Camino Aftermath Day 5

Today was our last full day in Espana.  While we are eagerly looking forward to going home, we are leaving a bit of our hearts in Spain. Today we spent more time in Retiro Park and then went to the Botanical Gardens when they opened at 10 am.  The gardens were as advertised and resulted in information  overload after an hour and a half.  With our accommodation so conveniently located, we were able go back for a quick rest whenever we wanted and did so after the Gardens. Later we did some shopping for souvenirs, visited the royal palace and ate.  My choice was as Spanish as possible, paella with sangria. This evening we went back to the Prado to see more paintings and sculptures;  in particular we went to see Camillo Torregiani's veiled Isabel II again.

Camino Aftermath Day 4

Yesterday we had a visit to the Prado Museum.  We suffered from information overload with all the old Masters etc.  Nevertheless both of us were overwhelmed by a sculpture by Camillo Torregaiani called Queen’s Face Veiled.  In it there is a veil over the face which is so realistic that we felt that we could see through it.  We plan to go back and see it again tomorrow.  Today we went to Ritiro  Park and the Reina  Sofia Museum. It houses the Picasso called Guernika.  Madrid is a big bustling city with current daytime highs in the middle 30s- much different from the temperatures that we experienced on the Caminos.

Camino Aftermath Day 3

Today we went to Madrid on the 10:30 train.  On the way to the station we just had visit our favorite bridge and take more pictures.  I'll try to attach a couple here.

The train ride started out much like the trip out of Santiago de Compostela with many tunnels and bridges to handle the many hills and valleys. Then it became flatter and straighter so the engineer opened it up to 248 km/h. As we approached Madrid we went through a tunnel that we were told later to be 50 km long.  After arriving in Madrid we walked to our hotel which took us an hour and a half. Then we went to the Prado Museum before supper. 

Camino Aftermath Day 2

Our train to Ourense didn't leave until 9:39 am so we took a last walk through the old city before heading for the train.  The train ride was through countryside similar to what we had been walking through for the last month.  It was hills and valleys covered with all sorts of vegetation including broom.  What really caught our attention was the number of tunnels and bridges. It seemed like we were either in a tunnel or on a bridge the whole way.  Of course that couldn't have been so but we went through at least 2 dozen tunnels some of which were quite long.  Often we would emerge from a tunnel and go on to a long bridge. 

While walking to our hotel,  we crossed a really interesting bridge.  It was cable stayed and had a pedestrian track that started at car level,  then it dropped down a couple of metres, then it rose over the car lanes some 120 stairs in a curve before plunging down the other side symmetrically. The entire curved overpass was symmetrically repeated around the second bridge tower.

After dropping our packs at the hotel we set out in search of the thermal baths.  They turned out to be almost 5 km away but we needed the walk.  The first pool that we visited was just the right temperature.  While we were enjoying a nice soaking, we received a pleasant surprise.  About 10 school kids gathered around and asked us all sorts of questions.  They wanted to know where we were from,  our names, what we were doing and of course did we like Galecia.  Just like the group that we met a few days ago,  they were the highlight of the day.

Later we walked to a hot spring just a few blocks from our hotel.  The water there was almost steaming. Certainly you couldn't keep your hands directly in the water as it emerged from the pipe. In order to allow people to immerse themselves, they would have to add some cool water. 

Camino Aftermath

Well our walking is all behind us now and it's time to give our bodies a rest.  After a good night's sleep,  we went to the cathedral to attend the English mass at 9 am.  Wouldn't you know it; it was cancelled for this Sunday because the priest was away.  After looking around a bit, we had a nice café con leche and leche caliente. We walked down to the train station and booked tickets to Ourense tomorrow and Madrid the next day.

In the afternoon we walked around the old city shopping for a few souvenirs,  then had our lupper, lunch/supper near our hotel.  We are enjoying a slow day and are spending time just lying around in the hotel room. 

Yesterday, we learn that the Pope had declared this to be a special year which meant that the Porto Negra was opened.  Then when you walk through it, all your sins are cleansed.  We walked through it twice.

Camino Ingles Day 4

This is it.  The last day of Camino walking.   The walk today was quite easy in that there were relatively few hills and they weren't difficult.  As a result we walked to Santiago de Compostela almost 1.5 hours earlier than we expected.  The first order of the day was to get our Compostela certificates.  This required us to stand in line for 90 minutes but that was necessary.  After that we checked into our hotel, had supper, attended a mass, picked up a few groceries and got ready for bed. It was a very satisfying day!

Camino Ingles Day 3

According to the guidebooks, today's walk from Betanzos to Bruma was supposed to be very tough and long because of the elevation gain.  So we left early to ensure that we would make it and to avoid some of the heat.  By 2 pm we were in Bruma, so we decided to go another 7 km to Buscas.  This has several advantages including a private room, food availability and a shortened walk into Santiago de Compostela tomorrow.  We walked into the rural hostal Donna  Maria; it is really nice.  We are looking forward to supper but we have to wait until 8:30 pm.

The weather today was marvelous with sun and a high in the low 20s C.  We were in the country after leaving Betanzos so the scenery was great. The only drawback was a paucity of places to stop for my morning coffee.  Fortunately at 10:00 we came upon a new restaurant/bar that wasn't in the guidebook. So I got my caffeine allotment about an hour sooner than expected.

Camino Ingles Day 2a

Relaxing near our pensione

Camino Ingles Day 2

This was one of our shortest days as we walked just 19.5 km to Betanzos. It was warmer than we have experienced since the first week of May. It was 23 C in the afternoon, which was tough on our USA buddies because they were on the Camino until 5:30.  We were in town by 1:30 and avoided most of the heat.  The pensione we got by checking in at the Chocolatier ice cream store.  It's very nice and also inexpensive.   We have lots of space, clothes lines and access to a kitchen. One of the body washes had a chocolate aroma.

Our walk was very pleasant with the Camino taking us up and down short hills and around and around village streets.  Sometimes we thought they had taken us in a complete circle.

Camino Ingles Day 1

Today was a very different day. Yes we got up and walked in some of the sunniest weather we've had in Spain.  What made our day was a bunch of young kids; they were a group of about forty 10-11 year olds on a school field trip.  About noon we were walking at the edge of  a town when we saw some people headed for the Camino.   My first thought was that I hope they are not a large pilgrim group who will clutter the Camino.  Soon after we saw that they were a large group of young people;  then they started waving so we waved back.  We then merged with them as they joined the Camino.  They were a delightful group, so enthusiastic about meeting us.  They wanted to know what we were doing, when did we start, where did we start from, where were we from, what were our names, etc.  We got some names and learned that one boy had been born in Montreal.

We also met a group of 4 Americans who ended up in the same hotel as us. We had a nice chat with them over a glass of wine. They are all new to this kind of walking so we were able to share whatever knowledge that we had.

After we checked into our accommodation, we walked to see the old church, San Miguel de Breamo which was a 7 km round trip without packs.  It was up at the top of a small mountain. When we neared the top, a local man stopped his van to talk to us and explain exactly where we were.  After we walked back into town,  we met him again at an intersection which was quite a coincidence because of the layout of the town.  He recognized us and stopped to say that it was nice that we took the side trip.  He introduced himself s Manuel and said he was born in this town. It was so nice that someone would take the time to make us feel welcome.