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Camino de Santiago

April - June 2017
A 37-day adventure by Quisels on the Camino Read more
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  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 22

    Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

    May 17, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    The wonderment of trekking along a 1,000 year old Roman road, the Vía Trajana, was only somewhat diminished by the raining, overcast conditions.

    After a not super difficult, 17 miles, we arrived at the albergue around 2pm. They fed us before 6:30pm! And they had vegetation lentils! Bliss.Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 24

    León

    May 19, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    An extra night in León gave us time to wander, visit the doctor and rest our feet. Tom successfully completed some mini surgery on his blisters & I've been taking antihistamines. Apparently, allergies transcend country lines. 👣🤧

    We stayed in the most fanciful apartment called the purple dog, it makes me want to theme my next vacation rental as the pink octopus. 😂🐙    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 25

    Hospital de Órbego

    May 20, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    A very long day of backpacking brought us away from the city to the tiny little hamlet of Hospital de Órbego. There, we stayed at the Albergue Verde, a delightful private hostel that was a little paradise for us. We recieved wonderful hospitality from the owner, who was warm and taught a multilingual (French, Spanish & English) free yoga class that evening (during which I teared up three times). One of his lessons resonated with us, "Richness is not defined by how much you have, but by how much you don't need." I feel this phrase is the best way to combat the culture of consumption.

    We shared dinner with the other pilgrims, including two brothers from Uruguay and their wives, all about the same age as us. They plan to arrive in Santiago on the same day as us, June 1, and our similar itinerary mean we often cross paths. They're a really fun bunch. (: Dinner was accompanied by live music, another offering of the generous hospitalario, and lasted past 10pm.    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 26

    Astorga

    May 21, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We are officially out of the Meseta! We enjoyed the new, varied scenery of green hills and trees. While it was a relatively shorter day, Tom battled his blisters, which made it feel a bit longer. We made it to Astorga in time to check out there chocolate factory, checked out the Gaudi castle thing then ordered the pilgrim menu at a restaurant in the main plaza. This is where Tom began his journey 10 years ago.Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 27

    Foncebadón

    May 22, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We were in high spirits today as we walked into the Cantabrian Mountains, the steady climb was a welcome change from the flat, open Meseta. We took lunch in Rabanal del Camino, the Maragato village Tom stayed in ten years ago, and met a fun couple from New Zealand who told us to let them know if we ever made it out their way.

    Afterwards, we pushed on to the desolate and wild feeling Foncebadón. Tucked into the mountainside, and along a Roman road, it is the place where Paolo Coelho describes wrestling a large, black dog in his book, The Camino. While we did encounter seemingly ownerless dogs on the way here today, they seemed to overcome by the heat to bother with any pilgrims.

    We stayed at the Monte Irago albergue, described in the book with these descriptors "vegetarian options, fireplace, moderate hippie vibe, yoga" ... I would say all of this is accurate except "moderate". Within the first hour of arriving, we met two yoga instructors and a reiki master.    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 29

    Ponferrada

    May 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Tom was excited to see the sunrise at the Cruz De Ferro so we quitely slipped out of our shared Albergue room before daybreak around 5:30am. We were two of the first to arrive at the Iron Cross and set our stones down in the quiet, predawn.

    The last time Tom did this stretch, the Templar castle in Ponferrada was closed. Due to some careful planning, we arrived on our anniversary and after checking into our double room at a modern Albergue, we headed to the castle. Luckily, much of the notes were translated into English and I got to nerd out on 12th century, Templar history.

    We've come 350 miles and the path has taken it's toll on Tom's feet. During this trek he had to break 4-5 times you adjust the bandages on his blisters. We're entering mountainous terrain, which we are both quite excited about. Tom found a shoe store and bought a new pair of sandals so, fingers crossed, Tom's feet sitch will get sorted. 🤞🏻    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 29

    Villafranca

    May 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Instead of staying a second night in Ponferrada, we skipped our scheduled rest day and pushed onward, to Villafranca. As we were leaving, we ran into two other pilgrims who were a bit lost. It's somewhat confusing to leave a big city as the signs aren't always obvious. The four of us banded together and, with Tom in the lead, managed to find our way back onto the path. We walked with them, Michael, from France, and a young woman from Australia, for the first five miles. The trek lasted 17 miles and was mostly uphill, and often along a narrow edge of a regularly used road (a bit at odds with our guide book). Tom had great success with his new sandals and we believe his feet have made a turning point for the good!

    We arrived into the city and headed for the cloister turned albergue, the Convento de Los Padres Paules, where we had booked a double room. We made a trip to the grocery store then sat in the courtyard to read and relax. I thought about how, prior to being on the camino, I had this naïve idea about how many miles I would want up walk each day and how many rest days we'd need. I had thought 12 miles a day (15 miles max) would be ideal but, in actuality, we are comfortable walking 16 - 18 miles each day and have taken less rest days than I expected. I chatted with Tom about it and we think the lesson in this is that it's hard to forecast what will make you happy.    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 30

    Faba

    May 25, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We conquered the Camino Duro (the hard way) today. It's an alternate path that some pilgrims take to avoid the highway walking of the regular route and leads straight up into the mountains. It felt so much like a Santa Barbara hike along Camino Cielo that I was overcome with happiness (and, if I'm honest, a bit of homesickness). We seemed to be the only ones who opted for this more arduous trek and the quiet, isolation gave the experience a very special feeling. All told, we went 16+ miles and gained about 2,800 ft elevation.

    Tucked into the mountain was a tiny village and we stopped at Cafe Lama, which sells hazelnut bread that uses local hazelnuts, (we got extra slices to take with us). They also had kittens. 😻It began raining for the last few miles, but it was a soft rain that helped keep us cool.

    We stayed at the German hostel and when we checked in the German volunteer said there were a lot of Americans staying tonight. He then paused, and, completely deadpan, said "I wonder if you are all running from Trump." Great delivery. 👏🏻 We had dinner at the hippy, vegetarian place down there street (apparently, these two are always paired on the Camino). Then read and cuddled before falling asleep. There were no snorers in our room!!    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 31

    Triacastela

    May 26, 2017 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    We had a wet 16 mile jaunt across glorious, blossoming mountains to the town of Triacastela, which marked our transition into the last region on the Camino, Galicia. Galicia is known as the country of a thousand rivers and has a high average rainfall. The rain again today was cooling which felt good as uphill hiking made us overwarm. While not so light as yesterday's rain, it never felt gloomy as we hiked (later in the day came thunder, lightning and heavy, grey clouds). Spring is in it's full glory here and we've been delighted to see so many baby farm animals (ponies, calves, kids and kittens).

    During second breakfast, we met a British couple and felt an immediate connection with them. We met them again at our lunch spot and exchanged warm greetings when they arrived at the Complexo Xacobeo, the albergue we're staying in this evening.

    Tomorrow, we are going to pass through Sarria, which was Tom's last stop on his previous Camino. Ten years ago, he traveled from Astorga to Sarria in 10 days, this time around we are competing the same distance in 6 days. Sarria happens to be 100 kilometers from Santiago, which is the minimum distance one must complete in order to receive a Compostela.

    A Compostela is a certificate (in Latin) declaring thst the pilgrim completed the journey for religious or spiritual reasons. A myth persists that the Compostela is like an indulgence in that it decreases the pilgrims time in purgatory by 50%. Whether it's for this reason that so many people begin their journey at Sarria or simply because they have less time to spend traveling, I'm not sure, but it is the case that the number of pilgrims on the way grows significantly beginning from Sarria to Santiago. We've begun booking beds a day or so in advance to ensure we have a place to stay each night.    Read more

  • Quisels on the CaminoCamino de Santiago
    Day 32

    Barbadelo

    May 27, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The route today took us through more lush forest, it feels like such a treat after the Meseta. We are becoming more and more confident that we will make it to Santiago. It's a great feeling. We've seen many people become too injured or ill to continue on foot and we feel like the lucky ones in that we've come so far with no serious injuries. One of the sayings on the Camino is that pain is a part of the way. Pain has a way of keeping me in the present moment, so I try to think of it as a gift. It was tough to maintain that philosophical outlook after I had a tangle with a stinging nettle bush today.

    We met up with our English friends, Jaime and Claire, for second breakfast again. We shared our post Camino plans to visit London with them and they invited us to look them up when we arrived. We spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and reading in the outdoor garden with a spectacular view of the countryside.    Read more

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