Seasons Greetings

We did appreciate the Suffolk branch's seasonal post and it seems like it is all happening down in Suffolk. It's a good job Polly and her team are on hand to keep order. Here in Norfolk we are having a more traditional run up to Christmas and we're all looking forward to the big day on Sunday.

We have been to several sessions of carol singing, with more still to come. We particularly enjoyed an evening of traditional carols that we went to in one of our churches last Saturday evening. Two local folk musicians played us carols from the 1800s on some very old instruments: violin, hurdy gurdy, flute and Scandinavian bagpipes. They also sang and it was stirring stuff which transported us right back to the time of Thomas Hardy and Under the Greenwood Tree. We regretted the fact that many of the old carols have gone out of circulation, as we would have preferred to sing them, rather than some of the Victorian classics that are rather hackneyed nowadays.


The church was beautifully decorated and we had a good look round in the interval, while enjoying a glass of mulled wine and, no less than game pie and mince pies.

The next morning we were back in the same church for our Sunday morning service. We love the tiny Christmas tree which is a real one, and bear sized. As Gio peered over to see what was in the crib we had the same experience as the Suffolk branch - that of discovering that the baby Jesus had already arrived - or was it a stunt double, standing in until Sunday?


We are all looking forward to our multi branch re-union over the Christmas break. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun and much to report on, but until then, we wish all our readers a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Christmas Greetings from Suffolk

Hi everyone

Christmas came early in Suffolk - as you can see from our nativity scene baby Jesus has been born already and traffic officers were on hand with their first aid kit to give him the once over, as post natal care probably wasn't great in Bethlehem all those years ago. Polly was concerned that the wise men had arrived a little prematurely so she set up a road block and was fending them off in order to let the shepherds have plenty of time to visit without crowding out baby Jesus.

However, Polly then got some Police intell about Herod's nefarious plans so she quickly took up an observation post on the roof of the stable and fired a warning taser shot to see Herod off.

Unfortunately this woke up baby Jesus so other members of Suffolk Branch gathered under the Christmas tree, and after sharing their mulled wine and mince pies with him, they lulled him back to sleep with some carols.

Happy Christmas everyone!

House Sitting Can Be Such Fun

Just for a change, it's Blue Bear and Ungi here readers. While Gio, Pedro, George and Yorkie were away with our minders, walking the Camino, we had a very important job to do. We were looking after the house which includes our Bear Cave. As I, Blue Bear, am so big, our minders think I make a very good security guard and it is certainly true that I have a very deep growl, which I can make sound quite threatening, if I want to.

As well as looking after the house, we also did a bit of car sitting for a friend. The car we looked after, and still do from time to time, is a rather special car, especially for such a car enthusiast as me. It is a Austin Healey with a 'B' plate which makes it pretty old - 48 years in fact - many times old than me, and even older than Ungi!


As you can see it is a fantastic red model - what better colour can there be for a classic sports car? And on a nice day we can fold back the roof and go for a spin with the wind ruffling our fur.

As you might expect we turn quite a few heads when we go out in this car, affectionately known to us as 'Vroom'. We'd like to think this is because we cut such fine figures behind the wheel/windscreen, but it probably has as much to do with the fantastic throaty engine roar and the classic good looks of the car.


Being able to drive and look after this magnificent car was seventh heaven for me and I can honestly say I wasn't envious of the Camino walkers. I'd much rather have been behind the wheel of Vroom, which I was.

The current wintry weather and dark evenings means Vroom stays firmly tucked up in his owner's garage. I can't wait for the spring when I'll hopefully be allowed to take him out again. Before then we'll have to find Ungi a better booster seat as the wooden Rioja case he was sitting on to give him a good view, was apparently a bit uncomfortable!

Lots of love, Blue Bear and Ungi.

And to Finish ...

How do you finish the tale of such a great adventure, that has been a major influence on my life for the past 3 years, if not longer? I've been thinking long and hard, and there's no easy way to do it.

I think I'll just share a last selection of photos that have escaped the blog so far, and offer a few random bear thoughts to go with them.

The path of the camino has some lovely sections and some not so lovely, but if it were all the same, it wouldn't be half as interesting.

I did enjoy sections like the one in my first photo ...


We'd be walking through a woodland glade, with the sun shining through, enjoying a soft dirt track under our paws and some nice easy walking. And then, we'd come across a group of pilgrims having a picnic by a small stream. We would realise we knew them as companions along the way, and pause for a few friendly words. You might find it hard to see them behind my minder, but there were pilgrim picnicers there.

In fact, among that particular group of picnicers, were a lovely Dutch couple, minders of someone who became a good camino friend of George, Yorkie and myself. This was none other than Artis de Partis, who you see with me in my next photo (we were actually outside Santiago cathedral at the time).


I feel quite ashamed now that in an earlier post, before I got to know him, I referred to Artis as a strange creature! He is of interesting appearance, but that's as far as strange goes. He is delightful and has a very interesting life as the mascot of Amsterdam's Artis zoo. He is very well travelled and, if you look at the zoo's website you will see pictures of Artis all over the world. I'm sure a picture of him in Santiago will be appearing soon.

We'd like to visit Amsterdam before too long and, when we go, we will visit the zoo and look up Artis.

But back to the camino and another lovely quirk of the route. On more than one occasion we saw these adaptations to the sign used to warn motorists to drive carefully as the road was shared with the camino path.


We felt that the addition of the hair and skirt was graffiti at it's best - adding humour and not destroying the original. Everytime we saw it, it put a smile on our faces.

We didn't have a smile on our faces though, when we were woken in the middle of the night at the Rabanal alberque, by pilgrims getting up at about 5.00 a.m. to start walking in darkness. However, as we'd been woken up we also made an early start, setting out at 7.30 a.m. - even then it was still dark. We did feel it was worth it though to be able to see our beautiful surrounds gradually revealed by a lovely sunrise.


We concluded that perhaps every pilgrim should see at least one sunrise, and lots of sunsets (more of the latter as these don't require the early starts!)

Finally, for me, it was having such wonderful walking campanions as George, Yorkie and Pedro, that made our walk special. They may be veteran travellers, far better travelled than me, but they are definitely not travel weary and always take a great delight in each new day on the road.

Yorkie will always be Yorkie though, and here he is being thoroughly typical: trust him to find the biggest bottles of wine and beer on the camino. It isn't just that Yorkie's small, these were seriously big bottles ...


... the wine bottle must have held nearly a gallon. We couldn't take it with us though as we were carrying all our own gear: one of the things that makes a pilgrim a true pilgrim rather than simply a plastic one.

But I won't set off on that hobby horse again, so it's time to end. I hope you enjoyed travelling with us to Santiago via the blog.

We don't have a new adventure to report yet, but we'll be back soon with news of life in the Bear Cave.

Lots of love Gio, on behalf of the Camino bears xxx

Gio's Signage Selection

Sorry for recent blog silence, but we've all got jigsaw addiction and when you start puzzling, evenings disappear before you know it!

But back to the Camino, It never ceases to amaze me that I can set off on a walk of several hundred miles without a proper map, and not get lost.

That this is possible, is all due to the amazing sign posting along the way. The traditional yellow arrow painted onto features (hopefully permanent ones!) indicating the way ahead, is the simplest and oldest way mark. It is all that is needed and works perfectly. You can't imagine the good feeling and reassurance that seeing your next yellow arrow brings.


On our recent trip there was just one place where more yellow arrows are needed and this was in the heart of the large town of Ponferrada. Normally, unless there is no other direction to go but ahead, you can see your next arrow. In Ponferrada there were stretches where this was not the case, and we had to keep going hoping and trusting another yellow arrow would appear; thankfully it always did!

While a yellow arrow is all that is needed, as the camino has got busier, the signage has got more sophisticated. Invariably the modern signs still include the yellow arrow, but they also include the traditional camino emblem of the cockleshell, appearing rather attractively and significantly as a sunburst.

The forms these twin emblems of the camino take are many and varied. Here are some of my favourites starting with the wall mounted tile, beautifully simple:


There were lots of these pseudo trig points along the way:


They were very good for seeing some way off and they also provided a fine perching point for a rest. The drawback was that they tended to attract a lot of graffiti - clearly many find the simple white background irresistible.

Occasionally we'd come across a 'one-off', seemingly the creation of the local municipality, and these were great as no two were ever the same.


I particularly liked the wooden ones as they always gave the impression of being hand made by a local craftsman.

However, these wooden ones, resembling the footpath signs at home, didn't seem to have quite the same touch of a craftsman. Mind you, by now we were getting very close to Santiago and, the closer we got, the less individual the signs seemed to be.


These last signs, however, were rather special as they appeared on the streets of Santiago leading up to the cathedral.


It was a good job that there were so many of them as the cathedral failed to reveal itself until almost the last moment. It certainly wasn't a case of being led in by the spires; mind you with so many pilgrims to follow, we could hardly get lost.

Lots of love Gio and friends xxx

The Big One

For any pilgrim, 'the big one' will always be the cathedral at Santiago. It is a fine church in it's own right, but, as the end point of the Camino, it has a significance far beyond it's outward appearance as a grand place of worship.

I always had the impression that the cathedral was the heart of Santiago and would dominate the city. We were therefore all very surprised that it took so long to catch our first glimpse of the famous towers. We seemed to have been walking through Santiago streets for ages before, all of a sudden, and completely unannounced, they suddenly appeared ...


I got very excited and even more so when, a few minutes later, it was there in front of me, in all it's splendour. What a facade! Despite the square being quite busy, I could have sat there in silence and admired it for ages.


However, the other chaps were keen to see inside so in we went. We weren't surprised by the rather ornate, and to us overdecorated, surrounds to the centrepiece of St James, but we were surprised that it was much smaller than it's outward facade implied.


There are 2 aspects to the cathedral that stay with you. Firstly, the botafumeiro; we talked about it at the time we were there, but none of us will every forget it's size, it's crazy swing and the ethereal singing from the amazing singing nun that accompanied it - simply awe inspiring.

The second lasting impression is that it is very much a shrine to St James. As a non Catholic, I kept wondering where Jesus was. St James was after all a disciple, not Jesus. I hunted around to see if I could find Jesus in the cathedral and I managed it, he was on the wall by one of the side doors. I still feel he should have far more prominence.

The cathedral takes on a whole dimension though, once you've picked up your Compostella. I was so pleased and proud when mine was awarded to me. There is no better place to have a picture taken with your compostela, than in front of the cathedral


I don't think I'd have felt the same way about the cathedral if I hadn't walked there. I can't imagine just flying into Santiago and going to visit. I guess I'm the lucky one, whose had the marvellous opportunity of walking there.

Lots of love Gio and my fellow camino bears xxx

Gio's Church Selection

I'm sure you won't be too surprised to hear that we did visit one or two churches along the way. The numbers weren't as great as you might think, due to the fact that, as we found on our earlier trip, the Spanish do tend to keep their churches locked. It's a great shame.

Quite soon into this trip, we walked through the big city of Leon. The Camino took us right past the entrance to this magnificent cathedral ...


The office where we went to get a stamp for our pilgrim passports was just after the rather fine screen in our next picture...


The artwork was so intricate that there was almost too much to see. I concentrated on the colours instead as I'm a simple soul, and found some of the frills too much.

In contrast, I really loved the simplicity of the church at Rabanal. It was just outside the albergue we stayed at, run by the English Co-fraternity of St James. It was very old and very peaceful. When we arrived a French pilgrim was playing his recorder inside and it sounded wonderful.


A few days later we went into a church that was open and, while the church was not really to my taste, with a bit too much gold and heavy decoration, I was more pleased that you can imagine, to see my old friend St. Roch, with his dog, again. We saw St Roch quite a lot in France but only occasionally in Spain. He is the patron saint of pilgrims and was a similar sort of figure to St Francis of Assisi, so, with me being a Franciscan bear, there is an immediate affinity.


You'll always know if you've seen St Roche as he always has his very distinctive thigh wound and the dog who saved his life by bringing him food when he was sick, at his feet.

We'll talk a bit more about the big one, Santiago Cathedral, next time.

Lots of love Gio xxx

Gio's Cross Selection

Some of you might remember that on stage 1 of our walk, I accumulated quite a collection of very different cross photos. I photographed a few more during part 2 of our walk. I like to see crosses along the way as they remind me that I am on no ordinary walk, but on one of the world's great religious pilgrimages.

Crosses by roads are good, as they speak not only to the pilgrims on the route, but also to drivers and other passers by who can't help but notice them as they go about their daily business.

My first cross was located beside the road out of the town of Astorga. I like it's simple nature and I always like crosses made of wood. I also liked the seat I had at the bottom and I found it useful to have a little map of the villages that were coming up on the way.


My next cross is a city centre one. It was located close to the centre of Leon and I liked the fact that it was there in the midst of all the traffic and hustle and bustle of the city. I think there should be more crosses, like this one, in a very different location to a church building.


My final cross was not in a town or a city, but was delightfully situated in a rural setting. It was a beautiful stone cross, in a small wood, just to the left of the camino. My guidebook told me it was very old, 17th century in fact. It was typical of many crosses in Galicia in that it had figures carved on both sides: Christ on the cross on one side, and Mary on the other.


It was a very tranquil spot so I lingered for a few moments to soak up the peace and sense of history.

Lots of love, Gio xxx

Our Art Selection

While we were away on our pilgrimage, you had lots of words from us and less pictures that usual. It's now time to redress the balance and share a few pictures with just a few explanatory words.

Here are the first 3 we have selected, on the subject of artwork.

Within minutes of setting foot back in Sahagun, the starting point for this trip and end point of our last trip, we were greeting our old friend St James, without whom there would be no Camino. He does seem to change his appearance quite a bit along the way, and here comes across as quite a lean and gaunt figure ,and we always think it looks like he has his shopping bag with him. It was nearly 2 years since we stood in this very place beside this particular St James, and we can't describe how good it was to see him again, even though we weren't too sure about the yellow eyes which he has gained since we last saw him.


A few miles down the road, in a small village, was this wonderful agricultural scene, carefully worked in metal ...


Yorkie and I were quite tempted to ask for a lift, but it was a bit soon in our walk and anyway, Gio, our pilgrimage leader, would never have allowed it. He was determined to walk every step of the way and we couldn't help but be inspired by his passion and commitment. We were there to walk, and walk we would.

After a lot of walking, every pilgrim needs a rest and our next sculpture showed us just how to do it. We wasted no time in following this pilgrim's fine example and resting our paws and eyelids.


We loved the spot chosen for this rest. It was right outside one of the most impressive and expensive paradors in Spain. We knew we couldn't afford to sleep inside it, but we did enjoy our snooze outside it.

More pictures to come.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie and Gio xxx

Home Again

As you can probably tell from the fact that our posts have stopped, we're safely back home and caught up in the usual daily grind.

We actually returned to the Bear Cave at 1.15 a.m. on Monday morning, then, a few short hours later, it was back to work, to do our part to keep the wheels of Bears Unlimited turning.

We've been so busy telling our friends and colleagues all about our trip that we haven't had too much time yet to reflect on our trip and what it means for us.

However, a friend and fellow pilgrim Luc, from Belgium, did email us some words that we strongly agree with. We met and walked with Luc 2 years ago and while he wasn't with us in body this time, he was travelling with us in spirit and said he 'would follow us on our trip to the field of the stars on the road that never ends'.

And he is quite right; the physical road may have ended for now, but the journey has not. While we were in the church at O Cebreiro, we came across the following prayer, written by a Franciscan relative of Gio's which we found very moving. It says far better that we ever could, what walking the camino, and returning from it, is all about, so here it is ...

Prayer of La Faba

'Although I may have travelled all the roads,
crossed mountains and valleys from East to West,
if I have not discovered the freedom to be myself,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have shared all of my possessions
with people of other languages and cultures;
made friends with Pilgrims of a thousand paths,
or shared albergue with saints and princes,
if I am not capable of forgiving my neighbour tomorrow,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have carried my pack from beginning to end
and waited for every Pilgrim in need of encouragement,
or given my bed to one who arrived later than I,
given my bottle of water in exchange for nothing;
if upon returning to my home and work,
I am not able to create brotherhood
or to make happiness, peace and unity,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have had food and water each day,
and enjoyed a roof and shower every night;
or may have had my injuries well attended,
if I have not discovered in all that the love of God,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have seen all the monuments
and contemplated the best sunsets;
although I may have learned a greeting in every language;
or tried the clean water from every fountain;
if I have not discovered who is the author
of so much free beauty and so much peace,
I have arrived nowhere.

If from today I do not continue walking on your path,
searching for and living according to what I have learned;
if from today I do not see in every person, friend or foe
a companion on the Camino;
if from today I cannot recognize God,
the God of Jesus of Nazareth
as the one God of my life,
I have arrived nowhere.'

We've lots more pictures and a few more tales to share with you in the next post or two.

Bye for now,

Love from the Camino Bears xxx

Time to Go Home

Today we're going home, although not until this evening. We will be spending the day in Santiago before going to the airport we've already walked round.

I'm sure lots of interesting things will happen today, but you may have to wait for a report, as hopefully we'll be airborne at our usual typing and posting time.

We'll be back soon though.

Love from the Compostella bears xxx

Worth the Wait

As we sat up late last night watching Gavin & Stacey, there were lots of loud bangs as the town was showered with fireworks as part of the fiesta celebrations.

After breakfast we headed out, and this time the Tourist Information office was open, so we could get a map. The lady inside congratulated us on our Spanish which pleased us no end.

Armed with our map we walked for a good 2 hours round a headland, keeping the sea on our right. There was lots to see and some lovely tracks, and the locals were out in force jogging along them. Much of the coast was rocky but from time to time we came across a lovely sandy cove. On the higher land were all sorts of sculptures, including a mini Stonehenge and a real (old) lighthouse.

Around 1.00 pm the sun was quite strong and people started to come down for a swim. We stopped on a sandy beach which was steeply shelving so there was some great surf. We sunbathed and paddled and had great fun.


Spanish Pedro acted as our tour guide and showed us a really lifelike sculpture of some surfers. We could almost feel those muscles flexing.


We had a late lunch then a long walk to the railway station, but at least we knew where we were going this time.

On the way we were able to get a big bottle of Fa cologne which pleased our female minder no end and lots of pimenton (for Rick Stein recipes) which pleased our male minder.

We caught the 15:45 train back to Santiago and checked back into our friendly Pension Alfonso. It felt like coming home and we were given the room above our last one, with possibly an even better view of the cathedral.

We knew there was a mass at 6.00 pm so we went back to the cathedral to find standing room only at the sides, but the botafumeiro back in place over the altar.

We sat patiently at the bottom of a pillar waiting to see if there would be any signs of imminent use. During a long sermon in Gallician we concluded that nothing was going to happen and snook out. The next things that happened must surely have involved some divine intervention.

We went first to the Pilgrims' Office and then to Tourist Info to see if we could get information on when the botafumeiro would be swung. We gave up as either there was a long queue or there was no-one there.

We started to walk further away from the cathedral and met our Austrian/Norwegian friend coming the other way. We knew he had seen the botafumeiro twice on Thursday so asked him when in the service it was used. Our male minder had thought it would be early, before the Gospel, but our friend said, no, it was at the end.

We looked at our watches and thought, we could be missing it right now. We hastily retraced our steps and re-entered the cathedral towards the end of the distribution of the mass (the cathedral remains open to visitors during the services). As chance would have it, we ended up following 3 men in maroon robes, who from the look of them had to be botafumeiro operators. They were heading towards the ropes so we followed them. More strong looking men in maroon robes appeared on the other side.

The priest then said something about the botafumeiro and it was slowly lowered. A dish of burning coals was put into the bottom and then a visiting priest from America (whose group probably paid for it to be swung) blessed the incense and put it on the hot coals.


The botafumeiro was then raised and one man gave it it's initial swing. Once it was going 8 men then started pulling on their spiders web of ropes and it got faster and faster and the arc greater. We had seem it on film before, but the reality far exceeded all expectations. We could only describe the swing of that censer as absolutely crazy. We really thought it might go through the roof and we could quite understand how it has gone flying out the doors in past history. It almost gave us vertigo watching it and the power of it's swing was quite frightening, given how packed the cathedral was. It was also quite surreal seeing all the priests standing there with it passing in front of them.

When the 8 rope operators stopped pulling, the arc of the swing started to decrease but it took a while to slow down to an almost stop. One of the men went to grab the chain and, although it looked as if had almost stopped, it still swung him completely round. It was then raised again and the main rope secured. This most amazing and awesome spectacle was then over. We could understand why it had to be done at the end of the service. It was so spectacular that no-one would be able to concentrate on the mass after seeing it.

We felt so lucky to have seen it in action, especially when we heard that it had not been used at the midday mass today. What a good thing that we bumped into our Austrian friend. It is just a shame that it seems to be the case that you see it if a group has paid for it. This is a form of bribery of which we do not approve.

After this excitement we went for a beer and then a lovely meal. We then went back to the cathedral square to hear more tuna music. The square was half full of Porsche cars, which amounts to an awful lot of cars. There was clearly some special event going on and no doubt the owners were all staying at the Parador the other side of the square.

While listening to the amazing tuna music we were joined by our American friend Christina, last seen in Sarria waiting to be joined by her husband. It was lovely to see her again and to meet Jim.

What an exciting day we've had.

Love from the Compostella bears xxx

Being Pilgrim Tourists

Oh dear, we've been typing throughout the day committing all the exciting events of today to keyboard, and, in a slip of a paw - no idea what we did - it's all gone, and we're just left with a capital T on the screen. Absolute growls of frustration have been let loose!

So what had we been saying? Firstly we'd commended the excellent breakfast at our B&B. Bread & honey, salami and ham , juice, coffee and fried eggs and toast were provided in abundance
and, when we tried to pay our host, he would have none of it, telling us to pay when we return for our second night tomorrow. How trusting!

We made our way from our B&B to the cathedral, arriving an hour early so we could get a good seat in the pilgrim area. We ended up in the second row in front of the altar. By the time the midday service started, the cathedral was packed out, with standing room only for many pilgrims.

It was a good, simple service, with 3 critical phrases in English which made all the difference. Singing was led by a nun with a lovely kind face and we were pleased to recognise the Taize chant of 'Ubi Caritas'. We were also pleased to recognise the priest from Rabanal who had led the compline service we had attended. Sadly, not only was the botafumeiro not swung today, it had even been removed. Perhaps this was because it was Friday.

The numbers of pilgrims arriving from each country are read out, along with a list of starting points. We definitely heard Le Puy and we think it was 26 from the UK, although we were listening out for England, not the UK.

After the mass we spoke to
lots of pilgrim friends who had kept us company on our journey. We were also reacquainted with our friend from Amsterdam zoo and we know his name now, it's Artis de Parvis (picture to follow -taken on wrong camera!).

We then had a coffee and bocadillo before heading for the station to catch a train to A Coruna, for a change of scene an to see the sea. On arrival we gave A Coruna the lead paw award for lack of maps and direction signs. We had no idea which direction to take and, after asking for directions, ended up in the commercial port area. We eventually found a map and made our way towards the centre/marina area, only to find the 2 Tourist Information offices closed, even though they should have been open.

By chance we found ourselves a nice Hostal then headed for the marina, noticing that everything was closed. As we sat having a beer, the reason soon became apparent: it was a festival day. The police closed the road in front of us and we heard sounds of a marching band. We went to investigate and found a procession complete with the carriage of Our Lady of Fatima, patroness of the city. We had never seen anything like it. There were 2 bands with drums, trumpets and bagpipes, ladies in black mantillas and high heels, a full choir, police, church officials and Mary on her trolley being steered by 6 men. It was fascinating and a real Spanish experience. We followed the procession for a good half an hour and it was still going strong when we left it.





We then walked round the marina and timed our arrival with the departure of the biggest cruise ship we had ever seen. The city had suddenly become a whole lot more interesting and we were really glad we had come.

An excellent Italian meal this evening has further given us a good opinion of La Coruna.

Time for bed now.

Love from the Compostella bears xxx

Arrival Part 2

Our first action after our initial visit to the cathedral was to go to the Pilgrim's Office to collect our minders' final Cathedral stamps and their Compostellas. Our ones will come through a special bears' Pilgrim office. If you use the link to our minders' blog, you will see them with their Compostellas.

We then went to find our accommodation and here we really had landed on our paws. It is very like a nice English B & B and our host is a very charming and amusing man and he is keen to practice his English. Our room really does have a great view of the cathedral, it is much more than a mere glimpse.

We went to find some lunch, a tasty Spanish hamburger, then returned to the cathedral for a proper look round ...





... and to observe some of the traditions including going behind the statue of St James to give him a hug. His neck was a bit big for me (Gio) but I put my paws round as much as I could.

We then went down into the crypt to see the remains of St James and 2 of his disciples in a silver reliquary. It was quite a thought that we could have been in the presence of the remains of someone who went about with Jesus.

We also saw the famous botafumeiro (censer) hanging above the altar. The keen eyed might have noticed it hanging above me in yesterday's, inside the cathedral, photo. Someone pointed out the ropes controlling it and I was lucky enough to be allowed a small swing.





We spent the rest of the day strolling round and sitting in cafes soaking up the atmosphere. At 10.00 pm we went to hear local university musicians, dressed up in medieval academic dress, playing and singing traditional songs. It was a fantastic sound and a great end to a special day.

Love from the Compostella bears xxx

Hemos Llegado (We're here!)

Today has been very exciting for all of us as it has been the culmination of many hours, days and weeks of paw pounding the Camino.

We didn't have an early start this morning as we had a late night last night. The sociable Nowegians kept us talking in the restaurant until late, then we had diaries to write and posts to finish so it was nearly midnight before we went to bed.

As a result we had our latest start of this leg of the Camino and didn't set off until nearly 9.00 am. We started with quite a steep climb through eucalyptus woods, the first of many climbs that faced us today. We didn't mind though, as every step was taking us closer to Santiago.

The first major landmark was the airport and we skirted the runway on 2 sides. We will fly out of it on Sunday, and it was strange to be there before we'd even reached Santiago.

A little while later we had a fairly late but decent breakfast, with reasonably sized bits of toasted baguette. After this, we were ready for the final approach.

Monte del Gozo was the next stop. We climbed up to the modern sculpture, from where we should have had our first glimpse of the towers of the cathedral of Santiago. There was nothing to see but the modern suburbs of Santiago. Too many trees have grown since Medieval pilgrim times! The big excitement for us was that Galician TV were there filming pilgrims. Yorkie had let slip that this was a very special day for our pilgrimage leader Gio.





We started to descend into Santiago, passing the huge albergue which can accommodate 3,000 pilgrims at busy times. It all started to remind us of the walk into Leon. Although Santiago has a very small historic centre, it has extensive modern suburbs.

Eventually we reached the town sign ...





... next stop the cathedral. It seemed an awful long time until, at last, we had our first glimpse, then, just minutes later we were looking not just at the cathedral in all it's glory, but many of our friends that we'd met along the way: what a great moment.

The midday pilgrim mass had just finished, so it was quite busy in the square, but was a good time for us to join paws and enter the home of St James who has been inspiring and motivating us for so long.





We'll tell you about the rest of our day in our next post.

Lots of love, the Compostella bears xxx

Skol!

Santiago draws ever closer and we shall be there tomorrow lunchtime, God willing. We think we have 15 to 17 km left to walk, (about 10 miles) but all the guides fail to agree the distance from Amenal, where we currently are. As before, one of the problems is that there is another choice of routes into the city tomorrow. Even the marker posts, every 0.5 km are about to stop mentioning kms to go, so they can be re-set and start counting accurately again.

We did think about trying to rush to the Cathedral for the midday Pilgrims Mass, but we're not going to now, for 2 reasons:

a) this will be the end of over 960 miles of walking and we feel we need to savour those final few clicks and not hurry them.

b) at the midday mass, the names of those registering for their compostella the previous day are read out, so it is the Friday mass we really want to be at.

Today has been quite a relaxed day and nobody has been hurrying. This is because there is a sudden gap in the supply of the pilgrim albergue accommodation, with none now until the one on top of a hill looking down on Santiago, just 5 km away. As we're staying in rooms, rather than albergues, we are now 4.5 km ahead of the rest of the pack, although we know a nice Norwegian couple are also here, and I'm sure other pilgrims will be too (P.S. they are).

Before breakfast we walked with a nice American man who lives in South Africa. Time passed very quickly while we were chatting about all the caminos he has done. It seems that camino walking can be quite addictive. We are already talking about where to go next.

As we neered the small town of Arca we came across an information booth staffed by a very helpful young man who would book you any accommodation you wanted particularly in Santiago. He was operating a booking service on behalf of the Santiago hoteliers.

You told him what you wanted, where you wanted it, and in what price bracket and he sorted it all for you. And so, we, very usefully, got our accommodation for tonight booked and also for Thursday night and Saturday night in Santiago. He has booked us a 2* pension, very close to the cathedral, and it certainly looks very nice and cheaper than an English B&B.

Rather than spend 3 days in Santiago we think we will take the train to La Coruna on Friday afternoon, overnight there, then come back on Saturday. It will be good to get some sea air after the dust of the Camino. We already have the train times thanks to the man in the information office.

At one time we did think about trying to make up a 2nd extra day so we could continue to Finisterra, but it seems it requires some hard additional walking and, to make up an extra day in this extreme heat when paws are sore, just seemed too much, so we will save Finisterre for a separate mini break.

We have only one small growl at the moment. Our accommodation, which is out of town, closed it's bar and restaurant at 5.30 until 8.00 pm. We were just in time to get some beer in bottles to take out but other pilgrims are wandering round hungry and thirsty. This is actually a hotel and it is now full (of pilgrims) so we are a little surprised.

After a growl, we've also had a laugh at the following translation on the reception desk ...







... yes, it is supposed to be English. Spanish Pedro is a little ashamed of his countrymens' linguistic skills.

When 8.00 pm came round we had a very good meal taken with, none other than 4.5 Norwegians.* The half was a half Austrian man. Only on the Camino could this happen. You have to prepare to expect the unexpected!

Lots of love, the Camino bears xxx

* the coincidence was that this was not a single party of Nowegians, but 3 separate groups, who did not know each other and had completely independently chosen this accommodation.

Only a Marathon Away

This evening we are in Arzua and so are lots of people we haven't seen for a while, or who had planned to be further ahead, and we thought we wouldn't see again. It's certainly been fun renewing acquaintances.

We've also seen some people who we felt very sorry for last night as they were limping so badly they could hardly walk. Considering Palas de Rei to here is an 18 mile stage, they've either made a good recovery, which we very much hope is the case, or they must have had some 4 wheeled assistance!

Talking of 4 wheeled assistance, the mild mannered Gio nearly turned graffiti artist today. He got very upset by all the adverts for taxis that kept cropping up along the way and wanted to scribble out the numbers, so that pilgrims wouldn't be led astray and be tempted to cheat. We reminded him that true pilgrims wouldn't cheat in the critical last 100 km., but he was worried about the p.p.s, the plastic pilgrims.

On the subject of plastic pilgrims, we were quite amused by the behaviour we noticed while having breakfast at a private albergue this morning. The albergue was located about 3.5 km after Palas de Rei. We were the only customers, yet streams of 'new' pilgrims were going past and collecting a stamp (sellos) for their pilgrim passports, as the stamp was outside.

Now we know that the rules say that pilgrims doing only the final 100 km get an overnight stamp, and at least one from along the way, but they really want church stamps. To be madly collecting a stamp from a bar that they haven't even had a drink in, seems to us to be a complete waste of time. Needless to say we didn't get a stamp from our breakfast bar, even though we had been customers, but got 3 church stamps instead.

The walk today was quite like that of recent days, but our guide said we crossed 6 river valleys, and it certainly felt like it, as there were a lot of ups an downs.

As a yellow arrow is the Spanish camino waymark, we really liked this yellow arrow made of scallop shells, the Camino's emblem ...




We got a room at the first pension, attached to an albergue, that we tried, so we are safely accommodated this evening. Santiago is now just 26 miles away, an English marathon, not that we will get there tomorrow. There is no hurry now and it's far too hot to hurry, but we can enjoy the anticipation.

Lots of love, the Camino bears xxxx

For those who prefer Miles ...

It was still dark when we left Portomarin this morning, after saying goodbye to the very nice Manuel, in whose albergue we had a very good overnight stay. We did need earplugs though as there were a few howling dogs about.

We didn't realise how many pilgrims were ahead of us until we got to a place called Gonzar, after about 8 km. This was the first place, after Portomarin, that you could get breakfast and it was very crowded, as nearly everyone stopped there. The early arrivals must have walked a long way in the dark, and this continues to baffle us, as we find the 15 minutes or so that we do in the dark, to get us out of town, more than enough.

The mix of nationalities that are walking is quite something. Germans are in abundance, there are plenty of French, plus Dutch, Irish, Fins, Swiss, Americans, Canadians, South Africans, Aussies & Kiwis, Brazilians, Spanish, Orientals (can't be more precise) and some English, including a rather alternative type (bald with a tuft of hair and bivvying every night) who has apparently walked from Manchester.

Over breakfast we chatted to a Dutch couple that we have seen several times. They have an interesting knitted creature that is strapped to the side of the lady's rucksack. We've been wondering what it was for a few days; we're still not sure, but apparently he comes from Amsterdam Zoo and goes on holiday with various people and collects holiday snaps. He doesn't seem to say a lot, but the minders are very nice.

The days fall into a bit of a routine now and there is not so much new to report. From today, the new things are:

a) the increasing pilgrim traffic, a veritable pilgrim motorway

b) admiring the interesting structures for storing farm produce ...








c) passing the waymark that we believe equates to 50 miles to go








When we got to Palas de Rei, after just over 16 miles, we passed an information booth on the outskirts, staffed by a very nice lady who gave us a list of rooms and marked locations on a map. This was extremely helpful as we got a basic room at the first place she marked, and we also got an official town hall stamp from her for our credencials.

The stamps (sellos) are increasingly important now we are on the critical last 100 km. New pilgrims have to get at least 2 every day, preferably from churches, but it's no so important for us given our large collection.

It's currently after 6.00 pm and the temperature across the road at the pharmacy still shows 28 degrees. Apparently it may start to get cooler from tomorrow.

Just to rub the Midlands branch minders nose in it, every evening we get a 3 course pilgrim's menu that includes a bottle of wine for €9! It's good to be in a pilgrim friendly country. And the even better news is that the meals are bigger than they were 2 years ago, so we're not losing much weight.

Bye for now,

Love from the Camino bears xxx

Counting Down from 100

How's the heatwave in England? It's very hot in Spain, but fortunately it only gets really hot after 2.00 pm. In fact, at just before 8.00 am today it was actually quite cool. Once again, we managed to get most of our walking done by 2.00 so our fur didn't get too hot and sticky. We do wonder how Midland Branch minders are faring in Mallorca, as they're a fair bit further south.

Sarria, our place of departure this morning, is the last place you can start walking from, and obtain a Compostella. In other words it's a little over 100 km from Santiago, and 100 km is the minimum distance for a Compostella.

Not surprisingly, there were a lot of people on the Way today. We're used to seeing pilgrims carrying all their gear and enjoy comparing the size of their packs to ours. Today was a bit different. There were lots of people with small day sacks and we have to say a lot of them seemed to be French. We call these people plastic pilgrims, as they're not quite the genuine article.

Today's route was not the best or the worst. There were no particularly memorable bits, although we did enjoy seeing more pilgrim brown cows and also some sheep wandering along the way - most of them in the wrong direction! The good thing was that our paws felt in the best shape they've been for a while. However, we nearly got concussed a few times from falling sweet chestnuts and acorns. Crash helmets might be a good idea now that autumn is upon us (despite the heatwave).

The 100 km to go marker post was a bit of an attraction, and everyone was stopping for a photo, so we had one too.





However, we know that the kms are understated by about 9, so we had another picture at the 91 km to go pillar, as this is more likely to be in the right position to indicate 100 kms to go.





Accommodation was not a problem today, as yesterday we bravely phone booked a private room in an albergue. Considering a dorm bunk at the same place costs €10, our private room with sheets and towels is an absolute steal at €25. We may not be so lucky tomorrow!

Lots of love, the Camino Bears xxx

P.S. We like Portomarin as there is unlocked wifi at the town hall - what a great idea.

Lost 2!!

Oh dear we've done it again, we really must learn how to be techno bears. After another couple of hours of nimble pawed typing, our post has once again disappeared into the ether, lost forever.

It seems we are connecting to a router, but not to the internet, when we post. Our minder understands, and we think we do too now. We will have to be more careful in future.

Anyway, we have had a good day, although, as in England, we are sweltering in Sarria.

We came here via the huge Benedictine monastery of Samos, and had an interesting tour round.

When you see our next picture, I'm sure you'll agree it's a big space for 15 monks, although they also accommodate up to 90 pilgrims, just in one room though.





For the rest of our news, please see our link to our minders' blog -he doesn't make silly mistakes like us.

Love from the Camino Bears xxx

Lost (the post not us)!

We did prepare a nice post for you from Tricastela, where we are tonight, but sadly there was a posting problem and it's disappeared into the ether!

So unless we get to meet you face to face you won't know about ...

- the brown cow pilgrims
- a tarmac free day, yippee!
- our Galician tuna pie lunch
- being driven off by a Spanish
lady (Olga) to Casa Olga where
she has pension rooms
- getting better aquainted with our
Irish friend Roisin

All in all it's been a good day, and we'll be happy to tell you more, any time.

Lots of love, the Camino bears xxxx

Bears at Altitude

Right now it would almost be true to say that we have our heads in the clouds, as we have climbed up to O Cebreiro, at 1330m, a very high and tiny mountain top village, where you feel you're on top of the world and can look down on the rest of the world.

O Cebreiro is famous for the very old (9th century) church of Santa Maria Real, where Franciscan monks offer assistance to pilgrims, and also for it's pallozas, round structures with thatched roofs.

Fortunately we didn't have to climb all day to get here, just this afternoon. The morning's walk was not one we were looking forward to. We had read, most recently, in the German comedian, Hape Kerkelling's, book about his walk along the Camino, that you were dicing with death as you walked beside a main road, with lots of sharp bends, with traffic whizzing past, just millimetres away.

Thankfully, it is very different now. A new motorway has been built to carry most of the traffic, and concrete crash barriers have been built to separate pilgrims fom the few cars that come along.







The road also follows a fast moving river and also diverts off from time to time into a series of very pretty villages. There are lots of stone churches which today, for once, were all open, and there are lots of traditional buildings, many with wooden overhanging balconies. It was very pleasing to the eye, and also fascinating to see the huge concrete stilts carrying the new motorway way over our heads.

We also came across an encouraging mile marker, with St James of course, that told us we are now a long way from Roncesvalles and not so far from Santiago ...





This afternoon we had to ascend about 500 metres in 8km. Most of it was off road on good paths and through varied terrain. We passed through a couple of small farming hamlets which thankfully offered refreshments. We had our first ice cream which was very welcome as it was very hot this afternoon. We were very impressed by the Brazilian pilgrim runner who ran past us, at speed, on one of the steeper sections.

O Cebreiro hoved into sight at just the right time as we were getting increasingly hot and tired.
We found our pre-booked room o.k. and were soon rejuvenated, especially when went outside to take in the dramatic mountain views. The slopes are all very green and fertile.

Gio had an exciting time when we went to the church to look round and get a stamp for our pilgrim passports. It was given to us by a very nice Franciscan monk who admired Gio's Franciscan t-shirt and wished all 3 of us a buen camino.

We went back to the church at 7.00 p.m. for the Mass, but sadly the Pilgrim blessing which we really like, was only given in Spanish so we efectively missed it.

Sadly no wifi this evening so far, so you may have to wait a while to read this.

Lots of love, the Camino Bears xxx