After more than two years of work (during which, to some extent, I got to learn PHP, for which I am really thankful), we think that now we can offer enough information that makes worth launching urcamino.com publicly. A lot more is still ahead, my first task being reconnecting with the albergues along the way.
[this post links back to the one titled Stuff I'm taking]
Fortunately enough, I used almost everything in my backpack during the walk, with very few exceptions. I’m also glad I only had to look up what Compeed and Ibuprofen mean (because I heard people mention them so many times) after I got home. So here’s the lowdown: read more
the Northern façade of the Cathedral
I took my breakfast in the hotel, and then set out for the Pilgrims’ Office to get my compostela (the certificate you get in Santiago that testifies you walked more than 100 kilometres on any of the routes). I was just passing by a café when I heard someone knocking on a window. I looked and lo and behold, it was Krisztina and Jörg. They managed to get the last room in some hostel, and now they were having breakfast. I guess it’s really hard to actually hide from people in Santiago. :) They gave me Adrian’s phone number which he gave them because he had taken the alternative way just before Padrón, to Herbón, and he wanted to give me some information about the accommodation there. How thoughtful is that? So I got to say farewell to Jörg, who was leaving for Porto, and Krisztina saw him off to the bus station. read more
Iria Flavia
I started out at half past eight, when rain had just stopped. It was cold today, and clouds were hanging low, but at least at didn’t rain so much. This last stretch to Santiago resembled the first one from Porto in that I was walking through lots of villages. The difference was the big climb in the last ten kilometres. OK, I’m exaggerating, it wasn’t more than 300 metres. :) It’s just that it has been unusual on this route to climb more than 200 a day. read more
Santa Mariña de Carracedo
Some of the Portuguese guys woke up at 6 AM, when it was still totally dark and raining, so I tried to stay in bed as long as possible. Most of us had breakfast in the bar next door which offers pilgrim breakfasts (which means you have to pray to get one – OK, just kidding), and then set out after eight. read more
nice waymarking
I made very good use of my earplugs last night, because the dormitory rather resembled a concert hall with all the different voices and tunes, all snoring (save other noises). :) Anyway, the earplugs worked, and indeed there was no turning on the lights in the morning, only some door slamming. Maybe I just had bad luck with those Portuguese bikers. :) read more
if you're out of yellow paint...
Fortunately, Ina and Florian are not those early birds you get to meet a lot, but they rather let me sleep until 8, so I left at half past eight. A nice old man told me on the way out from Redondela that the Camino actually wasn’t going that way (this was type one from yesterday’s post), and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder, which I returned. (When in Rome…) I hope I wasn’t disrespectful because he was much older than me. read more
114 kilometres to go
Today was quite a long day again, but not as tough as day 3 from Barcelos to Ponte de Lima. I must admit the obvious: it very much depends on the terrain you’re walking on, and since there are no cobblestones in Spain on the Camino (yay!), it takes less energy to walk a given distance. read more
Tui and the Ponte Internacional as seen from Valença
I had planned this in advance: I though it was a good idea to stay here for an extra day, to see both cities, and of course, to celebrate that I have already walked more than half of the total distance. :) read more
leaving Rubiães
Staying in albergues is funny. At 10 PM, everyone is already asleep and those who go to bed late go around tip-toeing, and use their headlamp for fear that they would wake someone up. But when the new day arrives, people don’t care about each other any more. As if there were a competition for who leaves the albergue first. (I know that on the Camino Francés there is a competition for who gets a bed in the next albergue, but that’s a different story. And also, that’s why I’m not considering walking that route – I’d get sick of this pretty soon.) read more
33-year-old translator living in Budapest, Hungary. Walked the Camino Portugués / Caminho Português in May/June 2010.