2022 Camino Frances

One version of this trip had us walking the Camino dos Faros (lighthouses). This is a new path along the Atlantic. It’s not considered a pilgrimage to Santiago. It goes along the coast starting about 40 miles west of A Coruna, goes to Muxia, then down to Finisterre. The people who laid it out tried to stay as close to the coast as possible at all times, usually within a few hundred feet. Since we were in Muxia we decided to start walking this camino from Muxia going east/north. It goes right by where we are staying. We wanted to get a taste of it so we can decide if we want to walk the whole thing another year.

We walked in crazy weather. It started out partly cloudy. We stopped and talked to an older man in a cluster of houses we passed. He was even older than we are, aged 82. He was carrying an umbrella. He was wise, five minutes later we felt drops, then more drops, we got out the rain coats. Then it rained even harder so we put on the rain skirts. Then it started sleeting. We pushed on and it got better and we stopped at a bar for coffee. They didn’t have food but we saw a restaurant Casa Carmela on the map in two miles and the Google rating was 4.6/5.0 stars. We called to see if it was open and Carmela said it was, so we set out for it. The weather was nicer and we took off the rain gear.

We imagined Casa Carmela would be a bigger place and we walked past it, not recognizing it as a restaurant. Carmela saw us and came out and led us back. A small place 4-5 tables, no one else there. No menu, you just pick seafood, fish, or meat and Carmela makes it for you. We choose a seafood mixture and fish. She took our order and then went back and started cooking. As you might guess, since we are telling the story, everything was extremely good.

We went on for another mile or so to the next lighthouse. Then we called a taxi it take us home.

Overall it was a great day, actually a typical camino day for us, we walked 6.7 miles, moving speed 2.5 mph, lots of breaks. The trail and views were great. The Camino dos Faros is definitely on our list now.

Tomorrow we plan to taxi to where we stopped today, walk another 6-7 miles and taxi home. On Saturday we are going to walk west on the Faros for 6-7 miles. So our “cafetería” camino is going to end with three days on the Faros.

A few days ago we stayed at a four star hotel, fancier than our usual. We reserved and the guy said it would cost 60 euro. When we got there we started the usual checkin process. You always have to give both passports. They normally copy out the information and it takes a couple of minutes for each one. This place had some kind of scanner which automated that. We mentioned it to each other and the young woman checking us in indicting something like ”pretty cool huh”.

After they enter the passport info they print a form for each of you to sign but this place (high tech) had a screen where you did it and the first odd thing happened. A form came up and I didn’t look at it carefully and signed with the stylus in the rough way you do with digital signing. Then a second form came up and Wynette noticed it had my name on it so she signed my name. Then a third form came up with Wynette’s name on it and she signed again.

Then the woman said it would be 65 euro. We asked about it and she said that was the rate. Oh well, it is not uncommon for the rates to change a bit. So then I held up my phone and said targeta to indicate a credit card payment, actually Apple Pay, which is actually a Mastercard. She said it was not possible because of festivo. What, a four star hotel can’t take credit cards on a Saturday? So we gave her 65 euro cash. Second odd thing.

We got the digital key and were about to go up to the room and Wynette says we would like receipt since we paid in cash. The woman looked a little flustered and punched some keys on her terminal and came up with a receipt but, guess what, it really is only 60 so she gives us 5 euro back. Third odd thing.

A few hours later we had lunch at their restaurant and paid with Apple Pay with no problem. Fourth odd thing.

We have found Spanish people to be unfailingly honest and straightforward so this incident surprised and puzzled us. It seems possible, even likely that she was trying some kind of scam but I wonder exactly what it was. Maybe she was just trying to skim off the five euro but that seems unlikely to me. Why go through an elaborate process and jeopardize your job for five euro? It might be worth it if she could pocket the whole 65 euro but I don’t see how she could manage that. We had a room. Our passports were in the system, surely the hotel has some minimal accounting cross checking that would catch that. So maybe it was all some kind of misunderstanding.

It’s fun and interesting to see the differences between a travel destination and home. Charlie and I thought we’d try to make a list and discuss some of the differences we have noticed here in Spain. We’ll start with differences in rooms we stay in, whether in a hotel, hostel, Airbnb, etc. Note that we’ve also noticed some of these things in other European countries such as Italy and Portugal.

Blinds: Most rooms have excellent blinds that seal tightly around windows and almost perfectly block out light and noise. I’ve never seen blinds like these in the US but they are ubiquitous here.

Washcloths: I don’t think we’ve ever been provided a washcloth here whereas in the US, hotels always provide a washcloth. I’m not sure what people do here if they just want to wash their face or do a quick sponge bath. I guess what I’ve been doing: use the hand towel.

Lights over doors: Hotel rooms almost universally have little lights above the door used to exit the room. They often have these over the bathroom exit as well. While they are useful for finding the bathroom in the middle of the night in a strange room, I’d prefer to sleep in a fully dark room. Sort of a contradiction that they have perfect light-blocking blinds and then they insist you have a light in the room that the occupant cannot control. Charlie and I’ve been known to stand on chairs and tape things like empty cereal boxes over the lights. We are guessing that once, many years ago, someone couldn’t find their way out of a hotel room in a fire and a law was passed to prevent this from ever happening again.

Pillows and pillow cases: Spanish bed pillows are very strange. They are usually the same width as the bed and narrower than US pillows. If the bed is a double bed, the pillow is the full width of the double bed. Which means that if a couple is sleeping together in the bed, they both share the same pillow. The pillow cases are usually open at both ends.

Showers: Spanish showers are great. They always have a sprayer that you can either hang above you for a regular shower or take down and spray directly where needed. Makes it very easy to get all the soap off.

Spoons: We’ve noticed this in the Airbnbs. There are two sizes of spoons. Very very large (larger than US soup spoon size) and very very small (coffee spoon size). There are seldom spoons the size of regular spoons in the US.

Square toilets: Charlie said he remembers the first time we saw square toilet seats in Italy. He said we were amazed by them. I don’t remember that, but we have noticed now that all the toilet seats are squarish.

Beds: I love the beds here. They are usually quite firm and on a solid platform. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a box spring here. Often double beds are two single beds side by side, which means if one person moves in their sleep a lot, the other is not disturbed. (See beds in photo at top.)

Sheets: This isn’t universal here but it’s not uncommon to have a comforter instead of a top sheet. The comforter cover serves as the sheet and, of course, is washed between guests. We have seen this occasionally in the US as well. Something we really enjoy.

Floors: Here, the first (aka “ground”) floor is Floor 0. So the second floor is Floor 1, etc. So, math problem, our current Airbnb is on Floor 4. What floor is that in the US?

Reservations: We have been calling a day ahead for reservations on this trip. When it is ascertained that a room is available they always ask for my name. I use my first name “Dorothy” instead of my middle name “Wynette” because everyone seems to know the name “Dorothy”. I don’t even have to spell it. I think that is probably because of The Wizard of Oz. They seldom ask for my last name. We’ve rarely been asked to give anything else such as a phone number or credit card number. They are just going to hold the room for someone named “Dorothy.” (The Spanish people are so trusting.) Another reason I use “Dorothy” is because that is the first name on my passport and when you arrive at a place to check in, they immediately ask for each of our passports and carefully (often slowly) write down all the information from each of them. We are always happy when someone just takes a photo. And a couple of places have had a scanner that actually adds the information to their database.

Once again, here were some unrelated photos from the past two days that I liked and wanted to share.

On our walk this morning, in the tiny village of Airexe, we stopped in the bar in the above photo and ordered our first cafés con leche of the day. In most bars, when you order coffee, the cup shows the brand of coffee you are getting. I noticed the brand was Delta and remembered we’d had a cup of Delta coffee on our walk to Finesterre in 2014 and loved it and told the bartender we liked it and he pulled out the bag of coffee beans he used and it was Delta. So, this morning, I said to Charlie, I wonder if this will be as good.

It was! We were oohing and aahing. So rich, full of all kinds of flavors, but not at all harsh, very smooth. We couldn’t believe how good it was. There was no sign outside this bar advertising that they served Delta coffee, but sometimes you do see a sign. If you ever see a sign for Delta coffee, be sure to check it out. Of course, there are other factors such as how good the machine was that made the coffee and how good the barrista is. But, it’s definitely worth trying. The bartender back in 2014 told us Delta is a Portuguese brand. So, Ella and Grubb, I hope you get a chance to try some next month!

Well, it’s a drastic change. We had hoped to spend the rest of our time in Spain walking the Camino Francés and see how close we could get to Santiago at our slow pace. We were sitting at a sidewalk cafe yesterday afternoon in Portomarín drinking tea and decided it was time to reserve the next night’s lodging, hoping to find something about 6 miles down the trail. I have no idea why we were so optimistic since, as we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, we are running into lots of closed hotels, albergues, etc. Well everything with private rooms was closed within 15 miles. There were a lot of places to call and everyone answered, but they either said they will open either April 1 or Semana Santa, the week before Easter. (They are answering because they are taking reservations for after they do open.) At that point we were getting discouraged and, I hate to admit, tired of dealing with it. We went back to our room and I started looking at holiday apartments and airbnbs in Muxía. We ended up reserving one for 5 nights, starting tomorrow. This morning, we took a taxi within 5 miles of Palas de Rei and then walked into Palas de Rei so we had one last walk on the Camino Francés, had a good tapas lunch and then caught a bus to Santiago where we are now. Tomorrow morning we’ll catch a bus to Muxía.

Muxía is a destination for lots of people who walk the Camino and want to keep going after they get to Santiago. (A surprising number of people do.) We walked there on our camino from Portugal in 2016. We really liked Muxía and felt that our time there was too short. It’s a small town of about 4700 people on a little península that juts into the Atlantic, about 45 miles from Santiago. If you saw “The Way” with Emelio Estevez and Martin Sheen (about the Camino, highly recommended), it’s where Martín Sheen takes his son’s ashes at the end of the movie.

So, we’ll still be on the Camino, just a different one. Well, really two different caminos: (1) Camino de Finistère y Muxía and (2) Camino dos Faros. So there will be lots of good hiking around there. Beautiful beaches. Good seafood. Sounds like a vacation, doesn’t it?!

Yesterday we walked into Portomarín. It’s a lovely little town with an interesting history. Back in the 1960s, someone decided to dam a river and flood a valley to build a reservoir. The village of Portomarín was in the valley. They moved several historic buildings from the town out of the valley and up on the hill above where the reservoir was to be. Brick by brick. One was the church in the photo above. They kept a map of where every brick was to go and then reassembled it using the map. They did the same with a number of other buildings, perhaps homes as well. It is said that when the reservoir is low, you can see the remains of the old stone buildings that did not get moved. To get into Portomarín on the Camino, you walk over a long bridge that spans the reservoir. It’s a beautiful lake. We saw some people fishing way below.

Another insightful comment by our stalwart commenter Henry got me to thinking about ways to walk the Camino. This is a follow up to an early post about the Camino.

The usual style of Camino walking is to walk about 15+ miles a day. When everyone does about the same distance each day you keep up with a group of people and see a lot of the same people each evening at the albergue. This promotes friendships and finding walking partners. People often talk about having a “Camino family”. This works well for people who can walk 15-20 miles a day and most people can do this so it remains the Camino standard.

But some people can’t walk that far, or don’t want to, or are walking with someone who doesn’t want to, or just want to take it slower. Wynette and I are in this group. On our first Camino we tried to walk the longer distances and Wynette came home with a stress fracture.

To avoid foot problems we have been walking radically shorter days than other pilgrims, more like 5-7 miles a day. We did three 10+ miles a day early on and that (and the cold weather) lead to our week hiatus. So we have the practice and now I am starting to see the theory behind our short-day style.

If you walk three five mile days you see the same things you see in one 15 mile day. And you notice more things because you are taking your time. And you get to stay in three towns instead of one and you have time and energy to look around the towns. We like to have our big meal in the middle of the day and short walking days allows that. We also like to get private rooms so we have a place to hang out and blog and read and do a lot of the things we like to do at home, except the next day we get to walk through wonderful Spanish countryside and eat Spanish food and stop frequently for our beloved cafe con leche.

This style only works for some people. You have to have more time. It costs more because of the extra days. But mainly you are not going to be part of the social life of the Camino. But for us it works and we are very happy with it.