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Exploring the Beautiful Medieval City of Siena

Mum and I had already explored a fair chunk of Tuscany before we arrived in Siena. We’d spent four…

May 15, 2017

About Me

About Me

Hi I'm Kiara, the travel blogger and photographer behind Gallop Around The Globe.I can usually be found hiking up mountains, getting lost in the cobblestone streets of my favourite cities, making friends with a furry feline or two, photographing cacti, or grazing on olives and cheese.

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✨️Day 12 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️

✨️Day 12 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️ Arzúa to O Pedrouzo📝 Distance: 20.6 kilometres / 12.8 miles
📝 Elevation: 370 metres
📝 Steps: 29,808Thoughts:In a strange turn of events, I found myself translating for an older gentleman from Seattle at a cafe-bar where we were both ordering breakfast. My Spanish is abysmal, but clearly better than his! 🤣Today was probably my least favourite day on the Camino so far - there were even more hikers on the trail today and I just couldn't escape the 'pilgrim parade' no matter how fast I walked or how great a distance I covered 😔Yes, there were more services (cafés/bars/restaurants) available - one of the 'benefits' about joining the Francés - but the queues to get served at almost all of them meant that I gave up on the idea of getting a drink as soon as I walked through the door...I arrived in O Pedrouzo super early (probably because I'd been trying to race past all the pilgrims!) and couldn't help wishing I'd continued on to Santiago today...If I hadn't had accommodation booked (and it happened to be my most expensive room on the camino), I would definitely have carried on walking, and would quite easily have made it to Santiago by 5 or 6 p.m.Despite going for a little wander around town, I didn't end up loving O Pedrouzo (or even liking it very much!); one of the best things about it was the late lunch I treated myself to at Taste the Way 😋

✨️Day 11 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️

✨️Day 11 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️ As Seixas to Arzúa📝 Distance: 28.3 kilometres / 17.6 miles
📝 Elevation: 579 metres
📝 Steps: 43,166Thoughts:I was mortified to discover that ️the vending machine at my albergue only accepted the exact change, so I had to wait until I arrived in Vilamor, 5 miles in, for my morning coffee ☕️However, the beautiful sunrise I was treated to as I made my ascent out of As Seixas more than compensated for that 👌I did get a bit scared for the first time on the trail this morning when I spotted two very large dogs on the forest path ahead of me. I was on my own and hadn't seen a soul since leaving As Seixas. If they turned out to be vicious dogs, I had no hiking poles on me to defend myself. As there was no alternative route (I checked my map), I decided to approach carefully and see if their behaviour changed when I got a bit closer. It didn't. So, I decided to continue and, fortunately, they didn't even approach me as I walked past. But, it was a very real reminder of the dangers of hiking alone.I caught up with Brian and Adrian just before Melide and enjoyed some pulpo with them at Pulperia Ezequiel for lunch.The trail had been very quiet thus far, but we met ALL the crowds from the Francés upon leaving Melide!! It was a bit of a shock to the system after being able to walk large chunks of the trail without seeing a soul until then.The sun was shining when I arrived in Arzúa, so I decided to find a bar and order a post-hike beer before enjoying one of the best pilgrim meals I'd had on the trail, at Ultreia Restaurant 😋

✨️Day 10 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️

✨️Day 10 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️ Lugo to As Seixas📝 Distance: 33.2 kilometres / 20.6 miles
📝 Elevation: 759 metres
📝 Steps: 48,180Thoughts:Whilst I'd not 'rested' as such in Lugo, I had at least benefitted from a whole day of not carrying a pack on my back, and I'd picked up some strong ibuprofen and some deep heat from a pharmacy there. So, whilst my back wasn't better by any stretch, it was better than it would've been without a 'rest' day or any medication. And, to be honest, it didn't feel any worse when carrying my pack.So, I felt very fortunate that I felt able to continue the walk 🤞🍀🧧I bumped into Brian and Adrian (the son and father-in-law duo from the UK, who I'd ended up walking a lot of the camino with since I met them in Grandas de Salime) just as I was crossing the bridge out of Lugo, and I walked with them for the rest of the day, because they happened to be booked into the same hostel in As Seixas.Much of today's walk was along quiet roads or forest tracks 👣 🌲The sun spent most of the day attempting to poke its head through the clouds, but didn't properly succeed until we'd almost made it to As Seixas. For this reason (and also because the majority of walkers stop in Ferreira), the final part of the trail was my favourite 😍

✨️Rest day in Lugo✨️On my rest day in Lu

✨️Rest day in Lugo✨️On my rest day in Lugo, I'd planned to get some sightseeing done due to spending most of yesterday afternoon/evening socialising and drinking with my camino family 👪...But, in true Murphy's Law fashion, yesterday was hot and sunny, and today, it was 12 degrees cooler, cloudy, and wet 🫤So, seeing as though it was miserable and wet all day today, I thought I'd check out some of Lugo's indoor attractions. But, of course, it being Monday, the city's museums were closed 🤦‍♀️I was especially gutted about the Museo Provincial (housed inside a former monastery), as it had also closed its doors by the time I arrived yesterday and doesn't open until 10 a.m. tomorrow 😔But, on the plus side, I stumbled across Lugo's former prison - now a cultural and exhibition centre. It was right up my street! If you're visiting Lugo, I can 100% recommend a visit to O'Vello Cárcere. Entry is free of charge, and it's located just outside the old city walls.

✨️Day 9 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️

✨️Day 9 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️ Castroverde to Lugo📝 Distance: 23.3 kilometres / 14.5 miles
📝 Elevation: 396 metres
📝 Steps: 35,652Thoughts:A pretty uneventful and unspectacular day of walking through forests and tiny agricultural hamlets, BUT the route was reasonably flat, and I had a good mix of company along the way 😀I was actually very glad that I'd continued on to Castroverde yesterday in order to give me a shorter day today, firstly because I appear to have pulled a muscle in my back (I think it was when I caught my foot on a bramble yesterday; it pulled me one way while I walked the other) and secondly because I had almost an entire afternoon to enjoy Lugo in the sunshine 🌞I was particularly overjoyed when I arrived at the 100KM marker (that signified just 100 kilometres left to walk) on the outskirts of Lugo, because my back was really starting to cause me pain by then and I was actually getting rather concerned that it may affect my ability to continue the walk 😳I checked into my pension in Lugo just before 2 p.m. and set about exploring (or rather, hobbling around!) the city for a couple of hours before meeting some of my Camino family at a food and drink festival by the cathedral.Sharing drinks and food and laughter in the sunshine with a few people who had become friends over the past week was a lovely way to end the first half of the walk for me. Because I'd factored in a rest day in Lugo (which my back definitely needed!), I was saying goodbye to everyone I'd met thus far, bar the British son and father-in-law, who were also spending an extra night in Lugo. I hoped to meet some of them in Santiago, but there were no guarantees that would come to fruition, so I was very grateful for the wonderful afternoon/evening I spent with them all in Lugo 👨‍👩‍👧❤️❤️

✨️Day 8 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️A

✨️Day 8 on the Camino Primitivo✨️➡️A Fonsagrada to Castroverde📝 Distance: 33.2 kilometres / 20.6 miles
📝 Elevation: 887 metres
📝 Steps: 45,376Thoughts:I walked the first section with Brian from Hull; now lives in West Brom. We discussed the camino at length, from gear and packs/weight to stops, stages, and bookings. The resulting conclusion was that there is no right way, and everyone walks their own camino👍The first cafe marked along the route was closed (even though their sign said 'abierto'), so we were very relieved to find the cafe in A Lastra open after a pretty gruelling climb!We picked up Adrian (Brian's father-in-law), Alan (the Mexican) and Claudia (from Poland) for the second leg, got drenched by a big storm (⛈️)and then I powered on solo after O'Cadavo.Since crossing into Galicia, I've noticed that the scenery is significantly less spectacular (an observation that's been mirrored by my fellow pilgrims). For that reason (along with the fact that I had company for the majority of today's walk), I didn't find myself reaching for my camera very often until I arrived at my final destination.The sun had properly broken through the clouds by the time I walked into the beautiful town of Castoverde, and as a result I felt very pleased I'd decided to do the extra 7 kilometres to stop here.I checked into @pensionromacastroverde - easily THE nicest place I stayed at along the Camino, complete with a balcony overlooking Castroverde's castle 🏰

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