Uncategorized – KEVIN CRAIG

Camino de Santiago – Day 11 – Palas de Rei to Arzua

We are in our albergue in Arzua. It was a long day. Feels like the longest yet, but I don’t really have the energy to check! Here’s the damage…

There is loud music coming in the open door and I hope it stops before it gets too late. Uh oh!

The sun is shining down on our clothes on the line and we’re chilling after having had a marvelous supper at Ultreia Restaurante and Albergue… which is located a few blocks away on the main drag. We ate there in 2019 and I was adamant about going there again. They have traditional Galician food, but their Italian is absolutely spectacular.

Here’s my blog post about Ultreia Restaurante from 2019.

Here’s what we ate this afternoon at Ultreia…

We both had the Mushroom Ravioli for our first.

Michael had the steak and chips. I don’t like steak. His honest opinion was that it was too red inside for his liking.

We both had the lemon cream cannoli with lemon ice cream. Heaven!

The day had, as usual, many ups and many downs. As always, it was beautiful. A few raindrops fell, but too few to mention. Wait… I did just mention them.

We left our albergue at 6:59am. Still dark. It was uphill almost right from the start, soon after the statues in the final pic below…

A few pics along the way…

We both posed with St. James…

We were soon–hours later–in Milede. This city is famous for its pulpo (octopus). We did not have any this time round.

After Melide, we just had a few more towns to go through. It was a hard slag today. It would be nice to break this section up into two days. I would suggest either Melide or Ribadiso. I stayed in Ribadiso in 2014…it’s a nice place.

Soon, we were in Arzua! I’ve never been so happy to see a place. We actually stopped and had our supper at Ultreia Restaurante before we checked into our albergue. It was on the way… and we are in for the night! (Reader, it’s 5:12pm!)

The famous mural that everyone in YouTube videos says the guy looks like Kevin Costner. 😉

We stayed in this albergue in 2019. It’s clean and cheap. The shower is a press on/off with a timer, but good hot water and good pressure.

Albergue Pension Cima do Lugar

That is it for today! Tomorrow we head for Amenal. The albergue is Kilometro 15…so that tells you just how close to Santiago de Compostela we’ll be once we arrive! Almost there!

Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas! Until tomorrow!

Click here to jump to DAY 12 – Arzua to O Amenal!

If you’ve found this post helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB

Camino de Santiago – Day 8 – Triacastela to Sarria

We are here in Sarria and we just had supper at the most lovely restaurant just across the road and down a bit from our albergue. It was divine. La Salina. The woman was so lovely and the food was amazing! We ordered Padrón peppers. I heard over the years that every once in a while you will get one that’s spicy. On three Caminos that did not happen. Hello, SPICY PADRÓN PEPPER!! Holy cow! I had two that were so hot, both my lips and my tongue were sore for several minutes. Spicy Padróns really do exist!

Back to Triacastela… we had a delicious breakfast at our albergue this time. Pension Casa Simón was gorgeous! Newly renovated, it’s exceptional.

Today seemed to be more up and down and down and up and down again. It was a lot! We both thought it was going to be quite even. But, nope.

As always, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. I feel so lucky to be walking through such beauty. We found a donativo that was so lovely and cozy and all the way hippy. It made me smile inside and out. Here’s some pics, including one of the hosts’ YouTube channel. I’ll check that out once we get back to Canada…

I’m not sure if the person who wrote these words on the milemarker actually walked the Samos way. Both ways have their own charms. I did Samos way two times and it was just as beautiful… just a lot longer.

Here’s the split. The big choice at the beginning of the day! Just leaving Triacastela. Left, or right! Which way????

There were a couple more small towns to go through prior to reaching Sarria.

As we walked inside Sarria, we were blessed to walk among some pretty goats!!

We soon hit the main part of the city and it was just city streets until we reached our albergue. We are at Albergue San Lázaro Sarria. It’s on the far side of town, a bit away from where the Camino goes through town. But it’s a nice quiet area with a few albergues. We stayed right across the street in 2019. We like staying over here away from the hubbub. The Camino joiner path is on the next street over too.

Here’s some pics of the albergue and our private room…

I mentioned dinner at the lovely La Salina. It’s just down the street and across from us. Highly recommend! Here’s the pics.

That’s it for today’s Camino adventures! Tomorrow, we leave Sarria for Portomarin! This is the gorgeous city on the river that famously moved itself up the hill. The church there was disassembled and they marked every single stone so they could reassemble it up the hill. A fascinating story! We went off book for Portomarin and booked a nice restaurant for a special treat. We both just turned 59, so let’s call it a late birthday celebration!

That’s all for now. Onward to Portomarin tomorrow. Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas!

Click here to jump to DAY 9 – Sarria to Portomarin!

If you’ve found this post helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB

Camino de Santiago – Day 3 – Astorga to Foncebadón

Today, we set out at 7:18am. Albergue Só Por Hoje was pure magic! From the Brazilian food to the details of the rooms and public places to the hospitalera.

All good things come to an end. We still have many good things ahead of us. Starting with today’s walk. It’s always beautiful on the Camino, but today was different… today we began our ascent. Soon we will be in the mountains. In fact, we already are as I write this. We ended our day in Foncebadón.

We began in darkness, but just at the cusp of daybreak. We didn’t need our headlamps at all. It brightened up before we were even out of Astorga.

For the second time, we reached the Cowboy Bar when it was closed. No such luck having a cerveza in the Cowboy. C’est la vie! Maybe one day…

The vistas today were absolutely stunning. We are in the great wide open now! Mountains and fields as far as the eye can see.

This was a bit of a tough day. I know O Cebriero is coming, and how hard it is, but this stretch is pretty difficult too. The climbs are tough in themselves, but it was also blazing sun… which made it all the more difficult. The worst part? From Rabanal del Camino and Foncebadón there is nothing but FLIES. HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF FLIES. It’s a thing of nightmares! They will not leave you alone. If you forget everything else, BRING BUG SPRAY for this leg! You’ll thank me for this tip!

Our Camino steps for the day.

Yesterday, after three previous Caminos, I found a new favourite albergue. Guess what?! The same thing happened today. El Trasgu de Foncebadón is exceptional! 10/10 would recommend!

This place has gorgeous rooms, and a grocery and restaurant downstairs. Our Pilgrim Meal was to die for… I loved everything about it. We found a jewel in this tiny little town.

The decor in the restaurant was so unique. Loved it!

The Pilgrim Meal was €16 at the time of this writing (Sept 14/25). There were nice options for all three courses. For the first course Michael picked a cold soup and I picked tagliatelle arrabbiata. The tagliatelle was so incredible and it was definitely enough for a meal. I couldn’t get over the fact it was only my starter!

The second course… we chose the same thing. There’s something so comforting about breakfast for dinner. We had the two fried eggs with bacon and home fries. It was perfection!

Dessert option? There was quite a selection. We both went with the Foncebadón cheesecake. It hit the spot!

Each Pilgrim Meal came with drink options as well. I had the vino tinto (red wine) and Michael had the cerveza.

We went off book and we each ordered a Coke Zero with our supper. We also added a limoncello shot with our cheesecake. Do it! They go so well together! Full disclosure, neither of these were part of the pilgrim options. We went off book. The limoncello was €2 per shot and the Coke Zero, in cute little bottles, were €2.80 each. Our full bill, with add-ons, was €41.60.

There is also a grocery downstairs! Barring any wild and crazy needs, you should find what you need!

We are in our room about to go to sleep for the night. Reader, it is currently 5:46pm. We. Are. Done!

Tomorrow, we walk first to Cruz de Ferro. It will be a heavy visit. I have intentions and burdens to lay at the foot of the cross.

After Cruz de Ferro, we will continue on to Ponferrada. Castillo de los Templarios is there. The Templars Castle. I’ve seen it twice and I’m still excited to see it again! It’s incredible!

That’s all for now. Sleep beckons!

Ponferrada tomorrow!

Buen Camino!

Click here to jump to DAY 4 – Foncebadon to Ponferrada!

If you’ve found this post helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB