Salceda, Spain

Boy, today was really long. We covered 25km (15.5 miles). The terrain was somewhat hilly with mostly flat ground. We are 25km from Santiago de Compostela or in other words the end. The walking is much easier since my medication gotten straightened  out. I am so happy. I might be happy, but I am tired after today's hike.  The end of the camino will bring sadness and happiness. Sadness that I again have to leave the camino but happiness that I was able to walk a portion of it. I know I will be back and walk the entire thing next time, but that wont be for a year or two.

Today, we were passed by a large group of horses with Spaniard riders. Some had on American style cowboy hats and they thought they were cool. I have pictures that I plan to post but frankly can't find the time right now. Besides I don't know how to get photos off my phone. These cowspaniards' horse left pretty little piles of horse offerings over several miles of the camino that complimented the cow poop all over the camino. I guess the horses will get the certificate and not the riders. Whatever.

We also met a huge contingency of Irish people today. Good Lord there must have been 100 of them and all of which were from 5 different groups that didn't know anyone outside their group. It was pure luck they were in the same area at the same time. There was lots of English spoken on the camino today. What was funny was an Irish guy said that he loved my accent. I simply told him I don't have an accent because where I am from we all speak like me. Of course he mimicked  what he called my accent and over emphasized how I pronounced certain words. I told him that he watched too much TV. I stared to tell him that he sounded just like that cartoon character on Lucky Charms serial commercials. He must have seen the commercial with all the TV he watches.  We walked over 2 Roman bridges today--that is bridges from when the Romans occupied Iberia. I am sure that we walked over a couple portions of the original Roman Road however I can't be sure. Geez this place is slam full of history.

Deb and Sandra went to the beach and drove around and ate more octopus. Yuck. I'm glad they are having fund.

I may be in Santiago de Compostela tomorrow. Don't change that dial. Same bat place, same bat channel.
Al

Lavacolla, Spain

When it rains it pours and it certainly did  both today. It rained really hard and the wind was very gusty today which made for a very long day, and we stopped short of finishing for that reason. We stopped in Lavacolla, Spain which is 10km (6.1miles) from Santiago de Compostela.  We have a few hours to go tomorrow.

Not a lot of fun things occurred today other than meeting a couple fun pups to scratch their ears. We did spend a lot of time walking through water and dodging creeks flowing down some fairly steep hills. My boots are "waterproof" but that merely means from rain and not standing water. I did use something called a gaiter to to keep water out of the area top of the boot where your feet enter the boot. But the gaiter fought a good but losing battle in keeping my socks dry.  Wet socks equate to blisters so we stopped short of finishing today.

Tomorrow we go to the church and will do all of the rituals. I'll tell you all about the rituals tomorrow.  Stay dry.

Melide, Spain

We had a productive day today. We walked a little over 20 kilometers  which is about 12.5 miles yet 52 kilometers remain. I really think we have my health problems under control. Waguih (who is a doctor) saw first hand what was happening to me and changed a medication I take and I didn't recognize myself today. No more excessive sweating. I now know I must eat a little of certain foods regularly (like every 1-2 hours max due to another problem) and I have a tremendous amount of energy. Life has changed for me but Waguih's feet are really blistering due to the walking. Each day brings another blister for him. It hurts to just hear about it. I guess I suffered during the first part last month, and he is suffering now.

We were walking through Palas de Rei today, and we saw this really beautiful church that was open, so we decided to go inside. We collect stamps along the way on this thing called a credencial that is used to prove you actually walked the camino so you can get a certificate proving you walked it. The stamps are available at churches, places to sleep, places to eat, shops, etc. The certificate is a very, very big deal for pilgrims so getting these stamps is of  paramount importance. Anyway, as we were going into the church in Palas de Rei, I saw a sign that said the church had a stamp. We we went inside and walked around this beautiful church and then walked into this backroom where this old guy was stamping pilgrim credencials. So I waited my turn and the guy stamped my credencial and as soon as he finished he pointed to the money jar sitting on the table meaning I was supposed to give a donation. I guess everything has its price.

Deb and Sandra are keeping themselves busy and having fun. I'm not sure what they are doing but I know they aren't riding around throwing water balloons on pilgrims because somebody would tell me. Like the saying goes, if it ain't broken don't fix it.

I'm sorry I don't write more. We don't seem to have a lot of free time. Talk to Yall tomorrow

Porto, Portugal

Just a quick note to let everybody know that we finished the camino and all went extremely well. I have been posting accidently to another blog and will move the entries to this blog soon. We left Spain today and are in a nice hotel in Porto, Portugal.  I'll provide more when I can tomorrow.

It is very late now and I need to sleep.

Palas del Rei, Spain

OK I lied. We are not in Palas del Rei but in a town 2 km away that would not show up on your map.  Waguih and I walked 18 kilometers today of which 80% was a slow climb uphill.  Just as I remember from my prior visit, there is a lot of cow poop everywhere. If we are not walking through it, then we we are smelling it and preparing  to step in it. Today went well. I am thinking I want to return in the future and walk the whole thing. Deb has already said I can't come alone, so if I do Yall can't tell her. I guess if I just snuck out she might miss me if I don't show up for a month of dinners. Let's just call this our little secret.

Deb and Sandra are running around Spain doing all kinds of stuff while their hubbies are suffering. Today they went to a pulperia which is a Spain restaurant that only serves fish bait. She calls it calamari but I call it  fish bait. I would rather walk uphill all day than eat fish bait. Geez, the best fish bait  she ever forced me to eat looked, smelled, and tasted like an inner tube. Yuck. She probably hates it too but wants to act fashionable by eating in a Spanish fish bait store. Oh well.

Tomorrow is a flat walking day for the most part. We have 75 kilometers until we finish and I am loving very moment of this.

Bye for now.

Sarria, Spain

We arrived in Sarria Saturday, Sep 28,2013 with no problems at all. Today, Waguih and I walked about 18km+ without any problems. I do believe we have found out health wise what was wrong with me before in Spain. Today's walk was a clear indication that we found it out. 

We finished the walk in Porto Marin (I think that is the name) with Deb and Sandra picking us up and driving us to the hotel which is an hour drive from the camino. Deb says that closer  hotels are few and far between. While we walked Deb and Sandra rode around and went to Lugo, Spain to see the Roman walls built in the third century. Then they went and got liquored up on cheap wine at some bar. So tomorrow they have to walk and Waguih and we get to ride around and get liquored up.

It has been really nice returning to the camino. My heart was broken when I left to come home a month ago. I smiled all day today while walking.  Today we walked to the 90km remaining point which means we have five more days of walking left.

Well, it is bedtime and I need to rest. I'll write more tomorrow.

Raleigh. Preparing to Head Back to Spain (and Portugal)

Well, it has been a few weeks since I returned while licking my wounds (metaphorically of course) from Spain. I have recovered nicely, and I am ready to walk the last 60 or so miles of the camino. I walked 65 miles last week in 5 days and will walk almost that far again by Wednesday, so I don't expect any troubles in Spain.  A doctor  a few days ago may have figured out what went wrong with me during my last visit to Spain.  So, the upcoming trip may be much better. Now that I have the whining behind me, how about I tell you about the pending trip.

Deb and I are flying to Spain on Sep 27th and will meet Sandra and Waguih from Montreal Canada.  You may remember Sandra and Waguih  who were  formerly known as The Nice Canadian Couple from our Russia, Japan, and China trip a couple years ago. Sandra and Waguih  will meet us when we arrive in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. We will drive to Sarria, Spain where Waguih and I will walk the last 105 kms (~60 miles) of the Camino de Santiago ultimately arriving in Santiago de Compostela, Spain which is the end of the camino. Sandra and Deb will chauffeur Waguih and myself around and do whatever two women do whenever their husbands aren't around in Spain--just don't ask me I have no idea.  I am sure Deb and Sandra have every single minute of that week all plotted out with such precision that would make a man's head explode.  Sandra and Deb have been sending each other web articles,   Powerpoint presentations, log books, GPS coordinates, and satellite imagery anticipating their week of male-free days in Spain.    

After we (all four of us) leave Santiago de Compostela, we are taking a train to Porto, Portugal.  Where we plan to spend  a day or two then off to Lisbon for a day or two. Sandra and Waguih will fly home from Lisbon then Deb and I will fly to Barcelona for 3 days then fly to Madrid for 3 days. We will end the trip in Madrid.