We gathered yesterday for our weekly call and we had a number of good conversations again on topical stories. As you can see I'm wearing my yellow Tour de France cap. Neil and Sarah are also big fans of the race, doping or no doping. I watch just for the scenery...probably not, though it's nice. It seems that the race has been sensibly delayed for two months by the virus, and baring a further change it will not kick off until August 29th. I casually mentioned to Annemarie that we will have to reschedule our 40th wedding anniversary because of Le Tour. To my surprise that's apparently not happening.
This was the sunset I was going to post until the huge beautiful black cloud stole the show yesterday.
We were up and away early today. It was breezy, but the sun brought out the wild daises. A wonderful show!
I first heard then spotted four Bald Eagles just overhead, and I watched as they slowly spiralled up to amazing heights.
I can only find 3 of them in this photo. Perhaps the fourth is there, but I can't find it.
Hey little fellows. You better hop away and find cover!
This was the start of the sunset last night. It really turned into something quite special, but I won't post it until the next time I write.
Meanwhile, back on the camino...
We are getting so close to Santiago we can almost hear the Cathedral bells ringing. Almost there, but not quite yet with 40 kilometres left to go.
In 2013 it was very wet with localized flooding in the Santiago area. I posted this separately in the blog the day before;
In 2013 we kind of jumped between rain cells as the day developed with ponchos on and off all day. After a dry start it rained heavily with many folks soaked to the skin. You can see the condition of the trail out front a bar that morning. Not very nice.
In 2018 I walked out into the dark without a headlamp, just a very small glow light I carried so I'd be visible on the roads during rain storms. Problem was I wasn't on roads, but walked along forested hedge rows in deep fog. I was forced to check and recheck the few signs I passed to make sure that I didn't become lost in the foggy soup. It was a different start that morning.
Eventually climbing out of the valley as it began to lighten it became clear what I'd left behind.
It was pretty interesting walking through the fog in the dark. This photo was taken in 2013 down in the valley and I now realize what I'd been trying to find my way through. No wonder it was so dark!
It was considerably easier going once I'd climbed out of the valley.
The sunrise that morning was memorable. Cows still resting in the fields as I walked past. I took a decent series of photos. These are just two of them.
The ground fog soon burned off and the morning light along the trail made for very pleasant walking. A much nicer day for the first time in quite a while.
In 2013 we met up with a slightly older couple from down under. She was quite nice, but he was a real Debbie-downer claiming that our arrival into Santiago would no doubt be anti-climatic. He told me the only reason he was walking was because his wife wanted to and he did so on the understanding that they would then fly on to America where he had a very expensive car waiting to drive along the old Route 66 highway. I suspect they started in Sarria as we hadn't seen them before and they didn't have that tramp-like pilgrim look or feel about them. He was more interested in his investment portfolio than anything else and talked about that with me until lunch. I felt badly for his wife.
While the four of us walked together we came across a nice flock of sheep and as usual that was endless fun! These sweet ladies bore no resemblance to the unusually large, dangerous sheep who attacked me the next year in southern Spain!
We stopped for lunch and after our soup I gave Annemarie 'that look' and we excused ourselves and headed outside into a driving rain storm. I took this from the doorway just before we launched ourselves as I explained to Annemarie why it was time to go. Fortunately she understood.
We were so excited about our upcoming arrival into Santiago that I needed to break away asap!! Afraid that his attitude would impact my outlook. Though on reflection, that couldn't have possibly happened. And it was wet.
It rained and rained as we approached our destination.
It was so ugly!
Forward to 2018 and it was nice to walk this same trail in better weather. I passed by a closed bar that seemed to sell just one type of beer? An interesting bottle storage system though.
I remember asking myself where this decent weather had been the past several weeks? Temperatures well below seasonal normals. You get what you get, but I'd been hoping for a bit warmer. Oh well, in the rearview mirror now!
We arrived at our small hostel and after hanging our gear to dry we went out in search of a meal and met up with Jen and Karen, and there was quite the group of us. We wondered where Ken was, but we wouldn't find out until the next day what his plan for arriving into Santiago had been.
Dinner was very good, complete with a nice bottle of albariño wine.
With this seafood feed I knew we were finally getting close to the ocean.
I wrote this in my blog that day;
And that's it for today. It's been raining most of our present day. Fitting I guess after our 2013 experience. Oh well, exercised in the basement and then returned to my painting project. Will it ever end!?
Buen Camino!
This was the start of the sunset last night. It really turned into something quite special, but I won't post it until the next time I write.
Meanwhile, back on the camino...
We are getting so close to Santiago we can almost hear the Cathedral bells ringing. Almost there, but not quite yet with 40 kilometres left to go.
In 2013 it was very wet with localized flooding in the Santiago area. I posted this separately in the blog the day before;
Flooding in Santiago!
As we walked in yesterday afternoon we were buffeted by very high winds and then the rains began. Not just normal rain, but torrential rains which have continued all night. Last night on the tv news they referenced some 80+ mm of rain in a 6 hour period. Not unaware of this volume where we live in Canada, we have some sense of what this looks like.
Sitting here at 6am the rain seems to have eased, but the wind is still blowing...no doubt our ponchos will be an interesting sight today! At least they behave like coats which is why we selected them. The more common type will be very difficult to keep on in high winds. There has been wide spread flooding where we are headed and in also in the city of Santiago where many businesses were damaged and homes flooded. The forecast today is for more rain, high winds and thunderstorms so should be interesting. I guess no one said this would be easy...just when we thought the next two days would be. As we've learned, the Camino gives you what you need, but not what you necessarily want!
We will see what this means for walking today as much of our route is on trails, and these could be flooded and covered in deep mud...we have seen this before, but Galicia is more set up for rain, so could well be a non-issue. We will wait until daylight to set out so that we are visible and can try to avoid the worst of the mud. Never a dull moment. Hopefully our friends who are a day or two ahead of us are safely in and ok. I just repatriated some of the news paper that I shed from my pack yesterday...have a feeling we'll perhaps need it!
In 2013 we kind of jumped between rain cells as the day developed with ponchos on and off all day. After a dry start it rained heavily with many folks soaked to the skin. You can see the condition of the trail out front a bar that morning. Not very nice.
In 2018 I walked out into the dark without a headlamp, just a very small glow light I carried so I'd be visible on the roads during rain storms. Problem was I wasn't on roads, but walked along forested hedge rows in deep fog. I was forced to check and recheck the few signs I passed to make sure that I didn't become lost in the foggy soup. It was a different start that morning.
Eventually climbing out of the valley as it began to lighten it became clear what I'd left behind.
It was pretty interesting walking through the fog in the dark. This photo was taken in 2013 down in the valley and I now realize what I'd been trying to find my way through. No wonder it was so dark!
It was considerably easier going once I'd climbed out of the valley.
The sunrise that morning was memorable. Cows still resting in the fields as I walked past. I took a decent series of photos. These are just two of them.
The ground fog soon burned off and the morning light along the trail made for very pleasant walking. A much nicer day for the first time in quite a while.
In 2013 we met up with a slightly older couple from down under. She was quite nice, but he was a real Debbie-downer claiming that our arrival into Santiago would no doubt be anti-climatic. He told me the only reason he was walking was because his wife wanted to and he did so on the understanding that they would then fly on to America where he had a very expensive car waiting to drive along the old Route 66 highway. I suspect they started in Sarria as we hadn't seen them before and they didn't have that tramp-like pilgrim look or feel about them. He was more interested in his investment portfolio than anything else and talked about that with me until lunch. I felt badly for his wife.
While the four of us walked together we came across a nice flock of sheep and as usual that was endless fun! These sweet ladies bore no resemblance to the unusually large, dangerous sheep who attacked me the next year in southern Spain!
We were so excited about our upcoming arrival into Santiago that I needed to break away asap!! Afraid that his attitude would impact my outlook. Though on reflection, that couldn't have possibly happened. And it was wet.
It rained and rained as we approached our destination.
It was so ugly!
Forward to 2018 and it was nice to walk this same trail in better weather. I passed by a closed bar that seemed to sell just one type of beer? An interesting bottle storage system though.
I remember asking myself where this decent weather had been the past several weeks? Temperatures well below seasonal normals. You get what you get, but I'd been hoping for a bit warmer. Oh well, in the rearview mirror now!
We arrived at our small hostel and after hanging our gear to dry we went out in search of a meal and met up with Jen and Karen, and there was quite the group of us. We wondered where Ken was, but we wouldn't find out until the next day what his plan for arriving into Santiago had been.
Dinner was very good, complete with a nice bottle of albariño wine.
With this seafood feed I knew we were finally getting close to the ocean.
I wrote this in my blog that day;
Just back in from dinner and you would think it was Christmas Eve! There was a large group of us in the restaurant and everyone is completely cranked up and excited for tomorrow. Lots of fun and inspiration. We again met Beth who lives very close by us at home and she is meeting her friend Terri tomorrow in Santiago...I mentioned this in an earlier post. Beth is now hobbling badly and walking very slowly, but will complete the 20kms tomorrow although at about 2 kms/hr she won't be in until late afternoon. Apparently Terri is not walking on to the coast because the storms have made the trail almost impassible in parts, so I'm not feeling as badly about not being able to walk this part. The excitement is pretty special to watch...after so many days of slugging it out everyone had a glow tonight...the wine was certainly flowing! We have made arrangements to stay in the same place in Santiago at a very old monastery on the main square across from the cathedral and we all be together tomorrow night for a celebratory dinner. Should be a very long evening! No sign of Ken tonight, but he must be close by as he has also booked in to the same hotel in Santiago, so will see him tomorrow. Lightning and thunder has begun...should be an entertaining light show tonight! Seems nicely appropriate!
The Camino Umbrella
At the point when we made the decision to walk the Camino
Was when our Camino really started...we have both said this, you know
From that time there has been a sense that this walk was meant to be
And there has been something of a protective and supportive umbrella around me
The timing proved right, and any challenges or barriers were addressed
Our preparation generally went well, and on we pressed
Even my knee injury proved a blessing in disguise
It meant I had the right brace on as I walked, what a surprise
The last few days I have felt the Camino umbrella in a more tangible way
The storms come and go, but for the most part, it's dry we stay
Often just after we check into our hotel
The skies open up with another rain cell
Today we could see that a downpour was imminent,
But there was a restaurant, and in we went
Others have been soaked to the skin, getting caught in the rain
For them, I'm sure the recent weather has been a pain
But for whatever reason we have been minimally affected
It's like there is an invisible umbrella under which we are protected
And that's it for today. It's been raining most of our present day. Fitting I guess after our 2013 experience. Oh well, exercised in the basement and then returned to my painting project. Will it ever end!?
Buen Camino!
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