Turned the corner

 Turned the corner

Emily the horse whisperer 

A couple of days ago we entered the province of Galicia and the beginning of that first morning walk was a stroll through an easy pasture land and creek side!  I mistakenly thought we had turned the corner on the difficult stages on that day.  Boy, was I WRONG!! Wrong with a capital everything. 

But today I can safely say we HAVE turned that corner. We took a short day today - and again tomorrow - and it has been wonderful 

Typical Galician hamlet

Motto from a garbage bin

A few observations about the Camino Primitivo. Remember, these are personal observations and opinions, but they are based on personal knowledge as well. 

• it lives up to its name of being the most difficult of the Camino routes. 
• You can get by with no knowledge of the Spanish language here, but not as easily as the other routes I have walked 
• Duolingo (as a language teacher) really works. I have had many interesting conversations in the past 10 days by simply saying “yo estudio español en Duolingo, y me gusta practicar”. 
• The food in Asturias is great - I mean really great (most nights)
• I’m a bit hesitant about saying this one, but in my opinion the private hostels on the Primitivo are a step above the private hostels in the same price range elsewhere. 
• When we went home from our first Camino in 2014, I confidently stated to almost anyone of almost any age and almost any physical condition “you could do this!”  When I go home from this one I’ll be saying “think twice about the Camino Primitivo.”
• It is truly stunning, but you have to really work to see that stunning. 
• If I were to ever do this route again, I would definitely (remember I’m 69) begin shipping my bags from the very beginning. I ran into issues at the beginning and I’m willing to say that at some point in every day until today, I thought to myself “I’m not sure I can walk another stage”. 
• I have two favourite Albergue’s on the Camino Primitivo. If you are ever going to walk this make sure you do a short first day and stay at Villa Palatina in Paladin - a few kilometres before Grado. The owners and their main man (only man - lol) Crazy Pablo have created an atmosphere that gave our Camino a magical start. 

Villa Palatina

• And also - if you are walking here strongly consider making the “stage” from Cadavo to Lugo a two day walk and spend the afternoon and evening at a Pociña Muniz Hostel. They will treat you and feed you well, and send you off on the final stages well rested. 

The evening meal

The beds in the corner 

Approaching 

We still have several days of Primitivo remaining (115 km - so 5 or 6 days) but having walked in Galicia before I know that things have changed, and the corner has been turned.  There are other challenges ahead. (All of the Camino struggles are not physical)

But for today I can say - we are on a new stage. 

Thanks for following so far. And remember - if you have significant prayer requests, I still have a lot of prayer steps left. I met Itay from Israel last night and as he discussed the prayer walk he called it “. Praying with your feet”. Message me on fb messenger or thurland@gmail.com if you want to be included in those steps.