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Buen Camino!

September - October 2023
  • Allison Allen
Walking the Camino Frances with my niece Morgan. Read more
  • Allison Allen

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Backpacking, Nature, Self discovery, Spirituality
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  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!

    St Domingo de la Calzada

    September 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    What a great day! Kind of a triple header off a famous stop, a really nice albergue, and a really, really good meal.

    It’s famous because of a story of a miracle involving a false accusation, a hanging, and the month long survival of the hanged man, culminating in the local official, when hearing of it, saying that the man was as alive as the chickens that were just them being served to him. At which point they both came to life. For centuries a pair of chickens has always lived in the local cathedral to commemorate the miracle, attributed to St. Domingo.

    After two 28 Km days today was shorter, maybe 21? We got into town fairly early and discovered that our albergue was just extra nice, with footbaths to soak your feet in cold water and other amenities, like bags of olives, and beers in the vending machines. The self-serve laundry hand washing area was very nice too. Also the cathedral to explore, chickens and all, and a big clock tower with nine large bells.

    I was in a celebratory mood and noticed a Michelin rated restaurant close to the cathedral. Morgan and I are with our friends David and Ollie. It was fabulous! A really fun night. We barely made it back too the albergue by the 10:00 PM curfew! Which is why yesterday’s adventure is only now being reported.    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    1
    221

    Santo Domingo to Belorado

    September 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    After all the fun and food yesterday we were slow to roll out and didn’t start walking until 7:00. Which meant an extra hour at the end walking along unshaded roads under a hot sun. But! The morning started so beautifully, with that giant full moon hanging in the sky ahead of us in the dark, and then a deep orange sunrise building behind us. The mornings have been magical!

    After days walking through the Rioja Region we left it today - that’s what the tall marker in the photo indicates. No big change yet in scenery. The walk was not too eventful, just eventually very hot! It did take us through the birthplace of St. Domingo. And also it was fun to encounter a pharmaceutical vending machine, loaded with all sorts of things often needed by foot weary pilgrims.

    Everyone on the path was buzzing about the albergue with the - gasp! - swimming pool!! Which is where I am now, and I will say, soaking my feet in that very cold pool felt very good. We also carbo-loaded at the pilgrim dinner, so I’m ready for a good walk tomorrow, hopefully with a 6:00 AM start.    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    6

    Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

    October 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Another hot day! We did not leave as as early as intended; 6:45, but of course that was fine. Not a lot of elevation change today, and for some good stretches of the way a very pleasant change in the form of trees! We have been walking in very open agricultural land for…maybe a week? The shade and the company that trees always seem to provide were both very welcome.

    Our albergue tonight is in a former church/monastery with its foundations laid in the 10th century (I think?) dinner for me was more modern - pizza and beer.

    There was a good Mass here too, by which I mean that we were provided printed guides to help us follow along in six different languages, and the priest gave his homily in the most basic Spanish he could manage. I was able to follow quite a bit of it and I appreciated his efforts.

    Tomorrow is a big day; we will arrive in Burgos, which is big town and the former capital of Spain, with a lot to see. It’s a common point at which to take a rest day and that is our plan. We have booked a small two bedroom place. It will seem SO luxurious!!

    The arrival in Burgos also marks the completion of the first third of the Camino. The saying is that the first third is all about the body, the second addressed the mind and the third, your spirit. I May be a day ahead of schedule as my mind started acting up a bit today, giving me material to cheer on s as I worked my way toward this stop. Such a process!    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    1

    Burgos

    October 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We walked into Burgos yesterday. Morgan and Olly led the way and successfully tracked down the elusive river route into the city as David and I followed along at a slower amble (David and Olly are a father and son pair who lined up well with Morgan and myself, age wise. We were pretty excited as the plan was to take today off. Rest day! Woo hoo!

    We stayed in a nice little air BNB and each enjoyed the luxury of Our Own Room. Fabulous. Went out with a nice group for tapas and I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures, which really is a shame because they were numerous and very intricate and beautiful.

    Also took a quick initial circuit around the cathedral. The fountain includes some carved figures that are…interesting. Tom tells me there was a train of passing very worldly images outside cathedrals at time, in contrast to the more virtuous interior images, so maybe that’s what’s going on?

    Today it was just amazingly nice to sleep in, in luxurious privacy, and then make my leisurely way to a nice cafe for café con leche and a really good croissant. Visited the ENORMOUS cathedral, and also a very nice museum on human evolution. Ate well at lunch and supper and now actually feel eager to hit the trail again tomorrow morning. My feet barely ache at all…    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    2

    Leaving Burgos

    October 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After resting and refueling in Burgos, we left refreshed and wound our way slowly out of the still dark city, leaving through a gorgeous arch by the partially lit up Cathedral. Food and coffee ended up being much more elusive at that hour than expected and we ended up walking for a good 12 or 14 kilometers before finding an open café. Ack! The walk was interesting though! We saw a processionary caterpillar! I had read warnings about them - apparently their bristles are extremely irritating to the skin and they are not to be touched. I also walked by an area just covered with snails, very odd. Along the way we passed a sign letting us know we had only 500Km to go, down from 800. Progress!Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    2

    Entering the Meseta

    October 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    On the very edge of the meseta is a tiny, beautiful village. It has a lovely small chapel just as you leave town, and I’m so glad I decided to stop in.
    Inside were two elderly nuns. One asked my name and gave me a very loving blessing and a miracle medal to wear as a necklace. And because I paused there my timing was perfect for meeting up with a shepherd leading his flock from one field to another with the help of two dogs. He was very friendly and put up with several of us taking photos and video. This is exactly where the landscape suddenly opened into the wide open beauty of the meseta. I felt, deeply, as if I had been very warmly welcomed into this new stage of the Camino, one I have very much been looking forward to.

    Walking along in this beautiful, silent landscape, alone, this feeling only deepened. Then abruptly the land just fell away at my feet, dropping steeply and creating a stunning vista which I could not begin to capture on camera. As I dropped down the slope toward the waiting plain I can only say that I felt as if I were falling into the very lap of God. I can’t explain it, I can only report. It was a very happy day.    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    22

    Castrojeriz

    October 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today was an easy walk! Along the way we stopped at a gorgeous ruin of a Franciscan pilgrim hospital. There’s an albergue there, and someday I’d love to stay.
    We rolled into town in the early afternoon, walking with our super excellent Camino friends David and Ollie and decided to stay at the albergue they had sussed out, Orion. Bibimbap for dinner made by the Korean co-owner - something different to look forward to! After perusing the town (again, such gorgeous, narrow streets!) and finding a much needed ATM we decided, because two of us are in our mid-20’s, that we should climb up the very steep, shade-free mountainside to visit the ruined castle. Yes it was almost 90 F at that point…But, it was a castle, and the view was great, so all good. Back in town we also discovered an ossuary, with a message for we the living which you can read if you look at the two scull and crossbones closely. Always good to contemplate our mortality. Really!Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!

    Villarmentera de Campos

    October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We decided after much consultation, especially between Morgan and Ollie, that we need to step up our game and make a little more headway. Which is how we came to walk about 34 Km (21 miles and a bit, 😬) today.
    We left at 5:30 and walked the first couple of hours in the dark. And cold! Can I say, though, that our early mornings walking in moonlight that makes the gravel road glow all silver white as it stretches ahead of us, have been really magical. Except when row upon row of dead dwarf sunflowers manage to make it kind of creepy…
    We started our walk today, after being pointed out of town by a giant yellow arrow projected onto a church, by climbing a quite steep hill for what seemed like a long time, and then coming down the shorter, but even steeper other side. We were glad to get that out of the way early! It was a very long walk, but we took liberal breaks as needed and got into tonight’s albergue by around 4:00. Not bad! And my first little blister, which appeared yesterday, is no worse after all that. Amazing!
    Our albergue this time is quirky, with a teepee, statuary, two donkeys and a pair of very large geese. Slightly scary geese. Most important though, it has a bed for me, and I think I will sleep well tonight.    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    1

    Calzadilla de la Cueza

    October 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    What can I say about today? God’s lap can get Really Warm! Today was simple, just about the walking. After two stops, a small village where coffee was had, and a large town where I happily loaded up on sandwich makings and dried fruit and nuts (ok, and also some pink and white marshmallows which for some reason I could not resist), it was time to launch into a 17 Km stretch with no villages or fountains whatsoever. One just walks. Morgan and I made lunch in a rare shaded rest stop and then - walked a lot more. It was great, lots of time to just reflect, but not much for photo ops. I took a pair of pictures below, one facing forward and the other looking back. Ha! Admittedly, the last eight kilometers were kind of grueling, but not in a miserable way.
    The albergue we found beds in is great! Each is always so unique. This one has a pool, and nice shaded sitting areas. The owner is very sociable and also walked the Camino and felt very affected ny it. After the heat the pool, shade and beers were great. The paella purchased next door was spectacularly bad. The conversation more than made up for it though. Me being me, I had no idea what a huge part other people would play in my experience of the Camino. Another really good day!    Read more

  • Allison AllenTravelerBuen Camino!
    2

    Sahagún

    October 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    On paper, today was an easy day, only about 21 kilometers, but I was feeling it a little more. Still, a good day, and beautiful landscape. We are staying in an albergue run by the Marist Fathers, and we were greeted so warmly and have been so well cared for, including a Mass in English and Spanish offered by an Irish priest who also led a discussion for those who were interested in talking about our experience thus far. It was nice to have a chance to process!

    On the way today we also passed through the official halfway point, two statues which, if you walk between them, are said to convey all the benefits of the full Camino in case you aren’t able to make it all the way to Santiago. A little insurance policy!    Read more

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