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Laurie Reynolds
Laurie Reynolds

Laurie Reynolds

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    2Cuatrodeocho -- excellent restaurant

    Random pics

    7 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Madrid is such a great city for walking and for sitting in a café watching other people walking! I highly recommend staying near or at least walking around Malasaña-it’s a little dirty, a little edgy in some places, but so full of life!

    Home tomorrow. End of Camino 2025.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    11

    Day in Madrid

    7 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Any hotel breakfast that has chia seeds, oats, Greek yogurt and nuts on offer is a winner in my book. Back to my “Clare breakfast”!

    I wanted to visit a couple of sites that I had never been to. First stop was the Liria palace, which is still the home of the current Duque de Alba. He is 76 now, and his descendants don’t want to live here, so I assume it will be permanently maintained as a tourist attraction. A lot of of the same over the top trappings as with any fancy palace, but there were some things that were really awesome— a first edition of Don Quijote, a letter from Christopher Columbus to his son, a letter from Fernando e Isabel to Columbus, an illuminated medieval Bible, a very famous portrait of the Duquesa de Alba by Goya (her “pair” is in the Hispanic Society in New York, where I saw it in February). And then there is supposedly the first portrait Velázquez did of one of the princesses who figures prominently in Las Meninas. Not to mention an El Greco crucifixion, though he’s not one of my favorites. All in all it’s really worth a visit, with all the typical palatial rooms filled with all sorts of tchotchkes. Several months ago there was a Joana Vasconcelos exposition there, which must have been so much fun to see.

    Then a quick visit to the Cerralbo Museum, definitely a poor cousin of the palace I had just visited. But there was a pretty astonishing candelabra of Murano glass. This would not be on any list of top sites in Madrid in my book — but it is free for over 65.

    After a five minute walk, I got to the Templo de Debod, built in the 2C BC to the gods of Amun and Isis. It was a gift from the Egyptian government when they built the Aswan dam and flooded a lot of ancient sites. Other temples went to New York, Turin, and Leiden). Admission is free, but you have to reserve online ahead of time, only 15 visitors per half hour slot. There were many disappointed arrivals when I was there.

    I hopped in a cab and went to the Suanzes metro stop to meet a camino forum friend, @pelegrin. Instant connection with lots to talk about. After lunch, we walked around two old estates which are now public parks. The owners (counts, dukes, or something similar) were able to strike a deal with the city of Madrid – you give us permission to build apartment buildings over here, and we’ll give you all the rest of the land.

    So it’s my last night and I was lucky to snag an early reservation in Cuatrodeocho. So yummy!!!! Just so I won’t forget the names here are the other places I have enjoyed on this trip — La Buganvilla and Orio. Ojalá Café in Plaza Rastrillo is very popular, and though I only had an agua con gás, the food looked very good.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds

    Traveling to Madrid

    6 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    I decided to go into Madrid today, which will give me a full day there tomorrow. I’m going to make a point of visiting some of the “less popular“ places, some of which I’ve never been to.

    I decided that since it was a beautiful day, I would walk from the train station to the Plaza Santa Bárbara, where I’ve booked a hotel for two nights. It’s one of my favorite areas of the city.

    First order of business. Buying bubble wrap. As a creature of habit, I always bring home as many liters of olive oil as I can squeeze into my pack and a little duffel bag. For at least the last 15 years, it’s been a point of pride of mine to be the sole supplier of my daughter’s family’s olive oil. They cook a lot! I think there has only been one time since I started bringing it home when they ran out. Pretty good record. And I’ve never had any breakage or spillage, so fingers crossed that the trend continues.

    All in all, I walked about 20 K today. Just visiting different plazas and parks. And all the grocery stores within a 10 minute walk. The whole area near Tribunal and Noviciado is a maze of little streets and all sorts of small businesses run by all sorts of different people. I love wandering around there.

    One of the special stops of the day was at the Café Comercial. Back in the 70s it was where “el viejo profesor” went for coffee and to read the newspapers that were hanging on those long sticks. He was a professor of political science and spent some time in jail as a political prisoner. He later became the first Socialist mayor of Madrid, and I remember him as a very kind, humble man.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    423411

    Susilla to Aguilar

    5 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Last day walking! I had two reasons to put pep in my step today. One was that I wanted to be sure to arrive in Aguilar in time to visit the Romanesque church Santa Cecilia. And second was because Rebekah and Ana were coming from Moratinos to meet me in Aguilar!

    I left early, once again, using my super duper Petzl headlamp. And boy was it chilly! I am so glad that I brought my lambswool gloves.

    The stage took off-road routes between villages, and in one village two big dogs started to follow me. For at least an hour, they would run in front of me, then come back to me, then run in front of me again. About five minutes after they seemed to have finally lost interest in me, a small white van stopped and asked me if I had seen two dogs. They had been gone since last night, he told me, so imagine his relief when I could tell him where I had last seen them.

    I got into Aguilar with plenty of time to visit the church and also the castle above it. The last time I had visited this church, I had gone to the priest’s house, where I had given him my passport in exchange for the key to the church. Now there’s a little ticket booth, and if you can believe it, a 10 minute “sound and light show.“ But the capital of the slaughter of the innocents is still one of the most beautiful Romanesque capitals I’ve ever seen.

    Right around 1 o’clock, Ana and Rebekah arrived. It was so wonderful to see them! We went back into the church, and Ana pointed out that the soldiers who were slaughtering the innocents had face coverings — just like ICE she said!

    What followed was an excellent lunch at a restaurant that Rebekah somehow found. La Dolce Vita. Go there if you are ever in Aguilar de Campóo. Goat cheese salad, lubina (sea bass— best I’ve had in a long time) and then for dessert, a tarta de cuajada. If you like cuajada, you would love this!

    The long lunch had to end, but it was just about as perfect a camino ending as I could imagine!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds

    Polientes to Susilla

    4 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Now that my 40+ kilometer days are in the rearview mirror, I have had to break up this stage into two short days. Accommodations are very scarce, but the Casa Rural Mate is about halfway.

    Some camino forum friends reported very bad conditions on parts of this stage., but having had basically no rain this year, most everything is pretty dry..

    I started rather late, almost 830, because my hotel included breakfast, and because it was not clear whether there would be any other food options between now and my destination. I also had to carry my food for this evening, so that added a little more weight than usual.

    This was a surprisingly pleasant walk. It went through at least four little villages, and in nearly all of them, I stopped to chat. Once with a señora, watering her flowers, once with a guy picking green beans in his garden, once with two kids who were going to help their dad harvest potatoes. And at least three or four churches with little bits and pieces of Romanesque! — windows, arches, corbels. So there were lots of reasons to dilly dally, at the one church closest to my final destination, I was pretty sure I had seen some more of those X-rated corbels, and sure enough an online source confirmed it. I’m no expert in erotic carvings,, but these did look very suggestive from afar. I noticed that there was a fair amount of what looked like damage on some of them, and it reminded me what an old man once told me outside a similar church – that the priest had told them when they were young to throw stones at those carvings because they had no place outside a house of worship and we’re disgusting. Looks like the boys of this town might have had some success with that.

    My Casa Rural is really nice , and after a shower, I took a walk to find the anthropomorphic gravesites that are about a kilometer away. It took me a while, and several attempts up and down a rock face, but I finally found them. There were at least 20 in different groupings, and, sadly, but not surprisingly, a large number of them were child sized.

    So ends another really pleasant day. And the cherry on top of all of it is that I have learned of a surprise visit tomorrow in Aguilar. Did someone say Moratinos?!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    3
    11

    Orbaneja del Castillo to Polientes

    2 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    For today’s walk, I had to decide whether to take a route that would go to two rock hermitages, one probably carved in the 7th C, and one in the 10th, or whether to take a detour that would take me up to a high point in the area. Since I hadn’t been able to visit the rock ermita yesterday, I decided to go for less elevation and more cultural interest. https://www.lasmerindades.com/es/patrimonio-rec….

    That was a terrific decision. I was totally unprepared for how amazing these two places were. I have been in a number of rock hermitages, usually a little praying nook carved into stone with openings on the sides. These were two stories, with arches going all the way up from floor to the top, several separate spaces on each floor, and one had what must have been an altar. The 10th C one even had a horseshoe arch!

    They both looked solidly closed, but on further inspection I was able to get inside both of them. In spite of the padlocked gate on the first one, climbing up the dodgy ladder on the right gave access to the stairs that came up from the first floor. And at the second one, the padlock was open!

    I was glad I had nothing to rush for, and I found myself sitting inside these two places and reflecting on the kinds of things that spots like these elicit. But I did eventually move on.

    There is an absolutely beautiful church along this route, San Martín de Elines. It’s a colegiata, which means it’s more important than a “regular church.”
    https://www.culturadecantabria.es/listado-patri…

    I had been unable to get any information about visiting hours, but I left very early this morning so that I would be sure to get there before typical closing times if in fact it were open. No such luck. It was closed tight with no indication of phone number or opening hours. I was bummed.

    Beautiful windows and apses, and many varied corbels— animals, fantastic figures, a few humans. Oh I would have loved to get inside. I am now 0 for 3 when it comes to the standout Romanesque churches on this route. But the exterior was beautiful itself, and I was still thinking about those rock hermitages (and I decided they should be called rock cathedrals), so I couldn’t get too upset.

    The last 8 km were pretty much of a slog, on the side of sunny but untraveled road. I’m in a cute place in the pretty unremarkable town of Polientes. But the kids are in the plaza and having fun.

    I have two more days of walking, but that’s only because I can no longer walk a 43 km day. I don’t think either day will be particularly special, walking towards the finish line in Aguilar de Campóo on Sunday.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    12It really does look like a camel!2I felt like they were all staring at me1Right under the kiss itself2Where is the waterfall!Tons of little black spots, I mean, many raptors.1

    Day in Orbaneja

    1 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Yesterday afternoon, I took a trail up and out of town. For a while, the views were spectacular, but then things turned to dry scrub. I only continued about 5 km. I passed three graves, men who were either 16 or 20, victims of the Spanish Civil War. The little monument, erected in 2010, said “we’ve learned to fly like birds, we’ve learned to swim like fish, but we haven’t learned the simple art of living together like brothers and sisters.”

    In the late afternoon, I took a walk around town, which consists of three or four streets. Hidden in a corner was a little bar with a terrace looking out on the so-called “camels kiss“ formation. Turns out that the two guys behind the bar are the owners of the enterprise, and today was their first day. I hope that they succeed!

    So here is what I did today. Kind of a rest day, not much elevation, not much distance, no pack!

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/orbaneja-…

    This morning I woke up to another beautiful day. Breakfast at 8:30, a real luxury, and by 9:30 I was starting my day’s walk. I combined two different trails, to make a 16 km loop. The first went up so that I was right under the Beso del Camelo (Kiss of the Camel) rock formation. At one point, I saw 13 Raptors on a ridge, looking down at me. Not surprisingly, when I got close, they all took off in very graceful flight. Awesome. When I got to the other side of the formation, looking down over the town, I just sat and watched as the sun rose slowly over this magical place. Just me and the raptors!

    Back down at river level, instead of returning to town, I stayed along the river. This is the route I will follow tomorrow, but I decided to go out about 6 km to some off-route waterfalls and another rock hermitage .

    Well, it was a lovely walk, but the waterfalls were dry and the path up to the hermitage was totally overgrown and filled with prickly bushes. I saw more people today than any other day so far – three couples and one single guy walking, and one cyclist.

    On the way back to town, it seemed like every time I looked up to the cliffs, there were circles of raptors. I’m not sure what they were, but it was really kind of mesmerizing to watch these black dots circling around and around and around. Sometimes they got close enough to me that I could see their white heads and the jagged outlines of their wings.

    All in all, I am very glad I decided to spend a day here!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    21

    Pesquera Ebro - Orbaneja del Castillo

    1 Oktober, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/pesquera-…

    I think this is the latest I have ever set out on any camino. It was almost 8:30 by the time I left my little hotel. If the sun doesn’t rise until eight, and if I will be walking the entire day in a canyon/gorge, I knew that daylight would be late to arrive. I also knew it was going to be a short day, with virtually no elevation, so I opted for another no-alarm day with coffee in my room. Unfortunately, the bar didn’t open till nine.

    I had heard that there was a pedestrian bridge that had been destroyed by flood rains and that had not been replaced. What that meant is that the normal 24 or 25 km route would have to be shortened to 18. So I really took my time. The trail is always close to the river, with little cut outs to go sit on a rock and enjoy the view. The trail is extremely well-maintained, and a big chunk of it, from the hydroelectric plant onward, is a drivable gravel road. It really was a gorgeous 18 km stretch. And every now and then I would see a few enormous raptors take off from on high and circle around.

    For the entire way, the audio portion of this walk alternated between my footsteps and hiking poles breaking the total silence, and the sound of water rushing over rocks. Sometimes I was in a dense forest, sometimes walking alongside eroded rock, sometimes with views way up high to the top of the cliffs.

    The last 6 km of the walk were on the other side of the river, equally tranquil, but not as beautiful. That’s just because it was so heavily forested, with a lot fewer glimpses of the river or the imposing cliffs. But the compensation was that there were more bird songs.

    I had been debating whether to spend an extra night here, but my mind was made up as soon as I entered the town.

    I have a couple of local trails to walk tomorrow, and the room I got in the rustic hotel rural includes breakfast! What luxury.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    22

    Valdenoceda to Pesquera de Ebro

    30 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    My tracks for the day:

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/valdenoce…

    Another wonderful walk — how is it possible?! The morning started off with a couple of good omens— first, that I was able to figure out how to use mapy.com to get me reunited with the Camino without going back on the highway as I had come. Immediately after rejoining the Camino, poof, there in front of me was another beautiful Romanesque church. I would love to get inside a couple of these places, but this one just had late afternoon visiting hours.

    After the town of El Alminé came the Calzada medieval, an old trade route that brought sheep and other livestock from the Meseta to the coastal towns. With its ascent of about 300 m, the grade was quite good, 13%, the historical authenticity unsurpassed. But it was murder on my feet.

    Some of it was really spectacular though, because you could see how the builders had raised the level of the road in certain spots by as much as 18 or 20 feet to avoid dips. When I got to the top, there was a church of mish-mash styles emerging from the mist. Very nice.

    The next 10 or so kilometers were mainly along roads —no traffic, no scenery, no cars. The one great diversion was a detour off the Camino to see the Dolmen de Cotarrita. Adding another 1.5 km to a day’s walk is not something to be undertaken lately, but I had heard good things about this site and thought that my day was in pretty good shape.

    Estimates are that the dolmen is 5500 years old. The information plaque told me that they had found 15 bodies buried there, some of them with little pieces of pottery or amulets carved from bones. I took a good shoes-off break there and am sad to report that I got no great answers to life’s big questions. I did reflect, though, on the fact that I had been really silly to worry that the GPS tracks I had followed were too “old” — from 2012 — while this dolmen hadn’t moved in 5500 years.

    I’m in a little hotel in the town with more coats of arms on its houses than any other town in Castilla and León. Some are quite impressive and one dates from the 13th century. In my experience, that’s very unusual — typically 16th and 17th century.

    After lunch, I walked out to the mirador/viewpoint of the Cañón del Ebro. I will be walking along the river tomorrow, but I will be down at river level, and this viewpoint was from up high.

    I can’t believe how great the weather has been. Some clouds, but always sun, temps no higher than the mid 70s. I know this area is still in a terrible drought, so I wouldn’t be upset with a rainy day or two.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds

    Montes, montañas and bosques

    29 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    This post will probably only be of interest to Janet and anyone else who is curious about the semantic nuances of the Spanish language.

    A few days ago, I wrote that I was walking through the “montes“ of Burgos. And that my understanding was that these montes were somewhere in between hills and mountains, with the villages nearby having been ceded the rights to determine permitted uses. Janet wrote that she thought that the term meant “forest.” I didn’t give it much thought, but today as I walked over what was clearly one singular hill/mountain/monte, I noticed that at several different points along the way there were signs indicating that I was going from the monte of one village to the monte of another village. But yet I was still on the same hill/mountain.

    I ran into a couple who were out for the morning walk and decided to hear it from “the locals.” After the usual pleasantries, which always involve convincing others that I am not in mortal danger walking alone, I asked them what the word monte meant to them. And they said well it is where we are right now — we are up out of the village, there’s forest, there’s some cattle, lots of hardwood trees. And no, a monte is not as big as a montaña. The señora explained that since there were several villages in different spots on this particular monte, each village got a certain designated area that is in their jurisdiction. They can decide to preserve it, to use it, to cut the timber, to earn a few euros by allowing ranchers to graze cattle on it. It just depends on the village. With some ultimate superior authority located in someplace unknown to her but probably in the capital.

    So, I asked, does the word Monte refer to the ground or to what’s growing on it. That question did not make a lot of sense to her and she said– in this monte there are many montes. Meaning, I think, that the word monte refers to all of the things that Janet and I had thought.

    She also told me that sometimes bitter conflicts arise when villagers don’t agree. She told of one village whose residents were split over whether to earn revenue from cutting down the timber, and then opening up the deforested land for cattle grazing.

    The Señora thought these conflicts were very sad and unnecessary, and told me she was very glad her village of 11 people had decided to leave these beautiful trees alone. They do get a little revenue from grazing rights for the few cattle that I saw as I was walking, but they don’t interfere with the trees. She also told me I would have to come back in a few weeks because the montes would be blazing yellow.

    Who thought that one word could be so interesting and the source of such a nice conversation!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    1
    11116

    Trespaderne to Valdenoceda

    28 September, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    My tracks:

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/trespader…

    Perfect day in all ways! Any day that starts out with crossing a long medieval bridge, a visit to a sixth century hermitage in the rocks, and then proceeds to climb up and up on a forest trail whose grade is gentle is destined to be a great day.

    I left a little before eight and it was still dark. Having a 30 km day with 750 m elevation, I knew that would mean a late arrival. But I didn’t set the alarm last night and felt great when I woke up at a little after seven. The sun doesn’t rise till 8 AM anyway!

    The walk is superb- the big ascent and descent have occasional lookout spots for oohing and aahing over the many different rock formations. The gorges are dramatic— sometimes the rock is colorful, sometimes it’s just gray, but always they are beautiful. The landscape changed on the other side of this monte, with lots of small villages and cultivated fields. I didn’t pass many other people, but those I did inevitably said hello and started a conversation.

    I knew that the camino went past San Pedro de Tejada, one of the most acclaimed Romanesque churches in the province. I also knew that not only is it usually closed, but that there is a gate all around that prevents you from a close-up look at the exterior.

    A local woman and her husband who were picking walnuts off the ground told me that when she was a kid, the church was always open — until the inevitable thefts happened. She also told me to look in the fence around at the back left side and that I would find a hole that I could squeeze through. Sure enough!!! It would have been embarrassing to have been caught in the act, but there was no way I was going to pass this option up. It’s beautiful, just beautiful, and it’s hard to believe that the corbels are original. They are all in such perfect condition, even the x-rated ones. I would have loved to get inside, but being able to sit and enjoy this jewel from the outside was reward enough.

    I went a couple of kilometers off-camino to get to a nice little casa rural. Unfortunately, my food planning has left a lot to be desired. Grocery store closed yesterday, no grocery store here, restaurant closed here, which left me with the option of a bocadillo at the bar. I will survive!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    3
    21

    Oña to Trespaderne

    28 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I would agree with what a Camino friend said about this stage – not spectacular, but fine. After the last three days, the bar is set pretty high.

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ona-to-tr…

    I was happy to confirm that the route through the gorge from Oña to Trespaderne has indeed been finished. The one piece left hanging for many months/years??? was a wooden footbridge over the Ebro river. This is part of the never finished railway line that was supposed to go from Santander in the north to Valencia on the Mediterranean. Some small sections apparently became operational, but for the most part, it was never used. Now it’s being repurposed as a walking/cycling route. And today, being Sunday, there were tons of people. And portions of this route were really beautiful, with those reddish tinted cliffs, going way up on either side.

    I had hoped to add a big loop at the end that would take me way up high. I started out from the train station and made it up a couple of K to the fortress ruins that date to the 6 th C. Beautiful views, nice place for a rest. At that point, I had tracks to climb up to a peak about 500 m above me. I started up, but the trail was extremely steep and extremely narrow and extremely rocky. After five or 10 minutes, having sampled what it would be like for me going down, I decided to turn around and head back down.

    Since it was still early, I decided to keep walking forward on the rail path just to see what was out there. About a half a kilometer further on, I saw another sign pointing up to the fortress. Even though I had already been up there, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go up from a different angle. This was a much nicer path than the first one, shaded and nicely graded.

    When I got up there, I was surprised to see that there was a whole section of the fortress walls that I hadn’t seen on my first ascent, and the views were definitely more spectacular. So even though I didn’t make it up to the peak I was hoping to get to, I was glad to have made the effort to go back up to the fortress. And I had plenty of time to sit and enjoy the views.

    The town where I’m staying, Trespaderne, doesn’t have much in the way of charm or interest. The people at the old-style Hostal are very nice, and the restaurant below had a decent meal.

    I am looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight. Last night my window was right above an outdoor café. Even with my earplugs, it was too loud for me to sleep till after two. Today, when I arrived at the Hostal, the woman checking me in asked me if I would prefer a rear room that doesn’t look out onto the street and would be quieter. Maybe I looked like I needed some peace and quiet, but in any event, I took her up on her offer!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    257

    From Frías to Oña

    27 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/castillo-…

    I am back on the official Camino Olvidado. The last few days I have been walking through the “Montes“ of the province of Burgos. Montes are bigger than hills but not big enough to be called “montañas.” In my experience, they are usually in the 700 to 1000 m range (that is about 2 to 3000 feet above sea level). This Camino takes a route that goes up and down and across them rather than around them, meaning that most days there are several multi-hundred meter ascents. The montes are owned by the towns and villages in the area. In the old days, they were a source of firewood for the villagers, sometimes mushrooms. Today they are sometimes used for timbering or recreation like hiking or rock-climbing.

    I saw on my tracks that I had three of these ascents today, each one between 250 and 300 m. The walk was gorgeous, nothing spectacular, just one beautiful mountain forest after another. No eucalyptus trees, just oak, pines, and beech trees that were starting to turn yellow.

    When I got to the top of my second high point, looking down on my second descent, I noticed that my tracks showed another path. This one looked like it stayed up on the ridge (thanks to Clare for teaching me how to read contour lines) and avoided not only the second descent, but also the third ascent. My Camino friends know how reluctant I am to take shortcuts, and it is true that I started down with the thought that these meters are good for me. But then I came to a sign that said “ No pasar— trabajos forestales.” But it wasn’t until I googled “Saint Martin Church in Penches” and learned that it did not have anything that I would have been likely to ooh and ah over, that I bit the bullet, skipped the descent, and stayed up on the ridge line. That saved me about a kilometer and a half, so I arrived in Oña pretty early.

    I’m staying in a cute little hotel in a room that is, shall we say, colorful? The three people working downstairs — one in the bar, one in hotel reception, and one in the restaurant— are most definitely related, since they all have the same surly face and monosyllabic lexicon. But the restaurant gets good reviews, so I will eat here! My first proper meal since I arrived in Spain. And I will visit the monastery after my late lunch —founded in the 11th century, but with few Romanesque vestiges. El Cid has been here, and several Castillian kings are buried here, so it should be an interesting visit.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    11

    Frias at night

    26 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    I should have gone to bed earlier, but I just couldn’t resist

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds

    Pancorbo to Frías

    26 September, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/pancorbo-…

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/mirador-d…

    Another day, another beautiful walk, and another beautiful town. Up and over the mountain on a forest dirt path, then around and about on a bunch of different regional hiking paths that were all connected.

    Frías, my destination, is one of the “pueblos más bonitos de España.” And it surely is. I could see the town, its Castle, its church, all spread out up on top of a big rock, from about 12 kms away.

    I got to my hotel, and after the normal routine, I decided to walk to a small town, Tobera, about 3 km away. The Camino will pass by there tomorrow, but I wanted to have plenty of time to see the church and the waterfalls.

    As I was getting ready to leave, I decided I should probably bring my fleece with me since it really cools off at night. My fleece? Where was it? Back in the hotel restaurant, where I must’ve left it last night draped over the back of my chair. I called the Hostal and sure enough there it was. I asked if they could try to find someone who might want to drive it over here for me. They said they’d call me in a few hours. So I asked our hotel owner if she had any ideas about someone who might want to do it.

    As I was walking back to Frías from the town with the waterfalls, I got a call from the hotel owner. She told me her husband just arrived from Bilbao (where they live), and that he would be happy to drive me over.

    Well, not only did he drive me over and back, but he took a circle route to show me different things. We climbed up to the top of a lookout point, saw some castle ruins, and gazed down at the herd where he says the best beef in the area comes from. Of course, I could not convince him to take any money, and once again I am the beneficiary of such tremendous kindness. I could not imagine how I was ever going to get my fleece back, since there are no taxi cabs for at least 50 miles, and I also couldn’t imagine how I could keep on walking Caminos without that fleece.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    1221

    First day walking —to Pancorbo

    25 September, Spanyol ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/pena-del-…

    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/miranda-d…

    What a superb, wonderful, happy day. Alun and I left Miranda around 7:30 and walked through a beautiful gorge and into the village of Pancorbo. Olga met us in town and after a good long shoes-off break and an obligatory Kas de Limón (for me) and café con leche (for them) we said goodbye and off they went.

    I had found a local loop hiking trail, about 15 km long, that went up to the medieval castle first and then started a substantial ascent to the site of the 17th century fort, Santa Engracia, Now totally in ruins but with some amazing views and raptors! I met a couple of local people who were out for a walk and we had some nice chats. They told me that the town is alive mainly because there are lots of good jobs in the city of Vitoria, about 40 km away. The town still has a school, still has children being born, still has some young families, even though there are fewer than 500 residents.

    I was definitely starting to drag by the end of this walk. And it was after four when I rolled into the Hostal Pancorbo. Nothing fancy, perfectly adequate, clean, and only €40. Actually, a few years ago this place probably would’ve gone for 20 or 30, but there has definitely been a substantial price increase since Covid.

    After a shower and washing clothes, I decided to take a walk up to a mirador a couple of kms above town. Late afternoon sun made dramatic shadows and more raptors appeared.

    On the way down, I stopped to watch large numbers of (mostly) young people maneuvering their way on what is called a Via Ferrata. Rock climbing with chains, swaying wooden slat bridges, all sorts of stairs up and down, and at the end, a zip line! The locals say it brings a lot of people to town, and the setting is surely spectacular.

    37 km and 1050 m is a lot for this old body, even though 6 km were pack-free. I’m going to take it a little easier tomorrow, but I feel fine and am happy to have met the challenge and enjoyed so much incredible natural beauty. Grateful is the word of the hour.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    312

    Travel day #2

    24 September, Spanyol ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    This is a familiar routine for me. It makes me feel comfortable and like I’m going to the right place. I arrived in Madrid at about nine in the morning, having had a few hours of good sleep. Because of my Irish (EU) passport, I was able to zip through passport control. From the airport, I hopped on the commuter train to the Chamartín train station and was there in about 15 minutes. The station continues in its state of renovation chaos.

    I had a few hours before my train to Miranda, and so I was able to walk around the area and buy my Spanish SIM card, get my fruit, snacks, and water for walking, and even buy some stamps to send postcards home to the grandkids!

    My train left Chamartín at about noon. No fast trains, but it was comfortable. I had to change trains in Valladolid, and I remembered how much I had enjoyed spending two days in that city years ago when I walked the Camino de Madrid. Unfortunately, there was a very long stop of over an hour for “problemas técnicos.” But I got there!

    Miranda is a fairly bleak place, but like all Spanish cities, it has its ambiente — lots of people out and about, up and down the main street, enjoying what feels like the beginning of fall weather. I am staying in charmless, modern chain hotel, but it’s clean and comfortable.

    The highlight of the day was being reunited with Alun and his wife, Olga. They drove up to see me for a quick visit. Alun’s going to walk with me tomorrow, which promises to be a pretty day through a gorge. We walked up to the castle and around the casco histórico and had a vino tinto. Now I am hoping for a good sleep and the banishment of jet lag.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsViejo from MirandaLaurie Reynolds
    Old bridge over the Ebro River
    The city had a concentration camp for thousands of republican prisoners from the Civil War.3

    Off to Miranda de Ebro

    23 September, Amerika Serikat ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    I know this is crazy, but I have not yet managed to finish my 2025 Camino Viejo. I still have about 9 walking days, and I decided that I just didn’t want to wait till next spring. Things are stable here, the trip will be short, and I was able to get a good ticket … so I am off again!

    I ended my walk this summer in Miranda de Ebro, a not so beautiful small city about four hours north of Madrid, and so that’s where I will start. This last part probably won’t be as spectacular as the earlier stages, with all the monasteries, castles, gorges, and MOUNTAINS, but I’m excited!

    This segment, which ends in another unknown, small Spanish city, Aguilar de Campóo, spends most of its time near the meandering Ebro River. Lots of gorges, beautiful little villages, more Romanesque, a monastery or two, and a few peaks to climb. I have good information about off-route loop walks that will mean shorter forward progress, but more elevation and more natural beauty, at least if I can do it.

    I have officially entered the 4th quarter now, if you think it begins at 75. Or if you think it begins at 76, I still have one year of middle age left. In either case, I have to seize whatever opportunities I have to enjoy the Camino beauty that will be out of range for me very soon.

    So off I go, with my new backpack (weighing 10 pounds before food and water!!!) and my ancient green fleece. The fleece was a present from my son for my first Camino in 2000, and I have worn it on every Camino since then. I can’t imagine walking without it.

    Flying Iberia from Ohare    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds

    Back to Madrid

    30 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Last night we walked around Cangas, and David was sad to see that his favorite restaurant had closed. We also walked over the bouncy suspension bridge, which made me kind of queasy. Finally, the temperature started to cool off. Charlie wanted a pizza, and David’s go-to place was still there.

    Since our flight leaves tomorrow morning, we had to spend a lot of today getting back to Madrid. First a 6:30 bus to Oviedo, and from there a train to Madrid. I had never seen the new train station from the outside, since I am usually just there to transfer from one train to another, but this time we took a cab into town so I could see the new building. Pretty spiffy, but who knows how long all this construction will take

    I’ve bought turrones for all the staff at Joe’s place, and the “boys” are enjoying the pool at the hotel. We will brave the heat one more time for some last-minute shopping, then one more dinner, then home tomorrow.

    I thought a lot about Charlie’s Camino and how he was able to power through even though it was hard for him sometimes. The three days we walked were not easy; they had a lot of elevation gain. Here are our wikiloc tracks for the three days:

    Day one. Salas to Tineo
    https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifact…

    Day two. Tineo to Colinas de Arriba
    https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifact…

    Day three. Colinas de Arriba to Puerto del Palo
    https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/colinas-d…

    Never too early to start thinking about the next Camino, and I do have the Viejo from Miranda De Ebro to finish up!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    2
    3111112You can see the rosquilla in the bottom left.The place where David had to come to send e-mails home.

    Colina de Arriba to Puerto del Palo

    30 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We did it! We’re done walking!

    Poor Charlie had another bad night sleeping. But he was a trooper and got up and had breakfast. A little before eight, and we were on the way up. It was a tough walk, but once we got to the top of the first ascent, Charlie seemed to take off. He stopped only when he had to navigate around a horse or a cow.

    It was a sunny day, with a nice breeze, and we didn’t mind the temperature at all. When we got to the Puerto Del Palo, we were done. I know that Charlie was very glad to stop walking, but I hope he realizes what a great job he did and how he should feel like he really nailed it! I am going to wait a little while to ask him if he would like to try a longer Camino next time😀😀.

    We had a taxi take us down to Pola De Allande, where we met Antonio. Antonio had essentially been David’s boss 20 years ago when David came as an English language assistant in the high school in Cangas del Narcea.

    After lunch in the Allandesa (local restaurant/hotel of great renown), we went up to António’s little town of Celón. I learned the legend of the local Romanesque Church. Years ago, a serpent was eating the remains of all of the people buried in the crypt. No one could figure out how to kill this serpent. A pilgrim passing through asked a neighbor to cook a rosquilla (circular bread). He put the warm bread next to the hole where the serpent had descended, and the smell lured it out. He promptly killed it and was so admired by the locals that they put a sculpture commemorating his feat in the wall of the church.

    In Antonio’s house, the first order of business was to ask Antonio’s wife to remove a tick from the back of my ear, which she expertly did. We met many members of his family, including his sister Carmen. She had married a member of the Longoria family and was living in the Palacio de los Longoria. If you know about CNN’s show on Spanish cuisine, Carmen is probably the only non-chef in the series. She told me she just made her fabada the way she always does, and that Eva Longoria was extremely personable and encouraging. It was the 25 member camera crew and all the other staff that had her kind of freaked out!

    From there, Antonio took us down to Cangas del Narcea, the town where David had spent a year working in the high school. It is HOT here - way out of whack in a place where the temperature rarely goes above 80°F.

    We have taken a walk around town and went back to the dorm-like place where David lived (for students from small towns in the area who were too far away for a daily bus, and also for teachers who came to teach during the week and then went back to Oviedo on the weekend).

    We’re planning to meet Antonio for a light supper. We have a 6:30 departure from Cangas tomorrow.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    121113

    Tineo to Colinas de Arriba

    28 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The weather predictions were dire. In the 90s Fahrenheit for today. And we knew that there was a lot of elevation and no services for the first 13 km. But we brought a lot of water and took a lot of rests, and we were fine.

    Charlie didn’t have a great night sleep-wise, so he slept in a little. We were on the road shortly after 8:00, and it was another beautiful off-road walk. We were so grateful for all the shade, and the occasional sunny road stretch was penitential. The views all around were beautiful.

    We had a long break in Campiello, home of Herminia’s empire. She wasn’t working, but her husband (?) was behind the bar. He was kind of grumpy but softened up when I told him I had stayed at Herminia’s albergue in 2009. I told him I remembered the breakfast vividly — piles of crusty thick bread slices, fried in oil, and served with several big jars of homemade preserves. I didn’t tell him that when I first saw it, I thought it looked gross. But it was absolutely delicious. Sadly, he told me that they stopped serving that breakfast years ago. Just too much work, he said. Today they have a bigger albergue, a Casa Rural, a bar, and grocery store. They also own the local grass bowling court, but I don’t think that takes much work What a shame about the fried bread— it was really terrific.

    From Campiello, it was about 6 more kilometers. Those were hard, it was really hot, there were a couple hundred meters of ascent, and there were some stretches on the side of a sunny road. We got to Colinas de Arriba at about 3, where I had reserved a 3-bed apartment. It has an equipped kitchen, but who wants to carry food for 6 km in 92 F/ 33C heat?! I wanted Charlie to at least see an albergue, and there is a nice one here. We are going to have a communal dinner, which will also be nice.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    133121That's a thumbs up from Charlie. We've arrived!1

    Salas to Tineo

    28 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    I knew we would have only three days to walk, so I thought long and hard about which pieces to pick. We want to get close to Pola de Allande on our last day, to see another good friend of David’s, and I’m hoping we can walk Hospitales. So it just made sense to skip ahead from Oviedo and start a few days in. And Gronze agreed with me, giving this description to the stage we just walked today: “Primera de las tres etapas que definen el carácter y esencia del Camino Primitivo.”

    We took a taxi to Salas, had a coffee, and off (or more accurately, up) we went a little after eight. It’s really a beautiful walk. Classic hilly, green Asturian countryside, frequently with the mountains in the background.

    I am so proud of Charlie and so happy with how well this first day went. There were a few mild complaints when we started out, but he quickly got into the flow and only said he was going to die about four times, but always in jest. He’s never done anything like this, and it wasn’t always easy, but we had a great walk. 21 km may not sound like much to my hard-core Camino friends, but with about 650 m elevation gain, it was not a walk in the park. Luckily virtually all of this stage is off-road, and a huge majority was shaded.

    I had predicted a 4 PM arrival, and I was way off. We were checking in to the hotel at a little after 2:30. We had stopped for a drink in La Espina, and then a couple of hours later took a lunch break with some sandwiches we had bought there. Lots of water was consumed, because it is hot.

    There is a medieval festival out in the main Square. I don’t think we will be partaking of many of the festivities, but there should be some good food around.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    1
    313131

    To the coast

    27 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Yesterday both David and I got to join up with old friends. For me, it was Helena, whom I originally met in Lisbon in, I think, 2009. She has since moved to Oviedo and even though I see her about once every five years, it’s always wonderful to reconnect. And David was able to see a good friend from the year he lived in the dorm here in Oviedo as a junior in college

    Today we decided to take Charlie up to the coast—the Asturian coast is just stunningly beautiful, and it was a sunny cloudless morning. We went first to the Playa del Silencio and Cabo Vidio, both with just gorgeous coastal views. And then we spent a few hours in Cudillero, eating lunch and walking around this picture postcard town.

    How could I go to Oviedo and not visit the churches in Naranco?! Since they were open till 7:00, I hightailed it up there as soon as we got back to town. It was really hot, a harbinger of things to come in the next few days, I’m afraid. But visiting the churches, as always, is such a beautiful treat — how often do you get to stand inside buildings from the 600s? One was a palace originally, and there is a lot they don’t know about what went on there. I spent about an hour between the two places, and then walked as fast as I could back to town. Charlie needed a couple of items for the Camino – hat, sunglasses, sunscreen. We’ve got all that, we’re packing up our bags, and we will be out of here tomorrow morning.

    Unfortunately, it’s going to be very hot. But we will deal with it!    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    1Salvador pilgrims are up in these mountains!211

    To Oviedo

    26 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Yesterday, as we were walking around the city, I came across a restaurant that I had been unable to find the week before. I remembered it as a place with varied food, nothing gourmet, but a very nice atmosphere. There are about six of these restaurants scattered around Madrid, Lamucca. I had a Poké bowl, Charlie had a pizza, and David had some sort of stuffed pasta. Not very Spanish, you might say, but we started with a great serving of patatas bravas and some very authentic croquetas de jamón. After dinner, we walked back to the Plaza Santa Ana, which is where David and Shannon got engaged. Unfortunately the square is under construction, but the cafés were up and running, and the saxophone busker was happily doing his thing. Still blue sky at 10 PM!

    The day started out with a taxi to the train station. This station is undergoing massive renovations, but we somehow happily landed in the right departure point. Our destination was Oviedo, “starting point” for the Camino Primitivo. It’s also the city where David spent a year as an undergraduate, and the home of one of my dearest Camino friends. A good destination in so many ways.

    Although we weren’t on the fastest train, our Alvia did go through the controversial Pajares Tunnel. It connects León to Oviedo through the mountains (which all Salvador pilgrims love), but it has had some horrible environmental impacts on the towns on the León side. For reasons that I don’t understand, the engineering of this tunnel has altered the flow of water, so that many towns are losing their aquifers. Here’s an article from the Spanish press in case you’re interested in the geology of it. https://www.lanuevacronica.com/opinion/adif-agu…

    We arrived in time in Oviedo, checked into our hotel, and then headed out on a tour of the town

    First stop —David’s dorm, the San Gregorio, where the recepcionista remembrad David. Then we headed over to the beautiful Parque de Invierno, where unfortunately the mountains were covered in clouds. Then Charlie’s first cachopo.

    After lunch, we went around the old town, got Charles credential, stamped at the cathedral, and saw some of the many statues that are all over the city. Time for a rest and hoping to see some good friends soon.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    3121Rodilla sándwiches-- still here!!!31

    Back to Spain!

    24 Juni, Amerika Serikat ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Going home was definitely the right thing to do. Even though the doctors had said there was no need for me to come home, I really just felt I had to go. I was able to spend a lot of time with the staff at the facility, and with Joe, of course, and we’ve made some changes that will greatly reduce the risk of future falls. Aside from the bruises, Joe is fine and in good spirits. He knows this will be a much shorter trip and was not upset.

    Ending my Camino early was of course sad, but not really a big deal. As all my Camino friends have said, the Camino is not going anywhere, and it’ll be there when I’m ready to head back. The much bigger deal was having to cancel my plans to meet up with David and Charlie. That was just tremendously sad. And so, I started to think… Why not head back and meet up with them? Joe is fine, his situation is much improved, and how many times do you get to travel in Spain with your son and grandson?

    So I did it, bought a ticket. With three days advance notice, there wasn’t much in the way of choices. Middle seat, 35 minutes connection in O’Hare. I figured that if I didn’t make the connection, they would have to find a way to get me there.

    But everything worked miraculously well, and by 9 AM I was in the hotel with the receptionist calling to wake up the sleepy guys. We had a quick breakfast and headed off to the Prado. I took a Spanish art history class in Madrid in 1970 when I was a junior in college, and we met once a week with our tutor in the museum. I still remember where all my favorite paintings are (they have moved some of the Goya’s). The Velazquez rooms are still spectacular, and I always have to make a stop at the display of paintings from San Baudelio de Berlanga, the frescoes that started my love of Romanesque, and which the professor used to introduce us to the Camino. (Clare and I visited the church with a quick detour off the Lana a few years ago). Pictures are prohibited in the chapel re-creation , but the guard let me take a picture of the rendition of how the church probably looked back in the day. Lots of good memories in that little chapel—from junior year abroad to Lana 2023!

    Charlie is working through jet lag, so after the Prado he took a little nap. That gave me the time to get back into the the pilgrim routine and wash my clothes! I am thankful that no one in this hotel gives me a second look when I come bouncing in in my hiking pants and ex officio shirt.

    After the nap, we had sandwiches at Rodilla (still going strong from the 1970s) and took a long walk—Sol, Gran Vía, Fuencarral, Colón, and over to our old apartment on General Diaz Porlier. We ended with a cold drink on the terrace of Palacio de Cibeles—old post office turned into the Ayuntamiento/town hall.    Baca selengkapnya

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  • Laurie ReynoldsCaminos Aragonés and ViejoLaurie Reynolds
    121

    Solvitur Ambulando

    18 Juni, Spanyol ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    The last couple of days have illustrated for me that this over-used phrase is well applied to the Camino - walking along through rural Spain is the perfect place to make a decision. The other truism, this one from the world of dementia caregivers, is that I live in a land of bad choices.

    As I was leaving Vitoria two days ago, early in the morning, I learned that Joe had another incident and was back in the ER. They were waiting on results, and so I decided to keep on walking. As the results came in that everything checked out normal, I started to contemplate my choices. This was second trip to the ER since I’ve been here, and though I don’t feel he’s in imminent danger, I started to think that I should go home. I had a deep sense that I was not going to be able to put this behind me and carry on happily.

    The one thing really complicating the decision was that my son and one of his sons are coming to Spain on Sunday, the idea being that we would be together and walk on the Camino for a few days. Pulling out of that at the last minute was one of the saddest things I’ve ever done. But I just knew that I couldn’t keep on here, I have to go home.

    Yesterday I walked a short stage of about 20 K, wrestling with the decision the whole way. Pros and cons, risks and rewards, costs and benefits. No matter how I thought about staying, I just couldn’t get to a place that felt comfortable. When I talked to David this morning, I made it final. I walked today into a bigger town, Miranda De Ebro. I had a few hours so I took a walk around to see the Ebro River, the Romanesque church, and the site of a huge concentration camp for Republican prisoners during the Civil War. It was later used as a prison camp for Allied soldiers captured in France, and then later after the war, for German prisoners, apparently . The barracks have all been destroyed, but there are a few bits and pieces left. I thought it was a nice juxtaposition that all the land around the old site is now used for schools, and there were lots of happy, noisy children running all around.

    I am now on a train to Madrid.

    My head is kind of swirling, I’ve got a plane ticket for Friday, and I think this is the first time I’ve ever stopped walking without having already hatched an idea for my next Camino.    Baca selengkapnya

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