Santiaaaaago!

I made another attempt of a long day's walk to arrive in Santiago on Saturday instead of Sunday, but again, the high temperatures and hard walking limited my mileage. The last couple of days, Eva and Hans and I were joined at the albergues by Divina and Nadine, a very nice mother and daughter from Norway. I walked with the two of them my last long day and it really helped pass the time and I enjoyed their company. I nearly cried when I arrived in the tiny town of Oteiro realizing I was just 10 miles from Santiago. I just couldn't believe it. We checked in at the albergue and the nice girl who stopped by to register us drove us the half mile down the road to the restaurant as we were too tired to walk. We had a nice dinner at a nice restaurant and then the owner of said restaurant drove some of the group up the hill. Eva and Hans had ridden their bikes so I rode Eva's back up the hill but mainly walked it up as it was too steep for the likes of me. I got up pretty early on Sunday and walked into Santiago. I arrived and went to the pilgrim's office to register and then to the pilgrim's noon mass which was VERY crowded as it was palm Sunday and there was a procession and loads of people at the cathedral. In my previous visits it wasn't so crowded so I kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to meet up with any of my cohorts. I had hoped to go shopping to buy Spanish ham, cheese, etc to take home as I usually do before leaving Spain but as it was a Sunday, very few shops were open...mainly souvineer shops. I went to Casa Manolo for lunch. This was the favorite restaurant of my dear friend, Christian, from my first camino. I had a very good and filling lunch and went back to the cathedral which was nearly empty and very quiet. On my way out I ran into Eva and Hans which was great as we'd made no plans to meet up as I was sure I would see them but at this point I was beginning to fear that I would not find them. We went and had a drink and then it was nearly time for me to go to the airport. I did not see the Norwegians but I have their contact information. I had also hoped to run into the Polish/German woman and her daughter. I returned home late last night and Brian had things all prepared for me....the grapefruit juice that i had asked for, various bottles of ibuprofen, Aleve, lotion, foot cream, etc. etc. I've spent the day so far enjoying such luxuries as full sized towels, certain hot water, not having to carry a toiletries to the bathroom etc. etc.

This route, the Via de la Plata, was very hard for me. I had worried before the Camino Frances that I wouldn't be able to do it but after the first day I had no worries as I knew I could. This time i was really never sure that I could walk the whole thing. Three days before the end I considered just taking a bus and hanging out in Santiago. I'm glad I went though. I had a good time. I met lots of nice people. I spoke a lot of Spanish...I think more than on the previous trips...I stopped and talked to lots of villagers. I saw lots of pretty places. As much as I complained, the first two hours each morning were usually very enjoyable. I walked 1000 km. I cannot imagine that I will do that again though.

Hangin' with the Monks

Well, I was, in fact, not able to walk 27 miles straight uphill which turned out to be fine, as instead I walked about 20 miles and ended up staying at the ever so lovely Monastery of Oseira. It is the largest monastery in Galicia and one of the largest in Spain. In it's heyday (12th-15th centuries) I imagine that it housed hundreds of monks...now, there are just 17. I arrived in the late afternoon unable to walk more (the heat, in the upper 80s, continues to be tough) so I checked in with Paco, the caretaker. He informed me that there was an evening vespers service where the monks sing. First I went to the village bar for a coffee. The village poplulation matches that of the monastery and I hung out with about a quarter of the population there at the cafe for a couple of hours chatting. Sadly, I did not pack a "duster" so I didn't really fit in with the ladies but they were kind nevertheless. I returned for the vespers service and all of the monks were gathered at the entrance and seemed to be having some sort of celebration. One of the monks, Luis, came over and introduced himself and spoke surprisingly good English. He told me that it was a special day as the new superior arrived. Then the new superior came over and greeted me. The superior was so exicted that there was an actual pilgrim walking to Santiago on his first day. I felt bad that I was the only one but they were so very kind and welcoming and I was happy to be there. Luis gave me a little painting he had done on a small piece of wood. Then Paco took me through the enormous and beautiful monastery to the small chapel where I listened to the monks sing their verses. It was rather nice except for the portions where I was required to stand as me feet really hurt. When I returned to the dormitory for the walkers I saw that Eva and Hans had arrived so I ran over to the bar to great them. I loved the monastery but it was by far the coldest place I had slept during the entire trip. The next morning's walk was very beautiful and I really enjoyed it and was glad I had not attempted in the afternoon before when I would have been miserable.

Mountains, Mountains, Mountains, and YES, More Mountains

The last five days I have been climbing up, and down, mountains. I guess I should have expected it but, man alive, it is tough. The actual going up isn't so tough, it is that the trail is usually so full of rocks and stones and after about 20 miles per day of this, my feet are really hurting. As it seems, in every post, I do nothing but complain about how hard it is, I must also add that it is really beautiful. The mountains are covered in a purple flowering shrubby plant that is very pretty. The first day of the mountains was so hard on my feet. The second day, the ascent was tough but the remainder of the trail was soft and pleasant. The third day, 18 of the 22 miles were all on pavement which was really tough. I then lost count. Today was a short day, and not too mountainous but, pretty much, all on pavement. I passed through some very tiny and nearly abandoned villages on these mountain passes over the last few days. It seems almost like the land that time forgot...crumbling stone houses with "4 citizens and 7 thieves" as the population, reported one of the villagers. I don't know if modernity has reached these villages in the way of, say, dentistry, or vaccines. It would seem that neither flea powder nor feline birth control have reached the villages based on the number of mangy dogs and pregnant cats on the scene. The dogs scare me to death when they come bounding out barking. I don't carry a walking stick but I do carry a dog stick to scare them off. Picking up rocks from the road also seems to scare them a bit. And speaking of dentistry, or lack thereof, I met a couple of folks in a subsect of the culture that I was previously unaware existed but, yes, it seems that there are such a thing as French Hillbillies...at least two of them. They were a couple who stayed a few nights at the albergues with us (and when I say "us" I mean fabulous Bavarians Hans and Eva). Both the husband, and wife of this French duo are about the size of Granny Clampett. They are a bit odd, not very social and they stand there with their hands in their pockets and their toothless grins and mutter things in rapid fire French. They seem unaware that others might not understand them. They make no effort so slow down or use gestures. Hans and Eva speak French relatively well and cannot understand the husband. Much as in my own marriage, the husband seems to be more of a hillbilly than the wife. They are an odd lot and it is to their credit that they were aware that there was life outside of their rural village.
I've now walked through Andalucia, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon and am now in Galicia. It is a region known to be green, wet and rainy. But, alas, since I have entered the region the temperatures have sky rocketed. It is a rare situation that Galicia has the highest temperature in the whole of Spain but this has been the case for the last several days. It was well into the 80s again for about the third or fourth day and was around 90 here in Orense a couple of days ago and might match it today. Again, it's beautiful but way too hot. I shouldn't complain though as these mountain passes would be treacherous in the rain so I guess I should be content with the sun. Today was rather hazy, perhaps due to the local wildfires that are covering some of the area moutnains.
Tomorrow I will make an effort to walk a whopping 26 miles all up hill, in an effort to cut out a day of walking and arrive in Santiago on Saturday, rather than Sunday, the day of my flight. It will take a huge effort on my part and I doubt that I will make it that far so it is more likely that I will arrive on Sunday but well ahead of the time of my evening flight. I imagined that I would return home feeling a bit more fit, with stronger muscles but I think it will really be the case of returning home with ruined feet and knees.
If there is anything that has kept me going the last few days, it is Hans and Eva who are so kind, generous, and fun, it is truly only the hopes of seeing them each evening at the albergues, that gets me through the days...that and the delightful "village people" that stop me to chat in these little tiny villages that I pass through each day. Today I am in Ourense which is a full on city with over 100,000 people so it is quite a change from the last few weeks. Perhaps, if I survive, my next post will be from Santiago.

Puebla de Sanabria

After a long day yesterday (about 25 miles) and about 20 today, I'm pretty tired but still things are easier than when it was hot. In the mornings it is pretty cool...there is frost, but by the afternoons it is sunny and pretty warm. I´ve seen a bit of wildlife: two foxes and two deer along with rabbits which is rather nice. I always thought my mother's hometown was very small but over the last two days I have walked through VERY small villages ranging in population from 14 to 425. So, today's town of Puebla de Sanabria is a veritable "metropolis" with 1700 residents. It is a beautiful town perched way up on a hill with a castle and other gorgeous stone buildings. After the long walk today, I managed to climb the 150 steps up to the center of town and have a stroll around. It is amazingly well preserved and I was pleased to see it. I continue to meet up each evening with the charming and delightful Hans and Eva from Bavaria. They are so much fun and so happy. Eva made us dinner tonight. Usually cyclists fly by and you see them only once but these two are taking it slow which is a treat for me as I really enjoy meeting up with them each evening. English Katherine and German Daniel are also along and it makes for fun, yet early, evenings. I do miss the old crowd as well. I miss Cecilio and his footprints. For days, he would rise early and as the roads are so dusty, I was always able to identify the footprints that his hiking boots left on the trail before me. It was a real comfort as if I was ever in doubt of which way to turn, I would look for his bootprints and carry on. I cannot believe I have just 9, or possibly 8 days of walking left. I thought I would never see the end of this trip. And although it is hard, I am happy to be here but will be happy, too, to arrive in Santiago. Tomorrow I have about a 18 mile day to Lubián which is reportedly another very beautiful, yet small, town.

Zamora-Granja de Moruela-Tábara-Santa Croya de Tera

I had a very nice little evening in Zamora. There is a little alley that leads off of the Plaza Mayor full of tapas bars which I remember from my days in Salamanca. I had a glass of wine and some chiparones a la plancha (grilled little squid with lots of garlic and olive oil). They were so good. I also stopped in at a bar that I remember from back in the day. It has a wood burning oven and they grill chorizo which is so tasty. After this fine food I felt so good the following day that I did a very long walk of 26 miles. The lower temperatures are agreeing with me as I feel so much better walking. It was a long, but not difficult day. I spent a bit of time with 73 year old Cecilio and then I arrived in the village of Granja de Moruela. In this town the camino separates into two routes. The actual via de la plata follows the old Roman road between Merida and Astorga (In one of the previous posts, there is a picture of me leaning against a big stone marker...it is a "miliario", a Roman mile marker... it marks the distance from Merida). If you continue north from Granja, you reach Astorga where you continue on the Camino Frances. As I have already walked that route, I opted for the Camino Sanabres which cuts to the Northwest from Granja. In Granja I met up with Daniel, the German boy from weeks ago, Catherine (an English woman) and Anya a German girl. The albergue was VERY cold and I was very tired. We ate at the bar connected to the albergue and got a kick out of the fact that they didn't take our order or tell us what was available, they just served us each a heaping plate of food (pork, salad, fries) which was tasty nevertheless. The following day, I headed on to Tábara which is a really cute village which is featured in the pictures. The one church, with the tower, dates from 1137. It was a reasonably short day´s walk and a nice one too. The cooler temps and the softer trail are really making this so much better. Also arriving at the albergue in Tábara were two German couples: Andrea & Frank and Eva & Hans. Andrea is nice but some sort of a nut as she is running the camino. She ran about 35 miles yesterday and Frank, her husband, follows along on a bike, hauling a trailer full of what appears to be hundreds of pounds of stuff to include a laptop computer and a teddy bear. Although I wouldn´t want to run 35 miles, nor one mile, I wouldn't mind having Frank haul all my gear for me. Oh, and when they get to the albergue, Frank cooks dinner. Take note, Brian, this could be your role on future walks. Eva and Hans are from Bavaria and are so incredibly outgoing and friendly, and, frankly, "jolly" is the word that best describes them. Usually you never see cyclists after one night as they cover so much ground but they assured us that they go very slowly and that we will surely see them again. I certainly hope so. Catherine, the English woman, and I are here in the town of Santa Croya at a very comfortable and well equipped albergue. I threw in a load of wash immediately after arriving and I washed EVERYTHING so I am here wearing a pajama top, raincoat, and pants with my feet in my sleeping bag as all my clothes, including my socks, are out on the line drying. I fear they will not dry as it is about to rain. I will be in a real fix then as I will have nothing dry to wear but I could not face another day of semi-dirty clothes. Although I handwash daily, the roads are so incredibly dusty that my socks are filthy as are the bottoms of my trouser legs and after scrubbing and rinsing them repeatedly, the water that runs out of the rinse is still so dirty. So, instead of having a peek around the village, I wait, inside, semi-dressed, for my clothes to dry. It looks like I am well on my way to Santiago and barring injury or extreme weather event, I should arrive in time after all.

Zamora

As it seems I write in every post, the walk from Point A to Point B was very difficult. And, yesterday's walk, from Salamanca to Vino de Cubo de la Tierra was no exception. It was about 8 miles of pleasant walking through the countryside and passing through a few villages and about 14 more miles of walking on a dirt track that was parallel to the highway. It was just long. The weather, however, has changed and it is much cooler, which, for me, is really great. I could not have made it yesterday without the cooler temperatures. It spat a few drops of rain off and on for about an hour but it was very light rain and the wind bothered me more than the rain. The temperature continued to drop and as I was alone at the albergue, I moved the portable heaters into the room with me and the bathroom as it was downright cold. Today it was probably in the 50s which is about 30 degrees cooler than last week. This morning I got up early and set out at about 7:15. It was rather nippy but very comfortable for walking. Today's walk went through farmland and was on a comfortable soft dirt path for nearly all of the 20 miles. There was even a village after the first couple of hours to break up the trip so I stopped in for a coffee and some toast. It had started to rain as I went in but after 15 minutes, I emerged to find the sun shining. So, the cooler temperatures and the comfortable path made these 20 miles rather ...dare I say...easy. And, to top it off, I arrived in Zamora, a town that I like a lot. There is a little street off the main square that is packed with tapas bars, as I recall, so I plan to stop into a few and make a meal of it. I was delighted to find Cecilio here as I hadn´t seen him for a couple of days. I seemed to have lost Gemma and Alfonso yesterday and Gemma goes back to Barça tomorrow morning so I won´t have a chance to say goodbye...although we have exchanged email addresses so I expect to hear from her. Alfonso has a few more days to walk so I hope he will catch up. Oh, and I was sure that I was gaining on Anna and Katerina, the German mother/daughter team but word is that they took a train from here in Zamora, this afternoon to skip a few stages so it seems that I have just missed them. Curses! Maybe I'll see them in Santiago. I've now completed three weeks of walking and have two left and I am hoping that all will go well and I will manage to arrive in Santiago without incident. If the weather remains cool, and the trail soft, I think I will be okay. Tomorrow I will try to do a long day 22-24 miles to try to make up for some lost time and then I should be able to follow the suggested stages. The new camera seems to work...I've also posted some pictures with the previous post and if you scroll down, I've added the sheep video. I've just reread this and have to say that today, wasnt really "easy" just not as hard as the tough days. I keep waiting for it to get easier but it doesn't seem to get any easier. I'm hoping this is the turning point.

Salamanca!

For the last few days I have been very excited to reach Salamanca for this is where I lived for a year back in 1989. I love Salamanca and the year that I spent here was one of the best in my life. I arrived today along with my companions of the past week, Alfonso (French-Canadian) and Gemma (Catalan). We ate lunch together and shortly before leaving the restaurant it began to rain...hard...with hail. We have been SO lucky with the weather and were lucky that the one time it rained, we were inside. We checked in to the albergue which is in the very best part of town, right next to the cathedral. I decided to walk around town to visit all of my old haunts. I went by my old apartment building, the bars I used to go to, the school where I used to work (which is now owned by one of the teachers I used to work with -side note to LAM--It was "Fancy Pants" I talked to her awhile. She was really nice.). Then I went to the big Corte Ingles department store which did not exist in Salamanca when I lived here but is now located across the street from the apartment I lived in my first month here. I bought a new camera so I hope I will be able to download pictures for future posts.
In other news. I have reached the halfway point! I've walked over 300 miles but, sadly, have that much left to go. On the first camino that I walked, I enjoyed it so much that I NEVER wanted to arrive in Santiago. I wanted it to be longer. This time around, I definitely want to arrive...and soon! I am happy to be here, I love the scenery and the villages. I love meeting people and speaking Spanish and eating Spanish food. I love that there was a 13 year old bartender waiting on us the other night (learning the family business) and love that 85 year old men in the street taking a stroll around the village stop to ask how the walk is going. I love that nearly every person I see everyday has a kind word to share. But this walk is really hard. My feet hurt everyday. The blisters are completely better but my feet just feel sore and worn out...a lot of this walk is on pavement which always seems to be the last 10 miles each day and always uphill. Today was a great day. It was short (15 miles), not hot (cloudy), and not on pavement. It was a joy. I'm glad to be here but this isn't easy and I have to think if I had done this walk first, I would not have returned to do another. I have mapped out my remaining days and it is doable but I will have quite a few hard days ahead of me. Gemma only has two more days before she must return to Barcelona and Alfonso a couple more after that. It will be quite a blow to me when they are both gone. We also see alot of Jose Luis and Cecilio, the aforementioned two Spanish men. Cecilio is particularly nice. He is, get this, SEVENTY THREE! He is quite a trooper. He looks to be about 10 years younger than he is and when I doubted his age, he provided documentation. He is quite a wonder. It seems I have seen a lot and done a lot and it seems to much to remember to bring you up to date. I need to get a bite to eat and return to the albergue as there is a curfew at 10:00 p.m. so LAM, I won ´t be able to go to Piper, MOderno, Country, Puerto de Chus, or Piper which still seem to exist. Roses and Submarino were there but look to be different places now.