274 km's to go! Last night when I was left out in the hallway, it was pretty cold. I noticed that the hostelerio left the keys in the supply room door. A few blankets and a duvet made things a lot warmer. Six of us have been walking and staying at the same alberques. Our group now consist of Isabella and Janus from Poland, Juan a Spainaird who is a retired firefighter at the Barcelona and Malaga airports, Alonso another retired Spainaird, my cousin Chantal, and myself. It's great to see the same people every night and compare notes. We made it to Requejo de Sanabria, a 26 km day. This puts us well into the 200's. The trail today was mostly woodlands, with very shady paths. Amazingly, we had another day without rain. Here are the pics of today, and Chantal's rant. Oui, mes pieds ressemblent encore à des crêpes, peut-être un peu moins plates qu'hier. Étonnement, un autre 26 kilomètres. Chaque jour, la route semble un peu plus facile, même si à un moment où l'autre je serais prêté à donner mon sac à dos. Le fardeau de la vie s'accumule au fil des jours, tout comme le poids de notre sac à dos s'accumule au fil de la journée. Ce matin, il y avait de la terre labourée par le museau des sangliers le long de notre sentier: très intéressant. Je me demande s'ils trouvent des truffes !?! Nous avons vu un très beau troupeau de moutons le long de la route sans leur Berger, ne leur chien: l'anarchie! Plus tard, ça été quelques belles vaches rousses et cornues avec leur gardien et son chien. Nous avons traversé quelques jolis villages tranquilles, des champs, de magnifiques forêts humides et relativement sauvages, ainsi que des plantations d'arbres bien alignés encore. Nous avons longé une petite, très petite rivière à l'eau vive. Il y a des montagnes à l'horizon que nous traverserons certainement les prochains jours. Ce soir, nous soupons dans un restaurant familial avec des amis de Camino: Janos de Pologne, Alonso et Juan d'Espagne, mon cousin Terry. Les conversations en anglais et surtout en espagnol sont formidables! Ce soir, nous dormons dans une auberge municipale très simple, mais pas cher: 5 euros. Nous dormons comme des bûches ! Complètement fourbus!!! Bien as noches! Chantal
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256 km's to go! The good news today, is that we only had 18 km's to do. The bad news is that we had to go 1.3 km's vertical. This mountainous area is very nice for hiking, and has a good temperature range. Unbelievably, we missed the rain again today. There were many nice rivers with old bridges to cross. This made for a pleasant slow moving walk. We started today with the usual tostadas with cafe con leche, smothered with as much jam and honey as we could get on it. This kept us going until we arrived at the hostel, where we made a big batch of soup again. With only one shower here, we had to wait to get into have a shower. Anyways we are all tucked in here at Lubián, getting rested for tomorrow's 22 km walk to Gudiña. Some pics from today below. Selon mon iPhone, nous avons marché 13km, selon les infos de Terry 22 km. Belle randonnée à travers monts et vallées. La première chose que nous faisons lorsque nous arrivons dans une auberge, c'est de prendre une douche et de laver les vêtements du jour. Ici, il n'y a qu'une douche pour les 9 personnes que nous sommes... Lubián est vraiment un joli villages avec des maisons très anciennes dont plusieurs ont été restaurés. Nous sommes au cœurs de montagnes avec une vue imprenable sur les environs. Évidemment à chaque village que nous traversons, il y a des églises, des chapelles ou des " ermites du Christ" qui sont des chapelles dans la campagne à l'extérieur du village. La plupart du temps, nous y trouvons une plaque en pierre sur laquelle s'y trouve une explication du Camino dans ce village et où y est inscrite une pensée sur laquelle méditer pendant notre marche. Ce fût une belle journée en heureuse compagnie. Comme a dit Janos: nous faisons le Camino en espérant faire de belles rencontres, mais trouver de bons amis, c'est toujours une surprise exquise! Buen Camino! Chantal 300 km's to go. Tomorrow we break into the 200's! Last night since there was no store to purchase food, we splurged on a restaurant. The chef there was also an artist, and prepared the food in a kitchen right in the same room as us. The first course was a bowl of vegetable soup that was just what we needed. Second course was a salmon mousse that was delicious. Third course was an excellent salad with pork chops. For postre (dessert), he served tiramisu with ice cream. Next he brought out bottles of liquors for us to sample. All this professionally prepared with a bottle of great wine for 9.50 euros. Today's walk was again overcast, but by some miracle we have again avoided the rain. Things are becoming very green and lush, as we approach Galacia. The trails were very pleasant today, although the 25 km's felt a bit long towards the end. Having 4 small villages to walk thru broke up the day nicely. As you will see from the photos, the villages that we walked thru were mostly abandoned. They had maybe a dozen older people around, with most houses either sitting empty, or in ruin. There was no tienda (store) of any description to be found in any of them. This is in stark contrast to the large centres where you see huge numbers of children. There is also a pic of an electric high speed rail project, that looks abandoned. From the pic below, you can see that I successfully managed to secure a piece of floor in an sports facility. My cousin nabbed the last bed in the albergue here. Anyways next is the version française and today's pics. Terry Pour cette quatrième journée de marche, j'ai franchi mon centième kilomètre ! Un autre 25 km aujourd'hui. Mes pieds sont comme des crêpes : bien aplatis par le poids de mon sac et de la marche. Comme tous les matins, nous sommes partis vers 8h. Au premier village (à 9km), nous en avons profité pour acheter les ingrédients nécessaires pour faire une soupe en fin de journée. Malheureusement, une fois arrivés à l'auberge, nous avons constaté qu'il n'y avait pas de cuisine pour cuisiner... Comme Terry l'a mentionné, nous avons traversé plusieurs petits villages peu habités, mais très jolis qui ont agrémenté notre marche. Je comprends bien ce que Woody Allen dit: "L'éternité, c'est long surtout vers la fin!" En effet, ce sont les dernier kilomètres qui sont les plus difficiles. J'ai bien aimé cette journée. Le paysage est plus agréable et varié : des arbres, des champs, des collines, plus de fleurs ici et là, des vaches, des moutons et des chevaux, et, surtout, toujours quelques mûres à manger ! Hasta manana! Chantal 325 km's to go. In the town we were in last night, there was no place to eat. The only store there was, was in a persons home. We searched, and there was no store signs anywhere. After inquiring from a few locals, we found the address. It was just a simple house, and we rang the doorbell. The lady asked us in and there was some what of a grocery store set up in her house. My cousin and I bought some dry soup mix, some sausage, bread, yogurts, and some drinks. Back at the albergue, there was some rice in the cupboard. We made a double batch of soup, and added the rice to it. Everyone else at the albergue had something to add, and we had a great meal. At the old church in town, is an interesting statue of St. James. It is reportedly the oldest statue of St. James in Spain. (See pics) This morning, we set out for Rionegro del Puente, a fairly long day at 27 km's. We have been very lucky with the rain so far, having had just 1 drizzly afternoon a few days ago. Today the rain stayed away yet again! The trail is going thru many wood lots now. A huge change from Extremadura. We also crossed a huge hydro electric dam, that formed a decent sized lake. Anyways we are in a nice albergue that is a renovated medieval pilgrim hostel, complete with ghost of pilgrims past. So here is Chantal's version en francais, and some of today's pics. Hier quelqu'un avait dû mettre des pierres dans mon sac... J'ai eu l'impression qu'il était tellement pesant!!! Vous avez vu le résultat sur la photo que Terry a mis en ligne. Nous étions à Santa Marta de Tera où se trouvait cette jolie statue de St-Jacques-de-Compostelle près de la porte principale de cette petite église du X ou XI siècle. Aujourd'hui , nous avons longé des forêts aux arbres alignés, certains probablement plantés à l'époque de Franco. Nous avons vu aussi de grands et petits jardins de légumes: il y reste quelques tomates, des poivrons, des immmmmenses courges, des choux, ... Pour mon plus grand plaisir ma chère Marielle, j'ai trouvé des mûres à point et j'en ai profité pour me bourrer la face: elles étaient délicieuses! Les sentiers étaient agréables. Nous sommes à Rionegro del Puente dans une très belle auberge: un ancien monastère? Les villages sont très tranquilles et y trouver à manger est toujours une aventure. Nous irons à ce restaurant qui annonce un plat gastronomique pour les pèlerins marcheurs que nous sommes. À voir! Comme je dis à Terry : " No expectation, no deception!" Bien camino! 352 km's to go. Later last night my cousin Chantal from "la belle Province du Qué bec" arrived by train and bus to join me. By starting at Granja de Moreruela, she gets to do the whole 376 km's on the Camino Sanabres to Santiago. I had an extra pilgrims passport waiting for her. She took her first pilgrim steps this morning. Today's walk of 24 km's was mostly thru farm country, and the scenery was great. While taking a break at a cafe bar in a little town, a local man came up to us and offered us a little green Mellon from his garden. We cut it open and tasted it. It was the most flavourful tasting Mellon I ever had. I offered him one of my Canada pins and he seemed quit thrilled with it. We finished the day in Tábara, where the hospitalero does a communal meal for supper and breakfast. Should be good. Also my cousin will be complementing this blog by adding a French language section for those in Quebec who are following. Also today's pics. Terry Voilà! J'ai terminé mes premiers kilomètres sur ce sentier de Compostelle, soit 24 km. Tout un début! Merci, je vais bien. C'est ainsi que je commence ce périple sur un des nombreux chemin de Compostelle. Celui-ci s'appelle Camino Sanabres: il va de Granja de Moreruela à Santiago. Terry et moi avons un rythme de marche semblable: heureusement pour moi! Nous nous sommes levés assez tôt, vers 7h. Après un café au lait, nous avons entamé notre route. Le temps était couvert, donc frais. Nous avons eu un peu de pluie, mais le soleil nous a rapidement séché: en Espagne, ce sont les premières pluies depuis quatre mois! Paysages étonnants: des champs avec des herbes qui semblent si sèches, des monts, une rivière qui n'est pas à sec, des tons de jaunes pâles contrastent avec le vert des collines. Les routes sont arides et rocailleuses, tout comme les champs: c'est à se demander comment pousse quoi que ce soit. Pourtant , il y avait de nombreux plants de mûres tout le long de la route: les mûres sont prêtes, mais immangeables tellement elles ont manqué d'eau. Nous sommes à Tabaras à l'auberge des pèlerins de Compostelle: dortoir, douche , souper communautaire et déjeuner. Ce sera de belles rencontres ce soir. Ce chemin est géré par les amis de Compostelle et fonctionne avec les dons volontaires des marcheurs. Pour l'instant, hasta luego !!! N,oubliez pas de regarder les photos. Chantal Day 34 - Two In One (Bad WIFI Yesterday) 330 km's to go. Had a nice 22 km's today walking to Santa Marta de Tera. We passes by many forest and shady paths. There was also many interesting houses built into the hills. The forest, rivers and streams are a welcome sight. That's it for today. Extra pics below. Terry Chantal was going to add something today, but she is passed out.
Terry 376 km's to go! This morning we packed up, with some things still damp, hoping that they could dry out later. We headed for Granja de Moreruela, 22 km jaunt away. There was the promise of a cafe/bar in a small town, at the 16 km point. The first part of the day was cloudy and dark. All the rain from the previous night had made the trails a little muddy. The mud would stick to your boots adding weight to every step. As the day went on, the clouds parted and the sun came out. The sun dried up my stuff that I had on the outside of my pack nicely. We arrived at the "Bar Pepe" in the town indicated by the guide book. Sure wasn't much. We drew straws and Bernard was elected to go in first to check it out. This is what the guide said; INFO The at times riotous café, Bar Pepé, which is on the Camino, does food of 'varying quality'. Inside was a grumpy older man sitting reading the newspaper, and his wife watching tv as she sat beside her cages of budgies. The place was a rat hole. They didn't seem to like perigrino's . Bernard ordered a coke, and when he asked for a glass, the lady mumbled something under her breath, and gave him the dirtiest bar glass I ever seen. Bernard said it had everything on it except a toe print. This place was so classy, you had to go to the bar to ask for toilet paper. Needless to say, our hopes for a breakfast were dashed. We just went for the last 6 km's to Granja. This town is of importance, because this is where the Via De La Plata ends for us. At the church here is a sign that splits the VDLP from the Camino De Sanabres. If we stayed on the VDLP we would end up in Astorga, on the Camino France's. The Sanabres will take us to Santiago via Orense. So goodbye to the VDLP! Some pics from the trail today. Terry 398 km's to go! Broke open a can of 300's today. Each 100 km's seems to go by faster than the last. We left Zamora this morning for the city of Montamarta. It had rained most of the night, and was still drizzling a bit till about 10:00 am. It wasn't bad, with pack cover and jacket I was ok. When it stopped, the rest of the walk was in a nice cool breeze, with the sun starting to peak out. The albergue here is nice, but very basic. Bernard and myself were joined today, by my pilgrim of the day. Cyril is a fellow Canadian from Vancouver. He is originally from France, but considers himself a Canadian after living here for 42 years. In Vancouver he works as an architect. Absolutely nothing in this town other than the normal cafe bars. Here are a few pics tho. Terry 416 km's to go. Zamora has a population of 66,000 and is the capital and largest town in the province of Zamora. Of course it has it's plaza de major, and it's cathederal. It is an old walled in city, with Romanesque architecture. We were lucky to have missed the rain on today's walk, as it had rained during the night instead. The rain really made the trail nicer, in that there was no dust and the ground was not as hard. One interesting thing, was a field of sunflowers, totally dried out and all brown. ( see Pic) There was also some type of monolithic Camino structure, consisting of 3 large stones with engraving, surrounding a central fire pit. Very strange looking, and out in the middle of nothing. (Again pic) Anyway at a municipal hostel here, washing clothes and getting ready for another walk tomorrow. Luck was with us, we arrived just before the rain started! Here are today's pics. Terry We left the "resort" this morning, and walked on to El Cubo de Tierra del Vino. It was mostly along dusty farm paths, were a big cloud of dust would be raised every time a farmer drove by with his tractor. Having our first stop at El Cubo worked out good, in that we could stop for a coffee break there. This first half was 15 km's. After the break, we continued on for another 13 km's to end up at a decent 6 euro albergue at a town called Villanueva de Campeán. Nothing here to speak of. Bernard and I are here with the two Dutchman. The 4 of us have the whole place to ourselves. If you've noticed, I early on quit posting how many km's to go, because it was to daunting. Today, since I am over the half way point, I will bring you up to speed as it were. Kilometres walked to date - 565 km's Remaining to Santiago - 435 km's Average daily distance - 21.7 km's Max one day distance - 42 km's Camino beard growth - Coming on strong. Just a few pics today. Terry Now for today's tale. It was to be a very simple 15 km's to the town of Calzada de Valdunciel. We are down to just Bernard the Irishman and myself at the moment, as many of our crew had to return home from Salamanca. Like many Europeans, the do the Camino paths as their holidays allow. Paul the Aussie is taking time out to recuperate by visiting his son in Amsterdam. He plans to rejoin is in Orense for the final 100 km's. Some start at Salamanca, so let's see who we can add to out travelling squad. So back to today's trails and tribulations. The first part of the walk leaving Salamanca was nice, passing by a huge bullfighting ring, and a soccer stadium. The next part, sent us on a country path that was very hot and dry. There was a town to stop at, where we could stop for a break. Back out onto the hot dry path, we came across a small building with chairs to have a break. It was set up by an albergue up ahead that had pictures of a swimming pool, lots of food, great beds, etc... Natural we had visions of staying at a resort like place with various tasty delicacies to be had. It would require an extra walk of 6 km's past Calzada, but we figured we would do it. We marched along figuring that we would soon get to Calzada, where we would have a break, and then continue onto the "spa albergue". On this very poorly marked trail, we arrived at this albergue without ever seeing the town of Calzada. Turns out the town was of the Camino trail and there was no sign to it. We thought that's great were done. However upon approaching the entrance, the GATES WERE CLOSED AND THE SIGN SAID CLOSED! After many Irish blessings from Bernard, we looked at our options. 1 - Walk another 15 km's to the next town for which we had no provisions Or 2 - Walk back 6 km's and find the town of Calzada. We took option 2, and headed back. About half way back, we came across 2 Dutch pilgrims walking that we know, and told them about the albergue ahead being closed. The had the same brochure, and phoned the number. It turned out that the lady running the place had returned and opened. AHHH!!! At this point, Bernard and I were half dead. The Dutch pilgrims went on, and we decided to just finish going to Calzada to get something to eat. After that, we figured we would just have a taxi take us back to that albergue gate, since we had already walked that distance, and it was getting late. The taxi picked us up, and we handed him the brochure showing the location of the albergue. He drove around for about 1/2 and hour, before he finally called the number to ask where they were. He was kind enough to stop the meter though as he would have gone over the quoted price. So now we are here with the 2 Dutch pilgrims, and have our skid lumber beds, ready to shower and get to sleep. Here are a few pics. Terry |
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