Moving Hospitalera posts

All the posts on being a hospitalera in Corcubion are being moved to:

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FISTERRE ROUTE - Day 3

I had planned on walking for at least 4 days to Finisterre but with the albergue at Corcubion closed I decided that I would just walk all the way to Finisterre today.

Yesterday had been a long walk - over 32km - and today would also be a long walk if I walked all the way to Carbo Finisterre, the lighthouse at the énd of the world´. - about 36km by the time I walked back down the hill from the lighthouse.

The first pilgrim got up at 5h30 and my cell phone alarm went off at 6am. Conny was getting up so we packed and walked together to one of the bars for a cup of chocolate - she a cafe on leche.

"Are you going to walk to Finisterre or Muxia?" I asked.

"I don´t know" she said. "I´ll see when I get there!"

We walked together until we came across another open cafe bar just before Hospital where the routes to Muxia and Hospital split. Conny decided to stop for a coffee, I decided to walk on, so we said goodbye and promised to email each other. As I passed the cafe bar I saw Pete, the pilgrim from Holland I'd walked with the day before. I walked ahead for quite a while and then he caught up and we walked together for a while. It started to rain so I put on my raincoat.

The route leads you onto a high platteau with wonderful views on both sides. The wind was quite strong and it was the coldest I´d felt since France. I caught up to Pete and we walked together into Cee and Corcubion at about 11am.

"I´m going to stop for a drink" I said.

"Me too" he said. But, it is fiesta in Corcubion and we walked for ages before asking someone if there was a cafe bar open anywhere.

"Only one" said a local, "it is fiesta so everything is closed".

He directed us to the only open cafe bar in Corcubion and we had a hot chocolate and a Madelena before continuing. The path took us up a rocky little trail between high, ancient stone walls. Then we were high above Corcubion and after a km we came across the albergue with all the fiesta paraphanalia set up outside. We walked on in the rain. I stopped to put my raincoat again and and Pete carried on going so I walked alone for a while but caught up to a pilgrim from Switzerland (another Peter) and he and I walked together down to the beach and along a long paved promenade that strecthes for a few kms all the way to Finisterre. When I arrived at the albergue I saw Pete and he told me that it only opened at 4pm so I put my backpack in line on the pavement and joined Pete and some other pilgrims at a bar across the road. We ordered a large plate of chips with ketchup and Mayonaise and sat eating hot chips and drinking Coke for an hour.
The albergue opened at 4pm and it was Ana and Begona who were the hospitaleras. I was shown up to the dormitory, had a shower and washed my undies.

"Hello Sylvia" I heard. It was Bernice, a RSA pilgrim from Johannesburg who walked the camino from St Jean to Santiago and had got the bus to Finisterre today. We made arrangements to see each other later and I left to walk up to the lighthouse with an Australian girl I´d met a few days ago. On the way down I bumped into Bernice again and we are hoping to meet up again tomorrow for breakfast.
I spoke to Begona about tomorrow and she said I must leave my backpack in the room and come back at 4pm. Then, on Wednesday I can go to Corcubion and start at the albergue.
When I cleared my didgi-walker this afternoon, it read 36.5kms. I don´t really feel as though I´ve walked that distance - about 68km in two days. I´m almost tempted to walk to Muxia tomorrow with a smaller backpack, but I´ll wait and see how I feel in the morning - and what the weather does.
Finisterre is a lovely little fishing village and I´m going to stop and watch the gulls fighting over fish on the beach before I go to bed!

FINSITERRA ROUTE - DAY 1

The way out of Santiago to Finisterre

We got up at about 7am and did our final packing.

"I am SO envious of you walking on" said Marion.

"I wish you were walking with me" I told her.

I checked my cell phone and there was a message from Javier Martin suggesting I send an sms reply so that he culd phone me. When he called he said that the albergue in Corcubion was closed due to a 4 day Fiesta happening right outside the the building. He hopes that it will be open on the 30th when I am suposed to start there. He suggested I ask the hospitalera at Oliveiroa to call Bego at Finisterre to ask when it will open. If it doesn´t open until the 1st July, I might just walk up to Muxia and back. Will play it by ear.
We left the hotel at about 8am and Marion walked with me to the cathedral. The route out of Santiago is past the Parador, down the ramp and stairs and then down the little road out of the city. We had a good bye hug, kiss, kiss, wave, wave and off I went. I came to a 4-Way cross. No arrows, no signs. I opened my pouch for the CSJ notes - nothing there. Bugger!! I remembered clearing out the bag and had left the notes in the room. So, back I went into the city and along the little streets to the hotel. Marion wasn´t there so I asked Fernando´s father to open the room for me. As I waited for him on the 2nd floor, up came Marion, so surprised to see me there.! I collected the notes and out we went again. Second attempt - kiss, kiss, hug, hug, wave, wave and on I went.
I turned to take a last photograph of the towers of the cathedral.

It was a lovely walk, very much ike the CtoC in England. Lots of little hamlets, between houses and backyards, a bit of walking on pavements between villages. About 12kms from Santiago there is a hill just like The Hill on the Camino Ingles, a winding, straight up the mountainside, puff, puff and sweat, sweat hill but only about 2km long - a la Polly Shorts on the Comrades route. I flew up it but was tempted to sit at one of the strategicaly placed benches spaced out on the way up.
As I walked along I imagined that Marion was behind me. At first I pictured her in her blue raincoat, head down and hunchback slogging along. "She must be so hot in that raincoat" I thought and hey presto! the picture changed her into her orange top and bandana hat! There were a few places where I wasn´t sure which direction to take. On one stretch I was about to turn back when a rabbit (hare?) hopped along the path in front of me! "That´s Bunny" I thought "I must be on the right path" and just then there was a concrete marker! So, thanks Bunny! (Bunny is what Marion´s grandchildren call her.)
It is strange how your mind plays tricks on you when you walk alone. If you haven´t seen a yellow arrow for a while you start to imagine them in a pile of yellowed leaves on the ground, or willing them in the yellow moss on the sides of stone barns. Sometimes you are convinced that you have seen an arrow ahead only to find that it was a manifestation of your need to see one but not a painted arrow at all. When you finally do see one, you relax and you increase your walking pace. Thank heaven for D Elias Valeno Sampedro who painted the first yellow arrows way back in the early 1970´s with paint begged from the road department!
I stopped after 2 hours at a little concrete picnic table next to a bridge and had half of a soft Portuguese Roll with Happy Cow spreading cheese and half an apple. A pilgrim passed by. "Parles voux Francais?" he asked.

"No," I said, "English, or un poco Espanol".
"Not many pigrims here" he said. I agreed. He told me that he had left Santiago before 8am but had got lost three times!

Then a bit further on two cyclist pilgrims passed me. I saw the French pilgrim again about an hour later walking up the right hand side of the road past the concrete marker on the opposite side pointing to a lane on the left. I called out and pointed. He threw his hands up in the air and turned back. I bought a cold coke at Casa Pancho cafe-bar in Trasmonte and got a sello there.

I also popped into the Casa at Ponte Maceria for a sello, a beautiful place about 4kms from Nergeira next to a river with a waterfall and a long bridge. The woman told me that they have rooms so I took her leaflet and will let the CSJ know.
The rest of the walk was easy and I arrived at the hotel at about 13h45. I was tempted to go on to the albergue but they have a strict policy of only taking 20 people and it was a bit late to walk another 1km out of town so I just booked into the hotel which is very nice with a special discount for pilgrims.
I passed a supermecado, went inside and bought a small box of creamed veg soup, another roll, 2 bananas, a yoghurt and a coke for tomorrow. I´ve already had half of the soup and poured the other half into the small water bottle to carry onto the next place.
I watched a bit of news on the television and caught the weather forecast which is for rain for the next two days. The views from here to Olveiroa are supposed to be beautiful but there might not be much to see if it is raining and misty. Oh well, whatever will be will be.
I´m now off to try to find a telephone box - the one in the hotel chews euros and doesn´t work with any of my cards. Tomorrow I will walk as far as Santa Marina - 19.5km - and hopefuly stay at the albergue run by the Bar Antelo. Might not be an Internet there so will post again when I can. Adios for now.