This statue of a pilgrim at Alto de San Roque looms over the Camino way up in the mountains.
We've made it to Sarria, which is a little more than 100 kilometers from Santiago. To receive a final compostela at the cathedral at the end of the pilgrimage -- a certificate with your name in Latin, suitable for framing -- you have to walk those 100k and get at least two stamps a day in your pilgrim passport. (Don't ask me what the rule is about biking into Santiago because I can't remember.)
The number of pilgrims on the Camino jumps at this point. We've noticed the newbies -- Gina wants to call them greenies -- and we expect the trails to be a bit more crowded for these last five days. Five days!
This morning, Saturday, after we left Triacastela (great albergue, by the way: Aitzenea, run by Manu, who gave me a foot massage Friday evening AND he even hugged us goodbye. He now ranks far above all other albergue hosts), we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall hippie spot where breakfast items -- fruit, coffee, bread, hard boiled eggs, and other items -- are offered for donations. We chatted with Nigel from England (of whom we sadly do not have a photo) who had been walking the Camino and decided just to stop at the hippie space and hang out for a while.
This young German woman in the photo with Gina made a decision similar to Nigel: She just paused her own pilgrimage to volunteer for a while, with no sure plan when she will start walking again:
While we rested a while, we visited with Ange from Sydney. (We had run into her before; she took the photos of the three of us at the mile marker on Friday morning. See one below.) She started walking May 23 in St. Jean and has been shipping her suitcase every day -- "I'm a Samsonite pilgrim." She will finish around the same time as us and then will fly to Italy where her family will meet her to celebrate her 50th birthday on July 2.
When she said she was from Sydney, I said, "Oh, you're the second Sydney connection we've met in 24 hours. Just yesterday we met ..." and she said, "Arthur and Angela." Yes! She said she just met them (for the first time) in Leon and they've recently had dinner together. (We met them in O'Cebreiro.) "So," Ange says, "not only are we all from Sydney, but my name was originally Angela -- I've changed it to Ange -- and I'm walking the Camino for my 50th birthday which is the second of July and Arthur and Angela are walking the Camino to celebrate Angela's 50th birthday ... Which is the second of July." Zoinks!
On this 23rd of June, 2018, we want to wish Bridget Varley and George Bock every bit of happiness in their marriage, which starts today. Hope you have had a wonderful wedding celebration.
Food report: We've started having grocery store picnics for dinner. Most restaurants and bars along the Camino serve a "pilgrim menu" which is three courses; often it is too much food, plus most places don't have dinner available until 7:30 pm at the earliest and we're WAY tired by then. So we have started to buy some snacks and fruit, and skip the restaurant meals. After tonight's Mass and pilgrim blessing, we found peanut butter and crackers and had our picnic on the floor of our albergue while we listened to a recording of Kathleen Madigan, the comedian who has a great routine about bothering Jesus. Google it.
Foot report: Tonight I wrapped my feet in KT tape (according to the website's instructions for its use with plantar fasciitis), so we'll see how that goes. Most days I'm OK for the first half of the walk, and then it gets much worse. Five days, though! Anything is bearable for five days.
What I forgot to post from O'Cebreiro: This is a bust of Don Elias Valina Sampedro (1929-1989), "the [O'Cebreiro] parish priest who did so much ... to restore and preserve the integrity of the Camino," according to John Brierley. "It was his idea to mark the route with the familiar yellow arrow and it was largely as a result of his efforts that we walk the route today."
A few more photos:
Comments are welcome. I know some folks haven't been able to post notes but if you can, please do! Thanks for all your good wishes and warm thoughts.
We've made it to Sarria, which is a little more than 100 kilometers from Santiago. To receive a final compostela at the cathedral at the end of the pilgrimage -- a certificate with your name in Latin, suitable for framing -- you have to walk those 100k and get at least two stamps a day in your pilgrim passport. (Don't ask me what the rule is about biking into Santiago because I can't remember.)
The number of pilgrims on the Camino jumps at this point. We've noticed the newbies -- Gina wants to call them greenies -- and we expect the trails to be a bit more crowded for these last five days. Five days!
This morning, Saturday, after we left Triacastela (great albergue, by the way: Aitzenea, run by Manu, who gave me a foot massage Friday evening AND he even hugged us goodbye. He now ranks far above all other albergue hosts), we stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall hippie spot where breakfast items -- fruit, coffee, bread, hard boiled eggs, and other items -- are offered for donations. We chatted with Nigel from England (of whom we sadly do not have a photo) who had been walking the Camino and decided just to stop at the hippie space and hang out for a while.
This young German woman in the photo with Gina made a decision similar to Nigel: She just paused her own pilgrimage to volunteer for a while, with no sure plan when she will start walking again:
While we rested a while, we visited with Ange from Sydney. (We had run into her before; she took the photos of the three of us at the mile marker on Friday morning. See one below.) She started walking May 23 in St. Jean and has been shipping her suitcase every day -- "I'm a Samsonite pilgrim." She will finish around the same time as us and then will fly to Italy where her family will meet her to celebrate her 50th birthday on July 2.
When she said she was from Sydney, I said, "Oh, you're the second Sydney connection we've met in 24 hours. Just yesterday we met ..." and she said, "Arthur and Angela." Yes! She said she just met them (for the first time) in Leon and they've recently had dinner together. (We met them in O'Cebreiro.) "So," Ange says, "not only are we all from Sydney, but my name was originally Angela -- I've changed it to Ange -- and I'm walking the Camino for my 50th birthday which is the second of July and Arthur and Angela are walking the Camino to celebrate Angela's 50th birthday ... Which is the second of July." Zoinks!
On this 23rd of June, 2018, we want to wish Bridget Varley and George Bock every bit of happiness in their marriage, which starts today. Hope you have had a wonderful wedding celebration.
Food report: We've started having grocery store picnics for dinner. Most restaurants and bars along the Camino serve a "pilgrim menu" which is three courses; often it is too much food, plus most places don't have dinner available until 7:30 pm at the earliest and we're WAY tired by then. So we have started to buy some snacks and fruit, and skip the restaurant meals. After tonight's Mass and pilgrim blessing, we found peanut butter and crackers and had our picnic on the floor of our albergue while we listened to a recording of Kathleen Madigan, the comedian who has a great routine about bothering Jesus. Google it.
Foot report: Tonight I wrapped my feet in KT tape (according to the website's instructions for its use with plantar fasciitis), so we'll see how that goes. Most days I'm OK for the first half of the walk, and then it gets much worse. Five days, though! Anything is bearable for five days.
What I forgot to post from O'Cebreiro: This is a bust of Don Elias Valina Sampedro (1929-1989), "the [O'Cebreiro] parish priest who did so much ... to restore and preserve the integrity of the Camino," according to John Brierley. "It was his idea to mark the route with the familiar yellow arrow and it was largely as a result of his efforts that we walk the route today."
Comments are welcome. I know some folks haven't been able to post notes but if you can, please do! Thanks for all your good wishes and warm thoughts.
Do you like cats now? (I wonder as the cat pictures accumulate.) Or are they just the main wildlife to be seen? Are there dogs too, or just cats? I'm taking cold medicine, so this is the level I'm thinking at. Also, yay for KT tape--hope it works. Family members have had some real help on other pain issues with it. Despite your foot pain, you really look fantastic in all the pics--like a life of peanut butter and crackers and beer and scenic vistas and meeting new people really suits you. A spiritual glow about you. Or maybe that's the energy it takes to smile when your blankety-blank feet hurt, just radiating out like the Holy Spirit herself. Blessings on the last 5 days!
ReplyDeleteI pretty much can't believe you're doing this with plantar fasciitis. I can't even walk to the Metro when mine flares up. You're my hero! Loving the mix of commentary and gorgeous photos. Feel like I'm walking along with you. Except my feet are probably doing better.
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