Blogs from Sarria, Galicia, Spain, Europe

By 6:30am we were out the door. First we had to cross into Sarria proper, over the bridge. We wound our way through the streets, past a couple of churches and some ruins of a castle. We were up above Sarria with a nice view, so we took a photo, and continued on down the trial. We passed through Barbadelo and 7:30 then Rente about 8:30, then found a nice cafe around 9:30 called Mercado de Serra, so we stopped for coffee. There were very few signs at the beginning of towns, so I probably missed and will miss mentioning some. At about 11:00 we passed through Morgade and entered Ferreiros shortly thereafter. This is where the famous "100 kilometers" until Santiago marker is. Around 11:30 we passed through Rozas, and found a very nice donativo. ... read more

We left Fonfria at 6:30am, when the sun was starting to rise. We walked along the edge of the mountain top and through forests for about a half an hour. Soon after 7am, we passed through Biduedo (or Viduedo in Galician), and entered Filloval 45 minutes later. Here we found a bar, called Aira do Camino, and took advantage of it for a coffee break. About 20 minutes later we passed through Pasantes and on the other side got our first view of Triacastela, the only large town before our stop in Sarria. Before reaching Triacastela, we passed through Ramil and spotted a very weird, very old tree right on the Camino. At about 9am, we entered Triacastela and stopped for breakfast at the Restaurante Parrillada. After our breakfast of a very unusual and tasty pastry, ... read more

Well the 6 hours on the train went pretty quickly, the first 2 hrs was on the fast lines and that flew by, but then kicked into the slow track which did take another 4hrs to do just what we had done on the fast lines. So glad we had an extra night in Sarria, the train did not arrive until 7pm so that gave us the following day to explore around Sarria, with a population of 13,500 it is big enough to have lots of restaurants and bars but small enough to get around and see everything and the people were very welcoming. If it wasn't for the Camino Walk a lot of these towns would find it hard to survive, Sarria has become a major starting point for the Camino for people who only ... read more

We left Ponferrada a little late; breakfast too good and the bike workshop in the basement of our auberge too interesting; checked tyre pressures chain action, pumped up tyres etc. Made our way slowly to Villanfranco del Bierzo where there was a market we bought oranges, nuts,cheese and sausage for lunch. Began the ascent cautiously through the vineyards of Villafranca, knowing these were the biggest hills yet. Made it past Herrerias stopped for goodies and water bought at the market in Villafranca del Bierzo, then the real peaks;Cabriero at -1300m and finally alto Poio at 1330m. Amazing descent into triacastella, we saw the most amazingly luxurious auberge imaginable, mountain views, barbecue terrraces and a swimming pool. The town of tricasteela was like like something from middle earth, beautiful, picturesque with singing canaries. We cycled another 20km ... read more

Sarria is tomorrow, Triacastela is not an option on this site. The walking today was mainly on natural paths and was quite steep both ways, up and down. We passed though early morning oak forests before climbing into the high country and being treated to some of the most amazing country scenes you will see anywhere. The views across Spain and deep into the valleys were breathtaking ( or was that just the walk up the hills?). We stopped for coffee at a small hamlet before beginning the slow steep descent into the valley, and Triacastela. You pass through many small hamlets and farms and witness the daily lives of the inhabitants; milking cows, mucking out sheds, or just tending to other farm work. Large dogs are always on the scene but are oblivious to anyone ... read more