When I woke up, it was just me and another girl left in the room. Karen and all the others had snuck out very quietly to get an early start. Too early for me as I refuse to walk in the dark, but I couldn’t blame them for wanting to beat the heat. I could … More CF Sola 19, Day 13: Pedrouzo-Santiago
Seeing as there were so few people in my albergue, I had a leisurely start. I then went back to the same café I left the night before, for a good cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Then in came the gentleman who shared a room with Karen and I in Melide, the … More CF Sola 19, Day 12: Arzúa-Pedrouzo
Karen and I left semi early from our albergue in Melide, and it was shaping up to be another wonderfully sunny day. I took a photo of That Turning on the way out of Melide, also famously the cover of Mark McCarthy’s guidebook to the last part of the camino. The path was – is … More CF Sola 19, Day 11: Melide-Arzúa
After a rather lovely breakfast of eggs and bacon at the Formiga, I hit the road at a leisurely pace. It was another perfect Goldilocks kind of walking day – not too hot, not too cold, not to sunny, not too windy, in fact just right. When I got to Palas de Rei, I sat … More CF Sola 19, Day 10: Portos-Melide
When I woke up, the dorm was practically empty again. I had a chat to Helen in the bed next to me, a lovely bubbly lady who started in Sarria and was already loving it. We ended up having a coffee together before starting out, and kept each other company through the day. It was … More CF Sola 19, Day 9: Portomarin-Portos
How many favourite days can a pilgrim have? When I set out from St Jean in 2012, my companion had brought gold star stickers to mark her favourite days and ended up sticking them on each and every diary entry. That’s how the walk from Sarria feels. OK, so there might be more people on … More CF Sola 19, Day 8: Sarria-Portomarin
From Triacastela there are two paths to Sarria – one shorter, via San Xil, and one longer, via Samos, with its once incredibly powerful monastery which still hosts pilgrims in the old buildings. As you leave Triacastela you see these two markers (reasonably) clearly pointing out the two alternatives. Then as you get onto the … More CF Sola 19, Day 7: Triacastela-Sarria
Having a room instead of sleeping in an albergue meant I could wake up in my own time, nice and refreshed, and have a leisurely breakfast of café con leche and Santiago cake at my favourite table downstairs. Then it was off to find one of the two lovely green paths out of O Cebreiro, … More CF Sola 19, Day 6: O Cebreiro-Triacastela
Finally, the day of my subida favorita – my favourite uphill. Yogi and I went for a morning coffee, and who did we bump into but Piia! Suitably refreshed we started walking towards Herrerias at the bottom of the O Cebreiro climb. Walking at different speeds we agreed to meet at the last bar, by … More CF Sola 19, Day 5: Vega de Valcarce-O Cebreiro
One of the big topics the night before was whether or not people were taking the winding tarmac trail next to the road or going ‘up and over’, meaning the camino duro or Pradela route – or The Donkey Killer as we call it – a steep up and steep down greener route, significantly prettier … More CF Sola 19, Day 4: Villafranca-Vega de Valcarce
Somewhere Slowly 