Sunday, August 5

Phew! Just completed our hardest day of walking: 31 kilometers from Betanzos to Bruma with lots of uphill, especially one particular section that lasted for approximately 3 kms and, at points, seemed to go directly vertical. Very tough, long climb, but we all made it, and had energy to spare for the rest of our day. ("Yeah, sure, said Lisa.)

Some of us are trying not to mention our bloody blisters! So let me tell you about our bloody blisters. Some of
Our
Blisters are sp bad that we are using needle and thread to drain them - sorry, too much information! I am also using a Spanish medicated bandaid, called "Compeed" to help with the huge blisters on my heels. I know, you are totally fascinated by my blisters. I can expand on this subject--just ask.

In other news, the day started out sunny and comfortably cool as we left Betanzos around 7:45 this morning. We passed a few groups of twenty-somethings just heading home from a long night at the bars. Once out of Betanzos, we entered lush countryside, with amazing views. We also encountered several groups of pilgrims
- finally! The first was a man that we had met a couple of days ago in Pontedeume. He wasn't doing very well today and I'm pretty sure I saw him flag a car down and take a ride off the Camino. :(

The next pilgrims we met were at an old church where we stopped and had our pilgrim passports stamped. These pilgrims were young Italians - two girls and three guys. We also met a group of young female catholic missionaries who were from several different countries, but all doing the Camino together. At one point, after the really tough uphill section, we were waiting for some of our party and realized these girl missionaries might overtake us and beat us to the nearest bar for lunch. Jose made the fortuitous call of the day and ordered Marian and me to "book it" to the bar-- basically do everything in our power to beat those missionaries to the bar so we can make sure we put our food order in first! Marian and I, inspired by the Olympics, achieved the gold-medal in speed-hiking and totally blew those missionaries out of the water. Yes! Our food was ordered first! In your faces! In the end, God was with us. Good times...

So let me explain why beating those missionaries was so important. There is Spanish time and then there is Galician time. This is not the United States, where you enter an eating establishment, get a menu and then are served your food in a few minutes. No. You enter the bar/cafe, hope to be acknowledged, hope they actually have food on the premises that they can serve you, then hope that the cook is actually there and feels like cooking. You proceed to order from no preset menu and then proceed to wait at least a good half hour for your bread and meat sandwich. This is precarious and special strategic skills are involved if you want to eat.

We had three poncho moments today, yes, some intermittent rains. And, lots of perros (dogs) along the way (see pictures).

In summary, we had a fantastic dia!

Saturday, August 4

Okay, with our first long day behind us, we all woke up pretty sore in places, but optimistic that today was going to be an easier day. So, it totally sucked when we got dropped off at a starting point and immediately hiked uphill for what seemed forever.

Before hitting the trail, we all enjoyed a great breakfast put out for us at Pazo do Cruz, our country manor house. Then, the proprieter kindly dropped us off at a Camino start point and we were immediately heading uphill. The scenery was gorgeous: we were in a very lush, green valley with fab views of the hills dotted with picturesque homes. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries last night and I forgot my charger in my suitcase, which was left in the Zwingli rental car. Marian took some photos with her camera, but they can't be downloaded to my iPad due to a wrong connection. So no photos for today's blog, sorry! Take my word for it, today's hike was very scenic: we went up and down beautiful wooded paths, with hardly any civilization involved.

We also had a cloudy day and even had to break out the rain ponchos right before lunchtime (2:30).

Got to the hotel around 4:00 and Liz and Kath were already waiting for us . After shower and some rest, we all got together at the hotel bar and talked about the day and other unusual stories from other journeys. Then dinner. We were introduced to zamburinas, great fine seafood on shells we got to keep as souvenirs. We got back to the hotel early (Spanish schedule, around 10pm, to get ready for tomorrow. It is said to be the most difficult day, long - around 18 miles and quite a big elevation. It may rain too.
Lots of laugh on the way and amazing views to come will keep us all in good spirit to be able to accomplish our mission.

Can you tell that Marian
Wrote the last two paragraphs? Guest blogger! :-)

Friday, August 3rd

Omg, what a day! Started out by really
paring down to the utter essentials in my backpack to get rid of extra weight. Banished was a pair of shorts and hiking pants, two shirts, all the makeup and some creams that I decided didn't make the cut. So now, I'm down to just one pair of long pants, one hiking skirt, three t-shirts, one brush, small bag of toiletries, one raincoat, one jacket, a hat, one rain poncho, my iPad, camera and sleeping bag liner. This is for five days. And still the backpack is full and heavy! I am worried until I lift everyone else's backpacks and feel confident that mine is no heavier than the others.

We eat a light breakfast of toast and coffee, then make our way to the starting point of the Camino, which turns out to be about a mile away, on the coast. We all take a group picture at the official starting point around 9:30
a.m., and then, it is on!

We walk through the industrial town of
Ferrol, where we notice a lot of blue collar-type work shirts tied up on the gates of closed factories as a form of protest. There is 25 percent unemployment in Spain, and the shirts are one way we see this.

We continue on for mas kilometers. The scenery for the first few hours, I have to say, is underwhelming. We pictured beautiful pastoral Spain, what we got was slummy, slightly underprivileged, industrial areas. At one point, the Camino wound twice around a huge city dump! Thankfully, after that, the Camino took a much more scenic turn and instead of smelling sulfur, we were smelling the fresh fumes of flowers and vegetable gardens.

Around noon, tengo hombre (I am hungry) and inquire about my next meal. The spanish citizens in our group say we will stop for food at 2 p.m. De verdad?! Which means, "Really?!" The Americans are not enthused by this verdict, but we muster up more fortitude, break out the trail mix and go with the Spanish flow.


Some highlights of the day:
* our first stop at an alberge, a hostel for pilgrims where we sat down and rested for the first time and addressed our sore feet.
* lunchtime, (finally around 2:30) we pass several good opportunities for lunch and discover that we are about to leave one town and we aren't sure how far the next one will be. We double back to the last cafe/bar we had seen and surprise the proprieter with seven hungry pilgrims. There are only two other customers in the bar, and they dont appear to be eating. For some reason, we have arrived at a time when this "cafe" doesn't actually have any food, but the owner doesn't want to disappoint, so he takes our orders for sandwiches and runs out to the local grocery store to buy our food then comes running back (literally) to assemble our sandwiches, which are typical of Spain: delicious baguettes with slices of meat, no veggies or condiments. We enjoy our meal very much and try not to stare at the odd older "man" sitting next to us, who Lisa discreetly points out must be a woman. We leave He-She at the cafe, but have a hard time erasing Him-Her image from our minds.

Our feet are getting really sore, and some of us are really feeling the weight of our packs, but we still have about 10 kilometers to go. I have two huge blisters on my heels. At least the scenery is very good now, as we get up into a wooded, slightly hilly area.

We finally arrive at Pontedeume, a gorgeous beach town, where we get our pilgrim's passports stamped and visit the town cathedral before enjoying drinks at an outside cafe. Lucky for us, we arrive on the day of the town folk festival and we are treated by a parade of folk dancers and musicians that go right by us. By this time, we are giddy from the day's walk and a couple of beers, so we are not surprised to see Jack dancing his way into the parade.

We are picked up by the manager of our hotel for the night in a slightly dusty van and driven to a local cantina for a delicious seafood dinner. Our hotel turns out to be a beautiful, old country manor and we are so thankful to have this lovely, clean place to shower and sleep. Tomorrow will be an easier day-less kilometers!

P.S. Lisa experienced stigmata today!

August 2, 2012

Hi everyone!

Well, I slept extremely well last night, but woke up with a queasy stomach from eating too much jamon and chips last night. No mas jamon para Kim! (My Spanish is getting better!)

We met Lisa and Jill for an early dinner, however, early dinners don't exist in Spain, thus the ham shavings and chips. Restaurants don't start serving real food till about 9 p.m. So we made due with snacks and drinks, then bade Lisa and Jill adios as they left for Ferrol on the overnight train. Marian and I hooked up with the Zwinglis around 11 p.m. for a nightcap, then we taxied back to our cute apartment for the night.

The Zwinglis rented an Audi station wagon and picked us up around 9:30 a.m. for our 5 hour drive up to Ferrol. The scenery is gorgeous - I keep comparing it to California, as the mountains and foliage are so similar. Drove through a lot of mountain tunnels and we "wheeee-ed" through them (a Zwingli thing where you hold your breath and try to say "wheeeee" all the way through without taking a new breath. I giggle so much that I don't perform very well.)

We decided to drive to the port city of Caruna before going to Ferrol, as there apparently is not much to see in Ferrol. Good call on Caruna! Caruna is a beautiful resort town with lots of history. We walked up to The Tower of Hercules, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the world's oldest working lighthouse.

Now we are back en el coche, finally going to Ferrol, our Camino de Santiago starting point. Tomorrow , we begin the hike!

In Madrid!

Well, I arrived in Madrid safe, but without much sleep on the plane. Marian got up bright and early and was the first smiling face I saw outside Customs. We took a quick taxi ride to her family's apartment, where we are staying the night. Thank you Jaime, for the comfy bed! Marian tried her best to to get me adjusted to the time, so with just a quick shower, we were off walking all over Madrid for some light sightseeing and lunch with our fellow hikers, Lisa and Jill, who arrived three days ago.

I was surprised at how clean and pretty Madrid is for as old as it is. Everyone seems very friendly, also. I am not trying very hard to speak Spanish, because I have Marian right by my side. I did try to ask for a "to-go" bag once, and found out I used the word for "ticket" instead of "bag". As in, can you put that in a ticket for me?". Yeah, my Spanish is awesome.

Took a quick nap after a late lunch and now I am getting ready to go out for an early dinner.

Madrid, here I come!

Landed safely in Philadelphia and will be boarding my plane to Madrid in less than an hour. I know...I am
BORING you! Adios mis amigos.

Backpack ready!

Okay, I am leaving tomorrow and Have my backpack ready to go.  Think I will leave the walking stick behind and give myself one less thing to worry about.  Just purchased a photo upload connector for the iPad, and tested it out.  Now, to pack my tiny suitcase for the few days after the hike where I can wear makeup and cuter clothes! Yay!