hello all from marrakech
well I have seen madrid in a small meqsure. I slepton the floor of the madrid qirport. my flight I got in at midnight qnd ,y flight left qt 6:30 am and I qnd many others spent the nightn the floor of the qirport waiting for morning.I am i Mqrrqkech now qnd it is qmazing. The centrql squqre andthe souks qre beyond description in their richness, colour qnd diversity. I can not describe it qny better. There are food vendors; crqft vendors and entertqinment; I hqve seen ly first snqke chqrmers but didn,t get too close. I don,t like cobrqs. the crqfts qre qmazing qndI cqn see how one could go home with souvenirs you never intended tobuy, I have qlreqdy found out I need to hone my bargqining skills. I meet the group I trqvel zith tonight and leqve for the atlas mountqins tomorrow; John
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday Sept 17
so not much to do and lots of time to do it. have left the albergue but left my pack there to pick up later this afternoon on the way to the airport. spend the night travelling and arrive in marrakech tired and hoping I can get in my hostel early or at least leave my pack there while I wander marrakech.
My companions from the Camino are gone and I have been missing them and remembering the camino but now it is time to start anticipating morocco, new companions and a city and country unlike any I have experienced. would like to have visited a mosque but evidently that is not allowed. oh well there will be much to see and experience.
while packing up this morning I was talking to a young french man who had walked the camino francais from the french side of the pyrenees (700 k +) and wasn´t ready to stop walking. he was going to walk on to Finisterre about 100 k.
things you notice & remember - Luz liked her olive oil on bread, salad etc and over one meal she noted that the oil wasn´t that good the other evening. not something I would have noticed or probably have been able to preceive.
HOPE ALL ARE WELL & ENJOYING A VERY FINE SEPTEMBER.
My companions from the Camino are gone and I have been missing them and remembering the camino but now it is time to start anticipating morocco, new companions and a city and country unlike any I have experienced. would like to have visited a mosque but evidently that is not allowed. oh well there will be much to see and experience.
while packing up this morning I was talking to a young french man who had walked the camino francais from the french side of the pyrenees (700 k +) and wasn´t ready to stop walking. he was going to walk on to Finisterre about 100 k.
things you notice & remember - Luz liked her olive oil on bread, salad etc and over one meal she noted that the oil wasn´t that good the other evening. not something I would have noticed or probably have been able to preceive.
HOPE ALL ARE WELL & ENJOYING A VERY FINE SEPTEMBER.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sept 16 Santiago
so it is the evening in Santiago and I have said asad goodbye to Jean-Baptiste and Luz. Jean-Baptiste is taking the bus back to France and Luz to some friends in Vigo and eventually back to Tenerife. It was sad for me as they were the last of my travelling companions from the Camino and they were each great! If I am lucky I will see each of them again. Jean-Baptiste was thoughtful and considered ideas and life. Luz was spontaneous and warm. They made great trvelling companions.
I am on my own in Santiago and, if practical would have moved my flight to Marrakech forward toleave tonight but will spend another day in Santiago. I fly from Santiago to Madrid tomorrow evening around 10 in the evening and then around 6 the next morning from Madrid to Marrakech. I plan to sleep in the aiport with my travel alarm in my shirt pocket to make sure I don´t miss my flight. I stay at a hostel the first evening and the next evening I stay with the group I am travelling with at a riad. I would explain what a riad is but that will have to wait until I have stayed in one. I am sharing a room with Vern an ex logger/trucker who lost one arm in an accident. should be fun. As I will be getting to Marrakech quite early I hope I can atleast leave my pack at the hostel.
Travel Note - I left home with a 500 ml plastic bottle of condensed campsuds from the co-op. Have used it for showers, shampoo, clothes and dishes and there is lots left. good stuff.
I am on my own in Santiago and, if practical would have moved my flight to Marrakech forward toleave tonight but will spend another day in Santiago. I fly from Santiago to Madrid tomorrow evening around 10 in the evening and then around 6 the next morning from Madrid to Marrakech. I plan to sleep in the aiport with my travel alarm in my shirt pocket to make sure I don´t miss my flight. I stay at a hostel the first evening and the next evening I stay with the group I am travelling with at a riad. I would explain what a riad is but that will have to wait until I have stayed in one. I am sharing a room with Vern an ex logger/trucker who lost one arm in an accident. should be fun. As I will be getting to Marrakech quite early I hope I can atleast leave my pack at the hostel.
Travel Note - I left home with a 500 ml plastic bottle of condensed campsuds from the co-op. Have used it for showers, shampoo, clothes and dishes and there is lots left. good stuff.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
sept. 15 Santiago
Random Notes
was reading Bicicle diaries by David Byrne which I picked up at the hostel in London. finished it and gave it to Chris from Colorado.
was walking down a quiet and beautiful wooded path with Luz in front of me holding her phone in the air recording birdsong (something Maggie might do)
walking down a trail and find seveeral of my spanish companions excitedly taking a picture of a squirrel. obviously less common in Spain than Canada.
Pictures - I am taking many pictures but they won´t be truly representative of the Camino as they are of beuatiful trailside scenes and of my companions. Underrepresented are pictures of us walking along the road or holding tight to the side of the road as cars whiz by or walking through suburbs or industrial parks. Lots of pictures to go through when I get home and then I will post a link to them.
took the bus from Lugo to Ferrol and the Camino Inglise (English) . End upin Neda and find an albergue. poor dinner with sullen server but then we walk in the growing darkness to a local festival we have been told of. Carnival rides and cheesy carnival midway with bright silly plush toys for prizes. A band is plying to hundreds of people of all ages. Music is latin of some kind and the band has a good horn player and some good looking youg guys and girls. Lots of people having fun. We walk home to our albergue in the darkness. The Belgians we share the albergue with are long asleep.
Random Note - no more distances given as no one agrees as to what they are - guides, local etc.
<Mino, and are told we have walked closer to 30 k than the 23 k we understood we had walked. Still must find a way to keep our stages shorter and that is difficlt as this camino has fewer albergues. Young hospitalera says we can call town ahead and if they don´t have an albergue they will find somewhere to put us up.
Feeling good. I walked 23 - 30 k and after taking off boots and pack and having shower I feel fine. Don´t want to wlk any further today but next day is fine. >Feels good that I can still do fairly strenous activities without kiling myself.
The Belgians started arriving bout 3 hours after us and we couldn´t figure out why but I talked to >Chris, the yank, with them, and it turns out they stopped about 3 more times than we did.
Sat 9, 11 get up and leave before the belgians. the plan is to wlk to a town where we will be put up in a sports hall. stop at a town about 10-12 k and there is some kind of festival happening and there is art from many different artists in many styles hanging from balconies all over town. later in aftrnoon getting hot and tired and are unclear about where we are going. we lave camino at Cos and walf 2-6 k to town with sports hall. it is hot and it is 6 k. too few places to refill water along the way. reach sports hall and it is wondrful. we sleep in a large room on gym mats and have showers and the plce to ourselvs. there is a pool which the women use. I shower and get a cold drink and relax poolside. we walked close to 30 k and Random Note walking through groves and plantations of eucalyptus trees in Galicia.
Sunday sept 12 started wlking knowing generally where we are reconnecting with camino in village of Presedo. would have wlked right by cnnection to camino which wasn´t marked except for the woman we stopped to alk to. we wlk to Bruma which is about 20 k and there is an albergue. stopped at a roadside barcafe and had cafe con leche grande. next k was steep and getting hot. rural spanish roads can be very steep. after a couple of hours met a woman who was very helpful and friendly and refilled our water bottles. must be strange to have hundreds and thousnds of strangers walk pst our backyard. walkedon and saw a sign saying albergue 1 k. we are vry happy. got there and happir. a nice clean well set up albergue but about 2 k from town. a good 3 course meal is delivered for 10 euro each. we are happy. next stage is about 27 k. Alicia´s foot has been botheriing her so she takes the bus and we walk. We go for bocadillas for dinnr and I hear that Luz and Begonia are getting more tired and do not like this camino as much as the camino primitivo becuse the scenery isn´t as impressive and we have lost companions so our group is not as rich and diverse. I hadn´t thought about it but agree. I get to Santiago and walk around as tourist withouta pack. Trekking in the Atlas mountains i carry only the days stuff and a muleteer carries the res. sounds good to me.
Monday 9-13 Bruna to Siguero esy 27 k but the last 5-6 k is down a gravel road in the forest which is straight, has litle shade or interest. we get to the sports hall. we will be sleeping on mattresses in the room the tble tennis tem is using now. we get in at 9 and put out stuff down and go for dinner. before then luz and lici go for a swim and we drink and chat with other peregrinos. I go for the shortest hairct I have ever had. the barber finlly understands and puts away the scissors for the clippers. My friends rub my head and say it feels soft and fuzzy.
Manana Santiago.
met pilgrim who was with the spanish navy and he told me that he enjoyed st Johns newfoundland.
WED sept 15 it is 8:15 and i am sitting with a machine made cafe con leche watching the city go by. I have several things to do and lots of time to do them. Our group of friends will start to disburse today and I am a bit sad. We went our for a good dinner last night. We went to the old city and met Jan'Bptiste and a friend of his who hd met earlier. The friend was about my age and from Paris. We found a restaurant in a narrow street in he old city and shared a fine meal of peppers from Padrone and pulpo etc. it was 9 - 11 in the evening but the cafe and street was full of people. after dinner around 11:30 we went for a walk down to the cathedral square which was alive still with people. A group of young peope, 30?, was signing loudly and I have no idea wht they were singing. I wandered around the corner to the sound of pipes. A goup of 4 young women who sounded great but were just finishing unfortunately.
The cathedral is lit up at night and spectacular. I wish I had the ability to dequately describe it. It is huge and massibe and breath taking and at the same time live with detail and images. There are statues and images all over it and i believe that the statues and images all have meaning(s) but I don´t have the educational or religious background to understand the meanings of the images. Still incredably amazing and I cn think of nothing I have seen in NA that has the same combination of beauty, grandeur, history and meaning.
Eventually we wndr away. I don´t know where we are going and it doesn´t matter. We end up, w/3 others we had met before, sitting and lying on a grassy hillside looking over some low rise buildings at the well lit cathedral. amazing view. we sit there relaxing and chatting until we spring up because the automatic sprinklers come on. we walk on to the taxis and home to our lbergue.
this could have been a much differen trip but I met a very wondrful group of people early on nd travelled with them and it has been great.
was reading Bicicle diaries by David Byrne which I picked up at the hostel in London. finished it and gave it to Chris from Colorado.
was walking down a quiet and beautiful wooded path with Luz in front of me holding her phone in the air recording birdsong (something Maggie might do)
walking down a trail and find seveeral of my spanish companions excitedly taking a picture of a squirrel. obviously less common in Spain than Canada.
Pictures - I am taking many pictures but they won´t be truly representative of the Camino as they are of beuatiful trailside scenes and of my companions. Underrepresented are pictures of us walking along the road or holding tight to the side of the road as cars whiz by or walking through suburbs or industrial parks. Lots of pictures to go through when I get home and then I will post a link to them.
took the bus from Lugo to Ferrol and the Camino Inglise (English) . End upin Neda and find an albergue. poor dinner with sullen server but then we walk in the growing darkness to a local festival we have been told of. Carnival rides and cheesy carnival midway with bright silly plush toys for prizes. A band is plying to hundreds of people of all ages. Music is latin of some kind and the band has a good horn player and some good looking youg guys and girls. Lots of people having fun. We walk home to our albergue in the darkness. The Belgians we share the albergue with are long asleep.
Random Note - no more distances given as no one agrees as to what they are - guides, local etc.
<
Feeling good. I walked 23 - 30 k and after taking off boots and pack and having shower I feel fine. Don´t want to wlk any further today but next day is fine. >Feels good that I can still do fairly strenous activities without kiling myself.
The Belgians started arriving bout 3 hours after us and we couldn´t figure out why but I talked to >Chris, the yank, with them, and it turns out they stopped about 3 more times than we did.
Sat 9, 11 get up and leave before the belgians. the plan is to wlk to a town where we will be put up in a sports hall. stop at a town about 10-12 k and there is some kind of festival happening and there is art from many different artists in many styles hanging from balconies all over town. later in aftrnoon getting hot and tired and are unclear about where we are going. we lave camino at Cos and walf 2-6 k to town with sports hall. it is hot and it is 6 k. too few places to refill water along the way. reach sports hall and it is wondrful. we sleep in a large room on gym mats and have showers and the plce to ourselvs. there is a pool which the women use. I shower and get a cold drink and relax poolside. we walked close to 30 k and Random Note walking through groves and plantations of eucalyptus trees in Galicia.
Sunday sept 12 started wlking knowing generally where we are reconnecting with camino in village of Presedo. would have wlked right by cnnection to camino which wasn´t marked except for the woman we stopped to alk to. we wlk to Bruma which is about 20 k and there is an albergue. stopped at a roadside barcafe and had cafe con leche grande. next k was steep and getting hot. rural spanish roads can be very steep. after a couple of hours met a woman who was very helpful and friendly and refilled our water bottles. must be strange to have hundreds and thousnds of strangers walk pst our backyard. walkedon and saw a sign saying albergue 1 k. we are vry happy. got there and happir. a nice clean well set up albergue but about 2 k from town. a good 3 course meal is delivered for 10 euro each. we are happy. next stage is about 27 k. Alicia´s foot has been botheriing her so she takes the bus and we walk. We go for bocadillas for dinnr and I hear that Luz and Begonia are getting more tired and do not like this camino as much as the camino primitivo becuse the scenery isn´t as impressive and we have lost companions so our group is not as rich and diverse. I hadn´t thought about it but agree. I get to Santiago and walk around as tourist withouta pack. Trekking in the Atlas mountains i carry only the days stuff and a muleteer carries the res. sounds good to me.
Monday 9-13 Bruna to Siguero esy 27 k but the last 5-6 k is down a gravel road in the forest which is straight, has litle shade or interest. we get to the sports hall. we will be sleeping on mattresses in the room the tble tennis tem is using now. we get in at 9 and put out stuff down and go for dinner. before then luz and lici go for a swim and we drink and chat with other peregrinos. I go for the shortest hairct I have ever had. the barber finlly understands and puts away the scissors for the clippers. My friends rub my head and say it feels soft and fuzzy.
Manana Santiago.
met pilgrim who was with the spanish navy and he told me that he enjoyed st Johns newfoundland.
WED sept 15 it is 8:15 and i am sitting with a machine made cafe con leche watching the city go by. I have several things to do and lots of time to do them. Our group of friends will start to disburse today and I am a bit sad. We went our for a good dinner last night. We went to the old city and met Jan'Bptiste and a friend of his who hd met earlier. The friend was about my age and from Paris. We found a restaurant in a narrow street in he old city and shared a fine meal of peppers from Padrone and pulpo etc. it was 9 - 11 in the evening but the cafe and street was full of people. after dinner around 11:30 we went for a walk down to the cathedral square which was alive still with people. A group of young peope, 30?, was signing loudly and I have no idea wht they were singing. I wandered around the corner to the sound of pipes. A goup of 4 young women who sounded great but were just finishing unfortunately.
The cathedral is lit up at night and spectacular. I wish I had the ability to dequately describe it. It is huge and massibe and breath taking and at the same time live with detail and images. There are statues and images all over it and i believe that the statues and images all have meaning(s) but I don´t have the educational or religious background to understand the meanings of the images. Still incredably amazing and I cn think of nothing I have seen in NA that has the same combination of beauty, grandeur, history and meaning.
Eventually we wndr away. I don´t know where we are going and it doesn´t matter. We end up, w/3 others we had met before, sitting and lying on a grassy hillside looking over some low rise buildings at the well lit cathedral. amazing view. we sit there relaxing and chatting until we spring up because the automatic sprinklers come on. we walk on to the taxis and home to our lbergue.
this could have been a much differen trip but I met a very wondrful group of people early on nd travelled with them and it has been great.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
More atch up
Friday sept 3 - Companiello to Berducedo We are a group of pilgrims (peregrinos) who met and shared dinner at an albergue the end of the firt day´s walking. WE share the trail and help each other out becoming friends in the process. so far no internet, no postcards. the weather is good and we are going on the variation over the local peaks in an earea where there are habitations or other potential support. Evidently in poor weather the route can be miserable and dangerous but our weather is good and the waymarking in the route has been improved. The initial climb is long and hot but the views are magnificent and we see wild horses in ruins dating to medieval times as well as a site of a mine that I understand dates to Roman times. long descent and we arrive (about 29 k) at a village of Berducedo. Merced and Kiki geet their first and Merced says the public albergue is not too clean so we opt for a private albergue which is clean but which offers no services or kitchen. While most of are showering and doing our laundry in the sink and putting it out to dry Merced and Kiko look for a place for us to eat. The restuarant is closed for holidays and a bar owner doesn´t want to do any cooking. Arrangements are made at another bar for an old woman to do some cooking and it will be brought to the bar for us to eat. She makes a great lentil soup and ensalada mixta (mixed salad) and we are happy. Forgot to mention that about 6 k back some of us passed an older peregrino on the way who stopped to let us pass him. we got a bit further and stopped for a drink and wondered if he was all right so stopped further waiting for him. Gave him water and insisted he drink it and eat the snacks we gave him as he didn´t seem fully ok. Peter from the Shetland Islands. we walked about a k more and found our friends waiting for us at a roadside bar with Jean-Baptiste ´J-B´who had met Peter earlier and who was helping him.J-B went back for Peter and walked him to the bar and i bought him a cold drink. we urged Peter to consider taking a taxi or changing his route to the Camino France which would be miore suitable for him but he wouldn´t consider changes saying repeatedly that he was quite obstinate as if this was something he was proud of. They arrived at Berducedo as we were eating and we gave them food. J-B made sure that Peter had a guide and gave him additional directions and was then going to do his own camino. At dinner I was making conversation with Luz and found out that she is also a member of couchsurfers.org and has had good experiences with it. Cool. She has belonged for two years. Maria will be leaving us tomorrow and we will all miss her very much. Unfortunaely she has to go back to work although I have offered to phone her boss and lie for her. I am glad I have met her. Luz has joined us and I think we are all enjoying her company.
Sunday Berducedo to Grandas del Selime a hot day of steep climbing and steep descents. part way down it is obvious that Merced is having problems. I walk past her and half an hour afterwards a small forstry vehicle comes down the track with her in it as a passenger. she get let off below us and about 1 1/2 from a hotel/restuarant with a great view. we get to her and are consiering the last 6 k to Grandas. It is now hot - 30 degrees plus and the remainder of the way in is along a steep winding road with no shoulders and little shade. We are sitting on the steps of the hotel discussing getting a taxi when the hotel keeper mentions that the bus is in sight. Immediately all discussion ends and we grab ur packs and flag down the bus who gives us a ride in to Grandas wihout charge! We are sleeping on mattresses on the floor but that is fine. in the evening we wander around and stop in at a local festival in the park. they are playing traditional dance music. Romero who is not part of our group but who is travelling parallel to us starts dancing with Kiko. They re great and then Alicia (a 65 year old grandmother) starts dancing with Romero - AMAZING!
Monday Sept 6 Grandas del Selime to Padrone (about 30 k) (distances are aproximate. early on we compared guides and found they rarely agreed) There are many foot experts in our group and on the camino because there are many foot problems such as blisters. additionally this camino wiht its steep ascents and descents stresses feet more. I have been having trouble with my little toes on each foot and Raoul takes something that looks like a tubular bandage and cuts off a piece for each little toe. Works well. do we have this in Canada? Our hospitalero last night said we had done the worst of the Camino Primitivo which cheered us all up. unfortunaely we had a stiff wind and rain and when we got to our destination we were all wet and a bit cold. we were staying at an albergue about a k beyond town so we met and had lunch ( 3- 4 pm typical spanish lunch time) at a local pulperia and had a very good time there. Our company was me, Kiko, Merced, Raoul, David, Alicia, Begonia, Luz, Jean-Baptiste
Sept 7 Padrone - Cadao 24 k
started off good with moderate grades but while walking Kiko got a call that his mother had died. not a surprise as she was elderly and had alzeimers but sad. Emotional moment and Kiko and >Merced will be leaving to go home to be with family. Will miss them greatly expecially considering I have only known them a few days. Kiko is full of fun and good spirits. Merced emotional and caring. continued walking and it was raining heavily and very windy. about 7 k before Cadavo took taxi. got places in the albergue and then people came in who had walked entire distance and were being sent to overflow facility. I tried t swap as I felt guilty but wasn´t allowed to. No internet no postcards.
Wed sept 8 Cadavo to Lugo (about 31 k) put raingear on but it only rained an hour or two. My pack cover was two small so I gave it two David cause it fit his pack. stopped at an old church. tired when I got to Lugo. I thought we were all going to bus to Ferrol and do the english way but Raoul,David and Jean-Baptiste are going to continue to the french way and santiago while the rest of us will enjoy a rest day in Lugo and catch a bus to Ferrol and start the english way the next day. the english way is actually a bit longer and should be much less crowded. David wasn´t around when we went for dinner. He found a pack cover that would fit my pack, bought it and gave it to me. emotional farewells to people we have become close to in only a few days.
thursday - Raoul and David leave early. JB stays and has breakfast with the rest of us and then leaves.Everybody but me has a mobile phone (luz´s phone is also a 12 megapixl camera) and have exchanged phone numbers. maybe we will meet again for dinner in Santiago. we check our packs at the bus station and buy tickets for 4 pm and go our separate ways to relax and explore Lugo. I start by walking the top of the old roman wall that circles the old city of Lugo. I expect I will update this blog again in Santiago. Maybe before but not too likely.
Sunday Berducedo to Grandas del Selime a hot day of steep climbing and steep descents. part way down it is obvious that Merced is having problems. I walk past her and half an hour afterwards a small forstry vehicle comes down the track with her in it as a passenger. she get let off below us and about 1 1/2 from a hotel/restuarant with a great view. we get to her and are consiering the last 6 k to Grandas. It is now hot - 30 degrees plus and the remainder of the way in is along a steep winding road with no shoulders and little shade. We are sitting on the steps of the hotel discussing getting a taxi when the hotel keeper mentions that the bus is in sight. Immediately all discussion ends and we grab ur packs and flag down the bus who gives us a ride in to Grandas wihout charge! We are sleeping on mattresses on the floor but that is fine. in the evening we wander around and stop in at a local festival in the park. they are playing traditional dance music. Romero who is not part of our group but who is travelling parallel to us starts dancing with Kiko. They re great and then Alicia (a 65 year old grandmother) starts dancing with Romero - AMAZING!
Monday Sept 6 Grandas del Selime to Padrone (about 30 k) (distances are aproximate. early on we compared guides and found they rarely agreed) There are many foot experts in our group and on the camino because there are many foot problems such as blisters. additionally this camino wiht its steep ascents and descents stresses feet more. I have been having trouble with my little toes on each foot and Raoul takes something that looks like a tubular bandage and cuts off a piece for each little toe. Works well. do we have this in Canada? Our hospitalero last night said we had done the worst of the Camino Primitivo which cheered us all up. unfortunaely we had a stiff wind and rain and when we got to our destination we were all wet and a bit cold. we were staying at an albergue about a k beyond town so we met and had lunch ( 3- 4 pm typical spanish lunch time) at a local pulperia and had a very good time there. Our company was me, Kiko, Merced, Raoul, David, Alicia, Begonia, Luz, Jean-Baptiste
Sept 7 Padrone - Cadao 24 k
started off good with moderate grades but while walking Kiko got a call that his mother had died. not a surprise as she was elderly and had alzeimers but sad. Emotional moment and Kiko and >Merced will be leaving to go home to be with family. Will miss them greatly expecially considering I have only known them a few days. Kiko is full of fun and good spirits. Merced emotional and caring. continued walking and it was raining heavily and very windy. about 7 k before Cadavo took taxi. got places in the albergue and then people came in who had walked entire distance and were being sent to overflow facility. I tried t swap as I felt guilty but wasn´t allowed to. No internet no postcards.
Wed sept 8 Cadavo to Lugo (about 31 k) put raingear on but it only rained an hour or two. My pack cover was two small so I gave it two David cause it fit his pack. stopped at an old church. tired when I got to Lugo. I thought we were all going to bus to Ferrol and do the english way but Raoul,David and Jean-Baptiste are going to continue to the french way and santiago while the rest of us will enjoy a rest day in Lugo and catch a bus to Ferrol and start the english way the next day. the english way is actually a bit longer and should be much less crowded. David wasn´t around when we went for dinner. He found a pack cover that would fit my pack, bought it and gave it to me. emotional farewells to people we have become close to in only a few days.
thursday - Raoul and David leave early. JB stays and has breakfast with the rest of us and then leaves.Everybody but me has a mobile phone (luz´s phone is also a 12 megapixl camera) and have exchanged phone numbers. maybe we will meet again for dinner in Santiago. we check our packs at the bus station and buy tickets for 4 pm and go our separate ways to relax and explore Lugo. I start by walking the top of the old roman wall that circles the old city of Lugo. I expect I will update this blog again in Santiago. Maybe before but not too likely.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
small catch up
so I am in Lugo and this is the first t¡me I have had internet access since I left Oveido. wonderful country, some tiring days and some incredibel people. Will send more details when I get to Santiago and have a day or so to rest and resupply before leaving for Morocco.
Got to Asturias airport a week or so and was feeling good as the bus for Oveido was right outside and leaving shortly. things were obviously going well. got off the bus and didn´t know where to go. Was in a part of northern spain that doesn´t see many anglo tourists so noone spoke english. Couple of guys were very helpful and downloaded google instructons for how to get to the >Cathedral where I thought there would be Camino information. Goodle instructions didn´t work. Met a fellow pilgrim who gave me bad instructions. Figured out on my own how to get to the cathedral. Noone there. No information. Found pilgrim´s hostal and all OK. Went for dinner and saw stuff happening looking like a kid´s festival. Very cool with many families out enjoying themselves. many people out socializing but noone eating. I forgot the Spanish day which includes dinner not usually earlier than 9. Earlier on the other camino where there are more foreigners but this camino has fewer travellers and fewer foreigners. mainly spanish. returning to the pilgrim´s hostal (albergue) I saw a tv crew interviewing what appeared to be two local celebrities. I walked right by them but they had no interest in me. Imagine that. checked out the camino route out of town for the next morning and went to bed.
NEXT MORNING Tuesday started walking in the early morning. First 10 k were strenuous. kept going and got to Grado about 28 k where there was an albrgue but the tourism office informed me that there wasn´t an albergue anymore in Grado and I would have to walk an extra 3 k to San Juan de Villapanada which by the way had no food service or bar or cafe nearby. It was really hot and I was tired. I started walking. Didn´t buy any food cause I dind´t see anything open and I was really tired and it was hot. >The way out of town was steep up hill of course. Got a bit short of the albergue and someone leaving it stopped and asked me some qustions that I didn´t answer well as they were in Spanish and I was hot and tired. Told me to go on and it turns out he was the volunteer custodian (hospitalero). Got there and took a bunk in the dorm. Got into the routine and took a shower and washed my clothes in the sink and hung them outside to dry. People got together to put together a meal. I bought a bottle of wine as a contribution. Much fun. The local celebrities were there. Pilgrims got togther in one of the traditional activities in the evening. bandaging feet and checking out each other´s feet and toes and blisters. There was more up and down than in 2008 on the Camino France and I don´t seem as strong. Boots that fit at home don´t fit as well here. ¿how can that be?
Wed Sept 1 - a tiring day but not as bad as the previouos day. Walked with Maria and her son Pau and sometimes ¨Kiko and his partner Merced. they are the people interviewed on tv the other night not cause they were local celebrities but cause they were the 3,000th people to start the camino primitivo ´CP´ from Oveido this year. Everyone got up in the dark and ready and waited half hour or so until it was light although a couple of people started by headlight. local note - someone mentioned to me that something happened at nine o´clock in the afternoon. Got to albergue in Salas and was lucky to get a bunk. thought I would end up with a mattress on the floor or worse. couldn´t shower cause everyone had used all the hot water so went to lunch with others. Had lunch with Oliver a dentist from Quebec (note - saw him a day or so later but not since and is only other Canadian I have met on the CP. no yanks or brits or aussies at all.) after lunch went looking for some shower sandals. asked Pao along cause he seemed bored. think he thought I wanted his help which I let him give. Have to see how this route works out. It is hotter and steeper than the route I did in 2008 ( spanish note ' bars and cafes serve many drinks - pop and beer in 200 ml containers)
Thursday Sept 2 shared brief breakfast and set out with 4 or so. Climbed steadily for 2 hours or so. after climb route was basically up and down. got separated from others and when I got to Tineo was lost and couldn´t find albergue. helpful local figured out that directions wouldn´t help so he walked me about 1 k or so and bought me a drink along the way to the albergue. tired and taking off pack and boots helped and shower rejuvenated me. did laundry in outside basin. no plug but the plug I brought with me worked and others borrowed mine. lost raincoat along the way. old raincoat no loss but must have one so Maria helped me find sports hop and buy raincoat - cheap but adequate. Internet available in >Tineo but by the time I had dealt with essentials it wasn´t available. Forgot to mention the countrywoman we met on a country lane. she asked us to wait until her son had driven her cows past - no problem. she was dressed as a spanish countrywoman with simple old dress but had several bracelets on each arm, rings on each finger and several gaps in her front teeth. Her speech was simple and declarative and I learned afterwards that she had dealt with the marital status of each of the women pilgrims she was talking with. The pilgrims I was walking with all looked rather like urban sophisticates compared with her.I keep making decisions to walk a reasonable distnce each day and not push too much but this camino doesn´t work that way. there isn´t many options for accommodation and the stages tend to be long, strenuous and tiring.
Friday Sept 3 - we were going to walk to Borres but 3 k before Borres a woman at the bar cafe said the community alberque at Borres was in poor shape and we should beware. Fortunately she had just opened a brand new private albergue where we were and could put us up and private great and filling meals as well. the albergue was nice and new and she didn´t stint on the toilet paper which is a blessing but the food was poor. the wine she said was homemade and very good. well it was homemade. we decided she was trying to payoff the cost of the ablergue very fast. I thought her flowered suit was curious and Luz, who is sensitive to odours, thought she smelled. Tomorrow we will get up early and do a route variation which evidently isn´t done often - no people, houses, occomodation - 29 k and great views. I strongly suggest we all take lots of water and we take about 3 k each. steep climbs and magnificent views, wild horses and old ruins. Luz who has joined our group is a part time dula who supports pregnant women but not medically - emotionally and psychologically.
Got to Asturias airport a week or so and was feeling good as the bus for Oveido was right outside and leaving shortly. things were obviously going well. got off the bus and didn´t know where to go. Was in a part of northern spain that doesn´t see many anglo tourists so noone spoke english. Couple of guys were very helpful and downloaded google instructons for how to get to the >Cathedral where I thought there would be Camino information. Goodle instructions didn´t work. Met a fellow pilgrim who gave me bad instructions. Figured out on my own how to get to the cathedral. Noone there. No information. Found pilgrim´s hostal and all OK. Went for dinner and saw stuff happening looking like a kid´s festival. Very cool with many families out enjoying themselves. many people out socializing but noone eating. I forgot the Spanish day which includes dinner not usually earlier than 9. Earlier on the other camino where there are more foreigners but this camino has fewer travellers and fewer foreigners. mainly spanish. returning to the pilgrim´s hostal (albergue) I saw a tv crew interviewing what appeared to be two local celebrities. I walked right by them but they had no interest in me. Imagine that. checked out the camino route out of town for the next morning and went to bed.
NEXT MORNING Tuesday started walking in the early morning. First 10 k were strenuous. kept going and got to Grado about 28 k where there was an albrgue but the tourism office informed me that there wasn´t an albergue anymore in Grado and I would have to walk an extra 3 k to San Juan de Villapanada which by the way had no food service or bar or cafe nearby. It was really hot and I was tired. I started walking. Didn´t buy any food cause I dind´t see anything open and I was really tired and it was hot. >The way out of town was steep up hill of course. Got a bit short of the albergue and someone leaving it stopped and asked me some qustions that I didn´t answer well as they were in Spanish and I was hot and tired. Told me to go on and it turns out he was the volunteer custodian (hospitalero). Got there and took a bunk in the dorm. Got into the routine and took a shower and washed my clothes in the sink and hung them outside to dry. People got together to put together a meal. I bought a bottle of wine as a contribution. Much fun. The local celebrities were there. Pilgrims got togther in one of the traditional activities in the evening. bandaging feet and checking out each other´s feet and toes and blisters. There was more up and down than in 2008 on the Camino France and I don´t seem as strong. Boots that fit at home don´t fit as well here. ¿how can that be?
Wed Sept 1 - a tiring day but not as bad as the previouos day. Walked with Maria and her son Pau and sometimes ¨Kiko and his partner Merced. they are the people interviewed on tv the other night not cause they were local celebrities but cause they were the 3,000th people to start the camino primitivo ´CP´ from Oveido this year. Everyone got up in the dark and ready and waited half hour or so until it was light although a couple of people started by headlight. local note - someone mentioned to me that something happened at nine o´clock in the afternoon. Got to albergue in Salas and was lucky to get a bunk. thought I would end up with a mattress on the floor or worse. couldn´t shower cause everyone had used all the hot water so went to lunch with others. Had lunch with Oliver a dentist from Quebec (note - saw him a day or so later but not since and is only other Canadian I have met on the CP. no yanks or brits or aussies at all.) after lunch went looking for some shower sandals. asked Pao along cause he seemed bored. think he thought I wanted his help which I let him give. Have to see how this route works out. It is hotter and steeper than the route I did in 2008 ( spanish note ' bars and cafes serve many drinks - pop and beer in 200 ml containers)
Thursday Sept 2 shared brief breakfast and set out with 4 or so. Climbed steadily for 2 hours or so. after climb route was basically up and down. got separated from others and when I got to Tineo was lost and couldn´t find albergue. helpful local figured out that directions wouldn´t help so he walked me about 1 k or so and bought me a drink along the way to the albergue. tired and taking off pack and boots helped and shower rejuvenated me. did laundry in outside basin. no plug but the plug I brought with me worked and others borrowed mine. lost raincoat along the way. old raincoat no loss but must have one so Maria helped me find sports hop and buy raincoat - cheap but adequate. Internet available in >Tineo but by the time I had dealt with essentials it wasn´t available. Forgot to mention the countrywoman we met on a country lane. she asked us to wait until her son had driven her cows past - no problem. she was dressed as a spanish countrywoman with simple old dress but had several bracelets on each arm, rings on each finger and several gaps in her front teeth. Her speech was simple and declarative and I learned afterwards that she had dealt with the marital status of each of the women pilgrims she was talking with. The pilgrims I was walking with all looked rather like urban sophisticates compared with her.I keep making decisions to walk a reasonable distnce each day and not push too much but this camino doesn´t work that way. there isn´t many options for accommodation and the stages tend to be long, strenuous and tiring.
Friday Sept 3 - we were going to walk to Borres but 3 k before Borres a woman at the bar cafe said the community alberque at Borres was in poor shape and we should beware. Fortunately she had just opened a brand new private albergue where we were and could put us up and private great and filling meals as well. the albergue was nice and new and she didn´t stint on the toilet paper which is a blessing but the food was poor. the wine she said was homemade and very good. well it was homemade. we decided she was trying to payoff the cost of the ablergue very fast. I thought her flowered suit was curious and Luz, who is sensitive to odours, thought she smelled. Tomorrow we will get up early and do a route variation which evidently isn´t done often - no people, houses, occomodation - 29 k and great views. I strongly suggest we all take lots of water and we take about 3 k each. steep climbs and magnificent views, wild horses and old ruins. Luz who has joined our group is a part time dula who supports pregnant women but not medically - emotionally and psychologically.
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