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Neil Armstrong's Travels
Two years ago friends Neil Armstrong and Craig McGuicken travelled to Galicia in North West Spain where we walked along the 'Camino Ingles'. (http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/m 00nman72/1/tpod.html) Shortly before leaving we decided we wanted to dedicate the walk to the Robin Menary Foundation for Brain Tumour Research and between us we managed to raise £1,000 for which we are forever grateful.
Two years on and through multiple recounts of our journey, the blog and many Facebook pics we have captivated many friends and family...so much so that we've decided to go back again. This time around we are joined by Robin's close friend John McBurney and Craig's brother and nephew, Gary and Calum McGuicken.
We headed South of the city this time to a town called Orense (or Ourense) which forms part of the Via de la Plata (meaning a wide road) and walked a Camino called the 'Camino Sanabres' and makes the 115k trek into Santiago de Compostela over four days.
We again want to use this trip to raise awareness for both The Robin Menary Foundation and Brain Tumour Research...and if you can spare a couple of pounds for this cause, well that would be fantastic!
Taken from Robins' website...'It was always Robin's intention to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research when he was well again and we are determined to do this in his memory'
Buen Camino!!!
Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with Just Giving – they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Five of us decided to make the trek this year and we decided to support The Robin Menary Foundation for Brain Tumour Research again. At the time of writing up this blog we are well over the £500 mark so we are all of course delighted.
As Gary and Calum both live in England they would meet Neil, John and Craig at Dublin airport. We took the bus down in quick time and after checking in finally met up and three of us became Five. What better way to meet and greet but at the pub at Dublin airport before the short flight across to Santiago where we were met with 26 degrees heat...it was great!
We collected our bags and headed out to where the bus leaves for the city centre...sadly we just missed the next bus so we asked a local taxi driver for a price...straight to Ourense, where we were beginning our walk...after bartering him down to €140 we agreed it best to get straight to the hotel in Ourense rather than fidgeting about waiting on connecting trains etc and we headed off with Richard our driver. We arrived safely in Ourense right outside the hotel, paid the driver and checked in. The city was a real highlight of our trip even though it is one of the least visited cities in Spain for tourism, not that this should deter any of you from visiting. It boasts a magnificent old town with many monumental buildings, both religious and civic, and an ancient bridge that spans the river Mino with sections dating back to the Roman occupation nearly 2000 years ago. Have a more detailed look here - LINK
At the hotel 'San Martin' we were split between two rooms and I have to say that both rooms were really spacious and very comfortable. The stuck us up onto the eighth floor (probably expecting a lot of noise which certainly did not materialise), we had a quick change and met up downstairs some ten minutes later.
We dandered around the town taking in much of atmosphere and sights as we went. A few beers were had as we discussed the ambience of the city and we visited two churches for a quick nosey around...you can see some details in the photos below. Cafe Real provided us with our first stamp in our 'Credencial' (Pilgrim's Passport) and we were officially off and running. We sat in the Plaza Mayor near the Town Hall and watched the throngs of Galician's carry on with their busy daily lives. From here we eventually arrived in Restaurant Monterrey. The waiter asked what we fancied and it was agreed...red meat with red wine! I've never seen so much animal on a plate but it went down a treat...
A quick 'Roadie' at the end of the night turned into a full on Karaoke though I don't think the locals were too impressed before we finally returned to the hotel and our pillows with a short 30 K hike awaiting us for the next morning! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
Two years on and through multiple recounts of our journey, the blog and many Facebook pics we have captivated many friends and family...so much so that we've decided to go back again. This time around we are joined by Robin's close friend John McBurney and Craig's brother and nephew, Gary and Calum McGuicken.
We headed South of the city this time to a town called Orense (or Ourense) which forms part of the Via de la Plata (meaning a wide road) and walked a Camino called the 'Camino Sanabres' and makes the 115k trek into Santiago de Compostela over four days.
We again want to use this trip to raise awareness for both The Robin Menary Foundation and Brain Tumour Research...and if you can spare a couple of pounds for this cause, well that would be fantastic!
Taken from Robins' website...'It was always Robin's intention to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research when he was well again and we are determined to do this in his memory'
- Robin's story can be found here - www.robinmenaryfoundation.com
Buen Camino!!!
Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with Just Giving – they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Five of us decided to make the trek this year and we decided to support The Robin Menary Foundation for Brain Tumour Research again. At the time of writing up this blog we are well over the £500 mark so we are all of course delighted.
As Gary and Calum both live in England they would meet Neil, John and Craig at Dublin airport. We took the bus down in quick time and after checking in finally met up and three of us became Five. What better way to meet and greet but at the pub at Dublin airport before the short flight across to Santiago where we were met with 26 degrees heat...it was great!
We collected our bags and headed out to where the bus leaves for the city centre...sadly we just missed the next bus so we asked a local taxi driver for a price...straight to Ourense, where we were beginning our walk...after bartering him down to €140 we agreed it best to get straight to the hotel in Ourense rather than fidgeting about waiting on connecting trains etc and we headed off with Richard our driver. We arrived safely in Ourense right outside the hotel, paid the driver and checked in. The city was a real highlight of our trip even though it is one of the least visited cities in Spain for tourism, not that this should deter any of you from visiting. It boasts a magnificent old town with many monumental buildings, both religious and civic, and an ancient bridge that spans the river Mino with sections dating back to the Roman occupation nearly 2000 years ago. Have a more detailed look here - LINK
At the hotel 'San Martin' we were split between two rooms and I have to say that both rooms were really spacious and very comfortable. The stuck us up onto the eighth floor (probably expecting a lot of noise which certainly did not materialise), we had a quick change and met up downstairs some ten minutes later.
We dandered around the town taking in much of atmosphere and sights as we went. A few beers were had as we discussed the ambience of the city and we visited two churches for a quick nosey around...you can see some details in the photos below. Cafe Real provided us with our first stamp in our 'Credencial' (Pilgrim's Passport) and we were officially off and running. We sat in the Plaza Mayor near the Town Hall and watched the throngs of Galician's carry on with their busy daily lives. From here we eventually arrived in Restaurant Monterrey. The waiter asked what we fancied and it was agreed...red meat with red wine! I've never seen so much animal on a plate but it went down a treat...
A quick 'Roadie' at the end of the night turned into a full on Karaoke though I don't think the locals were too impressed before we finally returned to the hotel and our pillows with a short 30 K hike awaiting us for the next morning! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........
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