Day 28 (6/8) O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

The final walk!

While the group left O Pedrouzo in various stages, it is a program tradition to enter the plaza together as a group. The first part of the walk is beautiful forest, but after that it's pretty industrial.

We met up with the group about half a mile from the Cathedral plaza in Santiago while waiting on the rest of the group to arrive; once we were complete, we walked together as a large group into the Cathedral plaza, serenaded by bagpipes, and celebrated the completion of a very long and difficult (and rewarding) journey. It was overcast in the plaza, and it even rained briefly; I will note that the vibe was a little more subdued than in 2024; nevertheless, it was still an incredibly meaningful moment.

There were hugs, photos, smiles, and sighs of exhaustion. What a great feeling of community and accomplishment.

After spending some time in the plaza, we went to get our Compostela from the Pilgrim's office and then had a few hours to relax and have dinner before meeting up as a large group to tour the tomb of Saint James (in the cathedral) and attend the Pilgrim's mass. There was a new translation service this year, so it was great to be able to attend the mass and understand what was being shared.

After mass, folks could gallivant however they pleased, but we encouraged folks to return to the plaza around 9:30 to be serenaded by the Tunas!

https://tunaderechosantiago.com/

Según la historiografía local, los orígenes de la Tuna de Derecho de Santiago de Compostela se sitúan, sin duda alguna, entre el Mesozoico y la segunda mitad del siglo XX, producto de la inhalación excesiva de "gas ribeiro" por una docena y media de jóvenes estudiantes cuya principal pasión era causar infartos entre el personal docente y tañer extrañas y originales cítaras importadas del lejano Cipango.

Poorly translated by Google:

According to local historiography, the origins of the Law School Tuna of Santiago de Compostela are undoubtedly situated between the Mesozoic era and the second half of the 20th century, a product of the excessive inhalation of "ribeiro gas" by a dozen and a half young students whose main passion was to cause heart attacks among the teaching staff and to play strange and original zithers imported from distant Cipango.

Day 27 (6/7) Arzua to O Pedrouzo

Written on 6/10/Finished on 6/12

This feels like another somewhat nondescript day; leaving Arzua is not the prettiest of walks--it's like...a lot of car exhaust, crossing intersections, and feeling nostalgic for fields of wildflowers and covered forest paths.

Today was a rare sleep-in day, so we had a late start after breakfast (on trail around 9:30) and were among the last to leave the hotel. Cory and I mostly walked by ourselves today. Upon arriving in the outskirts of O Pedrouzo, we checked in with the hospitalera, Carmen, and ventured into town because they were hosting some sort of festival--I'm still not clear what was being celebrated (Corpus Cristi?) and it was relatively low-key, but it was worth the side-quest. O Pedrouzo marks the penultimate walk/stop before arriving in Santiago de Compostella.

I got to dress like Big Jim!

Deya (dressed like Big Jim) and Faith

A scene from the festival

Jeff, Kellie, and Cory at the festival

Lots of tall chickens in this region of Spain

Distance signage

Having a nice walk

Note the double knee braces and ankle brace. . .

Day 26 (6/6) Palas del Rei to Arzua

Happy Birthday, Taylor!

This was the biggest day (in terms of mileage) on the Camino in 2026. Because we stayed on the eastern outskirts of Palas del Rei the night before, it tacked on more mileage today, making the first and only 20+ mileage day.

Honestly, not too much to say about today other than we did a ton of walking. And then some more walking. And then we hit the 10 mile mark and did more walking. Sounds like everyone was feeling pretty fresh up until about mile 16, which is when people's bodies started giving signals that it was time to stop walking. Only it wasn't. But eventually it was. After several more miles of walking. 20.5 miles, to be exact.

With the exception of some light rain for the first 90 minutes, I was excited that we had good weather for today's walk. If it had been boiling lava hot as it was in the middle of our trip, it would have made the 20 mile walk that much harder.

We were among the last to arrive at Hotel Arzua around 5:30. I'm going to finish this post tomorrow, but I can't conclude this post without talking about the "laundry anarchy" that happened while I was in Hotel Arzua. Stay tuned.

Also, welcome Faith and Clara--they're students who did the 2024 Camino program (and Faith also did 2022 and served as a hospitalera)--they enjoyed their experience so much that they're back for an encore! It's so great to see them reconnect with the Camino and for our students to have an opportunity to meet and interact with them.

I have a photo below about Santiago Cake: here's a description (sorry, y'all, it's from Wikipedia):

Torta de Santiago (in Galician) or Tarta de Santiago (in Spanish), literally meaning cake of St. James, is an almond cake or pie from Galicia with its origin in the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago. The ingredients mainly consist of ground almonds (almond flour), eggs, and sugar, with additional flavoring of lemon zest, sweet wine, brandy, or grape marc, depending on the recipe used. It is the most well-known of the cakes of Galicia.

Torta de Santiago has a round shape and can be made with or without a base, which can be either puff pastry or shortcrust pastry. The top of the pie is decorated with powdered sugar, stenciled with a silhouette of the Cross of Saint James (cruz de Santiago), which gives the pastry its name. The origin of the cross being decorated on the cake dates to 1924 when the "Casa Mora" began to adorn the almond cakes with the silhouette. The cross is a symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimages, and the cake is said to reward pilgrims upon the completion of their journey.

Photo credits: Cory I

A big paella pan

Walking into Arzua. That mural is part of a series called "Estrellas del Camino"

Welcome to Arzua 

Happy peregrinos

We walk for ice cream

Galicia is known for its octopus dishes. This place, in particular, is a well known establishment.

One of our favorite scallop dishes

Cheesin' at the pulperia

Another one of the Estrellas del Camino murals

Views along the trail

We document sightings of Santiago (Big Jimmy) along the trail

Love a good forest trek

We found Clara and Faith on the trail!

Santiago Cake

Started the day off in the rain

Day 25 (6/5) Portomarin to Palas del Rei

Happy Party Shirt Friday!

Another great walk with the Giraffe Brothers. We had a little chuckle in that Portomarin is technically off route--you cross the river and climb up a big ass hill into the city, only to turn right back around, descend a big ass hill, and cross another bridge to continue on the Camino.

It was a foggy morning--we climbed out of the clouds into a forested area with beautiful dappled light. After Sarria, the trail gets way, WAY more crowded. We felt like we spent the first half of this walk dodging other peregrinos. The Ragnar race series refers to passing people as "kills." For obvious reasons, I don't like that, so we changed the concept from "kills" to "buen caminos," and if you pass someone in your own group, it's a "buen camino, amigo/a." From lunch to the end of the walk, we had 90 buen caminos. Buen camino is the standard trail greeting between pilgrims. It's also a less aggressive way of saying "excuse me," as you're trying to pass.

Relatively uneventful walk (although great conversation), but a major trail highlight was getting to see a 3-day old pony. Jeff notes in his social media post that he's carried cheese in his pack older than the pony.

We arrived at Hotel Calixtino (a few miles out of Palas del Rei) and some students gave an excellent presentation on sustainability and responsible tourism of the camino.

Among the questions and curiosities raised during their presentation, we learned that there were more than 530,000 peregrinos that completed at least 100K of the camino in 2025; the number is actually probably much higher because not every peregrino finishes in Santiago de Compostella or receives their credential.

The group brainstormed different ways to disperse overcrowding on the trail, which could include increasing the required trail minimum from 100 to 150km to further disperse pilgrims along the trail or incentivize peregrinos (or albergue owners or cafe owners) to take more interest in routes other than the Camino Frances. Also, trekking poll rubber tips--get 'em.

Shoutouts to Elena's Mom and Sophia's family--thanks for reading.

Photo credits: Cory I

Student presentation on sustainability and responsible tourism

The Camino Frances (the route we take to Santiago de Compostella)

Walking into the albergue

Beautiful horses along the trail

Horse along the trail

Phone eats first

Walking along the trail

Trail views

Trail views leaving Portomarin

Day 24 (6/4) Barbadelo to Portomarin

(written on 6/5)

So, so close to catching up.

The walk from Barbadelo to Portomarin is pretty chill, although there's a significant downhill as you descend toward the river. Portomarin is a cool town. 

From Caminoways:

In the 1960s, an event unfolded that would forever change the face of Portomarín. The construction of the Belesar Reservoir led to the damming of the Miño River, threatening the original village with submersion. This village, established in the Middle Ages beside a Roman bridge, faced an existential crisis. The response? A bold and unprecedented move to relocate the entire village to higher ground.

The relocation of Portomarín wasn’t just a matter of moving a community; it was about preserving its historical soul. Key historical structures, like the 12th-century Romanesque church of San Xoán de Portomarín and the Capela de San Pedro, were carefully dismantled, stone by stone, and reconstructed in the new village location. This monumental effort not only saved these historical gems from the rising waters but also symbolically resurrected the town’s history and identity.

Photos from Cory I

Walking along the trail

Bridge view entering Portomarin

Walking into Portomarin

Bridge view from Portomarin

Sunset at Portomarin

Sunset at Portomarin

Jeff and Kellie in Portomarin

Bridge view in Portomarin

Day 23 (6/3) Fonfria to Barbadelo

After eating breakfast at the albergue, we all boarded taxis to skip a ghastly downhill 7km walk and were dropped off in Triacastela. This was the day in 2024 where Jeff, Kimmy and I inadvertently zigged when we should have zagged and added an additional 5-6 miles to our walk, We avoided that mistake this year.

Neither Cory nor I took particularly good photos today. I'll have to hit the students up for better images. I'll say that between the two routes (Samos route from 2024 or the route through Montán 2026), I think I preferred the 2026 option. Good views, good cafe stops, and 2 hours shorter. I mentioned in an earlier post that we've had a few mid-trail breaks at places where our auras definitely get fluffed, and today was like, the most epic aura fluffing. It was a very cool commune with sustainable practices and I loved its message of sharing peace and love and joy, but also lots of aura fluffing.

I also broke my own rule of never going off-route to chase a cafe or a sightseeing destination (I'm very lazy) but we did find good tapas at a riverside cafe in Sarria that was like...2 minutes off route. 

Worth noting is that Sarria is just over 100km to Santiago de Compostella, and in order to get your pilgrim credential, you have to walk at least 100k, so many pilgrims start their walk from Sarria. We moved through Sarria to Barbadelo (it's the one albergue that has an open pool!), but as a peregrino (pilgrim), you can see the massive influx of folks walking the Camino from Sarria to Compostela. More cafes, more souvenirs, and more trail traffic.

Sophia in conversation with another peregrino

Cory along the trail

Cory playing at the commune

Phone eats first; great cafe stop along the river

Paella

Day 22 (6/2) Herrerias to Fonfria

(written 6/5) 

Happy Birthday, Mama G! I love you and appreciate you.

This day might be my favorite day on the Camino based on the beauty of the walk and the novelty of the towns we visit. We left las Herrerías fairly early because the walk is pretty burly in terms of elevation gain.

Kellie: "Cory, help me write this blog post."
Cory: "It was like...moist that morning. From the rain."

I think we have the beginnings of the next great American novel.

One of these days I'll actually post the elevation profiles and maps of the various stages of the Camino, but today is not that day.

We climbed up and up and up and up until we reached O Cebreiro. Like 2024, there was someone playing the bagpipes to usher us into town, which is a very fun way to reach O Cebreiro. From CaminoWays:

Perched at 1,300 metres above sea level, this charming spot marks the gateway from the region of El Bierzo into Galicia. O Cebreiro is a small yet remarkable village, full of character and history.

Nestled between the O Courel and Os Ancares mountain ranges, O Cebreiro is home to traditional mountain dwellings called ‘pallozas’. These unique pre-Roman homes can only be found in this part of Galicia

‘Pallozas’ are circular or oval, with granite or slate walls up to 1.70 meters high and thatched roofs. These houses are examples of Celtic design and offer a glimpse into ancient life in the region.

By the early 20th century, O Cebreiro’s church and inn were in ruins, while locals still lived in ‘pallozas’. The priest of O Cebreiro, Don Elías Valiña Sampedro, secured funding to restore the church and village. They built new houses, rehabilitated the ‘pallozas,’ and transformed one into a folk museum.

Today, nine ‘pallozas’ are preserved there. Four are managed by Galicia’s Cultural Council and function as an ethnological museum.

It's definitely got some tourist kitsch to it, but kind of the perfect amount of kitsch. Our group easily spent 90 minutes to 2 hours enjoying the town. One of the highlights is a traditional soup from the area: Caldo de Gallego.

After O Cebreiro, we continued to walk toward Fonfria, where we stayed at the same great albergue that we did in 2024. I believe the owner of this albergue (Miguel?) is the president or holds some sort of leadership position within the association or private albergues. He runs a great establishment. We got to have some Gallecian cheese, and Cory played a song/guitar duet with one of the employees (from the Philippines) who requested Wild Mountain Thyme to practice his singing and his English.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a witch ceremony this year, but we DID get a dinner concert from the bagpiper. It was rowdy and fun and there was much rejoicing.

Faculty photo

Sunset at Fonfria

Everyone enjoying the bagpipes at dinner

Group at sunset

Caldo Gallego (Galician soup)

Student presentation on Meigas (Brujas) (Witches)