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For the last week I’ve been in Spain walking the last 120 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago. We opted to complete the most popular of the routes, the Camino Francés, which as its name suggests actually starts back in France. We started from Sarria and took five days to reach the end, staying in some comfort and avoiding the more traditional option of staying in hostels.

There were eight of us from Hike Norfolk who took part, and as everyone who reads this can imagine, I was the bravest. We were joined on part of the route by Susanna and Jim, who seemed to spend most of their journey on the train, but I didn’t say anything so as to not cause offence.

Anyway, this is the summary page that I’ll leave here to link in all the separate blog posts. I’ve posted elsewhere about my final thoughts on this trip.

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GETTING THERE:

Day Zero

THE WALK

Day One : Sarria to Portomarin

Day Two : Portomarin to Palas de Rei

Day Three : Palas de Rei to Arzúa

Day Four : Arzúa to O Pedrouzo

Day Five : O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

DAY IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

Streets of Santiago de Compostela

Mercado de Abastos de Santiago

Cafe Blu

GOING HOME

Ryanair Flight

And, so we were ready to start our first day of walking, which took us from Sarria to Portomarin.

The first part of the walk was fairly open, but did allow for extensive views over the countryside.

One of the old towns which we walked through, which always brought back the spirit of the camino to me as pilgrims would have taken this route for many centuries.

Our lunch stop, which is perhaps most notable for Bev and Sarah becoming a little overwrought at the sight of something and Bev being told off for queue-jumping for the toilet. She tried to explain to the Spanish lady that she wasn’t queue-jumping, she was just looking through the toilet window at Gordon, but I suspect something was lost in translation.

Our first sight of the Miño, which is the longest river in Galicia.

A map just before we got into Portomarin, which initially seemed confusing with all the different options and the former pilgrim route shown across the river. Much more made sense when we realised that Portomarin is a new town, built higher up the bank of the river after they flooded the old one to build a dam.

Incidentally, it warned of a very difficult section, so I took a little detour, although it appears that they exaggerated the “very difficult” nature of the message.

This is some of the former Roman bridge which was flooded in the 1960s for the new dam. I initially thought that this was all that remained of the bridge, but this is actually a separate bridge and its footings. The medieval bridge is still there, just by the new bridge, but it’s only rarely visible when there is a very low tide. It’s in excellent condition and can be walked across for anyone fortunate to be there at the right time, but this must be one hell of an obstacle to navigation for boats.

Looking across to Portomarin, with the old bridge being just to the right of it, although it’s underwater…

Looking back over the river.

Steve after smashing a wine glass when the excitement was all too much for him. This was a pleasant little cafe in Portomarin, although the bottle of wine I bought seemed to disappear and it look quite a while to find a staff member to remind them to bring it.

The free crisps kept flowing at the bar, so we kept drinking, which was all rather lovely. The crisps came from what looked like a huge sack rather than from delicate little packets, but they tasted satisfactory and went well with the beer.

And sampling the Pilgrim’s beer. Which was unexceptional shall we say. The wine was better.

The town centre of Portomarin. I had hoped that they would have these signs all along the Camino, since there was a similar one in Sarria. But they didn’t…..

Iglesia de San Pedro de Portomarín.

This is Igrexa de San Xoán de Portomarín, a fourteenth century fortress church which was established by the Order of Saint John, who upheld the values of Christianity for many centuries in Malta. The order helped to protect pilgrims on their journey and the building, like the other historic ones in the town, was moved stone by stone in the 1960s because of the dam.

After the exertions of the previous day, this was a far more pleasant distance of just twelve miles, walking from Arzúa to O Pedrouzo. I was a little reluctant to leave my accommodation as there was a lovely terrace with views out onto the countryside, but a pilgrim has to make sacrifices.

We all met near the church, known locally as Igrexa de Santiago de Arzúa, which was unfortunately closed at the early hour that we set off from Arzúa.

The start of the route was busy and I spent some time overtaking people so that I didn’t have to walk at their slow pace. I was conscious that they were enjoying their environment and treating it like a pilgrimage whilst I was storming down the path at 4mph, but each to their own of course….

The morning walk took us through some open countryside and we were fortunate again that the temperature was moderate.

I’m not an expert on the foliage of northern Spain in the medieval period, but I imagine that there was much that was wooded. These sections felt the most authentic to me in terms of what the pilgrims would have historically experienced and I enjoyed the thought that the terrain of the land here is unchanged over recent centuries.

It was at around this point that another amusing incident took place, which is that Gordon and Bev managed to go down the wrong path. This isn’t unusual on a walk that I’m leading or am participating in, but is pretty amazing on the camino where the signage is idiot proof. I of course didn’t say anything at their incompetence, but I’m sure it’ll be brought up again in the future….

This is one of the quietest main roads that I can recall seeing in some time. Beautifully peaceful, despite the initial appearance of being a scar on the landscape.

The breakfast stop en route, a healthy Coca Cola and a croissant which had perhaps seen better days, although the taste was fine.

A cockerel excited by the banana in Bev’s bag.

Gordon made friends with the local cockerel and we all enjoyed the moment when the cock attacked him. I could make a joke here, but it’ll be beneath me, so I’ll avoid the temptation.

One of the more inventive cafe arrangements at Casa Tia Dolores, which looked an inviting location to visit. Unfortunately, it appears from TripAdvisor that this cafe, which brewed its own beer, has permanently closed down which seems rather a shame.

A reminder of the slightly tropical nature of the surroundings.

My healthy lunch en route. The staff had given me a cracked glass by mistake (or perhaps on purpose if they hated me) and I managed to break one of the ashtrays when moving it, which didn’t bode entirely well. Bev spent some time taking photographs of another English group doing the walk and Susanna and Jim caught us up as they were a little behind. It transpired that Susanna had spent half the morning digging, hence why they were late.

The afternoon walk took us through woodland, which was fortunate as the temperature was starting to rise.

More afternoon woodland…. I accept that this isn’t the most descriptive of terms, but to a degree the landscape around this part of Spain did get a little repetitive at times and I have managed to forget anything of particular note for certain sections of the walk.

The meeting place in the evening in O Pedrouzo, the town cockerel, which seemed appropriate given the events of earlier in the day. Being the gentleman that I am, I took the rare action of bothering to walk everyone to their hotels, which I thought was very generous.

After settling in to our hotels for about twenty minutes, the two Steves and I headed to look for a bar. I was moderately irritated to discover that ‘Taste the Way’, the bar that I wanted to go to, was shut. But we found Panadería A Peneira instead, where we had a few drinks.

I had three glasses of flavoured tap water, which I admit was refreshing.

The snacks acquired by Steve M were good, and the bar provided us with more complimentary olives than we could realistically eat.

The ladies (including Gordon) had meanwhile discovered that ‘Taste the Way’ was open, so we headed back there. And, I was delighted, this was the first decent craft beer bar that I’ve been to all week. I found a stout, which excited me greatly, as northern Spain isn’t known for its stouts and porters. Just so that everyone knew how excited I was by this development, I told them at least three times.

There was the option then of going to a nearby restaurant for a pilgrim’s meal, but I was too tempted by the menu options at this bar. Having waited nearly a week to find somewhere this good, I wasn’t going to willingly miss out.

The Galician soup, which was tasty, although I wouldn’t say was exceptional as it wasn’t packed with flavour. It was though hot, but it could have had more texture as I’m not entirely sure that this soup is meant to be smooth.

The Galician meat pie was though exceptional and was the best food that I had during the week. It doesn’t perhaps look very exciting and embarrassingly I wasn’t entirely sure of the ingredients, but it tasted of pork and had a rich and moreish taste. Absolutely delicious.

And my beer of the day to go with the meat pie, which was a beech smoked bock. This is something a little different and the beech smoked taste was a delight, smoky and caramel flavoured, I’m not sure that I’ve had anything even remotely similar before. I had to test a few bottles of this to ensure that I was delighted with the experience. I was.

Bev, Steve M, Gordon and I partied away late into the night in this bar, well, to 22:30 anyway. Then the highlight of the day took place, Gordon reported that the electric in his room had gone off. This caused merriment throughout the town, although we were disappointed to discover that he managed to get the electric back on and working.

With that excitement, it was time to sleep.

The final day of walking was from O Pedrouzo to Camino de Santiago, a walk of around twelve miles. The morning started by walking from the hotel to our breakfast location, with the sun just starting to rise. I was also pleased by the sight, as I have the motto of ‘red sky in the morning, craft beer in the evening’ which I feel is a useful modern adaption of the old phrase.

Located along the main street of the town is this cafe which was busy with pilgrims ready to start their adventure. Seven of us intended to have breakfast here, but it transpired to be eight as Gordon came along after his B&B owner didn’t understand him doing impressions of chickens to try and get some eggs.

The breakfast food and drink, which was reasonably priced although the service wasn’t the most timely. And there was a scandal caused when Gordon didn’t get as much toast as some others in our group…. Bev also loudly announced that there was no toilet paper, although she loudly announced other things that I won’t willingly mention at this juncture.

We saw this cat near to the start of the walk and I’m sure Dylan and Leon would have recognised how similar it looked to their cat   🙂

The day’s adventure began by walking through what I thought was quite an atmospheric woodland area. Although the trees didn’t feel particularly ancient, there was a timeless feel to the surroundings.

The woodland went on for some distance, but the historic route stopped because it had to be diverted around the city’s airport.

The sun shining through the woods, although the feeling of remoteness was taken away from me as an aircraft took over around 100 feet away.

The appearance of the airport, which is where we were to fly back to the UK from, was in contrast to the peaceful walking environment of the morning.

Fast paced Steve and I went on a little ahead, finding a handy drinks stop at Porta de Santiago to wait for the others. The toilet situation was a little complex as it required a number, which I had, but the cafe’s insistence on this policy meant that there was no queue. So I approved.

The others appear in the distance.

The drink which I rewarded myself with at the cafe, which had become something of a favourite during the walk.

The church at Iglesia de San Paio and there was an opportunity for those with pilgrim passports to have them stamped.

One of the sculptures inside, although I’ve struggled to find out much more about the church. I felt at numerous points along the route that it would have been useful and interesting for more information to be provided about these beautiful small churches.

A resting cat just before we reached Lavacolla.

This is Lavacolla, which is the settlement where pilgrims would wash themselves in the river to cleanse themselves before commencing on the last part of their journey. The literal translation of the town name is perhaps just a little coarse, so I’ll loosely translate it as ‘washing place’.

Standing on the bridge looking over the river, or stream, at Lavacolla.

And the stream itself, which did feel just a little anti-climatic if I’m being honest.

Soon after Lavacolla there was another stream and what looked like former bathing facilities. There were steps down to the river here and it gave the appearance of being a place where pilgrims would wash.

A directional sign made of shells.

A dog. I probably didn’t need to clarify that, but I have nothing else interesting to add about the dog.

With around five miles of the walk left to go it was evident that one walker got fed up with their boots.

This is the group that Bev had taken a photograph of the previous day and we were to meet them numerous more times, including ultimately at the airport on the way home.

This is the Monumento de Monte do Gozo, which frankly needed some care and attention. The area around it has been loosely roped off and the monument itself isn’t in the best state of repair. Nearby is the Chapel San Marcos but I was surprised how uninventive this site was, because it has great symbolism as it’s where the city’s cathedral came into view.

The area was modernised in 1993, which was four years after Pope John Paul II had preached here in the attendance of large crowds. Unfortunately, 25 years have now passed and it’s evident that much more needs to be done here to improve the site. Perhaps toilets, a Greggs (or at least a cafe) and some landscaping with benches would improve things somewhat.

This is the first sight of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and although I can’t say that I felt any special spiritual thoughts at this point, I can imagine just how exciting this must have been for pilgrims in the past.

The motorway just before the city. Just before this motorway was a little incident involving Sarah and a man watering the plants in his garden. I have no comment to make about the details, but for those who know her, don’t hesitate to question Sarah about it.

And the city sign. Our lunch stop was shortly after this, at La Bodeguilla de San Lázaro, which proved to be sufficiently eventful for me to post about separately. Steve B also had an exciting experience on his way into the city centre, but modesty yet again prevents me from writing more. Actually, I fear I’m not mentioning quite a lot of things about this trip, but I have to be careful not to be facing legal action.

The destination for generations of pilgrims, the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. There has been scaffolding outside the cathedral for some years, but this has recently been removed whilst works have instead begun inside the building.

And we’re finally there, all standing in front of the cathedral.

And me, standing awkwardly, something which I do well.

And to quote Tony Blair (which I don’t do very often), “that is the end of that”.

And my final thoughts about the Camino de Santiago expedition….

This was a most lovely week and we were fortunate with the weather as we avoided both the rain and the excessively hot weather. We also made all the public transport connections without issues and didn’t experience any problems with the accommodation en route.

We do though sort of cheat for this entire expedition, as we stayed in decent quality hotels and B&Bs (well, mostly) during the trip and didn’t experience the hostels that pilgrims traditionally use. We also walked as a large group, usually of ten people, which inevitably means that conversation tends to be introverted rather than extroverted.

So I didn’t feel that we were ever really submerged into the whole camino experience of being pilgrims. Also, the distances involved were not those which proved a challenge to me, although I hasten to add that this is only because I do a lot of long distance walking. This wasn’t a negative, it’s just that there wasn’t a feeling of self sacrifice in the same way as I get on the bloody LDWA challenge walks which I keep enduring. And, pilgrims are meant to feel challenged.

However, despite all that, I knew all this in advance, and was treating this as an experience of the caminos and all what they involved. It was a useful way of understanding the other options, and there are many routes to Santiago de Compostela, for future expeditions.

And, given all of this, I’ve decided that I will complete the Camino Portugués, or the Portuguese Way, on my own in 2020. This is the route from Porto to Santiago de Compostela (although it can be walked from Lisbon) and there are two main routes, of which the coastal route looks the most exciting and challenging of the pair.

The Camino Portugués is a longer route than the one that we went on this week, so I can do longer distances and not surround myself in such luxuries. Although I won’t exactly be slumming it to be fair….. But, walking these routes alone does make me more likely to engage with others outside of the group (not that there will be a group if walking on my own) and will I suspect be more of the pilgrimage experience.

I’d say that wanting to do another route is testament though to just how positive I found my first camino journey. Lots of helpful and friendly walkers, a shared sense of community and an adventure. All very lovely.

The second day of walking took us from Portomarin to Palais de Rei.

Another early morning and it did lead Bev and I to question quite how early we were setting off to try and find breakfast.

The breakfast stop for Bev and myself, which was the Cafe Bar Espana. I thought that the member of staff serving was helpful and polite, although Bev didn’t exactly share the same view of proceedings. My breakfast was coffee and Santiago’s cake, as some bloody tourist had just ordered the last croissant.

However, as can be seen from the assembled masses, this wasn’t exactly a peaceful and solitary departure from Portomarin.

A misty morning as we left the town.

There were some hilly elements to the walk out of Portomarin, but initially the temperature was what I considered to be pleasant (and most other people thought was cold). We did quite a lot of overtaking of the other pilgrims and it then felt much quieter.

Just 85 kilometres of the walk left, and another pair of shoes left by someone on top of the trail marker. The landscape was quite open and there was less woodland than on other parts of the trail.

As the day progressed though, the temperature situation changed and it became too hot. I mentioned this to everyone several times, and was pro-active in resolving the situation by getting an ice lolly.

Um….

I think I set a slight trend about the ice lollies and Maggie kindly bought some lollies at Casa Molar, which I couldn’t help but relate to teeth. The local dog seemed interested in what we were doing, although he was unsuccessful in getting any food out of us. Gordon got himself some expensive ice cream, which he declared as a bit too creamy. He has very high standards indeed.

This is the Capela da Magdalena, near to Ventas de Narón, where a blind man was stamping the pilgrim passports.

Inside of the chapel, where something of a queue was developing.

The ant sculpture at A Paso de Formiga.

The path into Airexe.

The lunch stop was at Casa Mariluz, near to the village of Ligonde. We had a pleasant lunch here and I opted for the chorizo bocadillo, of sandwich. As will become evident from my evening’s selection, I’m rather partial to chorizo…. Anyway, instead of a photo of food, here’s a photo of the restaurant’s cat.

Gordon enjoying the sun and I think it’s fair to say that no-one could accuse him of manspreading….. Bev was very pleased to see Gordon enjoying the sun and rushed to sit by his feet, although she had to be reminded that this was a pilgrimage walk. I don’t think she paid much attention.

The path just before we entered the town of Palas de Rei.

This was to be my accommodation for the evening, La Cabaña, which had what I would have called an alpine theme to the hotel section of the building. The check-in process was smooth and Steve B, Sarah and myself were the first three of the group to settle in for the evening. And by settle in, I mean dump bags, change and then rush to the hotel’s bar.

Whilst checking in, we noticed that Susanna’s luggage had arrived to meet her after her long train journey.

Here’s my delicious flavoured water and we shared several packets of crisps. I say shared, but some of us perhaps had more than others. Steve M also threw his pack on the floor and then didn’t pick them up, despite being able to meet the three second rule. This is another man of class.

After that we walked down to the town of Palas de Rei itself, and this is the town’s church.

The interior of the church.

After a few minutes of culture, we thought that it was time for another drink. This is the beer at Albergue Buen Camino, a delicious Amstel. Well, an Amstel anyway.

We stayed in the same bar for our evening meal, where there was a €10 pilgrim’s menu available. The starter of pasta with chorizo, which was entirely adequate given the cost of the meal. It was served at the appropriate hot temperature, was a generous portion size and the sauce had some texture and flavour to it.

The main course of chorizo, eggs and chips and it might be possible to read between the lines (or just look at the photos) to notice that I like chorizo…. Again, all was well with this dish, it was decent value for money and the chorizo had some flavour to it.

Another dessert of Santiago’s cake, which appears to be the local speciality. It was available at nearly every meal stop along the route and could also be purchased at the airport for anyone who wanted to take an entire cake home.

Bev had stomped off by this time after giving her views on the fillet of salmon and the service times, so the restaurant gave us a round of shots. Gordon couldn’t cope with another drink, as he’d already had nearly two drinks, and so I had his shot. Goodness knows what it was and I slightly dread to think.

I’d add here that I’m not one for gossip, but Gordon did get a bit excitable. Frankly, it was a good job that I was there to calm the situation down.

My photo of the sun setting as the two Steves and myself walked back to our accommodation. Another successful day of walking….