Arzuá

37.5 kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 30, 2009


Yesterdfay I had a keyboard with a sticky space key, today all keys are sticky and dirty so I will just read the comments and try again another day. I am three days out of SdC with a stop tomorrow in Arca O Piño, then Labacolla, and next day ... Santiago.

This is the doomed leg camino.
Kees and Roland will be in Santiago. Kees was to walk the last 100 kms but last week while walking in Alicante with Jan and Elvira he slipped from the river bank into the river and has badly damaged his right leg. Andrée and Kees both with damaged legs.

Melide

50kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 30, 2009

Palas de Rei

63 kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 29,2009

Ventas de Narón

75 kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 28, 2009

Portomarin

89 kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 27, 2009

Punishment for the taxi? 24kms today but I took it slowly on mostly beautiful Galician paths. It looks like Ireland and I met Ray, an Irish man, probably in his 80s and walking slower than me. He is a delightful character as only the Irish can be (right Kim?) and we passed each other all day. He joined me at the Morgade Bar which is another of my favorite stops. Then I stopped at the new Albergue in Mercadorio, a very nice albergue folks. Ivan, the Hospitalero saves foreign notes,so I have promised to send him a couple on my return to the USA.

At Vilachá just 1-2kms before Portomarin I stopped for awhile and talked with Gordon who runs a little stand selling cold drinks to the pilgrims. I was delaying the inevitable, the long steep down hill, then the steep uphill to Portomarin. Sometimes it does not pay to know what is ahead of you. Gordon is actually a member of the Confraternity of South Africa and they are trying to get a Clean-up the Camino campaign going by giving out green plastic bags to albergues for pilgrims to carry on their way to use and discard at the end of the day. On that note, if you are to be a pilgrim on the camino, then ladies, please carry a plastic bag for your toilet paper and do not throw it where you pee. If I go behind a hedge there is evidence of women, everywhere, it is disgusting, and it takes so little effort to stop this.

Sarria

118kms to Santiago de Compostela
May 26, 2009

It is a long downhill walk to Sarria through Triacastela and Samos. There is no longer three castles in Triacastela, and in fact, it has little to offer other than Albergues, supermercado, Farmacia, and Telebanco. Samos has the beautiful old Benedictine Monastery but I had been there twice. It was raining hard so since this is the last chance before the last 100kms,I took a taxi to Sarria. No rain in Sarria and it was nice, although cold. I caught up with Ralph, my German buddy from Vega de Valcarce and shared a drink with him at "Rolfs Bar in Sarria". His cousin is due to arrive tomorrow and will walk with Ralph to Santiago.

It was here in Sarria that we shared a BIG party night down by the river at Mesón Roberto in 2007. It was a lovely warm night and the food was good with one exception, when Martin tried Pulpo (octopus) for the first time he did not like it at all, he jumped up from his chair and went to the river and spat it out (you had to be here). Many bottles of red later the night finished. The next day Maureen colored the camino pink!

We called Rolf to let him know that we were having a drink at this Bar. He is doing fine and has the all clear from his doctors. Good news to end the day with.

Biduedo/Viduedo

Two days of rain, mist, and fog. It was one of those days when pilgrims stopped at each and every Bar to get out of the rain and cold. Walking this day I was reminded of Roland and Wolf when we first saw the young handicapped man in 2007 at Hospital (yes that is the name of the village). Today as I stopped at Alto do Poio these are the pilgrims who passed me. Slipping silently by in the fog.



Down, down, and down .... I took the road as it is less stressful on the knees, harder on the feet, but better for the knees. Turn a corner and there she is, pancake lady. She was there in 2002 and again in 2007 and she is still jumping out at unsuspecting pereginros with the offer of a fresh warm pancake. Once you have the pancake in you hand, she say´s "1E por favor". The pilgrim would not have had the pancake if they knew it was not free. It is not warm, there is no lemon and sugar.... oh well. I only got caught once (2002).



I felt like I could write a Stephen King novel while at Biduedo. The Bar has sharp farm implements as wall hangings and garden decorations. In the mist and the fog I thought that at midnight they would all come alive and I may not survive the night. But survive I did, and so on to Sarria ...