To the end of the world...and then home

I believe we last left off in Santiago upon arrival. Arwyn and I took one day of rest in the city and explored around. The city was very impressive with grand architecture. Usually, cities will have a center piece for which they're famous, but Santiago was simply made up of these centerpieces.

After the day of rest, on Tuesday the 15th, we woke up early and suited up for rain as it was raining heavily. This rain really tested our resolve. We met our friend Eske from Denmark in front of the Cathedral and slogged out of town. Rain covers and water proof shoes are nice, but I assert that anyone who walks six hours in the rain will be waterlogged at the end. Tuesday was hard indeed. We walked about 25 km and stopped in a small town. The albergue was nice and I cooked dinner for our group. Here, Jasmine- a German friend, joined on.

Happy to be out of the rain

Wednesday, we continued in the rain for the morning and the sun came out as we left a low valley. It was cool having hiked out of the bad weather, especially when you could look behind you and see the clouds below you and imagine the gloomy day going on underneath them. This day was 35 km and long. After getting to the albergue, it was just business as usual, showering, eating and getting to bed with the excitement that we would reach the end the next day.

Thursday- the end of the line.

First sight of Cape Finisterra

The last day was another long one at about 33 km. Motivation had failed us all. Our group grew bigger with the addition of Gerard the Irishman. It was beautiful scenery and rolling hills. On one random hill, you come to the top and can see the ocean in the distance. It rained on and off but with the ocean in sight, no one seemed to mind. We reached the town of Fisterre at about 4 pm and checked into the municipal albergue and I made big dinner of seafood pasta for the ever growing group. After dinner, we all walked out onto the dock and passed around a bottle of wine making toasts in turn of the things we would miss the most, and the things we wouldn't. Then it was to the bar to challenge the locals to some fuzball. We lost terribly.

Sitting on the point before sunrise

Friday morning we awoke at 6 am and walked the remaining 3 km out to the lighthouse. It was a walk up a windy road situated on a dramatic, narrow cape jutting out into the Atlantic. Looking down at the water I could only think how it was not a day you would want to be in a sailboat. It was blustery and gusting with rain coming and going. The idea was to get out there to watch the sunrise but it was just a dark grey morning that turned to lighter grey. We didn't mind; we sat in the strong winds and got rained on and it seemed like the perfect finish to our walk.

After breakfast and goodbyes with everyone, Arwyn and I got on a bus headed for Santiago and undid three days of walking in as many hours. We had a whirlwind run through the city in, you guessed it, heavy rain. We picked up a few last minute things and headed to the convent in town to pack our bags for the flight and used their showers. On our way out the door for the airport we ran into George, the 84 year old French man we had walked with and come to know. Arwyn and I both felt a weight lifted off our shoulders to know he made it all the way and was in good health. We had a 10:30 pm flight to Barcelona where we slept on the floor in the airport until...

Saturday...

Sunrise over the Mediterranean while headed
for Palma

We had a flight at 7:00 am from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca. We rented a car and drove across the island to where Galileo is hauled out. Here we had to make all of our belongings fit into a manageable amount of baggage. We let go of a lot of our things. Whilst packing Aine, the Irish chef and friend of two years, showed up looking for us and we had a good time catching up. After packing we headed for our friends' boat called "Tilly Mint" where we stayed overnight. Bill and Natalie are good friends from the boating world from South Carolina and Paris respectively. We also went out and had drinks with Rob and Desi Leon. Rob is a friend from high school freshman year and he and his wife are in Palma trying to find work on boats. So in the end we all had a big seafood dinner together with all our old friends.




Sunday...
We woke up on our friends' boat and quietly left with our things at 6:00 am (11:00 pm Houston time) and took our rental car to the airport. We had 7 bags with all of our belongings, and with four of them weighing about 50 lbs. Airline travel isn't really set up anymore to travel with this amount of baggage so as you might imagine, it was very difficult to travel with so much stuff. We flew from Palma to London. On take- off we flew over the city of Palma and then down the coast that we sailed so often and then over the mountain range we had hiked this summer. It was beautiful. On landing we flew right down the Thames river and saw the London Bridge, Parliament and Big Ben. We have never been to London so this was a treat.



A rush through the airport with all the bags and we checked back in for the next flight direct to Houston. We flew over my Mom's area in Michigan around 3:00 pm and then over my Father in Chicago around 3:30 pm. If we had parachutes, we could have stopped for a visit.
We cleared into America around 6:30 pm and came through customs to see my big brother David with his wife Kim and daughter Amelia. We rode home in a genuine pickemup truck and had a home cooked meal with Arwyn's parents and were joined by my other siblings Liz and DK with their daughter Jordan. The whole family and a happy ending to this adventure. Now we sleep and plan the next adventure...

Home in the Rogers' kitchen with my family

Day 32 The Finish

It was only an accident that we ended the Camino on a Sunday, but what a happy accident it was. We woke up at 5 and were on the road by 6:15 am and we walked with no reserve. It was a short day of 20 km but we were at the cathedral by 10:30. We checked in at the pilgrim office, got our  compostelas and left our backpacks there so we could make it to the cathedral for the midday mass.

 We never really know what's going on in mass due to its being in Spanish but it was nice to signify the end of the Camino in reverence. They do a famous thing here where they swing a giant incense container through the cathedral. They did this originally to cover the smell of pilgrims. It was pretty cool to see. They really get it going. It swings just overhead of the people and goes on to almost hit the roof. 

After mass, we saw a band setting up in the plaza. We grabbed a beer and a coffee and sat on the steps listening to the band. It was really great because they had everyone from old men playing trumpets to ten year old girls playing a giant bass drum. They were all in sharp uniform and sounded great. 

We finally settled into a room situated above a family restaurant. After siesta we went for dinner and found Usong, our Korean buddy and set off for a Chinese restaurant he knew of. 

While walking past the 5 star hotel situated in the plaza with the cathedral, we saw two friends of ours loitering in the carriage entry of the hotel. After warm hellos and congratulations, they told us how the hotel gives ten pilgrims a free meal every night. So we joined them. The hotel manager came down and collected us, walked us through the hotel and into the back door of the kitchen, and told us to ask the chef for food and sit in a little dinin area which used torn linens for table clothes. 

The chef gave us an opened bottle of wine, bread, pea soup, and a dish with cuddlefish and potatoes. O- and a banana. 

Arwyn wanted to go to bed after dinner so we walked her out to the hotel. She let herself in and threw the keys down to me in the street and then we set off for some beers. We had to walk Usong home after two beers and we were dying with laughter. We stayed out until the other guy's albergue's closing time at midnight. It was a great day and this is how we finished our 32 day, 1,094,705 step, 500 mile Camino de Santiago. Below is a picture of the front and back of our pilgrim books. This book entitles you to stay in pilgrim refuges. They stamp it each time you stay somewhere to make sure you don't stay more than one night and in the end it is your proof that you walked. 

So today we take the first rest day since we got here and tomorrow we contine to Finisterra. It will take us three days to get there. 

Days 30 & 31 Palas de Rei to Arco

Day 30 Palas de Rei to Ribadiso 

Well we left Palas de Rei a little disheartened. I think I might have mentioned this before but many people join the Camino for the last 100 km. There is nothing wrong with this but these people have not learned the ettiquette of the road yet and are simply on a different plan. For the last few nights people have come in drunk late at night  No one knows what an inside voice is or that it is rude to have conversations on the cellphone in a bunk room of 40, and everyone seems to pack all of their belongings first into crinkly plastic grocery bags before stuffing them in their backpacks. Sleep and morale have suffered. 

Galecia is the state we pass through and it is famous for its octopus dishes. In the picture above you can see how an old lady on the side of the trail was preparing one for the lunch crowd. 

We spent the last hour or two walking with an Israeli farmer need Tomer. This guy could point out ever plant along the way that one could eat. We asked question after question and heard what he thought about the state of our food production and what it means to be organic. We yearn to have a garden and to have land and work it is a big goal of ours. 

When we arrived in the village of Ribadiso (4 houses), we were excited to see that the alburgue was a restored farm situated directly on a river. We soaked our feet in the river. The water was ice cold and literally hurt our feet to put them in. It sure got the blood to our feet though. We spent 30 minutes stretching in the grass next to the river. I went to the field out back and found an apple tree and shook it until it gave me an apple. We met a young Japanese kid ( first time to leave the island) and a Danish guy named Jonas. We all found a common thread in talking about Legos, which are made in Denmark and translates to " play good."   We ate octopus and went back to our bunk room in the farmhouse for sleep. 

Day 31 Ribadiso to Arco 

We took an hour long coffee break this morning. We found every excuse to delay our starts. Maybe we are finish lining but morale stays low. We had lunch at a converted house to sandwich bar. Two ladies behind the counter had unrivaled energy and ran a little comedy routine while taking orders. They had great energy. 

The last two hours we walked through eucalyptus forests. If you tear up the leaves it smells so good. I picked a bunch and kept them with the idea of making a eucalyptus foot bath next time I have a plastic tub and hot water available. 

Tomorrow is the big day. We are within 20 km of Santiago and we plan to be there by 11 am tomorrow to attend the midday mass. This requires a 6 am start so I will sign off now. 

Days 27, 28, and 29 La Faba to Palas de Rei

CDay 27 La Faba to Triacastela

Leaving La Faba we continued uphill, but this time our legs told us that enough's enough. It is a healthy feeling though to start the day like this. Our hearts pound and we can feel the pulse in our ears drumming a the beat like a marching cadence. 

Some people do the Camino in style. This group of 7 horsemen are riding the Camino. Their horses and tack are beautiful. Leathe saddle bags and cool cowboy outfits. Arwyn and I have pretty much decided to come home and by horses and ride around causing mischief. For four days now we have kept up witness horses. They are faster but we walk longer. 

After a long day it felt like I had some type of tendon problem or maybe shin splint. We iced it down and in the morning we wrapped my leg in toilet paper and then made a compression bandage with duct tape. It worked like a charm. Other than that I stubbed my toe pretty bad which isn't comfy for long distance walking and it is still questionable if I will get to keep my big toenail as it was bruised from hitting the front of my shoe. 

Day 28 Triacastela to Mercadoiro

The sunrises are one of our favorite things on this trip. We are always walking before it is up so we never miss them. I can tell you for sure that we simply cannot capture the beauty in a photo. We continued down from the mountains we worked so hard to traverse and passed through the cloud layer from sunny day to gloomy fog. At a coffee stop at a farmhouse that was converted to a bar I found some little buddies. 

We are now walking through more of a hill country and the weather is sunny and in the mid 70's. Today was our longest walk at about 26 miles. We walked from 7 am to 6:30 pm. We really enjoyed the afternoon walking. Most everyone is off the road and drinking wine by 2 pm so we are by ourselves durin these afternoons. By far, the best part of our day is when we came across an old farmer on a vintage John Deere tractor who was driving along with his dog chasing along. He stopped and waved us over. The Spanish dialect in Galecia seems closer to Portuguese so I couldn't understand too much of what he said but he gave Arwyn and I each a walnut with a toothless grin and said they were from his family. He was so happy to see us and reallly embraced us with a long double handed hand shake. We stopped in a renovated farmhouse and enjoyed dinner in the ressurant and a 2 euro bottle of wine.  It was a very successful day. 

Day 28 Mercadoiro to Palas de Rei

Today was a long one again. Following the 26 mile day yesterday we did about 20 today. It felt like a pretty uneventful day. 

One thing that is very differen is that there are many new people on the road. There is a type of certificate of completion issued which is important to many people but especially the spaniards. It is a great source of pride to have hiked their country's Camino. Either way, the certificate is called a compostela and to get one you have to walk at least 100 km into Santiago. We are now 70 out so we are now surrounded by those people doing the last section. To each his own I say, but the problem is that we are now competing for beds with these people and the are fresh and fast and don't have a month's worth of stuff with them. I guess we feel like we are the old hands now. 

Days 24, 25 and 26 Rabanal del Camino a La Faba

Day 24 Rabanal del Camino a Ponferrada

Well we left the English place in the dark the next morning after a breakfast with tea and coffee. We have started back into hilly country and made our way up the side of the first mountain and caught an amazing sunrise. 

As you might know, there are quite a few abandoned villages in Spain and in this one a couple renovated a place and served coffee. They appeared to be Hindu which gave their spot a different and very relaxing feel. 

This cross is atop of the highest point we will hike on the Camino. People bring a rock from their homeland and deposit it here with a prayer. We brought a pine cone from about a mile  down the trail. 

We hiked up over ridges and down into villages. These little settlements in the mountains are amazing. The really take you back in time. 

We pushed through the scheduled stop and went to the big town of Ponferrada. We missed the last bunks in the normal rooms of 4 beds to a room and were placed in the overflow in the basement. There were about 50 beds in one room. This isn't too abnormal but isn't the sought after arrangent. There was a Templar castle in town and we went to check it out. 

We tried to go inside but it was 6 euros and they were closing in about an hour so we just loitered on the draw bridge and some of our Danish friends came walking by directly. 

After that we set out to do our normal city thing and tried to find a doner kebab shop. The Danish boys were thrilled to join us. Today it was I who spotted the kebab sign in the main square. 

Day 25 Ponferrada a Villafranca del Bierzo

Today was a Sunday and we walked in a group of two Danes and an Irish. It was a pretty dull walk at first but the time was passed well by talking to the others. The best part about today that is that it is harvest weekend out here in this part of Spain so all of the families were out picking their grapes. 

There was a buzz about. Everyone was excited and happy. If you stopped to say hello they would offer you grapes to taste. It was the perfect timing to walk through the vineyards. 

Day 26 Villafranca a La Faba

Today Arwyn and I were exhausted. We also picked the hardest route to take. There were three options to take, one being easy and following the road, the next being the main Camino trail on and off the road, the the off road route that added 10 km to the route and had several steep climbs and descents.

 All and all, today we hiked 30.1 km, ascended 5000 feet and descended 3500 feet. The descents were deadly on our knees.

We made it to our target town situated in a lush green valley. We were shutting down and when we got to the hostal, he told us they were full and we would have to continue another 4 km or one hour down the trail. It was hard to suck it up and walk another hour uphill, but it worked out. We came upon La Faba where the German fraternity has restored an old monastery. This place is beautiful and peaceful. Arwyn showered and went right to sleep- skipping dinner. I made some pasta that had been left behind and put in some pesto sauce that I had been carrying around for about 100 km.  I can hardly keep my eyes open as I finish this but I will leave you with a picture of Arwyn with her new pet. 

Days 22 & 23 Hospital de Órbigo a Rabanal del Camino

Day 22 Órbigo a Astorga

We had a pretty eventful night that followed directly after my last post. Some very heavy rain came in. It was very pleasant at first to listen to it on the tile roof and to be a little scared at the nearby thunder and lighting, but then the poor roof couldn't keep up. It was definitely like a river outside our room and certainly raining inside too. Arwyn and I were lucky to have bottom bunks. Our friend Martin was one of the only people in the dorm on the top bunks and he kept leaping in his sleeping bag from top bunk to top bunk until he could find one not directly in the dripping. 3 am and I couldn't stop laughing it was so funny. 

The next morning we hiked into Astorga. This city is situated on a hill at a north-south and an east-west mountain pass making it in the cross roads to get anywhere. It was a big roman town and there are visible ruins around including beautiful roman mosaic floors. The history was rich in this place. We stayed in a 300 year old building. This is the view out of our attic window. 

We went inside the cathedral show there. It was massive and amazes me that humans have built such structures. The cathedral was built in the 1400's and it's just not going anywhere. A much different model than kb homes. 

There was also a Gaudi designed palace next to the cathedral. It had some really amazing architecture feature. I personally like the arch design on the entrance; I have seen no others like it yet. 

Day 22 Astorga a Rabanal del Camino

Today was a nice 20 km day and the first day back into sunshine. It was nice to pass the day without constant fear of being rained on. 

We passed through several small pueblos as usual but these all seemed to unmolested by the outside world. At the entrance of one town there was an old man who was excited to tell us that his daughter ran a bar in town and made good coffee. We appreciate the family affair and stopped for a cup. 

Tonight we are staying in an albergue run by the English confraternity. We expected it to be good as it should live up to English standards but this place is over the top amazing. The village we are in has 30 residnents, and the albergue as huge gardens and maxing views of the mountains we are to start over tomorrow. We made sandwiches and I drank beer as we soaked in the sunshine and the view from the balcony. 

At 4 pm the hospitalero (or host) came around ringing a little bell for tea time. All of the pilgrims made there way outside and we all took tea together like civilized people. 

We made a big pot of soup for everyone and then went to vespers ( or sung prayers in Latin) at the church situated 30' outside our window. 

Arwyn took a sneak shot during the service. We then came back to our place where the lit a fire in the fireplace. I played a game of chess and lost within 4 moves which I am told is the least amount of moves one can be beat. Oh well... 

It has been a great last two days. We are really having a good time. Arwyn is very happy. Tomorrow starts our ten day count down to Santiago. It looks like we might actually make it.