Grandas de Salime to Fonsagrada, June 27

This day's forecast was for slightly higher temps than yesterday.  We headed out from Grandas de Salime early.  The first 5 km were gently climbing terrain through farmland and a few small villages.  In Castro, we had to wait a bit for the cows being herded through the center of town.

 

The temp continued to climb, and we did too.  Some villages (like Penafonte below) have watering spots, and they are always a welcome break.  That's a wet bandana on Dan's head as he tries to cool off while rehydrating.

Our path continued upward.

As we moved further up toward the pass, we had some welcome breeze.

After about 14 km of climbing, we crossed the ridge at Puerto del Acebo and started down the other side.  We dropped into another valley, then climbed up again to the small town of Fonsagrada.  Today's stage was 26 km, and with the climbing and heat we were pretty bushed by the time we rolled in in late afternoon.  Found a nice place to stay, had a great meal and a bottle of wine, and now feel much better.

Fonsagrada to O Cadavo, June 28

The weather changed dramatically, and for the better, overnight.  Instead of temps in the high 80s, we were looking at a forecast for partly cloudy skies and highs in the 70s.  What a relief!  All along the Camino, we've found heat to be much more draining than long distances or steep climbs

From Fonsagrada our route continued through the rolling hills and farms of Galicia.

After about 8 km, we crested a ridge and found the remains of an old pilgrim accommodation.  This Camino Primitivo (from Oviedo to Santiago) is the original pilgrim route, and there are remains of many such "hospitales" dating from the 12th-14th centuries.

After descending from the ridge, our path continued through pleasant forests.

 

At about 12 km, we passed through the tiny village of Paradavella.  The only commercial establishment there is this little place to stop for a snack and cool drink.

  

After a sandwich, we climbed out of the valley and continued through rolling terrain with a mix of forests and small farms.

Late afternoon, and 25 km from our start, we descended into the village of O Cadavo.  The albergue was already filled (with about 22 pilgrims), but we found a great room above the bar in a little inn.

 

O Cadavo to Lugo, June 29

The next day was even cooler, with a forecast for highs in the 60s and chance of drizzle: more typical weather for this part of Spain.  That's O Cadavo in the background.

One of the attractions of walking at this time of year is the flowers.  Whether cultivated or wild, they are everywhere.

Foxglove is very common here.

As we walked into the village of Vilabade, it started to drizzle, so we stopped to put on our rain shells.

The village turned out to have a wonderful church, dating originally from the 12th century but mostly from the 15th.  Inside were some faded frescoes, and wonderful carved sculpture above the altar.  The top sculpture is a large one of Santiago,  aka Matamoros (Moor slayer).  If you look carefully, you can see him on his horse with raised sword and a couple of Moors below.

 

This is a long stage (30 km), but after a small village at 8 km (where we bought food to carry with us), there are no more villages with food or stores.  In the village of Gondar, at the halfway point, some enterprising soul decided to address the pilgrims' needs with these vending machines.  There was a good assortment of candy, cold drinks (including beer) and coffee.  Even a change machine and a bench to sit on.

We were lucky to have cool weather this day: although parts of our route were on dirt tracks through the woods, much of the time we were on pavement.  The roads were small and very little traveled, but the pavement is hard underfoot, especially on hot days.

We cruised up the last climb into the city of Lugo late in the afternoon, and found a great room in a little hostal.  Partway through today's stage we passed the 1000 km mark.  We took this picture on top of the wall which surrounds Lugo's old town.

Rest day in Lugo, June 30

After a 30 km day yesterday, we took a rest day in the city of Lugo.  It's a wonderful and historic place, dating back to Roman times and with an intact wall that runs completely around the old city.  

This is the Santiago gate, near the cathedral.

The old center of the city is mostly car-free, and a maze of small streets.

 

The cathedral is not as large as some, but has great art on the inside.

 

 Heading toward the full moon.

 

Lugo to San Roman de Retorta, July 1

When we walked out of Lugo in the morning, there was a fog hanging over the city and the River Mino which borders it.

Before long the fog burned off.  This day's stage passed through very pleasant countryside, alternating between small farms and forest lands.  Unfortunately, most of the walking was on roads (hard on the feet).

We've been taking lots of self portraits using traffic mirrors.  Here's a sample.

 

We stopped in the early afternoon (about 8 km earlier than planned) at this private albergue, just because the proprietor was so friendly when we stopped in to ask a question.  We had the rest of the afternoon to relax in the sun, walk around the village, and chat with the other pilgrims staying there.  The man rolling his bike up to the door is Dutch, and has translated several camino guides for routes in France and Spain into that language.  (And yes, he'd ridden down here from his home.)

In the evening was the final match of the European soccer championship, between Spain and Italy.  All dozen or so of the pilgrims in the albergue were watching  the TV, drinking beer, and cheering as Spain dominated the game, 4-0.  Our room was next to the common room with the TV; there was no going to bed early this night.

 

San Roman de Retorta to Melide, July 2

The next stage from San Roman to Melide started out along an old Roman road.  Most of the day was on dirt roads and paths.  Some of the forest plantations here are eucalyptus.  It's easy to tell the cultivated forests: the trees are planted in straight rows like an orchard.

 

A small village cemetery, bordered with rose bushes.

 

This was another longish day, 28 km.  At the small city of Melide the Camino Primitivo we've been following  since Oviedo ended, and joined the Camino Frances.  Even though we knew what to expect, it still came as a bit of a shock to once again see pilgrims by the dozen.  The albergue in Melide has 130 beds; we stayed in a little hotel.  This area is known for pulperias (restaurants specializing in octopus), so we started our dinner with a plate.  It was grilled in a peppery olive oil sauce, and delicious.

Melide to Arzua, July 3

As we were walking out of Melide in the morning, we passed this Romanesque church from the 12th century.  A young nun standing outside beckoned us in, and with great pride showed us the beautiful frescoes still largely intact on the walls and part of the ceiling.

 

Today's stage was again mostly off pavement.  It was cloudy and cool: perfect walking weather.

 

Shortly before reaching our destination, we passed through the small village of Ribadiso (below).  The village has less than 10 residents, but albergues to accommodate over 100 pilgrims.  The Camino Frances is truly a different world.

We stopped for the day in the small town of Arzua.  There are at least a half dozen albergues, with spaces for literally hundreds of pilgrims.  Many of them were full.  We found a room in a nice pension; the pic below is the view from our window.

 

Arzua to Pedrouzo, July 4

Before going to bed, we looked out our window to see this beautiful full moon.

Next morning we set off on our next stage.  This final part of the Camino Frances is crowded with pilgrims, some of whom are only walking a few stages to Santiago.   Making the pilgrimage by bike is increasingly popular.  Looks like fun to me.

Each day we've been running into the same fellow pilgrims with whom we shared the albergue in San Roman a few nights back.  The camino is a social place, so whenever we meet we check in on each others' progress.  These young Spanish men were quite enthusiastic with their team's win at the European soccer championship that night.  (You can't see it in this picture, because they were sitting down for a snack break, but one has been walking since then wrapped in a Spanish flag.)

Toward the end of the day we ran into Jacko, a Belgian man we met in the albergue just outside of Oviedo a couple of weeks ago.  He'd walked all the way from his home to Santiago, and is now walking back along the Camino Frances.  He'd like to walk all the way  back, but is getting some pressure from home to stop just over the Pyrenees in France (only about 780 km from here).  Jacko has quite a blog going at jackocompostela.wordpress.com.

 

Today's stage was a short one, only 18 km, and we were in Pedrouzo by lunchtime.  Because this part of the Camino Frances is so crowded, we'd reserved a room at a small pension in town.  The small parish church has this beautiful scallop shell (one of the symbols of Saint James) on the wall behind the altar.