Alive and well with photos

Hi everyone,

Well I guess I was wrong and can post photos after all! That´s great. Anyway, as explained down below in my earlier post, I am walking through the backpart of Galicia. If you are following along in a Spain map, I am now in Portomarin, just outside the city of Sarria in Galicia.

They say the camino is divided up into three parts; The physical (that would be the Pyrraneas) the mental (that would be the mesita because it is all flat, brown and very hot and the view never changes) and the spiritual (that is Galicia).

I can see why Galicia is called the spiritual part of the camino because it is so very green and lovely. The Irish girl that I´ve been walking with says that this looks just like her homeland. Green, rainy and a bit windy. But it also so beautiful!!!!

I´ve been on the camino for 12 days now. Its gone by pretty fast. I should be reaching my destination by the 19th or 20th. Check out my photos with descriptions:





A cow bathing itself in a river in Galicia, Spain. She knows what to do! Stay cool I say!!












The world cup of Spain versus Holland. I was fortunate enough to see it in a small Spanish village of Vega Vallance. The crowd just went wild as you can see. Apparently Spain has never won the world cup. It was great to be part of the celebration!!











More anticipation of the final score of the world cup. As you can see the crowd was definitely in rapt anticipation.....













Me just walking along the camino. Trying to keep cool and keep straight. This is early morning with about 10 more miles to go.











I loved meeting this little old guy. I met him in a little tiny hamlet of 35 people in the wilds of Galicia. The town´s name is Hospital de la condesa. Armando has never left his little village, he has spent his entire life in the little house where he was born. Now he walks the little hamlet and just shares stories of the history of his town and of Galicia.

I loved chatting with him. Its times like this that I am so happy that I learned how to speak Spanish!!!!! And I made sure to use the Usted form the entire time to show him proper respect.




Here we are again, Armando and I. Do you notice how Irish Armando looks? In Galicia, many Irish emigrated to this part of Spain.

Armando spoke to me about the Spanish Civil War and how he was a small boy living in this small village during this time. Galicia was one of the last bastions against the Franco dictatorship but it also fell with time.








This is a typical arburgue or pilgrim hostal. So, when travelling the camino, you can expect to sleep in a room like this with 25 other pilgrims.
The group is mixed, men and women, children alike. Lot of bustling of bags and marking out personal space.

But there´s a charm on the camino. People are kind to each other and make sure that you´re doing alright. Okay, there might be some snoring at night, that´s why you always keep your earplugs handy!





My Irish friend, Aofae (pronounced EE-FA). She´s great. We´ve walked together for the last couple of days talking about our lives and trading stories.

She´s strong and can take long strides (you can see that she´s really tall) but she´ll slow down so that we can talk and laugh the miles away on the camino. She´s a teacher like me and lives in Dublin.

Usually we get into the last town of the camino map, usually about 25 kilometers (15 miles or so). We´re usually getting in there on our knees but with lots of giggles.




And me. Okay, not looking quite like Venus de Milo like old EE-FAA up there but love the picture nonetheless. I love the conch shell in the background which symbolizes the camino and how it reflects the water.

Okay, cheerio y hasta la proxima.

Besos,
Andrea