It Was Both Easy...and Hard

As soon as we finished the Camino Ingles a couple of weeks ago, I said the same thing to TJ that I said in October of 2022 after we finished our first Camino, "I would do it again in a heartbeat".  Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the Holy Spirit, but the feeling was real.  Before we ever walked that first step 2 years ago, I told him I was afraid if we did this, I would love it and want to do it again.  I was right. I would do it again.  Not tomorrow...because that might hurt, but some day.  I understand why so many people have done this multiple times.  The Camino gets in your blood.  For me, it was both easy and hard.

Just follow the arrow!  Easy!

Walking 28 km/18 miles in one day up and down hills like this...hard.

I am not sure I can be considered a "real" pilgrim just yet...but I think I know what it feels like.  According to some, a true pilgrim carries everything on their back and stays in communal alburgues at night.   We, once again, sent our bags (at least they were just carry-ons...simplifying!) ahead and stayed in hotels in our own room with our own bathroom.  Our accommodations were more humble, and our meals were more basic, than last time.   We walked every step from the coast in Ferrol, Spain to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  All 113km plus a few extra, just for fun or possibly by mistake.  

Our journey began with one night in A Coruna, Spain where we met up with TJ' sister and her husband and acclimated, aka got over a bit of jet lag.  What a lovely town!  Totally worth the brief stop.  We walked around, saw the sights, enjoyed looking at the beach and had a very nice dinner.  Adrenaline level was high!

Looking down I wondered how much of this land we would be walking across over the next week!

Had to walk to Hercules Tower! 
Warming up for the hills ahead on the Camino!

Beautiful paella for dinner!
With razor clams...."you can eat those?!"

The next day we took the bus to Ferrol, where we would start our Camino.  A short 1-hour ride which would take us about 3 days to walk back to on our way to Santiago.  We found the Pilgrim office, got our Pilgrim Passports, took the obligatory photos at the starting waymarker and enjoyed exploring Ferrol.  

Here we are so fresh and expectant!

  We left Ferrol on April 8 at 9:15.  The sunshine of the day before was gone and to welcome us to the Camino...rain.  Very disappointing!  However, I know how to do this since it rained most days when we walked our last Camino.  With our rain jackets on and our good attitudes packed we headed out for our 6 day, 113 km pilgrimage.  I wondered what the road had in store for each of us.  I wondered if there would be any eye or heart opening moments.  I wondered if my body would hold up.  I wondered who we would meet along the Way.  I hoped the rain would stop.  Sometimes the best part is the anticipation of all the possibilities.

I guess we won't melt...out we go!

One of the many churches along the Way.

This is one of the times the Camino provided. 
Torrential rain hit just as we entered the underpass.  
We hung out here until the heavy stuff passed.

The first day was a mixed bag.  Walking in the rain, through the city, past apartment buildings, past what seemed like dozens of car dealerships, with many cranes and shipyards in our view, through a large industrial area was the hard part.  I might consider seeking refuge in a McDonalds after the pouring rain and sheltering under the freeway one of the hard parts.  We were desperate, and desperate times require desperate measures.  If there had been a cute cafe, we would have chosen it, believe me!  The only port in the storm was the golden arches.  Ouch!  Finally, a dirt path through some rural terrain made it all easier.  The exclamation point was the final few kilometers, uphill and then downhill to end our day. Finally arriving at our lovely accommodation on the water and seeing the sunshine after such a dreary 12-mile day was the easy part. 

Finally, out of the city!

And a welcome blue sky!

Former tannery and then monastery among other things and our room for the night.
The easy part!

 Day 2, Neda to Pontedeume, we woke up to sunshine!  This day was advertised as a "short" day.  Bring it on, our feet are already feeling the miles!  The walk was "easy" as far as Camino days go.  Only 9 miles!  There were a few hills, and I still haven't decided if going up or coming down is harder.  We left at 9 and arrived at our destination at noon.  Now what are we going to do?  We did have an absolutely lovely lunch, which far surpassed dinner, just saying.  We all rested, did laundry, and scrolled on our phones.  Luxurious!  TJ and I explored the town and soaked our feet in the very cold river.  Pontedeume was a charming town.  We also started seeing the same people along the Way so now we had some Camino friends.  I am pretty sure we were known among other pilgrims as "the Americans".  Most of the other pilgrims on our route were Spanish.  We met a couple of Canadians and a group of seminarians from the UK.  There is something so special about seeing the same faces along the Way knowing they are coming from and going to the same place you are.  We all have our own reasons for walking the Way but we are all connected by walking the paths that many before us have walked.  

Day 3, Pontedeume to Betanzos, was long, but not the longest. One of the prayers I had on this walk was for God to bless us in surprising ways.  This day was a blessing.  Leaving beautiful Pontedeume in the morning sunshine was fun until we were still walking uphill after about 30 minutes!  The view at the top was amazing and motivation to just keep going.  The day was classic Camino...past ruins, through small towns, under a freeway or two, alongside a golf course (I felt very "at home"), with a couple of perfectly placed snack stops and a new friend who talked us into town when we were all running out of gas.  As far as Camino days go, I could do this day again, it was just beautiful and surprising.  

Up and out of town to start the day.

The climb to the top was worth it!
Pontedeume was a lovely little place!

Morning smoke in the valley.

Our first stop of the day.  
Great pastry, coffee and clean bathroom!
Well done!

Scenes along the Way.

Just when you thought you couldn't walk another step...
at the top of a long hill there is this oasis.
Set up by some wonderful people!

Our new Camino friend who talked us into town.
The miles/kilometers go by so much faster
when making a new friend.

Cervezas!
The easy part!

Betanzos was the largest town on our route.  After our long walk we arrived at 3:00 pm and in Spain, as we had discovered, most restaurants stop serving lunch at 3 or 3:30.  We were very lucky to find a place for lunch at 3:15...closing time was 3:30!  We were so hungry and thirsty!!  They kindly served us a delicious lunch and several cold beers and maybe a bottle of wine.  As we sat outside eating and drinking, we saw several of our "Camino friends" walking along.  One woman sat with us for a while, and we enjoyed sharing information.  This casual lifestyle is something I can definitely embrace!  After lunch it was definitely time for siesta!  Later the same day, TJ and I explored the town and ended up in the main plaza, in a cafe next to a group of Spanish women who seemed to be just out for an evening of fun.  Come to find out, they too were on the Camino as we saw them many times over the next days.  Oh, to be young...this group of women were drinking and smoking every time we ran into them...and walked us into the ground.  They seemed to be having quite the time!  We also saw our seminarians again, they were going to Mass, we were going to dinner.  Several of our "Camino friends" decided to take a rest day in this town so we had to say "goodbye" to them.  After only 3 days we still felt a kinship and we will likely never see them again.  The Camino does that.

Day 4, Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma was the hard part.  By day 4 it all hurts in the morning when you wake up.  It hurts even more knowing what lies ahead...28 km and 1000 meters of elevation over the course of the day.  This day was also the one with "limited services" along the Way.  We packed snacks and made sure we had plenty of water!  We also left earlier than any of the other days, we knew we had to just put one foot in front of the other.  Again, the walk out of town was uphill.  The joy of staying on towns on rivers, the way out is always uphill.  The day was stunning, a blessing.  We enjoyed the first half of the day.  The second half was just work.  One or two funny stories...after lunch we reach a lovely path through woods with mossy banks on the sides.  Above us were farm fields.  We heard some machinery and we quickly found out that machinery was distributing "fertilizer"...manure of some sort!  The stench was oppressive!  If we could have run, we would have.  Our eyes were watering it stunk so bad.  How to ruin such a lovely trail!  

Another funny story goes along with my Ricky Gervais experience on my last Camino.  I, again, was very attentive to keeping my phone on mute.  Well....we were walking up one of the hundred hills on this day and all feeling the heat of the day.  When from out of nowhere came Paul McCartney singing Blackbird!  This time I knew it was coming from my phone.  But...I do not have this song on any of my playlists!  We had discussed Beyonce's version of this song the night before at dinner but had not listened to it.  Apparently, my phone has its own mind on the Camino!  Why that song and why now?  Still have not figured that one out yet.  

The day was long, did I already say that?  We arrived at the alburgue in Hospital de Bruma, where we were supposed to phone our accommodation to pick us up.  We saw some of our "Camino friends" here and all soaked our feet in the nice stream next to the alburgue.  Our "friends" kept telling us the alburgue was full and they sincerely seemed concerned for us for the night.  It was very nice.  We assured them we had a place to stay.  We heard the next day that people at the alburgue told them they saw "the Americans" and had to tell the alburgue was full.  Good to know they cared.

Leaving Betanzos

A good place for a snack and a drink...and a break.

Great cafe for lunch where we saw the "partying Spanish girls" smoking and drinking for lunch,
and two other Camino friends.
Beware, this place is closed on Monday! 

Don't let this serene view fool you,
it stinks to high heaven!

Progress
But seriously...could not have noted 50KM...had to be 49.995km!

Somewhere along this road Paul McCartney is singing Blackbird.

She runs this cafe/bar and is an all-purpose host!
Calls a cab for you and...

provides snacks for tired hungry pilgrims!

Cold water foot therapy!

The day ended at a lovely Casa Rural.  Hosted by the owner and his wife.  They were wonderful hosts and so proud of their renovated home.  It was a 300 year old building and they turned it into a restaurant and rural accommodation.  We enjoyed every bit of it.  The peace and quiet, the food, the drinks, the beautiful grounds and nice big rooms and bathrooms.  This night was very easy after a very hard day!

Our kind of "alburgue"!

The end will have to wait for the next post.