Blogs from Galicia, Spain, Europe

1st February Originally Ferrol was a fishing port, but its development was due to Philip V recognizing the strategic value of its estuary and building the A Graña arsenal and shipyards. Ferrol came to control Spain's maritime interests in the North Atlantic, threatened by England. In 1800, the British fleet landed on Doniños beach, in what is known as the Battle of Brión. The objective was to take Ferrol and destroy the shipyards, but the local forces responded quickly, causing the English to withdraw. Currently, Ferrol continues to suffer the effects of the economic depression of the 80s, as a consequence of the naval crisis and a reduced military presence, plus the effects of the recent real estate crisis, this was obvious as I walked around. I took the shuttle bus from the ship, the bus ... read more

Today is the day we learn to cook pulpo (octopus). It was not an early day, but still the alarm went off at 6, but I didn’t get out of bed until seven. The hotel is pretty large, so breakfast has timed seatings so they can make sure everyone gets seated. The breakfast room was on the second floor in the first building. It was your typical layout, meat, cheeses, breads, fruit. There were no hot items, as they were all cooked to order. The coffee was the best of the trip, your own individual pot and a smaller pot of hot milk. Not to mention, instead of having the communal serving pieces each place setting had their own tongs to take to the buffet. You didn’t have to worry if someone didn’t wash their hands, ... read more

It is always nice, to start in a busy town like Pontevedra and coming to the silence of the countryside. It is just a bit special that one requires 40 minutes to get out of town, as one walks on foot… Again a market was on the way which is worth a short detour. The paths and roads today has been - as announced by some locals - especially nice. Fields, forests and villages. Only very little of the 24km have been along busy roads with heavy traffic. However it was felt that we are now on the principal route to Santiago de Compostela. The indication was foremost the number of people. Crowded crossroads, bars and a need of toilets were the consequences. The atmosphere is very peaceful. Nice discussions in the places were one can ... read more

On the second day, the prodcedure to get ready seems already more obvious. After breakfast, despite the noise of the city Vigo, the “Camino—pace“ is quickly back.The slow mode of travelling seems already more normal and you know: you will reach your goal, step by step, in a steady pace. We briefly visited the city's fish market on the way. In a local shop we got some water (the flavour of tap water is worth to avoid at any price…) and some sunflower kernels for our way. Leaving the busy atmosphere of city and traffic noise behind, after 20 minutes we were dwelling on some calm paths, enjyoing the view and meeting mostl co-pilgrims. The great landscape of the fjord-like topography followed us like a great documentary cinema. Shortly before lunch we chose a detour of ... read more

Santiago de Compostela When we got off the ferry, we had no idea what specific direction we would go. We knew we were going through Spain, Portugal and France, had a couple of firm destinations like Seville and Granada in our minds, but hadn’t a route or had anything else in our minds. After staying in the Picos and having bit of time to study the maps and guidebooks. It seemed the next destination must be Santiago de Compostela, in the Northwest of Spain. Since the 9th Century pilgrims have been travelling many miles to visit the shrine of the Apostle St James, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. There are several routes including from France, Portugal and from within Spain itself, with the French Way, or Camino Frances, being the ... read more