NH Alfonso IX Sarria

... The scenery is rolling hills, and pastures. Every once in a while we are greeted by dogs and cats which are all either friendly or afraid of us and of course Sara thinks she needs to feed each and every one of them. We are about 94 km. away from our destination now with a plan to arrive in Santiego on Thursday of next week. This means we will not have to walk so far every day and will then be ...

... literately no room at the inn.....or to be correct ' - any of the albergues. therefore, we did ask around. some lady was willing to give us shelter for a king´s ransom ' so we opted to taxi it to the next larger town...some 20km.... what´s a group gonna do with no shelter? innovation my friends....

I went with Stee and my grandmother to Lugo, a town about 50 miles from A Coruña. The old town of Lugo is surrounded by a Roman wall. Within the walled part of the town are narrow streets and old buildings.

In the late afternoon we returned to A Coruña and departed for Vigo early in the evening.

Day 25 - Tuesday, July 14 Ponferrada - Villafranca del Bierzo 25.8 km (16mi)

I didn´t complete a journal entry for this day until Wednesday. When I sat down to write, my mind was blank. Nothing came back to me about the walk. I have to stress that we are living in the moment here in Spain. Yesterday is gone and only today matters!

I do remember that we met teachers from OK ...

This was another short travel day - as good as a rest. We stopped short of the next big town - Palas de Rei- staying in the town of Eirexe. As we thought the road was very crowded with many new walkers including several large organized youth groups. At some point the path was packed with walkers including a few people who insisted on playing radios that they were carrying.

By stopping short ...

The Compestela is the certification that one receives at the end of the Camino acknowledging that you have completed the pilgrimage. To receive one you must walk the last 100 kilometers to Santiago. While it is a little more than a 100 kms from Santiago the town of Sarria (population of about 13000) is a starting place for many people because it can be reached easily by bus and train. So we are expecting to see another ...

... to vote with our pedals and carry on. It wasn't quite the 'straight down' Dave had predicted, however generally that was the way we were heading. Of course the lower we got the hotter it got, although nothing like the temperatures we had experienced in Navarra or Rioja. Our map shows camping at Samos but when we got there the Artisan Feria was in town, taking up the whole of the campsite. Although when we went to look, it was hardly a campground at all, just looked like a ...

... on getting the job at the zoo. Having done all our chores (shopping) we hit the road to San Fiz to the campsite we are now at. We were greeted by a sign as we entered, in English, saying 'Welcome to our world without hurries', isn't that nice? The weather was quite cloudy when we arrived but it's really perked up since we got here and is quite hot now, so we're having to constantly move into the shade, we've moved approximately 3 mtrs so far! Life's hard. Laters Amigos

... out of books to read so I am now reading A Parrot in the Pepper Tree for the second time in 2 weeks. Arni has now completely vacated my body, we are awaiting the next visitation. My trousers are beginning to fall down. Dave's had the needle & thread out and fixed his Everlasts, sorry Matthew. Some bloke called Gaudi designed the Pilgrim Museum in Astorga. Laters

... the thatched, round dwellings which was built 1500 years ago. A small doorway separated the living area from the area where the animals were kept - close by, for warmth! We saw the implements used to cook with, the wooden bed that converted to a table, and the hanging racks used to dry meat on. It was amazing! We had our passports stamped and Judy told us the story about the yellow arrows that line the Camino. About 35 years ago, the grandson of the ...