Hi everyone! Apologies for radio silence. I kind of went into total isolation and forgot about my good friends.
We had 5 glorious sunny days, without a drop of rain. Most unlike Galicia, but welcome anyway.
The Camino Inglés from Ferrol is very well signposted. The ubiquitous yellow arrows are enough for you to get to Santiago without any maps or GPS aids. I think Santiago, or some helpful pixie, was looking after us, because on three occasions when the sign was out of sight from our path and we missed it, a local immediately corrected us. Incredible serendipity, but the Camino is often like that. Even if we had carried on, we would have eventually re-joined the Camino, anyway. It's practically impossible to get lost.
From speaking to the locals at several points this route is a lot more frequented in the milder months than I was originally led to believe. Winter is, understandably, the least popular. However, we did find some small groups, quite focused and not keen on converstion, and even coincided with a pilgrim at a private hostel in Siqüeiro. At this time of the year expect most albergues to be closed. The ones funded by la Xunta (regional government) seem to be open.
The paths are easy. There is perhaps more road than I would like, but it is not too bad. Most stages are long, 25 to 30 Km, but In particular, Betanzos to Bruma is quite tough due to the uphill walk. Bruma to Sigüeiro is also hard, but not so much.
For the vegetarians amongst us (sorry, some mothers do have 'em/us) Spain doesn't always offer many meat-free options. Please remember that for people who are not used to veggies, the local soup, caldo gallego, is vegetarian because it has no meat. However be aware that it is cooked with pork bones to flavour it. Either have it, anyway, or ask for huevos fritos o tortilla. If you are vegan, then, well, you'll figure it out.
I wanted to remark on the great hospitality of the locals. I was looking at this persimmon tree, already naked for winter, but still loaded with the apparently rotting fruit. I asked a lady in the garden why the fruit as left to spoil in the tree. She said that she had more than she could consume. She asked me to go inside and fetched a stepladder for me to get as many persimmons as I liked. When I stepped down, she also had a bag with 3 dozen kiwis! I was not thinking at the time that I would have to carry all that weight on my back, but carry I did and we feasted on them for the next three days. Always speak to the locals. Specially if they have fruit!!!
Overall, a great experience.
May you have good weather all the way to Santiago! Buen Camino!!
