http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , Galicia en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:43:09 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:43:09 BST No no es un nuevo hallazgo natural de la zona del cual nadie habia odo antes. Tampoco es un nueva atraccin turstica descubierta por los espelologos gallegos en algn lugar de esta Finisterrae. Es mi propia interpretacin de lo que me est sucediendo en este momento.La diversin tena que llegar a un punto menos perfecto y pues mis entraas han querido rebelarse ante tal sueo idlico y m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-301845.html Two days ago we crossed the highest point of the Camino. O Cebriero is the village that sits on top of this climb. The night before we were due to cover this accent there was many a worried glance between Pilgrims in the refugio as they cooked up their carbohydrate to prepare for the following days excertion. Some including those who had walked as far as we have had even gone so far as to arrang http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Sarria/blog-301803.html July 5 2008 After 500 miles and 35 days of walking I've finally arrived in Santiago My feet are very happy about this and my blisters are healing nicely. I'm staying in the old city near the cathedral for a few days to relax and explore the city. I attended the daily pilgrim mass at the cathedral and watched in amazement as the largest incense burner in the world swung over our heads from a p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-301642.html Aqu os muestro ya el vostros me est hasta apereciendo en sueos.. diferentes fotos de las calles del casco histrico de la ciudad por la noche. Como os deca la gente se pasa de arriba para abajo y as hice yo el otro da con varias amistades que he conocido de varios pases que tambin ensean espaol. Hay unas muchachas polacas de los ms simpticas varios de EEUU de Boston Los Angeles http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-300584.html With only a few hundred kilometers left of spanish coastline to cover we enjoyed the day cruising through the small towns that lay between Finisterre and Baiona. We camped out just north of the Portugal boarder deciding to tackle a new country and language after a good nights rest.Our fisrt encounter with people from Portugal was at a carny...and yes there are even midgets in Portugal. We quic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Cape-Finisterre/blog-300076.html Aqui estoy en Santiago de Compostela y estoy verdaderamente fascinado con todo. El clima es excelente hay un sol fuerte pero con una temperatura super fresca 65 a 75. El curso para profesores es EXCELENTE. Se nota que lo han organizado muy lgicamente y con detalle. Por las maanas tengo una clase de Teatro espaol del siglo 20 despus una de como usar textos literarios en clase y despu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-299678.html Hello everyoneWell I'm back in Houston already. I can't believe that it's all over. But I can't tell you all what an amazing experience it all was.Mom arrived safely in Madrid where I picked her up We explored Madrid a little and started our way back to the Camino. It was so great to have her there with me. There are so many times when I travel and think man I wish my family was here to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-298946.html Here are photos from the last couple of weeks on the Camino... Im in the providence of Galicia. It was originally settled by Celtics and still maintains its Celtic culture. Because its located between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean it gets much more rain than Southern Spain. Oftentimes its misty and rainy. As I get closer to Santiago the scenery is getting more lush and green... Iv http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-296586.html We pulled into a camping site in Gijon on June 18th. Our camp site overlooked the sea and that evening we had sloppy joe's on the bbq and watched a new swell roll in. We stayed here for two nights just bummin around and taking day trips to nearby towns. We found this old abandoned pier and jumped off of it into the ocean. On the second evening I surfed a point break on the edge of the town beach http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Cape-Finisterre/blog-294105.html See text in English below24 de enero de 2008. JuevesMuchos despus de llegar a Santiago siguen su camino hacia Finisterre donde termina la tierra y empieza el mar el ocano Atlntico.A mi ya se me ha acabado el tiempo. A pesar de eso he decidido regresar a casa un da ms tarde y visitar tambin el oceno. A Finisterre no fui si no a un lugar al que llegar es algo ms sencillo con el tren reg http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/La-Coru-a/blog-291707.html We arrived in this interesting city yesterday and have walked around in awe at the magnificent cathedral and the many smaller churches. Pilgrims abound having walked a minimum of 112K to receive the certificate of compostela the way of the stars that led the monk to the remains of St. James brother of John.We attended mass this morning at the cathedral. We cannot upload photos on this compu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-290351.html What a pleasant little city. Once again we figured we could do this one on our own. Once again that's what we did. This time we were not disappointed. Being able to depart the ship on our own allowed us to have a little more leisurely or more active morning. This day we did not arrive in port until later. This gave Linda G and I a chance to do our morning stretch with James at 700 a.m. and then http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Vigo/blog-289266.html To you all my fellow sojournersYes SantiagoIn my journal I have written 22 pages Dont worry this will be a condensed version. My journal is in many ways Jack at the end of the working day. He sits patiently and listens to me pouring out my day as I cook dinner. He with glass of wine me enjoying the creativity of the cooking. Well no cooking no Jack so 22 pages in the journal. You can s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-288920.html Hi EveryoneYes Ive arrived in Santiago but you are not going to hear about that yet. You will just have to wait and walk the last few days with me first like I had to do.Firstly Tony Wow Im so glad you emailed. I lost my little book with your email address in it. Will email you with news of Daniel etc separately.Zina enjoy BaliSam to answer your question re the most important thing i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-287663.html See text in English below23 de enero de 2008. MircolesNo voy a decir que llor porque no llor pero me emocion ms de lo que en un principio haba sospechado y los ojos se me humedecieron. Y eso que la catedral de Santiago no es precisamente un lugar de reflexin reposo oracin y recogimiento ruido de cientos de pasos gente charlando y destellos de flashes. No importa que en la nave centra http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-286828.html Hi EveryoneYou can see by all my typos last blog that I had to get off the computer very quickly as another pilgrim in the Albergue was wanting to use it and Id been on it a while Im not a super fast typer. She was also VERY insistant most unpigrim like I thought. But Im trying to mot have judgemental thoughts. I did say tryingSo as I was saying the call of the countryside is so stro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-285667.html Hi AllIts been a few days since Ive been able to blog so I have some catching up to do. The weather has improved vastly so socialising has encroached on blog time and some of the places Ive stayed have no internet.The weather has turned on glorious Spring sunshine and warmth and the track has taken some stunning turns.Leon Villar de Mazarife 23.1kmWalking out of a city is a little tiresome http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-285444.html See text in English below22 de enero de 2008. MartesLa revuelta irmandia fue una revuelta popular. La nobleza gallega llevaba mucho tiempo cometiendo abusos e injusticias especialmente contra los campesinos y al final lleg un punto en que llegaron a estar molestos. Unos aos consecutivos de malas cosechas y pestes terminaron por tocarles definitivamente las pelotas y no aguantaron ms.Bajo el http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-284667.html My feet ache. My left ankle aches. My achilles tendon is visibly swollen. My back is crooked from the weight of my pack. Am I going to need a chiropractor when I get back to the States These are the thoughts that filled my mind as we slogged through our LAST day of walking the Camino. Once we arrived at the cathedral I could not really grasp the fact that we had finally arrived at our de http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-283696.html Lying on hard stone never felt so lovely. After 500 miles we arrived at the Cathedral in Santiago and promptly deposited ourselves on the ancient tiles of the plaza in front of the church. The four of us Allen Annie had joined 115 km back in Sarria just laid there in the sun on our backs our backpacks as pillows and took it all in. I cannot really describe the feeling. Even now 24 hours lat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-283682.html In medieval times pilgrims who got to Santiago and still wanted to do some walking before they walked all the way home again Im so glad we have planes now walked to Finisterre which was the end of the known world and pretty special because you could see the sun disappearing into the ocean at the end of the day and apparently the waves crashing masked the sound of the water pouring off the end http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Cape-Finisterre/blog-282815.html See text in English below21 de enero de 2008. LunesEl nuevo da amanece despejado. Ni yo mismo me creo la gran suerte que estoy teniendo con el tiempo. Hace ya 10 das que sal de casa y ni un mal da he tenido. Y Galicia la regin ms lluviosa de Espaa me saluda con un sol tibio pero radiante.Nos levantamos al mismo tiempo Pedro ngel Manuel y yo. Y desayunamos. Del pueblo salimos a la vez http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-282282.html The new phrase we now use is When we were pilgrims...Amazing what a difference a few hours makes in assessing where one is on the experience spectrumOur old phrase courtesy of our theatrical Lynne Rose was Were walking. Were walking. Were talking.It was reflective of what would happen on a film set her old domain with husband David as First Assistant Director. As the tape rolled instru http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-281564.html I made it10.30am yesterday after 25 days of walking and 800km I walked into Santiago with Elin the fastest Peregrina on the CaminoWe had agreed that wed find a private hospedaje and in true camino style we were stopped on the way to the Cathedral by a woman who offered an obviously illegal room in her house. We even got TOWELSSome camino highlights. The walled garden in Trinidad del Ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-279996.html It has been an eventful few days. We have walked up substantial hills and then back down the other side of others. It has been rainy sunny and overall just wonderful.But there have been moments when I realized that at least I had lost the focus of why I was here. Surrounded by friends it is also easy to forget that we are on a pilgrimage.Up until now the notion of pilgrimage has been of a much http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Sarria/blog-279728.html A French style leisurely start from St Jean De Luz and we were in Spain before we knew it literally. No passports check points or even a ldquoBienvenida a Espaardquo sign ldquoWelcome To Spainrdquo if only moving between countries was that painless in the rest of the world Within half an hour we arrived at our first destination of San Sebastian or Donostia as it is known locally. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Santiago-de-Compostela/blog-279668.html See text in English below20 de enero de 2008. DomingoAn no ha clareado el da pero la coreana los amigos de Salamanca y yo nos levantamos. Sobre todo ellos tienen un duro da de peregrinacin por delante pues piensan andar casi 40 kilmetros hasta Calvor cerca de Sarria. Hasta Sarria pienso ir yo. Pocos kilmetros ms har yo que los salmantinos pero montado en bicicleta y cuesta abajo. Un d http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-279602.html These and other questions have been at the forefront of my mind for the last weekI left you in Leon where I was recovering from food poisoning blah literally. Tip from the road When you order paella in a restaurant and they start rooting around in the freezer next to you take that opportunity to leave ReallyI said bye to Michael belated thanks for an awesome 400km drink more milk do http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Sarria/blog-278344.html Ingles We are in Galicia the weather has been sunny all week until today its rainy. Galicia is very green and a bit colder than Portugal. I miss the cheap pastries but otherwise I like Galcia a lot the typical food here so far is empanadas chorizo and octopus. Weve been experimenting with places to stay because the cmapsites are getting more and more expensive. So far weve slept in the wo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Sanxenxo/blog-271906.html Today I started out by going along the highway route instead of the mountain. My ankles were not looking for more elevation changes on what is considered the most phyiscally challenging day of the camino. Trabedelo did not look like a very interesting town compared to Villafranca so I'm glad I stayed there. O Cebreiro why must you be so high It was very tempting to stay in La Faba but I knew th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/blog-264775.html