We've only just begun...

 

It was dark when we took our first steps on the last stretch of our pilgrimage along the Way of St James. In some ways this seemed appropriate ..the morning mist on the valleys as the sun rose, the stillness broken only by the sound of our feet and the birds singing. 

We were both deep in thought as we began the climb out of Lavocolla, one of the last stops along the camino. It is thought that pilgrims in the Middle Ages used to wash in the stream here to arrive clean at the shrine of St James.

Sue took this story seriously and decided to wash ( just her hands ) in a fairly fast flowing stream. Suffice to say she lost her footing, but thankfully was wearing her Gor Tex boots and waterproof trousers!

For the rest of our walk we were excited, but a little sad that our pilgrimage was nearing an end. We were blessed by a beautiful rainbow which lifted our spirits. As we. Drew nearer to Santiago the road became much busier. Although from Mount  Gozo it is no longer possible to see the cathedral spires, we could still see the city, and from there it was downhill until the final ascent to the cathedral steps.

 We arrived in time for the Pilgrims Mass - words fail to describe the experience. We met lots of friends with whom we had shared the journey, and we were all united in prayer and worship in the cathedral - our final destination 

...or is it?

St Augustine said:

"Behold our end which has no end."

 

He also said:  

"Sing Alleluia,

and keep on walking!"

Resting Places...

Since leaving Ferreiros on Monday morning, every day has brought  new experiences. Misty mornings have cleared to bring warm sunny afternoons. 

How lucky we are!

 We continue to enjoy beautiful countryside - very green with hints of Autumn on the hedgerows and trees, fallen apples and paths strewn with chestnuts. The camino is now more gentle compared with our first few days, but we still have had some steep and rough ground to cover.

On Tuesday we stayed at the town of Portomarin, which has an interesting history. In the 1960's the river Mino was dammed to create the Belesar reservoir. The old village is now under water. The most important historical monuments were moved brick by brick up to the new town. 

The following day we continued to walk through more stone villages - their grain stores on stilts, the farmers working their land. On this stretch of the trail we reached our half way mark!

 On Wednesday we had another opportunity to leave the camino to spend a night in the countryside near Ventas ...a quiet little farmers hamlet.  Unlike our last trip off the trail, we had a very pleasant drive to our destination

 - Pazo de Ludeiro..

Every night night so far we have enjoyed comfortable accommodation and good food. Compleja La Cabana - set right on the Camino path, just before the descent into Palais de Rei, surrounded by pine and chestnut trees, was our next stop. This time we were in a log cabin! 
(with a window that just fell out ... more about that another day.)

Off The Beaten Track...

Ferreiros, an extremely remote hamlet on the Camino, paper in hand, phone number to contact, but no reply, again and again and again!
Less than helpful bar staff in the Casa, one of only two inhabited places the other at the bottom of a long, steep hill!

 We tried to phone a taxi company, but abandoned our efforts 'non comprendi'.
A young Italian, a fellow pilgrim, tried to interpret for us. Eventually a young Spanish girl took pity and phoned a taxi for us. Two hours later a taxi arrived!

  There after it felt like we were on the film set of a James Bond car chase.  An expected 3km ride extended to a half hour roller coaster ride. Very scary! The mad Spanish chauffeur eventually stopped the car in Portomarin, 

our next days destination! 

 He laughed at our efforts to tell him there must be a mistake, that we were going the wrong way.  However, our panic subsided when a young Romania pilgrim joined us at this point. This was no ordinary taxi driver but the owner of Foilebar, our overnight accommodation.  When we arrived at his beautiful home, high up in the hills, he explained that his property name meant

 'House of the Wolf!'

We needed time to recover from the panic and travel sickness before enjoying a wonderful meal in the company of new  companions.  We prayed for forgiveness for lack of faith and in thanksgiving for our safe arrival.

But in the middle of the night when there was a loud banging  on the door we wondered if we were on the set of an Agatha Christie murder mystery or maybe too much wine!

All jokng apart it was a privilege to enjoy spending time in this beautiful home with such friendly, hospitable people.

The next morning we were taken back to where we had been picked up to continue our Camino. 

One more step along the road...

Due to difficulties in gaining internet access each day, and our need for a good pilgrim meal and an early bed, our blog news has been sparse so far.

There is so much to share and we plan to write a longer account 

when we return.  

                               

Our journey to Triacestella, and then on to Sarria on our first two days took us through hamlets which have changed little over the centuries. We passed very few pilgrims on the way, and only a few local people. We were fortunate to visit many small churches and have time to reflect on why we were there and the thousands of pilgrims who were there before us!

Triacestella

We arrived in Sarria on Saturday evening after a long winding road, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes exhausting, especially at the end, 

but very very beautiful.  

As we reached the outskirts of the town, 

we were a little disappointed. 

Yes, we were tired (the walk had certainly been longer than we expected ), but our first impressions were not good. Eventually when we almost reached our hotel, one of us discovered she had left her stick 

a few kms back at our map stop. 

So ...we retraced our steps!! 

We guessed from past experience that we would walk more than 100 miles! 

                                

However, our evening out on the town was enough to get us back in high spirits... An evening meal with 2 choices per course. ..different and more expensive than the pilgrims €10 with wine special! Since our knowledge of Spanish is extremely limited, we decided to order all the food on offer and share! ...and a bottle of good Rioja to celebrate our achievement so far. 

Well, what appeared caused much hilarity - a plateful of baby octopus, or should that be 'pi'? ...and a bowl of large prawns sizzling in what looked like hot oil and cheerios! We felt duty bound to try and taste, especially since there was nobody else in the restaurant. It would have been rude not to, but the sight of curly tentacles and shrivelled little bodies waiting to be chewed was a bigger challenge than all the hills we had climbed!  

Courses 2 and 3 were not a lot better,but the wine was good!

Enough about food! 

 On Saturday we had a rest day, when we discovered that the re was an old town of Sarria, which is more quaint and friendly. Sarria is a popular place to start the camino as the distance from here to Santiago is enough to obtain the compostela. So for us,there are now many more pilgrims to meet, 

many more stories to share. 

We went to mass on Saturday evening, which included a Baptism, and where we met Christina from Whalley Range! Later, we joined a party of pilgrims from many countries for dinner and having been told that Sue was obviously the younger pilgrim, the Granny was also described as  "very fit" and has a date with German Ralph to join him on another camino - the Northern Way from San Sebastion, when she' s 80. He'll then be 85!