Owen was a little cross with me for not telling him the mass was in Spanish.  It took him totally by surprise, and he hadn’t a clue of what was going on.  How was I to know that he didn’t know?

We had lunch (a nice paella) and headed or the bus stop for the airport bus.  The bus was late, the journey was slow, so we had little time in the airport before our flight.  By the time we bought a few presents and went to the gate, the plane was already boarding.  Happily, we were in the middle of the first section they called and were on the plane in a flash.

Take-off was Exactly on time, and with a strong tail wind, we landed 50 minutes ahead of schedule.  The passport control was a bit slow, but when we came out of the building we met my wife, Heather, heading into the building.  Quelle surprise!  She was early, too. Owen’s mother was waiting for us in the car.  So, we were away down the busy M50 in no time, had a meal in the Poitín Still on the Naas Road.  And we were home by 9:00.   The dogs were delighted to see me.

Journey’s End

Day 9 – Padron to Santiago. 15 Miles.

We were up at 5 am and on the road for 5:30.  The plan was to try to make 12 o’c mass in Santiago.  To have any chance of a seat at it, we’d need to be there by 11:30.  Our pace has been a little slow, about 3 miles an hour.  15 miles would take 5 hours walking leaving 1 hour for breaks.

So, there I was, getting up at 5 in the morning, to walk 15 miles, to go to mass.  I’ll be excommunicated from my atheist club.

We took our first break at A Picaña, a little over 5 miles out.  Just as we were leaving the village, it started to rain slightly.  The way ahead looked rather dark, so we thought there was going to be a downpour.  As we were passing a café at the time we decided to let the rain pass.  We waited 20 minutes, but the rain never came in earnest.  We knew then that our contingency time was all gone, and we had no break time left, if we were to reach Santiago by 11:30.

We stopped again at Milladoiro, about 5 miles from Santiago.  Just as we were getting up to leave, the rain started in earnest.  We sat it out.  We finally reached Santiago around 1:15 pm.

Happy to have finished. Posing before Santiago Cathedral

 
This picture was taken by a Russian woman, from St Petersburg, whom we met at various stages over the previous week.  She’d started on the coastal route from Porto.

A nice piece of sculpture on the slope below the albergue.

We signed into the Seminario Albergue, not far from the Cathedral, where we got three single rooms at €16 each.  We had a shower and headed back downtown for food.  We had one of our nicest meals of the Camino for €10.  Then we went to get our certs to record our Camino from Porto to Santiago.  The Oficio was crowded and it took us almost an hour to get it done.  It was time for bed, then, so back to our albergue.  We all went to bed, tired but happy.

On our last legs

Day 8: Caldas Del Reis to Padron.  11 Miles

With just a short journey to make today, we had s lie in until 7 and were on the road just after 7:30.

A letter box at the main Post Office at Caldas Del Reis

With just two pitstops, we were at the Association albergue in Padron by 12:45.  It opened at 1 pm, so we didn’t have long to wait in the hot midday sun.

A Columbarium we came across close to Caldas Del Reis

There are private albergues where you can book your bed in advance, but parochial, church run, and Xunta, local authority run, operate on a ‘first come first served’ basis.  In some there is a notice outlining priorities:

1st  Disabled people

2nd  Walkers

3rd  People on horseback

4th  Cyclists

That would be a typical list.

When you arrive before opening time, you put your backpack beside the door and find shelter from the sun, or maybe sit in a nearby café/bar.  Later arrivals will ‘queue their bags behind yours.

Everybody makes sure to be there st opening time, not to miss out.

However, it takes time to check in a person.  The Passport details are taken, you may be asked your age and profession, a ticket is issued and paper bed and pillow coverings are issued. Sometimes particular beds are allocated, and a volunteer has to go with you to make sure you get the correct bed.  Every person takes two or three minutes.

The problem arises when you are way down the queue, in sweltering heat. Only 3 or 4 Peregrinos can usually get into the desk at the front door.

Anyway, the queue was short yesterday and we got in fairly quick. 

After a rest we had our shower, did  our washing and hung it out.  Then we went downtown to find food.  After wandering around for a while, we discovered the cafés and restaurants wouldn’t be serving food until 7 pm and it was still only 5:15.

On our way back to the albergue we found a little bar and decided to have a beer there.  Not young Owen, though, he did with water.

One beer led to another and we filled in the gap between present time and opening time.  By the time we had our meal and got back to the albergue, it was close to 10, so I had no time to do the blog.  And that’s why it’s only posted now.  Apologies.

Another close encounter with the wildlife

Day 7: Pontavedra to Caldas Del Reis 15 Miles

We were up at 6 and away by 6:30 this morning.  Going through the town we met quite a few young people on their way home from their night out, in varying stages of sobriety.  A Kebab shop was still serving the last of the stragglers as we went by.

We walked for 2 hours 15 minutes straight, if you discount a brief stop at a coffee vending machine.  Young Owen, who hadn’t drunk coffee before the Camino is now a coffee lover.

The trouble with ordering bocadillos in Spain is that unless you see an example at the counter or in a customer’s possession you have no idea how big it’s going to be.  They vary from bap size to a foot long and 4 inches wide.

We ordered bocadillos at our first and only stop and got the full size ones.  Unusually, the bread was brown, but delicious, nonetheless.  This suited us as there were no other restaurants before we reached Caldas Del Reis.

A few miles from Caldas Del Reis, Ricky and Owen saw a large creature in the undergrowth 6 feet below us and beside us, beside the main road we happened to be on.  Ricky recognised it as a wild boar.  There was a stream there, and we heard a splash as it apparently jumped into it.

Almost immediately afterwards we could hear it crashing through the woody undergrowth on the other side of the Armco barrier and it emerged, just feet in front of us on a little path through the woods.  It was a big black-haired creature, with two tusks rising from its lower jaw.

It came up the the barrier, crawled under it, banging its back in the process, then took off, at speed, across the main road. Of course we greeted it with chants of Allahu Akbar, to show we wished it no harm.

We reached the Albergue at Caldas Del Reis before noon, none the worst for our experience.  We were the first customers, but had to wait an hour for opening.

While we waited to get on, a local young lad, no more than 10, got us involved in a kick around for about 20 minutes or so.  He had his full Spanish National team kit, playing as Iniesta.  The older air of us were wrecked before we got ourselves into the albergue. 

A fountain outside our albergue at Caldas Del Reis

The days are getting shorter

Day 6: Redondela (almost) to Pontavedra. 14Miles
Short day today. We were at the Albergue in Pontavedra by 1:30, even though we had a lie in and didn’t set out until 7:30 am.

It was a nice section, through forests and undulating hills.

There doesn’t se to be the same cameraderie on the Camino Portuguès as there was last year on the Camino Francés.

I don’t know if it’s because most of the Peregrinos are Spanish and Portuguese, with just a smattering of English speakers from Ireland, UK, US etc, but there seems to be little interaction between the Spanish/Portuguese speakers either.

On last year’s Camino we met many fellow Peregrinos with whom we shared our experiences, had fun with and became friends with. We haven’t met one yet on this stint that we have befriended or been befriended by.

Rather strange, I think.

Since we’ve gotten into the final 100 Kms of Santiago numbers of Peregrinos have increased considerably, so perhaps things will change in the coming days.

Anyway, it’s a relatively short day tomorrow, a mere 15 Miles.

To bed to bed, there is a knocking at the gate.

Goodbye Portugal, Hello Spain

Day 5: Valença to Redondela (almost) 20 Miles.

The International Bridge between Portugal and Spain at Tuo

Out agaIn this morning at 5 am, and for the second day on a row I left clothes behind. The problem is that we’re going before lights come on in the dorm, so it’s easy to miss something that you have airing on your bunk.

I’m down to 2 tops and 2 underpants now, so I will have to wash what I finish the day I straight away, everyday, until I find somewhere to buy replacements.

It was raining lightly when we left Valença this morning, but it gD stopped by the time we reached Tui, just across the river, and in Spain. Last night was our last night in Portugal.

Rural drainage

Spain is an hour ahead of Portugal, so we lost an hour once we crossed the frontier.

We did 2 hours walking before we stopped for breakfast at a nice little makeshift garden café.

We didn’t stop again until we met a café in the centre of Porińo, at around 11:30 Spanish time, 5 hours out.

On our way out of Poriño we realised that we hadn’t paid our bill, so I went back about a kilometre and paid it.

By this time, the sun was out and the day was getting quite hot, though not hot as it had been on Wednesday as we walked into Ponte da Lima.

We stopped again Mos, where Owen had the largest and most delicious looking chicken sandwich in a café there. It was too hot for Ricky and I and we opted for ice cream.

We eventually called it a day at a private albergue, called Albergue Corisco, about 2 miles short of Redondela. We were put a full 9 hours at that stage.

Bougainvillea at Albergue Corisco

We’ve just finished a nice peregrino meal here, at €8 a head, and the bed will cost us €12 each.

After 3 long days, we will have a respite over the next few days with only 12 -13 miles a day to cover.

Beware of snakes

Day 4:  Ponte de Lima to Valença 23 Miles

We were up at 5:00 this morning and on the road by 5:30.  It was still dark, but not so dark we couldn’t make out the yellow arrows guiding our way to Santiago de Compostella.  

The day was cool and we made good progress.  We made our first stop at at around 7 am.  The café we stopped at wasn’t open, but there were chairs outside so we sat for a break.  After about 5 minutes we heard movement inside and almost immediately it opened.  We had three nice cafés con leite.

Just as we were getting up to leave, the bread delivery arrived, but we were committed to the road, so there was no sitting down again.

The route today was lovely, along small country roads, but much of it was on tracks through the forests, with pine trees giving us shelter from the sun.  The air was cooler than yesterday, and a fresh, light breeze helped to keep us cool.

We had some lovely ham and cheese sandwiches (we had s second each) in a café just beyond Rubäies, where a very friendly dog kept us amused until we had meat to reward him for his keen attention.

A few miles farther on, as I walked down a hill into a village, I seemed to disturb something in the grass verge next to roadside wall.  It was a long snake, about 2 ft long, with a forth of about 2 inches.  It moved very quickly up along the wall, coiling and uncoiling to move itself.
Owen had just passed by, so Ricky and I got the fright.  We looked it up on the web and it seems to be harmless, but we didn’t know that at the time.

We eventually made Valença around 3 pm.  We had considered going another couple of miles on, to Tui across the river, in Spain, but we stopped at a café, had a cold drink, and decided we’d done enough in 23 miles and headed off for the local albergue.

After a lie down, a shower and doing the laundry, we headed out for food.  Owen brought us to Café Antoniu, next to the fire station which is right beside the albergue. 

The alarm bells should have ring when he said he had no menu, but even louder when he asked us our choices from his verbal description, chicken, pork, sardines, and told us to come back in 30/40 minutes because he had to cook what we’d chosen.

As it happened, I’d left a top behind in Ponte da Lima, so we went looking for a replacement.  We were unsuccessful and arrived back in Antoniu’s 40 minutes after we’d left. There were 2 couples and a man on his own on the café.

We’d spotted on our way back in that he had a barbecue going on his balcony, where he seemed to be cooking the food.  Our food wasn’t ready.   We got done salad, eventually while we waited, and then some bread rolls, which had just been unfrozen.

We eventually got our chicken (me), pork chop (Ricky) and sardines (Owen).  The chicken was lovely, but a just a leg,  the park chop was OK and Owen didn’t like all the bones in the sardines, so didn’t eat them.
The single man at the next table list patience and got up to leave, but was accosted by Antoniu on his way out, who produced the food he was waiting for.

Antoniu could see that Ricky was rather unhappy and offered him soup after he’d just finished his main course.  Naturally, he refused. Ricky is a chef and watched the performance in utter disbelief.
We asked about dessert and were shown a basket of neglected fruit, or we could have fruit salad.  Owen and I had the fruit salad, and yes, it was out of a tin.
Anybody staying in the Albergue Teotonio in Valença should avoid Café Antoniu.  It’s beside the Fire station, next to the albergue.

It’s off to bed now, 5:30 start in the morning.  21 Miles to do and an hour lost once we cross the bridge into Spain.