Camino 2023 – Jimandi

Camino 2023 – ?

So, we finished it for the 5th time. What now? That’s where we find ourselves…

With our France trip beginning early tomorrow morning, it’s too difficult for us to stop and process our feelings or to make any meaningful assessments or reflections in so short a time.

Camino2023 was in some ways very similar to previous ones but also different. The pace of our upcoming “visit to the vineyards” will allow time to process Camino2023 and to think about what’s next for us and how to gleen the most from this most recent experience along the Camino Frances.

…. So, we savored the wines, French cuisine and relaxing environment of Provence for 30 days. On our trip back to Paris we stopped for a night in Chamonix, France and took in the awesomeness of the French Alps. The next night/day we stayed on a farm east of Leon, France with the Saône river in our backyard. Our drive into Paris the next day was uneventful and after spending a restful night in a modern hotel near Charles DeGaulle airport, we returned home after 91 days.

Our reflections on Camino 2023 continued even after returning to a more normal routine at home in the U.S.

Conclusion and what next?

In 2002, we discovered the Camino Frances via a book-on-tape, The Camino- A Journey of the Spirit, written and narrated by Shirley MacLaine.

We have walked on the Camino Frances 8 times since 2012. We have walked from St Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago, Spain, earning 5 Compostela’s. One would think that it might be time to move on.

For sure, the newness of the Camino experience has diminished. The preparation and planning are more routine. Some of the original mystery, enchantment and excitement is no longer there…. but, the Camino Frances keeps calling us back…. incentivizing us to maintain our health and physical conditioning in anticipation of “another Camino”…. and rewarding us with revitalized physical, mental and spiritual health, each time we complete it.

So, in spite of , or perhaps because of our advanced ages (78 & 79), we’re excited about embarking on Camino 2024 in August.

Lavacolla to Santiago

Walked today: 7.8 mi. Camino2023: 316 mi

As you can see, or not, we started out at O’Dark:30

Here we are an hour into our walk, no longer in the dark and continuing our walk on pavement.

We had breakfast at this modern bar/restaurant just as we entered San Marcos. There were only 6 pilgrims when we arrived and still just 4 pilgrims when we left. Virtually no crowding.

Walking into San Marcos , we were almost alone.

We’re walking down from Monte de Gozo, our last hill on the Camino. A huge complex is off to our left that has some 50 ugly concrete barracks and other support facilities for athletes attending nearby sports camps.

This bridge was built several years ago to safely allow pilgrims to enter the city with the growing traffic and new expressways. In 2022, this bridge was packed with hoards of young pilgrims heading into the city… today it was just us and 5-6 pilgrims way up ahead.

Crossing the expressway and heading into San Lazáro, a suburb of Santiago.

Lots of bars open this morning at 9:00 but only a few pilgrims.

more residential and shops in modern Santiago

Our first glimpse of the Catedral towers as we entered the old section of Santiago.

a picturesque plaza just before getting to the Catedral.

We’ve stayed in this albergue in 2017 and 2019. Our room was one with a balcony and we watched pilgrims walk to the Catedral as we did today.

A view of Praza de Obradoiro, as empty as we have ever seen it.

The western facade of the Catedral which faces the Praza de Obradoiro.

This is the pilgrim’s office only 5 minutes walk from the Catedral. Only 5 pilgrims waiting at the door to go in to present their credentials yo qualify for the Compostela.

As expected with the small number of pilgrims seen on our walk this morning, we we received a number for our position in line, entered the office area and within 4 minutes were presenting our credentials and after a quick review by an official representing the Bishop of Santiago, we were issued our Compostela for completing the Camino de Santiago – Camino Frances.

Having our celebratory Hot Chocolate and Santiago cake after receiving our compostelas.

Crowd building some since we walked in a half-hour ago.

This is look at the Catedral from another angle.

The Platerias Facade, where pilgrims typically enter the Catedral. Note the line up the steps.

We thought the sign behind us was interesting showing we were in (zero km ) Santiago. 49 days ago we observed a similar sign in Roncesvalles, having just walked over the Pyrenees.

For friends and family who have followed us on this latest adventure, we want to thank you for your support and comments and also want to assure you that we are safe and quite well and once again we did not fall off the edge of the earth! More to follow tomorrow.

O Pedrouzo to Lavacolla

Walked today: 4.3 mi. Camino2023: 308 mi.

Last night we reviewed five different weather apps, including Accuweather, WeatherBug, WeatherRadar and WeatherChannel and all confirmed there would be 10% or less chance of rain this morning. (7:00-11:00).

This morning when we got ready to leave CHE, we again reviewed all 4 apps, including their respective radar and again confirmed no chance of rain this morning. So, we included rain gear in our day packs (wise pilgrims that we are) and began our walk.

Within 10 minutes, a very fine rain began, causing us to put on our rain gear immediately to keep from getting soaked and that condition prevailed until we finished walking at 10:30.

Linda joining the Camino on a path from Pensión CHE Note 2 pilgrims coming up behind her and to her left

Completely baffled by the totally un-forecasted precipitation of the morning, we concluded that what we experienced was not normal rain droplets from the sky from a cloud, that is picked up by radar. We were actually walking in a cloud virtually resting on or just above the ground consisting of a fine mist, not raindrops, all around us … for the duration of most of the walk.

This was what the Camino looked like for the first mile. It was a gradual uphill pull in the fine mist, not picked up in our photos.

The path got a little less defined just before the airport.

That’s part of the Santiago airport runway from where we will takeoff for Paris, early Friday morning.

We passed this marker about 13 km (8 miles) from the Santiago Catedral as we emerged momentarily from the woods to reveal one of the expressways serving the city.

Here we are continuing our walk around one end of the airport runway and back into the woods again.

We walked into the hamlet of San Payo (pop.25) where we stopped for breakfast. There were a hundred or so pilgrims in line to order, get their credential stamped, use the toilet. The rest filled the inside tables, except for the one Linda grabbed for us. The outside tables were unused because of the continuing non-rain.

Being the patient pilgrims we are, we waited for the lines to dissipate, then ordered, got our credentials stamped, inspected the restrooms and actually ate our breakfast before the next surge arrived.

We returned to the typical dirt path through the woods just before entering Lavacolla, our destination.

A dirt path led us to the main street in the village of Lavacolla (pop. 171).

One of a number of impressive looking homes seen as we walked into Lavacolla.

Some pilgrims just ahead of us as we arrived at Pensión Xacobeo.

We stopped and chatted briefly with the owner. She welcomed us and said we could check in and leave our poles/ backpacks, etc. but our room was still being cleaned and would not be ready until 1:00.

We left our poles (our transported packs had already arrived) and walked another few hundred yards to the village square and hung out at Bar/Cafe A Concha.

The Iglesia de Benaval/San Pelayo overlooks the village square

Looking down from the church at the village square

Lavacolla ( Latin: “Lavamentula”) literally means “wash private parts.” Medieval pilgrims seldom if ever bathed along the journey and ridiculed Muslim and Jewish enthusiasms for personal hygiene, so apparently took advantage of the small stream that runs through the village to cleanse themselves for arrival in Santiago.

The stream looking rather chilly for bathing today, but most pilgrims these days have already had a bath/shower or two along the way to Santiago.

We complimented today’s short walk with an equally easy afternoon in Lavacolla and had our host order a pizza for us, delivered to the pensión’s self-catering dining area.

The above is the 4 mile route we walked this morning, from Pensión CHE, going around part of the airport then advancing to within 10km (6 miles) of the Santiago Catedral.

We’re looking forward to our walk into Santiago tomorrow morning and the conclusion of our 5th Camino, Camino2023.

Salceda to O Pedrouzo

Walked today: 6.1 mi. Camino2023: 304 mi

Santiago was waiting for us this morning as we left our knapsacks in the office of the Turistico Salceda. We exchanged hugs and good wishes and said our emotional farewells for likely the last time.

We took the short cut via the property back gate, revealed to us in 2015 by Santiago to expedite our walk to the medical clinic in O Pedrouzo.

A nice silhouette of eucalyptus (right) and pines (left) as we walked along the shortcut.

The light drizzle, threatening rain and fog, plus a mostly level dirt path made the walking easy this morning.

We stopped for breakfast #1 at a newly established eatery near A Brea

The drizzle got a little stronger, but still not officially, rain, but Linda put in her poncho. Jim, however, decided the hassle of unrolling his poncho, getting it wet, then having to deal with it, when the rain stopped, etc. was worth the risk.

So, Jim figured if Linda was wearing her poncho, Mother Nature might decide not to get more aggressive and allow Jim to get away without wearing his. And if Jim wasn’t wearing rain protection, the same Mother Nature might, at least, continue the drizzle, justifying Linda’s preventive action.

Jim without his poncho, relying on the balance of Nature (Mother, that is).

The Camino was not very busy for the duration of our walk this morning . This family of five passed us near A Rúa.

Walking into A Rúa, still a slight, but lessening drizzle.

Breakfast #2 at Restaurante O Acivro. It’s attached to a very nice Hotel Rural O Acivro in A Rua. Pronounced “Cola Cow”, it’s the Spanish version of hot chocolate. Ask for “chocolate caliente” and you get a much thicker drink commonly used with churros.

This handsome fella hoped we had an apple handy, as we left A Rúa. Unfortunately, we were empty handed.

This is where the Camino (a final section on pavement from A Rúa) met and crossed the main road going into O Pedrouzo… direction Santiago.

The Camino took an alternate by-pass path just as we arrived at the edge of O Pedruozo. We continued up main street and prepared for the final portion of today’s walk.

We are staying at Pensión CHE, one of a half dozen or so eating and lodging establishments in O Pedrouzo owned by a guy who’s name, abreviated, forms the letters C.H.E. He is known as “CHE”.

In 2017, we learned the hard way that Pensión CHE is not in O Pedrouzo. It’s a couple of miles beyond, outside the village of Amenal, but only a few hundred yards off the Camino. It’s a nice property, has a big pool (always too cold for Jim to use). It also has no food, only a bar with drinks. If you want food, you order it from O Pedrouzo and have it delivered by a CHE establishment. No other services are near Pensión CHE.

Also, very few people in O Pedrouzo have heard of Pensión CHE as we found out in 2017, wandering for miles and miles around the town looking for it, by asking directions, etc. We ultimately discovered that you must go to Hotel Pensión Platas on main street O Pedrouzo and give them your name and they will arrange for a van to take you from there to CHE.

So, we got to Pensión Platas, checked with the sweet, young receptionist, who spoke reasonably good English, to verify that the same drill to get to Pensión CHE was in effect from 2022, our last stay. She confirmed nothing had changed.

She confirmed the next van would head out to CHE “around noon”. It being a few minutes after 11:00, we found a place nearby to have lunch, our main meal for the day. While eating lunch, he had the barkeep prepare us some sandwiches with take with us to CHE.

The barkeep delivered our sandwich supper to our table as we were finishing up, we walked a few steps down main street to Pensión Plata and met the van, which took us to CHE and that’s where we checked in after a 15 minute wait for our room and spent the rest of the afternoon doing our routine stuff.

Pensión CHE, a large residence is next door, that’s all.

dining area (no kitchen), also hang-out area

The CHE pool… a group of pilgrims from Valencia, sitting on the edge of the pool, feet only in the water. Once again, even in August the water too cold for a dip!

At 6:00, we pulled out our self-catered dinner and chowed down before calling it a day.

Ham and cheese bocadillos, chips for supper.

Two days to Santiago.

Arzúa to Salceda

Walked today: 7.2 mi. Camino2023: 298 mi.

We joined the dirt path less than a hundred yards from our pension.

Sections of deep, earthen paths were frequent occurrences during today’s walk.

Breakfast stop #1: Not many pilgrims here at first, so we ordered and had a table and used restrooms without waiting, then, whosh!!!… it looked like this as we moved on.

..: the crowds lightened up a bit as we passed under the main road…

…. within another few minutes the path filled up again as faster pilgrims walked by.

We walked on the relatively flat path for a while meandering through small neighborhoods of just a few farm houses each. Soon after, we returned to the woods and some uphill and downhills just to make it interesting.

a long gradual slope through mostly eucalyptus trees mixed with some pines and hardwoods (probably oak based on all the acorns popping under our shoes).

We thought about stopping here for breakfast #2 but it was too crowded (no place to sit, lines too long)

We walked through several flat, wide dirt paths that we hoped would provide some shielding if the threatening clouds delivered the forecasted rain for late morning. The wide paths also allowed for elbow room with the passing pilgrim surges.

This section was heavily forested with eucalyptus trees.

We also walked through several areas with these deep earthen paths… this one was just before stopping for a belated breakfast #2.

We stopped for hot chocolate and a rest-stop at this unusual bar/albergue with a horreo hovering over the path.

Linda stirring her hot chocolate at Casa do Horreo.

We saw this beautiful palm tree and thought we might have entered a time warp back to South Carolina.

Just before Salceda we passed a section with several large homes using hydrangea bushes as a buffer to line the path on both sides. We named it Hydrangea Lane because of the huge blossoms.

As we closed in on Salceda, we thought the pilgrims might be thinning out, so we made one final stop for breakfast #3 at the last bar with services on today’s walk.

Just as we got back on the path some 15 minutes later, still another surge engulfed us as we walked the final half-mile to our destination for the day.

We arrived at Albergue Turistico Salceda at noon and were recognized by Lyudmila Lires, Santiago Lires’ daughter. We were so happy to be welcomed so enthusiastically and to hear that she and her family were well. This is our 5th visit since 2015.

Santiago’s daughter, Lyudmila, and co-manager of the Hotel Rural.

primero plata (second floor hallway). Santiago’s daughter, Sandra, plays the viola.

Our ‘light’ lunch: Ensalada Mixta (best on Camino2023 so far) for Jim. Linda’s favorite salad discovered here several Caminos ago (apple, eggs, asparagus)

Pork cheeks for Jim. Linda went light with homemade vegetable soup. Santiago was the chef for both delicious Galícian specialties.

After dinner we settled our bill and chatted briefly with our hosts, wishing each other well, in case we didn’t connect tomorrow morning. The highlight of today was our reunion with two special friends we have made on the Camino Frances.