Greg's Wanderings

Author: Greg H

  • Day 26 – Santiago de Compostela

    Day 26 – Santiago de Compostela

    Oct 6

    Skipping the final few stages by taking the train, I arrived in Santiago Sunday afternoon in ahead of my Porto Camino family, who will start to arrive this afternoon (Monday). 

    My Lisbon family WhatsApp group now has 41 members and most arrived a few days ago, but there are some stragglers and a few still in town.  

    I had a (mostly) wonderful sleep last night and despite not using earplugs or my eye mask, I slept until 7:30 – still an hour before sunrise. 

    My leg continues to bother me, but I can already begin to feel the benefits of not hiking long distance with a backpack on. 

    I ventured out around 10 am for a few errands: get appointments at a nearby tattoo parlor for Dave, Tory, Ana and me; find an ATM; find a barber for a shave and get some breakfast. 

    The tattoo parlor that Dave & Tory used in 2023 was two blocks from my hotel and I booked four appointments for tomorrow morning.  

    I found a barber shop and got an appointment for later today. It will feel wonderful to get this scruffy beard off my face. 

    I stopped into a bar for breakfast and ordered a tosta.  I pointed my chubby little finger at the item I wanted on the menu – essentially French toast on brioche.   When it arrived, I got instead the next item on the menu: brioche with cream cheese, a fried egg and salmon on top.  The Camino provides you with what you need and it was reminding me that since I’m not walking 30,000+ steps, I need to start cutting back on the sweets. 

    After resting my leg for a bit the hotel, I ventured out to find some lunch when I heard my name called out. 

    It was Jen & Barney!  They were having their last meal together before Barney flew to the UK to visit his mother.  Jen was leaving the next morning for Muxia where she was scattering the ashes of her mother and brother.  Jen is going to try to put together a dinner tonight for the Lisbon crew in town.  

    After leaving Jen & Barney so they could say their goodbyes, I wandered towards the cathedral to see the scene there.  Having not walked into Santiago, I had a bit of imposter syndrome, but then I realized I walked further about 90% of the folks there and I felt a little better. 

    As I write this, I’m sitting in a bar across the plaza from the barber shop.  I have 40 minutes to kill before my appointment and am playing another game of menu roulette.  We’ll see what “Bandidos bravos” turns out to be.   The place has a great vibe and I’m rocking out to the 70s music playing – currently China Grove by the Doobie Brothers.  And it turns out to be chicken strips with a really hot dipping sauce. 

    After lunch, I wander across the street for a hot towel shave with a straight razor.  After nearly a month of feeling the scruff on my face, it feels heavenly. 

    While sitting in the chair, I get messages from Ana, Tory & Dave that they are close to arriving.  

    I head towards the Camino trail heading towards the cathedral with the intent to intercept them, when I hear my name called out again!  It’s Simon from Australia with Mie from Belgium!   I join them for a beer and get caught up on all the Lisbon crew that had gone in different directions after Porto. 

    While chatting with them, I get a message from Ana that she has arrived and then another from Dave & Tory.  I find Dave & Tory on the cathedral plaza, along with their friends Haley & Frank who started in Tui.  The five of us go to the bar where Ana is waiting and have a celebratory beer. 

    Ana, who is a very devout Catholic is feeling great, because the day before she ran into a group from Washington and the priest leading the group offered to hear her confession.  Going into Santiago immediately after her confession added special meaning for her. 

    To cap off the night a met up with three other Lisbon veterans Mie, Simon & Jen. We made up for the mediocre service & food with lots and lots of wine. 

    Santiago is full of these narrow streets filled with all kinds of shops, restaurants & hotels.
    Shell markings are embedded in the sidewalks
    The bell tower on the side of the cathedral
    The plaza in front of the cathedral is massive. Most of the recently arrived pilgrims are sitting in the shade
    Last selfie before the scruff goes away
    All cleaned up
    Later in the day when the streets come alive
    Ana proudly showing her Compostela
    Jen, Mie, Ana (joined us later), Simon & me

  • Day 25 – train ride to Santiago

    Day 25 – train ride to Santiago

    October 5 – Happy Birthday Dad!

    I wish that I had visited this hostel in nicer weather.  There was a large yard with lots of outdoor seating.  But with it raining all day yesterday, we had to choose between the public room – a small kitchen and eating area for 12 – or hang out in our rooms.  

    I met my first Chinese person of the trek at dinner last night.  My bunkmates were two women, one from Germany and the other from South Korea.  

    With my leg bothering me, i spent most of my 18 hours at the hostel lying in my bunk.  Thank goodness for decent wifi and air pods.  

    It’s now 8 am – still 36 minutes to sunrise – and most of the 30+ people here have left or are about to.   I’ll be summoning my Uber ride to the train station shortly, but see no reason to get in the way of those heading on, as my train doesn’t depart until early afternoon. 

    My Tesla-powered Uber driver dropped me at the train station a little after 8:30.  There was not a soul there.  I could see on the reader board that there was an earlier train leaving at 9:36.  Unfortunately even though my ticket was exchangeable, the online app kept timing out as it went to confirm the change.  So faced with sitting in a vacant station on a hard metal bench for four hours, I decided to walk a few blocks into town. 

    I found a quiet neighborhood bar and ordered a latte and tosta.  

    I wandered through town briefly, but between a throbbing leg and most of the city not open on a Sunday morning, I decided to wait the final two hours at the station. 

    The train arrived promptly at 12:43.  A half dozen of us boarded and we were off again. Two stations up the line everyone on board needed to get off and onto a different train.  I had received an email about this last night and the helpful woman seated next to me showed me where the replacement train was.  At 2:06, exactly on time, the train pulled into the station in Santiago and my Camino reached a bittersweet end.

    I enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cafe and then checked into my hotel room.  Given that I’ll be here for four nights while my leg rests, I was delighted by the size and amenities (based on my last month of accommodations).  

    I’m currently sitting in a laundromat washing nearly every article of cloths I brought along.  Good thing the weather has been warm so my long pants and shirt are clean and I had some items to wear.

    My hotel is listed as being “downtown” but is located on a quiet side street. It being Sunday, many shops were closed. I knew I was in a big city, but my location has a peaceful ambiance to it – perfect for my recuperation.

    When dinner time came, I ventured out again. I had seen a Donner Kabob place walking in from the train station and had been thinking of a Donner (like a Gyro) ever since. The nearest shop was a few hundred meters away, so I ventured towards the core city.

    As I rounded a corner two blocks from my hotel, I suddenly encountered a sea of people packed into dozens of sidewalk restaurants. I found my donner shop and went inside where a soccer game was playing on the big screen. The donner and the local Galicia Estella beer hit the spot.

    Time for a good night’s rest.

    Shoes not allowed in rooms at alberges
    View of the yard we were not able to enjoy due to the rain yesterday. Cover photo is the other side of the driveway
    Stream running through Redondela.
    Waiting for the on time arrival at the platform
    After getting off the train in Santiago
    My home for the next four nights.
  • Thanks for coming along

    Thanks for coming along

    One of the benefits of the platform I’m using is that I get reports on the number of page views and visitors to my website. It also shows by country where visitors are.

    While the vast number of readers are friends & family, it’s fun to see that I’ve had visitors from xx different countries and the site has over 4,300 page views.

    I couldn’t get the whole list on one page. Also viewers from Belgium, Ukraine, Poland, Bolivia, Columbia, Mexico and South Korea.

    Thanks to all who have left comments, especially the words of encouragement as I deal with my injured leg.

  • Day 24 – Mos to Redondela

    Day 24 – Mos to Redondela

    Oct 4

    The municipal Alberge was an interesting experience.  Both my roommate and I were in bed by 9 pm, but conversations echoed from the nearby public room until quiet time at 10:30.  I woke up a little after 7 and tiptoed to the bathroom so as not to awake Michangelo.  When I returned to room, to my surprise he was gone.  In fact, the entire Alberge was almost empty.  My eye mask and earplugs are very effective! Turns out, checkout time was 8 am – even though the sun wouldn’t rise for another 30 minutes. 

    Whereas yesterday I was able to do 20k before the pain started, today it was less than 5.   My leg is swollen and red and I have decided my plan to bus to Santiago and then walk back to Padron is foolish.  My walking ends today.  

    I reached my hostel on the northern end of Redondela about an hour and a half before it opened.  I decided to find a nearby place for lunch, only to discover there was nothing nearby.   Rather than backtrack, I continued forward and went 2 additional kilometers before finding an open bar.  

    I had hoped to catch up with my friend Meelis, who has been on the Litoral Route along the coast.  He sent me a marker of where he suggested we meet, but it looked to me to be well past where I had stopped for the day.  I told him “sorry” but would try to catch up again in Santiago. 

    As I was walking back to my hostel after my lunch, who did I bump into, but Meelis!   We had a nice chat under an oak tree as the rain came down  and hopefully we’ll see each other in Santiago as well. 

    The first truly rainy day. First time I had to wear my raincoat
    Old Roman milestone
    Morning bread delivery
    I stopped at a bar that had not yet opened, but the bakery had made their delivery
    Breakfast empanada
    My swollen and red left leg.