Blogs from Sarria, Galicia, Spain, Europe - page 2

Walked from Alex and Jill's place to the bus stop. Something of a rush because the bus driver decided to leave 5 mins early. A beautiful sunny day in London. We took freeways across town to Stansted airport for our Ryan Air flight. Catherine had a minor hassle getting through security because they were concerned she had something more than 100 mls of liquid. Debate come down to whether stick deodorant could be counted as liquid or solid. Sheesh! Onto the flight which was pretty full. Coming into Santiago de Compostela airport we could see the rolling green hills of Galicia and while cumulus clouds. Great walking weather. During the flight an English woman was sitting next to us. She was also planning to travel to Sarria, and had organised a taxi. We asked if we ... read more

6 October 2015, Tuesday Triacastela to Sarria, Stage 31, GPS: No data as watch died and operator error after recharging. Fitbit: Steps: 29149, Stairs:101, Miles: 12.73 We have a buffet breakfast associated with the albergue, several doors down street. It is a full breakfast and delicious. Complexo Xacobeo is a place to remember. Xacobeo is the Galician word for Jacobeo which translates into James. So the Way of St James and the Camino de Santiago are terms used interchangeable through out. We don our rain gear and are out the door a little after nine. We walk to the end of the Main Street and turn right toward the San Xil route. I would have so enjoyed the other, longer route to the Samos Monastery but the weather is iffy and it adds six kilometers to ... read more

October 3,2015 For the Compostela in Santiago a pilgrim must walk the last 100 km. today we reached the 100 km marker. Feeling good! Today as well we saw several buses come to the highway just outside the 100 km and drop off loads of new pilgrims. The roads have suddenly become crowded. I have heard that the crowds in Santiago are large and services for the mass at noon has about 1000 people. I understand why now. Today was again a pleasant walk in and out of tree groves. The morning was very chilly at 4 degrees and fog. We started off and pulled back to have a great coffee con leeche. The fog never fully lifted until mid day and it was pleasant. Our hotel this evening is out in the sticks and we ... read more

Something did not agree with Mike's stomach last night. He went to bed with an ache and woke up with a cold sweat and getting rid of whatever that was unsettling. I will spare the details. There was a knock on our room door. The owner was very concerned. Mike waved an, I'm ok and shut the door. It was a long night. In the morning we decided it best to make it a short day. We booked a room in Sarria. Before leaving another gal said she was in the same boat as Mike. The owner was very apologetic. 8:15 am, on the road. The first 7 miles were down hill. The chill felt good. Mike needed to stop and take breaks every so often. We rolled through many small towns. It was up and ... read more

Aside from being my son Andrew's birthday, today was special because it was only a short walk and was also the start of Sue's uninterrupted push for Santiago. Yesterday we walked mainly through forests of chestnut trees, some over 300 years old. You can be walking in silence and without warning nuts fall from the trees with quite a thud. Gladly, no one was hit. Today we are treading on hundreds of acorns as we weave our way through forests of oak trees. We left Triacastella at dawn and immediately found ourselves rising above the town and disappearing into dense, damp forests. After about 4kms uphill we came across the hamlet of San Xil which consisted of a few stone buildings and a drink vending machine. I told Sue it was the peak of the hill ... read more