1600 hrs, 02/26/11

I have arrived in Palais de Rei in Galicia (pronounced Ga-leeth-ee-a) and am staying at a Pension (like a cheap hotel).  This town is about 4000 population, so it is well equipped with a Supermercado (market), a Farmacia (pharmacy, basic toiletries), bars (alcohol/cafe) and plenty of habitacion (sleeping) options.  Unfortunately, when I arrived today, I found the Albergue to be closed until March.  That was okay with me as I have grown very tired of the dormitory type set up that is the main characteristic of albergue accomodations. 

Yesterday was my first walking day within Galicia.  I began at about 10:00 am from Sarria with the most beautiful 24K a person could wish for.  This region is very green, where mist fills the air, and the scent of villages remind the traveler that they are in a very poor, yet self-sustaining area of Spain.  This is by far my favorite region so far in Spain!  The people are very friendly, they all seem to have dogs (a big plus as far as I´m concerned), and there are villages every few kilometers which make the walking much more interesting.  A farmer invited me into his barn and let me pet the Torros today-- very cool.  Also, I watched an old Galician woman hand washing clothes in the community wash trough in the center of a village with her thick bar of detergent soap and her gentle perro (dog) laying nearby.

I only wanted to walk a short 15 kilometers yesterday and today, but what I´m finding in Galicia is that there may be albergues where there are NO other services.  So, if you didn´t pack something to eat for dinner, etc and do want to do or look at anything else other than the countryside for the next 18 hours-- you probably better walk to the next reasonably sized village!  Thats how I ended up in Portomarin last night at the Municipal Albergue with a family of four from Japan, the one and only American I´ve met in 550K of the Camino named Brandon who had only started in Sarria, two College girls from Germany (Yani & Natalie), a few other smatterings of people, AND----- Guillermo!  I could not believe it when he walked into the room and exclaimed something in Spanish with creepy puppy-dog eyes toward me and then kissed both of my cheeks.  Later, he asked me to go for a walk or if I wanted to go eat something-- I quickly refused, said Gracias, and returned to my Estrella Galicia beer I was sharing with Yani and Natalie from Germany.  He went on his way this morning, so hopefully I won´t see him again while I´m in Santiago.

Speaking of Santiago-- because I am now several kilometers ahead, again, it is looking like I will be in Santiago for six days before my flight back to the U.S (thrilled and not thrilled at the same time).  I plan on taking the next two days at approximately a 15K pace to stretch my time and give my legs more of a rest.  Its good I am staying in a Pension, so I can leave later in the morning than the required 8:00 am departure from Albergues, so that I do not arrive in these villages too early before albergues even open.  Remember-- in Spain everything is on a much different time schedule than we are used to in the U.S., such as breakfast MAYBE happens after 10:00 am, lunch is around 2:30 pm, stores and restaurants are closed between 3:00-8:00 pm, markets re-open at 5:00 pm and close late, restaurants re-open at 8:00 pm and serve dinner until about 11:00 pm.  If you want any food in the 3-8 pm range, you eat at the bars!

Note:  I have to tell you about the two young teen girls sitting next to me at the internet station in the bar (yes, kids come into the bars here in Spain).  We take WiFi and internet, in general, for granted in the U.S.!  These teens had to walk to the bar, pop their 2 Euros into the change slot for one hour's-worth of internet and what web page did they get onto???-- Facebook!!  Comical to me and what a small world!

I will be posting photos via my phone WiFi connection, so they may come across at a later time than this written posting.  This has happened before, and several people have written me confused as to why there are no photos attached, FYI.

PHOTOS:  Scenes of Galicia countryside, a real-life sheep and cattle herding, and the lady washing her clothes in the community laundry center.