October on the Invierno...

[kimmac]

What a sweet, charming camino! I have been following this blog off and on for a while. My son and I started walking on the 3rd of October. We took 10 days to walk and added another three by way of car-share to Oursense (day off) and walked back to the Invierno from there by way of the monastery in Oseira. So incredibly lovely – I can still hear the chestnuts and acorns falling…

Some have mentioned the chestnut trees but there are CHESTNUT TREES on this camino! I haven’t walked among chestnut trees like these before – literally brought tears to my eyes on the first day towards Las Medulas. The sun-drenched weather we had for the first 10 days certainly helped. We left the monastery in a drenching rain and our last three days were off and on pretty soggy. It seems like some of you experienced that...unless it has stopped.

People were out harvesting and working in their gardens the whole of our trip. We were given handfuls of walnuts and almonds on our first day. Wild grapes, figs, and apples were plentiful along the way. We also found the occasional orange and passion fruit. I was surprised to find kiwi growing along the way although none seemed to be quite ripe yet. We really enjoyed the diversity in landscape for such a short Camino – Castillo de Cornatel, Orellan lookout in Las Medulas, river valleys, the Romanesque church in Diomondi, terraced vineyards along the Mino River (we saw cyclists on the last descent to the river), Monte Faro and windmills.

I probably don’t have a lot of information to add… The albergue in Las Medulas seems ready to go but was dark and quiet when we passed. Stayed in the albergues in Xagoaza and Quiroga; Xagoaza we had to ourselves and Quiroga we shared with one other person. They had 200 cyclists come through the night before in Quiroga so we were lucky. In A Rua we stayed with Asun – I loved staying in her lovely older home. She spent a long time using a language app and talking with us. She did say that she is cutting back as her Mom’s health is continuing to decline.

We only met a handful of people until the Sanabres: one single gentleman from Spain, a father and younger daughter from Germany, and an older couple from Finland. We did pass 2 trios of male cyclists – both were from Portugal and they seemed to be quite enjoying themselves. J Aside from the first day in Ponferrada and last in Santiago I think the most people we saw in an albergue was at the monastery – we might have slept with a half dozen other people.

I think most days we were able to find a bar at some point in the day. Loved our stops at Casa Rural Torre Vilarino in the Monforte-Chantada stage and Casa Leiras, albergue and bar run by the Italian couple in Dornelas. Chatted with the owner for quite a while and enjoyed a piece of homemade breakfast cake…. It was harder to find a supermarket during the day – we carried lunch supplies most days. We never found finding water to be a problem. And, our relatively beginner Spanish didn't really seem to pose any problems although we did not use our phones to make calls at all

Thanks to all for providing information for the guide which was extremely helpful. We think we saw the large, very old mastiff in Villavieja - still barking, by the way

 

[Theatregal]

Thank you @kimmac Lovely to read this and think of my memories of this beautiful camino!!

 

[peregrina2000]

Wonderful reflections, thanks so much. Having never walked in the autumn, I really enjoyed your comments.

I totally agree with you about the CHESTNUT TREES!!! I think I once posted that until I walked the Invierno, I would have been hard pressed to answer the question — “what is your favorite tree?” But, omg, the beauty of those trees is just unbelievable. The way new life sprouts out of ancient enormous hollow trunks, the majesty of its canopy, so awesome. And @kimmac, if you loved them in fall, you have to try to walk in late spring-early summer, when the smell of their flowers permeates the air. It is kind of a musty, tropical smell, hard to describe as most smells are. But it just triggers something in some corner of my being when I smell it. And, for some of the all-time best chestnut tree walking, try the circle from Ponferrada up to Peñalba de Santiago. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...n-splendor-from-ponferrada-or-el-acebo.27697/

 

[VNwalking]

Lovely post @ kimmac, thank you for the memories.

In A Rua we stayed with Asun – I loved staying in her lovely older home. She spent a long time using a language app and talking with us. She did say that she is cutting back as her Mom’s health is continuing to decline.

This year? It woyld have been a joy to stay there with her, but it seemed not possible.

And, for some of the all-time best chestnut tree walking, try the circle from Ponferrada up to Peñalba de Santiago.

OK, Laurie. Now you have my attention.

 

[kimmac]

I will have to try this Camino in spring some time.... and the circle up from Ponferrada. My son (Zach) and I did wonder quite often what it would be like walking this in spring. It was mentioned to us that chesnut roasting would usually be happening around this time but it had been an unusually warm autumn so far. Strangely, I still feel amongst them in some small way - their presence so big in so many ways.

Asun did mention that she is only taking in guests when she isn't busy with her Mom and even with that only one or two at a time. Maybe we were lucky...

 

[Albertagirl]

Another comment about accommodation in A Rua, on the Invierno: I have just signed in at Pension Niza in A Rua, and I wouldn't have done so if I had known how much the hostess has raised the charge for one night: from 18 or 20€ to 29€. That will be the last time that I book to stay anywhere without checking the price directly. It is a nice enough room, with a double bed and a bathtub in the bathroom, always assuming that the hot water is ever turned on. It is cloudy and damp again today and there is no sign of any heat or hot water. I shall surely remind her later, if the situation is the same when I return from comida in a restaurante.
For the moment, I just want to warn other low-income peregrinos that this accommodation may be beyond your budget. I am feeling the pinch of the old warning: "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

OK,

Sorry to hear about the drastic change in price. For future pilgrims... Pensión Fabio is still 20 euros (I think).

/BP