Magical Madrid

After our lekker stay in Santiago we took the Camino Frances (by car!) all the way to Logroño and then turned South onwards to Sitges, this was over 1000kms! We started out at 5am on rainy windy roads, but soon decided to get on the highway until sunrise at least. 

We arrived after 6 in a very stormy Sitges, and stayed in a comfy Airbnb. The next morning I told my fellow travelers we travelled really far to get to Barcelona and I insist we go there now (even though it was still rainy). We had an awesome day in Barcelona, just exploring by foot. We stayed in Sitges for 5 days and enjoyed a good rest, tooo much tapas and the relaxed feeling of a beach town.

After Sitges we headed to Madrid, we dropped off the car at airport and took the Metro into the city where we stayed at the second best rated backpackers globally! Ok! Hostel Madrid was indeed really good and has an awesome breakfast buffet for just 3 euros, but after our visit they may have increased the price! 

From first arriving in the city I just got this awesome feeling that WE HAVE ARRIVED! Wow, what a city, it has such a vibe of excellence. We did a really great walking tour organized by the backpackers, explored a wide range of outdoor shops, had chocolate churos at Chocolatier San Gines, visited Thyssen-B... art museum, the El Retiro gardens, saw the magic of royalty and much, much more! 

On our last night in Madrid we had paella on Plaza Mayor and was served by an Indian waiter who named us Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Galaxy :) Things couldn't get any better!

... and now we're back home and can't wait to make some memories...

Magical Madrid

The Milky Way

Upon Karin's arrival in Vilalba we introduced her to "Cola Cao" (chocolate milk) and "Oikos" yoghurt and, I am afraid, she has never looked back! Having Karin by our side has been really refreshing and I think all the milk she consumes makes her walk like a machine... Virtually burning tire as her only complaint ever was that her feet are hot :)

From Vilalba we walked to Baamonde, 101 km from Santiago, where we stayed in a large, but very nice Albergue.  In the local supermarket we got something to cook for ourselves that evening, and when we payed the owner gave us a pan to cook our food in! How thoughtful is that? At the same time we also bumped into Tanya, whom I then spent the next several days conversating with along the way.

After Baamonde we did the short stage to Miraz, temperatures had really started to drop and rain jackets came out more often than we liked. In Miraz we stayed at the Albergue that is run by the British Confraternity, this was splendid! The Brits even offered afternoon tea, and had a kettle! Thus far we have only seen 2 kettles on our holiday. We took a stroll to an ancient water-mill and gave our feet an icebath. Afterwards we had the menu of the day at the only bar in the town (the other one closed as the owner retired).

From Miraz we walked on to Sobrado dos Monxes where we stayed in the monastery, and cooked up a nice meal for ourselves again. The monastery is huge and beautiful, also partly because it needs some maintenance, which adds to its rustic beauty.

The day after we walked to Arzúa, where we joined the Frances, so all of the sudden there was many Albergues to choose from and many new faces. This evening we went out for supper with Tanya, Gabbi, Kami and Tobias this was really awesome and we had some great laughs. We only had 39km left to Santiago and everyone had their own ideas of how they would split it up, so it became a bit off a farewell as well. We wanted to do 2 days of 20, Gabbi wanted to arrive 3 days later for her 50th, Tanya wanted to do a long stage the next day to be early the next day for meeting her family on the plain, and Kami wanted to start early to enjoy the chocolate chiros...

Funny how none of our plans worked out... the next morning I woke up and told the team: Lets go to Santiago! We tried to leave Tanya behind, but she kept catching us, and by the evening we were all in Santiago! We bumped into Tobias, and the next day Gabbi and Kami also arrived. I think when the goal is that close nobody was able to resist finishing it a bit earlier. 

Our first day in Santiago we realized that we can save money by renting a car rather using buses and airplanes for the rest of our trip. We headed off to Finisterre, in some rainy weather. Unfortunately when we got there I received an SMS to tell me we only have 30mins left before check-in closes. So I had to make a call to the pension we stayed in and had to immediately turn around, doh!

Santiago is still as charming as we remembered it, and we really enjoyed this city so much! We found a place with nice free tapas, and an awesome waiter named Fernando... if I gain a few KGs it's all on him :) 

Unfortunately we never got our compostelas, the queues are just insane. 

Galicia!

As we entered Ribadeo it meant we were in Galicia, From now on we will be heading inland and more directly approaching Santiago.

I have liked every region we have travelled through, and the each have had a very unique character. The area we have walked through the last couple of days is so close to Santiago, but it feels so remote to a walker, sometimes we would walk for 20km without seeing a human or a car. It's milk farm and wood country, and the smells have been really intense: mint, eucalyptus, fresh wood and cow dung :) 

We have been doing shorter distances, my Achilles' tendons have been giving me uphill and Colette has various little foot nigglies. The shorter days has been very nice, we have more time for resting and reading :)

The first day we walked to Gondán, where the pilgrims all pitched in for a communal meal. The next day we stayed in Mondoñedo in a top class Albergue, and guess what.... The circus was in town! Hungry for some entertainment we immediately decided that this is for us! This was a traditional old style circus (no animals) with a tent, pop-corn and some Average performances... all in Spanish. They were calling up volunteers, and we were not many patrons... I was so scared... I could just see how the crowd will laugh when I have to try and explain to the clown "No hable Español". 

After that we went to Gontán and today we are in Vilalba.

In Gontán I was lying on my bunkbed when I heard a familiar the familiar voices of Jen and her 12 year old son Ruben... it was so great to see them and catch up a bit.

In Vilalba when were walking through the isles of the local Supremarket we bumped into Chanelle, what a crazy coincidence, she had been walking up a storm and the next morning we caught up with her over a couple of coffees before she was off to complete her Camino and start some other new adventures.

Tomorrow morning we will be joined by Karin, so excited!