Reset search
Camino de Santiago - FrancesCamino de Santiago - Frances
SatelliteEdit route

Camino de Santiago - Frances

September - October 2022
A 45-day adventure by Traveling Devols Read more
  • 45footprints
  • 3countries
  • 45days
  • 765photos
  • 10videos
  • 7.5kmiles
  • 6.3kmiles
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    1
    Day 30

    Murias de Rechivaldo

    October 4, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Variety was the reward for our day. After a week of crossing the Meseta, today led us along an ever changing path with ups and downs, quiet villages, changing crops and into Astorga; a larger town which of course was at the top of a steep hill. Today’s 16 miles went quick up until the last 5k into Murias de Rechivaldo which was a pretty hot walk at the end of the day.

    This comes after an great night at our country house where we were just plain pampered by Mercedes the owner. This was a unique night with just seven people at the albergue. Most of the dinner meal came from their garden with a nice pumpkin soup, great tomatoes, walnuts from their tree, and of course that Rioja red wine.

    Tonight we are having a pilgrim’s meal at our albergue owned by a German who walked the Camino and left his job as a chemical engineer to support pilgrims. We will be off tomorrow for the start of a steady climb back into the hills.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    211
    Day 31

    Rabanal del Camino

    October 5, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today was an uneventful, easy 10 mile walk into Rabanal. We didn’t even break a sweat and got here early enough to just hang out and relax. Last night we had a lovely albergue but neither one of us slept well so it was nice to have an easier mileage day and perfect temperatures for walking.

    We have been walking a lot with Andrew and Sara from Melbourne. Australia. We are usually booked at different places for the night but always meet up to walk and eat together during the day. They are the best and we are already sad to think of having to say goodbye to them once we reach Santiago.

    Typically we only book our albergues one day out but as we are nearing the end, and the Camino gets busier, we have mapped out our days in advance and booked ahead to the end. It has taken on a different feel knowing where we will be so far in advance. That feeling of living in the present moment is fading and the finish line is looming out there within our grasp. It is hard to process the thought of having achieved this bucket list goal we set for ourselves nearly 10 years ago. What an undertaking it has been to plan, train and finally do. We are hoping the final stages will be kind to us.

    Buen Camino!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    1
    Day 32

    Molinaseca

    October 6, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Today was the longest, most brutal downhill of our hiking careers but happy to report we lived to walk another day!

    Today was extra special as it was the day we placed our special rocks at the foot of the cross at Cruz de Ferro, which is the highest elevation on the Camino. It is customary to travel thus far on the Camino with a rock/token with meaning. It is symbolic to carry this weight/burden and surrender it there, at the foot of the cross. It certainly came with all the feels.

    Today was filled with great food, great friends, good weather, a challenging walk, amazing villages and memories to last a lifetime.

    Buen Camino ❤️🇪🇸    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    Day 33

    Villafranca

    October 7, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    We started out early today knowing it would be a long one. We broke 20 miles which seemed totally out of reach a month ago, now it seems almost normal. We are still amazed at the beauty of watching the day awaken while walking through sleeping villages in this amazing country.

    As we entered the town of Ponferrada we stopped across the street from the Templar Castle and enjoyed breakfast at a coffee joint that would be a perfect fit in Chico. As we headed out of the city, the Camino took us through the “good part of town” and we got to see some beautiful properties. This was a big change from the many farming villages we have been walking through.

    About ten miles in, we stopped for lunch at a last ditch place on a very busy street, very tired and hot. The owner took us through the building to a patio in the back that was a total oasis of shade and quiet and served us a great shrimp and avocado salad. Today was a complete win for food!

    From here we headed off for Villafranca to find ourselves walking in a region of rolling hills, covered with wine grapes, showing their fall colors. We had barely seen anyone we knew for the entire day so it was a treat to run into Sara and Andrew in the last town before Villafranca. It was sad to leave them and head off to the next town.

    Our plan was to eat in Villafranca's city center before heading to our hostel and the surprises kept coming. We ran into Sherry and Bryan, from Georgia, who we had not seen since León. We thought they were a day ahead, so it was fun to see them and have dinner together. During dinner, thunder started booming and the sky opened in a downpour! So much for getting to our place dry. Peg was wishing we had left earlier as we were going to get soaked walking the 1 kilometer to our place. Just then I got a text out of the blue from the hostel saying it was raining really hard and asking if we wanted them to come get us. We were going to arrive at our destination dry after all! The Camino provides!
    It was a good day.

    Buen Camino    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    11
    Day 34

    Vega de Valcarce

    October 8, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    After putting in a 20 mile day yesterday, we had a much shorter walk into Vega de Valcarce. The town looks to be a bit more upscale with nice, well cared for homes. Even though it is small, there are 3 banks. Considering many villages don’t have a bank, I think that says something 😂.

    The walk in reminded us of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The air was moist and cool, everything was green, and it was just peaceful. It was a big change to some of the busy road walking we did yesterday.

    It is Saturday and with the short 11 mile walk, it feels like a day off. We actually took a siesta for the first time. Speaking of time, it has been an adjustment. We have learned that during Franco’s reign he set the time zone to Central European time, as he didn’t get along with the British, even though Spain is west of England. This explains why the sun doesn’t come up until around 8:30am!

    Tomorrow we have the second highest climb of the trip, so a quiet day should prep us well. We will likely start off early, about 7am, so we only have an hour and a half in the dark 😂.

    Buen Camino    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    11
    Day 35

    Liñares

    October 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Today was supposed to be a very challenging 2500+ foot climb which was going to be a challenge, but it turns out the hill wasn’t the big challenge of the day. We started out about 7am which would mean hiking in the dark for an hour and a half as the day awoke. All good so far…

    The first section was full headlights along a very quiet mountain road with only a couple of cars. The locals are pretty used to this but likely think we are crazy. As the sky started to lighten, we realized we were in a magical green countryside with cows eating in quiet fields and super quaint villages. We grabbed our classic Spanish breakfast at a stone albergue and then started the climb. Yes, it was steep but it was a walk through a wonderland of deep green forests with moss and fern laden stone walls lining the way. The path continued to a ridge with a small church at the top. It was absolutely one of the best days of hiking in my life.

    From here, there was a few miles to the summit and the village of O’Cebreiro with nine remaining pallozas, or round houses. They are thought to be over 1000 years old. A very special place.

    I was amazed at the ease of our climb today. Either over a month of hiking has conditioned us, or the fact that we found our first switchbacks in Spain made the climb seem easier than anticipated. I just imagine some young whipper snapper Galician engineer, trying to prove himself, say “why go straight up the hill? Some switchbacks could save energy!” That’s my thought anyway 😂.

    And now for the true challenge of the day. We are staying in the village of Liñares where we booked an albergue a week ago. Turns out there are two Liñares in Spain and our booking was in the Linares hundreds of miles away. So no room for the night and some of our luggage was set to go to a place that isn’t even on the Camino 😢. Well, they say the Camino provides and it does. The Camino Liñares only has one place to stay and they had just two beds left! AND they got on the phone and found our bag. To make it all better, the two people in the beds across from us are our new super friends Sara and Andrew. The Camino continues to provide and amaze.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    11
    Day 36

    Triacastela

    October 10, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Today started off like most days with a predawn wake-up trying to be really quiet while getting our stuff together in a dark room of eight sleeping people, using a red headlight to pack. And then out the door which locks behind you. There was only one small difference today, it was raining outside the locking door so no turning back once the door shut behind us.

    Walking in the rain, in the dark, by headlight is a different experience. You have a bit of tunnel vision with your rain hood drawn tight, and the light dancing off the rain. We had about an hour until we could see color in the sky and a very steep, slick climb to make. At the top of the hill a bar was open serving up great coffee and a fire burning in the fireplace. It was busy with pilgrims looking to warm up and dry out. While we joined the crowd, the sky brightened and the rain lighten up and we spent the next few hours walking through another Hallmark card wonderland. After our big climb yesterday, most of today was downhill and an easy stroll with beauty everywhere. I thought yesterday was amazing but today topped it!

    We also saw more locals today. In the Meseta region you would walk through a village and not see a single person. Since being in Galicia we are seeing more people and much more activity. In one village, we had an older lady brave the rain to share pancakes, that she sprinkled with sugar, with pilgrims as they walked past her house. It was a very touching moment and just made the day more special.

    About 4 kilometers from the village we are staying in, we stopped for lentil soup and coffee and waited for a downpour of rain to past. We played a few hands of cards and then made a push to the end with more mind blowing scenery. Tomorrow we are off to Sarria and will be getting close to the last 100 kilometers of our walk into Santiago.

    6 days left of walking this Camino….    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    Day 37

    Sarria

    October 11, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Another beautiful day for a walk. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, we came across an old stone house with the windows all aglow. It was right out of a Thomas Kincaid painting. It turns out it was an art gallery. An Englishman had lived there the past 15 years and produced amazing art pieces that he displayed and sold to the Pilgrims that passed by. We ended up buying a print, some postcards and then he did an original drawing in each of our Pilgrim Credential Passbooks. It was nothing short of magical.

    We proceeded walking through the damp, green forest trails that really do remind us of Oregon. The small villages have a little more activity in this region than other parts; mostly dairy cows. At one point today we got caught up in a herd being moved down the road to their pasture by the 80+ year old farmer and his wife. She was adorable and I think was fully aware of the delight she was bringing to the Pilgrims that had to “wait “as we all took loads of photos and videos! It was something special for us “city folk” 😂

    From Sarria, we have just over 100k to finish in Santiago. This is the point you have to start walking from in order to qualify for the “Compostela” when you reach Santiago. Many Pilgrims start their journey here to walk the bare minimum to qualify, so we are expecting bigger than usual crowds tomorrow. Those of us who started about 700k ago will try not to judge…

    Buen Camino!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    2
    21
    Day 38

    Portomarin

    October 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Today held a gift, a milestone and a discovery. The gift was the walk. It was a gift, for all the work we have put in the previous weeks, to walk with strength we never could have imagined in such a beautiful area of Spain.

    We hit the milestone of 100 kilometers left before we get to Santiago. That means we have covered over 700 kilometers or 435 miles so far and have less than 60 miles to go! I am so impressed by Peg, covering all this without a single blister, failed joint or muscle and without a complaint. She has just killed it.

    The other thing this milestone brings is a lot more people walking. In Europe, taking a week off and covering this 100k is a very common undertaking. At the albergue we are in today there is even a large group of high school kids doing it. BTW, I have included a photo of one of the three dormitory rooms (rooms separated by curtains)
    in the albergue to give a sense of the hostel life. This facility sleeps 130 people. It could be a long (loud) night 😳.

    And now the discovery. As I walked, I thought of this post and how to describe our day. I soon realized I was out of adjectives. I have used amazing, wonderful, peaceful, awesome, magical, hell Peg even use mist-ical which isn’t even a word. Today I realized there is no way to describe this adventure, you just have to do it and experience it for yourself. Each day we complete the four Camino tasks of walk, eat, wash and sleep and we learn and discover more about ourselves and others in doing these four basic things. But the only way to fully comprehend it is to live it.

    Buen Camino    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - Frances
    21
    Day 39

    Palas de Rei

    October 13, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    The foot traffic out of Portomarin this morning was pretty crazy. We were expecting way more Pilgrims but it was still shocking to what we are accustomed to. The new Pilgrims on the trail stand out with their shiny new shoes and their fancy hiking clothes. We are somewhat envious of the newness of their Camino spirit, and their outerwear, but then we watch them struggle with the hills and tend to their new blisters and realize how thankful we are to be past that stage. Don’t get me wrong, we still ache all over at the end of the day and live on ibuprofen, but we are not shocked by that reality anymore.

    With 3 walking days left, it is easy to get in your head about finishing. The realization that 1 misstep could take you out of the game consumes my thoughts and at times I find myself almost marching at a slow steady pace in order to make sure each foot placement lands without injury. Thank goodness there is always so much to see in order to refocus your mind.

    It was another beautiful day in Galicia Spain. Perfect overcast skies for hiking, beautiful flowers to look at, lots of cows and great trails. How will we ever say good-bye to all this?

    Buen Camino ❤️🇪🇸    Read more

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