Pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
It's pretty cool how quickly the trains run in Portugal. We caught an IC (Inter-City) train from Porto and arrived just some 3 hours later in the capital - Lisbon. The train station here is rather photogenic. While we arrived at the top level, there are about 4 more below us. But, one of the …
Having made it to Santiago, we settled in for a few days of rest and relaxation. Naturally, this included time at the cathedral. Let's face it, if we're going to trek 1172km to Santiago, its kind of a given that we'd spend a little time with Saint James and his huge church. Again, the weather …
Continue reading "Santiago de Compostela: A Tourist Once Again"
Since we scored a private room for our last night on the Camino, there was no rustling of backpacks to wake us up early. Ergo, we slept until a little after 7 am and finally made our way down for coffee a shortly after 8. Today's walk to Santiago was a mere 21km, so we …
Continue reading "Camino Day 39: Ponte Ulla to Santiago de Compostela"
It's funny how even our most simplistic plans of sleeping in were spoiled by the internal clock. In fact, we had to purposefully go back to sleep twice and finally resorted to putting on the television to pass time before a nearby laundromat opened at 9 am. So as not to air the proverbial dirty …
Maybe it was the clean laundry or, perhaps, the early bedtime, but we slept soundly last night and were eager to get on the road. After all, there's a private room with cotton towels waiting just 25km away. (Look, just try wearing all synthetic clothing and sleeping in a different bed every night for two …
Continue reading "Camino Day 35: Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense"
The albergue emptied out rather quickly this morning as all were excited about the short hike (18km/11 miles) into the walled city of Zamora. It's funny how distances like these become negligible when one averages between 30 and 40km each day. But, as expected, there are always those who do more and those who do …
Continue reading "Camino Day 25: Villanueva de Campeán to Zamora"
You, dear reader, must believe us when we tell you how hard we tried to stay up and go out late on a Saturday night in such a fun college town. Alas, it was not to be. However, even after sleeping close to 9 hours, we had little competition from other tourists in viewing the …
Although Morille's one cafe opened at noon, the owner agreed to make breakfast for our group if we all showed up at 7 am. Although said breakfast wasn't that exciting (4€ for toast, coffee, and a juice box), it ensured that we were up and walking pretty early. Sure, they didn't have 3G (much less …
Maybe we mentioned this before, but Mikey is one of the youngest pilgrims by far on this particular Camino. Now, to be fair, 1) it is prior to Summer break, so most students are still finishing coursework; 2) the Via de la Plata is the longest Camino in Spain, so most young employed persons would …
Continue reading "Camino Day 15: Aldea de Canto to Casar de Cáceres"
As everything had closed so early yesterday, we got up around 7 am in order to see as much as possible today. Mikey has a new favorite breakfast spot in Sevilla. In addition to his coffee and OJ, he had smoked salmon, cream cheese, caramelized red onion, and spinach on a fresh baguette (2.50€!). Then …
We woke up this morning following a long night's sleep. Mikey is rather sunburned and hobbling now due to a blister on his right Achilles' heal and another dime sized one in the middle of his sole. The washing machine in the apartment was great, but his socks were still a bit damp this morning …
Today we said goodbye to Cadiz and officially began the Camino. Although hoping for an earlier departure, the rain that began last night continued until almost 9 am this morning. Once it cleared, Mikey wanted to get a few last pictures of the city. Above is the Plaza of St. John of God with City …
We woke up to a very overcast morning. While not yet raining, it seemed that almost every local was carrying an umbrella - finally, a test to see who actually lives here! This looked like a nice plaza on which to have a quiet morning coffee. What you don’t see, however, are the self-styled ”Los …
This will hopefully be a shorter post since we spent most of the day traveling to Cadiz, a peninsula on the southern Atlantic coast of Spain. Mikey has been here before (albeit almost 20 years ago) and vowed to one day return. Let’s just say that it was a most surreal afternoon spent wandering through …
Location, location, LOCATION! Last night got a bit rowdy at times, but Mikey finally got to try out his earplugs. They worked so well that he slept through both of his alarms. Still, it was nice to wake naturally at 7 am and start the day at a slower pace. Pans can perhaps be best …
Greetings from Madrid - once again! Although the flight was slightly more jovial than last year’s return from Madrid (insert a rowdy Spanish youth soccer team in place of a cabin full of slumbering Mormon missionaries), we arrived this morning to a most drizzly Saturdy in the capital. As such, there exist fewer outdoor pictures …
Packing took a little longer than expected, so Mikey literally had to run through the train station in Porto and jumped onboard with 20 seconds to spare! Surprisingly though, the trip was very pleasant and we flew south at speeds in excess of 220kph/135mph - basically as fast as Mikey ran to the train. …
Since it took a little over a month to get here, Mikey decided to devote a full day to the Cathedral of Saint James. The most famous facade is known as the Puerta de Gloria. Although the Baroque exterior which is being renovated was a later cosmetic addition, the church was built in the …
Continue reading "Coda: The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela "
The guidebook said that today would be hard. The guidebook said that today would be long and uphill. The guidebook said nothing about what to do when the achillies region of Mikey's left foot was so blistered that he would have to make one of the steepest and longest ascents of the Camino in flip-flops. …
OK, so where do we start? Yesterday was a shorter day in that Mikey hiked a less arduous distance, but took a ferry, checked into his hotel, and met up with the remaining Irish pilgrim from his group for a small bite. Ergo, it was busy! Well, it started raining in the early evening, …
Mikey on The Way 