Final Itinerary

Friday, March 27th we got the email part of the CaminoWays Holiday Pack with the hotel information in it.  The accommodations are pretty much the same as they were in the first itinerary except for the casa rural in Ventas de Naron and the hotel in Santiago.  So now we can put together the itinerary for the whole trip except for the train back to Madrid.

Thurs April 30 (Day 1): Flight to Madrid from Pittsburgh via Philadelphia

• Leave Pittsburgh on US Airways Flight 4571 at 10:15 am, arriving Philadelphia at 11:25 am.
• Leave Philadelphia on US Airways Flight 740 to Madrid at 6:45 pm. (Yes, it's a 7 hour layover!!  What are we going to do for that amount of time?  You can only walk for so long.  Maybe we can take a nap somewhere on the floor.  At least we shouldn't miss the connection.)

Fri May 1 (Day 2):

• Arrive Madrid 8:20 am if we are on time and don't have to return to Philadelphia again an hour into the flight.  
• Take the Pink Metro Line 8 to Nuevos Ministerios; switch to the Blue Metro Line 10 towards the Charmartin Train Station (37 minutes total).  
• Take the 2:40 train to Leon or switch to an earlier train (10:30, 11:05) depending on when we land. 
• Check into Hotel El Rincón del Conde (118.80€ for 2 nights) on a pedestrianized street in the Barrio Humedo in the city center with wifi and private bath.

Sat May 2 (Day 3): Explore Leon

Sun May 3 (Day 4): Leave Leon and take the 10:15am ALSA bus to Lugo, arriving at 1:30pm (17.54€ apiece) and then the 1:45pm Monbus to Sarria, arriving at 2:15pm (3.70€ apiece).  The trip from Leon to Lugo goes through some of the towns on the Camino that we will be missing: Astorga, Ponferrada, Villafranca del Bierzo, Piedrafita do Cebreiro.  Lugo looks like an interesting town but I don't think we'll have time to linger, although we could take the 4:35pm bus instead and walk around.
In Sarria we stay in the Alfonso IX Hotel.  It has a sauna and swimming pool, and Wi-Fi Gratis as well as free parking.  Too bad we don't have a car...

Begin walking.  The hours are based on 30 min and 20 min miles.

Mon May 4 (Day 5):  Walk to Morgade (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
CaminoWays: Casa O Foilebar, a casa rural in Paradela which is 8 km south of Portomarin.   We give them a call from Morgade (I hope our phones work) and they come pick us up and then deliver us back to Morgade the next morning.  They don't mention wifi.

Tues May 5 (Day 6): Walk to PortoMarin (9 km/5.4 miles) (1.8-2.7 hours)
Stay in Pousada de Portomarin, again a run-of-the-mill hotel.  I wonder if they have any redeeming qualities like a good pilgrim's menu and a good breakfast buffet.  It appears to have wired Internet access (how do we connect an iPhone/iPad?).

Wed May 6 (Day 7): Walk to Ventas de Naron (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
In Ventas de Naron there are no accommodations so we'll need to call the casa rural where we have reservations, Casa do Campo in Monterroso, and they will come pick us up, as it is 8.5 kilometers off the Camino.  The casa rural in the sample itinerary was the Pazo de Ludeiro which had been featured on the Paltrow/Batalli/Bitman TV series so I'm sure the prices and demand for it went up.  Casa do Campo is also family-run and small.  It doesn't have a website so we can't check that out but there are reviews on TripAdvisor which are very positive.  No mention of wifi however.

Thu May 7 (Day 8): Walk to Palas de Rei (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
Stay at Complejo la Cabana  (69€)  Looks interesting and it has wifi in the common areas.

Fri May 8 (Day 9): Walk to Melide (14 km/8.4 miles) (1.8-4.2 hours)
Stay at Hotel Carlos 96, again not a very interesting hotel that's across from a Peugeot dealership but at least it is supposed to have wifi.  We anticipate having plenty of time to explore the city and eat pulpo.

Sat May 9 (Day 10): Walk to Arzua (14 km/8.4 miles) (1.8-4.2 hours)
Stay at  Casa Teodora Pension  This is on the Camino and looks nice and even has wifi in the rooms.

Sun May 10 (Day 11): Walk to Rua (16 km/9.6 miles) (3.2-4.8 hours)
Stay at O Acivro, a casa rural right on the Camino that offers wifi.

Mon May 11 (Day 12): Walk to Santiago (19 km/11.4 miles) (3.8-5.7 hours)

In Santiago we are lodged at a contemporary hotel in the business district south of the historic city center: Hotel Gelmirez, not at the Hospedería San Martín Pinario near the Cathedral, as in the sample itinerary.  Hotel Gelmirez has a public parking lot in front of it in case we are driving and it is near the Galician regional parliament.  That's somewhat disappointing but we are only there one night and then we transfer to a small 3-room hostal up by the cathedral.  The Gelmirez is a 3 star hotel and I like to stick to 2 stars because they are less sterile.  But I'm sure there won't be any bedbugs...AND it has free wifi.

Tues May 12 (Day 13): Santiago. Check out of the Hotel Gelmirez and check into Pension Acibeche, a 3-room establishment over a store.  It has wifi.  Explore the city and the Cathedral.  Get our compostela and make sure we make it to Mercado de Abastos, although we won't be buying anything to cook -- unless they cook it right there in front of us, which I understand is a possibility.

Wed May 13 (Day 14):  Take the 9:05 Renfe train to Madrid, arriving at 2:56 pm.  Check into Hotel Clement Barajas (62€) near the airport.  With free wifi and airport transportation.

Thurs. May 14 (Day 15): Flight to Charlotte 12:35 pm.  Arrive 3:51 pm.  Flight to Pittsburgh 10:09 pm.  Arrive 11:26 pm.  Yes.  Another 7 hour layover.  That's what happens when you use AAdvantage miles.  Maybe we could go into Charlotte for dinner.

Camino Ways

Camino Ways is an Irish company that books hotels for you and carries your luggage on the Camino.  I asked for a quote for our trip (since it is the High Season in May) and they sent me the schedule for the 10 night easy walk version.  That might take too much time out of our 13 nights in Spain if we wanted to spend some time in Leon and Santiago de Compostela.

In	Out	Nights	Pax	Twin	Stage	Meals	Luggage Transfer	Comment	Km	Accommodation First choice depending on availability.
03-May	04-May	1	2	1	Sarria	B	No	Check-in		Alfonso IX 3*
04-May	05-May	1	2	1	Morgade	BD	Yes	Walking	11	O'Foilebar GH
05-May	06-May	1	2	1	Portomarin	BD	Yes	Walking	9	Pousada de Portomarin 3*
06-May	07-May	1	2	1	Ventas de Naron	BD	Yes	Walking	11	Pazo de ludeiro GH
07-May	08-May	1	2	1	Palas do Rei	BD	Yes	Walking	11	Complejo la Cabana 3*
08-May	09-May	1	2	1	Melide	BD	Yes	Walking	14	Carlos 96
09-May	10-May	1	2	1	Arzua	BD	Yes	Walking	14	Teodora
10-May	11-May	1	2	1	Rua	BD	Yes	Walking	16	Casa de Acivro GH
11-May	12-May	1	2	1	Lavacolla	BD	Yes	Walking	10	Ruta Jacobea 3*
12-May	13-May	1	2	1	Santiago de C.	B	Yes	Walking	9	Hospederia San Martin Pinario 3*

Nine kilometers is only 5 1/2 miles or a couple of hours walking so maybe this is too easy for us.  We might get bored with nothing to do in a small village, and we found in 2007 that there often is nothing in these small towns, not even stores, although at this stage of the Camino there should be more.  I don't like the idea of 3* hotels -- 2* are more in keeping with my plebeian spirit and even that should shame us when the rest of the pilgrims are in dormitory bunks.  However, I do like a good night's sleep, clean sheets and our own bathroom, not to mention the security of knowing we've got a place to sleep at night, especially since we will be among the slower walkers and will arrive later than most pilgrims.

I guess we should go on a trial 20 kilometer (12 mile) walk to see how hard it really is for us.  I had no problems in 2007 but that was 8 years ago.  Fortunately if they carry our luggage for us we don't have to worry about heavy backpacks.