Blogs from Galicia, Spain, Europe - page 6

Today I plan on walking 23.5 kms from Arcade to A Portela-Barro to stay at the municipal albergue there. The lady at the hotel/albergue desk supposedly made a reservation for me, although from what I’d read they don’t take reservations. She also called TuiTrans to transport my backpack. Apparently, I'm going completely through one stage, so the charge is 12 Euros instead of the normal 7. Also, she indicated that there were no more albergues where I could make reservations, and that TuiTrans would not be able to transport my backpack after today either! I am not looking forward to walking with my backpack again, but… little or no choice. I was up and ready to go by 7am, so out the door I went, feeling fairly spry. After I left Arcade behind, I had some ... read more

Before I start today’s blog, I need to mention something that happened yesterday. My backpack arrived safe and sound, but I received an email stating that they found 45 Euros in my envelope instead of the 7 that it costs, and that tomorrow I need to either send only 2 Euros or add 2 Euros. My Spanish isn’t perfect, but I verified that that is what they said. It didn’t make any sense, as there is no way I’d put two 20 and one 5 Euro notes in the envelope instead of a 5 Euro note and a 2 Euro coin. I replied and told them I was assuming they meant 5 Euros instead of 45 Euros, and that I’d put 9 Euros in for tomorrow. Apparently I was right, as they apologized and clarified later ... read more

SC writes: So we’re working our way along the north coast visit towns and staying in towns and cities along the way. Yesterday we stayed in Ribadeo, and tonight we’re in Ferrol. See the map for ease of reference. Some of the smaller costal towns are throbbing and vibrant, with lively markets, shops with sales on, and neat little cafes for the necessary tea or coffee and comfort. Others are frankly asleep...That’s the Siesta for you. Noteworthy points from our travels over the past two days: An excellent dinner last night in Ribadeo, a little port town, having a little festival. I had the local specialty of octopus, which was great. Cathy had pork loin marinated in lemon and herbs - tender and delicious. The food so far has been mainly good, and usually interesting. Being ... read more

I woke up fairly and walked to the ferry dock to get the ferry to Valenca, right across the river from Tui, Spain. At this point it wasn’t quite 8am and the ferry wasn’t supposed to leave until 9, so I, with a number of other pilgrims, sat down to have a coffee or soda. Not long after, the lady in the café came out and said a smaller boat was leaving now and it was only 5 euros, but could only take 6 people. I was the 5th person to get a ticket, so away I went. The boat was a small motor boat, but didn’t take long to get across the inlet to Spain. Notice I said across the inlet to Spain, not down the inlet to Valenca in Portugal! Well, I’d done it ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Les Rias Baixas sont les endroits où la mer pénètre dans les terres, type golfe, sur la côte ouest de la Galice. La journée un peu longue, m'a offert beaucoup de beaux paysages. Comme celle d'hier, bien tracée. J'avais un peu sous estimé le kilométrage. Un tout petit mot, sur le repas d'hier au soir. Recommandé par la patronne de l'hôtel, un restaurant, local et de locaux, auquel je me rends, vers 20h15, le garçon me dit " on ne commence pas le service avant 21h 21h15". J'ai patienté 1heure, je n'avais pas envie de retourner, à Combarro, me plonger dans la foule des touristes. Sur le menu bien fourni, j'ai eu du mal à choisir, je n'arrivais pas à le comprendre en espagnol, que des mots qui m'étaient inconnus. Personne ne parlait ... read more