Ditching the canal

I had done a lot of research and knew that this part of the province of Palencia has a lot of Romanesque architecture. In fact, there is a string of churches, going from where I slept last night up to Cervera de Pisuerga, where I hope to arrive on Friday. But I would have to leave the canal! I plotted out a route to take me on minor roads, past 4 romanesque churches and a monastery. Four days walking on a straight path next to a canal was enough.

I wouldn’t say that the first several hours were a smashing success. I started way too early, thinking that the monastery was 20 km away and opened at 10, only to learn that it was only 15 km away and didn’t open till 11. It was raining, I lost my spiffy new headlamp, and mapy took me to a water crossing that was way too deep and wide. That meant backtracking to a road and rerouting. For its next act, mapy then took me on a track with knee-high grasses (glad I had put on my tick repellant). But by 10, I was sitting on a bench in the sun at the monastery of San Andrés de Arroyo. Shoes and socks off, drying on the pavement.

The day kept getting better. The monastery’s cloister is quite beautiful. The nun who took me around was in her 80s and told me she had lived here for more than 60 years. When she arrived, there were 55, now there are seven. They are cloistered, but for some reason she was able to give a tour.

From there, I walked to another church, amazing façade, but the señora with the key was nowhere to be found. Then 3.5 road kms onto my destination, the Finca Santa Eufemia. This is an event center with a beautiful privately owned Romanesque church on the grounds. I got there in time for Juan’s last tour of the day. Then Maria showed up, and took me to my room.

My tracks start about 2 km out of town. I stopped in a tunnel to put on my rain gear and my wikilocs stopped. It’s easy to find a track to take you these 2 km

And this is the rest. Total about 26 with 225 m elevation

https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/herrera-d…Læs mere