Geo: 29.8847, -97.6697It's taken a long time to finish up our Camino saga. I wanted to sum up our experience and found that harder to do than I'd thought. So here goes.When we planned this trip, we thought it would be fun to visit another country at the end and fly out of a different city, and we chose Lisbon, Portugal. In retrospect, I'm not sure that was a good idea. When we reached Santiago, we were both ready to go home. But we were flying out of Lisbon and still had 4 days to get there. With the remaining time we decided to see Porto, Fatima and Lisbon, Portugal. Saturday, June 25th, to Porto. Our bus trip from Santiago de Compostela, Spain to Porto, Portugal was pretty uneventful. When we arrived, we managed to figure ... read more

Geo: 42.8804, -8.5463Wednesday, June 15 to Gonzar. A cold wet miserable day. It would have been a scenic walk except I mostly didn't see it – I had my eyes to the ground keeping the rain out and trying not to slip and fall. We passed into the updated 100 km. zone today. Most interesting sight today – 2 pilgrims on horses. It's an option, but we haven't seen many. Lots of frustrations today. We got to our albergue where we had reserved a private room only to find they had given it to another Charlie from the US already and no other rooms were available, so we were back to bunks again. (I know you folks who have already done the Camino are rolling your collective eyes – how spoiled these Copelands have gotten!) At ... read more

Geo: 42.5999, -5.57175Sunday, May 29, Day 2, León. We are taking 3 days in León. I have a lot to catch up on, and my feet need the rest. Today was interesting. We needed to find a church with Mass, so thought the Cathedral would be a good choice. Santa Maria is a gorgeous French-style gothic cathedral built in the 13th century. I was really upset when we got there and learned there was no 11:00 Mass – I had lots of work to do! Then we remembered that it was the feast of Corpus Christi. We were wondering why there were hundreds of people gathered in the square in front - also dozens of little girls in white dresses with baskets of flower petals, a couple of bands and groups of men and women dressed ... read more

Geo: 42.3409, -3.69973It's been hard keeping this blog up. Unlike other trips we've taken where we're in a place for several days, it's a different town every night. In the past I've enjoyed giving a little history or interesting fact about a place, but sad to say they are all starting to blend together. ("Oh, look! Another medieval church/bridge/monastery/castle.") So, here's the latest. You'll get bored reading about my feet.Wednesday, May 11. To Navarette. It was a beautiful walk out of Logrono, through the old city, to modern Logrono and then the Camino follows an urban trail out through parkland and eventually up a piney trail into La Grajera Park. There were many Spaniards walking the trail in groups or 2 or 3 up to the park. I think La Grajera would be akin to... read more

Geo: 42.4658, -2.45Saturday May 7. Today was a good test of our rain gear – a cold and rainy windy day. A not so bad steady climb to Villamayor de Monjardin where we had sent my pack ahead to an albergue without knowing if we'd be able to get in (they don't take reservations). We got there by 12. I sat in the bar while Charlie got in line to get us a room at the albergue, which opened at 1:00. (Note to kids – your mother is not hanging around drinking in bars. "Bar" in Spain is a place to get coffee, snacks or even light meals, as well alcohol if you want.) I still had some trouble with my now-healing blistered toes today, and we probably could have made it to Los Arcos – ... read more