Vacation Rhymes with Recuperation!

September 16, 2017 Corcubion, Spain

Having made the tough decision of stopping my Camino, I had to decide what my next step would be for my trip.

There were several things that I was interested in doing: Porto, Portugal, Vila do Conde, Portugal, or Corrubedo, Spain.

 I’d been to all three of these places and really liked them.  The last one I was just there for a few hours in 2013 on wanted to return, but unfortunately I couldn’t find a place to stay.  

Another idea popped into my mind. What about the Galician coast? I’d been to Fisterra and to Muxia.  So I looked at the other beach towns and decided on Corcubion.  This is one of the towns in the Camino Fisterra.  It sounded like a great place to recuperate and to spend a vacation while at least being close to a Camino.

So yesterday I packed up, said my good byes to Chencho, who even drove me a block to the bus stop.  

Here are some last pictures of Vilanova.

So, a bus ride to Santiago de Compostela and about an hour and a half wait for my bus.  Of course I had to eat since I thought that I would get to Corcubion late.  Instead of walking into town (it’s not far, but I’m not walking very quickly), I ate at the bus station.

After just a little bit I found my lodging and then went exploring.  I was finally able to get my shoes on that morning.  I wanted to see how I’d do walking.  

Praia=Playa=Beach. I guess no more smoking at that beach!

These flowers are near to where I came across two women probably about my age climbing a bank and giggling.  It turns out that they were picking some grapes that were growing wild.  They gave me some and they were pretty good!

The pavement on the walkway along the water.

The tourist information building (formerly a jail) is near the Port.

The tiles on this bench in the main square are really pretty!

I really liked this doorway for some reason.

San Marco church.  I was told that it was built in the 13th Century.

I believe that this is Santiago because of the scallop shells.

Ok, now, after a whopping 3.5 miles it’s time to go to back to the Pension and get to bed. 

My bedroom and my view.

So this is the third revision of this blog.  For some reason I couldn’t upload it to FB and trashed it.  Hopefully this time it works!

Good-Bye Camino Ingles! Hello More Adventures!

September 14, 2017.   

Sigueiro, Spain

In my last post I was trying to figure out what was going on with the enormous blister on my left heel.  

Picture from yesterday!

Fortunately I have a family who pushes me to do the right thing and I asked to have an appointment  set up for me at a clinic called Andarela.  I was very happy with the treatment that they gave me!  The person who helped me was fast, very professional, and very patient with all of my questions.  She explained to me that my blister is not infected (gracias a Dios),  but that it’s inflamed.  She took off the top cover of the blister (don’t do this yourself) cleaned everything and dressed it in a way that helps it to breathe and also to dry out and prevent infection!  I was very impressed.  The only thing that I didn’t have her do was to write down the instructions.  Hopefully I’ll get it all correct for tomorrow! Also it was very economical.  I felt much better immediately afterwards! Thank you very very much!

Talking about good treatment; a very big shout out to Chencho, the owner of Pension Vilanova.  He has been treating me like a queen during my stay here.  Look at this wonderful breakfast!

He’s been very supportive during this uncertain time and I have had some wonderful conversations with both him and his mother-in-law who helps him.

This is a new business, but Chencho strives to anticipate what his guests will need and to make their stay a great one.  I’m very impressed with his attention to detail and energy!  Here’s a picture of my room, but it really doesn’t do it justice. Definitely a great place to stay!

After my foot treatment I had to have coffee and a pastry to celebrate and then walked around Sigueira a bit after my foot appointment and then had a great lunch at Miras. It was nice to be able to walk some!

That’s actually coffee and some bites if tortilla. I had the pastry earlier.

The intersection where I had both coffee and lunch

A really big paella pan

The store where you can get anything and everything!

This is the Center for the study of the Camino Ingles?

The library, but I came at 3pm and it was closed

Sigueiro town hall

A memorial for those who died in the Madrid bombing

The “Menu of the Day”

Chicken thigh, drumstick with french fries

Cheese Cake

Ok, I was told by the foot professional that it would take about a week for my heel to heal completely.  So, I had to make a decision.   There are other things that I’d like to see and do while in Spain so I’m going to the beach for a few days and will do some “light” walking and not give my foot anymore trauma than I have to for right now.  

Somewhat disappointing, but someday I’ll go back to Presedo and finish my walk to Santiago on the Camino Ingles!  

I will have some more adventures, please feel free to continue reading my blog! 

Thank you for all of your supportive comments!

Status: Stalled – Camino Ingles Day 8

September 13, 2017 

Sigueiro – Pension Vilanova. 

Well, it’s hard to walk in flip flops for any long distance and it’s too painful to wear my walking shoes. So my Camino has stalled for the moment.

No pictures from today, sorry.  Tomorrow I’m going to try to walk into town.

One of my cousins pointed out to me that everything happens for a reason.  I totally agree. 

Going one step further (sorry for the pun) I think that sometimes good things can come from a change in plans, so I don’t get as disappointed as I once would have become.

This morning I had to decide what to do since I could only walk in flip flops so I decided to take the bus from Meson Novo to Sigueiro and stay at Pension Vilanova.  

Another woman was waiting for the bus too. Without giving too many personal details, we had a lively conversation from about 11:30am to 3:00pm! It was wonderful getting to know this woman from a totally different background, experience and country and to see how our philosophy about life is so similar!

I would not have met her if I walked today so am very happy in spite of my initial disappointment!

As for my plans.  I will stay here tonight and tomorrow; go to a clinic to make sure that my blister is ok (I think that it is) and then see how I feel after that. The good news is that my knee is fine, the wifi is good and there are many things that I can do while getting better.

By the way.  My new friend told me that the albergue at Hospital de Bruma was full last night and that there was additional room for 20 people at the deportivo.  They ran out of mattresses though.  Wow!

There is also a lot of “talk” from other people that I’ve met about the amount of asphalt walking and how before it was different.

About my accommodation for my next two nights; Pension Vilanova is not inexpensive, but is new (3 months), very nice, and the owner is providing great customer service! It’s about a 15 minutes walk out of town.

As for my plans…..I’ll get back to Santiago sometime, but I still want to spend some time in Southern Spain and also go to Barcelona to see Sagrada Familia! So we’ll see what happens. 

One day at a time! I’ll be blogging my adventures when I get back on my feet (hopefully soon).

Thanks for following my blog.