Here are a few stats from our journey, plus a photo dump from our “day off” in Santiago de Compostela

Here we are proudly displaying our bespoke “finishers” medals.

We:

• walked for 32 days
• walked 778 km / 484 miles
• walked an average of 24.4 km / 15.2 miles per day
• climbed 13,518 metres, an average of 422 metres per day
• descended 13,395 metres, an average of 418 metres per day
• stayed in 32 different hotels
• walked for an average of 4h 23m per day
• only stopped to buy coffee / lunch 3 times
• took 1.07 million steps
• were not overtaken by a single person
• Met / talked to people from the following nationalities – USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, S Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Iceland, Finland, Serbia, Austria, England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland

Various pictures of the outside and inside of Santiago cathedral, note the reliquary containing the bones of St James the Apostle (the real reason behind El Camino de Santiago).

And finally, a selection of photos from around and about in Santiago de Compostela

Today we had Kathryn and Tessa (aka Mike and Mike) with us as we headed out on the final day of our pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

Following yesterdays heavy thunderstorm the skies were pretty overcast this morning as we walked into town to have our breakfast in the misnamed Gourmet Arca. The pilgrims breakfast was basic but at least the coffee was good.

O Pedrouzo is a small village that has been built up for the Camino de Santiago and, for most walkers, is the last stop before Santiago. The parish church we saw yesterday has a famous scallop-shaped altar and is a reconstruction of the original chapel that burned down at the end of the 19th century, when Spain was at war with Cuba and the devotees went from O Pedrouzo to Compostela to pray for the victory of their country.

We walked out of town and straight into a forest section of the walk, as has been the case for a lot of the last couple of days. A few hills, some cheeky, and we emerged from the trees so see the sky still overcast, but clearing, and a nice spash of colour with two cows grazing in a field of wild flowers.

We walked for a while around the perimeter of Santiago airport and through the village of San Paio and paid a brief visit to the Capella de Santa Lucia, a 17th century hermitage, for our final stamp before Santiago. There were many examples of the Spanish barns (sheds), some were quite ornate with crosses and other decorations on top.

Coming close to the end now of our epic journey, we walked alongside a babbling stream and a few eucalyptus plantations for a while until we got our first sight of Santiago in the distance. From there it was really a walk into a city and along the pavements (sidewalks!) until we reached the square in front of the cathedral and the famous stone with a carved scallop shell. We had expected a lot more “pilgrims” on the walk today, for some reason this didn’t occur.

Expecting to have to join a long queue to receive our Compestela and certificate of distance we were pleasantly surprised to be “in and out” in less than 10 minutes. Of course a successful walk, and a quick certificate process, warranted an ice cream.

As we are finished walking now, tomorrow is a rest day in Santiago and tomorrows blog will have all the pictures of the cathedral,inside and out, and other interesting places.

Today we had Kathryn and Tessa with us, and they stayed for the photo, as we headed towards O Pedrouzo.

Although the region has long been settled, even pre-dating Roman occupation, the current population of Arzúa are mostly of Basque extraction. Notable though is that Arzúa is the Galician municipality with the most cows per capita. The village is, for many pilgrims, the last stopping point before the final day trek into Santiago de Compostela. The Camino Frances and the Camino del Norte join in a single path in Arzúa before arriving in Santiago.

A nice temperature when we set out this morning even though the skies were overcast. We had to take a bit of a meandering diversion in town as part of the marked route was being dug up / repaired. Anyway it was marked clearly and we didn’t lose too much time / increase the distance for the day. We had some heavy rain yesterday afternoon (we were thankfully inside at the time) and this meant that the paths weren’t dusty and all the woods and fields looked a lush green.

Yesterday the huge crowds of people from the previous day didn’t materialise, but they were back today. We could only surmise that folks are taking the bus and skipping the harder stages. Each to their “own” Camino I suppose. The Nortes route merges with the Frances route (as mentioned above) here so that would be one reason for an increase in pilgrims today. You can get a slight feel of the “hordes” from the second photo.

As we walked on there were a few climbs and descents, but nothing like yesterday in scale. The sun was doing its best to shine and we could feel the air warming up. But it was very pleasant walking through the woods as we started one of our downhill sections. All the trees, on both sides, were planted in very formal formations which gave some interesting views but I much prefer the randomness of naturally occurring woodland.

We could hear loud music in the distance as we walked along and I thought it would be good to share what we saw and heard. Even the cows in the field looked unimpressed.

Surprisingly we didn’t walk through any towns today but we did eventually break free of the woodland and into farming country. Obviously early in the growing season as quite a few fields were growing produce but the plants were very small. A couple of distant mountains caught the eye as did a garden full of chickens and chicks (very hard to get a good photo).

Walking down the long descent to O Pedrouzo we saw plenty of eucalyptus trees. These aren’t native to Spain but came to Europe and to Galicia in the 19th century when a Galician monk brought some seeds from the faraway land of Australia where he had been a missionary. The species adapted so well to the local climate that it spread rapidly throughout the territory. Rather than come into town along the main road, we walked to our hotel through a quiet woods at the back of the town, checked in and then strolled up to have a quick look and see when the church would be open for our pilgrims stamp.

Today’s ice cream was early (before 4pm) as the heladeria was open earlier!

Tomorrow is the last day of our walk as we head into Santiago de Compostela.

Today we had Tessa and Kathryn with us as we headed to Arzúa.

Today started well, the cafe that the hotel pointed us to for breakfast was closed so, after only a coffee from somewhere nearby, we headed off. We truly did have Tessa and Kathryn with us but they had already started when the photo was taken! It felt colder than the predicted 15c when we set off and the sky was overcast – forecast was a lot of rain about 2pm.

Palas de Rei was a bit disappointing as a town, considering all of the old towns/villages we had been through recently. It is assumed that the name of the town comes from Pallatium regis (royal palace) as it was the residence of the Visigothic monarch Witiza at the beginning of the 8th century. The Calixtino Codex states that, from this point the final stage to the apostle’s tomb, 68 kilometers away, is a journey that Amery Picaud defined as “moderate”.

It was nice to start the day by walking downhill for once, as we walked out of Palas de Rei, on wooded paths and past plenty of (now that we know what they are) traditional Spanish barns. We stopped at the Igrexa de San Xulían do Camiño (Igrexa is church in Galician whilst Iglesia is church in Spanish) in the town of O Coton to get our daily Pilgrim Passport stamp. This also had the benefit of passing a large number of people congregated there and at the cafe (much easier to pass here than on the paths). We crossed the Rio Pambre, looking pretty with reflected sunlight as we reached the foot of our first descent.

The day would be a series of descents and ascents as we started our first climb, staying on wooded paths with the occasional breaks in the trees giving views of distant hills. In the town of O Coto we stopped to buy some cherries. Not a perfect breakfast substitute but very tasty anyway. We crossed the Rio Furelos as we walked through Furelos, on the outskirts of Melide (which was halfway on our journey today).

Another series of ups and downs as we passed through a few small towns with churches and also a brand new barn which looked very smart indeed. We had some rain, enough to get our coats out and on for at least 5 minutes and then once the rain stopped the heat returned so off came the coats – thankfully they weren’t needed again. At this stage the sun was out and it was quite hot and humid, not ideal for stomping up hills. The herds of cows we saw seemed to be enjoying it though.

One final, long, descent and we stopped for a bite to eat (25km and no breakfast) before the final climb up to Arzúa. The skies were darkening in the background as we enjoyed the views, and one spectacular field of dandelions, and finally made it (exhausted) to our hotel.

A bit of a rest, a wander and a couple of coffees as we waited for the ice cream shop to open (its always 4pm) and then a delicious ice cream.

Tomorrow we head to O Pedrouzo.

Tessa and her mother, Kathryn, are joining us for the next few days, and today we headed to Palas de Rei.

Not too cold this morning and, with the forecast of potential rain, overcast as we headed out of Portomarin.

The Codex Calixtinus refers to the town as “Pons Minee”, which has been interpreted as ‘Puente del Miño’. This bridge, along with the one in Lugo and the one in Orense, was the only way to cross the Miño without using a boat, which is why the pilgrims’ route had to pass through here. Additionally, “marín” is also related to the existence, since the High Middle Ages (9th-12th centuries) of a sanctuary consecrated to Santa María, on which the church of San Nicolás or San Juan would later be built.

The first picture shows the view we had at dinner last night, and the quality of the food matched the view for definitely the best meal of the Camino so far. Walking out of Portomarin meant going back down the steps and then we crossed the Miño by a different bridge and started straight up a hill via a wooded path. There was a route choice next – either the main route or a “complementary” route, which we took. This seemed to allow us to bypass most of the hordes this morning.

All was well as we ambled through the countryside, no rain yet but the clouds were moving steadily in. Plenty of farms / houses with the small buildings in the second picture above, some research indicates that they are traditional Spanish barns. The countryside is definitely more agricultural now with some large farms visible and the small towns we walk through being mainly farm buildings.

More barns in the gardens of largish houses and then we experienced our first raindrops of the day. This necessitated raincoats which are good for keeping rain out and, because it was still quite humid, good for keeping sweat in. The rain only lasted a few minutes and then formed the first rainbow of this walk. Looking at the hills in the distance, we could see some heavy rainfall that was heading away from us. A few up and downs in the road and then we started our descent to Palas de Rei, mostly by road with the odd rocky path thrown in for good measure.

After one more rain shower the sun started to show again as we walked on, spotting some small villages hidden behind wooded areas. We then passed the Igrexa de Santiago de Lestedo and took the opportunity for a look inside and another stamp in our passport. Following this it was a straightforward walk into Palas de Rei and a check in to our hotel.

Yes, after lunch and when the heladeria opened, it was ice cream time! Today was longer than yesterday and with more metres of ascent but, I suspect due to the weather being cooler, it didn’t feel quite as hard work.

Tomorrow is the longest day left as we head to Azrua.

Today we said goodbye to Mike and headed to Portomarin

Bit of a chill in the air this morning as we set off, the forecast was for something much hotter as the day progressed.

King Alfonso IX – considered by many to be the creator of the modern Camino way – founded the royal villa of Vilanova de Sarria at the end of the 12th century , a strategic point on his itinerary to Compostela. He also died in Sarria in 1230, a victim of a serious ailment, during a pilgrimage to Santiago again to thank the Apostle for the reconquest of Mérida. Sarria is also a major starting point the the Camino Frances as, being 114km from Santiago, it is the last place you can start and still receive the Compostela.

Crossing the Rio Pequeno via a pretty bridge, we walked alongside, and then crossed, the railway line. There are four trains a day that go through Sarria, 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. Starting up a steepish hill (what else would there be first thing after breakfast) on a wooded path we started to see evidence of Sarria being the start point for so many pilgrims. In the first 30 minutes alone we passed over 100 other pilgrims (and over 300 by the end of the day), this was more like a commercial charity walk than anything we had seen on the Camino so far.

It was very pleasant walking after we had passed the majority of early starters. As usual the scenery was lovely to look at and although we didn’t walk through any towns, there were a few nestling in dips in the hills. All this time the sun was rising and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, making it pretty warm. We were in t-shirts and shorts, and sweltering, many other walkers still had hats, jumpers or coats and full length trousers, I will never understand how they don’t collapse from heat exhaustion.

A small church and cemetery, a few nice splashes of colour and more nice views as we walked along and arrived at the “most photographed spot”, the 100km to go marker. Why people have the need to graffiti everything is beyond me.

Starting our descent we could see Portomarin in the distance and as we got closer the descent got steeper, not good for our knees, and we came to the Vella Bridge across the Rio Miño. The reservoir of Belesar, on the Rio Miño, necessitated the moving of Portomarin to a higher altitude and flooded the old village. Major buildings, such as the churches of St. John and St. Nicholas, were dismantled and rebuilt stone by stone. At the end of a tough day walking, there is a long staircase to navigate before getting into the town itself.

After checking in, we had a stroll round town and a spot of lunch, before retiring out of the heat for a bit of rest and recuperation.

Tomorrow we head to Palas de Rei.

Today was Mike’s last day with us as we walked from Triacastela to Sarria.

For once not too cold and not too hot as we left town this morning. We had another choice of route today, northwards with a steep starting climb and great views or southwards via the largest monastery in the region.

Triacastela is the first town on the Camino de Frances in Galicia and is overwhelmed by the large influx of pilgrims during the busiest times of the year, when there are more pilgrims than neighbors (population c800). Several kings and members of the nobility had a relationship with Triacastela, with the greatest benefactor being King Alfonso IX (1188-1230), of whom it is said even spent some time there. 

Of course we took the scenic route which did indeed involve a bit of a steep hill out of town and straight after breakfast. The sun was warming its way through the clouds as we headed uphill along a nicely forested path that wound though green fields (think cows grazing rather than crops). We passed the house of an English artist who had retired to here and subsisted by selling paintings to pilgrims. Unfortunately (or thankfully) he was nowhere in sight as we passed.

We crested the hill at San Xil, and began the inevitable descent. It was fairly flat for quite a while as we enjoyed the views. The sun was now out fully, and though still quite early, was very warm, so we also enjoyed the cover of the path through the trees.

Partway down now, we passed through Samos, nothing much to see except for the ubiquitous church. The bright green of the fields contrasted nicely with the blue of the sky as we passed a couple of herds of cows, including some fairly recently born calves.

We finished off descending down to Sarria (c500m in total), still enjoying the views (when out of the trees), past a small field of daisies and a Stork that seemed to be feeding it’s young (we hadn’t seen any for a few days so were wondering if they didn’t come this far west – now we know). Walking into Sarria, through the “new” town, we crossed the Rio Sarria and the had to walk up a long flight of stairs into the “old” town where our hotel was situated.

After some lunch we had a quick walk around town – the old town is not very large – and a quick peek into the old pilgrims prison (now a cultural centre). The costumes/masks are used in parades here (I haven’t found out what for) but they do look like a local version of “it’s a knockout”!

Of course no day is complete without an ice cream. We also explored a couple of churches, Iglesia de San Salvador – a beautiful Romanesque/Gothic 13th Century Church, and Iglesia Santa Marińa de Sarria – dated from 1885 and is located in the Plaza de Juan María López, who paid for the construction costs.

Tomorrow we head for Portomarin and only 5 more days of walking.

Today we left O’Cebreiro, with Mike, and headed towards Triacastela.

Cebreiro’s Iglesia de Santa Maria (we didn’t get a chance to visit) has a story also to tell. It is said that during the middle ages, the Holy Grail was kept there and was used in masses. On one occasion, a villager struggled through the mountain snowstorm to get to the mass and when he finally arrived the monk celebrating the mass scolded him for doing it for the piece of bread and gulp of wine given out at the end of the ceremony. At that moment, the bread turned into flesh and the wine in the Holy Grail into blood. The remains of the blood and flesh are still kept in the church in a silver reliquary.

A slightly chilly morning, the sun was out and we were mostly above the cloud layer which was rolling in as we left. The above pictures are from yesterday evening and this morning just before we started walking.

Today was to be a mainly downhill kind of day, naturally it started with a little bit of a steep climb and some really stunning views of distant mountains / hills peeking though the cloud layer.

The path was nicely dappled with sunlight as we walked, mainly keeping to the same level above the clouds and then we started descending down into them. As we walked through the small village of Liñares the whole area was full of mist giving the place a wintery feel.

Then someone snuck in a very steep, but quite short, hill up to the top of Alto de San Roque (1,270m) and the Monumento al Peregrino (the work of the Galician sculptor José María Acuña) which was erected in 1993. I wanted to get a clear photo of the statue but there was a large family taking turns to have people on the statue for photos and taking their sweet time about it. There was even a queue waiting so I just snapped quickly during a family “turnover” hence the random person in the corner. The sun was really trying to burn through the cloud, eventually it did as we walked through Hospital, with the church in clear sunlight.

We then began our descent down into Triacastela, dropping down approx 600m over a distance of about 6km. It was steep but not as steep as we feared. The views were still as amazing as before as we dropped down into the valley.

Tomorrow is Mike’s last day with us as we head to Sarria (the most popular starting town on the Camino).

Today, with “El Jefe” Mike, we left Villafranca del Bierzo and headed upwards to O’Cebreiro. This was the last of our “double dip”days, combining the legs from Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerias and from Las Herrerias to O’Cebreiro.

We stayed in a charming hotel, Puerta del Perdón, run by Dani who put our bags in our rooms, did our laundry and gave us cake for breakfast!

We had a stroll round the town last night but, being Sunday, unfortunately all the churches were closed – the 3rd picture here is yet another old building being turned into a plush hotel. Dinner was in the delightfully named Don Nacho restaurant – the portions were huge, but tasty, and a bottle of the local house red was only €5 – it was very nice and made from the Mencía grape (known as Jaen in Portugal) which is a variety native to the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. The oldest known reference to this town’s area is from the time of Bermudo I the Deacon, around the year 791, as the site of a battle between the Muslims who returned from Galicia and the Christians of the Asturian king.

We had two options for the start of today – take the easier route via the road or the more scenic, but tougher, route over the mountains. No prizes for guessing which one we took. Once we crossed the Rio Burbia the climb started with a very steep section to get the heart beating, legs pumping and lungs gasping and then eased slightly (but not too much) as we climbed about 400m in a little over 6km. It was worth it though as the views were beautiful. The high point of this section of climbing was an altitude of just over 900m.

Of course we couldn’t keep climbing, so next was the descent, quite rapid (just over 300m in 2km), down to the road that would take us into Las Herrerias (from where we would start our second climb). We passed through La Portella de Valcarce and stopped to take a look inside the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (and of course get a stamp for our passport. On the final stretches into Las Herrerias we cross-crossed the Rio Valcarce many times.

We stopped in Las Herrerias (so small we were glad to be passing through rather than staying) for a quick drink and a muffin before attacking the last climb of the day. This would see us ascend just under 700m in about 7km. The climb was relentless, the views amazing and the sun was very hot (thankfully we had some shade on the climb up). We also moved from Castell y León into Galicia. No ice cream today but a very much deserved / needed beer after we checked in. For Paul and myself this was harder than the first days climb through the Pyrenees. For Mike this was definitely a very tough first day!

Tomorrow we head to Triacastela with only 7 more walking days left.

Today we left Molinaseca and headed towards Villafranca del Bierzo.

Slightly chilly this morning as we left Molinaseca but nowhere near as cold as it has been the last few mornings – one of the effects of being at a much lower altitude. In 2020 Molinaseca was added to the list of “most beautiful villages in Spain” and it’s development over the years is linked to the Pilgrim’s Bridge (picture in yesterdays post), a Romanesque construction that rises over the Meruelo River. In the Middle Ages, Molinaseca became part of the kingdom of León depending directly on the royal authority of Alfonso VI and is now one of the municipalities where the Leonese language is preserved.

Some beautiful views as we walked out of Molinaseca and towards the city of Ponferrada (we had already visited yesterday to watch Ponferrada play out a 1-1 draw with Albacete). As we crossed the Boeza river we could see the Castillo de San Blas in amongst the trees. The castle is part of the heritage managed by the Fustegueras Foundation or Valdés inheritance, a whim of Miguel Fustegueras’ great-uncle carried out in the second half of the 19th century and which is neither a castle nor a dovecote. It is, as Daniel Valdés wrote: “a capricious and beautiful recreational factory construction, imitating an ancient fortress”.

From nice views of Ponferrada as we walked down the hill into the city, we crossed the river Sil via the Puente del Centenario and emerged back into the countryside’s small roads and paths.

We walked through the village of Columbrianos, of course there was a church there in a familiar style. We then caught up with our favorite bunch of Koreans – we have passed them by every day of the Camino so far and their smiles and infectious enthusiasm every day certainly brightens our day. Most mornings it’s a bunch of high fives and lots of noise as we meet. Some of the mountains in the distance look very suitable for ridge walks and / or scrambling, but that’s for another time.

As we passed through Fuentesnuevas, a lady “manning the door” suggested to us that we come visit to get our stamp and have a look in the church. She was well wrapped up against the “cold” while we were in our shorts and t-shirts. For such a small village the interior of the church wasn’t a disappointment and the ceiling fresco of the last supper was something to behold.

There were more vineyards now as we walked towards Cacabelos and we noted that rather than villages being small and compact, they were now quite narrow but lengthy and Cecabelos was no exception. Having missed out on an ice-cream yesterday we were quite keen for one today and, as the saying goes, “the Camino provided”.

The sun was clear in the sky and felt pretty hot as we walked the final few kilometres into Villafranca del Bierzo. Mike had flown to Santiago de Compostela yesterday and then caught a bus to Villafranca this morning to join us for the next three days. We arrived at our charming hotel which is directly opposite the Castillo-Palacio de los Marqueses de Villafranca – the castle is still lived in and is only open at certain times on a Sunday, unfortunately we missed the times.

Tomorrow we have our last “double-dip” day as we head to O’Cebreiro and possibly the 2nd hardest day of the whole trip.