macca's Content - Soul Source

On 19/08/2023 at 16:43, Mal C said:

Dia nueve / Día diez

hi folks no post yesterday as I just didn’t have time, but where I left off was leaving Sarria at 5am in the morning, we like to make hay while the sun isn’t there to hound us.

so Sarria to Portomarin, 22k, done and dusted, we walked like wind that morning! Portomarin is a town I have history with, but only in that last time I walked here with a big group of pilgrims we opted for a ‘completario’ ruta, and ended up walking far further than we had wished! This time Liza and I crossed the Rio Miño, which was at least 10 meters lower than it normally is, and entered the town via a set of stone steps, the whole town is on a kinda plateau, which you walk upto, never seen a town like it. The central ‘iglesia’ is a really good one, I thought it had a touch of the ‘Norman’ in its square design, check out the pics.

We kicked our boots around here for a bit then made a decision I knew was coming, as it is, we were always behind schedule, even with squeezing 5k in extra a day, we need to get ahead so we can collect our car at the Santiago train station on the morning of the 23rd, which means we need to get to Santiago on the 22nd. So to make this happen, we took a taxi to Palas de Rei, a town which I was all but happy to walk out of, some towns click with you, some don’t, simple.

We walked another 4K to a small pueblo called San Xulion do Camiño. The albergue we found was called ‘Albergue Turístico “O Abrigadoiro” which very loosely translated means pilgrim that wears or is wrapped in a / the coat. Abrigar means to wrap or bundle together, and the ‘adoiro’ part refers to a person… it’s a great Albergue, food was spot on, we also met Anabele, from Manley in Sydney, we have both been Sydneysiders 15 odd years ago, so we had lots to chat about. This girl however was something else in the walking department, she was looking to do Saint John PDLP in the Pyrenees to Santiago in 21 days, that’s 3 weeks to walk 800 plus kilometres, she normally did high thirties to 40 plus km per day. With no rest day, that’s some going, we all fell to sleep about 9pm, and when We awoke at 5am, she was gone.

today day ten of our walk had taken us 30k into Arzúa, a really nice town, then another 6 to 7k past, and we found a place called Casa de Heidi, run by Ralf, two cats, a dog and of course Heidi. Nice spot to stop as it’s Lizas birthday today, 27 again, also our wedding anniversary, so we are going to kick back with some Estrellas Especial, and some nice food. I always ask if they serve Alhambra Oro (gold) and of course they always look shocked you have asked, they don’t serve that southern s**t in Galicia! But us having lived in the south, We gotta ask!

today has also been a first in the weather front, it has totally pissed down, sorry rained all day. We wondered about packing ponchós, glad I did now. Autumn has arrived in Galicia, the leaves are all turning and the wind over the last few days has carpeted the walkways and gardens with colour, it’s actually lovely to walk through, but it’s been sticky as well with a pack.

we met a lovely guy from France a few times, there is always a cat and mouse chase going on, I always make a joke of it, I always found it easier to speak to strangers personally, especially when it’s nout to do with the things I do or am into, northern soul springs to mind! Lol

anyhow this guy started his walk over a 1000k ago, he stated walking on 30th June… likes rugby and was thrilled to know we live in Wales, you know the Welsh are always out talking about the weather and the price of butter, and staring at tv on a sat afternoon 🏉

We also hit the 100k to Santiago marker, check out below, big number that as we were told every Spaniard and his dog will be on the walk after Sarria, they were not joking, we passed massive groups of 20 plus school children, big groups of folks mainly doing day walks, or legs, so you pack a small bag, an umbrella and even your wellies if you wish, send your cloths ahead to a pre booked albergue and take your time, you can imagine the hardened pilgrims behind rushing in, yep we have bragging rights! Lol silliness aside it’s a problem for folks like us as everyone is booked up, but I have always kept to one rule, get past the big towns, and the pilgrims thin out, that’s where you get the better digs.. and generally they are cheaper.

we stopped at a Panadería called ‘Manso’ nice place but there must have been some all night rave or something as the cafe and the street was full of drunk teenagers, mix in pilgrims with back packs and ponchos and it’s madness… glad we got out of that town!

jumping back to our taxi yesterday, a necessary evil I’m afraid m 😱 when we started walking again, we felt very odd, all the folks we knew bar a few were behind us, and liza literally said I wonder what happened to Krazy Kim, I looked at the side of the tunnel we were in and there she was, ‘Cymru am Byth’ that put us right back in the game! Funny how stuff like that happens.

Luego

The Norman style is known in Spain as Románico. It encompasses roughly the same period of construction as the great Norman cathedrals and churches in England. Love the simplicity of it. We’re quite lucky in Galicia to have some excellent examples. Arzúa and Melide are famous for cheese and octopus respectively. Sometimes we jump into the car and drive to Melide from Coruña just for an octopus sesh. No place like Galicia for polbo á feira, of course. In Santiago de Compostela one of the best places for pulpo is O Bochinche near the Porta do Camiño, in Rúa San Pedro, well away from all the tawdry shite and rip off joints near the Cathedral, lol.

Camino De Santiago August 2023

in Freebasing

August 18, 20231 yr ·

Edited August 18, 20231 yr by macca

Hola, nice trip you’re having, I see. I’ve lived in Galicia (Pontevedra & A Coruña) since 1991.
My father-in-law, now 86, did the French route several times and the Primitive twice, a real tough nut, back in the early 90s, his final hike being the Vía de la Plata from Seville to Compostela. Huge respect. My knees wouldn’t take it now but I am considering the e-bike option, lol. Buen Camino!!

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