A first full "Camino de Santiago"

 

On September 17th Judy, Irma, and Beech (aka Chris) started to walk a Camino de Santiago from  The Church of Saint Mary of the Conception in O Porino, Spain to The Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Santiago de Compostella, Spain.   A full, traditional, but short, Camino of 104 km (~66 miles) walked by foot.   

The Church of Saint Mary in O Porino

(see full map at the bottom of this blog)

Walking Day 1 - O Porino to Mos

Because we got to O Porino late in the day it was a relatively short but pleasant introductory hike of about 4.3 miles from O Porino to Mos.  As we left town the trail quickly got prettier and quieter.  For this initial part we saw relatively few people. 

Irma and Judy, getting started

Walking Day 2 - Mos to Arcade

Still lovely.  The stone walls are everywhere.  Everything is made from stone the houses, the walls, stone pilars hold up the grape vines. Galicia is a land of rugged mountains that isolated it and caused it to develope differently from the rest of Spain.  It was never conquered by the Moors, and some would say not by the Spaniards either.  Stone is everywhere, it is to there what wood or steel are to most other places.

Walking Day 3 - Arcade to O San Amaro (Barro)

This trail is pretty well marked.   I'd say it would be hard to get lost (but we did).   These markers are pretty regularly seen and in towns and vilages there are a constant stream of these "Golden Arrows" that point the way.   No big surprise these stone markers each are enscribed by the exact distance remaining.   As I said, everything is made of stone.

Walking Day 4 - Barro to Caldas de Reis

Coming out of the woods to find Caldas is a pleasant surprise. Nice hotels and restaurants! 

We had pushed pretty hard up until here and needed a break so we stayed 3 days.

Good food and nice wine!

Walking Day 5 - Caldas se Reis to Valga

At Caldas the trail is joined by another branch of it (the Littoral Way, we started on the Central Portugese Way) so the number of people starts to increase.  Still quite rural and pretty though.

Walking day Day 6 - Valga to Armeniero 

In Valga another pretty hotel and nice restaurant.  We stayed here another 3 nights while we walked the area and rested up.   

Another trail (The Spiritual way) merges here so the number of people on the trail again increased

Walking day Day 7 - Armeniero to Santiago de Compostela (THE END is near!)

Needless to say we were thrilled when we saw the first marker under 5 km to the Cathedral.  

Almost there . . .

After a little of cleanup.  At our goal in the Praza do Obradiorios, in front of 

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. 

On this day we were three of hundreds of happy pilgrims who had completed the journey. 

Judy's Compostela (above) is the official document of completion.   

In 2025 over 530,000 pilgrimes received this document of completion.    

It was a wonderful walk, and a great experience.   Hard at times but worth it in the end.

We walked for 7 days and covered 104+ km (~66 miles).  

(km distances here are direct between town distances; the Camino meanders.)

A short Camino Barcelona to Montserrat

 A short Camino (Barcelona to Montserrat)

Starting the day after St. Jordi day (2022) from the apartment in Barcelona.  We start by walking to the Cathedral Familia Sagrada to get our passports stamped, and walking home.

Day 1 - Walking from home, we (Francis, Wills, and me) climbed the hill behind Barcelona in a four day trek to MontSerrat.  This is the start of the Camino de Santiago from BCN.  (Looking forward and back)

Day 1 is from BCN to Sant Cugat, over the first set of the coastal mountains.

On Day 2 is from Sant Cugat to Terrassa we first see our destination in the distance (under the clouds, in the distance)

The 12th century Castle of Vallparadis was transformed in the 14th Century to a Carthusian Monastery (in Terrassa). Seen as we explored the city after walking all day. 

Day 3 goes from Terrassa to Collbato - The trails are very pleasant, and pretty.  The weather was perfect (a little warm in the afternoon).  Nice for drinking wine at towns along the trail. 

 Montserrat is now more visible.  Because the monastery at Montserrat is built into the cliff face we have to go beyond it and will have to approach it from the back of the mountain.  

Public Ovens 

The town of Collbato is quiet and quite pretty.

We are now on the reverse side of the mountain tomorrow we scale the rock
y face and then on the other side descend about halfway to the monastery.

On Day 4 we climb to the historical pilgrim approach to the monastery

From the top we now have to climb down 

About 2/3rds of the way down we see our destination

Our destination is remarkable and rewarding.   There is also a tram that can bring people up the cliff face, but it is not for pilgrims . . .

Our passports are stamped starting at the Cathedral Familia Sagrada and ending at the Monastery at Montserrat.

Baiona

 This ancient town, from which many expeditions to the Americas were launched,  we stayed in and enjoyed.  The town is interesting and fully modernized yet very old, the Parador of Baiona is situated in an amazing fortress that sits on a prominence above the town and the entrance to the port.  The gardens surrounding the parador are extensive and beautiful.  The parador overlooks at the boats in the harbor protectively on one side and faces the wild Atlantic with its trade routes and foreign invaders, on the other.

The fine folks of Barcelona (and La Merce)

The city of Barcelona celebrates an Annual Festival called La Merce.  

This year celebrated its 150th official celebration. The festival is centered on the Feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, which in Catalan is "La Mare de Déu de la Mercè", and has done so since 1871 shortly after the Pope recognized the Virgin as the "Patroness of Barcelona".  (It should be noted that the city had bestowed this title on her, specifically on a revered statue in a church in the Gotica district, 200 years before.) The feast itself has been held on September 24th since the middle ages, possible as far back as 1218 with the founding of the Order of Mercy by two Saints, Saint Peter Nolasc and Saint Ramon de Penyafort, and King James the Conqueror. 

Being here in Barcelona this year, I had pointed out to a few of my Barcelonian friends that Judy's birthday is also September 24, and, to a person, they all agreed that the festival was also to celebrate Judy's birthday, and that the fireworks display that was a major part of the activities was also to honor Judy on her Birthday.  I have letters from them that confirm this. (I think these are among the most generous people I have ever met . . . )

Therefore, a small shot of "Judy's" fireworks can be seen below.

The full 28 minute movie is available here:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN0hdcIV06Yv5EfAisYXPuzPg_KFtO7PyOvKfX2

https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_de_D%C3%A9u_de_la_Merc%C3%A8

The Royal Monastery of Santa Maria of Pedralbes (Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedrables)

 This Royal Monastery is beautiful and in excellent condition and well worth the visit.  We have a few pictures below but what is really interesting is a little bit of Spanish history and culture that we learn when we begin to look at it.

First the history:  This Monastery was founded in 1327 by Queen Elisenda de Montcada with the support of her husband King Jaume II.  It was dedicated to Santa Maria, and was offered to the protection of the "Poor Clares" (the second order of St. Francis), women who foreswore all worldly possessions, and was placed near Sarria, a small village just outside of Barcelona, but near enough to be available to the Queen. During its construction she also built herself a small castle adjacent to it so that she could live there in private retirement when she retired from court.  In its founding she granted it rights and privileges that it still enjoys today, but also obligations that tie it to Barcelona.  This mutual relationship, as we shall see, has been beneficial to both.

The Cloisters

A pool in the center of the cloister.

The Door to the monastery

The later added (16th century) walls and gates to the monastery can still be seen.

In short, worth a detour to visit.  It is beautiful and in perfect condition, but as I said what may be more interesting are two other bits of its history.

1) When Ferdinand II (son to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) had a dalliance that produced a baby girl she was given a home in the the Monastery, as a member of Royalty, to protect the purity of the royal lineage by assuring that she would never have a child.  This is recorded, but how often did this happen?  (I suspect the politics in such situations as this is more common than we know.)

2) During the Civil War of 1936 (to 1939) the Nationalists (Francoists) and the Republicans (a mixture on non-nationalist groups) fought a very bloody, very brutal battle for control and many Churches were torched because the Church sided with the Nationalists.  Catalonia was staunchly Republican and it protected the Monastery from all harm.  In return just before Barcelona fell to the Nationalists the monastery became a refuge/archive for many of Catalonia's most important art and artifacts.  These were later returned to the Catalonian state when it was safe to do so. 

An interesting point in this regard is the involvement of Catalonia before the Civil war.  In 1931 the elections (held in the fall of 1931 ) returned an unexpectedly large plurality of Republican politicians (against-the-crown), and the President of Catalonia announced the following day that Catalonia was a separate state within the "Iberian Federation of States". The King of Spain responded violently to this announcement and Catalonia ultimately acquiesced to theoretically greater degree of self-governance to remain at peace.  I suspect that Catalonia was not alone in this desire to succeed, we still see this motivation not only in Catalonia and the Basque country, but also in Gallicia (and I suspect more if I knew where to look).  In Barcelona it is not uncommon to see the Catalonia flag flying from private balconies,  I have only seen the Spanish flag above government buildings. 

https://monestirpedralbes.barcelona/ca/monestir/hist%C3%B2ria/segle_xiv_fundaci%C3%B3_del_monestir

Tui (Galicia)

Tui

Tui is a charming small town in Galicia. Staying at the parador on the Minho River makes for a nice river walk into the old city. Old goes back to prehistoric times, vestiges are found from 20,000 BC. So, really old.  Later, the Moors invaded and then the Vikings in the 12th century. There are Romanesque and Gothic elements to be seen.  Now, the city seems to be very vibrant with a lot of construction.

It is right on the river Minho which is also the border with Portugal and, thus, has been fought over through much of its history.  The fortress below is on the Portuguese side of the Minho and the two cities were often at war.

Walking across the river on the "friendship bridge", one enters Valenca, Portugal in less than one half hour. There are 2 bridges between Tui and Valenca, one was inspired by Eiffel works.  One of the walks is also on the Camino, called the Portuguese way.  With its well preserved fortress, Valenca is a very busy tourist town, Full of activity and little shops. The village patron Saint, Sao Teotonio was the first Portuguese saint.

The walk into the old city of Tui can be done on the Camino if one desires.  There is another walk right on the river which gives one a great water view.  When you arrive at the old city, there is a long steep staircase, which means you can skip the gym that day.  you will find both a lovely modern town, 

and a very well maintained, very old town. I wouldn't be surprised if movies were made here, but most of these old towns are well maintained.  We don't really see much decrepitude anywhere. 

This Spanish frontier town, it should be no surprise, is in a isolated flat area in the midst of the Iberian mountain ranges that run all along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula.  It is mostly rural, quite green and beautiful.  A very pleasant place to visit.  As with the rest of Galicia, while everyone speaks Spanish, their native tongue is Galician.

Tui is inland from the coast by about 25 km (~15 miles) yet it is deep in the mountains. While on a walk in one of the Tui Parks. (below)

We saw wild saffron growing (in pink - below).  It was quite special.