Camino Ingles: Following A Different Path – Part 2

29.04.2019

It is 28 km from here, Betanzos, to Mesón do Vento, mostly uphill, and it will be the warmest day yet for us on the Camino with 25º or so expected. A churreria sits across the road from the albergue and so we have filled on a pilgrims breakfast, or so we’ll call it, of coffee and churros. I look forward to this now for breakfast. The route is shaded and open in equal measure but all around, the elevated woodland provides a focus away from any thoughts of the long distance ahead. I reiterate again that the signposting is excellent.

From time to time we pass churches, again with the graves above ground level. The farming land seems to be abundantly stocked and well organised. A walker seems to doing a walking sprint and we bid a ‘buen camino’. This walker is Polish and I welcome a rare opportunity to practice the language. His name is Wojtek and he is from Kielce. He’s dashing on to get an AirBNb further on and soon he’s out of sight. The kilometres seem to roll away as, unexpectedly, we arrive at a welcome oasis called Mesón – Museo Xente no Camiño – where we see more pilgrims in addition to the ones we’ve already met. No beer just now even though it beckons like a femme fatale. Fresh orange juice will do before ascending the steepest part of the Camino which is towards the end of today’s section. There appear to be more places to stop which is just as well.

About one hour from our destination at Bruma we encounter a walker in trouble. He seems to have strained a muscle or something and Greg’s medical training might be useful now. The albergue at Bruma is full, a pity because there is a welcome looking bar and restaurant just across the road from the albergue. Greg has organised alternative accommodation for the night but it is 2km further on at Mesón do Vento. After 28km what’s another 2? well we thought it was another 2km but it turns out to be another 9km. Decision time – cancel that booking and check in at a drab looking multi-storey 1960’s style which would struggle to make two stars. To hell with the cost, in we go and beer will follow in approximately 10 minutes – no it won’t, it’ll be right now! One thing I have learned since we started is that it is waste of time anticipating what might be ahead. Correct decisions can be made on the spur of the moment, you just need the confidence to know that. Quite honestly if nothing had been available, we had our sleeping bags and there are plenty of barns that I’m sure the locals would let use use one if the need occurred. In the bar we meet Wojtek again, this time with a fellow walker, Jacek. With a mixture of Polish, German and English we have a decent conversation. The walker who had leg trouble is there – a German named Robert accompanied by a friend, Jörg. Both excellent English speakers but we do try to intrude with some German. All the nationalities we have met but nationality means nothing whatsoever to any of them. Not one of us even care about that. All we want is a good feed and more of that Estella.

30.04.2019.

Astounding to learn that there is only 40km to go as we head for Sigüero, a distance of 24km but mostly downhill. From yesterday’s sun, it’s misty today and chilly but thankfully no rain. The village of Ordes is one of the strangest out-of-the-way places I’ve ever seen and yet street art in the form of murals and sculptures is everywhere and we just have to stop here for a while to look around.

In the next village as we stop for coffee, the Swedish pilgrims are leaving a small inn. One of their number will do little more walking as she has hurt a foot but Greg is on hand again to try to help but in the end the best help is to hail a taxi to Sigüero. In Ireland we are unaccustomed to such a widespread area of woodland, which is a natural mixture of evergreens and deciduous. It’s inspirational but in more practical terms, shade from the sun which by this time has brushed the mist aside.

The outskirts of Sigüero are quite industrial, and environment we’ve not seen since Fene. Large factory units line the route into the town as we follow the waymarkers all the way to the night’s stopover Albergue Camiño Real. This has the best facilities we’ve encountered on the way. Very clean and huge quantities chilled water and breakfast ingredients all included in the price. Sigüero itself is banal, looks recent and that’s about it. Thank goodness the Estella still slips over smoothly and for dinner tonight it’s sardines wrapped in bacon. Delicious. Unexpectedly, it’s lights out at 2230 in this albergue. There’s nothing else to do in Sigüero, so we’re not missing anything.

01.05.2019

Completely forgot today is a public holiday so cafés will open a bit later today, the last day of the Camino. It’s just as well it’s only 16km we need to walk. We seem to eat up the kilometres, stopping just once for a leisurely coffee. Not far from Santiago de Compostela we pass one of the largest cemeteries I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down its name. There are mausoleums with the remains of wealthy families dating back hundreds of years.

Our last sello for our Pilgrim passport is stamped and we are just a hundred metres or so away from the famous cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It’s strange to see ordinary tourists not carrying backpacks, having kept the company of fellow pilgrims for the last five days. We are reacquainted with other ‘peregrinos’ we met on the route, the Italians, Germans, Swedes and Portuguese and it’s congratulations all round. I didn’t expect it, but it was a quite emotional moment (without tears or anything like that) as we made our way to the office to collect our certificates. Lunch and a few (or more) celebratory drinks with other pilgrims. It is one of the best afternoons I have ever spent and we are a little bit unsteady but happy!

I’ve not said much about the city. It has around 100,000 inhabitants, is very old and has a beautiful old quarter which will certainly be worth exploring. Initially, the narrow streets remind me of the old part of York.

It’s strange being in a hotel again but we deserve this and a final walking day dinner at restaurant ‘Orixe’ for Galician food.

02.05.2019

It’s strange not to be putting walking boots on today. I can find my bearings a bit more when I go to the post office to collect the parcel containing a change of clothes which I sent last week. It’s time to explore some of this charming old city – strange to say but the names of the buildings mean less to me than the fact that they have stood the test of time. Markets always fascinate me and this one is no different, everything from fresh fish to souvenirs and cafés and just round the corner is a tapas bar where the locals are gathered and so in we go. It’s called ‘Cabalo Blanco’ (White Horse) and if ever you visit Santiago De Compostela come here; I don’t think you will be disappointed.

What began as a walking tour, which I have only done once before in the Black Forest in Germany, as a student, has transformed into a pilgrimage, not in the religious way or in the ‘finding yourself’ way. I can’t quite explain at this moment but in the coming days it may become evident. There is another side to that though – reduced tolerance. People who complain for the sake of complaining or moan about their lot without doing anything about it just the usual ‘there’s nothing can we do’ – you’ve heard that over and over again. Correct? Barack Obama won the presidential election with the mantra ‘Yes we can’. Simple but effective and if it doesn’t work out, you tried and go try something else. So your mantra becomes ‘Yes I can’.

Our Camino Inglés partnership is now at an end as Gavin prepares to return home. I return on Saturday, Greg sometime next week, via Barcelona with his family who join him here in Santiago de Compostela later today. We’ve closed this particular Camino chapter. I get the feeling there will be more.

03.05.2019

Although this is such an interesting city, there is only so much walking about the same places that you can do. The cathedral is open but there is still much renovation work in progress inside. The botafumiero, which is a large incense burner, is not in use due to restoration work. I’ll visit it later and in the meantime I’ll take a look inside this church round the corner from our hotel. Like others in the city it is very old. There are five smaller altars down one side in addition to the main altar. The painful expressions on the lavishly decorated statues leave me cold as they seem synonymous with the Spanish Inquisition. I wonder do the Spanish people feel the same now?

Another visit to the colourful market, to see if there’s anything I can bring home and I see a large green space across the road around the old city walls. Over I go and spend a very pleasant two hours in the quiet. I discover that it is known as Parque de Belvis. There are few people here and it’s tranquil to sit on one of the benches and close your eyes for a few minutes. The park is overlooked by a convent and across the road the main peregrinos albergue.

On thing that appeals to me about the Spanish way is lunch. Tapas is so ideal as you sit with a bottle or glass of your choice and just pick away at the tapas. No wonder there is need for siesta.

I have saved the best bit till last with a visit inside the cathedral which dates back to the late 11^th century and was completed by the 13^th. It is an eclectic mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque. Its famous botafumiero, according to Wikipedia weighs 80kg, is 1.6 metres tall and is capable of a speed of almost 70km/h when in full swing. There is a long queue around one altar below which is a reliquary purported to contain the bones of St. James the Martyr, after whom the cathedral is named. I’ll return tomorrow morning to view it.

Later that afternoon I meet up with the two German pilgrims and we have a meal and a few glasses of wine. My last full day in Santiago de Compostela.

04.05.2019

A final look in St. James cathedral to see what it was everyone was queuing to see yesterday. The high altar looks as if it is gold plated with jewels with depictions of St. James. It is a masterpiece of artwork whether you are a believer or not. Discover it for yourselves on the website as I would fill an entire page just regurgitating what it says. The crypt below has a chamber containing a reliquary where the remains of St. James are reputed to rest. The only places of worship I have visited that would overtake this one are St. Peter’s in Rome or the monastery of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa containing the painting of the Madonna of Częstochowa. For me the structure and decoration are more important than their use. These three buildings are, foremost for me, examples of European cultural history in to be marvelled at insitu, rather than photographs in books. Shame on the extreme zealot Reformation mobs that destroyed places like this in other parts of Europe. They and their diametrically opposite Spanish Inquisition make a murderous team.

As it is still early morning, there’s time to have a coffee and in bump into Robert and Jörg once again. Years ago I would have hesitated about exchanging contacts with new acquaintances. Opportunities wasted perhaps as it’s advantageous to spread your network as far as possible.

As this trip to Spain draws to its conclusion, the taxi driver, a very charming woman, tries to engage in conversation; difficult as she knows very little English and the same for me with Spanish. But we manage somehow and it transpires that she has a daughter who is studying in Łódź in Poland through the Erasmus scheme. What a shame the young students in the UK will soon be denied that opportunity.

I came on this Camino with no thoughts of pilgrimages or any of that. It was never meant to be but somehow, in a way it has turned out the opposite. Maybe it’s a confirmation of something I have known for sometime; that we are all just the same – without exception. In understanding that, a feeling of acceptance, totally devoid of judgementality engulfs you. Adios peregrinos (see, I did pick up some Spanish)

Ends