Camino Essentials

Light trail shoes -2 pairs

Layers of quick dry and merino clothing ( our group are walking advertisements for Kathmandu Icebreaker and Macpac)

Waterproof jacket and poncho

Comfy backpack with cover

Plenty of 'hola' 'Buen Camino' smiles and sign language

Bag of change for the stalls, churches and cafe con leche each day. 

Sunhat and beanie

Wet wet wet

Four weeks of great weather and a day of rain. These are early in the day before the ponchos went on.
Practising walking backwards( which apparently prolongs life) and then forwards ( to avoid tripping over).

Hidden Treasures

Our manor house- plain on the outside wow on the inside.
One of the prettiest villages Ribadiso de Baixo.
A Romanesque bridge.

More senses

There is a lot of bird life along the Camino. The more it rains the more the birds sing. Sparrows and all kinds of finches greet us along the way. Every day we also hear the cuckoo but we haven't seen one yet. Larger birds including magpies and some kind of falcon swoop around. On the water there are ducks, in the fields- chatty geese and even an ostrich and in the farmyards clucky chickens with very proud roosters strutting about and showing off their voices. The first couple of days we heard and saw canaries in cages but none recently.

The cows are Charolais as in France, Friesian and the red Spanish with horns. Lots of them have bells which must drive them crazy tinkling all the time. Dogs are nearly all German Shepherds or another large dog that's similar but a mystery breed. They seem very docile. Cats come in all colours and hang about in groups/ packs/ prides??

Paso de Sedor

A beautiful Spanish Manor turned into a hotel. The view is from our bedroom.
Each stop we have different rooms which is always fun: double bed or twins, bath or shower, balcony or not, window or skylight, radiator or underfloor heating. (Very important for drying the washing).
I am really looking forward to using my washing machine when I get home. Bring on a sunny day in Lower Hutt.

Bridges

Three days of rainy mornings and sunny afternoons. Rustic bridges.

Sensory Overload

A few interesting sights to see today. Of course it rained most of the morning just when we decided to have a picnic lunch. Warm though.
Very smelly past the fertilised fields and piggeries too.
Cute sculptures and drinking fountains too.