Day 37 Camino de Santiago Aug. 11 Arzua

If you want to eat before 8:00 PM, then you eat in a bar. Only, they don't really have lots to choose from.  Bocadillos - sandwiches with very little mean and LOTS of bread.  This is the bar that I went to after getting tired of a poor connection and a hard seat on the ground.  Not the most hygienic, to be sitting on a curb typing on a computer.  This bar had a very friendly bartender who actually came to the table with a tapas of french bread, good cheese and a fish.  A slimy, ain't been cooked fish.  But it was the gesture that counted!   Is that Ed Asner ponying up to the bar??!?!

     The town I stayed in last night was Palas de Rei, or Palace of the King.  T'wernt a palace, and t'wernt a king in sight.  Town was nondescript...which means I won't bother trying to describe it.  Dinner was nondescript as well.   Looks like they're gearing up for a big festival.  For a country with no money, they sure like to party like they've got money.  I can hear the Germans as they continue sending the Euros....
German - "Vas its das?   Eine party?!?! Again! Nein! Nein!!
Spaniard - He's right!  SIESTA!!  Everyone take a break!!

    Okay, remember these cute little silos they build here in Galicia (the Irish state in Spain)?  I saw this one today and thought, "Tupperware!"  Tupperware needs to quit dabbling in the little 1 quart size and kick it up to the 300 gallon size.  They could make them fit inside these silos so the tourist still go gaga, but they would be so much more efficient.
      Within 50 miles of Santiago.  Don't know what to expect or what to feel.  Part of me is happy to have that feeling of accomplishment and another part of me is sad to have a great learning experience end.  I guess it will never end, if I don't let it.  Listen to me, waxing on like I'm done.  There's still 50k more that a lot can go wrong.  I'll get all sentimental at k maker 0!!

    In the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere, (sounds Dickenish) was a woman washing clothes in a public water basin.  I was looking at her thinking, "Is this a tourist attraction?  Did I just walk into a Galicia Colonial Town, aka Williamsport?"  In all of Spain, this is the only one that I've seen.   They way she was scrubbing, I don't know how the clothes last??

    Okay so here is a very practical way to use the old silos.  As a mail and milk box!  Clever.

      I realize that it's a bit blurry...okay, a lot blurry, but I loved the reflection.  The purple blur is a family that has been biking the camino for the past few days.  They go ahead of me then, because of the little girl on the back, they fall behind.  I usually see them at dinner and Bien Camino them.  It's a good feeling!

     Yes, pretty colors, but you have to know why I took the photo.  There was a 12 year old boy walking with his family and he would get ahead or behind them and to avoid being lonely/scared, he would play his radio.  Loudly!!!  I would pass him to get away from the radio and he'd run to catch up. I'd let him pass, and then he'd wait for me at some point along the way.  He finally got the drift and turned off the radio and then stayed within eyesight as I walked....in quiet!

    Another albergue...that was 'complete'.  No problem... Just uphill 2k more to the big city.... Found a great little hotel, which cost more than the albergue, but I'm not sharing a room with 40 folks.  It would have been nice in the pictured albergue as I would have been able to soak in the river.  No problem...I soaked in a shower.
     This is the river.  Not too deep, but deep enough and cold to bring the old knees around.  Actually, the body seems to have adjusted.  I've named my backpack/trip - "Walk n Roll".  I have to admit, I have a nasty habit of naming inanimate objects like cars, backpacks, houses, etc.  Also learned to quit trying to change my feet.  If I wear a band -aide, I don't get blisters.  I was trying to toughen them up.  They won the fight.  Now it's a morning ritual, four band-aids and start walking.

 
 One of my favorite scenes is the grand panorama.   It's so.... so... Arizonaish, isn't it!!  Here it is in color and in black and white.

 

Day 36 Camino de Santiago Aug 10 Palas de Rei

I can't believe that I'm within 65 K of Santiago.  Bit by bit, step by step.  Someone said that it is over a million steps from St. Jean Pied du Port to Santiago.  The other day from Vega de Valcarce  to O Cebreiro, was straight up a hill.  I looked at a map and there were four towns along the way.  I decided that if I could only focus on the first town, then the second, and so on, I'd compound effect my way to the top.  The only problem was that I couldn't remember the names.  All I knew is that one had a bunch of R's , and another needed some consonants.  So I remembered them like this - Ronnie Harrison and Firechief  Lovell.  Once I got to the R town, it was on to the H town.  That is how this whole trip has been.  It is tempting with the end so close to try and bull rush it, but nope, I'm going to continue as I have.
      This is the front of the South African's Albergue.  Behind the giant doors it opened into a beautiful courtyard and then a very well done rehab of a farmhouse!  Gorgeous.  The owners, Gordon and Judy ran a very clean, easy going and spacious albergue!!

     You can tell the people who are relatively new to the Camino because their feet still hurt.  These two  are from Leon and the older man is from Valencia.  The young guy is an engineer and she is a piano teacher.  The older man is a saxophone teacher!

    For dinner we had homemade chicken curry, compliments of Gordon.  The two on the far right are from Slovakia and the older man on the far left is from France.  The two to the front right are from Venice. He's and engineer and she is a student.

   I complimented Gordon on having a menu that was flawless, which is a joke because English is his first language.  He was telling me that many of the restaurants rely on Google Translate but it doesn't always translate accurately.  For instance, in local jargon, "pulgas" means small sandwiches.  But on Google Translate it means "fleas"  So this menu of a restaurant nearby has not only hot fleas, but cold fleas!!

   Okay now for a trip into scatology.  After dinner I went for a walk and what did I see (and smell), but the biggest cow pattie of all time.  That's a size 12 shoe folks and this pattie dwarfs it.  But what amazed me is that, if you look at the scatter pattern, it looks like it fell straight down from... a helicopter??!?!

     From the ghastly we go to the glorious.  I left about 8:00 this morning and the early morning was beautiful.  The cool air tends to keep the cow smell down considerably!  There is a river nearby which helps to contribute the moisture in the air!

        Everytime I walk through the farm area, I think, how can this country be going broke??  It seems as if every arable acre of land is being cultivated.  Something is wrong, very wrong with this picture.

      The town of Portomarin may look like a new city... and it is.  It's what I call a TVA town.  The original town was completely buried under water when the dam was completed.  the government rebuilt the town up on the hill.  Wasn't that nice of them!!

   I don't know how long the bridge is but it had be practicing all kinds of maneuvers to avoid getting scared.  I do not like heights, but I know that I'm safe as I'm walking, but I keep imagining weird things happening... and it was a long long long way down to the river.  I'd look up from time to time to see the other side and it never seemed to be getting closer.  What's up with dat!??!!?

     Once I got to the other side, I went to a restaurant of a friend of Gordons and had bacon and eggs, but no cake or coffee.  I felt better as I walked today, but I will be even better when I just have fruit!
The river was gorgeous as it snaked it's way around the bend.  Made me want to have a canoe and paddle to wherever it was headed.

    Lot's more families on the Camino now for the final few days.  These two kids were hopping and skipping...little brats!!  No, they were cute.  At one point one had his arm around the other's back and I thought, "After a couple days that arm will be around his throat!"  But for now, they like each other.  They had exact matching outfits, down to the canteens.  Parents - don't do that!!!

    The trail went in and out of the sun today, but sometimes the shade was so thick that it formed a tunnel.

     I came to one little town and there was a grumpy man working behind the bar.  I know why, he has an ant problem!!!

   He has an ant problem and I have a wifi problem.  No wifi in town except at this little hole in the wall store that only has vending machines and stools bolted to the floor.  I sat for a minute but the connection was horrible.  I did find a better wifi connection at a bar, so I'll type until it's time for dinner which is at 8:00PM.
















“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” 
― Oscar Wilde

Day 35 Camino de Santiago Aug. 9 Vilacha

    Couldn't stay another day in Sarria, for no reason other than itchy feet.  The weather is getting hot as in, it is not comfortable to go to bed before 10PM.  Flies are super annoying as well because of all the cows and pigs.
      I saw this sign advertising a Dutch Circus that is coming to town.  Nothing new there, but see where it says, "Sin Animales"?  That means "no animals".   Hmmm... The last time I went to the circus I was so bored that I wished an elephant would step on me, and now, no animals!!!  What do you do, watch clowns run around and act silly.  If someone asked me to go I'd go on the following conditions:
a) it would be a BYOB affair - Bring Your Own Barretta or
b) healthy doses of LSD would be given upon entrance.

       This old bridge was originally built by the Romans and has had several facelifts over the years.  I really can't imagine living so close to something 2,000 years old and not oohing and awing every time I stepped on it.

      Like this old man here.  I bet the sickle he is using is 100 years old as well and he's working 30 meters from a bridge that's 2000 years old.  I like things that have history.  Okay, this is deep but stay with me:  Remember Dermott the Irish guy?  He was saying that he believes in ghosts and that it's reasonable for ghosts to inhabit buildings, bridges, etc.  Here's his theory?  A bridge absorbs heat from the sun, which is energy.  A bridge also absorbs cold which is a form a energy, and when a person dies suddenly, there is enormous energy given off, so why couldn't the building or bridge absorb that energy???  It really flowed better when we were drinking, but seems to have a couple of holes in it right now!

   Okay, you'll love this.  When you are on the Camino, the unwritten rule is that you do something to make the Camino better, that you give something back.  Okay with that in mind, I was walking on the trail this morning and saw horse poop.  Given that the trail wasn't marked, I made an arrow for my fellow pilgrims....out of horse poop!  Now...don't say that I haven't given anything back.  Actually, there is something that I've been doing since day one, but I can't tell you because that would destroy the magic of it.

     If you look at this picture you probably are drawn to the bridge, but focus on the barbed wire and here this:  the barbed wire was one of the greatest inventions when it came to changing the wild wild west to the controlled west.  The three big inventions were the repeating rifle, which trust me, one man could hold off 10 indians for a long time, the train, which brought more settlers faster than the indians could make arrows, and then barbed wire, which stopped open ranges and created private land.  And you thought it was just some ol' wire!

     Good thing there was lots of shade on the trail today because it was very hot and supposedly going to get hotter mañana.  The down side is that so many pilgrims will get up at 5AM to beat the heat.  I will combat it another way.  I will leave at 9AM and stop earlier.  Today I decided to stop 2K from my original destination because I have a feeling that it will all be full when I get there.  The albergue here is 10E and has only 8 beds in a room.  The South African man and wife running it are cooking dinner for everyone.  The place is really beautiful.  Yes, I want to buy it!!

     This is the official mark of where you have to start if you want to get the Compostela, or written certificate saying that you've hiked the Camino de Santiago.  I'm not that interested in the paper, but will take it unless there's a huge line to wait in to get it.  I can't believe that people would write on the marker... yes I can.

    Uhhhh.... tractor wins every time!  Was very cute, however, as the farmer was teaching his wife to drive.  They eventually stopped and we were able to pass on the side.  I would not walk on the side until they turned off  the tractor's motor.  Yes.... bok bok!!

      What a cool home.  They have a greenhouse that separates the main house from the garage/barn.  It also doubles as a winter room for them to sit in.  Not a bad view either!!

     As a pilgrim gets closer to Santiago, more of the locals get into the whole Camino thing.  The "thing" is giving.  This man had a beautiful home with a gorgeous garden in front and was giving away peanuts, water, apples and oranges.  He, like most, but not all, have a "donativo" plate where pilgrims can leave a few cents to help defray the costs.  We talked for about 15 minutes about his farm and life in general.  It is one experience I will miss about the Camino.  People are so darn nice... I really hated taking all of his money when he wasn't looking!!!

     I am also starting to see more and more of these crosses.  People leave little trinkets on them, but I don't know if it's a family thing, like a shrine, or if it's for the general public.  It's not like they have an interpretive center near by.
 

    You would never see so many people east of Leon, but since O Cebreiro, the number of pilgrims has increased tremendously.   Great!  I saw a man and his wife biking with a three year old girl in a bike seat.  Yesterday, on the road I saw a gerry-rigged bicycle pulling a lady in a wheel chair.  Good to see people chasing a dream.

     This is another example of families leaving fruit or gifts out for Pilgrims.  I had one of the plums and it was so sweet I need an insulin shot.  They grow the best fruit I've ever had, and Memphis has good fruit.  This morning for breakfast I had a naval orange, two of the peaches, and a pear.  Each fruit was sweeter than the previous one.  I was feeling great when I walked and then after 6 K stopped and had bacon and eggs, toast, cafe con leche and a cake.  Either the cake or the milk in the coffee messes me up.  I've been experimenting and after 35 days, leche and the cake are not good for me.  I don't want to make a rash decision, so I may need a few more days of experimenting, which ironically, is how long before I reach Santiago!!!  Oh the life of a scientist!

      This is where the locals store their grain.  Kind of a grain file, but built off the ground.  The holes in it allow it air out and not spoil.  Probably stop them from exploding.  I have often said that exploding silos are not a good thing.  No more experiments need to be performed.

      Thanks to people like Steven Speilberg, I can't walk by a field of ferns without thinking that the head of a Veloraptor is going to pop up and people are going to start dropping like flies.  Thanks to Speilberg, I can't go in the ocean without thinking that a 30 foot great white isn't going to eat me.

      But thankfully, corn!!!  Yes, Field of Dreams, corn.  So I'm looking for Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Ty Cobb, and wait who is that??? It's the monster from Jeepers Creepers!  No it's the Children of the Corn!  No it's....

      Beautiful day today.  Heat was oppressive, but couldn't stop the beauty.  When I got too hot, I found some shade and rested. Sometimes I stopped and had a hot tea.  I like the Camino because it helps to teach that you have to walk at your own speed.  The least happy people seem to be those trying to walk with someone else.  Not a problem unless one looks like a marathoner and one looks like they have their favorite chair at the buffet table.

      How can you not love the buildings here?  I like the stone, which is taken from the fields, which allows them to then use a plow.  I like the fact that the buildings are hundreds of years old and still functional, though I imagine there may be some trouble wiring them for the internet.   The man running the albergue tonight was telling me that the state of Galicia in Spain is a nightmare for albergue owners.  They have a book two inches thick on rules and regulations.  He has a friend in Sarria who runs an albergue and was fined 300 E for having a brown stain on the bottom of his toilet seat.  The man swears that he cleans it every day.  His other friend was fined 3000E for having a piece of meat in the refrigerator that wasn't marked with an "entry/expiration" date!

That which does not kill you... hurts a lot! - SWB

   
   

Day 34 Camino de Santiago Aug. 8 Sarria

Classic lesson today!   Fear not, what is not!  That'll be my saying for the day.  I  was soooooooooooo looking forward to being in O Cebreiro and it turned out to be a flop.  I was soooooooooooooo dreading to be in Sarria, because that's where the number of peregrines increases exponentially.  Guess what - Couldn't wait to get out of O Cebreiro and might stay an extra day in Sarria.
     Yes, the number of peregrines substantially increased since O Cebreiro, but Sarria has over 400 beds and will accommodate even more by opening up the school gym to sleep on the floor!
     Are you listening Albergue in O Cebreiro?!?!/!#%$#&&
    I awoke this morning at 9 AM  to the birds singing, a cool breeze blowing through the window, and the smell of freshly baked croissants.....NOT!  I awoke at 5:30 because there are new peregrines and they are sore and can't sleep.  This morning there was a family of three: Mom, Dad and daughter who was about 22 and fairly portly (I'm being kind here!  Work with me...work with me!)  At 5:30, her dad was putting a creme on her legs and massaging them, which is a wonderful thing...just not at 5:30 AM in a room with 10 people.  Oh... and if it's not too much bother...maybe hold the conversation to just a tad below a sonic boom.  I wish I could have understood their Spanish because it would have been fun to have joined their conversation at the most inappropriate time!  Actually, I just laughed because... well.. what else could I do.  It makes me feel great to see the daughter, undaunted by her obvious liabilities, attempting to hike 20 - 25 k a day, and I'm happy to see a mom and dad close enough to their daughter to take her on the Camino.  God bless them all...  Now... shut the heck up!!  Just kidding!  It was comical to see people so oblivious to the rest of the world around them.

    Good ol' Steve was sleepy when I left the Albergue and forgot my towel so I had to walk two miles back to get it.  Isn't that fun!!  Hello cow....again!  Hello barking dog...again!!!
    After finally going in a positive direction, it turned out to be the wrong direction... well not exactly the wrong direction... I mean... if I went all the way around the world, it would have eventually been the right direction.  As it turned out... I did see another house I'd like to buy...only it has lots of cow manure in the street in front of it and the fields around it, which means boo coo flies!
    I checked my map... ya know...here's a recommendation from Steve...check your map BEFORE you start off in the morning!  I checked and saw that I was taking the ahem...northern route... which oddly enough was a short cut... but only on my map.  There were huge mountains to climb on my map, but it was a great workout.

   A lot of the time I was on the road, so I rolled.  Much of the time I was on a path like this one, so I carried.  The pack has gotten lighter or I have gotten stronger, or I quit thinking about it!

    The trail is very poorly marked ever since I left Ponferrada a few days ago.  It's like the yellow arrow painter is on strike.  Probably a retired Spanish waiter.  In Mexico, it's "mañana".  To the Spanish waiter it's "Ma-never".  You can hike for an hour and never see an arrow or shell, but then BAM a huge sign.  In previous days, like the first 30 days, there was a yellow arrow or shell every two minutes.

    The books all say that the number of hikers/bikers increases in Sarria, but it's actually O Cebreiro that the new pilgrims join.  It seems that they come in bunches, not solo travelers.  The difference being that they are usually louder and less willing to break from their group.  To say that the Camino has changed, yes, it has, but the jury is out as to for the better or worse.  I know it means more to me when I see some of the original pilgrims.  There's that fraternity feel of community that is priceless.

 I feel for the newbies because the trail is still the trail.  Steps like these are killers because they break the rhythm and strain calf muscles.  Their feet have not been broken in and they are hurting after the first day.  They'll be hurting more in three days, they just don't know it yet.  Again, good for them - If this is the only time off they can get, more power to them.  If I can help, I will.

     After hiking for eternity... not really, it was probably just 1/2 of eternity, Sarria came into view.  It's a huge city!  As in too many bars to count.  I stopped off at a tourism office just outside of town and they found me a hotel room for 20E and it's wonderful!  Not bad considering I paid 9E last night to be with the Spanish version of the Von Trapp family!

 






      Sarria is built on the side of a hill and was a good stretch after my 24k walk.  I like to walk after I shower as it seems to stretch me and prevent tightening of the muscles.  Beautiful little church in Sarria as well.

   I ate Italian tonight!  Mama Mia...it was okay...  Good olive oil!  Good coffee.  My Mom's lasagna absolutely smokes the one I had tonight.  In the restaurant, I found what happened to those old maps I had in grade school.  I love maps!  I look at one and BOOM - I'm gone!
     This Jesuit church reminded me of a guy I met in Trabadelo.   I walked into a restaurant and there were two Germans sitting at a table and at another table was an Asian and an anglo.  I sat at a table near them.  I heard the Asian speaking perfect English so I asked if I could join them.  Mike the Asian was from San Francisco, and Peter was a Hungarian.

   Long story- short version.  Mike was an accountant and couldn't stand it.  Said no one he worked with could stand it.  The biggest topic of conversation was... how long till retirement!  So after several years, he quit and has been traveling for the last 7 months or so.  Now, he's headed back to the states to be a Jesuit priest.  He said it's a 10 year process - 2 years of learning the rules and regulations (isn't their a video he could watch); 3 years of college - either Fordham or Chicago Loyola (maybe Western??); then 2 years of internship in a school or hospital; and then 3 years of theology.  Wow!!

   

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

Herman Cain