Credencial

June 12, 2023

Day 34 – to Arzúa

  • Distance – 27.93km (757.17km total)
  • Walking time – 5 hours 55 minutes (6 hours 50 minutes including breaks)

Today was one of our longer days so we made an early (6.45am) start to try to beat the forecast heavy rain. The beautiful walk, mainly on forest paths, took us through occasional small villages, with frequent ascents and descents (some quite steep) throughout the day.

As we’re now in Galicia, the iconic hórreos are pretty much everywhere. A hórreo is a granary built in wood or stone with slits in the walls for ventilation. It is raised from the ground on pillars to prevent access by rodents.

We passed a couple of bars in the first village (San Xulián do Camino) but didn’t stop as Mandy had identified Terraza Casanova for breakfast based on Google reviews. Although we took a rain check on coffee from an urn, we enjoyed home-grown tomatoes on delicious toast with a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. We made another stop (for cake, coffee and juice) just before Melide at a café we remembered from 2017.

Today there were lots of open churches offering sellos along the way. We got ours in the Iglesia Santa María do Leboreiro, a lovely old Romanesque church in the tiny hamlet of only 49 inhabitants.

Our accommodation (La Puerta de Arzúa) was on the edge of town (going in) so we had time for a refreshing shower before walking a short distance to our late lunch.

Mandy had booked a table for 3pm (15:00) at Albergue Ultreia and, after some initial confusion when the staff couldn’t find a booking for 15 people, we were seated at the last table available. The food was excellent and we both agreed that it was the best pilgrim meal of the whole Camino.

While we were eating the forecast heavy rain arrived suddenly, but luckily it had just about stopped when we were ready to leave and we got back relatively dry.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing; Ken’s inevitable sleep being disturbed by the occasional loud clap of thunder.

Another excellent day on the Camino. We now have less than 40 kilometres until we reach Santiago on Wednesday.

June 11, 2023

Day 33 – to Palas de Rei

  • Distance – 25.62km (729.24km total)
  • Walking time – 5 hours 10 minutes (5 hours 45 minutes including breaks)

It was foggy when we woke and it took a couple of hours for the sun to eventually burn through.

After breakfast in Portomarín, today’s walk started with a steady uphill and there were noticeably lots more people. Most of the time we were walking through misty forests, passing by a few farms (ahh, that unmistakable slurry aroma of Galicia) and small villages.

After a couple of hours we stopped for Ken to have tortilla (he claimed it was his best of the Camino) then our next stop was at the Capela da Magdelena, a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene. We waited in line with many other peregrinos for a blind Templar to stamp our Credencials.

We made another stop to eat a banana and to make a short video but then made excellent progress to Palas de Rei. We even managed our fastest kilometre of the entire Camino – 9 minutes 46 seconds! Our accommodation (O Cabalho Verde) was significantly better than where we’d stayed in 2017, as was our lunch choice (a newly-opened restaurant called Pasta – the name says it all, followed by delicious ice cream at Xeou!). Palas de Rei still isn’t one of our favourite Camino towns, but we’ve definitely seen it at its best today.

Ken’s Thoughts – I wasn’t really looking forward to revisiting Palas de Rei, it was probably my least favourite memory from 2017. That said it’s amazing what good weather, strong walking, a great lunch and decent accommodation can do to soften that initial impression of this Galician town.

June 9, 2023

Day 31 – to Morgade

  • Distance – 22.65km (693.18km total)
  • Walking time – 5 hours 10 minutes (6 hours including breaks)

Despite the pessimistic weather forecast and overnight rain, it was fine when we set off to rejoin the Camino. We were treated to a reluctant sunrise and a peaceful walk through the forest, catching frequent “showers” as the leaves shed the remnants of the overnight rain.

We passed a number of closed bars/albergues (probably more COVID casualties) but were pleased to eventually find a good breakfast stop on the outskirts of Sarria. We walked through the town and up the steep steps to the historic centre. The Iglesia Santa Mariña de Sarria was open, we went inside and got our first sello for the day. The church was one of the newer (and simpler) ones on the Camino, dating back to the 18th century.

Sarria is 116km from Santiago and is a very popular starting point for the Camino Francés. The minimum walking distance to receive a certificate of completion (Compostela) is 100km, which for most people can be completed in just a week. Our theory is that the majority of the walkers from Sarria start on either a Saturday or Sunday, so we hope that by passing through here on a Friday (and arriving in Santiago on a Wednesday) we will avoid the worst of the crowds. Only time will tell, but so far, so good!

On leaving Sarria the Camino continued through beautiful forest, with a few small ascents and descents.

Unfortunately it started to rain heavily (surprise, surprise) so we dug out our ponchos and made the best of it. The rain had almost stopped when we came to a bar but Ken was nevertheless tempted by a hot drink (and a large piece of cake).

The sun was shining when we left and it was a lovely walk as we carefully picked our way through mud mixed with cow sh*t to Casa Morgade. Our room was modern and comfortable and our €12 lunch (including wine without a label!) was excellent; Mandy was happy that her favourite cuajada was back on the menu. However we also encountered the first (of probably many) tour groups in the restaurant.

It rained heavily on and off for the rest of the afternoon/evening but we relaxed knowing that tomorrow we will have a late breakfast here and then will have only 10km to reach Portomarín.

June 5, 2023

Day 27 – to Villafranca del Bierzo

  • Distance – 31.86km (604.02km total)
  • Walking time – 7 hours 10 minutes (8 hours 45 minutes including breaks)

We made another early (6.40am) start and walked to Ponferrada for breakfast. We chose a modern coffee shop (Liebana) and had delicious toast with tomato and olive oil.

The Camino took us past the impressive Knights Templar castle and through a park before heading out into the vineyards and cherry trees. We helped ourselves to a few and bought a bag from outside a house for later. We didn’t manage to eat them as there were lots of opportunities to pick our own along the way.

We visited the lovely church in Fuentes Nuevas, but this time Mandy didn’t buy empty Credencials as she did in 2017 in preparation for our Camino Portugués. This doesn’t mean we’re not planning another Camino, it just means we know we can get them before we start.

The bodega outside Camponaraya was still offering wine and tapas for €1.50 so we called in for a taste of the rosé. Ken did well as both of the included tapas were meaty!

We shared a large plate of patatas bravas in Cacabelos for lunch before the final 9km stretch to Villafranca del Bierzo. The countryside was beautiful and despite being weary at the end of a long day, we both thoroughly enjoyed the walk.

Our accommodation (Viña Femita) was friendly and modern. Juan the host was attentive and aimed to please. We had time to relax before a very good €13.50 pilgrims’ dinner and we even refused the offer of additional wine to the included bottle!

May 30, 2023

Day 22 – to León

  • Distance – 18.69km (473.18km total)
  • Walking time – 3 hours 55 minutes (4 hours 20 minutes including breaks)

When we set off at 7.10am the weather was much cooler; Ken briefly regretted wearing his shorts. After about 5km the Camino took a detour through Villamoros de Mansilla, which was a nicer alternative to the busy main road and more importantly had a bar where we had some good tortilla and coffee for breakfast.

It was an easy walk into León (much nicer than the approach into Burgos), but when we stopped at the pilgrims’ reception office Mandy couldn’t find our Credencials. Everything came out of the rucksack, but they weren’t in there! We remained philosophical and decided that if necessary we would buy new ones in León but sincerely hoped that they were still in Mansilla de las Mulas and somehow they could get here on our rest day. We arrived at the Hospederia Monástica Pax at 11.30am. Unsurprisingly our room was not ready, giving Mandy plenty of time to contact the owner of Pensión Blanca and asking for help on the Camino forum. She also dealt with emails and sent Ken out to explore and take some photos.

We were relieved to receive the good news that the Credencials were found under the bed in our room. Even better news was that the owner’s daughter said she would bring them to our hotel today (which she did while we were having lunch). We chose a nice restaurant (Ezequiel) directly on the Camino for our menu del día and had excellent food with a nice bottle of rosé; the bad news that it meant no visit to Bar Rua 11 for vermouth and tapas later.

While we were eating lunch we saw Bea again, but sadly for her and Neil, his back is still causing problems. He’s having daily treatment here in León this week, but if this is not successful we expect that they will fly home soon. We also caught up with Doris and Jean-Paul (who we’d met on our first night in Auberge Borda). They are leaving tomorrow and plan to return next year to walk from León to Santiago.

We took advantage of the good afternoon weather to walk to the impressive San Marco convent, part of which is now a Parador. Its magnificent facade dating back to the 16th century was fortunately free of the scaffolding which covered it on our last visit in 2018.

We visited the adjacent museum and admired its artwork and cloisters before returning to our hotel.

An excellent day was rounded off by attending the nuns’ end of day prayers (for a restful sleep and a peaceful death) followed by a pilgrims’ blessing. Tomorrow is our final rest day before we reach Santiago.