hola Cruise, I know very well all about desperate searches for rest rooms. :D

Thanks for posting and please continue when you can.

¡Felicidades al abuelito!

While we're waiting for cruiseluv to continue her posts, I thought I'd bump this up to the top to add the scolding I just gave her personally via email, because I think it is something worth thinking about. Sorry, I don't mean to be preachy about this but I have had so many experiences with this that I just felt like bursting!

You'll see that in her first post, cruiseluv distinguishes herself from "real" pilgrims. This is no doubt a result of all the holier-than-thou pilgrims thinking that they are in charge of setting the standard for "real." But what is real? Do we have to walk barefoot, with a gourd, and a long brown robe? Do we have to start in Roncesvalles, or is it St. Jean, or Le Puy, or Paris, or Oslo? Or better yet, can we not be "real" unless we walk home from Santiago, since that's what they had to do in the middle ages.

I won't belabor this point, and I'm not accusing anyone here of doing this. My point is more to tell those of you who are thinking of starting out on a camino but are not comfortable with throwing a pack on your back, sleeping in albergues, and walking thousands of kms, that you shouldn't apologize for yourselves or somehow feel inferior. So there, take that! Buen camino, Laurie

Love it, Laurie! There ARE people who actually come right out and sneer when you say you have booked some nice B+b's along the way, not willing to share bathrooms and smelly sock odor... and have decided NOT to walk up some of the steeper climbs, etc.

So, the "holier than thou" attitude is prevalent at times..but "the others".. well.. we understand each other quite well and smile every night as we crawl into our clean sheets.

I think everybody needs to know his physical limitations and level of comfort of those you are traveling with. After that, it is just a wonderful experience that I hope many more are encouraged to take part in for as long as they can..after reading reports like these..

You know , at my age, I think it would be near impossible to walk the Camino in total(and certaintly ill advised) but nothing stopped me from walking on the some of the routes at various intervals..ie: Salamanca and points nearby, Burgos, Segovia, Madrid and the points nearby. . My passport shows the areas. I did not get stamped in Santiago as I did not walk the prerequiste end areas. I do feel I have experienced the wonder of the camino, the joy of accomplishment, and the fellowship of other pilgrims. If you want to try go for it and anyway is the right way !!!

Hi, lin,
I know all about the sneers and have heard all the snide comments, because though I hate to blow my cover, I'm one of those who usually sleeps in albergues with the snorers, the smells, the bathrooms..... Why do I do it? I'm not sure, but I certainly have done my best to stand up for more tolerance on the Camino. After all, if this is a pilgrimage, and people are walking to get good with their maker, what possible good does it do to be judgmental and condemning of others?

I am 62, did my first camino from Roncesvalles at age 50 and have walked every year since. I am totally in love with the Camino and though I am not a believer, I cannot think that Saint James or anyone else up there in heaven would be displeased to see how the Camino is drawing more and more people. So, although my many "real piligrim" friends would probably shudder, I want to say that I'm happy to offer my suggestions for anyone who wants to walk the camino in any way at all, with or without backpacks, in or out of albergues, whatever it takes to get you to see the beauty and wonder of the Camino. There is just nothing like it, IMO.

I want to thank you Laurie , for your support and, yes, for your scolding, LOL! When my family and I arrived at O'Cebreiro by taxi from the bus stop, and we took our suitcases out of the trunk, I was afraid people would start laughing at us! But thankfully, nothing like that happened. Actually, the next morning when we put our suitcases out for later pick up by Jacotrans , there were two more suitcases waiting to be picked up( so we were not the only ones!).

Amer_can, you got it right, hope you're planning to do more segments.

As you say Lin, the important thing is to participate in whatever way you can. As I was walking, always trailing my DH and kids, I had to every so often stop, look around, and say to myself "I'm really here!"

I'm just sorry that I started so late as I'm now hooked and want to keep doing it!

I'll resume writing tomorrow.

Yes.. it's such a great way to spend time.. and so much easier to figure out the logistics than one thinks.

I really think it would be fun to do a little Camino GTG for a few segments of the trail. I wine tour ahead of time.. hmmm. cold be alot of fun.

Unless I missed it, the people on Fodor's have always been supportive of all those who want to walk part of or all of the Camino.

Mrs Adu met a pilgrim who has walked the entire length 13 times and has written a book about it and now takes his daughter with him. I do think I have anyone who is more open and offers encouragement to others as Endika, no matter how far they walk or where they stay. Mrs Adu and the daughter still exchange e-mails.

There will always be those who need to create artificial barriers arising out of their own personal voids. They should be ignored as they usually suck the life and enjoyment out of any situation in which they are invovled.

No one on Fodor's has had that uppity attitude, Adu, but a very close "friend" ( friends.. really?) of mine does and I don't even tell her when I go.

Cruiseluv,

Thank you for your wonderful report.

Linca

There are people I know who make fun of the fact I seek out inexpensive but satisfying restaurants. My sister loves to stay in expensive hotels and does not understand why clean, safe, and comfortable is acceptable.

The one thing I know is the Camino is a personal experience and the restriction are placed by others as to whether you can stay at a certain albergue and do you qualify for you Composetela.

Otherwise, it is your Camino.

Day 3- Sarria to Portomarín- About 22 kms

IMO, this stage is the most beautiful we walked (well, maybe as beautiful as the first day from O’Cebreiro but in a different way). For the most part we walked on quiet country lanes and tree lined roads. That day we encountered a veritable parade of cows and bulls being shepherded by a couple of dogs. Of course, we stopped and let them go by (I think they have the right of way). The dogs went crazy barking when a couple of cows decided to stop and nibble from the leaves of a tree. Then, a bull decided to get a bit "frisky" with a cow, and wouldn't take "no" for an answer, to the laughter of all of us(my daughter caught it on video, we still laugh when we replay the scene)!

The day started with breakfast at Rectoral de Goian. Homemade muffins and marmalade, toast and yogurt. Once we finished Javier was ready to drive us back to Sarria, to the bottom of the steps where he had picked us the night before. We first went to the Iglesia de Santa Marina where the credencial could be stamped. Actually, we got two stamps: the first one a DIY stamp at the entrance of the church. We then noticed people lining up to go into the sacristy where a priest was also stamping the credencial (with a different stamp).

We then continued walking through town and prior to leaving it we stopped at the Convento de la Merced (also known as Monasterio de la Magdalena), from the XIII. We first thought it was closed but as we were turning to leave, a window above opened and a nice priest told us he would be right down. He was very sweet and wanted to know where we were from. And as usual, when I would say “United States” they would find it odd as I speak Spanish without an American accent (Spanish is my native language). So of course, I have to explain I’m Cuban born, etc ( the funny thing on this trip, I was asked if I was French or Italian several times). We got our credenciales stamped and the priest invited us to walk around the cloister, very beautiful and peaceful. We then said our goodbyes and were on our way out of Sarria. I was sorry we didn't have more time to explore the town, which seemed to have other buildings/ churches worth visiting.

Our first “rest” stop (I prefer to call them “café con leche” stops!) was at Casa Barbadelo, 3 kms outside Sarria, which in addition to bar/restaurant offers lodging (I peeked from afar at one of the rooms, which was being cleaned, it looked modern and attractive). I was already making mental notes for potential places to stay in a repeat visit!

We had another morning stop that morning, about 4 kms later, at Café O Xestelo. Lunchtime found us at Morgade, where we stopped at the cozy Casa Morgade, a stone Casa Rural which also serves a Pilgrims Menu. Can’t recall what I had but I remember it was very good, one of my preferred lunches. This looked like a nice place to stay too (although I didn't get to see the rooms).

Our afternoon walk continued, with one last stop (ok, this one was just a bathroom stop!) at cute Mercadoiro. I don't know what the "protocol" is, but every time I wanted to use the "facilities" I felt I needed to buy something, so this time it was just a bottle of water.

Shortly after we started going in a steep descent (at least for me) into Portomarín, by the river Miño. Here we were booked at the Pousada de Portomarin, a big (as compared to other places we stayed) hotel which was originally a Parador (double rooms were 85 Euros, the most expensive rooms we had in the Camino). Doesn't have any particular charm, but the rooms were comfortable ( although they could use a face lift)and bathroom was big and reasonably modern. Oh, and we had free wifi (to my daughter’s delight!).

After cleaning up we walked to the town plaza, which I found very handsome, with its stone colonnades, and Romanesque church of San Nicolas (which unfortunately was closed by then, and would be closed the next morning when we walked past it). We headed down to the recommended restaurant, O’ Mirador, enjoying a lovely view of the river/ reservoir from the glass enclosed terrace.
While we were having dinner we started reading about the next day’s walk, and my daughter alerted me that we would need to walk about 8 kms before a “café con leche” stop! Oh, dear, this brought back painful memories of day #2. I would need to do some thinking about what to do about that.

After another enjoyable dinner (I believe I had merluza (hake).I pretty much had fish/ seafood every day on the Camino),we strolled back to the hotel. The beds must have been comfortable because I know that I drifted very quickly into sleep.

To be continued...

What an enjoyable TR! You are taking many of us along with you on a beautiful long walk!

Lin: I'd love to join you and other Fodorites, but 2013 is a bit too soon for me for Spain. Perhaps another year...

Who knows if I'll be able to do 2013.. there are so many places I'd like to go..

I am loving the report!

I hope your daughter was wrong about the 8km before a coffee stop!

What were your kids' impressions of the journey?

Hi, cruiseluv,

Thanks for giving so much detail in your report. I haven't walked on the Frances between O'Cebreiro and Melide for many years, so I'm eager to hear how you found it. You are making me think that I should go back to the Frances next year. The crowds weren't suffocating?

I had lunch at the Casa Barbadelo once, and just looked at their website, http://www.barbadelo.com/. I can't believe what it looks like now. When I was there, must have been 2006, it was a little old stone house with a couple of rooms up top. Well, good for them, it looks nice if a bit motel-ish.

That same year, I slept in Morgade, http://www.casamorgade.com/ which was a working farm with a few rooms for an albergue. I had already seen its transformation to a hotel rural with restaurant, and we got a tour from the owner who remembered us. The rooms are pretty much what you would expect in a facility like this, and I think you'd be very comfortable there. The albergue part gets high reviews, also.

One of the most frustrating things about walking the camino is how so many of the churches are never open. It's a financial issue, I've been told. For the past couple of years the Junta de Castilla y Leon has provided some small amounts to give a stipend to villagers who want to keep their churches on the camino open, but alas, I think this program has been victim to budget cuts. And in Galicia, I know of nothing like that, so you just have to hope you can chance upon a church before a mass, or when the choir is practicing, or some other serendipitous event.

And I'm betting/hoping you found coffee before the 8 km mark! More, more, more!

Just a preview: No, unfortunately there wasn't anything for close to 8 kms! We need an enterprising person to open a bar/cafe somewhere between Portomarin and Gonzar!

More later...

Lin,

My kids really enjoyed it. My son's only negative comment was that there had been more walking by the road/asphalt than expected. I didn't think it was that much. My daughter had a field day taking pictures (her avocation), took about 4,000! I think she photographed every dog, cat, cow, sheep she came across!

Laurie,

There were no crowds! On the Camino we saw more cyclists than walkers( by the way, those cyclists can be dangerous. For whatever reason most of the times they don't call out a warning they're coming and you notice when they're almost on top of you!). Most of the times it was only the four of us on the Camino. Maybe the exception was the last day, as we approached Santiago but even then it was only a few .

Yes, it was very disappointing to find so many of the churches closed, Some were written up in the book and you could see they were something special but we couldn't get in. I would have rather have gotten sellos from churches than from the bars or hotels.

Churches are probably open for mass.. and there may only be one priest for several villages. So who knows when that is!

Day 4- Portomarín to Palas de Rei- About 25 kms

So yes, as feared, today we would need to walk about 8 kms before we could find a “café con leche” stop. So this presented a conundrum: go to the buffet breakfast at the Pousada , or forego any breakfast until we hit the first town, Gonzar. Remembering how awful I felt that 2nd day, without a restroom in sight for several kms, I opted to skip breakfast. The rest of the family didn’t seem to share my concerns and happily went downstairs about 7:30 to fill their tummies. I figured if I got lightheaded or something from hunger I would eat one of the trail mix bars I carried in the backpack.

We started walking about 8:30, it was foggy and COLD, I would say about 50F. Once we got out of Portomarín it was a continuous steep climb, not horrible but I felt it on my thighs. Initially we went through woodland, until we arrived at a path that goes by the main road. Later we would walk again through wooded area until we reached Gonzar. I don’t think I was ever as happy to see a town sign as when I saw the white sign with black letters heralding GONZAR ! The café bar there was a welcome sight. I was craving some tostadas (buttered toast) and café con leche. But it was not to be. The bartender informed me it was too late for tostadas, only bocadillos were being served (what??!! It was not even 11 AM). Oh well, a bocadillo it is.
Later we stopped for lunch at Ventas de Narón, at Casa Molar. Even though it was past 1 PM it seemed we were early for lunch and the barmaid had to go rouse the cook so he could come and start cooking!

My recollection is this day was not a difficult walk (maybe with the exception of the initial climb from Portomarín), with a variety of terrains.

We reached Palas de Rei about 4:30PM. Our place for the night was Casa Benilde, right in town. It’s a simple, modern hotel (65 euros for a double). The staff welcomed us as if they had been waiting for us all day! It was without a doubt the warmest welcome we got anywhere in the Camino, they had even taken our luggage up to the room and were eager to give us a rundown of the town and offer recommendations of places to eat. My most pressing concern was to find a place where we could have dinner watching a big TV as that was July 1st, day for the Euro Cup final between Spain and Italy. The man at reception offered several suggestions, and after dropping our backpacks in the room, our son and I set out to check them out . We first stopped at the town church, the sweet San Tirso Romanesque church, to get our credencial stamped. Actually, we should have walked past this church on the Camino once we got into town, but for some reason we had gotten disoriented and reached the hotel via a different street. We then checked three different restaurants/ cafes and decided on “A Forxa:”, around the corner from the hotel.

Though the rooms at Casa Benilde are pretty small, they’re modern, functional and super clean. The bathroom by comparison had a good size, with a tub. It looked brand new, thick nice towels and very good water pressure.

That night we had a pretty good peregrino menu at the “A Forxa”. We got there early to snag a table with a good view of the big flat TV screen suspended high on the wall. We were still eating dinner when the game started and stayed there through the end. It was lots of fun, especially because Spain won!!

That must have been fun to be in a bar with all those people and Spain winning! Even where I live, with the windows open you could hear every burst of "GOOOOOOOOOL!" constantly. It was exciting.

I'm enjoying your report as I am sure many others are , too!

Oh yes, we were screaming GOOOOOOL!!! too! Although, after the 3rd one I started feeling bad for Italy (and especially for their goalie Buffon whom I love, although not as much as Casillas!).

So, cruiseluv, now I can place exactly how far apart we were, because I was watching the game in the little hotel bar up at the Finisterre lighthouse. Our plan was to see both the game and the sunset, but there was no sunset! There were three Italians there and fortunately they were very good natured about the whole thing.

And I think you've hit on the way to enjoy the Camino in spite of the crushing crowds (which you never saw!). Leave at a reasonable hour-- because if you had left Portomarin at any time between 6 and 7, you would have seen a steady stream of humanity. I was in that stream in Arzua. There were around 800-1000 arriving at the pilgrims office in Santiago every day during the week you're describing, and though not all of them were on the Frances, certainly the vast majority of them were.

Gotta love the food rules -- too late to toast a piece of bread, but not too late to put ham and cheese on it.

You're getting close to Santiago!

I suspected that it was the "late" time we started walking that accounted for the solitude. I don't think I would have liked to walk with a sea of humanity, so I'm glad it worked that way (although , as I mentioned, we encountered many cyclists!). The downside is that we didn't have as much time to look around the towns when we arrived.

Laurie, is the walk to Finisterre nice?

Hi, cruiseluv,

For years, the walk to Finisterre could only be done in a 3 day package -- the first, a short day to Negreira (24 km), the second a long day to Olveiroa (31), and the third another long day to Finisterre (31). This was true even if you weren't wedded to albergues, there just wasn't any accommodation in any of the other towns.

This is changing pretty rapidly. I walked this year Santiago - Muxia - Finisterre and found a couple of new places that allow you to break it up into 4 or more days.

I have posted some updates here: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board...opic14568.html And there is more information in the santiago-to-finisterre section of the forum.

But the question you asked was whether it was nice, not whether there was accommodation, so sorry for the tangent. Yes, it's very nice. The hamlet of Ponte Maceira alone worth the effort. Just google it, it's a gorgeous little place on two sides of the river, just beautiful. There is some road walking, not overly much, too many eucalyptus trees for my taste, but it goes through many small hamlets and many rural areas. If you walk from Santiago to Finisterre, rather than Santiago to Muxia to Finisterre, you will have a nice long stretch of beach walking.

I know that some feel that going on to Finisterre really takes them to "the end." That could be true even though Finisterre really isn't the westernmost point of Europe, that honor belongs to Cabo da Roca on the coast of Portugal north of Cascais. Finisterre and Muxia are both pretty amazing places (though Muxia is less touristy and the church is on an amazing promontory), so I think that so long as people want to keep walking, they should continue on to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

Sorry for the long post, but if you're thinking of walking on to Finisterre the next time, we should talk!

Following along with great interest!

Thanks Laurie for your comments on Finisterre walk. I did go to the other board to read your comments there as well, thanks again!
I'm even thinking, maybe I'll go to Santiago and then just do this walk(at least one way). But are there any accommodations on the way there I could reserve in advance? They don't have to be fancy, but I do require private bathroom.
Oh, you burst my bubble, I didn't realize it wasnt't the westernmost point!
I'll be back soon to finish my report.

Hi, cruiseluv,

Well, I have seen references to some nice casas rurales, which might be just your cup of tea. And in the main stopping places (Negreira, Olveiroa, Cee) there are plenty of private places.

Here's a place about two kms from Ponte Maceira, which is one of the prettiest little villages along a river you will ever see. I'd say it's about 18-19 kms out of Santiago, so maybe a good first day's stop. http://www.ruralsantiago.com/ It says they are two km from the camino but they will do pick-up and drop-off.

If you did that the first day, on day 2 you would probably walk beyond Negreira, which is the place most people stop on their first day, and it's about 24 kms from Santiago, or 5-6 from this Casa Rural, making it a great coffee stop. In Negreira, there is private accommodation, though -- http://www.hotel-tamara.com/ , so if you wanted to walk all the way to Negreira, you'd find a hotel.

Negreira to Olveiroa is 33kms, more if you stop at Ponte Maceira. More than you probably want to walk, so cutting it up would be possible -- look at the mundicamino site, they list casas rurales in Maronas and Corzon.

Olveiroa has two really nice hoteles rurales, so no problem there.

From Olveiroa to Cee, on the water and a nice coastal town, is about 18 kms, lots of hotels.

Cee to Finisterre is 12, and there too you'll find lots of alternatives.

The British confraternity has an online guide that is short but has lots of information. http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm

Brierley has a guide just dedicated to Santiago-Finisterre, but I haven't ever seen or used it.

It's a nice 3-5 day walk, about 90 kms total, I think. The scenery is nice, but not jaw-dropping, and there are some chunks with a fair amount of road walking, but a great way to spend a few days!

and p.s., if you are going to Finisterre, why not continue on to Muxia? That's where Martin Sheen and his friends in "The Way" ended. Muxia is a lot less touristy than Finisterre (though I like Finisterre a lot), and the church on the rocky promontory is just spectacular. Tradition has it that when Santiago came back to life and helped the Spaniards push back the Moors in the Reconquista, the Virgen appeared to him at Muxia on those rocks.

I walked Santiago-Muxia-Finisterre this year, and some pictures are at the end of my Primitivo pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/laurie....6Vk6OWv8um1QE#

When are you thinking of walking this camino?

But we are waiting to hear about the rest of this Camino!

Hi Laurie, thanks for the link to the pictures, beautiful! I'm so torn before Primitivo and walking to Finisterre (don't think I could do both!).

If it was up to me I would do it next year, but we already have some travel plans in the books so it will probably not happen then. When I told my daughter to pencil it in for 2014, she thought it was too soon! I told her I don't have as much time as her to wait.

Day 5- Palas de Rei to Melide– About 15 kms

Today will be a short day and I could not have been happier! The typical stage is from Palas de Rei to Arzua, which is about 30 kms. So we decided to break it in two, not only to have a break of two shorter days, but also to stay at the same hotel for two nights. I scoured the internet, message boards , etc. for the “perfect place” ,and thought I found it in the Pazo de Sedor in Castañeda (between Melide and Arzua) . But more about that later. www.pazodesedor.com ( doubles about 80 Euros)

We had breakfast at Casa Benilde, which actually was my only complaint about the place. They charged us 10 Euros pp (the highest we paid in our whole trip and certainly on the Camino) for a breakfast with very little fruit and prepackaged croissants and muffins. The lady that serviced the breakfast area was very attentive, but that’s about the best I could say about it. So if you stay here, go to a bar/café and save quite a few Euros.

It was great not being in a hurry knowing we just had to cover about 15 kms that day. Our 2nd café con leche stop came at O Coto, at the Casa de Somoza café/bar in a lovely garden. They also had what must have been the friendliest bartender we encountered in any of our stops (he also prepared a really yummy café con leche). Before we left he insisted my daughter pose with a staff and pilgrim’s hat with scallop which he provided. The Casa de Somoza offers rooms with private bath. Wish I had asked to see one if possible for a future visit, I really liked the setting.

We continued our walk to our destination of Melide, crossing the picturesque medieval bridge into Furelos and then climbing into Melide. We arrived there by around 2:00 and were ready for lunch. I had read so much about the pulpo (octopus) in Melide and was really looking forward to sampling it there. We followed Lincasanova’s recommendation of Pulperia Ezequiel and were so glad we did! From the casual communal setting of long wooden tables, friendly service and delish pulpo , it could not have been more perfect. We had eaten pulpo before in prior visits to Galicia, but this one was out of this world! My son was feeling adventuresome and also ordered orejas de cerdo (pig’s ears). A little too chewy for me.

Once we finished lunch we walked around town for a bit. Saw Iglesia San Roque , unfortunately closed ,and went to Iglesia Parroquial Sancti Spiritus, next to city hall (where we thought we could get a stamp for our credencial). Although the church was open we couldn’t find anywhere to get our stamp. So, we decided to call the taxi driver that had been recommended by the owner of the Pazo so he could drive us the short (by car) distance. The taxi driver, Jesus, promptly came and took us to the Pazo(less than 10 minutes).

As we approached it I could see it was just as I had imagined it: a gorgeous stone pazo, surrounded by rolling green hills and pasture. The owners were not home but a lady that worked there gave us the keys to the rooms and accompanied us. They even have an elevator! The room I got (sharing with my daughter) was ok in size; the bathroom was also big and modern. But the room my husband and son got was very small, with the smallest twin beds I have ever seen. I offered to go talk to the lady and see if they could move to a bigger room. But they had already made themselves comfortable and didn’t want to change.

We had dinner at the Pazo (not included in the rate), and this proved to be a very uncomfortable experience. The woman in charge of the restaurant/ kitchen was extremely rude and made us feel totally unwelcome. Actually, she ruined the evening. The food was also pretty mediocre, so all in all not what I expected. Unfortunately, this would not be the last run in we would have with her.

After dinner we sat in the front courtyard and enjoyed the star filled night for a while before going to bed.

What a shame about the nasty lady at the pazo! We stayed there a few nights on our camino as we were a large group and I don't recall any friction whatsoever, even with all our group movements in and out and up and down!

I hope the next days are "happier!" A shame to feel mistreated, especially n a trip like this. You are in a certain "mind state" and it is even MORE shocking when you get bad treatment in such bucolic settings. I wonder if she was the owner or unhappy staff?

Lin,

Don't know if she was related to the owners or just an employee. She seemed to carry sway with others there. The next afternoon I met one of the owners, a lovely woman, and was tempted to tell her of our experience, but decided not to rehash the whole situation. I had also dealt with this lady's brother (another of the owners) by email and he had been very polite.

As I'll explain later, we had one more and even worse encounter with this harridan. It's just too bad because it would keep me from staying again in this place which as you know is gorgeous.

wow what a shame. I only dealt with the owner and her brother.

Hi, cruiseluv,
10 euros for breakfast at the Casa Benilde -- I think you got the special pilgrim price. :-) I know that happens now and then, it's happened to me a few times. It's not really the money that's so annoying, it's just this sense that you're a chump and they're taking advantage of you. Some of my non-Spaniard Camino friends have had this happen so often that they now try to make a point of asking the price or asking for a menu before they order anything anywhere. That's just not going to happen for most people, seems to me.

Ok, you're in Melide now and getting very close. I happened to be in Melide on a Sunday this year, and though I have been through there many times, I must never have hit it on a Sunday because there was a huge, lively, happy market throughout the entire old part of town. Amazing cheese, bread, produce, lots of "artesanal" kinds of food items like oils, honeys, etc. I was told it's a weekly event, it was a lot of fun.

The suspense is building for the worst experience at the Pazo de Sedor to be revealed....

Actually, this incident is very upsetting/ disappointing to me at Pazo de Sedor as I definitely was planning on using it next time i go up there.

I figured rather than reinvent the wheel, I would cut and paste the section from my review on Tripadvisor that deals with the breakfast fiasco the next morning:

"The next morning when we went for breakfast at about 8:15 ( we were told breakfast started at 8:00) we found that most things had already been consumed by a group that was already there. We sat and waited thinking that they would be replenished (the same horrid woman had peeked out of the kitchen and seen we had arrived). After 10 mins went by with the buffet not being replenished my husband got up and looked into the kitchen and motioned to the woman to please come out. When he pointed out that there was very little food out she shrugged her shoulders and said "Se acabó!" (It's finished!). At that point I intervened since I speak Spanish and told her it was totally unacceptable to charge us for breakfast and expect us to basically eat the crumbs left behind by other people. Her look was one of contempt and fury. Without a word of apology, she went back to the kitchen and then later came out with plates of fruit, bread and some cold cuts(in the process, throwing the plates on the table). I was so upset I couldn't even eat.

Given this shabby treatment, we decided we wouldn't eat dinner that evening or breakfast the next morning there. We took a cab into town and had a much more enjoyable time (cheaper too!).

It's a shame that I can't recommend this place because its indeed beautiful. But the poor dining experience and not feeling welcome were too big of a negative. I considered telling the owner the next day but frankly, I didn't want to relive the whole negative experience. "

Such a shame. I don't blame you. These incidents have no place on a trip like this. This should never have happened.

Sad to hear about this unsavory breakfast experience. But happy I stumbled upon your trip report. It is definitely filling my mind with the possibility of doing a camino of my own one day! :-)

Yes, a shame but we didn't let it dampen our enthusiasm for the trip going forward.

Laurie,
The market in Melide sounds great! I'll try to time my stop there next time for a Sunday. Did you notice if most restaurants are closed that day?
To be fair to Casa Benilde, we knew going in what the breakfast price would be. My problem was that the way they described it it sounded that, although pricey, it would be magnificent. It wasn't, actually I would describe it as mediocre.

Back soon to continue trip report.

As mentioned before really enjoying your posts....El Camino is different for everyone.Each having their own experiences. If anybody is interestedthis is a short post on my experince of the great walk( from Roncesvalles to Santiago): http://theartichokeadventures.thespa...ion-footsteps/