Walking Woman

The day dawned...... the LAST day of walking the Camino de Santiago - Camino Frances - .... it was hard to get my head around it really... We set off early - at the same time as 'the texans' though we left them behind after a few kms .... the track was clear at first , and through lovely forests - but became more and more busy, with dozens of pilgrims both before and after us.....The closer we came - the more despondent I felt....There is a point about 5km out of Santiago called Mt De Gozo - and is traditionally the point where pilgrims could first sight Santiago and the Cathedral... I dont know if it's because of contemporary building etc but I couldnt see the Cathedral - though Santiago itself was in plain sight.... ... read more

A gentle climb started off the next morning, we walked past a field where a cow was licking a bull's head - so THAT's what a cowlick is .....We walked through lovely old forests, took a little video of the sounds in the forest and walked into Melide for lunch. Melide is quite a big town - pop. 8000 - with bustling traffic, kids in school uniforms, traffic lights ....we sat in the square eating our yoghurt and fruit with our boots off and an older Spanish lady came up to us, spoke in rapid Spanish then leaned to kiss us both on each cheek - made me feel a bit teary because such encounters seem to really bring home to me the realisation of being part of something ... The Camino De Santiago is so ... read more

We set off, originally for Portomarin, a 24km stretch with a bit of a climb ..........for the previous almost 700km we had spent time with and passing/being passed by folk who seemed to be of like mind........we'd been in numerous Albergues which were all physically quite different to each other, yet their inhabitants whatever their country of origin were universally the same............ people talked quietly to each other in the sleeping areas, lights went out at 10.30 each night, fellow pilgrims were helpful and respectful - for instance people took short showers - ensuring hot water left for the next person - meals and resources (eg for footcare etc ) were shared sometimes. There was a camaraderie built on the toil of walking the shared path , on the amused and rueful recognition of the aching ... read more

APOLOGIES..... ACCIDENTALLY MOVED THIS ENTRY TO 'SAVED' AFTER I ADDED A VIDEO .....SO THEN NEEDED TO 'REPUBLISH' TO MAKE IT ABLE TO BE READ AGAIN... ONLY THING DIFFERENT IS THE ADDED VIDEO - J XXX After the meal at the bar across the road, we went straight back to the parish hostel in the grounds of an old convent.....It was quite noisy, and more crowded - our 'overflow room ' had filled up with quite a few Italian cyclists as well as other walking pilgrims... The toilets were on another floor and the toilet/shower area was really cramped and badly designed- you open the door of the unisex showers right onto the guys using the urinals - kind of made me feel like scurrying out quickly and averting the eyes... Settled to go to sleep early ... read more

We were walking again, still, in very cold weather and as we walked this day we were headed towards snow topped mountains and the winds blowing from there were seriously FREEZING ... I didnt really feel the cold while walking ... but as soon as the body stopped moving.. BBBRRRRR.... We walked past a memorial for someone who had died in 2005.......and a little later came upon a donativo stall with juices and fruit 'refreshment for Pilgrims' , including a home baked kind of meusli slice thing..... They seemed like hippy kind of guys running, there was a labyrinth of stones, and the bed/sleeping area of one of them was just under a blue tarpaulin.... We saw James and Angie again here and James felt the need for some sort of apology to Diane over SOMETHING ... read more