A bus from Santiago to Porto and a connecting train had us in downtown Lisbon by 4:00pm. An hour later and we were showered and into siesta mode. We planned to retrace our steps from 12 years ago, when we first visited Lisbon. This took us on long walking tours of Belem, Alfama, and Sao Jorges neighborhoods. We also decided to take a day trip to Cascais, Cabo da Roca, and Sintra.
18 - 25°C — Misty
By Jim
After an impressive breakfast, provided by Patricia at Casa de Casal, we headed down the road at 8:00 am. A late start for us to be sure, but we only had 13 km to walk today. The path was misty which was refreshing but limited our views. We liked the approach into Santiago: forest paths, country lanes, village streets, and secondary roads. Before we knew it, Santiago lay before us, up, up, up through the maze of passages, all interconnected and leading to the Cathedral, the endpoint of this and every Camino.
We saw only four other pilgrims today and they were all strangers to us. Most of our cohort had finished yesterday and were now on their way back to Holland, France, Switzerland, Barcelona, and other parts of Spain. They had texted us celebratory pictures of their completion and we wished we could have been there as well. But that was their Camino and ours will end today. Tony (Slovakia) texted us about an hour before our arrival and said he had finished and would wait for us in the square to make plans for a meal together.
After high-fives, hugs and numerous photos in front of the Cathedral, we agreed to meet up in a couple hours at a restaurant nearby. Laurel and I dropped our packs off at Pilgrim House, a rest area and resource center in central Santiago, and then went to Pilgrim’s mass at the Cathedral. The lineup followed the perimeter of the church then snaked around the Fuente de Los Caballos (Fountain of the Horses) and through Platerias Square. I was amazed that this crowd all fit into the church, but we did. The pews were full so Laurel and I sat at the base of a pillar with views of lectern, pilgrim congregation, and the Botafumeiro. The Spanish service lasted nearly an hour, which time I spent mostly surveying the other pilgrims and reflecting on our Camino. Only about half of the pilgrims participated in Holy Communion but the entire congregation was there to share in the community and fellowship of this special time and space. At the end of the mass, eight monks (tiraboleiros) hoisted the Botafumeiro, the gigantic incense burner, and swung it the entire length of the transept (~ 60 meters). The display is accompanied by dramatic music and, of course, the smoke and aroma of the incense. Altogether it is was contemplative and yet captivating experience.
During lunch with Tony, we shared Pilgrim stories from our Camino. Laurel and I retold the story of the Pharmacist in Xunqueira de Ambia who had walked the Camino ten years ago and met a woman from Brazil. They finished the Camino together and decided to get married. We also related Natalie’s tale (our host in As Eiras). She had been restless in her youth in Spain and so spent many years traveling and searching. New Zealand, Canada, Peru, and Mexico provided no answers. She returned to Spain to walk the Via de la Plata and when she stopped to rest beside the ruins of a house and barn in As Eiras, she had found what she was looking for. With the help of her father and countless friends, she transformed the glorious pile of stones into Casa Terra Alma, a wonderful guesthouse and her ultimate purpose.
Tony related a more personal story. A few years after his wife had passed away, he met a woman from Spain walking on the Camino Portuguese. Tony could speak Slovakian, English, and French, but not the Spanish or Italian the woman spoke. Despite the lack of words, they managed to communicate that they liked each other’s company and have been a couple since (and Tony now speaks fluent Spanish).
As Tony put it: “The Camino provides what you need, not necessarily what you want. If what you want is what you need, then that is happiness.” I decided at that point not to share the story of how happy we felt when Laurel found a 10 Euro note on the Camino.
The Camino Sanabres exceeded our expectations and now tops the list of our favourite Caminos, just barely nudging out the Camino Primitivo.
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| Some of the pilgrims that we met and whose company we enjoyed along the way |
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Pilgrims begin lining up about one hour before the Cathedral doors open for a special mass celebrating the pilgrims completing their Caminos |
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Before leaving Santiago de Compostela, we returned to Praza do Obridorio for one last look at the Cathedral |
19 - 30°C — Hazy and hot
By Laurel
At 5:30 am, the temperature was already 19 degrees. We walked. The sun rose and by 9:00, it was set on broil. The sweat poured from every pore. We kept plodding. Pilgrims often say, “The Camino provides!” Well, today, thank goodness, it provided mostly shaded paths through the woods and wonderful scenery — which compensated somewhat for the heat. We were happy to reach the village of Lestedo at about noon and stopped at a bar for cold drinks and then a coffee shop for a light lunch. Rejigging our range for the final three stages has improved our distances but also meant that we have only one option for accommodation tonight at Lestedo — it’s at a Bed and Breakfast, Casa de Casal, in a beautiful old stone country house with a gorgeous yard and swimming pool. Tomorrow — Santiago de Compostela!
17 - 34°C — Hot! Sunny!
By Jim
During our siesta yesterday, Laurel rejigged our last three stages to spread out the distances more evenly. Originally, I had us going 27 km, 20 km, & 11 km. After two agua con gas and a can of Kas naranja, she had ironed it out to 23 km, 22 km, & 13 km. Now all that was left was to walk it!
It was already 17°C when we began our up hill climb out of Botos. The trail continued the nice mix of shaded Galician hillside paths, stone fence lined farm lanes through meadows, and cool forests of oak, chestnut, eucalyptus, and pine, with some birch and walnut sprinkled in.
Even with these ideal trails, the temperature soon climbed into the 30s and we began to wilt. A couple of wrong turns earlier in the day stretched our stage to 25 km. We were so hot and tired when we walked up the hill into Bandeira that we did not want to wait the hour and half for the albergue to open.
Instead, we immediately checked into the Hotel Victorino and were showered and sipping cold drinks thirty minutes later. Thank you, VISA! After siesta, at 7:00 pm we decided to wash our clothes at the laundromat across the street. The pharmacy’s neon sign displayed the temperature as 34°C.
31°C — Hot! Sunny!
By Laurel
The small village, as befitting the site of a monastery, was completely silent when we tiptoed out of the albergue and found our way onto the trail early in the morning. Knowing that it would be a scorcher of a day, we had headed out at 5:45 am. We slowly inched up the hillside on a rocky path, avoiding tripping thanks to the aid of our headlamp. The birds began to chirp and gradually the sky lightened and displayed pretty pastels. This was the perfection of the morning — cool and fresh. The Camino led us through the countryside and eventually past a bar where we (and three other pilgrims) were nourished by coffee and bananas. Now it was getting hot and, soon, hotter. By the time we reached our destination at Botos, we were sweltering and very happy to be done walking for the day. Our laundry was washed in the bathroom sink and dried in record time in the hot sun.
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14 - 24°C — Clear and Sunny
By Jim
Part 1 (June 14) Tamallancos to Ourense (13 km)
As Laurel wrote, we banked 13 km by walking the first part of the stage out of Ourense on our rest day. Since I complained so much about the walk into Ourense, I want to go on record that the walk out was quick, picturesque, and steep. The highlight was crossing the Rio Miño on the Roman bridge. The Saturday bus schedule did not meet our needs, so we caught an early morning taxi to Tamallancos and walked the 13 kms back to Ourense and our “rest day.” The beautifully shaded trail with elevations that challenged cyclists was our path. Along the way we met many of our walking cohort who were surprised to see us walking the other way.
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| The aloes, cacti, and eucalyptus trees combined with the roosters crowing and dogs barking reminded us of our days in Swaziland (Eswatini) |
Part 2 (June 15) Tamallancos to Oseira (21 km)
Since we had already covered the first section, we began today by once more catching an early taxi to Tamallancos to begin our trek to the Monastery in Oseira. Again the path was green and well shaded by chestnut, oak, pine, and eucalyptus. We passed through many Galician villages with no services; magnificent stone ruins were reminders of their once thriving past. For the final two km our trail ran adjacent to an immense stone wall with turrets and gates that guided us to our destination: Monasterio de Oseira.
Although the monastery was founded in 1137 by the Cistercian order, it underwent many transformations through the ages and was abandoned in the 19th century. Today it is home to a small group of Trappist monks (we counted eight at vespers) and a 40 bed pilgrim’s albergue. The original pilgrim’s albergue is still standing, but today we were welcomed to new, modern facility.
Our lunch was in a gourmet restaurant that services the tour buses and day trippers who come to tour the church and monastery.
