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LIVE from the Camino Albertagirl on the Levante

Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I have been walking around town, mostly on foot but also with my online map. I have found my way from my hotel to The Roman bridge and was delighted to notice that the first camino marking appears just north of the opposite end of the Roman bridge from where I am staying. So I shall be ready to get moving in the morning. I intend to divide the rest of my walk into as many short sections as are practical between Ourense and Santiago, and see how that goes. I am familiar enough with most of it that it should be doable.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.

Ourense - Cea (por Canedo) | Vía de la Plata | Gronze.com

Etapa corta; la podemos alargar 8,5 km hasta el interesante Monasterio de Oseira. Hoy tenemos dos itinerarios posibles, ambos bien señalizados: el camino oficial, por Tamallancos, y la variante por Canedo, que ahorra 1,1 km. Ambos presentan una subida fuerte al inicio, pues pasamos de los 115...
www.gronze.com
Be advised that there is a variant here outside of Ourense. The longer route (about 23 km) goes through Tamallancos and the shorter route (21 km) goes to the left (por Canedo) where the routes split.
 
A recent version of gronze for the vdlp has just appeared on my phone. I have my suspicions as to who passed yon to me and I shall certainly be relying on it to find my way to Santiago over the next few days. Thank you.
 
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This is a misunderstanding. I intended to thank the person who offered me some information from gronze with which I was not familiar. But currently my access to gronze is limited. as I cannot sign in to download the tracks from Ourense to Santiago. I cannot afford this muddle right now. I must leave in a couple of hours. Tonight in Cea.
 
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Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Albertagirl said:
I cannot afford this muddle right now. I must leave in a couple of hours.
Click to expand...
The last resort is the simplest: just follow the yellow arrows, like everyone did before cellphones. It's marked, there are other pilgrims, and locals will certainly notice if you've gone off piste and set you right.
Breathe. You're not in the middle of nowhere anymore.

Buen camino!
 
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Thank you. I am eating breakfast in a restaurant near my hotel: off and walking in a few minutes. I was looking at gronze last night and was impressed with the options and information available. Too late, I realized that I didn't have access to the tracks. However, I already have a complete set of tracks on my phone, just lacking the options and information of gronze. I shall put it all together and make it work. From Cea on, I am fairly confident: and very grateful to all of you who are helping to make it work for me. I feel a bit overdosed on adventure, but I shall swallow it all,
 
I am also a bit overdosed, following your entire adventure. I look forward to you being installed in your albergue post as hospitalera. It will demand less stress from me, never mind from you! Stay safe and well till then.
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Albertagirl said:
. If I could schedule it, I would prefer arriving in Santiago on November 10th and having a third night in San Martin Pinario. But my reservations are only for the 11th and 12th.
Click to expand...
Phone San Martin Pinario and ask if they can fit you in on the 10th. They may have a cancellation. Give them your phone number so they can text you. (It worked for me in July).
 
Gronze is a good adjunct to what you have and shows towns where there are services along the way as well as gives info on places to stay. It is usually pretty current. You are only a few days out of Santiago now so you can go slow if you want. I expect you will get there easily by the 10th or sooner as you wish.
 
Here I am in Cea, a reasonable distance to walk over the hills from Ourense and a bed in the pilgrim dormitory waiting for me, if I can find my way back to there now it is dark outside and I don't really know the town. I hope to get to Estacion de Lalin tomorrow, then on to Santiago fairly quickly. Only time will tell.
 
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Looks like they have only 7 rooms. Have you booked ahead?
 
I spent the night in Estación de Lalin, well fed and in a warm private bedroom but very tired after the long cold walk from Cea. Now it's morning, Saturday, Nov. 6th, a little after 5 am and about 55 km from Santiago- hours still until first light. I think I shall spend tonight in Bandeira: a reasonable distance for today's walk, and shall keep to secondary routes as much as possible. My reservation in Santiago (San Martin Pinario) is for the 11th-12th and I don't feel up to pushing myself at present. So if I stay at Silleda tonight that should still get me to Santiago in time. I shall just see how I go- time to take it easy.
 
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VNwalking said:
It is always time to take it easy.


Buen camino, @Albertagirl. It's good to see you have good weather...though not warm, I hope the rain continues to give you a break.
Click to expand...
Today I have warm gloves in my pockets for the first time on this camino. I was a little surprised to see heavy frost on the windshields of cars as I walked to a bar for breakfast. It is still pitch-dark (faint glow in the east). I don't dare to go up onto the road until I can see better.
 
Albertagirl,
Glad to read that you do have those warm gloves and will wait for the dawn before walking.
Hope that you have a good walk today and every day to come.
Carpe diem !

Ps. Here in rural France we have a total white out of thick freezing fog this morning. I too am waiting for the dawn.
 
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However we experience it, there is not much doubt that winter is here/is imminent in northern climates. The vulnerability of those of us pilgrims walking alone in freezing conditions is increasingly obvious. And what of those elderly supplicants begging by church entrances? How will I manage my slow approach to Santiago over the next two days? It is not enough to make another withdrawal from the handy banking machine, to consult booking.com on convenient available shelter, to reassure myself that I could make my final kms today if necessary. I am learning something here. May I remember.
 
@Albertagirl , I am following your camino journey. You are near to Santiago. That it may be a peaceable entry, that much I wish for you. I wish you some time of satisfaction there.
You cannot repair what is the lot of others.
You will be able, hopefully, to make the lot of arriving pilgrims full of welcome when you greet them, soon.
I wish you buen camino to your service as hospitalera.
 
Life is essentially vulnerable, no matter how we try to paper over the holes in the facade.

That's a hard truth that's impossible to miss on the camino ~
The weather.
The availability of beds.
Other pilgrims.
How kind or unkind others are.
Even our own feet or ankles or knees or blisters, even staying upright and in one piece.
All are ultimately out of our control.

Now what?
Gracefully flow with and deal with life the way it really is, or fight and try to control it? Be kind to each other in our sinking boats, or close down into bitter irritation?

I don't know about you but I know which I prefer.
Sadly, I also know that I still do both things, sometimes landing on the ease of letting it all be, other times fighting like hell out of sheer habit.

Forgetting can come on us like sleep. But fortunately we can remember and snap out of our old habits more and more quickly, If we set our intention there.

Buen camino on every level, step by step, @Albertagirl. May the next few days only deepen the remembering.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
I arrived at Ponte Ulla, my goal for the day and just 20 kms from Santiago, at about 3:30pm, after an energetic walk and a visit with the Italian family which keeps an albergue at As Leiras. I was surprised to find the albergue in Ponte Ulla closed and no other accommodation in town. I asked at the gas station, one of the oldest of the new businesses in town. The gas station manager gave me a set of keys, took me to the albergue, and told me to pass on the keys to the albergue manager who will show up in the morning. O Cruceiro is now a weekdays only albergue, and I arrived on a Sunday. Now I am happily stuffing myself with the leftovers of Sunday lunch and thinking of the seniors from my own home town who have found their budget inadequate for good nutrition since the pandemic. I consider myself very fortunate in my many blessings,and should like to get better at sharing. I am looking forward to my time in Santiago, and as a hospitalera in Nájera. Tomorrow I shall continue my walk to Santiago, and maybe complete it, for now.
 
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Yesterday I visited A Ponte Taboada for the third time, practically running through the forest, confused and delayed by a large variety of conflicting signs and by my approach from the south, rather than direct. But I got there, and wondered at the 1,000 year persistence of this structure as a witness to the desire of people to travel and communicate over time and space. The bridge, built of massive stones, looks no more fragile to me than when I saw it before. I hope that there are structural engineers keeping a cautious eye on it for what time it may have left. And profound thanks to all the makers.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
mlhhome said:
We are waiting anxiously for your triumphant arrival into Santiago!
Buen Camino!
Click to expand...
I am here, but my arrival wasn't very triumphal. I had planned on walking to Albergue Reina Lupa from Ponte Ulla this morning and spending a night there before going on to Santiago. To my surprise, the albergue was fully booked by a group, so I went on to Santiago. I have booked three days in the regular rooms and two days in pilgrim rooms, so I hope to be well-rested and prepared to be a hospitalera in Nájera.
 
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

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Triumphal arrivals can fall flat... yours can only get better. Please take all the care you need before going on to be hospitalera. I am not sure if you have been in tha role before. I love doing it, but it is almost 25/7 and very demanding. Looking forward to next phase of your estancia in the Iberian Peninsula!
Oops! 24/7 is enough, that was a typo on my part!
 
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Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
I have zero wisdom for your route…. But you have been silent for several days, so I am hopeful that it is nothing more than that you are making your way, finding wha you need and carrying on.
 
Congratulations Mary Louise on your arrival in Santiago. May your rest days be relaxing and your onward journey to Nájera, straightforward!
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. Vital content training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Albertagirl said:
my arrival wasn't very triumphal.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Whose are?
Not mine, either.

I hope you got to enjoy the hospitality at Bar Rosende anyway. The people there were so kind when I went in.

You've covered a lot of ground, @Albertagirl. Congratulations. And now there's time to rest, give thanks, and charge your batteries, preparing for the work ahead. May Santiago be a joy.
 
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Congratulations!
 
Alberta Wonder Woman,

You seem to me like a force of nature. Congratulations to your arrival. I haven't written much here, but I have been lurking around every corner and following your progress. Hopefully I will be brave enough to walk in November myself in the future! I wish you a wonderful stay in Nájera!
 
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
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