Day 23:  Negeira to Santa Mariña

Date	Jun 14th ( Wednesday )
Today's Distance:	14 miles / 22 km
Negeira to Santa Mariña Stats	Route Video
Total This Camino:	223 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	223 miles
Total All Caminos:	1946 miles
Lodging:	$ 45 @ Albergue Casa Pepa
Total Lodging:	$ 1050
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 163 / 279 = 442
Food:	$ 35
Total Food:	$ 500

Meaningful Moment

I'm reviewing my own sense of judgmentalism .

The albergue that we are staying at is truly in the middle of cattle country. They is a very strong odor of cows.

When I first arrived at the albergue, my thought was how am I going to put up with this.

But after some reflection, I came to see this as  elitism on my part. 

What is going out here is real work with real people who are living a real life. 

And I was basically not taking account of how other people live their lives.

Perhaps more importantly, I was applying how my brakes to how others lived there lives.

Random Thought of the Day

Don't got one.

On the Road / Notable memories

Once again just overwhelmed by how lush and green Galicia is as opposed to the desert of Aragon's Los Monegros.

 

Santa Marina is literally a five house town. Deb and I took a walk around and we were all done in 10 minutes, so we just really hanging out at the Albergue. We will go to bed relatively early at 10:00, and get up for an early start tomorrow morning

	Some beautiful trailing to start the day
	As close to a rainforest as I can imagine
	Cattle country
	Some incredible panoramas
	This cat apparently owns the restaurant where Deb and I were having lunch
	And some beautiful scenery towards the end of the hiking day
	Igrexa de Santa Mariña

Day 22: Santiago to Negeira

Date	Jun 13th ( Tuesday )
Today's Distance:	14 miles / 23 km
Santiago to Negeira Stats	Route Video
Total This Camino:	209 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	209 miles
Total All Caminos:	1932 miles
Lodging:	$ 50 @ private apartment
Total Lodging:	$ 995
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 163 / 279 = 442
Food:	$ 40
Total Food:	$ 465

Meaningful Moment

The terrain of Galicia is absolutely beautiful. It is lush and green and almost borders on a rainforest.

It is much more hilly and mountainous than Aragon. It is in such stuck contrast to the Los Monegros desert.

Random Thought of the Day 

Tuesday morning: ( see "on the road" for Tuesday afternoon lol )

Well, by messing up the train ticket date, we seem to have dodged the rain issues in Galicia. 

Current weather reports for today are that the rain has stopped. Over the next several days, the weather should be quite nice. 

Deb's quick thinking was on point: take advantage of the errant train tickets and spend an additional day in Zaragoza.

For the first time on a camino, since I'm repeating the Camino Finisterra / Muxia, I really have no desire to collect stamps, or as they are called "sellos" for my Pilgrim's credential. 

I am along for the walk this time ... With Deb.

On the Road / Notable memories

Dodged a 15 minute downpour with a lucky stop at a bar for lunch in Augapesada.

The weather radar says absolutely no issues, but on the ground it's a completely different story.

Although we avoided the first cloudburst, a bad weather forecast caught us in a1/2 hour downpour while climbing 750 feet up Alto do Mar de Ovellas.

The rivulettes of water streaming down the mountain were actually worse than the rainfall. 

Walking in the rain today

	Starting the Camino Finisterre in front of the Cathedral of Santiago.
	Only one mile out of Santiago
	Last look at the cathedral
	Near Roxos
	Where are the Camino markers?
	Dodged the first rainstorm by hanging out in a bar
	Slugging it out in the rain because we got nailed during the second downpour during a 750 foot climb.
	Eucalyptus forest
	Text
	Maceira, a pretty little village

Day 21: Zaragoza to Santiago de Campostella

 

Date	Jun 12th ( Monday )
Total This Camino:	195 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	195 miles
Total All Caminos:	1918 miles
Lodging:	$ 40 @ Aires Nunes
Total Lodging:	$ 945
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 140 train from Zaragoza to Santiago; $3 for metro to train station
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 163 / 279 = 442
Food:	$ 30
Total Food:	$ 425

Meaningful Moment

Sunset is 10:15 p.m. here. Deb and I were out walking the streets in Santiago until sunset. 

• walked around the Plaza de Obrodoiero, the main cathedral square
• visited the cathedral
• had a super dinner at a recommended local restaurant
• walked among the people out for nightlife
• got ice cream, and 
• took a little walk in Parque da Alameda

Random Thought of the Day

Uneventful travel today. Everything went pretty smoothly from Zaragoza to Santiago de Compostela.

Since I've already been to Santiago four times by my last count, it was a nice to walk around the cathedral but the magic and all have been superceded by becoming slightly routine.

On the Road / Notable memories

8:30 a.m. Rise and shine

9:30 Walk about 10 minutes to taxi stand

10:00 taxi pick up

10:15 Arrive train station

11:15 Depart Zaragoza. Iryo trains have wi-fi.

12:35 p.m. Arrive Madrid Atocha station

1:45 p.m. Arrive Madrid Chamartín train station by Metro

2:30 p.m. Depart train station for Santiago. RENFE trains do not have Wi-Fi.

5:45 p.m. Arrive Santiago; start walking to hotel

6:15 p.m. In the hotel room.

	Our lodging
	Obligatory selfie in front of the cathedral of Santiago
	Cafe Paradiso
	Sharing Galician soup, shrimp oil fried with garlic, chorizo and pimientos padrones
	Parque da Alameda. Evening walk.
	Sunset nightlife on the streets of Santiago at 10:15 p.m.

Day 20: Zaragoza

Date	Jun 11th ( Sunday )
Total This Camino:	195 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	195 miles
Total All Caminos:	1918 miles
Lodging:	$ 45 @ apartment in Zaragoza
Total Lodging:	$ 905
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 22 Zaragoza train station and back to apartment
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 30 / 269 = 284
Food:	$ 40
Total Food:	$ 395

Meaningful Moment

One more day in Zaragoza.

What can I say! Got up and headed out to the churraría for my morning churros and Cafe con leche.

Came back and packed bags. Deb and I walked for about 10 minutes down to where we were supposed to meet the taxi, who was on time .

Deb and I entered the train station and had a bite for breakfast. Headed down to the security checkpoint and cleared it.

Queued up for the check-in line and the attendant says our tickets are for tomorrow !

I turned to Deb and say "what date is today?" She says the 11th and the attendant says the ticket is for the 12th. Wtf 

Deb though saved the day. She quickly analyzed the situation, and knowing that the weather in Galicia tomorrow would be terrible, she suggested we stay in Zaragoza another day.

After some quick phone calls to rearrange our lodging for the next three or four nights, things began to look up. We lost one non-cancelable reservation, but everything else fell into line.

I know what happened. European calendars begin the week on Monday. American calendars begin the week on Sunday. When I booked the tickets, the very first entry on the left side must have been a Monday, which I assumed was a Sunday, which through the date off by 1.

I have run into this before, and even cautioned Deb once during this Camino, but clearly I got burned again.

On the positive side, we've checked out the process for getting a taxi from our apartment to the train station lol.

Our hostess at the apartment quickly agreed to allow us to stay one more night. And so Deb and I returned to the apartment. 

After a little bit of a chill out, we headed to the Francisco Goya museum for a quiet afternoon tour of paintings and then walked around town a little bit. 

With an incoming thunderstorm, we headed back to the apartment where we chilled out until it was time to go out for something to eat for dinner and one more walk around the town.

The afternoon rain storms finally hit Zaragoza so Deb and I hunkered down in the apartment. When we did finally go out, it was still raining but not too hard. 

We walked around and finally found a place where we could get some tapas.

We then walk some more and found some pastries. :-)

For me, it was a nice evening walk even though it was a little bit wet

Random Thought of the Day

How simple things can change plans

Notable memories

Museum of Francisco Goya

	Museum of Francesco de Goya
	Plaza de España
	Plaza de Santa Cruz

Day 19: Zaragosa

Date	Jun 10th ( Saturday )
Total This Camino:	195 miles
Total 2023 Caminos:	195 miles
Total All Caminos:	1918 miles
Lodging:	$ 45 @ apartment in Zaragosa
Total Lodging:	$ 858
Planes:	$ 1350
Total Planes:	$ 1350
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 0 / 30 / 247 = 262
Food:	$ 30
Total Food:	$ 385

Meaningful Moment

First rest day since we started walking. I believe it's 15 days.

Random Thought of the Day

I can see that we should have planned on spending 2 days here, rather than one. But that's okay, we'll have a free day on the end. But Zaragoza does look very interesting.

The street fashion is incredible. People are dressed really nice, not high society, but with an element of style. 

On the Road / Notable memories

8:00 a.m. At the La Fama churerría for breakfast. 

Churros con chocolate and Cafe Con leche with sugar.

I foresee a massive sugar crash in my life in about 3 hours

	Staying in a two-bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room. Sweet.
	The Zaragoza public market was designed to look like a train station.  Mix of Zaragosa alabaster and modern style.
	1800-year-old Roman wall built to defend against the Visigoths.
	St Elizabeth of Portugal Church, named for the miracle worker who turned roses into bread for the poor people.
	Plaza de San Felipe
	Calle Alfonso, looking towards the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Pilar. Our apartment was just off of this street, putting us very centrally located to the most interesting things here.
	Iglesia de San Gil Abad. Church of Baptism of Francisco Goya. Mix of baroque and mudejar style.
	Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Pilar. One of Zaragoza's two cathedrals. The cathedrals take turns being the principal cathedral of Zaragoza.
	Lunch of mussels and croquettes along the  "tube" street, so named because the buildings are so close to each other on both sides of the street, that you're feel enclosed.
	Trenza de Virgen It is a dessert that the people of Zaragoza traditionally make on the feast day of the Virgen del Pilar, on October 12: La Trenza de la Virgen or Trenza Almudévar
	Basilica of Nuestra Senora de Pilar from the Puente de Piedra stone bridge
	Zaragoza looking down the Río Ebro
	Late afternoon walk on a hot afternoon