Pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
We left A Gudiña around 7:30 am and set out for a 35km day. Although not that ambitious of a goal, the Galician terrain is certainly much more taxing than what we've seen thus far. We walked along Main Street in the dim light of a belated dawn. (Remember that the further west we go …
Now we've been locked out of albergues in the past and have had to get someone to let us in after lights out, but this morning we were locked inside the hotel. After such a tiresome and rough day of walking on asphalt, Mikey decided not to set an alarm and we didn't leave the …
Thankful for a good night's sleep, we got up at 5:15 am and took a long, hot shower. Now, if you've never done the Camino de Santiago before, this probably doesn't seem like a big deal. However, since pilgrims carry all their gear in a backpack, absolutely no one showers in the morning - otherwise, …
Continue reading "Camino Day 12: Villafranca de los Barros to Mérida"
Zafra turned out to be quite a nice town. Our "discovery" of a castle and the eccentric owner of that restaurant made for a fun time. The nuns (even though Mikey has a morbid, albeit totally unsubstantiated, fear of such orders) had offered a very relaxing experience and the hospitalero even shook Mikey's hand and …
Continue reading "Camino Day 11: Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros"
It seemed like this storm front would be sticking with us for a bit, so Mikey was in no hurry to leave at first light. Instead, a leisurely mid-morning coffee and fresh juice finally urged us on from the hotel/restaurant where the gusts of wind almost literally flung Mikey flailing in his poncho into the …
Continue reading "Camino Day 3: El Cuervo to Las Cabezas de San Juan"
Today was a double day of walking. This is to say, we basically planned on getting up before 6am and walking for two shorter stages before turning in to an albergue. It almost worked out great! 5:45am and Mikey was on the road. He thought it a bit bizarre - almost like …
Today was the real push. What we estimated at about 40km (25 miles) was really just over 45km or 28 miles. As such, Mikey planned on an early 5:30am start, but really didn't begin until 6:30am. Still, with an almost 10 hour estimate, he didn't have much time to waste. Oh, and Mikey is …
Mikey on The Way 