Thank you Pilgrims❤️

Here’s to you friends and readers. I appreciate your company those past 2 months along the Frances El Camino de Santiago. I really don’t know if I could have done it without you. Knowing you were depending on my reports made it both easier and a “must finish” situation. I won’t lie, I don’t think that there was one day when I didn’t briefly question my decision to continue. 500 miles is a long way. But in the end there was no way I was going that far to quit! You were a big part of that determination.

In an effort to extend my appreciation for your help I returned from Santiago with some small pins to share with my fellow pilgrims. If you are interested in receiving one by mail, please email me your name and address and I will send one to the FIRST 25 that I receive. My email address is kappymann@gmail.com. In your email, please put the word Camino in the subject line.

Please understand that if you don’t receive a pin it is because other pilgrims got there first.

I thank you all for your attention and inspiration. Ultreia!

3 nights in Barcelona with Michele

Upon disembarking my plane in Barcelona from Santiago I was met by the smiling face of my college girlfriend Michele. We had booked a double room in a place called The Generator. This place is a combination Hotel/Hostel and was pretty reasonable price wise for downtown - 190€ each for a 3 night stay. Pretty spartan but it had a good youngish vibe to it.

We walked and walked and walked over the next 3 days. Pretty much visited all of the areas of the old city. I got a much better feel for Barcelona this time around. On Sunday we took advantage of a free walking tour that was organized by a company who gathered groups from hotels to make the tour worthwhile for the guide. He worked only for tips. Our guide was a Greek fella who now lives in Barcelona and is also a elementary school teacher. He had so much information to share with us about the history of Barcelona and some of the reasons behind the protests that continue to go on in this region. Speaking of that, here’s what was going on while we were touring

The short of it is that the Catalunyans (people from the area in which Barcelona is located) are tired of sending all their taxes to Madrid. They want independence from the Spanish government. Apparently this dissent  has been going on a long time and just recently 3 of their leaders were sentenced to some pretty heavy prison time. The Catalunyans are NOT happy.

Besides the walking tour, Michele and I found these cool Halloween people to celebrate with,

Took a Gaudi tour

Shopped and ate and drank too much

All’s well that ends well though. We parted ways this morning. She headed back to Amsterdam where she is living and me to my Airport Hotel where this all began

I’ll be traveling tomorrow but look for one more post in this series faithful pilgrims❤️

Muxia and More 10/24-28

I won’t be able to get all of this in one post so I’ll be wrapping up my trip with a little surprise in a few blog posts.

After enjoying a rainy 2 days in Fisterra, I had to make the trip complete by visiting Muxia, another sweet fishing village on a bay off of the Atlantic in Spain. This coast is known by the Spaniards as the Coast of Death - obviously they hadn’t seen our Pacific coast if the name is supposed to reflect the ocean’s wildness. The weather continued to be overcast so I didn’t really get a good sunset picture. This is the best I could do

I was able to attend Mass at the church at this place in the evening and as you can see, the weather was finally beginning to clear.

The next day was spent poking around town and getting ready to catch the bus back to Santiago. This was the turn around point, the beginning of my journey home. While I was having a bite to eat, I was invited by 2 sisters from Oregon to join them. This is how the Camino works, you are only alone if you work hard at it! I ended up joining them on the bus and for dinner that night in Santiago. They pointed out this really cool image of a pilgrim caused by the light near the Cathedral.

I spent the night in my little cell in the hoity toity hotel Nextdoor to the Cathedral

And the next morning I went by bus (3€) to the Santiago airport - bound for Barcelona.

October 23, Fisterra. Bye, bye Rosa

I know everyone has heard the story that ancient Europeans originally considered the world to be flat. Well, I am now in the village at the end of that flat world. According to rumor, if you went any further than this, you would just plain drop off the side of the world. Last night we went up to the lighthouse and caught the sunset at 7:44pm

Today I walked around this village and in addition to seeing quite a few bedraggled pilgrims I enjoyed the view of the sea

And the town from the waterfront

This little village reminds me so much of San Felipe BCN. There is a Malecón with restaurants and bars, even a Bar Miramar

I am alone now. My friend Rosa from Holland has begun her journey home to the Netherlands😌 she has been a wonderful traveling companion and I will miss her.

It seems weird but I have one more place to go before I turn around. Tomorrow in the rain I will take the bus to Muxia for one night.

One of the things that I have learned on this trip is that people who don’t speak the same language only appear to be stuck up and unfriendly. If you truly try to engage them, even with a little bit of their language, they will try to use the little bit of yours that they know. I had a really good time last night doing this with our waiter. At first he seemed aloof but once I kept trying to communicate with the little Spanish I know, he did the same with his English. We both agreed that it is good and fun to practice!

Now What? October 21

Been finished 1 day and I must say, I find myself at complete odds. Walking around this city using google map and wondering what is next. I miss the walking in forests and along country roads already. Here is a better shot of the Cathedral which I took today.

As I may have mentioned, the Cathedral is undergoing a huge restoration in anticipation of 2021 which is some kind of anniversary year. Yesterday we were only able to see some of the place

As you can hopefully see from this small sample, the interior is full of opulent displays of celestial beings. Almost too amazing for words.

I walked around today looking for a place to buy some warmer clothes. The weather has turned really cool since the rain and I find myself shivering. I found a Decathlon store and bought some long tights, socks and a fleece. Hope I can fit it all in my backpack. This store carries a brand call Quechua which is French and is very popular here. The prices are much more reasonable than the name brands like Patagonia. We’ll see how they perform. BTW I happen to know that there is a Decathalin store in San Francisco.

I am going out to Finesterra tomorrow for 2 nights and hope to see a spectacular sunset and then on to Muxia for one night before returning to Santiago to catch a plane to Barcelona and begin my long journey home. I will be able to enjoy the company of a good friend from college who now lives in Amsterdam. She has agreed to fly to Barcelona so we can visit for a couple days. Keep your fingers crossed that the trouble in Barcelona doesn’t interfere with any of this.

If you don’t get another blog from me, stay tuned. I will be back in touch when I get home.

In the meantime friends — look at those glasses — there is some sunshine!

HERE! October 20 - 45 days - 500 mi

I left this morning, again in the rain. We stopped for coffee and breakfast after 1km. The walk into Santiago was (9 more km) such a relief. Although it rained off and on (which made it necessary to take my poncho off and on) we were all so excited about nearing our goal.
Here was my view before dawn this morning

Later the sky brightened up and maybe you can see the hint of a rainbow we were treated to

We arrived in the square outside the Cathedral of Santiago at about 11:30 am and, of course had to celebrate our accomplishment with a picture

After photos we made our way over to the Pilgrim office where we presented our credentials for a certificate of distance. Here volunteers check your pilgrim passport which you have held for the duration of the journey and obtained stamps in each village along the way. If they find it acceptable, you get a Compostela! I did pass muster so you can see here that I was most happy

We found our way to our accommodation for the night (2 for me) which is in an old monastery. I have a small cell, with a tiny bath which I believe was a nun’s room. 25€ per night (includes bfast). Here is a picture showing the view from my small window

 Tonight we celebrate. Luciena is leaving tomorrow. I will leave you with this thought that seems way apropos

The last BIG walk day Oct 19,

We have settled it. We will do 20 km today and walk into Santiago on Sunday around noon. Me and the Dutch girls, Roza and Luciena. Looks like it will be another day walked entirely in the rain.

After a nice dinner of Lasagna last night we retired to our bunks. We will leave the Albergue after breakfast at first light - 8:30 or so.

It’s obvious that the pilgrim season is winding down as most of the villages we passed through had cafe/bar establishments who have already closed down. This Albergue, however, was totally full last night. The young lady running it, Tatyana, was one of the most patient and cheerful people I have ever met. From what I could see she was the only employee (except possibly the cocinera who never did appear). The girl was reception, bartender, waitress and maintenance person for this establishment. Bravo Tatyana and done with such grace!

Not too many pictures today because I walked in a driving rain and was terrified of messing up my phone. Here is a picture of the boot hallway from last night. Albergues do not like you taking your boots into the sleeping room. Understandable — you walk through all kinds of shit on the road. So this is were they go!

Today I walked, as I said, 20kms through constant rain. It was a battle to keep my feet out of the wet. Sometimes I had the choice of putting my foot in a puddle deep enough to flood my shoe or in the sucking mud. Tough decision. So I am constantly looking at the ground. These things are all over Spain. They are chestnut pods — also known as Buckeye pods (Ohio friends). You see women gathering them everywhere. Not sure if they eat them or sell them.

Here is some lovely graffiti I saw as I entered O Pedrouzo (sometimes I think this area of Spain was settled by Irish-so many villages begin with the “O” - just joking - not really at dinner we discussed the relationship between Gaelic and Galacia).

So we are finally here, in a little Village called Lavacolla - 10 km from Santiago! We will walk in to the square tomorrow in front of the Cathedral of Santiago. I can hardly believe it is almost done.

13 km to go!