Rain greeted us as my non Gortex shoes apologised to me. I like walking in the rain but usually at my choosing and not much of the day; everything is so fresh, flowers look newer, leaves look greener and scents seem more acute. While the rain did not stop, most of the morning was spent in rainforest type vegetation and gum and pine forests which were thick with anti rain material moving in and out [...]

The Galician rain gods did arrive so we waited until they were less angry and left in a sprinkle but they soon once again lost their temper on two occasions. All the lights were out in the sky hidden behind thick and heavy cloud so we walked strongly hoping to avoid too much rain because it said showers. It is unpredictable, and to save what’s left of my toes I had ditched my weather proof [...]

We moved out past the beautiful misty lake, some clouds hovering before the rising sun, then up along a umbrella tree pathway keeping only isolated raindrops from us. Walkers were madly putting on rain clothes (which like ours that we left home with) were not needed although one eye at the sky and one ear to the forecast would seem otherwise Owing to the possibility of rain I did not wear my Parkinsons jacket and [...]

Unusually we had breakfast before leaving so no need to hope for a bar along the way. We said goodbye to our host thankful for his kindness. I have the flu so he did not charge me for my half eaten dinner, gave me medication, and gave me a special tea mix for sleeping. Walking from our first farm stay we continued on through tree covered walkways looking out on to a patchwork of farming land sloping [...]

We saw Sandy off home to the Alsace and although we met many people on the Camino and became friends with some, it’s great to have a good friend along;  he was fit, funny and full of adventure. We had breakfast with two lovely American women who were seasoned hikers but were also walking for spiritual reasons. We swapped photo shots along the way when one of them told me of five friends with Parkinsons [...]

After breakfast with an older German couple and a Japanese mother and daughter we left town under the moon and street lights with that little creek flowing with us down past the horse paddocks. We crossed over it and began a long ascent up a rocky but continually shaded pathway looking out at smaller green hillsides stepping up to larger ones and then distant mountains, views were spectacular. After a brief rest we continued down [...]

I woke my sleeping wife at 5.30 raring to go but she must have dreamt that our poles were missing. I remembered that I had put them to bed in an outside cafe and forgot to wake them up. We found them at 7.3oam where they were taken in by an empathic cafe boss, so a late start had us slowing right down as we spoke to a young New Yorker who was suffering from [...]

Out into the Plaza and along a lantern lit street, down some steps into a long unsettling graffiti plastered street, through a dark park and out onto suburban streets and soon into a good rhythm with Sandy taking magic pictures as we go. Past some storks (chicks are now big) and our second best field of Poppies. Along highways but soon into the country again through undulating manicured fields, up long hill paths, over streams [...]

It’s a day off today and instead of putting the blame on Sandy who we are waiting for as he flies and drives from London suffice to say I needed to check a pain in my heal. Hospitals will see Pelegrinos for free for any problem “from the waist down” so I’ll get my head seen to at another time. The problem is a small spur that doesn’t like walking, the solution is a rubber [...]