Day 2 walking - Portomarin to Palas de Rei

We decided to split this day into 3 parts taking the first stop at Gonzar where those who skipped breakfast could eat and those who had breakfast could indulge in some café con leche and cake! followed by a lunch stop in Eirexe and another cake stop at Portos especially for those of us who were partial to the tarta Santiago.

This worked very well as it gave every one in our small family group a chance to walk at a comfortable pace for at least a part of the day. I had found this day extremely challenging on my previous camino as there are a lot of long hills, not a lot of shade from the sun, no real problem with sun this time!. At the best of times I am a slow walker and struggle to keep going at a slower and steadier pace. My walking style apparently leaves much to be desired but it seems to work for me!!
It took a while for my sons who had not walked with me previously to catch on to my style which is stop and start stop again take a minute to catch my breath and start off again but they soon realised that if they kept going I kept catching them up again.
It was lovely though that each of my adult children and their partners spent time walking at my pace so I always had company. I really enjoyed being able to chat to each of them as we went along.

Leaving Portomarin in the morning

 

Decided we needed rain ponchos!

 

Portomarin was a very pretty town with a lovely square and a beautiful Romanesque church

 

 

 

Following the signs and markers on the way to Palas de Rei and the sun even came out briefly

day 1 walking- Sarria to Portomarin

All dressed up and ready to go outside our little hotel in Sarria

Pausing already on the first hill in Sarria!

We awoke next morning to more rain, typical of what we would call a "soft day" here in Ireland! We decided we would start off together with a view to stopping at Barbadelo for some coffee (for those of us not quite ready for breakfast at 8) and then take a lunch break at Morgade,

leaving Sarria

 just a little short of the half way mark to Portomarin. The walk to Portomarin is very scenic and the sun even came out for a while. The main advantage of the cooler temperatures was that it made walking a little easier however once you stopped and sat down you became really cold very quickly especially if you removed the backpack!
I had memories from my previous camino in hot weather in 2012 of being absolutely exhausted on arriving at the bridge in Portomarin only to be confronted by the famous "steps" into the town.
The long downhill stretch into Portomarin challenges the strongest of knees but this time I had enough energy to climb the steps, even though I was the last of our family group to arrive there.
We all checked in to our delightful accommodation where I decided to check my phone and lo and behold there was a message from my friend who had walked ahead earlier in the day to let me know she had left a small package for me at the foot of the steps in a blue bag.
On our last camino she had done me a great kindness by bringing me water to the steps when I was severely  dehydrated. This time I was able to return to the foot of the steps, collect the package with the water and her lovely message and then walk back up again. I am very fortunate to have such a good friend.

arriving at the Portomarin bridge with second son

the "steps"

the steps first time around with my youngest son

the steps, back for a second go with my oldest son, after collecting my "parcel" left for me by my friend!

Our arrival in Spain

The Gatwick Plane arrived in Santiago just after mid-day and my son, daughter and their  partners decided that as it was so very wet they would head into the city by bus to eat while awaiting the arrival of the Dublin plane so we could all travel to Sarria together later in the day.

By the time we arrived from Dublin it was still pouring rain and there was no sign of them outside the airport door where we had hoped to catch the 1610 bus to Lugo. Our friend who had also travelled from  Dublin was planning to walk a bit immediately after arrival with another friend (as she had less time to complete her journey) So we took their bags and they set off in lashing rain to clock up some miles and said we would see them later on.

Meanwhile several frantic phonecalls and text messages later, the four arrived back out

waiting at Dublin with my friend clearly hoping for sunny weather in Spain!!

 

My family-3 sons 1 daughter and 2 partners kitted out for the rain

 from the city just in time for us all to catch the Lugo bus from the airport. We were all exhausted, as we  had  virtually no sleep the previous night because of our travel plan and some of us had to stand for a large part of the bus journey. The connection to Sarria from Lugo worked ok but by the time we finally arrived in Sarria with our luggage, the extra bags  and the rain

 

 

we felt like we had already competed a marathon and we hadn't even walked a step yet!!

We arrived safely at our accommodation and after a brief rest went out to eat and await the later arrival of our other friend. The pizzas were the very best we have ever eaten and we relaxed and planned for our next morning departure whilst we spent time along the river side in Sarria.

final training!

The final training never quite happened as planned but consisted , for me and one of my sons, of one ten mile walk in each of the 3 weeks before our departure with a couple of 2/3 milers now and again-all on fairly flat terrain. I knew from the last time I walked in 2012 that the hills would be problematic but I was reasonably OK on the endurance part!

The weather reverted to the usual Atlantic westerly type with intermittent rain and  coolish temperatures but was, with hindsight, good preparation for the similarly variable Galician tiempo.

Our final few days consisted of a trip to the northwest of England for a family gathering with loads of hot sunshine and very little in the way of training. Some of our family group had had long practice walks from Liverpool to Southport (about 18 miles) and some us had none at all. So it was we set off to Spain, half of us from Gatwick and half of us from Dublin on the morning of the 20th May to begin our "Camino" starting from Sarria the following day.

My daughter and I at the family gathering in England before going our separate ways to meet up again in Spain

 

The Foyle bridge-Derry viewed from St. Columb's park

Enjoying the Scandinavian "high"

The High pressure weather system from Scandinavia has been firmly in place over the northern and western parts of Britain and Ireland for about 10 days now. It arrives every year, some times as early as March and sometimes well in to May. This "high" brings fine, dry weather with glorious blue skies and sunshine and if in the later months of April and May pretty good temperatures as well! Later on in the summer when the "highs" push up from Europe they seldom extend as far as the northern and westerly reaches and hence our temperatures never quite reach the dizzy heights attained in the sunny south east of Britain.

Gortnalughoge beach on the Rosguill peninsula

Granite cross and Mass Rock-Rosguill

It has been fabulous walking weather so once again I have been out training and enjoying the Wild Atlantic Way over Easter weekend trying to build up my endurance by adding some hills-small ones! and getting comfortable with the 5-7 mile walks. Meanwhile across the Irish sea my adult children based in England have also been out walking the paths and byways of Cheshire, although they do have the advantage of age and the fitness of youth on their sides.

Overlooking Tra na Rossan beach from the Atlantic Drive



Wild Atlantic Way signs

It would be lovely at some stage to walk to much more than from Sarria but many reasons make it impossible at this time. It was wonderful, last time, meeting up with pilgrims who were able to take more time and had the physical ability to walk greater distances. I have however been fortunate to visit the beautiful city of Leon and have driven some of the north coast region of Galicia and Asturias..... so perhaps some day?

For the next few days I will be back to some city walking and enjoying the Pan Celtic festival which is based in Derry for the next 6 days





Unusual bell tower on my way home beside the Church at Fanavolty in the Fanad peninsula

 

walking on the Wild Atlantic Way

The Wild Atlantic Way is a signposted long distance scenic route along the Atlantic coast of Ireland. The coastal scenery is absolutely stunning and the Northwest of Ireland has been bathed in sunshine for the past few days so I have been out walking around the Donegal coast in an attempt to make me a little fitter before I walk the Sarria to Santiago section of the Camino in May.

Rosapenna beach stretches for almost 3 miles around Sheephaven bay and is very picturesque but not too demanding to walk as it is flat, that said, the wind last sunday week did succeed in making my walk quite hard going.

Friday was a different story, blue skies, warm breezes and tranquillity as I first walked the shores of Mulroy bay then uphill through the small hamlet of Dundoan and continued across to the westward facing Atlantic beach of Tra na Rossan before my final uphill climb through the townland of Gortnaluhoge.

Horn Head viewed from Rosapenna beach

Muckish mountain rising behind the Ards peninsula

 

 

Along the shore of Mulroy Bay

 

Returning to the Camino!

I knew as soon as we returned from our camino in 2012 that I would go again sometime. My daughter and my friend who walked with me talked vaguely about us returning "in a few years" perhaps when my granddaughter would be old enough to join us on our next journey. The camino experience has never been far from my mind since the last time so I was absolutely thrilled when my two older sons announced that they would like to go with me in May 2014 and the printer ink was barely dry on the flight booking when my daughter, who had accompanied me the last time and my youngest son who joined us in Santiago in 2012 announced that they and their partners would like to go! and finally my friend announced that she too had itchy feet and would love to join us again!

Austins shop  in Derry-oldest department store in the world? great for coffee and snacks when out walking and great views of the city

 

So the 8 of us with be starting from Sarria in May and training has commenced.  In recent weeks I have been enjoying walks around my home city and at the coast in Donegal doing 5-7 miles at a time along the scenic river banks, through the centre of the city and along the beaches. Yesterday my son, my granddaughter and myself did 12 miles, mostly flat terrain, so we are feeling quite pleased with our efforts.
I do however keep reminding myself that in terms of the Camino Frances, the stretch from Sarria to Santiago is less physically demanding than some of the earlier stages but for me, as a 60 something with some health issues, I found it much more physically challenging than I had expected and indeed the second day from Portomarin to Palas de Rei pushed me to my very limits in 2012.
That said it was an amazing experience and I am very happy to be going again and to have all my grown up children going with me, I am very privileged.