We left home on May 2nd for Plymouth and the ferry to Santander which sailed on the 3rd. We met 6 other pilgrims on the ferry, 2 going to Burgos and 4 heading for Barreda to start their walking. The ferry arrived on time on Monday 4th and we had the rest of the day in Santander before travelling on to Oviedo on the 5th and Ribadeo on the 6th May.
In Oviedo we stayed in a pension near the station but ate in the Cafe Cristina, as in previous years. The Cathedral now charges an entry fee at the West door so it is no loger possible to visit the Cámara Santa or the church itself without paying. This was very disappointing but we did get our credenciales stamped. (Since coming home we have seen that the cathedral website says that free entry is allowed for prayer and we feel that the girl on the desk was therefore not aware of allowing pilgrims at least into the main church. She was quite clear that we had to pay because we questioned it!).
The FEVE from Oviedo to Ribadeo has a 15 minute change to its time, leaving earlier than before at 7.30am. - no timetables available so we relied on our old one for the list of stations. The changes do mean that the train now runs to time! In Ribadeo our hotel was in the main square. We walked down to the albergue in the afternoon to drop off our English paperbacks but saw no other pilgrims. The old house in the square has been at least partly restored since last time we were here and is looking much better. We washed a few of our clothes and organised our packs ready to start walking at last.
In Oviedo we stayed in a pension near the station but ate in the Cafe Cristina, as in previous years. The Cathedral now charges an entry fee at the West door so it is no loger possible to visit the Cámara Santa or the church itself without paying. This was very disappointing but we did get our credenciales stamped. (Since coming home we have seen that the cathedral website says that free entry is allowed for prayer and we feel that the girl on the desk was therefore not aware of allowing pilgrims at least into the main church. She was quite clear that we had to pay because we questioned it!).
The FEVE from Oviedo to Ribadeo has a 15 minute change to its time, leaving earlier than before at 7.30am. - no timetables available so we relied on our old one for the list of stations. The changes do mean that the train now runs to time! In Ribadeo our hotel was in the main square. We walked down to the albergue in the afternoon to drop off our English paperbacks but saw no other pilgrims. The old house in the square has been at least partly restored since last time we were here and is looking much better. We washed a few of our clothes and organised our packs ready to start walking at last.
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