J. C. and Manoli Petty

Zpet

J. C. and Manoli Petty

Happily, and luckily, married to a cute, younger spanish-born lady, now an American citizen. Computer Programmer by day and carpenter wannabe by night.





When my wife and I had originally planned this trip, we planned for a couple days in Paris, 40 days on the Camino, and a couple weeks in Chipiona. Well, as they say, the best laid plans do oft go astray. First of all, Manoli had heard so much negative about the meseta, that she insisted on skipping it, by taking the bus from Burgos to Leon. So that took about 6-8 days off the Camino. Secondly, I hadn't really counted the number of days we'd have in Chipiona, and now there were 6 or so more. I really like Chipiona and my wife's family, and we went to a few interesting places, but by the end of the first week, I was really bored. When I started thinking about the number of days left in ... read more

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Cádiz June 16th 2022

We left Chipiona, intending to take a ferry from Jerez de la Frontera to Cadiz, to visit my niece Salome. When we arrived at the ferry port, we found out they didn't have any ferries running today. So, Antonio decided we'd take a train instead. After a short ride across town, we bought four round-trip tickets to Cadiz, and away we went. A short time later, we pulled into one of the stations in Cadiz. We'd been in contact with my niece, who had just completed her degree in Tourism that day, and agreed to meet her just outside the station. We went across the street to a corner and waited a few minutes until Salome showed up. She gave us a short tour of Cadiz, showing us a museum, the Roman theater, and a few ... read more
Panorama of Cadiz from the train station
Plaza in Cadiz
Roman theater

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Chipiona June 15th 2022

We left for Ronda late in the morning, intending to stop at Zahara de la Sierra for a while first. At about 11:30am, we saw Zahara, across a large lake, clinging to a hillside. Spanish towns are quite often built on hillsides, but this one was completely on a hill and with a large lake at the bottom. We pulled over on the other side of the bridge to take some photos, then again just after we reached the foot of the town, where they had a nice overlook. We drove up into the town, but Consuelo didn't want to go very far, since the road was fairly narrow and the turns were pretty sharp. We parked in a spot designed for tourist and started walking uphill. The streets were usually pretty small, but the overlooks ... read more
Panoramic view of the valley
Closeup of the town of Zahara
Panoramic view of the town

Europe » Spain » Castile & León » Salamanca June 9th 2022

We woke up casually late, since we had nothing special to do. We had made arrangements to use BlaaBlaa car service to get a ride to Jerez de la Frontera tomorrow, thanks to Manoli's nephew Miguel, since they wouldn't allow our phone for verification. So, we had the whole day to see the sights. Tonight was supposed to be a fiesta, with fireworks and all at night. First, we visited the double cathedral, the old and the new that are connected. Then we went on a roundabout excursion to the roman bridge. They were in the process of putting out the fireworks, and had a lot of the area taped off. We took some nice photos of the cathedral from the other side of the bridge, then went looking for somewhere to eat lunch. We ended ... read more
The ornate door of the cathedral
Looking across the roman bridge
The roman bridge

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Santiago de Compostela June 9th 2022

Day 35: Finesterre to Santiago de Compostela: Today was basically a traveling day, from Finesterre back to Santiago de Compostela and the same pension we stayed in two days ago. We caught the bus at 10am, again along with a lot of pilgrims, and away we went. I think I slept part of the way. We arrived in Santiago before 1pm and walked back uphill to the pension. After we checked back in, we went out to find a place to eat. We decided on the Restaurant Dakar. Manoli ordered mussels and I had a pork, croquetas and pasta salad. The pork was quite good, and tender. We wandered around town until dinner time, found a supermarket and bought some stuff for dinner and for the trip tomorrow. For dinner I had a paella that was ... read more
My pork, croquetas and salad, and Manoli's mussels
My store-bought paella dinner
The street to the Plaza Mayor

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Fisterra June 7th 2022

Today was the day we traveled to the end of the world, not quite literally. We are going to Finisterre, which means the "end of the world" in Spanish. Back in the old days, about 500 years ago or so, the western coast of Spain was the most western spot in the known world. Columbus hadn't found North and South America yet. The lighthouse, and town on this peninsula was named Finisterre, or Fisteria in Galician. Camino pilgrims sometimes continue there hike to the lighthouse at Finisterre and do things like throw there shoes in the ocean, or as in the movie The Way, dump the ashes of their loved ones there. We had little or no desire to walk to Finisterre, so we took a bus. We got up early, packed our backpacks, which we ... read more
View from the bus station cafeteria
View of the station from the bus
First view of the ocean

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Santiago de Compostela June 6th 2022

We were on our way a little before 7am, for our last day on the Camino. First, we passed through San Anton, then saw another scene from the Hobbit. Next, we went from spooky countryside to just the opposite, crossing the highway spotting a plane coming in for a landing at the Santiago Airport. We stopped in The Patio at San Paio for a break just after 8am. After our break, we continued through Lavacolla, passing the 10 kilometers post. By 10:30 we were in Monte de Gozo, but it wasn't like it was 5 years ago. We didn't see any memorial and any place for great views, so we kept going. Just about 11am we entered Santiago de Compostela, and a half an hour later we spotted the Cathedral spire down the street. At 11:47, ... read more
Entering San Anton
Another Hobbit scene
Crossing the highway

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Santiago de Compostela June 5th 2022

We packed up and left the albergue about 6:30, wound our way out of O Pedrouzo, and finally entered Arzua. The address for the albergue and my Camino App implied they were the same, but they weren't. There were a couple of kilometers between them. We saw a couple churches on our way through Arzua, and finally entered As Barrosas, where we stopped at Cafe/Bar Preguntono for a break. I took a photo of a town, way off, in the fog, but I'm still not sure if it was O Pedrouzo, our destination for today. After our coffee break, we continued on, passing A Peroxa, and El Lugar de Tabernavella (apparently its the name of the town). We crossed the highway on a bridge that had stickers all over it, then walked through a scene from ... read more
Capela da Madalena in Arzua
Igrexa de Santiago de Arzúa
Entering As Barrosas

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Sarria June 4th 2022

We were up and on our way before 6:30am. We weren't expecting a bar to be open very soon, but the Albergue Valin Lama surprised us. I think it was because it was also a panaderia or bakery. Anyways, we took advantage of it and stopped for breakfast. We left Palas de Rei at almost 7am, and entered the outskirts of San Xulian by 7:30. Next, we passed through A Grana and entered Casanova at almost 8am, stopping at the Bar Casa Nova. About half an hour later we thought we spotted Ribadiso, but we were wrong. We kept going and passed through Coto and Leboreiro, and made the outskirts of Melide. At almost 10am we entered the Bosque de Peregrinos. There was a neat bridge into the town and soon after we stopped at the ... read more
The welcome Albergue Valin Lama for breakfast
Finally leaving Palas de Rei, at almost 7am
Passing by the Lagoa de San Xiao (Lake San Xiao)

Europe » Spain » Galicia » Sarria June 2nd 2022

We left the albergue before 6:30, but there was so much fog we had to work to see the yellow arrows, much less any scenery. At about 8:30 we entered Gonzar and spotted the Hosteria de Gonzar, so we stopped for breakfast. Manoli and I both ordered a combination plate with eggs and fries. I think her's had ham and mine had sausage, but my sausage was more like chorizo, so it was sort of tough. After breakfast, we continued on, passing through Castromaior. By this time the fog had lifted. We entered Vendas de Naron at almost 11am, so we decided to take a break at the Bar y Albergue O Cruceiro. Next we passed through A Previsa, Ligonde, and Airexe, were we got our first view of our stop for the day, Palas de ... read more
Entering Gonzar, quite a ways before any buildings
The Hosteria de Gonzar for breakfast
The cafe/bar part of the hosteria




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