October 15, 2022. A big step closer over tiring territory We awoke early at our hostel in the Natural park that we shared with albergue guests, but we were grateful for a good night’s sleep in a private room. After a very light breakfast we decided not to hit up a local bar/restaurant and get …
October 14, 2022. We cross the 100 km threshold left! Our day started, as usual, in the misty gray light, as we walked to a little cafe popular with students and pilgrims that offered American items such as toast and scrambled eggs with bacon, cafe con leche and orange juice, all for $6 each. This …
October 13, 2022. Rest, recover and reflection day. After our evening in a beautiful albergue (Spanish term for a group hostel), I needed a light hiking day and some time for rest and recovery. I loved the hostal experience for many reasons, but getting very little sleep was not one of them. O Xistral, mentioned …
October 12, 2022. What we used to think of as Columbus Day in the US is also, to our surprise, a National Day of Spain celebrating the spread of Spanish culture and language to the world. This means that all stores and supermarkets are closed and a pilgrim must plan ahead carefully to have supplies …
October 11, 2022. Today we dive deeper into the remote interior Galician mountainous area. We arose from our surprisingly comfortable pilgrim accommodation in the remote and tiny hamlet of Villamartin Pequeño, where a three generation family business of pilgrim accommodations had arisen, and was most welcome as there was no other accommodation for miles. How …
October 10, 2022. There’s a feeling of being on the final lap and that we can make it as we cross into Galicia. Early morning brought the unwelcome sound of hard rain on the windowsills and the roof. Although 7:30 it was still very dark out. We have to get used to sunrise now being …
October 9, 2022. On today, our last full day in Asturias, we aimed to get a lot of miles in and get close to the Galician border. Thanks to milder elevation changes, the 29 km went smoothly. Our day began in the industrial city of Navia, with breakfast in a little patisserie, which appeared to …
Our 30 km “long and flat” day did not materialize as there were no places available in the desired destination. We scaled back to a 21 km destination in the industrial city of Navia, located on a large river. Our day started with breakfast at the Hotel Báltico where we stayed. The elder manager opened …
A good night’s rest and food put a difficult day behind us. We arose to a cloudy but pleasant morning and had breakfast in the hotel. The man who closed the bar was the man to open it for breakfast today, and his wife was in the kitchen cooking. I asked when he gets a …
October 6, 2022. It’s not wise to bring your expectations to the Camino. Today we had read that by taking the mountain route starting at Soto Luiña, we would see the most scenic section of the entire Camino, but in fact it was the most difficult, dangerous and wet hike so far. Our morning started …
