How did I get this far you may wonder as the distance is 44kms. After much discussion, we decided to take a train to shorten up the journey between these two points as there is no accomodation available between the two. In addition, I have been feeling horrible for the past two days and during the night realized that I had better not overdo it today. So with our new friend Elana who has sore feet, I took a train and then walked only about 7kms very slowly which made a big difference.
The trains and the buses are wonderful here in Spain and it is easy to get around if you can understand the systen. It is also cheap and fast. The yellow arrows took us through a wonderful country road all the way from Barreda to Santillana del Mar.
This town is ancient and very full of tourists today with many buses in the parking lots. It is like a medieval town with old stone roadways and very old old buildings. The alberque is near the church and seems to be in what was formerly a stable. There are only 16 beds so it will be quieter than last night in Santander. The alberque there was so crowded it was nearly unbearable. People kep arriving and were placed on the floors around the bunks which were already squished together. Quite a fire hazard if you thought about it too much. As well, there was one bathroom for the women and one for the men, so imagine the problem. It made me raalize that I do not want to stay in the cities at all as the accomodation is just not that nice normally and this one seemed to be just a money making venture the way it was set up.
Oh well, everyone was getting up at 6 am to get out of the place today, so we had an early start.
Maggee
Showing posts with label Santander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santander. Show all posts
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sept 8, 2010 Guemes to Santander (15kms)
We took Father Ernesto´s advice this morning and left for the next village to search for the long way around to Somos by the sea to get to the ferry to Santander. It was an extra 4 kms, but well worth it. The walk was along the cliffs above the beach and the sea. Not much climbing today so not so hard, but a good long walk none the less. I am not feeling great still and think I will be better tomorrow. Today was a wonderful walk for most of the morning and then we hopped on board a ferry for a 30 minute ride across the bay to the city of Santander which is pretty large and one we are anxious to leave tomorrow.
It is always more expensive, even for a drink and the albergues are not always as nice as the ones in the country. For example, we are in a room with 38 people tonight. Clothes were washed in the kitchen sink and hung like the Spannish people do, on a clothes line out the window,(sure hope it does not blow away, as I will never see it again). I am here in a little dive of a place using the internet which is abundant in the city and not so much in the rural areas.
People seem to live on top of each other in this country and maybe that is a fact in Europe. We take for granted out space facilities that we have in our country, seeing how so many people live in small flats which are noisy and crowded and in the midst of city traffice and all that brings with it.
Tomorrow we are negotiating a strategy that will get us out of here on the train and will shorten up the day by about 20 kms as the next albergue is 44 kms away and it is just too far to walk that distance.
Again it looks like rain tonight and if we continue with our luck we will walk in beautiful sunshine once again. I am taking seriously the advice we got yesterday and will walk with more intention, when I am not trying to just cope with breathing my way up the hills that is!!. Getting more focused on my freedom and seeing what shows up in my thoughts around creativity is my intention for the next few days.
Because we are 3 women who seem to have experience with walking the camino, we are giving out advice and taking care of some of the others who do not have the simple knowledge of how to do a walk like this, so it is a great way to make new friends. Someone today called me ´magical Maggee´as I have been helping with foot problems and sharing my socks. I brought all of them (5 pairs) and some people really get into trouble with their feet right away.
Well must catch up with the group as it is time for our aperatif.
Maggee
It is always more expensive, even for a drink and the albergues are not always as nice as the ones in the country. For example, we are in a room with 38 people tonight. Clothes were washed in the kitchen sink and hung like the Spannish people do, on a clothes line out the window,(sure hope it does not blow away, as I will never see it again). I am here in a little dive of a place using the internet which is abundant in the city and not so much in the rural areas.
People seem to live on top of each other in this country and maybe that is a fact in Europe. We take for granted out space facilities that we have in our country, seeing how so many people live in small flats which are noisy and crowded and in the midst of city traffice and all that brings with it.
Tomorrow we are negotiating a strategy that will get us out of here on the train and will shorten up the day by about 20 kms as the next albergue is 44 kms away and it is just too far to walk that distance.
Again it looks like rain tonight and if we continue with our luck we will walk in beautiful sunshine once again. I am taking seriously the advice we got yesterday and will walk with more intention, when I am not trying to just cope with breathing my way up the hills that is!!. Getting more focused on my freedom and seeing what shows up in my thoughts around creativity is my intention for the next few days.
Because we are 3 women who seem to have experience with walking the camino, we are giving out advice and taking care of some of the others who do not have the simple knowledge of how to do a walk like this, so it is a great way to make new friends. Someone today called me ´magical Maggee´as I have been helping with foot problems and sharing my socks. I brought all of them (5 pairs) and some people really get into trouble with their feet right away.
Well must catch up with the group as it is time for our aperatif.
Maggee
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