Like many other pilgrims last year, our plans to walk the Camino came to a screeching halt when the pandemic came along. We were packed and ready to head to Spain at the end of March, so cancelling a cruise, flights, and reservations instead was a huge disappointment. This was eventually replaced with a concerted effort to “be kind, be calm, be safe” while staying put here in Western Canada. Dave and I got as far as Bilbao along the…
A couple of days ago (August 2, 2019) I wrote to say videos are now embedded in each blog post about our recent “Three Caminos in One.” That project led to doing the same thing with our 2015 Camino Frances blog. To see them, go to the “Home” page and click on “The Camino Frances, Fall 2015 blog.” The videos are at the bottom of every blog post. A four-year-old blog might be like “old news” compared with “breaking news,”…
Whew! Dave and I have been home for almost two months and can finally say we have come to the end of “Three Caminos in One.” Dave created 32 videos and they are now embedded in most blog posts. Because I took fewer photos on my solo walk along the Camino Frances for 16 days, they are collapsed into just three shows that appear at the end of blog posts on Day 5, 8, and 16. There is a video…
According to the Compostelas we received in Santiago, the official distance for the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo is 315 km. Our All Trails app shows our distance as 349.1 km. Maybe the difference accounts for such things as getting lost or looking for food or our albergue. We visited the Cathedral but took no photos because of restoration work taking place to the interior. (Photos of the interior of the cathedral on shown in our 2015 blog.) The restoration is…
Distance Today: 20.5 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 349.1 km (All Trails) Official Distance from Oviedo: 321 km Elevation Gain: 541 metres Weather: Sunny; warm/hot Highlight: WE DID IT! A funny thing happened to us late yesterday at the Noja Rooms 2 in Pedrouzo. We lost our clothes! We checked in, got cleaned up, washed and hung our clothes on the clothesline conveniently located outside our second floor window that overlooked a walled courtyard. We had no clothes pegs but…
Distance Today: 18.0 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 328.6 km (All Trails) Elevation Gain: 425 metres Weather: Sunny; warm/hot (33C) One more day before we reach Santiago de Compostela! This is what our second to last day of walking the Camino Frances looked like. Lots of people and lots of signs (and graffiti!)…
Distance Today: 20.5 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 310.7 km (All Trails) Elevation Gain: 601 metres Weather: Sunny; warm/hot (30C+) We had a bad night at our albergue in Melide and a morning that started far too early. All twenty beds (ten bunks) in our room were occupied and there were many disturbances that led to lack of sleep. The albergue was noisy. First of all, the metal staircase outside the door to our room clattered and echoed whenever anyone…
Distance Today: 20.8 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 290.2 km (All Trails). Elevation Gain: 492 metres Weather: Sunny; warm AM; hot PM (30C) Highlight: Culture shock! Our entire focus today was on our arrival in the city of Melide where the Camino Primitivo joins the Camino Frances. Suddenly the population of pilgrims walking to Santiago would increase dramatically. We weren’t looking forward to it. Sixty per cent of pilgrims who receive their Compostela in Santiago walk the Camino Frances while…
Distance Today: 30.1 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 269.5 km (All Trails) Elevation Gain: 820 metres Weather: Sunny; cool AM and warm PM Highlight: Countdown We followed the bronze shells through the Plaza Mayor, past the cathedral, and through the Puerta de Santiago to the outside of the Roman walls of Lugo and then promptly got lost. Directions from some locals helped us find our way to the Camino and finally we were on our way. We walked on peaceful,…
Distance Today: 17.2 km Total Distance from Oviedo: 239.4 km. Elevation Gain: 433 metres Weather: Overcast; cool Highlight: Roman Walls We have walked through only small villages and rural areas on the Camino Primitivo so arriving at the city of Lugo today came as a shock. The last city we were in was Oviedo two weeks ago. I hadn’t listened to music at all on this Camino but it was a welcome distraction while walking along the busy highway leading…