Ferrol to Neda
The first proper day of walking to actually get to Santiago. Having done the first 2km yesterday, we set off from Hotel Real knowing that we’d got a relatively easy day ahead. Just 10 miles, and very little in terms of ascent and descent. Dissent, however, is always available. But it wasn’t expected from the usually fit and healthy Billy Goat, who had trouble with one of her trotters. This necessitated a number of early stops to try various plasters etc, but did eventually settle down. Thank heavens, as nobody likes a Bolshy Billy!
Two unusual things from today’s walk. Firstly how few other Peregrinos we met. Whilst walking we met just one group of four. At a coffee stop we saw 2 other couples. But that was it. The other odd thing was that we walked towards the east for 14km. Why’s that odd you may ask? Well on our previous Camino(s) from France to Santiago, and onto the coast, the entire 600 miles was heading in a westerly direction. Not just that, but Santiago is roughly 100km directly south from Ferrol. Well, the reason for all the easterly business is the Ria Ferrol. What on earth is a Ria you may well ask? Ria is, of course, the lovely but chaotic mother played by Wendy Craig in the marvellous 70’s sitcom “Butterflies”. It also starred Geoffrey Palmer who I once literally bumped into in the Beaconsfield branch of WH Smith’s. Oh yes, and also some bloke who went onto be Rodders in Only Fools and Horses.
I digress. The Galician coastline is littered with numerous, often long inlets, which are called “Ria’s”. A bit like Fjords but nowhere near as deep, and not pined for by Norwegian Blues (the inevitable Monty Python reference). The town of Ferrol has one of the Spanish Navy’s biggest bases, as well as being a big commercial port. It sits on the Ria Ferrol that stretches c9 miles inland. The proper Camino Inglés route follows the north side of Ria in an easterly direction for those 9 miles. Then you cross the River Xubia at Narón to head west again, before turning south towards Santiago. However, there are two big bridges over the Ria Ferrol much closer to Ferrol where Pilgrims who are in a rush can lop off between 6 and 10 miles of “unnecessary walking”. Bloody cheats! So that may also explain why we hardly saw any other Peregrinos.
Our route today was a real mixed bag. Starting in urban Ferrol, heading past the docks and naval bases, with views of more docks and shipyards on the southern side of the Ria.
But there were also beaches, shaded woodlands, boardwalks. All rather lovely. And after 600 miles on the Camino Francés with only seeing the sea at the very end, the ever-present Ria was both a novelty and a delight.
Just 100km to go
2 of the cheat’s bridge
Aside from Cate’s early foot issues, the walk was relatively incident free. Cate did notice blood on my tee shirt that appeared to have come from a 3 inch long abrasion around my left elbow. Plenty of claret caked on around the scene. I just assumed I’d caught my arm on a fence or brambles… I certainly hadn’t felt anything. After a good shower on arrival, it turns out that I’d been bitten twice around said elbow. I definitely didn’t feel anything, and the bites are not even sore. Maybe it was a mystical Norwegian Blue after all?
The weather has been lovely. Sunny, but not too hot; and a constant cooling breeze. Irrespective of the breeze it was fair to say that by the time I got to our destination I was stickier than a jam doughnut from Mrs Miggins’ tea shop. Prit stick plus! Our place for the night is quite splendid. It’s a sort of apartment. All mod cons….washing machine, TV, Wi-Fi and the traditional Spanish Bath without a plug! Fear ye not, yours truly has encountered this issue many times before and has multiple solutions to ensure that I can uphold the good old British standard of laying in my very own dirty water. In fact I’m close to sealing a very lucrative deal for my new Bestseller “Plug that Foreign Johnny”, complete with Foreword written by fun loving xenophobe Cruella Braverman.
The view from the “non-cheating” bridge across the Rio Xubia
Newly invigorated by my Bathtime antics, I promenaded the long-suffering Mrs Norridge around all of the sites in Neda before retiring to a bar for lashings of Estella Galicia. Furthermore, my 195 day streak (worrying imagery there, I know) on Duolingo has resulted in me no longing having to shout “dos servayzers Migwell”. Now a simple “mil nueve” guarantees a fast track to being as dopey as a tranquilised elephant in approximately 20 minutes. Seriously, “1906” is a splendid tipple, but doesn’t carry the tag “session beer”. One was plenty, and here I am typing this old drivel after helping to cook a pasta salad. I’ll be on Masterchef soon!
Poor Cate seems to have withered in the Galician sun
If you’ve read this far, and can read between all the twaddle, you’ll realise that we’ve had a superb day, and are beginning to get into the Camino groove.
Hasta mañana
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