So Weary

Mona and Emily walking past capella Santa Irene, just moments before we reached our sweet albergue called Santa Maria.

This was a difficult day just full of ups and downs-the terrain and our emotions. The walk was not difficult, or shouldn't have been, but it seemed such a struggle right from the beginning.  We walked the first three kilometers to Arzua and saw two buses stop to unload pilgrims. 

We hiked with the bus pilgrims for a short time (Emily's in the pic) but they were noisy! We stopped and let them all pass. Later in the morning we saw their small tour van, at several spots, picking up pilgrims who needed a ride...

Some ups- more eucalyptus trees

and seeing a few familiar faces like Duncan from MT and Lily from Taiwan who took my face in her hands and said it was nice to see an old face! (She meant familiar!) Mona heard a rumor that Prince Harry was doing the camino! We had delicious pineapple mango smoothies at a cafe where we stopped for an afternoon break. We saw a sign for Santiago and we know we will be there on Friday. 

And the rest of the day? I don't know what to say. My SHS/LHS friend, Bob G. said, when he wished me well, that there is no trick to the Camino. It's just one step after another... 

With Love,

The Three Peregrinas

Facts and Opinions

Just a couple of things because our albergue in Ribadiso doesn't have wifi.

1. No rain today. Hurray for that! We had great walking weather through many eucalyptus groves where it smelled so good. And!!! We walked 22 km. Hurray for that! 
2. Old friends. We saw our first day friends from ME and our second day friends from Germany. We talked with professor Liz from Northeastern too.
3. Camino-lite?? We saw a sea of pilgrims again today when we came out of a small church in Furelos. They are all young and they carry only daypacks, if that.  I saw one woman carrying only a water bottle and one carrying a purse on her shoulder. They are tourists not pilgrims.
4. Camino-heavy?? It's a struggle walking with a pack. Carry only what is necessary. This man looks burdened.
   

5.  Restaurant owners were aggressive in the city of Melide. This man called to us to come into his establishment for octopus.  He pulled a live one out of a tank.

6.  Cows and cats are pretty cute!

Time to head back to our albergue for the night. Another big day tomorrow. 

On and Off

Just keep walking...because that's all you can do! And we walked 18.8 km yesterday and 16ish today!
For the last three or more days we have had a lot of rain showers, on and off. Most of them have been light showers but a few have been long and hard! We have spent a lot of time putting long sleeve shirts and jackets on and off, covering our backpacks and then trying to dry things off once we reach our destination. Usually we hang things on every rail of our beds, on our trekking poles, on window shutters...wherever there is a spot. And they are usually still damp in the morning:) Ahhh, the life of a pilgrim in the province of Galicia, which is known for unpredictable weather including a lot of rain. It's also known for eucalyptus trees,

pulpo (that's octopus), Galician soup made with potatoes, white beans and perhaps collard greens (yes family, I have eaten it!) and more that I will discover.

There is no wifi in our little cottage tonight so this is it...except for a few pictures from the last few days.

These birds were taking shelter from the rain  under the eaves of a building where we were eating lunch.

Different in America

No wifi last night so I am posting a few observations that I have been collecting. We are taking shelter from a torrential downpour in a little cafe right now. The clothes we are wearing are wet and the clothing in our backpacks is wet too from not drying on the clothesline a few nights ago. We want sunshine!

If this horse riding event was offered in America one would need to sign a liability waiver before climbing on a horse. There would also be guides at the head and back of the line of riders.

If this railroad crossing was in America there would be warning lights and bells and a bar to prevent people from crossing.

There are over 60 stairs leading into Sarria! If this was in America there would be a railing!!

This is Emily trying to hot wire a tractor we came upon way up in the hills. We thought it would give us an interesting ride into town. After all we have ridden on a train, bus, taxi, in a wagon and on a horse. Why not a tractor? Emily was surprised to see that the farmer had left his keys right in the ignition. Probably wouldn't see that in America.

No photo but...

When Mona saw the physio a few weeks back she was taken to a curtained cubicle. Other patients were treated on examing tables right in the open. There were big white towels on each table and they were not changed after each patient!

This was an overpass that we walked across. In America the barrier would be much higher.

Last 100 Kilometers

We left Sarria this morning in a parade of pilgrims. Since this city is the starting point for many people who don't have enough time to do the whole route but want to qualify for the official document of completion called the compostela, The Way has become very busy.

Just 100 kilometers left and we will walk every step. There will be no 7km taxi ride at the end of a rainy day (like yesterday when we were soaked to the skin and just couldn't take another step). We will have to draw on whatever inner strength we have and walk on. 

The city as it looked in the morning. Sarria has Celtic origins and was a major center for early pilgrims. The old quarter is very attractive and climbs up a narrow street with narrow side roads with lots of good places to eat. The "new" city (or what we saw of it) is not as attractive and very busy with a population of about 13,000.

We went up and down these steps, which lead into Sarria, several times. 

Next city of note: Portomarin on May 28

We didn't spend the night here, just passed through.

Stairs to enter the city!

There were fish jumping in the river Mino, but my camera was too slow to capture a picture!

Looking down the stairs at Emily and Mona!

and climbing up...

A side statue in the church of St. John, but it's kind of blurry. Interesting notes-This church was painstakingly rebuilt from its original site which is now submerged under the waters of the Balesar reservoir! It was originally built as a place of worship and defense! it has four defensive towers and battlements. Also, we have noticed that many of the statues in Spain (and all of the churches have many!) are dressed in fabric clothing and some have wigs. We attended Sunday mass here, ate lunch and then left for another 12.8 km afternoon walk.

Onward!

A Walk in the Woods

I had to borrow a title from Bill Bryson because it is so appropriate for our day. We spent most of the day on woodland lanes and paths. It rained off and on all day and was misty at times. It kind of looked like an enchanted forest some of the time.  It was pretty weird that I had the thought "forest primeval" and knew at once that the words came from the poem Evangeline. I think I studied it in high school. (Anyone else from class of 68 remember it?) But why did I remember that?!! I am sure I have never thought of Evangeline in all these years. It's just pretty cool how one's brain works when you go for a walk with nothing on your mind. But then...

Soon it was pouring, and thundering with lightning. We were drenched to the skin and nervous about the lightning. Many, many kilometers later we came to a little cafe and decided to call a taxi. We were already soaked but just couldn't bear any more rain. We were about 7km from Sarria and it was already about 3:30 pm. We made the right decision. By the time we checked into our albergue and cleaned up the sun had come out and soon two out of three of us had new shoes. I won't say who went shopping...but it wasn't me! We had a lovely evening sitting by a fire and drinking orujo (or something like that) with Camino friends. Time for bed.

Question and Answer Time -May 26, 2017

Questions from Uno Hombre:
How are the pilgrims doing? Where does the last 100 km start?

Answers:
2/3 of us are doing fine. Feeling fit and strong, though there was not a lot of sleep last night. I heard some sounds of distress and woke to find Emily assisting a young woman who was in pain. An ambulance had been called for her and Emily was helping her pack. This poor woman had already spent 5 days in a hospital a while back due to gall bladder issues. Then there was another issue when some sort of farm vehicle rattled up to the back of the albergue and the driver spent the next 20 minutes hosing off his equipment. We were confused about his activity in the middle of the night...and awake...but eventually slept. We awoke to thunder and heavy rain!

Mona is still having foot issues but as long as her bag is transported she is managing. Our plan is to be in Sarria tonight. Since that will be about 22ish km we may need a taxi for the last few km. Sarria is considered the 100 km point (it's close) and you must walk from that point on-and so we will!

Running with the Bulls??

Nope! Just Emily walking with the cows.

It was interesting to watch a woman with a stick lead the way down the street with the cows following her. A dog followed the last cow and a man on a horse came a bit after.

Beautiful sky this morning

Great scenery all day long as we walked in the mountains.

Guess this is it for tonight as lights are out and everyone is in bed except me. Pictures and stories will have to wait. We all walked 19.9 km today and had a pleasant day. We are in a little hamlet called Filloval where there are way more chickens than people.