Author: RebWhite

Had a few notes from last night. Melide was a not a destination as far as interest goes, more timely with miles and hotels, same for where we are now. In fact, there’s nothing to write about for Arzúa. There’s a church from 14c, but we couldn’t get in and my book says “the main entrance could not be more nondescript.” The other church was built in 1955. So – last night. Melide at least had a medieval square, with church, capilla, and buildings that used to be the hospice. I took a short video of the square. 

The church was 14c Franciscan, but I particularly liked the Capilla de San Roque. Now, I’ve lost the piece of paper with the description, but it was a tiny chapel to Saint Anthony. There was a kneeling knight who was also the benefactor who built the chapel and his name was … Anthony. I assume his Catholic name after the saint. So I looked up the Saint – wondering if any of the saints become saints without being martyred. He did! Wikipedia: “Noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history.” I told Rick and he said his family used to appeal to St. Anthony for lost things – yep and for fishermen and sailors. Guess he’d be Rick’s guy! The Pilgrimage book noted it for a small space where you could sit in quiet and get out of the Galician rain. Happily, the rain has held off, but it did invite quiet sitting. A treat.

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Today was beautiful, quiet and sunny. We actually debated going the next 11.8 miles – to tomorrow’s hotel and taxiing back bc it is supposed to be raining tomorrow. But, happily, we decided against it. When we got to Arzúa, I realized that my mind was good with 8+ and wasn’t ready to keep going. It’s such a mindset. 

But tomorrow’s rain isn’t supposed to start until later so we’re going to do another early/dark morning hike to relish the quiet and we’ll put some food in our packs to hold us until we find an open cafe. Can take a while because the Spanish do not get up early!

Scenes from today:

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The woman with the cute pink car and stand looked quite industrious and I loved the name on the sign. Didn’t get anything because I didn’t need anything, but hope she sells a lot to others 

I thought this river (everything’s a river here) crossing was amazing. They must have somehow gotten a piece of serious machinery down the trail to make this bridge, the stones were big!

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This was a cool church because this was the terminus for people doing the pilgrimage for the 2 years around the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. They weren’t allowed to go further. There was a plaque outside to those who died from COVID. First time I’ve seen this anywhere and I guess appropriate given the church’s history. It’s a more recent remodel (18c?), but the site started in the 8th c as a church. 

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Final shot – getting our morning tea/hot chocolate, fresh orange juice and treat (Rick’s completely given up the impossibility of his diet here and will deal with the consequences when he gets home) with cows in the background and the building next to the Puente Ribadiso, a site for a bridge from at least 572, the current one much more updated.

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Another great day! Just realized you can see me taking the photo…Notice the poles leaning up on the railing. I may have to name them, they have been the best.

Outside our window was this version of the horreo. So we’ve now seen them in the cities as well as villages, fancy, brick, wooden, some with crosses on them. I asked a group of Spaniards behind us at one point, but they didn’t know either. Guessing animals, fire under, but didn’t know really. I’ll find out.

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A short day today, but really nice. The weather gave us another day starting with mist and then moving to clear, cool and sunny. 

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At one point, Rick had gone ahead (I thought, turns out he took a wrong turn and had to catch up) and I was in this cool road – similar to above, but much further along. In English, they used to call this kind of sunken road a “holloway”, I don’t know if it has a name here. I love them. Then shortly after, I was in a tree alley.

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Pilgrim statues point us on our way and a Santiago cross at the start of our walk:

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One of my dawdling points that Rick joined in was a church open with a priest who was collecting money for a stamp on the Camino passport. He then left so that another guy and I could take a photo:

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Amazing care taken for a small church for an even smaller town. In Wise Pilgrim, the town was described as smaller than its name: Campanilla. 

Medieval bridge into Furelos, a town described as “abandoned”, but was just a wonderful small medieval town.

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I wish I could have gone into the town’s church. Evidently there’s an unusual Jesus on the cross, one arm is pointed to heaven and one to earth. That had to have been pretty radical with pieces of the church remaining from the 13th c. 

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Final note: I missed the town of Leboreiro. I really wanted to see it, but guess it was so small it didn’t register as a town. I’d wanted to see it because of the miracle of the fountain near the church. When I realized I’d missed it, I asked Rick – he didn’t notice it, asked another woman, she said there was a bench with the name, but didn’t see the church. 

The miracle as described in The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago:“ A legend describes the founding of the Church of Santa Maria. A heavenly odor and, at night, a shining light emanated from a nearby fountain. Villagers dug up an image of hte Virgin there and placed it on the altar of their church, but the next day they could not find the image, for it had returned to the fountain. This happened for several days, until the villagers carved this tympanum and dedicated the church to her, at which point the image remained calmly on the alter. This Virgin, with the lovely smile of someone who has gotten what she wants, is still in the church. Reports indicate that in the 1960’s some villagers believed that she returned to the fountain every night to comb her hair.”

Isn’t that great? I seriously considered retracing my steps since we were already at our town and it was just 12n. It would have added 5 miles. But when others said they didn’t see anything, I didn’t know how far or exactly where the church would be and it was unlikely to be open. So – missed. Sigh. But a great day!

Rick wanted to have that quiet morning before tons of people got started and we did get an early start, 7:45 with sunrise at 8:56. Luckily, I had a wee lantern that you hang in a tent. I’d told Rick to not to bring a head lamp since I hadn’t needed one. Oops. But it turned out to be wonderful. There were other people out too, but between the dark and mist, everyone was quiet and it was a wonderful early walk. 

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Not much happened on the way, nor did we see any buildings of significance. I later read that the part that we walked today used to be a famous open air brothel. Calm now…

Weather cleared up around 12, but it was nice all the way, scenic for sure. Farm after farm with cows, chickens and farmers. For all the ham that’s at EVERY meal, we have never seen a pig. 

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This little church was notable because of the tight careful cemetery behind it:

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Photo below was taken from a notice outside the church that had the information that it was a 16c church and they were very proud of it in their town, so sweet. I’m guessing that at some point the town had more than 5 houses.

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The next chapel we passed, well, Rick passed, I stopped because I stop at everything interesting. He’s very patient with me, just sits down and relaxes. A guy inside had a “stello” that is the pilgrimage stamp. First for the church and then asked me if I wanted one with the Knights of Templar stamp. Well, of course! The stones of the little chapel were taken from the rubble of a 12c church that the Knights of Templar built that had been ruined in different wars and events. Tiny little chapel. No photos allowed of the inside.

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Then we had the cow parade.

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A little bitty dog was acting very important as if it was herding the cows. The cows, who clearly didn’t need much herding, were walking along the sidewalk and would notice the dog, then walk into the street towards the dog to let it know it was superfluous then back to the sidewalk. I thought the woman in grey who didn’t seem to know that she might be the one to move out of the way was pretty funny in her reactions. 

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We saw the farmer with a big black dog who clearly knew how to herd, but he kept the dog with him as they waited for the last cow (guessing they’d just been milked) to dawdle out of the farm and over to the pasture. 

Got some lunch and then kept going to our next hotel in Palas de Rei. Nothing of significance happened here. Well, it’s historically significant if you’re interested in wars, transfer of power back and forth, but for our tale, nothing to report and it’s all pretty new now. Might even just stay in tonight and leave early tomorrow again. 

We’ve had two short walks in a row and we’re both glad tomorrow is longer. BUT today was wonderful. Since we’d broken the stage between Sarria and Portomarin into 2 days, when we started off from Morgade, we were ahead of everyone by 7.5 miles (I had it wrong for distance yesterday). And we ended up being alone the whole time except for 3 bikes who passed us. We walked separately because I was dawdling. Taking photos, emptying rocks, adding/taking off layers, etc. It was cool, clear and rain held off until we were into our hotel. Rick marveled at how wonderful it was. He’s motivated to leave early tomorrow before the majority of people, so will be in the dark for an hour, but that’s ok since there’s two of us. 

Sunrise looking back at our hotel area and ahead to the next little “town”.

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This little church was in the town above and surrounded by the cemetery as other’s have been.

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So much care taken to hold onto these old churches and it’s worth it as far as I’m concerned. 

Then passed the 100k marker. The books had noted that it was vandalized more than any other marker because this is the last point at which you can start and earn a certificate.

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Then a really cool collection of buildings that were probably owned by one family? It was clean and a beautiful blend of old and redone. But they had set up this hut with vending machines: 

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Proudly noting the 100k distance from Santiago. Couldn’t really capture the buildings in the group, but there was this strange container in the midst. We’ve seen a bunch of these and are stumped as to what they’re for. I’ll find someone to ask, just haven’t yet. Our ideas have evolved: chicken coop, hanging up meat, smoker – but don’t see fire below, put the bodies in there to get down to bone and then add to the family collection in the cemetery? That’s my idea – probably off base, but got it from stories from Greece. Rick looked at me like I was crazy. 

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But really, a cross over where you’d hang up meat? And there’s a door at the thin end where Rick is standing. Could just slide a body in – everyone seems thin here…

Great photo of a breed of cow that the sign next to it said they were bringing in to the area because they were ecologically friendly, renewing the ground that’s acidic and has little value, and they have “horns of great proportionate” – my translation app. 

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It was gorgeous walking:

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Then we came into Portomarín for the night – in by 12:00. Wise Pilgrim says this town “has the distinction of being the newest oldest town along the Camino. There’s a document from 993 that calls the town Villa Portumarini, so a bridge must have existed at the time. The river was damned in 1956 and the whole town moved up the hill. They moved the Iglesia de San Juan and a few other buildings and churches stone by stone to make sure they had it exactly right. You can still see some of the numbers on the blocks. It’s amazing. They had just earned the distinction of historic district the decade before so I’m guessing there are feelings that are being glossed over. But it was Franco and doubt there was much ability to protest. 

Here’s the stair case that was there and they moved the tiny chapel of 16c Iglesia de Santa Maria and put it on top of the stairs – the natives believe it will protect them from drowning. Can’t see it from this angle, but you walk under it after the stairs.

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The Iglesia de San Juan is the largest single-nave Romanesque church in Galicia.Built 12c – 13c by the Knights of Saint John. The four corner towers lead to walkways protected by battlements that indicate the dual purpose of the church. I took one inside photo as we were waiting to do for the mass – Sunday here.

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Must have been something to see it rebuilt. 

The stand alone cross above is a Cruceiro. The sign nearby said, “Castelao said that a cruceiro is a ‘forgiveness of heaven’ because Stone Crosses are erected to obtain forgiveness of sins. Considering that in Galicia there are about 12,000 creceiros, our sins must be many.” They also protect traveling and given how hard it was to be a pilgrim in medieval times, protection was probably warranted. 

Iglesia de San Pedro’s facade was all that was rescued of this church from the drowning town and is from 1182. But it’s wonderful and we would have like to be able to see inside.

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And here’s the ancient bridge that was covered over and the extremely high (particularly for me, really practicing my breathing to get across it into town) bridge built to the newly placed village. It’s fall so low water and you could see the bones of the old village and walk across the bridge if you wanted to do so.

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This is the welcome sign – “Star of Desires” Portomarin. I’m guessing it probably means something a little different for the locals, that’s Google’s translation from the Galician. Different spelling, pronouncement, words…

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Short! Last night, Rick and I went to a pilgrim’s mass at the Iglesia de Santa Marina. In my book it described it as modern, I thought it looked older, but maybe they had to keep it “old” looking even in new churches. Well, it was built in 1883, not so modern. Nice because it was mostly about Mary, but I also really like the statue of the monk kissing the child’s hand, so sweet.

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The walk today was beautiful. 

Crossed over a bridge to leave – originally Roman, 6th c, but continually added on. We’d started early for the quiet and because we were ready.  

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Avenues of trees, curious animals:

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As per advertised, we did pass a few large groups of school children, one group, elementary aged were getting a talk at an albergue. Another group/school? Maybe 40 (though the group gets bigger every time Rick talks about them) were strung out over the path and were middle school aged. All carrying their own packs with sleep pads rolled up. They looked fit and ready to go and were having a great time having just started this morning. There were also several groups of families with little kids, one with a dog. I guess a van supports them with water, warm stuff, what they need. Cool tradition for families to do the Camino – just a week from Sarria. We pass the 100K marker tomorrow – the official last place someone can start and still get a stamp in their passport. 

We stopped in Morgade – a town of about 5 houses – and our place is wonderful. The dining room/kitchen is in a 16th c building that they’ve adapted beautifully. Our room is in a block of 8 rooms, very simple, well designed, we love it. Plus – as Rick said, we get to just chill. No need to go look at anything. There’s nothing to look at, no town at all. Our little place is the only place happening. And it’s great – seriously good fresh juice, lunch was wonderful, simple and perfect. We were sitting right on St. James Road and everyone had to pass us as they walked toward our stop tomorrow – Portomarin. Met a bunch of Americans and an older couple from LA are in the room next to ours. 

Here’s the house cat, Mika. She expressed a lot of dissatisfaction that we weren’t sharing our food. Rick finally gave in and gave her some of his fish. She appreciated it and then went to the next table. 

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And here are the house cows outside our room:

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Sarria is a very small town as far as the old town goes, though sizable for the part of Spain we’ve been walking through. You can see it in the background behind the statue here, a crucerro (typical for Galicia).

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We took it easy this morning, then took a taxi (!) out to the Samos Monastery, monks have been here since the 6th century. There are 9 currently, though the monk told us there were only 4 functioning because the other 5 were sick. And the place is giant. I don’t know how they do it. However, I did see a nun later when I peaked in a door that was propped open to the sidewalk. Oops. 

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The main in the center is Saint Benedict who started the Benedictine practices. The 2 Episcopalian priests we had a lot of meals with us knew a ton of history about the different practices and explained the transition of different orders. Benedict wrote the basic rules for living in harmony in a cloister and were so reasonable that most other orders ended up adopting these rules. 

Largest cloister in Spain:

The fountain was built in the 1700’s by a monk who loved Greek mythology. The monk told us that this was NOT Christian and was basically looked at askance by the other monks, but too late. 

The statue above is of Benito Jeronimo Feijoo y Montenegro (1676-1764) a brilliant mathematician, but also interested and wrote about physical, astronomy, medicinal, social sciences, literature…truly, he was remarkable and revered.

There was an incredible library, but there were two big fires, in 1536 and in 1951, both catastrophic, but rebuilding happened in both cases and some of the library was saved – though not much in the 1951. How painful. 

This is the pharmacy where they made medicines for the community:

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The second floor of the cloister had incredible paintings that were destroyed in the 1951 fire and new murals were painted, including many by a woman who wrote her name on one of them so that people would know a woman had contributed.

The murals all depicted different miracles by Saint Benedict.
Then the Iglesia:

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It was a very relaxed exploring day, and Rick and I are now starting our own Camino. All we knew have moved on since we took an extra day. We’ll see if we end up connecting with others. Sarria is the point at which many people start because if you start here you make the 100k needed to earn the Compostela certificate or stamp in your Camino passport. So – lot more people moving forward. 

Today was a beautiful day because of the scenery. We’re in Sarria now, and have a layover day. Everyone else we’ve met is going on tomorrow so Rick and I will be exploring on our own after tonight.

Here are a few shots of the scenery and two very small groups of houses that were actually two different villages. The difference between them is that someone clearly had enough money to figure out how to integrate the medieval buildings with more substantial livable buildings – as well as filling in the street beautifully. I liked both places, of course. Each small village had a church at the end of the group of houses, the second one was wonderful. I couldn’t see how much it had until I used a flash on my camera just inside the security grille and I saw all the statues in the niches.

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Hard to see, perhaps, but the light brown are all the ferns that have changed color for the fall – so pretty. 

Each little town had a chapel at the end of it. The run down town had the little one with the blue cross, this was at the end of the second one. Chapel of San Antonio da Balsa. I didn’t realize all the statues were there til my camera flash lit them up. I think this would be a wonderful place to sit. Elias Valina, I think the priest who restarted the Camino, described it as “humble, traditional” from the early 1800’s.

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Below was a shot of a hippie like gathering, complete with a guy playing the guitar and a group sitting around on couches in this open area. Felt a little studied to me, but I also felt old! We just looked in and kept going on. Rick’s talking to Johanna who we’ve met a few times, so nice, taking her time walking the Camino. She’s the one who left our wonderful place a couple of nights ago at 5:30am and walked up in the dark through the woods. She moves slowly and wants a lot of time, but wow. She told us today she was worried about wolves. I’d be worried about getting lost and not seeing an arrow to point my way. 

But, whoever this group is, they built an amazing labyrinth years ago. Both Rick and I walked it and it probably took us close to 15 minutes and not going super slowly, just quietly. 

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Then the cows changed – Jersey now? Not bushy and tan. And finally a few donkeys. I’ve heard them periodically over the days, but hadn’t seen any. 

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And, finally, a little path that led over a creek, realized later that it was the same shot that was in one of my books.

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We had a great day in O Cebreiro after our hike, as I wrote about yesterday. But later I did get time in the church and the priest who was so dedicated to the Camino is buried here and the Pilgrim’s Prayer displayed to him was/is wonderful. Cut off the title – but it is Pilgrim’s Prayer. Think it’s similar if not the same as the one in … Burgos, I think.

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So we started off today after breakfast, this is what it looked like:

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This is what I looked like without the dress and with a fanny pack instead of a pack:

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We were mostly warm enough, dry enough – not – but it made for a wonderful dream walk, quiet and I really enjoyed until I was cold enough that I was very happy to land here. We got chairs next to the fire and thawed a bit.

But the result of all this rain and why the area of Galicia is called the Ireland of Spain is not just because of the music and the ancient Celtic houses, it’s also because it looks like this:

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It started to lighten up a mile from the end and it was beautiful, plus both Rick and I were listening to fun things which motivated us, both dharma and then the Moth. Thank goodness for the Moth Radio for some of the end of the day miles. 

We’re now in Triacastela, named for 3 castles that are no longer to be seen. The church’s front porch is from the 6th (!) century with the rest added as needed after various wars and nature’s gifts. 

Only one restaurant in the small town, people very nice everywhere. Rick and I have a cozy little room on the ground floor of our very small hotel/albergue and it looks like it’ll be quiet!

Rick’s here! Notice the orange added to my pink on the map. It’s a wee line because we had such a short day, but oh my, he landed in a great spot. First, last night continued wonderfully with dinner after his arrival with the group I’ve been having meals with, then window open, quiet, just the river and occasionally the animal bells. 

Farewell in the morning to Herrerias with the fog coming in and out and then the sun coming out later, shot taken out our window as we left.

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Then further up the mountain with the Spanish flag waving:

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On the way went through a tiny town that had a few solid looking houses. This one caught my eye because it’s still used as those big houses in Akerreta used to be used – animals on the bottom, people at the top.

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Gorgeous hike, not hard at all with a hot chocolate at the top at a little town, just to make the hike last a bit longer. Then we came into the best little town, O Cebreiro. Here’s a photo from the hill next to the town.

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50 inhabitants, many houses remodeled as albergues or hotels. This time we actually have 2 double beds instead of twins, luxury. Definitely stepping up now that there’s two of us in a room. 

Here’s Rick looking at our window, just delighted with the town, history and best – the church is wonderful and has music playing. I’m going to go sit – he’s already there –  when I finish this post. 

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This town has a wonderful history. Both ancient and recent. Wise Pilgrim: 

“O Cebreiro has grown from a small and ancient village of dairy farmers into a small and ancient village of tourism. 

It has played an important role throughout the history of the Camino. It was the parish priest, Father Elias Valina Sempedro, who is most responsible for the resurgence of the Camino. It was he that first painted the yellow arrows, and the tales that surrounded him doing so are the stuff of legend. Once, in 1982, he and his white Fiat van parked along a trail in the Pyrenees. It was a time when Basque separatists were training blows with the Guardia Civil, and when they came upon him, suspicions were aroused.

He opened the van door to reveal cans of yellow road paint and identified himself as the parish priest of O Cebreiro (which was far away). When asked what he was doing, his answer was as simple as it was prophetic: ‘I am preparing a great invasion!’ It was he that orchestrated the installation of the granite hitos (mile markers) as well.”

Wise Pilgrim continues: “The parish church is also the setting for a miracle. According to legend, The Holy Grail was hidden there and in the 14th century produced a miracle that was certified by Pope Innocent VIII. A peasant from a local village braved the hike up to O Cebreiro during a dangerous snowstorm to hear mass. The priest chastised him for endangering his life for a bit of bread and wine. At that the bread and wine turned into flesh and blood, cementing the reputation of this small hamlet.”

We’re now in Galicia, which was Celtic in the 800’s in origin before the Romans. The music – you think it’s Irish and then realize it’s just a little different, definitely a lot of it makes you want to dance with pointed foot and lots of intricate jumping and moving. The Celtic houses were round with thatched roofs and we saw a number of these on the way up and there are several in this village, though obviously or more recent origin than the 9th century. 

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The church’s foundations are from the 9th century, don’t know what happened to the churches in between, but the town claims the church is 9th century. Actually, from Pilgrimage Road: “In 1962 excavators found the meager foundations of a pre-Romanesque church under the streets of the village. Between 1965 and 1971 they rebuilt it from the ground up. Inside what remains of the medieval church are the Romanesque baptismal font and the chalice and paten.”

However, this is where the miracle happened. The Pilgrimage Road continues with this translation of an early 15th c poem by a Licendiado Molina:

I want to tell you – a miraculous story
about a host – which was being consecrated.
You will see changed – into perfect flesh
what was at first – was (its) hidden (nature)
An idiot of a priest – who was offering it
doubted the truth – of the consecration
The holy vision – was demonstrated to him,
as it is today – in O Cebreiro.

“The particles remaining from the miracle were eventually placed in a silver reliquary donated by Queen Isabel herself. The church’s statue of the Virgin is said to have inclined her head so as to better view the miracle.”

Ok, you have to love all of that. Such strong beliefs, no wonder the churches often feel welcoming and well loved. And now I’m going to go sit and enjoy the music, the feel and maybe some quiet. 

It was an easy day today, in to my hotel by 1:30 and such a sweet albergue. Just outside the town of Herrerias. I’m surrounded by green pastures, can hear both the river and the cow and sheep bells as well as the radio from the bar. Here’s a view from the balcony along the hotel.

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 And the food was good! Had a great lunch and am already looking forward to dinner in 3-4 hours. Sue and I have had all of our meals together for days now and we laugh that we get in, cleaned up, eat lunch. Huh, it’s 4 – 4:30 and yep, we’ll be good to eat in another 3-4 hours. Weird schedule, but it works. Rick’s coming in tonight and still on American thinking, re no – can’t eat that late. 

We start tomorrow with our shortest hike of the Camino, 5.6 miles straight up a mountain. Don’t imagine it’s all the way up, but it’s enough that the business that takes people up via horseback a-la-pilgrims-of-old does a steady business. 3 of our friends did it today and said it was great. 2 more are doing it tomorrow. Sue says no, then she’d regret not having walked the whole thing. I’d probably think about it, but can imagine what Rick would say for his first day of walking if I rode instead. So – probably not!

I’ll walk into Santiago righteous indeed…

My calves are still talking after the steep downhill couple days ago, hoping going straight uphill will undo that talking. 

Here’s a photo of chestnuts on the ground – big around here and saw people parked by the side of the road picking up chestnuts. An ancient woman was stooping and reeeaaaccchhhinggg out to pick up one at a time. She had already filled one apron pocket and was still collecting. I couldn’t believe people just walked by without helping. So I started looking and realized you do have to be a bit picky, rich color, nothing eaten into it. I gave her one, was going to find more, but realized her hands were already full. Sweetest face, talked a lot and I didn’t understand but maybe 1 in 10 words, thick accent. So cool. I love this adventure. 

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Not a single church today to explore. There was one that looked like it might be open with a curtain covering half the door, but it also looked like it might fall down on you if you walked in, so kept walking. 

It’s beautiful in this area, walking between the road and the river, flat pavement with easy hills. 

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