The history is deep. Many layers of time and construction. Hundreds of years to be exact. Here are some of the photos of its splendor!
The North Tower to the left and the South tower to the right.
The Amazing Pipe Organ!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
The most amazing building in town is the Cathedral. You could spend a day in and around finding things you might have missed from previous visits.
The history is deep. Many layers of time and construction. Hundreds of years to be exact. Here are some of the photos of its splendor!
These photos were taken in 2010 before the reconstruction of the facade.
The North Tower to the left and the South tower to the right.
The way the Cathedral looked in October of 2015
Photos from "The Permanent Collection" in the Cathedral's museum.
The Amazing Pipe Organ!
The history is deep. Many layers of time and construction. Hundreds of years to be exact. Here are some of the photos of its splendor!
The North Tower to the left and the South tower to the right.
The Amazing Pipe Organ!
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Santiago!
We have finished our journey to Santiago.
We headed out on the trail today, as much off road as the Camino would allow.
The weather was perfect! A great day of riding with all the sights we would expect and more.
The surfase was a bit damp in spots, making the riding fun.
Constant up and down all day. Great views of the distant hills with very little traffic and only a few pilgrims.
The finish into town on the Via de la Plata is the niceset of all the Caminos we have done. It remains quite and country roads until the very end.
We expected to be finished at two o´clock. Not so. We finished at Six. Taking our time and talking about our days past. All in all, a beautiful day on the Camino de Santiago!
Our hotel for the evening before the last day on the road to Santiago.
"Just look at that, will ya!~ Will ya?"
Less then 2 miles from the center of the city os Santiago. We came through the back door on this trip!
Our view of the Cathedral out our back door of our Hotel room.
We headed out on the trail today, as much off road as the Camino would allow.
The weather was perfect! A great day of riding with all the sights we would expect and more.
The surfase was a bit damp in spots, making the riding fun.
Constant up and down all day. Great views of the distant hills with very little traffic and only a few pilgrims.
The finish into town on the Via de la Plata is the niceset of all the Caminos we have done. It remains quite and country roads until the very end.
We expected to be finished at two o´clock. Not so. We finished at Six. Taking our time and talking about our days past. All in all, a beautiful day on the Camino de Santiago!
Our hotel for the evening before the last day on the road to Santiago.
"Just look at that, will ya!~ Will ya?"
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Tuesday, Ourense to Silleda
On and off rain all day long, 4,376 feet of climbing over 44 miles and cold. 10 mph head wind.
Bundled and wrapped, we started off on foot to get to the office of tourism to get the stamps for our Pilgrim Passports. It was a bit of a hike, with heavy down pours.
It had been raining most of the night. We were woken with the sound of the rain outside our hotel window.
After we got our stamps, we walked out of town so as not to get tangled in the morning rush hours of heavy traffic.
We decided to wait out the hard rain by sitting in a cafe for an early lunch and get prepared for the day on the road in the wet.
We knew from the last time we were here that it was going to be both hilly and cold. We stayed on the pavement today and stayed out of the mud and slip.
Some of the climbs went on for over an hour. Not much to see when your head is down, in the zone and trying not to think of the very hard work.
We reached the town of our hotel around 7:30pm. It was starting to get dark so we pulled into a gas station to ask where the hotel was. Another or so. up hill, of course.
At the point of feeling totally lost, we stopped in front of a big house for a look around. The owner came out and explained where the hotel/home was around the corner and down a steep driveway like road. His son was kind enough to lead us there on his bicycle, again proving to us the the people of Spain will go way out of their way to help a traveler in need.
Tomorrow is our last day on the Camino to Santiago. We are both tired from the road and look forward to being in one place for a couple of days and rest.
Our plan to stay with the trail all day and expect to be to Santiago by 2:00 pm.
Today's weather forecast is cloudy and cool. No rain. For us now, that's a very good thing!
It was hard to deal with the cameras today because of the rain, but here are some photos of today's ride:
Bundled and wrapped, we started off on foot to get to the office of tourism to get the stamps for our Pilgrim Passports. It was a bit of a hike, with heavy down pours.
It had been raining most of the night. We were woken with the sound of the rain outside our hotel window.
After we got our stamps, we walked out of town so as not to get tangled in the morning rush hours of heavy traffic.
We decided to wait out the hard rain by sitting in a cafe for an early lunch and get prepared for the day on the road in the wet.
We knew from the last time we were here that it was going to be both hilly and cold. We stayed on the pavement today and stayed out of the mud and slip.
Some of the climbs went on for over an hour. Not much to see when your head is down, in the zone and trying not to think of the very hard work.
We reached the town of our hotel around 7:30pm. It was starting to get dark so we pulled into a gas station to ask where the hotel was. Another or so. up hill, of course.
At the point of feeling totally lost, we stopped in front of a big house for a look around. The owner came out and explained where the hotel/home was around the corner and down a steep driveway like road. His son was kind enough to lead us there on his bicycle, again proving to us the the people of Spain will go way out of their way to help a traveler in need.
Tomorrow is our last day on the Camino to Santiago. We are both tired from the road and look forward to being in one place for a couple of days and rest.
Our plan to stay with the trail all day and expect to be to Santiago by 2:00 pm.
Today's weather forecast is cloudy and cool. No rain. For us now, that's a very good thing!
It was hard to deal with the cameras today because of the rain, but here are some photos of today's ride:
Monday, October 5, 2015
Monday, Couso Galan to Ourense
It had been raining most of the night, but when we started our ride, it went to a drizzle. A bit foggy and very windy.
A 25 mph head wind seems like a puff now compared to yesterdays blow. Winds yesterday were 65mph at times and gusting higher. Yesterday set a whole new standard for us when it comes to riding in what we now call, "Bad Weather."
We climbed out of town on the dirt roads and as we got higher, it became windier. Pelting rain, but not at all like yesterday.
We took shelter in a Bus Stop shelter and waited for the rain to slow a bit. I could see a bank of less dark clouds moving in our direction and thought it best to wait a bit. Back on the bike the wind now was at our left side. We needed to lean to keep the bike upright.
Rolling hills, mostly down hill made riding in the wind and rain a bit easier.
The plan for today was to get to "N 525" and stay with it to our next evenings stay, Ourense.
Ourense is a large city. The simple country road turns into a major highway coming into town. We had ridden it once before and wanted to get there before it became too busy.
I noticed off to the North, blue sky. Just a bit, but it was there. Barbara assured me that I was seeing things.
Later, the Sun popped through the clouds. Again, Barbara said that it was only for a little while and to not get my hopes up.
We found a nice spot with a really nice host for lunch. He was so happy to help and was very kind in helping us pick out exactly what we wanted to eat. Always nice to have helpful folk at times of trying to understand a foreign language.
By the time we finished with lunch,the weather had turned. The forecast of all day rain was wrong.We now had a super strong tail wind and riding along was more like flying! Our speed was at 20 mph for over an hour and conversation became easy without the sound of the wind in our ears.
We reached Ourense around 6:00 pm. Traffic was thick and riding on what now seemed like a super highway was a bit more stressful. Working together, looking for cars at off and on ramps kept us from being hit. Remembering the last time we were here and how we made it safely, made today's ride into town a bit better.
As in all big city's, it took us a while to find the hotel. Using Barbara's "Gizmo" and the Garmin, we were in our room within an hour.
Nice spot, we were asked to not hang drying cloths out our window. Barbara thinks that our previous hotels had called ahead to warn them of us. After all, its what we do!
It rained hard all night long. Its a very good thing we followed their orders about drying clothing.
The forecast tomorrow is more rain. We are prepared for the ride and look forward to what the road will bring us.
Here are some photos from today's ride:
A 25 mph head wind seems like a puff now compared to yesterdays blow. Winds yesterday were 65mph at times and gusting higher. Yesterday set a whole new standard for us when it comes to riding in what we now call, "Bad Weather."
We climbed out of town on the dirt roads and as we got higher, it became windier. Pelting rain, but not at all like yesterday.
We took shelter in a Bus Stop shelter and waited for the rain to slow a bit. I could see a bank of less dark clouds moving in our direction and thought it best to wait a bit. Back on the bike the wind now was at our left side. We needed to lean to keep the bike upright.
Rolling hills, mostly down hill made riding in the wind and rain a bit easier.
The plan for today was to get to "N 525" and stay with it to our next evenings stay, Ourense.
Ourense is a large city. The simple country road turns into a major highway coming into town. We had ridden it once before and wanted to get there before it became too busy.
I noticed off to the North, blue sky. Just a bit, but it was there. Barbara assured me that I was seeing things.
Later, the Sun popped through the clouds. Again, Barbara said that it was only for a little while and to not get my hopes up.
We found a nice spot with a really nice host for lunch. He was so happy to help and was very kind in helping us pick out exactly what we wanted to eat. Always nice to have helpful folk at times of trying to understand a foreign language.
By the time we finished with lunch,the weather had turned. The forecast of all day rain was wrong.We now had a super strong tail wind and riding along was more like flying! Our speed was at 20 mph for over an hour and conversation became easy without the sound of the wind in our ears.
We reached Ourense around 6:00 pm. Traffic was thick and riding on what now seemed like a super highway was a bit more stressful. Working together, looking for cars at off and on ramps kept us from being hit. Remembering the last time we were here and how we made it safely, made today's ride into town a bit better.
As in all big city's, it took us a while to find the hotel. Using Barbara's "Gizmo" and the Garmin, we were in our room within an hour.
Nice spot, we were asked to not hang drying cloths out our window. Barbara thinks that our previous hotels had called ahead to warn them of us. After all, its what we do!
It rained hard all night long. Its a very good thing we followed their orders about drying clothing.
The forecast tomorrow is more rain. We are prepared for the ride and look forward to what the road will bring us.
Here are some photos from today's ride:
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Sunday, Sanabria to A Gudina to Couso Galan
We started out today's ride in the rain. Not too bad and not cold. We needed to climb out of town on the Camino following the marks. Our plan was to do the 60 kms on the pavement and simply, get it done.
The higher we climbed, the windier and rainier it got. Gusts so strong that we almost fell off the bike more then once. I could only see about 10 feet in front of us. Wind and pelting rain. Painful. The sound of the wind was so loud that we had to shout to hear each other. I was starting to worry about being hit by a car.
We reached a point where we knew where we were from our trip in 2010. There was a little house as a shelter of sorts that we went into for cover. The rain and wind was blowing inside almost as hard as outside.
My plastic bag for my camera left my hand and blew out the windo and away down the mountain.
Thats when we realized that we needed to go back.
We were only 5 miles away but even going down hill was slow because of the strong wind and the pelting rain. Barbara also commented on how painful the rain drops going sideways were.
Fortunately, When we got back to the hotel, soaking wet, our bags had not been picked up by the taxi. The owner of the hotel arranged with the taxi driver to take us and our tandem to our next evenings stay.
We never would have made it if we had gone on. We certainly did the right thing today.
Here are some photos of todays ride. The last photo was taken from the tandem in the trailer while we were in the car, warm safe and dry!
The link below the photos is from 2010 and the shelter and the roads that were ahead. We think you will agree, that we in fact made the right choice to return to safety.
Pilgrim on the road ahead on the right.
The little shelter on a good day 5 years ago:
Copy this link to see the roads in 2010 that we would have had to do in todays wind and rain!
http://caminoadventure2010.blogspot.com.es/2010/10/cold-rainy-saturday.html
.
The higher we climbed, the windier and rainier it got. Gusts so strong that we almost fell off the bike more then once. I could only see about 10 feet in front of us. Wind and pelting rain. Painful. The sound of the wind was so loud that we had to shout to hear each other. I was starting to worry about being hit by a car.
We reached a point where we knew where we were from our trip in 2010. There was a little house as a shelter of sorts that we went into for cover. The rain and wind was blowing inside almost as hard as outside.
My plastic bag for my camera left my hand and blew out the windo and away down the mountain.
Thats when we realized that we needed to go back.
We were only 5 miles away but even going down hill was slow because of the strong wind and the pelting rain. Barbara also commented on how painful the rain drops going sideways were.
Fortunately, When we got back to the hotel, soaking wet, our bags had not been picked up by the taxi. The owner of the hotel arranged with the taxi driver to take us and our tandem to our next evenings stay.
We never would have made it if we had gone on. We certainly did the right thing today.
Here are some photos of todays ride. The last photo was taken from the tandem in the trailer while we were in the car, warm safe and dry!
The link below the photos is from 2010 and the shelter and the roads that were ahead. We think you will agree, that we in fact made the right choice to return to safety.
Pilgrim on the road ahead on the right.
The little shelter on a good day 5 years ago:
Copy this link to see the roads in 2010 that we would have had to do in todays wind and rain!
http://caminoadventure2010.blogspot.com.es/2010/10/cold-rainy-saturday.html
.
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