Camino: Day 10 & 11-Tackling the BIG Hill!

Day 10 - June 29, 2023

We left Rendondela early in the morning. Gotta love those early mornings. I am able to clock a lot of distance when it’s still cool. Still finish after everyone else but it would be much longer after everyone else if I started later. 

Walking through the various towns we have been in, early in the morning, is really lovely. It’s quiet and there is a stillness you don’t see when you arrive in the afternoon. 

We would be tackling a couple of hills and I was anxious to see how my hip held up. 

We started off at a good pace and it felt like the first five miles clocked right along. That’s a good feeling at the beginning of a long day. 

The route kept us higher so we got some great views of the coves below. 

We had two big climbs to do so we made sure to take our two hour break to rest up the feet and get some food and water. I’m trying to be very diligent about taking care of my blisters. We still have a ways to go!

We got through the first hill pretty well. I didn’t try and rush and took lots of small steps, and just kept working my way up. 

I’m finding the downhills to be almost worse than the uphill. Downhill pushes my feet to the front of my shoes which aggravates the blisters on my toes.  

Josh and Wendie caught up with us and then kept right on chugging along. We weren’t too far behind them when we got to a cafe at the top of the second hill. It was so nice to have a break and get some food! 

We chatted with a guy from Arizona, a girl from South Carolina, a couple of people from New Zealand. We also waved and said “Buen Camino” to several people we had seen on the trail. It was a nice break.  

It wasn’t long before we were heading into Pontevedra. Our hotel was pretty much a straight shot into town on the Camino route. We had made such good time that we were early for the 2:00 pm checkin. 

Conveniently there was a cafe right by the hotel so we had a drink to pass the time until we could check in. We no sooner had placed our drink order when Robin and Sea showed up on their bikes! So they joined us since they couldn’t get into their room either. We had a fun time swapping tales of our adventures for the day. 

It wasn’t long before our room was ready and we were able to go up and get cleaned up and rest. 

The plan was to meet everyone for dinner. I misread the text and thought the reservation was for 6:00 pm. It was actual a reservation for 6 people at 8:00 pm. Oops. 

We had brought our dirty clothes along because we were going to wash our clothes after dinner. So we just went and took care of that before dinner. When you only have a few sets of clothes laundry becomes very important. It was nice to have an actual washer and dryer instead of washing the clothes in the sink and hanging them dry around the hotel room. 

Nobody has dryers in their homes. That’s why we see clothes lines everywhere. Makes me appreciate my walk in closet full of cloths and the ability to use a huge washer and dry everything in the dryer!!

The square where the restaurant we were going to us a huge convent next to it. We sat at on a bench in the square and people watched.  We saw kids playing futbal, making the goals using their jackets to mark out where the ball had to go. There was a large group of senior citizens in wheelchairs under some trees talking and feeding the pigeons. They’re little kids chasing the pigeons and people walking their dogs. The dogs were also chasing the pigeons.  

Church and convent of San Francisco, A Coruña, Pontevedra, Spain

Dinner was amazing.  Once again I had prawns.  Kinda messy to eat because they bring them to you whole, but it’s so worth it!   Yum!

We headed back to the hotel so that we could get organized and be ready for an early start the next morning.  Day 11 we will be taking the Spiritual Variante which deviates from the main Camino route for about three days.  They should be long, hot days so we wanted to get an early start.

Day 11 - June 30, 2023

The first day of the Spiritual Variante.  

This was the stage with the BIG hill.  

The big hill with a lot of elevation. Ugh!

I was a little nervous but my hip was doing pretty good so I was feeling like overall it would go well.  It was supposed to be hot so we definitely wanted an early start. 

We were packed up and headed out the door around 6:45 am.  It was nice and cool and the sun was just comping up.  Pontevedra looks a lot different when there are no people around.  

We clicked right along and soon we were at the point where we decide if we do the regular route or the Spiritual Variante.  We had been following quite a few pilgrims out of town.  They all turned right.  

We turned left.  😆

New sign to be looking for.

Big signboard letting us know our options.

We went up the first hill walking through small neighborhoods.  Many of the hills were steep and windy, barely enough room for a car let alone a car with two pilgrims with backpacks walking along the side.  We were always keeping our ears out for the sound of cars.  

San Juan de Poio monastery.

There is also an albergue (hostel) at this monetary.

We passed a huge monastery and decided it was time for our first break of the day.  We had gone about 5 miles and had a pretty solid pace.  The hills weren’t too overwhelming for me, it was still cool outside and my hip and feet weren’t mad yet.  

We go some drinks and a snack and were hanging out for a bit when guess who we see again?  Yep, our wonderful Camino sister, Irina!!  We thought she was going to be walking farther the day before and that we probably wouldn’t see her again.  Joe looked up the hill we had just come down and says, “You won’t believe who I see!”  

Then he stands up, throws his hands in the air and shouts, “IRINA!!!”  

She is shaking her head and laughing at her crazy Oregon friends, all while trying to walk and get her phone out to take pictures of us.  Lol. 

Irina and her new walking buddy, Hammish.

We had met her latest walking buddy the day before.  I nice young man named Hammish, who was from New Zealand.  Hammish sticks out the memory easily because he has duct tape all over his shoes.  We asked him about it the day before.  He didn’t have enough cushioning on the soles of the shoes he brought.  So he bought some flip flops, took out the strap and then used the duct tape to secure it to the bottom of his shoe.  When we first met him the duct tape was looking pretty ragged.  But he had found a store with a new roll so he was able to redo his wrapping and was good to go.  Lol. It may seem silly but it was working for him and it was on the cheap.  Win win!

Walking shoes with flip flop sole a la duct tape!

They took off after a bit with some prompting from Hammish to get Irina moving. Probably the last time we would see her while we were on the Camino trail.  

Joe and I got going not long after that.  We still hadn’t seen Josh and Wendie.  We thought they might have caught up with us by this point but not yet.  

The trail brought us all the way down to sea level before we started going up the big hill for the day.  

Nothing like making us start as low as we could go before sending us up.  

Sea level at low tide in Combarrow, Spain

It wasn’t long before we were heading up the second hill of the day.  It was much hotter by this time and I was much slower.  But I just kept plugging away at each steep part and worked really hard at not letting it feel undoable in my own head.  

The elevation on the big hill.  460 meters = 1,509 feet

I had estimated the hill would be about 4 miles of up.  So in my head I broke it down into worrying about one mile at a time.  Seems much more doable.  

We worked our way through the town and as usual, the streets were narrow and steep.  We are pretty sure we know why you don’t see many heavy Spanish people!  Whew! 

We were going through one neighborhood and this couple starts yelling at us in Spanish.  Joe was ahead of me and there was a marker for the Camino in front of him.  They were telling us to not go that way and to turn left instead.  Then I realized there was a construction sign that looked like a detour for the Camino.  Joe and the couple talked about it and we figured out that the road was blocked ahead and we needed to take the detour.  I’m so thankful they stopped us.  It would have been the pits to get up that part of the hill only to have to come back down and go back up another way.

Detour on the Camino, but it was well marked!

As we continued our climb we would stop for breaks in shady spots.  Joe was going for 10 minutes walking and 2 minutes resting.  Then we would turn around and look at the view. 

Wowzers!  It was stunning!

Josh and Wendie caught up with us a little over halfway up the hill.  It was awesome to see them and have some laughs as we all worked our way up.  

We came to a lookout spot and it was awesome to see how far up we had gotten.  We weren’t quite to the top but it was a great place to take our higher elevation picture to compare to our sea level picture. 

Not at Sea Level Anymore Picture

We made it to the top!  I did really solid.  Basically kept working my way up and not thinking about the top but just thinking about taking the next step.  Being in the moment as they say. 

Our day was not quite done.  We did have a decent to do into the town of Armenteira.  This was steep and pretty rocky in places so it took some time.  I’m not much faster at steep downhills than I am steep uphills.    But when you get out of that section you pop out onto a road and this is the view. 

Looking down into Amenteira.

We took one more little trail and it pops you out right in front of the one bar/restaurant in the little town.  Josh and Wendie were sitting at a table having a beer waiting for us.  So lots of cheering and some crying. (No, it wasn’t Josh crying, it was me if you can believe that! Lol) 

I just walked 13.73 miles, had a total of 2,310 feet of ascent throughout the entire day and all of that was after already having walked 112.2 miles in the 10 days leading up to this.  

Yep.  

I’m a badass!!! 

One of the things that I really have had to work hard on over the years is comparing myself to others or putting down my accomplishments because I didn’t do it as fast or as well as someone else.  

I think I am pretty much over that.  

Because the feeling I had as I walked down that last little slope to my husband and my friends was that I rocked my day!

And it felt really good!

So on the days that I am doubting myself I’m going to look at this picture and remind myself that I am a badass.  💜

Since we couldn’t check into the hotel for over an hour we sat and had drinks and got a snack at the restaurant.  Sangria and “chips” for the win.  (French fries!)

Then we went over to the monastery that is located in town to look around and see if we could get stamps for our Camino passport.  The spot to get the stamps was closing but we could come back later and get it done.  We wandered around the monastery a bit.  Yet another beautiful building! 

Soon it was time to check into the hotel.  We had to walk up yet another hill to get there but it was so nice to get into the nice air conditioned room and relax before dinner. 

Dinner was back to the same place we had our snack earlier.  It was close and it was basically the only show in town.  Lol. But we definitely were cleaner the second time around. 

So far, at the end of Day 11 I have walked 125.9 miles.  Still four more days to go.  I’m a little behind on sharing but hopefully I will be caught up tomorrow!  

Buen Camino!!

Camino: The Journey Never Goes as Planned

Day 5 - June 24, 2023

My leg was much better but not good enough for the longest hike of the trip with significant elevation.  So even though it was very hard I made the decision to not join the rest of the group on the hike.  I would stay in the room and rest longer and then I had a few ideas for some adventures of my own.  The plan was to eventually make my way to Caminha to meet up with everyone at the hostel. 

It was hard to see them leave without me.  We went outside and I got a group shot and said one last goodbye before they took off for the day.

Heading out for the longest hike of the trip.

But it was easier watching them walk away while I was in a good place with a plan than it had been leaving them the day before in tears after trying unsuccessfully to make it work. 

The owners of the room we stayed were fine with me staying later than I had originally planned on.  I spent a few hours just resting and reading.  Then I started working on getting my stuff organized and packed away in the backpack.  Why is it that when I only have 20 pounds of stuff it still manages to get spread out all over kingdom come?

Around 10:30 am I checked out and wandered around the neighborhood that we were in.  So many beautiful things and places to see. 

This beautiful church was just around the corner.

This fountain was just around the opposite corner.

In the town of Viana do Castelo there is an amazing building high up on a hill.  You can walk a long winding road to get up there or you can take the Funicular de Santa Luzia.  This is basically a trolley car that takes you up to the top.  It cost 3 Euros and a car came about every 15 minutes.  I found my way to the place to buy my ticket and timed it just right so was able to get on one right away.  The little cars hold about eight people sitting down and three or four standing up.  We were pretty full and it was hot.

I mean sweltering hot. 

Sweat dripping down my back hot.

Sweat dripping down the back of my knee hot.  

No air, how much longer is this going to take hot.

Fortunately it is less than 10 minutes to get to the top. It was such a relief to get fresh air.  

Oh boy was it worth it!!

This is the Santuario Dosagrado Coracao de Jesus.  Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  It is also called the Basilica de Santa Luzia and is a treasured monument in Portugal. It is an absolutely stunning building, inside and out. It was started in 1904 and completed in 1959.

View to the west and the Atlantic Ocean.

View to the south and the Rio Lima.

One of the stained glass windows from the inside.

Beautiful ceiling.

I wandered around the grounds around the basilica and just enjoyed looking at everything and all the views.  It was amazing.  Soon I took the funicular back down the hill.

View from the funicular, looking down.

At least this time I was ready for the ridiculously hot car to ride in.  

I decided I should probably start working on making my way to the next town to meet up with everyone.  I was exploring my options and thought the train would be a fun experience and very inexpensive.  Only 3 Euros to get from Viana do Castillo to Camhila and it would take me about 20 minutes.  Sounded awesome.  And bonus!  The train station was near where I got off the funicular.

I made my way to the train station and went to the ticket booth.  Unfortunately there have been strikes going on and off for months with the train workers.  There were no trains because of the strikes.  

Well darn!

Then I tried the bus because it was also inexpensive and wouldn’t take much time.  But when I tried to buy the ticket for the buses in the early afternoon they were sold out and the one I could get tickets for was late in the evening and I didn’t want to wait that long. 

I decided I had better try to get an Uber.

That took a bit.  No one was picking up the trip.  Finally someone did.  He wasn’t the most pleasant Uber driver I have ever had and he was the first one who didn’t get out and open the trunk for me to put my bag in.  He just barked at me to put my backpack in the trunk and then got impatient that I wasn’t figuring out the latch to open it.  Needless to say, I sat in the back and didn’t chat with this driver like I had with the one the day before.  

**Side note.  We have done without cellular service this whole trip and just done Wi-Fi in the evenings at the hotels.  But when I was alone I really needed to be able to access stuff like directions, bus tickets, and that sort of thing and needed that extra connection to information.   Very different feeling when you are by yourself in a different place than when there is a group of you.  Getting lost with 5 people feels different than getting lost along.  

He got me to the hostel we would be staying in, pulled the car over and said, “This is it”.  So I hopped out, went to the back and retrieved my backpack.  I had hardly had the trunk shut and he was driving off.  Obridgado!  (Thank you in Portugese).  Guess being a jerk isn’t exclusive to Americans.   Lol

It was about 1:30 and I knew that everyone wouldn’t be arriving for several hours.  So I wandered down to the city center and found a cafe to park in.  I got a stamp at a store for my Camino Passport.  I may not be walking but I’m still traveling!  Then I had some lunch and people watched, texted with a friend, located a grocery story so it would be easy to find later.  Then I had a margarita and read my book.  

It was rough.  😜

It got to be later in the afternoon so I decided to head back to the hostel.  The gentleman running the place was happy to let me hang out on the couches by the window while I waited for my hubby and friends.  When I got to the hostel the lady we met a couple of days ago name Irina was there.  Talking the ear off of the person running the hostel.  

Joe and the gang showed up maybe 20 minutes later and we got all situated in our bunks.  Yep, another bunk bed situation,  lol. I’m pretty sure I’m WAY too old for this shit.  We got all showered and situated and Joe and I went out to the common area and visited with other guests.  Since I had been alone all day I enjoyed the conversation and being social.  Irina was there talking a million miles a minute.  I talk a mile a minute and I thought that it was a lot.  Irina makes me look like I’m thinking too long before I speak. But she has a very kind spirit so it’s all good.  I met another gentleman that Joe had met on the trail named Mark.  He was from England but had lived in Seattle for awhile.  I enjoyed talking to him as well.  

Soon it was time to go to bed.  It was pretty hot in the rooms but I managed to get some sleep.  

Day 6 - June 25, 2023

I got up in the morning and felt really good.  Today was supposed to be just a little over 10 miles so it would be a good day to see how my hip was feeling and how it stood up to a long day of walking again. 

We had a quick breakfast and headed to down to the river.  First thing we had to do was cross the river.

Today we left Portugal and entered Spain.  

We bought tickets for the ferry across. 

Now when I think “ferry across” I think of a ferry boat like we have at home.  Really big, and holds people and cars.  There was one sitting right there and I thought that was what we would be riding on.  

Nope.  

We went in a little boat that could hold maybe eight people tops. 

The boat in the background was what I thought we would be riding in. 😄

It was interesting getting into a boat that is moving up and down while wearing a backpack that makes your center of balance all out of whack.  

The crossing was about 1.25 miles and didn’t take long at all.  When we were coming up to shore I couldn’t figure out where we were going to get out.  He wasn’t pulling up to a dock or anything.  He was coming along side a stone wall.  Then I saw it.  Stairs in the side of the stone wall.  Narrow stairs.  Lol. I was so glad I didn’t fall in!

The boat and the steps we disembarked from.

We got situated and decided to take a little bit longer way around the coast line so that we didn’t have to go up and over a big hill.  

I’m glad we did because it was very pretty.  

I was enjoying myself immensely because my body felt so good overall.  Some twinges from the blisters but the awesome blister bandages I have work amazing so that was totally bearable.  

We cruised right along and didn’t take a break until about mile eight in a town called A Guardia.  That town was so perfect.  Joe and I talked about how we could totally see living there.  Small, but cute and a great city bay/beach area.  

As we were leaving A Guardia there was a castle (what I called a castle) and I was taking pictures of it when I saw people coming out a doorway.  I was so excited that I might be able to go inside.  I went and checked it out and they had a small maritime museum in there and a place to get our Camino passport stamped.  Made my day!  

When we left A Guardia we all kind of split up so Joe and I were just the two of us most of the day.  After missing the last two days of hanging with my guy during the day I enjoyed having him all to myself.  There was lots to see and we chatted throughout the day.  Or just walked along in the quiet, which is awesome in a completely different way.  

As we have learned, the mileage we have and the mileage we actually do are not the same.  We were supposed to do around 10 and I got 13.5 on my watch.  It was not as hot as the days before and we had a lovely ocean breeze, quite brisk at times, that helped it not feel quite so hot.  

I cruised along doing really well overall until about mile 12.  My hip started having a niggle and I knew that if I didn’t pay attention to it I would end up right back where I had a couple of days before.  So I ended up undoing the hip strap on my backpack so that I didn’t have anything pressing on the top of that right hip.  And I slowed down.  Both of these things helped keep the niggle from getting worse so that was good.  Of course, not having the hip strap on meant the backpack pulled on my neck and made that sore. 

There is always something. 

We made it to Oia and found our bed and breakfast.  It’s a sweet building and the rooms are beautiful.  Although I don’t quite understand how two twins or one full (double) bed are the only options everywhere we go.  Joe and I can barely manage a queen size bed without bumping elbows and knees all night long.  

Robin’s wife finally made it to Spain and was waiting for Robin when she arrived.  I know Robin was missing her wifey a lot so that was a good thing.  ❤

Joe and I showered and hung out in the room until we could meet the entire crew for dinner at 8:00 pm.  The restaurant closed in the afternoon at 4:00 pm and reopened for dinner at 8:00 pm.  Way different from home for sure!

Joe and I went and watched the sun go down in a garden area that belongs to the bed and breakfast that looks out right over the ocean.  Beautiful!

Tomorrow is supposed to be just under 11 miles.  So I’m figuring on 14.  There is a pretty stout hill that will really help me know how my hip will handle elevation for the rest of the legs.  Then I will have to make some decisions on how to handle that if my hip isn’t up to it.  Joe and I had a good “what if” conversation this afternoon and we will be able to figure things out tomorrow when we see how it goes. 

But today was a really good day and my body did WAY more than I thought it would be able to do. 

So I’m smiling!  

Officially we are 76 miles in with another 103 to go.  

Unofficially the rest of the crew has done WAY more than 76.  But that’s okay.  They are badass like that. 

Looking forward to more adventures tomorrow.  

Thanks for sharing in my journey!