Blogs from Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, Europe

We were now in the Spanish province of Glaicia, which has many historic and linguistic ties to Portugal. Motoring north along Autopista AP-9, we passed Vigo at 3:00 p.m. Catching a glimpse of Vigo was interesting. It has a large Atlantic-facing port and is Spain's most important fishing port. Cruise ships call at Vigo for shore excursions to Santiago de Compostela. The city and port are situated on the Ria de Vigo estuary, which we crossed on the Ponte de Rande highway bridge. A number of raft-looking objects were floating in the estuary. These were Bateas, used for Galician mussel farming. Between Vigo and Pontevedra, the coach made a stop at Área de Servicio San Simón for an afternoon break. Arriving in Santiago de Compostela, the coach boldly drove right up into the historic district and ... read more

Vilaboa to Santiago de Compostela 86 km ARRIVED!! For the time being a brief note. After a challenging day on the road, at 6.30 PM, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. I feel blessed to be in the position and state of health to complete this bike ride. As it turns out, entering the cathedral square, we exactly clocked the distance from Faro to Santiago at 1,000 km or 625 miles. I will write more about today and our stay here in Santiago tomorrow. Now I feel too tired. Before clocking off, one thing I need to get off my chest: I COULD HAVE NEVER COMPLETED THIS TRIP IF IT WEREN’T FOR MARK AND JAAP. MANY THANKS, I OWE YOU GUYS A LOT.... read more

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

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

Nachdem ich durch den gestrigen 4:0-Sieg des FC Bayern in guter Stimmung war, habe ich heute Santiago de Compostela erkundet. Die wichtigste Sehenswürdigkeit ist natürlich die Kathedrale und die Plätze und Gebäude drum herum. Dabei entdeckt man viele Pilger, die zu Fuß den Jakobsweg gelaufen sind. Einer hat sich auf den Platz vor dem Gotteshaus gesetzt und genehmigte sich genussvoll eine Zigarre. All das sieht sehr schön aus und ich erinnere mich an meinen Besuch im Jahr 1991. Dabei habe ich heute auch in einem Café mal wieder einen Cappuccino getrunken. Leider gibt es ja in der Stadt kein Starbucks. Mittlerweile bin ich wieder im Hotel. Dort telefonierte ich mit der Heimat, bereitete meine weitere Fahrt morgen in südlicher Richtung vor, schreibe an meinem Blog und gehe gleich nochmals mit dem Firmenrechner online. Später werde ich ... read more