We Are Not Alone

For starters, check out this link - watch them play but the lyrics are the key. (You may have to cut and paste the link) Almost looks like they are on the Camino too

http://www.metaspoon.com/patty-cake-epic-music-video/ 

We started out from Ventas de Naron after having stayed at the country house 

Now that we have come to the last part of the Camino, there are many more people on the road. We have learned that having a Compostela (the certificate that verifies you have made the pilgrimage) helps Spaniards get a job

We met two Spaniards from Galicia who were serving as volunteers at a rest stop/albergue. 

They were serving free coffee and tea and cookies and Bible verses. The place belonged to an American who had done the Camino and wanted to help other pilgrims. 

We met a couple from South Africa snacking by the wayside and when they heard us speaking English, they asked us to take their picture. 

This young man from the Netherlands struck up a conversation with us while we were having a soda at a bar along the way. He was walking the Camino in order to get his thoughts together and decide whether he should ask his girlfriend to marry him ... 

He decided yes. 

Two Brazilians speaking Portuguese and laughing - we could hear them from waaay back 

And many other random people - sometimes we didn't get a picture of those we talked to 

This fellow walking along with his friend had a prosthetic foot....

And these bunnies were the cause of an almost serious mishap 

Joyce tripped on a dip in the sidewalk while coming over to see the bunnies and both of us almost ended up in the ditch had we not held on to each other to keep from falling - we do not walk alone. 

Reality Bites

We made the best time ever on today's walk/hike. Early start + easy paths + moderate climbs + appropriate refueling + shorter distance. Our lodging is out in the country, another "Casa Rural". It's quaint, picturesque and comfortably furnished. (Can't get the video to upload on this blog)

Joyce says it could be in Napa for that matter - or in Tuscany. The roof style is similar, not sure how many places in Napa have stone walls two feet thick. 

The building dates from the 1400s

 and has been renovated to include modern amenities. 

Can't have a place without a bar - I think it looks old English. 

It's pretty unreal that we are here in Spain enjoying this.  The people who run this casa rural are renting it from someone who lives elsewhere and are making their living in "hostelries". The young girl who transported us to their place graduated from high school, her sister is living in Madrid to finish her studies, she has a six year old brother, her mother does the cooking, they all run the Casa and her uncle just came from Germany to help out and she didn't mention her dad. The reality is that people have to work very hard to make a go of it here in Spain while we are traipsing around the countryside in the latest wicking shirts and shorts.  

Australian Jeff (who himself owns cattle and horses) commented that the folks out here are most likely subsistence farmers - real dairy farms would probably have about 1000 head of cattle, not just 20-30. And most likely the poverty we've seen is because people don't have the money and have gone off to the city to work, besides taking care of their farms. 

Harvesting potatoes 

Last night, our lodgings were a bit more austere, adequate but plain, right in the middle of a busy plaza filled with pilgrims all looking for a place to spend a quick night and get an inexpensive meal. The staff was a family of three generations.  They cooked, cleaned, served, and tried to get a bite in themselves all the while tending to whoever walked in. 

Some of the more basic pilgrim albergues have problems with bed bugs - in fact we saw a woman putting out a sign in front of one declaring it to be closed due to "chinches" - bed bugs!!!  

Bites from bed bugs is a reality Joyce and I don't need. 

Whew!! None....

Buen Camino

This is what people say to each other on the road and/or as they leave a bar to get going again on the Camino. Old ladies say this to us as we pass through a village; young Spaniards say this as they whiz by on their mountain bikes. 

It means "good road" literally, but the idea is that you wish someone safe travels to Santiago. Nevertheless in our walking travels there have been some good roads, some bad roads, some interesting and some difficult roads - kind of like the roads we all have to travel in life. And in no particular order, here are some examples of the astounding variety of roads we've traveled so far.

Had to cross this bridge and climb those stairs to get to tonight's lodging. 

And along the road you meet people from everywhere - I think all roads must lead to Santiago de Compostela as well as Rome. 

At the country house where we were staying, we had some fun conversations with a delightful couple, Jeff and Jill, from Australia, who are world travelers and have hiked the Inca Trail among others. 

Also along the Camino today, we met the owners of a bar, a young  woman from the Phillipines and her husband from the island of Minorca, who met in Barcelona. They opened this bar because they loved the peace and tranquility of Galicia (they must mean when there are fewer pilgrims). Here's their darling little girl who speaks, Spanish, Minorcan, and English. She just turned three. 

Jill says you have to have friends in the farthest corners of the world.

Monday

Too tired to blog

Sunday on the Camino

Nothing to write about today. 

We didn't go anywhere. 

We didn't do anything. 

We didn't meet anyone new. 

Why? It was a scheduled day of rest and it so happened to coincide with a deluge and a downpour that filled up the troughs lining the walkway. Sheets of water coming down. 

We are very grateful not to be getting soaked, but concerned for other pilgrims who might have had to make their way down rocky, now slippery, paths in the pouring rain. Lucky for us, our room is roomy and so there is plenty of space to hang up a few things we had to wash - unfortunately, they are not drying because of the dampness. In fact the two foot thick stone walls of our room are damp and clammy 

and so are we, but we are not complaining. We have been reading and resting and thanks to modern technology we can even communicate with friends and family while doing nothing. 

People and their food

We were the only guests eating here at 9:00pm, even though the "Casa Rural" was full. The other guests showed up as we were leaving after 10:00. Spaniards... 

View of the dining room and display table:

Below: three cheese salad - caramelized goat cheese, sheep's milk cheese, and cow's milk cheese with grated carrots, puréed tomatoes, olive oil, and you won't guess what's around the edge, although I had thought could it possibly be...?  Brewer's yeast!!!!!!! A fabulous touch. Then there was hake, over mashed potatoes and tomatoes. With chocolate lava cake and homemade mint ice cream. We didn't really expect such a gourmet meal. 

As interesting as the meal, however, was the story of the owners, and also the stories/encounters with other pilgrims and people we met on the Way. The owners, a couple with two small children bought this 400 year old monk's rectory from another couple who had started the renovation. They do ALL the food preparation themselves. Four kinds of bread, Spanish tortilla, chocolate pound cake, little Eclairs, quince jelly, homemade cheese, muffins - for breakfast. We can't figure out who is taking care of the kids, haha. 

Other interesting characters along the way: the guy who showed up in the middle of the woods with homemade leather stuff - we bought our shells from him

The hippie girl living in a ruin of a house offering food, clothing, whatever to passing pilgrims - we got our most colorful stamp from her. 

The Irish artist who set up a studio in the middle of no where except the Camino, with a girl friend in France, selling his pen and watercolor studies for plenty $$$ 

I seem to have had good luck with the old farmers wanting to talk to me in Spanish - this guy offered us figs from his tree (fig in foreground, five foot tall cabbage plants in background)

Also met a very nice father-daughter couple from Seville - does it look like they are from Seville? We didn't think so either. Mostly you can only tell where the pilgrims are from if you hear them talk. We are all so differently alike. 

Pilgrim's Progress, part two

Leaving O'Cebreiro

Pilgrims don't progress unless they refuel. We've done pretty well, some ups, some downs, and not counting the 35 Euro pizza on the first day in Madrid. 

Our basic walking fuel is not very elaborate

In comparison to the fancy pants gazpacho or Spanish olives at the Parador in León. 

But we do seem to be following a certain pattern, called eggs any style...

And for dinner yesterday we had those wonderful roasted green peppers, crisp lettuce salad, gallego broth, lamb chops and the company of our young Brazilian friend who ordered the specialty of the region, grilled octopus!!! Plus a coupla beers....

Then there's always the ubiquitous bocadillo, ham and melon. Yummy stuff but you have to know what to order, even when the menu is printed in four languages, you don't always know what the dishes are.