Considering this winter's record snowfalls, in the USA as well as in Europe, we are trying to prepare and pack for any and all eventualities of weather, be it snow, rain, cold,etc...Knowing now what is needed and what is not, we believe that we will start our next leg of our Camino Xacobeo 2010 with more knowledge, less weight on the backs (no bags with ham) and certainly more enthusiasm, for we know well that the Way of Stars, the Milky Way on Earth captures and hypnotizes you once you walk on it....Counting the days now..!
Wenn man die Schneefaelle dieses Winters in den USA und Europa in Erwaegung zieht, planen wir schon waermere (Unter)Waesche, um wirklich vorbereitet zu sein, falls wir weiterhin Schnee, Regen, order Kaelte bekaempfen muessen....Wir wissen jetzt, was wichtig ist und was nur Gewicht ist, und glauben, dass wir unseren Camino Xacobeo 2010 mit mehr Kenntniss und weniger Sachen in den Rucksaecken (vor allem die Schinkentasche) starten werden, wor allen Dingen mit mehr Begeisterung, denn wir wissen jetzt, dass der Sternenweg fesselt und hypnotisiert...Wir zaehlen schon die Tage!
Hola Angelita!! espero esten muy bien y disfrutando de ese viaje tan lindo. Te mandamos muchos besos y fuerza para continuar. Besotes enormes.. Lina, Estela y bebe!!
ReplyDelete24th March (Wed) FLIGHT NYC-MAD
ReplyDeleteWent to work, but left early so I could finalize last-minute tasks around the house before the limo arrives to take me to the airport…
The weight of the backpack, filled, reaches 17 lbs…I know how heavy it can get on your back, especially when climbing hills and mountains…but, I have already trimmed to what I perceive to be the bare minimum (which later turns out to be false, again…- golden rule: pack what you think you will absolutely need, and then trim it by 20%...the only item that was worth its weight in gold (or iron powder) was the lot of “hand and body warmers” that activate and warm up chemically once you shake them; but more on them later).
Hope Julia will remember the pilgrim credentials.
Pray – that my son will not be using the house as a “party den” while I am gone…I have emphasized it several times, indicating that the neighbors will “tell me”, but he nonchalantly waves me off and tells me to have a great time, and that he will “miss me” while I am gone…and that the house will be clean when I return…..yeah, right!
Heading to the airport, the packpack in a bag is way heavier that it appeared on my back…did I remember everything? On the boarding pass, I see that the airline has kindly changed my earlier seat confirmation (window) with a “center” seat…no explanation given….so, while I wait to board I pop a tylenol nighttime to ensure I will get the rest needed being sandwiched in. In fact, I became sleepy walking to the aircraft and simply plopped into my seat, stashed the bag under the seat, buckled the belt and covered up with the phony blanket they provide….missed “dinner”, movies, and “breakfast”….woke up barely 30 minutes before landing…the first time in many years that I arrive in Europe without jetlag.
25th March (Thur) - ARANJUEZ
ReplyDeleteSari and Fran pick me up and we head to a bookstore of some friends of theirs who are about to close it down…books are on sale, some at ½ price….I quickly purchase about a dozen books (since they are in Spanish, I cannot buy them as easily in New York, and know that I will spend all my summer reading and studying them)..Of course I will leave them in Madrid, since I will return here to take my flight back home. As always, we talk non-stop about a multitude of subjects, our jobs, family, and philosophies. I sleep like a baby in the “special bed” I call “lucid dream bed”; for some reason, every time I sleep in this bed, I wake up wondering about the incredible vivid dream I have just had…could it be that it sits on some energy crossings of meridians?
26th March (Fri) –
ReplyDeleteJULIA ARRIVES FROM FRA – MIDNIGHT BUS TO PONFERRADA
We have ordered a small paella which turns out to be one of the tastiest ones I have ever eaten…the rice alone makes you happy!
That afternoon, they give me a ride back to the airport, T-4 (terminal), where I will wait for Julia to arrive from Germany….and, of course, she arrives beaming and laughing…so excited to get started on the second leg of our camino….We now have several hours to kill before our bus for Ponferrada picks us up.
The bus terminal slowly fills with eager “pilgrims” who anxiously ask in broken Spanish whether this is the correct bus stop to take them to Leon, Lugo, Cebreiro, etc…from where they will individually commence their hike to Santiago. Some carry small backpacks and inadequate shoes (crocks), others are more loaded with gear than we are….We now feel “superior”, since we are “experienced hikers” after our initial trek from Burgos to Ponferrada last year. The bus finally shows up 30 minutes late, but by now we have twice the number of travelers than seats on the bus and, due to Spanish form, some interesting arguments ensue, most of them directed at the poor bus driver who probably is the least to blame. He quickly calls for backup and after a solomonic decision of leaving the travelers to “shorter destinations” behind, he allows most of the pilgrims to board the bus, which now takes us to the central bus station in Madrid…..We get off and now board the bus taking us to Ponferrada, with a blond, female driver….We have ambitiously reserved (2 months ago) seats number 1 an 2, front center, without realizing that a) there is no legroom and b) we are but inches from the humongous windshield, causing me to feel nauseous throughout most of the route….Top this with the driver’s love for a particular pop song on her cd player, which she sang (very loud) along to repeatedly – and I mean, at least 20 times, merciless hammering a sequence of two English words over and over again – I was ready to xxxx !, and this was also causing gentle Julia to become so annoyed with the driver, she wanted to xxx the cd up xxxx(Note: All throughout our travel, we would encounter this xxx song at bars, taverns, or trek stops along the way, and we would roll our eyes). I think our driver did this on purpose to keep us awake all night, because at the beginning of the trip, while heading out of Madrid, I took a flash picture of the road and prompted her to scream ”xxxx, the police radar got me!”, swerving on the road until I explained laughingly that it had only been a picture taken. She was really upset with me. Halfway through he journey we take a break stop at an undefined hamlet whose largest building and seemingly only source of income is this 24-hr bus stop with all sorts of amenities and whistles…souvenirs, meals, etc…all sold to passengers barely awake to run to the bathroom and not very sharp on the prices they pay for the snacks, pastries from the Region, etc…Getting back to the bus, we find that we now have the male driver, who had been riding along and was earlier loudly arguing with his “bleached blond” conductor companion on his girlfriends and where a woman’s place is…this new driver turns out to be the “driver from xxxx” because he takes off at 120km/hr. climbing the mountains of Leon, into the fog, rain, now slowly changing into sleet and frozen snow….never removing his foot from the gas pedal…For once I am so glad not to have eaten anything…and the few slurps of water drank earlier now threaten to come out of my nose….Between gasps of air I tell my sister, who has by now crouched further into the corner of her seat, ensuring the belt is as tight as possible, that I will call ALSA headquarters and will report this reckless driving…(weeks later, I find out that ALL Spanish bus drivers use about the same speed and are light on the breaks)..
27th March (Sat) 5:00am _ PONFERRADA - VILLAFRANCA
ReplyDeleteWe finally arrive in Ponferrada, it is pitch dark and we are already seeing some pilgrims heading out of the city….To our surprise, the bus stop is CLOSED!!! We had actually planned on remaining here until daybreak, have coffee, get ready, and now this changes our plans altogether….We have two choices: either get our gear on and start walking, or sit at the bench in front of the stop and wait for the sun to shine – with some dubious creatures milling about, the decision is quickly made…while we are putting on our rain gear, the morning cleaning crew arrives and, mercifully, allows us to enter the building to use the restroom….
Here we go – the start of our Camino 2010….and all we see is concrete buildings on the outskirts of Ponferrada, that templar site with one of the most beautiful medieval castles, from where the knights would travel along the camino to protect all pilgrims from thieves and “camino robbers”…On with the backpack, the unexpected weight makes me tumble slightly – and Julia laughs at me…I believe I remember from which direction we entered the city, so off we march, trekking sticks ready and eager to poke the ground for us. After 30 minutes of walking on sidewalks and all buildings looking the same, we decide that we may be “slightly” lost….so we retract our path back to the bus station….and, to our surprise, there is a police station next to it…we knock on the window and ask for the way, which, of course, is in a totally different direction than we had assumed…”walk up this street for about 1 km, until you have passed 2 traffic lights and 5 circular drives on the road…then turn slightly to your left onto the dirt camino. “. 1 km?? at 5:30am? What was I thinking when I decided this would be so much fun!
We finally leave the city and walk through a fertile valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains…we hear the early rooster crow, and see the first of thousands of cows on our way….It is actually beautiful – the earlier rain has stopped, the sun is trying to come out, and we start seeing our beloved yellow arrows and conches, pointing our way to Santiago….
ReplyDeleteOur goal for today is walk 10-12 kms, have breakfast, and then take a bus to our first albergue (shelter), located in Villafranca. We finally get to the village around 10:00am…and are famished…we find a café/bar and quickly order hot coffee and toasted bread (sometimes sprinkled with olive oil / sometimes rubbed with tomatoes, but always wonderful). After breakfast, while killing time waiting for our 11:30am bus to Villafranca, we go to a grocery store and buy ham, cheese, wonderful fresh bread, fruit, and yogurts….Oh, Spanish grocery stores, how I miss them…they are Valhalla to me, the Garden of Eden!!! Every time I enter one, I want to purchase everything in sight…and my eyes dance from one delicacy to the next….MMMM..membrillo!, Jamón Serrano…Seafood….NUTELLA!!!!!!
We stroll up and down the street, nonchalantly giving the pose of having walked forever, all the while we see dozens of pilgrims passing us, now sitting on a bench with our backpacks resting on the sidewalk…Julia wants to know if we should hide from them while we wait on our bus, she is starting to feel guilty!!...and I say, absolutely not…we have flown 3500 miles, driven all night in the bus from hell without sleep, walked 12 km…and now you want to hide?...We are not competing with them, we are our own competitors and do not need to prove anything…..nevertheless…every time one of them passes past our bench and proclaims BUEN CAMINO, a wave of guilt comes over us….for not continuing, for taking a bus.
Finally, the bus arrives….we clumsily climb on board with our belongings, walking sticks threatening to gauge eyes or poke other passengers….settling down for a 30 minute drive (equal to 3 hours of walking, which I am not yet ready to undertake).
We drive through the Bierzo Valley, famous for its white wine…beautiful, gentle green hills full of vines…I begin to snap pictures, making my impressions eternal….Arriving at Villafranca, the bus unloads us at the beginning of the town….and we load our backpacks and commence to walk through a wonderfully preserved medieval town, even the stones on the streets are ancient…set in special patterns to allow the water coming from the mountain rains to flow down canals and exits created just for that. A crystal-clear cascading river divides the city in two…we cross to where we have our first Alberge, the Alberge de la Piedra….Albergue with 20 people, some arrived very late, or after going out, and were very noisy
ReplyDelete28th - VILLAFRANCA - RUITELAN
Left the albergue at 8:30 (remembering that we had now lost 1 hour to the time change). Stopped in Trabadelo for breakfast, and again in Ambasmestas (best olives in café/bar)….arriving at Albergue Pequeño Potala in Ruitelán…We are the only ones in our 8-bed dorm…the other one already has 3 people, two of which are sound asleep…the third, a heavyset middle-aged man, sits in the dining area looking into space as if he did not know what to do with himself….We invited him to sit with us outside and catch some of the very rare sun rays…he declined, but later joined us for a tea at the bar across the Albergue…We have signed up for dinner and tomorrow’s backpack transport to the next Albergue in Fonfria. At 3 Euros, it is a bargain and makes a tremendous difference, especially since we have the steep mountain range ahead…(1300 meters, or 4200 ft)…
We were warned not to get up before 7:00am….Dinner was horrible…the croquettes lay in my stomach like canon balls….finally fell asleep around 2am
29th RUITELAN – ALTO DO POIO
ReplyDeleteWoke up startled by the sudden burst of music at 7am. – AVE MARIA….just what I needed, after barely catching some sleep….the fairies were in the kitchen toasting our bread and burning our coffee…and they wanted us up and gone!!!
Angel accompanied us…started through some beautiful valleys and slowly climbed up the mountains…it started to rain…when we reached the top, it was already covered in snow…and the rain had changed to frozen snow….we could barely hold on to our rain ponchos – they were twirling around our heads like ghosts. The wind was blowing the rain and snow sideways, first from the left, then from the right….Angel followed us, huffing and puffing..and begging us to slow down…but we pressed on, wanting to reach the albergue before the show turned into the predicted blizzard….at one point I looked back and saw that he was no longer covered by his poncho…”the wind took it”, he said….Finally, arrived at alberthe…and the blizzard followed us…soon the grounds outside started filling with snow…In spite of all our effors to take a hot shower and change into dry clothes, the albergue felt drafty and no matter now many blankets I wrapped around me, I could not thaw…the thick stone walls and the strong wind pelting icy snow against the building made it impossible. Albergue A Reboleira.
30th – ALTO DO POIO - TRIACASTELA
ReplyDeleteGot up at 6am to catch our 7:am bus (the only one passing the hamlet that day) to Sarria…Five of us stole away while it was still pitch dark outside, the storm still raging…It was eeriy…not only dark, but foggy…the only light is above the church cupola that is turning wildly left and right…finally, we see a distant pair of lights and I pull my flashlight to warn the driver that we want to be picked up….the 20 minutes were outside waiting had turned us all into ice statues, ice snow encrusted to our hats, clothes, faces…I was ready to lay across the road to make the bus stop…
During all this…Julia and I kept our pockets warm with the instant warmers I had brought from the US – a total additional load of 2 lbs, but the best thing I was carrying in my backpack…I will never forget that bus ride down the mountain…so treacherous, with zero visibility…I was invoking all my saints, ghosts and well-wishers to guide us and the driver down the mountain….and we finally did…as if by magic, the snow turned into rain, and the white road into a wet one….and we finally arrived in Sarría….had breakfast and started walking…
Many Pilgrims who just want to have the last 100 kms on their credential to later obtain their Compostela, start walking from Sarríia or the next village….and we could already see quite a difference while walking…too many people for my taste…
In addition to that, the given pilgrim paths were now either flooded by the recent and ongoing rains, or completely covered in 2 feet of mud…and of course I graciously slipped and landed on my butt as I tried to climb a side wall to avoid wading through it…very funny…now I was not only wet and cold, but dirty, as well.
Before reaching Portomarin we passed through a forested area that suddenly felt ominous and I called to Julia, who was about 200 ft ahead of me, to please wait for me, since I suddenly had the feeling of being observed….Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew some little angels and my Herkimer quartz and I held them firmly in my hand, willing them to guard me from the chilly encroaching energies I was feeling…(later, reading a book on this particular part of the Camino, I found out that this is the Vallede las Brujas” or Valley of the Witches….no wonder…”They wanted a piece of me!
We walked together and, finally, after a 28 km trek, arrived in Portomarin, another very pretty village – but too tired to even venture out…just wanted to get to the Albergue, take a hot shower, eat something and sleep, sleep, sleep….We met a nice couple who were biking their way to Santiago…and had biked several of the traditional routes to Santiago…Also in the Albergue with us were a group of High School students who we would meet intermittently throughout the remainder of our travel to Santiago. They had everything well organized. One would call ahead and arrange accommodations at their next Albergue…another was feverishly tossing numbers from one column to the other, while balancing what they had just spent in groceries for that evening’s meal for 8, a few others were doing everybody’s laundry…and the remaining were in the kitchen, ordering each other about on how to best peel potatoes, fry croquettes, etc….Very amusing and reassuring to see teenagers so engaged and seemingly enjoying their travelling together…there were a few stolen kisses here and there…but otherwise, they had me impressed.
ReplyDeleteClean Albergue, the hospitalera was very nice and extremely accommodating…I was so exhausted that I fell asleep soon after I plopped into my sleeping back around 8pm….all my muscles were screaming, even my eyelashes seemed to have developed some type of pain and were begging for mercy.
31st March - Portomarin to Palas de Rei (Albergue Buen Camino)
ReplyDeleteWoke up and thanked my lucky stars and the two Aleves I had taken the evening before…that, combined with a few sniffs of Lavender gave me the needed rest.
We met with the “Rioja Pilgrim” in Palas de Rey….we had made his acquaintance during our first pilgrimage through Burgos Province in 2009…a very well-known pilgrim, he has been walking to and fro along the Camino for the past 32 years…and received a special mention as a“Caballero de la Orden de Santiago” for being the first pilgrim to reach Santiago de Compostela in the new Millenium. A very lively person, he is full of stories and anecdotes and time flies fast when you walk alongside him. He would explain events and historic buildings and churches along the way….Though our path together this time was a mere 20 kms, we are sure to meet him again next year or the following…
1st April - Palas de Rei to Arzua (Albergue Ultreia)
ReplyDeleteWe certainly walked through what to me was an enchanting area of Galicia, full of moss-covered trees, never-ending meadows so green it hurts your eyes, and picturesque landscape with villages that seem to take you back two centuries….you suddenly feel like a farm girl walking along the paths, passing meadows with sheep, cows, horses….villagers who have such healthy attitudes they surely will never require therapy….and I felt an envy for the natural and the simple….what peace they must feel! Blessed be – they do not know the term multi-tasking…
2nd April - Arzua to Pedrouzo O Pino (Albergue Porta de Santiago)
ReplyDeleteWe literary ran the last 3 kms to reach this albergue, since they were not taking reservations and the Camino was becoming crowded, not to mention the weather was rain-rain-rain….
Clean Albergue…Hospitalera’s name was Sara….
3rd -4thApril - Pedrouzo O Pino to Santiago de Compostela (Albergue San Lazaro)
ReplyDeleteWe walked into Santiago de Compostela, the same way that thousands of pilgrims have done before us. We walked through Monte del Gozo, and continued down into the city and our albergue, which unfortunately was on the outskirts and necessitated taking a bus to the city center. Walking across the bridge there was a city limits sign saying Santiago. We were there! No drum roll no fanfair, just a sign saying Santiago. But a few kilometers still to go. We dumped our backpacks at the Albergue and went downtown to see the cathedral and get something to eat.
How exciting to have arrived….when we saw the Cathedral, a wave of sadness came over us, for at this point we were no longer “peregrinos” and had to remove the sheltering cape of that special status…Somehow we felt unprotected and outside that special “brother/sisterhood” the pilgrims form along the way.
We attended the special Pilgrim Mass on Easter Sunday of the Año Compostelano…entered through the side door, and embraced the statue of Saint James, located at one side of the main altar and only accessible during this special compostelan year…The mass was awe-inspiring….I took in every word spoken, for the archbishop of Santiago seemed to speak to me, a pilgrim….The Santiago de Compostela Botafumeiro is the largest censer in the world, weighing 80 kg and measuring 1.60 m in height. It is normally on exhibition in the library of the cathedral, but during certain important religious events it is attached to the pulley mechanism and filled with 40 kg of charcoal and incense. In the Jubilee Years, whenever St James’s Day falls on a Sunday, the Botafumeiro is also attached in all the Pilgrims’ Masses.
Eight red-robed tiraboleiros pull the ropes and bring it into a swinging motion almost to the roof of the transept, reaching speeds of 60 km/h and dispensing thick clouds of incense. One irreverent explanation of this custom, which originated more than 700 years ago–although incense has been used in Catholic ritual from the earliest times–is that it assisted in masking the stench emanating from hundreds of unwashed pilgrims.
We ended our stay in Santiago with a wonderful meal at the GATO NEGRO Tavern, where we savored a myriad of fresh seafood – everything was so mouth-watering and still held the recent taste of sea-water…
Took the evening Bus to Burgos and on home…..Other than the constant rain during this leg of our pilgrimage, everything was enchanting!!!