Kappy’s Camino 2022

I  haven’t written in a few days, actually since arriving on the square on Tuesday September 13, 2022. As you know we were on time to attend the pilgrim mass at noon in the Cathedral and were fortunate to see the bofumerio swing.   Afterwards we made our way down to the pilgrim credential office, stood in line and eventually presented evidence that we had fulfilled the walk we had claimed to do, thereby receiving our Compostela with our names, in Latin, written upon it.  Following that formality we rushed to our rented apartment in the ever present and sometimes downpouring rain. The apartment was quite suitable and we settled in for 2 nights. As usual Kate, our laundress, proceeded to do 2 loads of wash. The washing machines here take hours and so far appear to destroy clothing. Furthermore there is no such thing as a dryer in these places and what with the incredible amount of moisture in the air it too forever to dry the clothing on the inside line provided. Tuesday night we h

 I don’t have a lot of photos for this post because it rained buckets pretty much our entire day. We made it however and completed our journey from Porto to Santiago Yes, those are our absolutely gorgeous jackets that we are wearing and although quite ugly they function as coveralls for both ourselves and our packs. They also double as sweat tents. Seriously, they were a godsend today. I did manage a couple of other shots today. My sis-in-law and I drenched but enjoying a cafe americano.  Here is my brother on the bridge over the river “something”. And here is the actual river “something.” Upon arrival in Santiago we first set out to attend the pilgrim mass in the cathedral. After climbing the steps to enter we were told “no backpacks.” And so began the search for where to leave them. Finally we discovered a jewelry store which, of course, had an empty vault into which we could, for the price of €2 per pack, store our belongings for the day. By the time that business was taken care of,

 I started this but was interrupted by an offer of free wine! What can I say😌. The fellow, can’t remember his name, is from Belgium and is on his 2nd Camino. He is a train driver and explained to us one of the problems in Europe with the trains. Apparently some countries’ rail systems run different gage tracks than others. Wow, who would have thought?  In any event, going back to this morning, I left in a light rain at 8:04 am and the first thing I saw was this rather notable car.   Not sure what it is but I bet Roger Pynappel does. It was raining rough for me to have to wear my poncho so I did. I know I look stupid but it works! I walked by myself pretty much all of the day through some beautiful country.  I loved this little altar set up on one of the Km markers And I visited this church which is Our Lady of something. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be sacrilegious but I just didn’t get what the guy said  I shared my lunch with this delightful kitty. She got cheese and Turkey! And wonde

 Remembering Sept 11, 21 years ago. Just a pause to remind all of us to never forget❤️😢 Today we are in Padron and it is a day with no backpack!!! Slept in until 7:20. Had breakfast at the apartment we are sharing and then off to church at the Cathedral of the Padron St James. We got our special stamp here that will allow us a special certificate. Afterwards we attended mass. I must say, even though I am a lifetime  Catholic and I attend mass regularly, I didn’t understand any of it. Even when they started saying the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish, I was struck dumb and unable to say it in English. Pretty freaky huh? After mass I checked out some of the statues. I recognized some of the names: Saint Mark - handsome but so is my brother Mark Saint Anthony - in case you forget something …. Our Lady of Fatima - the same Lady that was at Guadalupe at a different time.  Then there was this kinda strange thing located under the altar that claims to be the mooring post to which the boat that broug

 I left our charming Albergue after dealing with a coffee machine that I hadn’t seen before. After poking around for 10 minutes and finding only instant decaf coffee I realized that the pods on the table were not jelly but rather coffee for that foreign machine. The next problem was figuring out how to use the thing. After several pushes and pulls I was successful!  From then on I either watched groggy bunkmates fumble with the situation or take pity on them and become the coffee machine engineer. The other interesting thing about breakfast this morning was that EVERYTHING was located within a tiny circumference. Water, fridge, coffee machine, sink, food, all except the trash which was around the corner and out of sight. I bet that if the hospitalera had a camera she had quite a show every morning what with wandering sleepy pilgrims.  Anyways, I was on the road at 8:04 am with the early morning sun behind me. We are headed to Padron where we will spend 2 nights (giving ourselves a day

 Sorry to miss but yesterday, while the rental was awesome, the cell service and WiFi were like nada! We walked from Ponte Sarpaio (our most awesome Hotel Las Islas) to Pontevedra (only about 15 km) and ended up at our apartment which was right by the bull fighting ring. Not sure they still do that here. All I saw was an advertisement for a medieval festival. Who would know better, I ask myself.  On the way I saw some cool stuff like this house with a happy face And Sign’s of progress 😢 Oh dear, a new freeway. But some of it was still beautiful and such great hiking weather.  We arrived at our nice although WiFi-less abode and after finding the local grocery store, cooked pizza at home. BTW did you know that they sell wine in single serving juice boxes? No straw tho. Watch out kids. It’s grape juice all right😊 So after a really good night’s sleep be broke camp at 8:41 am (a record for Dave and Kate) and headed towards Caldas de Rei. BTW we have been walking along Roman Road 19. Anybo