We have finished our Camino Francés. It has been an extended journey over three years. There is a definite sense of achievement. In each year we’ve walked 300 km / 200 miles. The landscape of northern Spain is embedded in our memories. Our feet are weary but in reasonable condition given the distances involved. It …
Author Archives: Julian Keeley
Day 13 And so to Finisterre
I was keen to walk the final leg from Cee to Cape Finisterre. Beryl’s feet have had just about enough of walking so we decided to split the route with Julian walking by himself for the walk to Fisterra and then Beryl joining in for the walk along the cape. The first section was rather …
Day 12 A Picota to Cee
We had purposed to take the bus for the next stage from Negreira as it was uninspiring to walk a long distance mainly on roads. The bus was very convenient but we almost missed the only bus of the day with a mix up of the bus numbers. Fortunately we asked the bus driver in …
Day 11 Westwards to Negreira
We very much enjoyed our rest day in Santiago. It was a pleasure to take the day slowly. We visited the Pilgrims Museum which had interesting displays on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela and the motivations of pilgrims across many faith groups and destinations. The legend of St James arriving in north west Spain …
Day 10 And so to Santiago de Compostela
We were taken back by car to our start point for a relaxed start at about 9:15. That meant we joined a big throng of pilgrims but fortunately that soon thinned out. Unfortunately the reason for the stretching out of the walkers was an immediate steep climb of 115 metres. This has been a hilly …
Day 9 Arzúa to Amenal
We had a gentler walk today after yesterday’s effort – 22.4 km. We came down a further 140 m but there was still 360 metres of ascent due to the lumpy nature of the route. We’re now more than 1,000 metres below our highest point. We have fallen into the walking pattern of stops at …
Day 8 Palas de Rei to Arzúa
Today was a much more enjoyable day than yesterday which had felt more like a penance. Our route was long with plenty of ascent and descent but it was less crowded and through pleasant countryside. The student groups were less ebullient than the weekend days. There’s certainly no running backwards and forwards with excitement any …
Day 7 Portomarín to Palas de Rei
Our walk today was a goodly length at 25 km with 570 m of ascent. People can get their Credencial at Santiago by walking the last 100 km. This means that there are many more people on the Way than we’re used to. It’s good to see so many Spanish folk of all ages enjoying …
Day 6 Sarria to Portomarín
Having both had colds we purposed to walk slowly and steadily. That has worked well for us. Last year I had a day in bed on our first rest day with perhaps a dose of covid. This year I was very pleased that my heart rate did not go into arrythmia at the slightest effort. …
Rest Day #1
After five days of walking we were definitely ready for a day off. The good news is that Beryl’s cold which developed on our second day has all but gone. The not so good news is that Julian caught the cold from Beryl and felt rather rough. It was just as well the rest day …
Julian and Beryl's camino 