👣 Noire Pilgrim: Ourense | wood•life•studio

The days leading to Orense are filled with anticipation. The flavor and tone of the camino trail changes in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. Architectural elements take on a distinctive and decorative look. Pitched roofs top most buildings and homes. I believe it is a practical element that allows runoff of rain. Galicia is quite rainy due to its closeness to the Atlantic and the storms that bombard the western coast and mountains regularly. Most important, it is the home of my destination: Santiago de Compostela.

Galicia opens up and reveals its treasures

*Here are the high speed rail tracks coming from Santiago through the tunnels in the mountains.*

*A big river through the mountains on the way to Orense.*

*A fast walking pilgrim from the Netherlands.*

*This albergue at Campobecerros filled up fast!*

*A distance marker with the distinctive “Galicia” tag.*

*The very rustic albergue at Alberguerias in the mountains after the previous night’s thunderstorm.*

*Close up of the stone albergue marker at the front door.*

*Inside the albergue are hundreds of scallop shells signed and left by pilgrims.*

*A makeshift meal of Spanish tortilla and bread in the kitchen.*

*It is foggy and rainy. Care must be taken to find and read these most interesting signs directing the way.*

*Grapevines on a fence along the trail.*

*The cross stood over the marker like a beacon in the fog.*

*Corn is a big crop in Galicia. Drying and storage of the husks are in elevated structures called horréo*.

*Walking by the gigantic feet of the horréo.*

*Another pilgrim in the mountains after leaving the town of Gudina.*

The Galician language is prominent. Many signs feature it.

Ourense

After weeks on camino Mozárabe and the camino Via de la Plata, camino Sanabres escorts pilgrims to Orense, the city, which is the capital of the province of Ourense.

*A blue and yellow shell tile imbedded in the sidewalk.*

Although we walked through villages and towns and stayed in a few, Orense is the only Galician city before Santiago.

Albergue de peregrinos

The albergue or hostel in Orense officially opened in 2018. This is the official and quite modern hostel for the Way to Santiago in Ourense. It is in a tall building in the city’s historic center.

It has room for 42 pilgrims and a kitchen as well as bunk rooms or dorms that occupy the top three floors of the building. There is an elevator which was not offered for our use. This caused a bit of distress for the older pilgrims and others who were injured. We had to wait until the host finished registering us all before we could go to our rooms. That included collecting our donations and checking our passports and credentials. Did I say that my feet were killing me? But I am certainly not complaining.

I don’t think anyone was in a good mood after that!

No complaining

Of course, there was a problem with verifying my signature (the first and only time that happened to me). Right passport, right name, right face... known, by this time, to most of the pilgrims present. I was not taken aback by the incident because in a sudden premonition, I envisioned that it would happen. Based on the methods and demeanor of the host, I just caught army drill sergeant vibes.

Finally, the host escorted us as a group up the stairwell to the bunk rooms or dorms on the third floor. The kitchen, which was on the first floor was virtually off-limits. Its usefulness was severely reduced since there was no kitchenware or other items that would be necessary to utilize it. But I am certainly not complaining.

I just made sure to keep in mind that I stopped here for the night on my way to Santiago de Compostela.

There are infinite reasons not to do it, yet there’s only one reason to do it:
You want to.

– Christopher Walker

*Eligio Rivas Quintas hostel, exclusively for pilgrims, is in the heart of the city’s historic center. Doors open at 1pm.*

*Some food that I had in my backpack for these times. The knife is part of my kit.*

Leaving Orense

Time to pack up my things and continue on the trail.

*Here, a short pause, then I am on the way out of Orense.*

*The crisp water of Minho River gleams in the morning sunrise*.

*Early morning view of the Millennium Bridge over the Minho River.*

A walk on the rock bridge will get us to the other side of the water on the trail.

*My pilgrim friends from Finland and France and I formed a camino family for company and support on this leg of the camino.*

We gave each other as much room on the trail as we could so we did not crowd each other.

We are catching a lot of rain.

Continuing with excitement, still, on the trail on the remaining 114 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela.

Baadaye and Buen camino

Shirley J ♥️

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This and several posts this summer are chronicling my pilgrimage in Spain where I am walking the 1400 kilometer-long camino Mozárabe, camino Via De la Plata, and now camino Sanabres to Santiago de Compostela. Read my announcement here.

My YouTube channel – Noire Pilgrim By Shirley J – features mini videos, snippets, and shorts from my pilgrimage on the camino.

2 thoughts on “👣 Noire Pilgrim: Ourense”

Kelvin clayborn says:

September 16, 2023 at 2:56 pm

See you when you get there.😘

1. Shirley J says:
  
  September 16, 2023 at 8:06 pm
  
  Thank you! Closer and closer. Almost there.