Reset search
CaminoCamino
SatelliteEdit route

Camino

April - June 2023
France to Spain pilgrimage Read more
  • 58footprints
  • 3countries
  • 47days
  • 422photos
  • 0videos
  • 12.5kkilometers
  • 11.7kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerCamino
    Day 29

    Day 30 Rabanal del Camino

    May 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Doesn’t appear that photos and writing can be sent together for some reason so I will now send separately
    If I were to go on this trip again, I would spend more time in the attractive city of Astorga, to visit the Santa Marta Church, the original Roman walls, and the Cathedral museum. It’s a city set atop a steep ridge with a wide array of of historic buildings tightly packed inside its medieval walls.
    Today, we set off on a 20 km jaunt towards the mountains and tomorrow we will be climbing to the highest point of the entire Camino. Overall, we had a good walk today, a gradual climb in some of our hottest weather so far (25-26 degrees). We’ve been warned that the weather here is unpredictable, but we’ve been lucky so far.
    Twenty minutes after arriving at today’s hotel it poured raining.
    Cathy anI have continued walking with the same couple from England today. A group of us are travelling with Mac Adventures, the company that arranged our hotels and baggage transfers, so I assume they use the same hotels from year to year.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino
    Day 30

    Day 31. Molinaseca

    May 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    A 25.6 km walk today after a 7:30 am departure. The first 10 km involved a 10 km ascent to the high point of the Camino at Cruz de Ferro where we placed small stones Cathy had taken here from Yellowknife at the foot of the highly recognizable cross. It was a poignant moment for the many Christians on the Camino. The 800m descent, on sometimes treacherous terrain brought us to the village of Molinaseca 15 kms beyond the cross.
    On today’s journey, Cathy and I spent most of the time by ourselves, but we did connect for a while with Sandy and Diane from Arizona and California. Also, another Cathy from near Vancouver and Laurel from Calgary, intersected paths with us a number of times. Laurel changes her socks at the midpoint of every walk , so we were there to witness that exciting moment today. There are a few pilgrims who have shared “heavy” stories with us, like the guy who was on this Camino with his wife five years age. They got as far as Mansilla, a village we were at five days ago, when she died there. He started from that village on the 23rd and, understandably, has been struggling both physically and emotionally. Many people do this Camino to deal with loss.
    Cathy continues to do well- no blisters yet. She says using lots of Vaseline in the morning and putting her feet up against a wall for 15 minutes ( Wilma’s advice) after we finish is the magic formula.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino
    Day 31

    Day 32 Villafranca del Bietzo (written)

    May 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We were told that if you are going to Villa del Bierzo today - 31 kms away - you best leave early ( we left at 8:15 after breakfast) and it was a long walk, but we experienced beautiful scenery. We passed the ruins of the Templar castle in Ponferrada , a lovely medieval city, where there were lots of cafes along the way. Some of the terrain we encountered, with its many vineyards reflected what I would attribute to the best of what one would see in Tuscany, rolling hills, in the middle of valleys, rivers running through, with such beautiful greenery. We did not have an encouraging weather forecast this morning, anticipating rain by midday, but no rain, a slight breeze with generally sunny skies.
    We, again, travelled today with Jean and Doug , a couple from England, near London, who we’ve gotten along with. They, like us, enjoy the physical demands of the Camino, have been fortunate to avoid injury, and relate to the struggles some people may be going through. When you combine the people they have met and the people we have met, it adds up to a lot of people. And interacting with most of them is a formula for slow progress, but worth it. As a result, we did not reach our destination until 6:15 , and at the end of the day we did not have a lot of energy left.
    For 7:30 pm dinner tonight we ended up sitting at a table with the guy who lost his wife five years ago, and we did feel privileged that he would share his story with us, but it was a lot to take in. He did make the comment that life is 10% what happens and 90% how one responds to it, so he is aware of his struggle and cognizant of the challenge that lies ahead.
    Along the way, we met Susan and Nancy by, a couple from Minnesota, who I had met a few weeks ago. I was particularly excited to see Susan again, the University of Minnesota librarian who knew so much about literature. This is what happens on the Camino, people in and out of your journey as you strive to move forward. We also reconnected with Raymond, from Germany, Richard, from New Jersey, and the other Jim , from Baja, California. Doug, the person I’ve spent the most time with is an atheist, but a strong supporter of his wife, Jean, who recently got baptized. He’s not sure why, but he’s there to support her. Also, he’s skeptical of the spiritual element aligned with the Camino, but tolerant enough to try to understand why some people are impacted that way. It’s a contradiction that both intrigues me and lies at the foundation of how many of us may feel. I’m intrigued to see how this will play out for Doug.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino
    1
    2
    Day 31

    Day 32. Villa del Bierzo (photos)

    May 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
  • TravelerCamino
    Day 32

    Day 33 Las Herrerias (written)

    May 31, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    As we continued our Camino journey through the farming communities of the El Bierzo valleys we were given the choice of taking a high-level route or a low-level one, determining that the view would likely be better from the higher level, so we spent much of our morning in the clouds. Once again, we were treated to stunning views. The valleys are steep, narrow and where they are not wooded with pine and chestnut trees, there is rich farmland. In the mornings we often hear cocks crowing, chickens clucking and cow bells ringing.
    We left Villafranca, a lovely town of 3500 residents, this morning shortly after 8:00. I should explain the yesterday’s photo of Cathy and the two ladies because some of you may have interpreted it as Cathy with two pilgrims. Actually, they were two Villafranca residents who went out of their way to help us find our hotel. Shortly after I asked the younger girl for help finding our hotel, her aunt, after recognizing that Cathy was Canadian, excitedly hugged Cathy while explaining, in Spanish, how much she liked Canada. Her niece, speaking to me in French was able to communicate where our hotel was and the reason for her aunt‘s excitement. That incident reflects much of the hospitality we’ve received here from both Spanish people and fellow pilgrims.
    Shortly after we arrived in Las Herrerias this afternoon it poured raining with thunder; we’ve been fortunate with weather so far. Our walk this morning as we climbed from Villafranca was incredibly steep, over 500 additional meters in elevation, then a 400 m descent before climbing again. At one point we did take an unplanned, alternate route to a cafe in a small village, but we were treated to a charming auberge run by a lovely couple who made us feel like family while being entertained with a litter of kittens.
    We arrived at today’s hotel by 4:00 pm. It’s a large house with eight rooms, each with separate bathrooms and a shared lounge for guests. There’s a blacksmith room from original building with anvil, forge and bellows reminding me of grandpa. It is now 7:00 pm , waiting for the rain to ease before we set out finding a place to eat.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English