We arrived in Spain after an overnight flight to Madrid through London. We over nighted in Madrid and caught the fast train to Sarria. We went through a lot of farm land, both agriculture and tree farms. You see the country side really fast, as the train got up to 294km/hr for a lot of the trip. Trying to determine whether the tree farms were olives or eucalyptus was tricky, trees looked like driving past someone’s picket fence.
For some reason, I am always a little surprised by the large fields we see in Europe. You kind of just think of large farms in North America and countries like the Ukraine, but there are some pretty large looking farms elsewhere too. I guess, I am still a farm boy at heart, because I love looking at the farm land and the country side when I travel, cities are nice, and the architecture can be amazing, but for me the country side and the little villages are the best.
We went through one mountain range, and although the grass was green and the trees were all budding out, there was still snow up high. We passed a lot of solar farms and a couple of wind farms, with many more off in the distance.
We started the 115km walk on the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela (in the northwest region of Spain called “emerald green” Galicia) on Tuesday morning.
Day One on the Camino- Sarria to Morgade. 12.5kms, 3 hours, 654m of ascent.
Just like walking to school, uphill both ways in the snow! Oh right, we only went one way and it was 20 degrees Celsius.
It was a pleasant day, nice weather, and we met some nice people to visit with. Although we passed through a couple of small villages, there was only one place where we could have stopped for bevvies and a bite, but it was full already. This early in the season, there are a variety of pilgrims, including solo walkers, couples, a family with a baby, and the obligatory groups of high school field trippers, and a Chinese tour group. I think it is probably half sightseers like us, and half dedicated pilgrims, which is maybe why we only found one wine and beer shop until we got to the little village we were to stop for the day. Alas, it was still closed for the season, so we had to turn around and trek back up the trail for half a kilometre to get a vino!
We walked through a lot of farm land, seeing dairy and beef cattle, hogs and chicken, and a couple of sheep. Mostly walking on dirt or gravel pathways, but sometimes along the side of the paved road.
These were used long ago to store foods such as grain, corn and potatoes. The air helped dry and preserve while the height helped keep it safe from animals.
The villages were all small, some only a couple of homes, and others anywhere from a population of 116 to 187.
Day two- Morgade to Portomarin. 10.2kms, 3 hours, from the highest point of 660 metres descended down to 388 metres.
Today was much the same as yesterday, strolling through more farm land and small villages. Most of the villages are actually just a few stone buildings around a dairy or beef farm on the edge of the trail. The cows are much better trained than any I have ever worked around, in some places the fence is simply some plastic string along the field edge, or no fence, just a long step down!
The scenery is beautiful and walking is very peaceful, with little shops and cafes along the way where you can always take a break.
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