Charlie – Page 4 – 2022 Camino Frances

The Largest Rhododendron I’ve Ever Seen

We caught it in the height of the bloom, every flower was perfect. Curiously the grass under it was all artificial. Grass is so easy to grow here in Galicia, no watering required. But I guess you don’t have to mow it, but they might have to vacuum those rhodendron petals.

At the Laundromat

Unfortunately someone put the clock in the dryer at a high heat and shrink the hands. We can sympathize, we melted several liner socks the same way. How were we to know they meant 80 degrees Celsius?

Day of Contrasts

We walked 6.1 miles today, all downhill. As you probably know walking downhill is harder on your feet and knees so it was a pretty hard even though it was only six miles. We were both happy to get to Triacastela and get off our feet.

Whenever we woke up last night we could hear the wind roaring. The hotel guy said it was one of the most windy nights of the year. When we started out from Fonfria it was still windy and cold, below 40, but sunny. We both had our down coats and rain coats (which are great wind breakers) on. As we got lower and off the ridge the wind was not as bad and eventually it died down completely. We kept taking off layers and when we got to Triacastela we had only our shirts and they were too hot. It was almost 60.

We are staying at Complexo Xacobeo Albergue and Pension (aka Jacob’s Place) and are very happy with it.

Restaurant that’s part of our albergue complex. We had a good menu del día here this afternoon.

First Day in Galicia

Each region handles the Camino differently. This is an example of the concrete posts that Galicia uses. You see one at any place where there is some question about which way to go and at least every half mile.

If you can’t read to metal parts below there is more detail.

155 kilometers and 411 meter (~yards) to Santiago

The distance is down to a yard. I have no reason to doubt it since civilian GPS has that accuracy but I wonder about the logistics of installing them. You would need to take the reading right by the post and it must go a foot or more down into the soil. The metal plaque is securely installed in the cement. This is necessary because people steal them for souvenirs. We walked the Portuguese Camino in 2017 and all the distance plaques in the last 100 km had been stolen. They were not as securely attached as these are, they must have changed their policy to prevent thefts.

I also wonder about the need for one yard accuracy to a city of 100,000 people that probably covers 3-4 square miles but what the heck, why not?

First Hórreo We’ve Seen on This Trip

Galicia is also known for its hórreos. We have talked about these in other camino blogs. They are used for drying crops, such as corn, in rainy Galicia. They are build on stilts with little protrusions at the top of each leg to prevent mice, etc. from getting in and eating the corn. We love them and enjoy seeing them. Some are square like this one, some are rectangular, it depends on the local customs. It is unusual for one to have a thatched roof like this one. This one might have been decorative from the beginning and never really used.