Vinsman

Today was a nice short day. I started out early in the morning at around 7 with a quick breakfast. Who does not love Tostada con Tomate with some good salt and a cafe con leche to start the day.

The walk was up and down but Short. Only about 12 miles or so which out here is a short day. I arrived in Ponferrada at around noon and had a chance to spend some time exploring the city. It is beautiful.

Lunch was fish. It was good but honestly i needed a burger after lunch. I did not have one but I certainly considered it.

Tonight I am staying in a really cool albergue. The rooms are small with 1 bunk beds in each but it includes free washing and drying and most importantly a great shower in a bathroom that is luxurious by Camino standards. I was able to lock the door and enjoy..

The room also has air conditioning so it will be a cool nights sleep tonight.

Tomorrow I begin the Spiritual variant.

Sorry I did not write yesterday, I got caught up in the fun and well did not get to the keyboard.

Day 5 was an easy day. I only walked about 20km or 12.4 miles. It was a nice relaxing day except for the crazy weather at the very end. There are two cities that are out either side of the Minho river. On the Portuguese side is Valenca and on the Spanish side is Tui. As I arrived in Valenca it started to rain but not too bad. I did not even bother to put on my rain gear. Then all of a sudden the sky’s just opened up and the thunder and lighting were so close. I was able to stand in a restaurants entry way for a few minuets while the storm did its thing. Once it calmed down I continued on. I have to laugh because that bridge between Valenca and Tui is all metal and I walked across it as the storm was passing. Anyway I stayed at a great albergue that was a converted convent. It was beautiful and had an amazing courtyard. We had 9 people from all over the world go to dinner together. We ordered what I thought would surely be 200 or 300 euros. Including a ton of beer and wine. The total bill was 109 euros 16 per person. Crazy cheap.

Day 6

Today I walked 34 km or 21 miles the terrain was a lot of up but on country roads and some down. It was a very long day from a distance perspective and. In the end I just wanted it to be over. I am finding that I have a very fast pace and can knock out the miles when I am board or tired. Today was one of those days. At the end of the day for the last 6 miles or so I just turned on the afterburners and got it done as quick as possible.

Tonight I am staying in my first municipal albergue. It is packed and there are no beds available. I had a great shower and tonight will sleep on a mattress on the floor. This is by choice because it is technically a bottom bunk but more so there is nothing at the end so I can hang my feet off which is what I prefer. I am the only one of my group staying here but I had a chance to meet up with a few people for dinner and a few beers. Now it is time to relax and prepare for tomorrow. From this point on the days are much shorter. Most days are 25 km’s or less. That is fantastic. Tomorrow we walk into Pontevedra and then the next day I begin the Spiritual variant which is two days culminating in a 90 minute boat ride to get back to Padrón to continue on to Santiago.

Today was a really interesting day. What I thought would be a long be not so bad day turned into a great day but really hard.

The day started out as a really nice walk along a river into a town called Ponte de Lima. When I arrived I realized that they were having there annual festival. In Spain and Portugal the towns take their festivals very seriously. My friends tell me that town was alive and partying until 4 am. When I walked through at 11 am it was alive and super crowded with people from all over. There were booths of people selling everything you could imagine.

As I walked along after Ponte de Lima there was a group of tourists walking the Camino. It was fun to talk with them. They were walking along experiencing their version of the Camino and loving life.

The end of today was a brutal 2 hr long climb straight up the freaking hill. It worked me over but I am very happy to say that I made it and here I am. Tomorrow is a very short day. Only 12 miles, and this is a big one, I will be back in Spain at the end of the day.