In Santiago de Compostela

It's done, not really sure how I feel except definitely a bit sad, very happy, and extremely tired. I'm drinking a glass of red wine, in a tiny little pension close to the cathedral, after a good meal with some of my Camino companions. The last 20km was hard, not only was it pretty boring on the road a lot of the way, but mentally I was ready to finish. My feet hurt ! Nothing wrong just the cumulative damage of an inordinate amount of walking in 7 weeks. 

Strange to see eucalypts in Spain, there's lots of them here and they grow really well due to the high rainfall in Galicia. Problem is, they burn really well in the hot Spanish summers. 

A moment's rest with the backpacks, outside a cafe. I took lots of rests today, to keep me going. 

Mmm not a pretty entrance to the city. There's about 5km of pretty dreadful city walking. 

First view of the cathedral

Made it ! Trusty boots and backpack, shell from Roz for our 2012 Camino, and the angel Elena gave me a couple of years ago. 

More photos tomorrow, but one view of the cathedral. The front of the cathedral is currently all scaffolded up for some much needed cleaning, so there will be a few scenic photographs of other views tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, sleep, laundry, a little strolling around the town, and not much else. 

20km to go, in Santa Clara

I can't quite believe that there's only 20km to go. I'm in Santa Irene tonight, a tiny hamlet by the side of a big road. 

I joined the Camino Frances yesterday, at Melide, and was immediately absorbed by the hordes on the Camino Frances. It was a bit of a shock, after the peace, solitude and companionship of the Norte and the Primitivo, to be surrounded by groups of people. It does feel a bit like Little Germany, I was surrounded by Germans all day today. 

One of the ladies I met a few days ago summed it up pretty well today, she described the feeling as being like a foreigner all of a sudden in a strange land. 

Remember all the photographs of little paths, with maybe a couple of people ahead of me ? Well, this is the Frances ...

Wide, flat path, lots of people ahead of me. It's continuous, you're never on your own. And far more built-up, motorways and villages everywhere. 

Saying that, yesterday before Melide was lovely, a pleasant autumnal day. My camera can't get the rolling hills behind the trees, as the light was very soft. Add in the smell of cow manure, and bonfires, and you pretty much get the picture. 

Glowing sunshine as the mist burns off, and a horreo, which is a grain storage building. They are a different shape here in Galicia, if you buy a house with a horreo you have to keep it in good condition as they are heritage protected. At this point, I was trying to dodge the liquid manure, very much working farm land !

The beautiful rolling countryside. 

I remember this sign from last Camino ! 50kms to go to Santiago, although there was a little less graffiti on it last time. 

Peregrinos everywhere. Then again, 90% of the Camino traffic in Spain is on the Frances, and about 3% on the Norte and Primitivo, so it's maybe not surprising that I'm a little shell-shocked. Luckily tonight I am in a lovely cosy little private albergue, so not too overwhelmed with people. It's a private house which has been extended to include a dormitory, with a very homely feel to it. 

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How am I feeling about completing ? I'm not sure, there's a whole mixture of emotions. I will be relieved to finish, and my legs are telling me it's time to finish, but there's a lot of sadness as well. In  a way, due to the crowds of people, and far more commercialised nature of this Camino, it feels as if my Camino has already ended. 

This Camino is a different experience, not bad, just different. Before yesterday, I never listened to music, I happily walked along just being present in the moment. Once I got to Melide and joined the throngs, I put in the earplugs and have been listening to music, noticeably to Australian music. 

The Camino Finisterre ? I think so, I am planning to walk it (4 days), and it'll be much quieter again, but the final decision will be in a couple of days. 

Ferreira, a spot of civilisation in the middle of nowhere

A beautiful albergue, in the middle of rolling fields, nowhere close. They asked the key questions;

- would you like dinner ?

 - Yes, we have beer, would you like one ?

- Breakfast as well ?

Roman bridge just outside Lugo, crossed before dawn. I think most of it has been upgraded and replaced, not a lot of Roman left but in continual use for 2000 years is still pretty good

99km left this morning, very strange to see the numbers come below the hundreds. Tomorrow we met up with the Camino Frances, it will be very wierd to have hordes of people around me. This Camino is pretty quiet, people to chat to but largely walking on my own. 

Rolling green fields. Cold in the morning until the mist burns off, then warm. However it's due to rain tomorrow, so the raincoat will come out again. 

It's only 3 days left on this Camino, it's coming to an end really suddenly although I've been aware of the time and kilometres disappearing. It feels like I need to do the walk to Finisterre, as I'm really not ready to stop walking, however I shall wait until Santiago before making the final decision. 

Lost in Lugo

Well, I knew where I was, or thought I did, but couldn't find the museum if Roman ruins for which I was looking. Once I gave up and asked someone, found I wasn't where I thought I was, and finally found the museum, it closed end of July ! Damn ... and this place has no straight lines, no simple crossroads, everywhere there's little plazas and tiny streets, oh and the odd Roman ruin covered by glass so you can enjoy without damaging.

It's an amazing place. I'm lucky to be here after peak tourist season, and once the morning fog burns off it's pleasantly warm. I think this beautifully preserved, vibrant, quirky city is what I'd hoped for, and expected, in Oviedo. 

The food and wine here is great as well, the wine by the glass rivals anything I'd drink in Perth, and although it coats a little more than elsewhere in Spain, you get tiny little tapas served with the wine as long  as you are in the bar. Even breakfast this morning was two tapas ( bread & ham, and frittata) with a good coffee.

Maybe this is a lesson not to build somewhere up in my mind, as I had done with Oviedo, but let the place/city/country speak for itself. I would come back to Lugo in an instant. 

The Roman walls, used as a walking & jogging track every evening. I walked around them last night, as obviously I hadn't walked far enough that day ( only 20km) ! The view from my bedroom window, captures some of this view of the Roman walls. Not bad for 25 euro, with private bathroom, and luxury after days of albergues. Also this pension is 5 minutes walk from the centre of the old town, which I love. 

One view of the crazy cathedral, which is a mixture of many eras

The cathedral spires, above the city

The remains of a Roman house, and Mithrean temple, which has been turned into an in-situ museum. This photograph really doesn't do justice to how clearly the outlines of the room can be seen, and how well the Spanish have blended the Roman ruins, with walkways and glass, to allow you to see without touching or disturbing the ruins. The carved post at the end was commissioned by the centurion who owned the home, to designate the Mithrean temple as part of his domus ( home). 

Original Roman mosaic

Statue of the Roman founders of the city, and the square where I seem to spend a lot of time, eating the best frozen yoghourt I have ever found, and drinking coffee. It's a lovely active public space, kids playing football, old guys playing chess, dogs sniffing around,cafés along two sides. 

The walls of the city, from outside. 

The colours of autumn

I am now in Lugo, which looks amazing, 2000 year old Roman walls ! And some of the best preserved Roman remains anywhere, there will be a lot of photographs taken tonight and tomorrow. So far it is a lovely place, not too busy and with lovely little plazas to explore, not to mention the Roman walls, which fully encircle the old city and around which I'll walk this evening. 

Autumn has arrived. The mornings are cold and sometimes misty, the afternoons pleasant, sunny but cool, and the evenings distinctly chilly. I'll let the photographs talk ....

Leaving Fonsagrada pre-sunrise

A hospitales, early Christian pilgrim's hostel, in use until early last century and now being restored, not by any big organisation but by the local village

Dolmens in the mist, I would suspect they are Pre-Christian 

Very well-placed little bar, as we walked out of the misty mountains. Coffee, bocadillo and a bottle of water were very welcome

And another peregrino dog enjoying a break. This one was gorgeous, a very handsome dog

This morning, leaving Castroverde just as the sun rose

Autumn fields, after the harvest has been brought in

Sunflowers facing the sun and warmth

My simple but very comfortable pension for the next couple of days ! No wifi, but I am sure I'll find a few cafés with wifi in which to lurk. 

Fonsagrada, in the mist

I am having a rest day in Fonsagrada, I find that walking approx 6 days then having a day off seems to work well. Also, the weather wasn't great yesterday, and looked worse today, so it was an easy decision to make as I lay on bed this morning. The town itself is very small, but the albergue & pension I am staying in is beautiful, very comfortable and very well equipped. At first I wasn't keen on the town, but people have generally been so friendly that I'm now quite happy to stay here for a day. 

Why I'm not walking ! However if it's like this tomorrow, I'll just get going. It's definitely turned to autumn, I knew the summer weather couldn't last but it did change extremely quickly. All those warm clothes I carried now seem a very good idea. 

So today is my washing, a slow breakfast in a comfortable bar, reading a book, going to the peregrino mass in the little church, then finding dinner before repacking my backpack for tomorrow. It's only two days into Lugo, which looks fantastic, so I shall probably stop there for one day before the final push to Santiago. 

Welcome to Galicia !

Not so many photographs today, the scenery was apparently fantastic but as I was walking in cloud most of the time, I really didn't get to see much of the surroundings. 

It wasn't cold, just wet. The cloud seemed to coalesce into rain occasionally then turn back into mist. I was walking just below a ridge with heaps of wind turbines, it was quite eerie hearing them above me but only seeing a dim outline, or nothing, of them. 

The typical view ! The odd glimpses I did get showed green, rolling hills, very lush farmland and moorland. I seem to remember the last time we crossed into Galicia, on the Camino del Norte, it started to rain. 

Just to be confusing, now that we're in Galicia the shells point the other way. Rather than going the direction of the base of the shell, per the last 5 weeks, we now follow the spines of the shell. Standardisation, what's that ?

Grande de Salima, part 2

The walk yesterday was beautiful, not least due to the horses ( wild or tame, I don't know) grazing, hawks circling around, and more fat, happy-looking cows.

The walk was great, however the village we got to was a little basic- no place to buy dinner ! Fortunately there was a little supermarket, so we ended up with a thrown-together dinner of pasta, tuna, bread and salami, shared by about 12 people, with a lot of noise due to the contribution of three bottles of wine from one partipant. If I remember correctly, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Norway and America were represented. 

Low lying mist early morning, as we walked above the mist for a few hours

Coming out below the mist, after walking through it for about an hour, to see the dam

The deserted buildings, left as the valley was flooded for the dam. The atmosphere here was quite haunting, the deserted buildings looking industrial, I'd love to know what they were. Also a few houses, all completely empty, rooves falling in, windows gone, gardens gone wild. 

The yellow building is a very welcome hotel and bar, serving the first coffees and food for 16km. You can just see the dam wall behind the hotel on the right side of the photograph, and the deserted buildings behind. 

The walking has been tough, equaling the first week from Irun to Bilbao - continual ascents and descents, but with amazing views to compensate. Saying that, it's all achievable, and extremely well marked out with the Camino shells and arrows. However while I would certainly recommend this Camino, it would be with a caution about the terrain. It's no casual stroll along a well-made path. 

Grande de Salima, & yesterday's photographs part 1

Today I am a bit more organised with photographs, and in a middle sized town with a little bar serving various fizzy beverages, also wifi. 

Hence I can do a decent update and show some of the spectacular scenery from yesterday's high altitude ( 1120m the highest point) walking, then today's walk above the mist, through and below the mist, to an abandoned town by a spectacular dam. The town was flooded for the dam, only a few houses and some old factory buildings are left, but it's a haunting atmosphere, quite at odds with the by then brilliant sunshine. 

Dawn just about to break, as we left yesterday morning. At 26km, it was going to be a long day, and with rain forecast for the afternoon, an early start was warranted. 

The easy route (La Pola) or the difficult route ( Hospitales) .... Which one did we chose ? The difficult one of course, why take the easy path ?

A typical path, the two ladies in the photograph are Jay and Daphne, with whom I am walking some days, and meeting most evenings. 

Typical scenery, and wind turbines everywhere. Spain doesn't seem to have an issue with any perceived visual pollution, but then again these are relatively remote locations.

The remains of a 15 th century hospitale, a pilgrim's hostel, hence the name of this route. 

Part 2 to follow ... don't want to overload the cafe wifi ;-)

No dinner in Bordercero

This place is a little basic, no cafe or restuarant for dinner, and the albergue is fine but basic. So, one night and then to somewhere else. I just have to decide what to eat tonight, I think a visit to the little shop is in order. 

I forgot to download my photos, they will appear tomorrow, but a great walk at one of the highest altitudes this Camino gets to. We were lucky with the weather, sunny then cloudy later, and beautiful scenery, hawks circling around, horses grazing, fat & happy cows on the hillsides. 

Tomorrow is a reasonable walk, 20km, but a lot of descent which I always find hard work. Hopefully the scenery will be good enough to distract us while walking - I am walking at the moment with a couple of English ladies, who are doing the Primitivo to celebrate their 70th birthdays !

This is Asturia, in Campiello

The Camino Primitivo starts in Oviedo, and for here runs through Asturia for a number of days,mum still in his state. It has to be one of the most beautiful, and welcoming, parts of Spain. They have a real interest In the Camino, and the peregrinos who are passing through their towns and villages. 

I tried to book accomodation last night, in a pension, which was full. Not only did they phone around and find me a room, but they then walked me to my new accomodation. I have been wished Buen Camino more times than I can count, and get stopped daily frequently for a quick chat about why, where am I from, what do I think of the Camino Primitivo etc. 

The facilities here are also fantastic, lots of fountains with potable water, lots of benches where there's a good view, little cafés with snacks, coffee and breakfast. 

Photographs just from today ....

Happy, fat cows. No wonder the beef is so good. 

Beautiful heather and gorse, reminiscent of Scotland. Particularly after last night's referendum and vote count !

The spectacular mountains into which I am walking

Blackberries, fresh at the side of tiny country tracks. Sunripened, ready for me to graze on. 

We have a Camino dog ! Spotted in Salas

We have a peregrino dog ! I don't know his name ( now I know it's Dante), but he's walking along with a little backpack, and carrying his raincoat, thats the white rolled up thing on his back. His owners said they do short days, and accomodation is fine in the country ( there's heaps of dogs here) but much more difficult in cities.  

Summer is definitely over, today was a lovely walk along wooded tracks, as the wind was blowing around me and leaves falling from the trees. There's been a little rain, but not much, so I am hoping that the rain holds off for another few days while I do the high altitude walking. After that, it's back to rolling hills and little villages. 

Yesterday's old city walls, well more like village walls ...

All that lush greenery, I've been lucky so far to dodge the rain

Today's rolling green fields, as I climb higher and higher into the mountains. Each day is more climbing than descending, and the next couple of days will be more of the same. After that, I start the descent, and move into Galicia.