This time our fifth, this time the reverse, the Finisterrana, this time heading towards the sea, this time only four days instead of our typical 5-day 100-kilometer treks through Galicia.
Once again choosing Madrid to get over jet lag, but a shorter stay this time, one enhanced by fresh air, sunshine, the visit of a Valencian friend, and two very memorable meals (and we highly recommend Gala for dinner and Allégorie for lunch and dinner- superb food, splendid creativity, delicious ingredients, excellent service, and yes, of course, irresistibly good deals for the quality of the wonderful meals.)
Another nice stay at the IHG Voco Madrid Retiro hotel, especially with diamond elite status, which gifts us their really good breakfast buffet. We used Chase Anniversary night certificates plus 6000 points each night. Like most other big and beautiful world cities, Madrid’s lodging prices have also crept up quite a bit over the years. But no complaints! We are grateful. Period.
The flight was not quite free. Lufthansa charges a lot for taxes and fees, and has done so since even before the recently spiked fuel surcharges. Ja, we flew to Munich before Madrid, but, that extra time gave us the opportunity to better recover from jetlag.
SCQ, the airport at Santiago de Compostela, is closed for a month or so, (addition of a new runway, expansion of entire airport), so we’ll take the high speed train. 3 and a half hours. Buen viaje.😉
Roses by any other name…at the Retiro Park in Madrid…
Santiago de Compostela …here we are, the weather more cool and gray (like us) than during prior visits, but that’s probably a good thing, better for walking 14 miles per day than the blazing sunshine and 90 degree days of last year’s Camino. This time we’ll be doing the Finisterrana, departing from Santiago and heading towards the “End of the World”, at Finisterre (Fisterra in Gallego) and its iconic lighthouse on the Atlantic coast.
The plan is to relax, which is so easy to do while staying in our go-to hotel here, which is the Palacio del Carmen by Marriott Autograph Collection. A prior nunnery and tannery, it’s a very pretty, nicely refurbished property with lovely amenities and land, and beautiful views of Santiago’s stellar Cathedral, and we always use either points or annual certificates to stay here while we recuperate from jetlag, and wander around the little jewel that is Santiago de Compostela. Tomorrow we start out on our Camino, but not before enjoying breakfast at our favorite local cafe- Caamano. It’s about a five minute walk from the hotel, and they have the best (and we’ve sampled many!) tortilla española. It seems to be women-run, and the chef and the server, both of whom have been spoiling tourists and locals for a long time, are perfect.
On a lunch note, the day before yesterday, we enjoyed yet another fabulous meal (five years in a row and this place never lets us down) at the Taverna Mamá Peixe. A casual, fun and cheery-looking place, who although they eschew the fancier, white tablecloth vibe, nonetheless offer upscale meat, seafood and vegetable dishes, serving the best of the freshest hauls of the local ports’ fishermen denizens, prepared with the utmost dedication and attention to culinary details. And the appetizers and desserts are equally exquisite!
Our simple but superb bread and extra fine olive oil to begin, then a tomato, beet and watercress salad with its delicate dressing, plus a tasty tartare topped with miniature diced vegetable and herb delights, followed by an out-of-this-world whole roasted turbot on a bed of the most luscious potatoes, ending with a maracuyá and mango mousse cake that was heavenly….a completely divine experience as befits the sanctified city in which it sits! Already can’t wait to go back. Muchísimas gracias, chef.
Having skipped dinner after our lunch feast then, last night we were looking forward to dinner at a new place, just a few minute walk from the hotel. Gaio bills itself as fusion cuisine, blending Galician with Asian and Peruvian, the food and the service are wonderful. We especially loved the Bonito (skipjack) appetizer!
And now, time to talk about the Camino. We began on Sunday, and the weather was cool and gray, perfect for walking 14 miles.
I must admit that at the end of the day I was pretty sore, seemingly out of practice despite the many weeks of serious training, and the next day as well, although less so. But by the third and fourth day, my muscles had all gotten used to it and I felt like I was running on autopilot, which is a good feeling.
The first night we stayed at a wonderful little place a couple of kilometers off of the Camino itself, but the owner came and got us and brought us back the next morning, too. I highly recommend this lodging, Casa Folgo Turismo Rural, outside of Negreira. Here we had a very clean and comfortable and modern room with a beautiful valley view, nice dinner in their restaurant and a wonderful breakfast also.
I also recommend highly the place we stayed at on our third night, on the cliffs up the hill from Cee. A Ballenera da Canaliñas, was my favorite Camino lodging I think of all of our five caminos! It too was located a couple of kilometers from the camino, but once again, owner came and picked us up and dropped us off the next morning as well…perfecto! A gorgeous house with a lovely view of the ocean, glorious design and impeccable construction, huge balcony or patio depending upon which of the three guest rooms you stay in, luxurious furniture, bedding and bathroom with marble everywhere, lots of privacy, and that view, oh that view!!!
And the value too, all this and we even got a beautiful breakfast. Ana, one of the owners who kindly drove us where we needed to go to begin our Camino day, dropped off our breakfast at the time we preferred in a beautiful crate filled with yogurt, fruit, the delicious local Galician bread, tomatoes, olive oil, jams, hams, cheeses, fresh fruits and more. What a treat! and a really nice way to start our last stage of the Camino to Finasterre (Fisterra in Gallego, the local language).
That last day by the way was the most beautiful stage, although every single day was truly beautiful… amazing views, much less development than on other Caminos, and far fewer pilgrims walking the route.
Mid-May also proved to be a very nice time, at least this year, to walk one of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage hikes. The weather was in the ’50s and ’60s, we had no rain over the four days, and lots of sunshine the last day. Just perfect! It was a bonus to have blue skies the last day especially as we hugged the coast almost the entire time thrilled by our panoramic ocean views and pine forests on the coast framing the Atlantic. The area is a huge bay, even more picturesque. We would have arrived to our final destinations every day much earlier, if we weren’t stopping so often to take pictures. I will post some soon.
Travel Cutie 