The Pilgrimage: Day 5

After a restful sleep in the peaceful setting of Pazo De Galegos we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and set off for the day. We had only 16 km left until reaching our destination of Santiago de Compostela so this was our final day of walking. Feeling very lucky to have another day with partial sun and no rain - sure lifted our spirits and helped to make the walk much more enjoyable.

A cat came out to greet us during our walk. Perhaps she is used to pilgrims because she was very friendly.

Another playground! Must stop to try out the tire swing.

The city behind us is Santiago de Compostela - the largest city we have seen since Ourense.

A quick stop to rest our weary feet. Definitely in the city now and not far from our destination!

Arrived at last!!! Behind the kids is the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, the culmination of the Camino de Santiago. Inside the cathedral lie the remains of St. James, a biblical apostle. As far back as the Middle Ages the first pilgrims traveled many miles to pay homage to the remains of St. James which gave rise to the Camino, also known as the Way of St. James. 

Most pilgrims travel from much farther away then Ourense but families traveling together are a rarity, as confirmed by the staff issuing the Camino certificates. So even though we hadn't gone that far, we survived the elements, found our way through back roads and woods in a foreign country, and had an unforgettable family bonding experience. What an adventure!

The Pilgrimage: Day 4

Our night at Hostal Conde Rey was warm and cozy and all clothes and shoes were dry by morning! Feeling very blessed to have heaters at all hotels so far. Below you see Carson lying down in one of the cubbies inside the closet in our room - gives you an idea of how big the closet was. I guess they must get lots of pilgrims walking the Camino with large back packs because you could fit many backpacks in this closet! 

A simple breakfast of sandwiches, juice and coffee was included with our stay. Fortunately there was a grocery store in town so we could stock up on trail snacks.

70 km down, 29 to go!

Our first full day without rain!!! It was so nice to be in some sunshine and we even started shedding layers as the day went on.

Found a memorial of some kind along the trail. Lots of pictures of religious figures - this is traditionally a catholic pilgrimage route.

Break for Pringles - enjoying the walk through the woods today. A lot less puddles here, dry feet all day!

At one point an adorable dog started following us. Since we all love dogs we quickly included him in our pack and named him Diego. Despite our attempts to send him back home, he followed us for a couple miles down a large decline. We finally had to part with him when we went into a restaurant to eat - hoping he found his way back home.

We stopped in at O Churrasco de Juanito right along the Camino and because it was an odd hour (4pm) we were the only people there. The host was very kind and we had the most delicious stew with beans, kale and sausage. The kids found food they liked too, it was the perfect stop. A casual place, very gracious host, right along the trail, wonderful food, and reasonable price. Highly recommend this place.

From the restaurant it was only a couple miles to our hotel for a total of 15 km for the day. It was so nice to arrive DRY instead of soaking wet! And it was still daylight so we could explore a bit and enjoy the view from the hotel rooms. This hotel also only had rooms with one bed so it was girls in one room, boys in the other. This hotel reminded us of Pazo de Bendoiro - lots of stone which contributed to a very sturdy feel, and the decor was impeccable. We discovered that it is also a winery and the host was very interesting. His English was amazing and it was a treat to hear all about making wine in Galicia, Spain.

This winery is known for its Albariño white wine and we can attest to the fact that it is delicious. Hoping we can find it in the US someday.

The Pilgrimage: Day 3

Sunny skies greeted us on the third morning of our pilgrimage. We were well rested, dry and ready to face the day. We were excited to see a delicious and generous breakfast buffet - the best breakfast of our journey. And what an amazing place! In the daylight we could now appreciate the beauty of this hotel & spa. Lots of natural stone gave it a rustic and sturdy feel and the surrounding countryside created a peaceful, serene atmosphere. Perhaps this place is a bit too luxurious or pricey for the average pilgrim on the Camino, but I would highly recommend it, a great place to rest and replenish your energy.

Just a short walk back to the Camino from the hotel (~500 meters) and we were ready for more walking!

Yes, that is sunshine! The weather was a bit improved today and we thoroughly enjoyed the brief bits of sun.

Since the Camino goes through small villages we often saw farm animals en route. Fortunately they were always behind a fence (this donkey included) or being tended by a farmer (in the case of some cattle we came across). 

Despite the sunshine the trail was still littered with huge puddles like the one below. Rather then spend the rest of the day walking with wet socks and shoes, I finally decided to take my shoes off and walk barefoot through the water.

Partway through the day we found ourselves walking through a small town and came upon a playground. Amazing how the kids can find energy when there is something fun to do - they ran to the playground and were excited to try out the equipment.

So much for our sunny day! Pouring rain towards the end of the day. Another evening of arriving at a hotel soaking wet, shoes covered in mud, wet back packs, etc.

I forgot to take a photo of our next hotel - it was pouring rain when we arrived and we had to contact our host to let us in (presumably this was only because it was off-season).

He was very kind and did not mind that we were drenched and muddy. The large backpack goes a long way in this part of the world towards garnering respect!

Today's walk was a bit shorter at only 13 km so we arrived in time to relax a bit at the hotel. We stayed at Hostal Conde Rey in Bandeira. Although it sounds like a hostel they had a nice big family room (with a huge closet) on the top floor which was just perfect for all of us to share. Plenty of room for all our backpacks and radiators to dry our clothes. This hotel is directly on the Camino so the location was perfect. We again enlisted John to get some takeout food for us since we were all so wet/cold/tired we just wanted to lie down and do nothing. The kids were in luck - the pub next door had burgers (their favorite food). Thank goodness for Daddy!

The Pilgrimage: Day 2

After a delicious breakfast at Casa Manosa we were soon back out on the trail. Very happy to have dry feet and dry clothes thanks to the wonderful radiators at Casa Manosa! We soon met up with our friend Kay on the trail and it was nice to share some of the walk with her.

Clock Tower in the center of Cea

First Pringles break

A rare picture of the whole family - taken by Kay, our fellow pilgrim

These dark clouds soon produced a hail storm which followed us for about 1/2 hour before we ducked into what looked like a restaurant. Turns out it was just a coffee shop so we ordered hot drinks and ate the snacks we had with us (protein bars, chips, etc). We were happy to be out of the rain and hail. At this point our friend Kay was worried about continuing her walk in the rain and hail so she found an albergue nearby and called it a day. We were hoping we might see her again on the trail but no such luck. 

This was our longest day - our next hotel was over 30 km away in Bendoiro. We weren't sure if the kids would last that long, especially given the weather. There were no other hotels within walking distance of the Camino until Bendoiro and we had promised the kids we would not stay in any of the albergues (hostels). The kids just weren't comfortable sharing a big room with a group of adults and can you blame them? 

Our backup option was to stop near Lalin and we could take a taxi from the Camino to a hotel in Lalin. It was late in the day by the time we saw signs for Lalin so we stopped to have a family discussion. We figured the kids would want to stop there and get a taxi to a hotel. Instead, they amazed us. They convinced us that we could make it all the way to Bendoiro (about another 4 miles). Rachel led the way up the next couple miles of hills and somehow we all kept going. It was amazing to see them find their inner strength.

We walked and walked, even past night fall. Thank goodness I had cell phone reception since the hotel called to make sure we were still coming. The restaurant was open until 10pm so we quickened our pace to be sure we could arrive in time to eat. The dark made it difficult to keep track of the trail so we had to stop once to ask directions. We found some very kind people that got us on track and told us there was only 1 km left to go! Music to our ears. 

We finally found our amazing hotel, Pazo de Bendoiro, and made it just in time for dinner. The hotel staff was warm and welcoming despite our muddy, wet appearance. Thank goodness they are used to (and respect) pilgrims in this area!

The food was amazing and sitting down was even better. Our damp feet had never been so tired - we had blisters on our blisters. The meal was absolutely delicious and what a gorgeous dinning room! Stiff and sore, the short walk to our hotel rooms was a chore but we were happy to see a full bathtub in each room so we all had a good soak that night. They didn't have any rooms with 2 beds so we had boys in one room and girls in the other. It looked like a gorgeous hotel but we were too tired to take it all in. 

The Pilgrimage: Day 1

After a short hotel breakfast we packed everything into our backpacks and set off on our journey. It was a cloudy morning and a bit chilly, good weather for a long walk. We had a few strange looks from locals, I don't think April is a popular time for this pilgrimage. Especially when it had been such a cold, damp spring so far. We had visions of crowded trails and lots of fellow pilgrims, but we saw no one else on the trail that first day. 

However, it was fun to actually get on the trail after planning this trip for such a long time! We knew we were looking for a scallop shell, the sign of the pilgrimage trail, and we were very excited to find the first one!

Looking over the River Minho to the Ponte do Milenio.

A sign for the Camino!

Once you get out of the city of Ourense the Camino is uphill for quite a while. We took it slow and had many breaks for Pringles and MandM's on the steep climb. Soon we were rewarded with great views of Ourense.

OK, this is what they really felt like. Let's be honest, when you are 11 and 12 this is the last thing you want to be doing. We found that conversations would keep their mind off the long walk and lots of snacks helped too. We tried to point out everything of interest along the way to keep them from whining!

The rain started about half way through the day so we stopped at the first restaurant we could find to have a break from the rain and get some hot food. This place was perfect - tile floors for wet backpacks and nothing fancy but good food. The kids were feeling a bit tired by this point. Never talk about the miles you have left to walk...

After some food and time to sit down the kids discovered the foosball table and suddenly came back to life!

Back to the Camino - huge puddles made it slow-going. We were hoping to keep our feet dry.

The bright green exterior of the back pack is a rain cover to keep the contents dry incase of rain. Want to be sure we have dry clothes! 

By this point we had been walking in solid rain for hours and there was no way we were going to keep our feet dry. A tough start to our journey, already asking ourselves, "why are we doing this?" and this is only day one. I suppose that is part of the purpose of a pilgrimage, to find your inner strength and keep going no matter what.

After completing 22 km our first day, we arrived at our hotel, Casa Mañoso, in Cea. A dry place to get out of the torrential rain! We felt badly walking into this beautiful house dripping wet, covered in mud, with wet backpacks. Fortunately people in this area have respect for pilgrims walking the Camino and our hosts greeted us wamly. The rain stopped soon after we arrived and we were greeted with an incredible double rainbow! 

Fortunately there were not many other guests that night so we were able to lay our wet clothes over the heaters and by the morning everything was dry, even our shoes. What a blessing!

The one other guest at the hotel was an American also walking the Camino! Her name was Kay from the Washington DC area and her Spanish was amazing. We enjoyed sharing stories of our experiences on the trail. She had started weeks before us in Seville so had covered hundreds of kilometers already. Sure put things in perspective for us.

We were very hungry but also exhausted so John volunteered to try to find some takeout food for us in the tiny village of Cea. Very brave of him since we knew there would most likely be no English spoken in this little town. He found a small mom-and-pop restaurant and was able to find out they had meat and potatoes on their menu (nothing else that night). When he asked how it was prepared the response was "in the kitchen". They had to go to the store nearby to purchase takeout containers just for us. But we would have eaten anything at that point so it was perfect.