The Stork's nest...

As you will have seen in my pictures from my Camino, there were many, many pictures of stork nests that were vacant for the season. I have just come across a link to a webcam poised over a stork's nest somewhere in Spain. The name of the town is not one I walked through but this link will give you a birds eye view of the stork and their growing family. Currently there are 4 babies. Enjoy...really!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/stork-family-live

I think I've got the bug...I feel the need to walk again...

Well it has been almost 6 months since I arrived in Santiago de Compostella and pretty much right on queue, I have been bitten by the need to walk again.

If it works out that I am able to go again this year, it will only be to walk from Sarria to Santiago which is the last 100kms. I am hoping to go in September again. I really enjoyed the time of year on my last walk.

Fingers crossed!

I have arrived in Santiago de Compostela ...

 

With very mixed emotions, this morning at approximately 1025am (Spain time) I arrived in front of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. My walking jouney has ended but the results of the life jouney will hopefully continue on. Thank you to my sister Theresa and my nephew Michael who got up before 4am (Ontario time) to watch my arrival on the webcams around the Cathedral. Theresa and I were in contact by text messages as I walked Into the city. They were able to capture still shots from the webcams (Michael had one going on his computer and Theresa had another one on her computer). I'm not sure if they will turn out but I knew I was there!
As well thank you to everyone who followed my Blog and especially to those who left messages, as they really helped on those days when I had my doubts as to what I was doing
More later!

Now in Arqua with 2 days to go...

Greetings all!
I didn't post yesterday because the walk from Portomarin to Palas de Rei wasn't that inspiring! I think the most exciting thing of the day was the trek across this old richety bridge first thing in the morning. It was metal and all but the actual walking surface was kinda of a sheet metal and with every step you took, you never knew which way it was going to shift. Sometimes the front would raise up. Other times the side or back would move. Of course, the bridge is suspended about 50m over a valley that was once the town until progress called a hydro electric dam down steam was built. It was either low tide or the dam was open but there was very little water. This was great for seeing some if the old walls but not so great if you took a tumble as there was barely a trickle if water. After the bridge, the day started with a steep climb. I guess they figured if the bridge didn't wake you up the climb sure would. The rest of the 24km day was uneventful.
The town of Palas de Rei is built on the side of a hill. Luckily for the next morning, the exit route was downhill for a change.
Today's walk was a realitively uneventful 30km trek. I think the highlight was my stop for breakfast in some small hamlet along the way. This area (Arqua) is known all through Europe for their cheese. It's called tetilla (translated "nipple"). Well I had some in my Bocadillos "tortillos Francesca" which is a fancy name for an omlette with something in it (today was ham and nipple cheese) on some sort of crusty bread or baguette. It was one if the best cheeses I have ever had. Very creamy and rich. I want to try it in it's own which should be even better. Speaking of food, last night dinner I tried one of the local Galician specialties called Pulpo a la Gallega. Translated, steamed Octopus, sliced up and sprinkled with Spanish paprika. If you were wondering, yes...it still had those little suction cups on the tentacles. It is a local specialty so I had to try it. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I wouldn't have it every day but I may try it again.
Today was the last of the up the hill...down the hill apparently. Walking into Arqua was pretty. I could see the town early enough, it just happened to be on the top of another hill, across a very deep valley. So, down I went and then up I went. It sounds so simple but it took over an hour to navigate it.
The "happy" birds I was talking about the other day sound an awful lot like a robin but with more calls. It is about a quarter of the size but has a similar orangey breast. Distant cousins maybe.
We are expecting rain for the next several days so I guess my walk into Santiago will be a wet one!
Adios for now...

The fog has lifted in Portomarin...

If you read yesterday's post, you may remember me talking about the cottomball like "mist" that I saw coming around the mountain. Well today, I walked in that mist and it felt as dense as it looked yesterday from the mountainside. Here are a couple of examples of just how dense this stuff was. It was that dense that at one point, I looked down at my t-shirt and wondered where all the lint balls had come from. I ran my finger along the area and it turns out it was condensation from the mist had actually formed on the front of my shirt. The other example of how dense the mist was is how many spider webs there were. Normally, you never see spiderwebs (in this quantity) but this morning, I could see every spiderweb along the path. It one area, they had planted a field of what looked like scotch pines (the Spanish version). These trees were so filled with spiderwebs which were filled with condensation from the mist, they actually looked like Christmas tree decorations. The only thing missing were a strand of twinkling lights. The downside of this much mist is that it was difficult to take many pictures.
The one picture I did get was the one of the marker indicating I was 100kms from Santiago de Compostela. In the Galician region that I am now in, they have installed these cement pillars every 0.5kms to tell you how far you are from Santiago. At this point, depending on which book or marker you read/look at, I am 90-95kms from the final destination. I am still on track to arrive in 4 days.
If anyone is interested, I should be arriving in the square in front of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compesttla at around 10am (local time). That would make it around 4am Ontario time. The reason I mention this is that thte is a website that actually hosts several webcams that cover the square. Just a thought?!
Adios for now...

In Sarria...

I didn't mention the fun part about yesterday (and as it turns out, today too). For a good portion of this part of the Camino, you walk along trails that are almost completely enclosed with mature Chestnut and Oak trees. It's beautiful walking along these types of paths but they can be a bit on the tricky side too. It's fall here in Spain and if you haven't guessed it yet, the chestnuts and acorns are ripe. What this has meant, especially yesterday and today, aside from doing the cow pattie dance, you are often being bombarded from above by either type of nut and often both at the same time. It was kind of fun (OK you have to entertain yourself on some stretches of the trail), trying to avoid getting knocked on the head.
Today's walk was quite enjoyable. The birds seemed especially loud and plentiful. I had been hearing a couple of birds for a while now and today I actually got to see them (even pics of one if them). The one I got the picture of has an ecxepionally happy sound.
My guide book said that after a steep climb out of Triacastela, you would be able you catch glimpses of the Galician rolling hills and lush valleys below as well as Sarria in the distance. That wasn't the view I saw today. The mist in the valley was as white as a cotton ball and as dense looking. It was amazing to see because you could see the tops of the mountains all around but then they just ended and there was this white blanket of mist covering the entire valley. The path I was following wound around and down the mountain. Eventually, I could catch glimpses of the land below. At one point there was a break in the mist part way down. There was a farm perched on the side of a hill and the mist was all around but there was a break in it just around the house. It was really cool looking, I hope the pictures turn out. Of course, eventually, I too was surrounded by the mist. One minute I could see the clear sky above and the next, it appeared to be a cloudy day. I didn't actually see the sun again until several hours after I arrived in Sarria and the mist had burned off.
Sarria itself is OK. It's large town that has a old section and a newer section. It appeared to me that the town planners made no effort to blend the new with the old which, at least in my opinion, is such a shame...especially to see such an unattractive contrast.
Adios for now...

Down the hill to Triacastela...

Well today was another beautiful day in Spain. With the exceptions of a few steep climbs (nothing like yesterday though), today's venture was pretty much downhill. Again today, I still prefer the down part over the up part. I know some people have knee problems but I don't and going down doesn't take my breath away. For the most part, I walked almost entirely alone. Again today, the scenery was breathtaking. One might think I would get bored with another view of a valley or of a mountainside as I walk past but that hasn't happemed yet and I don't expect it to. At times today, all I could hear was the sound of the wind whistling through the heather alongside the track, the birds singing and the sound of my own boots crunching on the gravel path. To add to the delight of another sunny day, there was a great breeze which made the walk so much more pleasant.
Coming into Triacastela, I had to share the path with a herd of cattle being moved from one pasture to another by the farmer. Of course there was the mandatory dog (a huge German shepherd who kept getting distracted by one smell or another and had to then run to catch up to the herd) helping to keep the herd on the straight and narrow. For me, aside from the dust the beasts stiired up, there was the incessant smell of the cow patties. Of course along with smell came the "cow pattie shuffle". It seems like doing this shuffle has become a constant on this journey. Don't get me wrong, it's not just cow patties, there is also sheep droppings that one needs to step around too. I wouldn't want to be accused of picking on cows. As for the one smell that will forever remind me of Spain, it will be the smell of a barnyard. It's sad but true. The smell can come at anytime, anyplace...without the warning of actually being near a barnyard. I have to say that today was particularly bad which is probably why it is so fresh in my mind. As bad as it was sometimes (very bad), it didn't deter this from being one of the best walk days I think so far.
In only 6 days, I will be walking into Santiago de Compostella. I have mixed feelings about it. I will miss the excitement of watching the different landscapes unfold in front of me each day, and sometimes at every corner. What I won't miss is not having different clothes to wear each day. There is something to be said to putting on fresh laundered clothes. Washing them out in the bathroom sink, hoping they will dry for the next day is not the same thing as clothes that gave been washed and dried in a machine.
Adios for today.