Postcards from the Lot

Monday, June 16, 2014

Snakes And Ladders (Day Six on the Camino)

#CaminodeSantiagodeCompostela#Bandeira#Dornelas#CaminoMozarabe

#ViadelaPlata

This is Monday's walk...

Our Walk today started in Silleda ... "Allez" ... On to the next place!

The directions / signs took us from the paved highways to the "Real Caminos"

It was like a game of "snakes and ladders" ... Up and down, zig-zagging and criss-crossing between the rural "Caminos" and the paved roads and highways.

It was not an exciting walk today ... not a lot of sites well maybe I should correct myself because we did meet up with our Señors in Bandeira before we headed to our next destination.

It is amazing at the Spanish cafés when you order a drink ... "If you are hungry when you leave it is your own fault"...

It is on the house ...

Toxa River

We criss-crossed the highways ...once through a tunnel under the N525 which was decorated with crosses and the emblematic clam shells ...

And then we had to walk on the overpass over the "Auto-Pista" ... I had to once again face my fears about heights.

You never walk alone ... Madame M. and her new friend.

We walked further than planned and we are actually ahead of our planned itinerary for our walking days...

We finally found Dornelas and the nearest intersection on the highway to meet up with the "Señors".

We headed back to Merza with a detour at a Monastery ... this one is under restoration and the inside is totally empty.

We dined at Casa Goris this evening after meeting some Flemish pilgrims who had been biking from Seville to Santiago. It is a small world ... These lovely people do not live far from Madame M. and Monsieur Guy's hometown in Belgium.

Three more days ...

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Taxi, Taxi ! Day Five on the Camino

#Lalin#Silleda#ViadaPrata#Santiago#the

Longest day

Lalin to Silleda ... It was a slow start this morning as our "Casa" is a further distance from the Camino route where we finished yesterday.

Our departure from Lalin was uphill and for the first three kilometers or so we walked along the highway (N525) ...then we were directed onto the "real" Caminos.

Unfortunately my blisters did not heal overnight and my feet were in severe pain today ... probably some more penance!

So to take my mind off my feet, I concentrated on the beautiful surroundings ...

The terrain again was varied ... the stony medieval paths were not friendly to our feet and legs.

A couple times we had to catch ourselves so as to avoid a sprained ankle or worse breaking some bones. Knocking on wood as I type this!!!

Madame M. said the landscape has changed from the earlier days ... Here she is walking on an ancient Roman road.

At this point we wanted to go left and enjoy a spa day!

Can you believe this...in the middle of nowhere on the Camino we saw these signs to call for a Taxi...

How do they know where you are?

I wanted to hail a taxi today ... "Taxi, taxi!" ... proudly I can say we ventured on and arrived in Silleda!

Today was our longest day of the walk so far ... over 17 kilometers ...

Our passports are filling up...

Eventhough Monsieur Guy isn't walking the Camino he has his own passport sheet that he gets stamped at the local cafés / restaurants where the two Señors drop us off and meet us.

At this stage of the walk Msr. Guy has more stamps than us ... the dedicated "peregrinos"!