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  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 30

    To Rabanal del Camino

    September 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 68 °F

    September 29

    We left early this morning to beat the heat and enjoyed walking under a full moon as we left Astorga. We stopped in each village we walked through - first breakfast, second breakfast, and then ice cream. 🙂

    It was exciting to be heading into some hills plus, we love the change in the buildings. The majority of structures are made from stone now and we saw our first roof made with slabs of slate.

    For the longest time, Alan and I could not figure out why there were so many people on the path today, but then we talked to some Swedish women who told us they were part of a bus tour that dropped 35 of them off to walk this section. We also noticed another group. Once they all moved on from our end point of Rabanal, the town was quiet again. 🙂

    After some FaceTime with Adrianne, Grant and little Eddie❤️, we had a late lunch/early dinner with Candi and Nancy. I literally inhaled my spaghetti!! The constant walking and the burning of calories makes me crave pasta. 🍝

    We are now back at our hostel organizing for tomorrow. Even though we have our own room, the bathroom is shared, and there has been a woman in the bathroom, talking on the phone forever!! 🚽😳 She doesn’t seem to even realize other people (Alan) need to use it. 😂

    Tomorrow, we climb to the highest point on the Camino and then down to the town of Acebo. Candi and Nancy will be walking beyond us so we may not see them again….you never know on a Camino, though. 🙂    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    11
    Day 29

    To Astorga

    September 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    September 28

    Today was a good day! We started walking a bit before sunrise and the air had a perfect crispness to it. We met Roger from the UK and then ran into Candi as the sun was rising.
    The light was stunning this morning and it was hard for me to stop taking pictures/video.

    We walked the whole way to Astorga with Candi which made the miles and time fly by so fast!🙂💕 Candi was our inspiration to walk our first Camino, so this time we had to walk with her was pretty special. ❤️

    We have had the best afternoon exploring Astorga and just sitting in the plaza eating some food, watching the kids and families, enjoying some drinks and visiting. We topped off our day with a trip to a grocery store for some snacks and I was thrilled to get some chips and salsa and a bit of chocolate. My day is now complete. 😋

    Tomorrow we walk to Rabanal. We are officially done with the Meseta and are entering a greener and more hilly landscape.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    Day 28

    To Hospital de Orbigo

    September 27, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    September 27

    Today was a shorter day (10 miles) to Hospital de Orbigo, a place we only walked through five years ago, and a town with a fabulous medieval bridge that Alan couldn’t wait to see again.

    The bridge is one of the longest and best preserved medieval bridges in Spain and is one of the most famous landmarks along the Camino. It is known for a legendary jousting tournament.

    In the year 1434, a knight from Leon (Don Suero de Quinones) was scorned by the woman he loved. As a result, he challenged any knight who dared to pass over the bridge to a jousting battle. Knights from all over Europe took up the challenge and Don Suero successfully defended the bridge for a month until he had broken the 300 lances he had pledged to use in its defense. Thus, he retained his honor, although it doesn’t appear that the lady changed her mind. He later travelled on to Santiago to give thanks for his newly restored honor. There are indications that Cervantes may have used this story as inspiration for his character, Don Quixote.

    The Great Parts of Today

    1. The AMAZING sunrise!
    2. The birds chirping this morning
    3. Meeting Anna from Russia
    4. Alan seeing the bridge again
    5. Running into Candi as she entered town and then joining her for dinner.
    6. We have comfortable beds. 🛏️

    Tomorrow, we walk to Astorga. 🙂    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 27

    To Villar de Mazorife

    September 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    September 26

    It was so hard to slip out of the comfy king bed this morning and pack up to leave the hotel. 🙁 We were wishing we had planned a rest day, but now that we have walked to Villar de Mazorife, we’re happy we continued walking.

    We had to walk for about four miles to finally get out of the main part of the city. Then, we took a variant in the route to stay away from the busy highway. It was much more peaceful. For most of the walk Sue, from Florida, joined us. It always makes the time go faster when you’re talking to someone.

    The albergue where we are staying prepared a 4 course dinner for everyone tonight - fresh salad, gazpacho with bread, paella made and served by Pepe, and then crepes with fresh apricot and drizzled chocolate. 😋😋😋

    Henrick, who we hadn’t seen for a long time, is staying here as well, so we were able to catch up with what he’s been up to since we last saw him. He shared that he and Tom (guy from Ireland we had also met) took a taxi from Burgos to where they filmed the climax of Clint Eastwood’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Sad Hill Cemetery. 😂 Tom had told us quite long ago he wanted to do that, so we were glad they were able to make it happen.

    Tonight’s struggles:

    Sleeping in a bed that has a hump in the middle and is trying to roll us off the sides.

    And…Trying to ignore the sound of someone getting sick in the room next door. Oh my goodness!! 😳🤢😳

    Today was 13.7 miles. Tomorrow, we have a shorter walk to Hospital de Orbigo at 10 miles.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    2
    11
    Day 26

    To León

    September 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    We had a nice, relaxing walk to León today. This city is a favorite of ours…so, so beautiful!!

    The Good

    1. Sunrise over the cornfields
    2. Yummy croissants during our 2nd break
    3. The cooler walking weather
    4. Getting new sandals and a replacement long sleeve shirt

    The Funny

    Alan was so hungry by our second break, he bought three croissants 🥐 , one for me and two for him. These French women walked up and were so excited to see our croissants! They walked in to buy some. Alan sheepishly looked at me and told me he had bought the last three. The poor French woman came back out with different pastries and Alan tried to explain, basically by miming, that he had been very hungry. 😂😂

    The Best

    1. Homemade churros dipped in melted chocolate 😋😋
    2. León’s old city
    3. Seeing Candi! ❤️❤️
    4. Visiting with Finton
    5. Dinner in front of the Cathedral
    6. Our hotel room with an actual king size bed! 🙂 🛏️

    We are kind of wishing we were taking a rest day here because this hotel room is amazing and the bed is so comfy, but tomorrow we will walk to Villar de Mazarife.

    We have 191 miles left until Santiago. 🥾    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 25

    To Mansilla de las Mulas

    September 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    We headed back over to the main Camino route this morning and walked from El Burgo Ranero to Mansilla de las Mulas. Right away we ran into Nika, from Slovakia 🇸🇰 , who we hadn’t seen for over a week. 🙂

    She walked with us all day and shared about life in the village where she grew up and she asked us about life in the USA. This back and forth type of conversation we had over 5 hours of walking is the main reason we came back to the Camino. ❤️

    The Camino to us is all about the people. We had a perfect, beautiful day with Nika and then ended the day with some new friends- Finton (Ireland), Annie, Rossco, and Gaye (all from Australia).

    I have noticed the more we talk to people the fewer pictures and video I take. 🙂 So I did not have much from today.

    Tomorrow, we walk into León.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 24

    To Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

    September 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    We had a relaxing walk to Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos today. It is an alternate path that follows an old Roman Road. Along our walk, we met Sue from New York. She’s walking the Camino alone and will meet her husband in Santiago. Chatting with her made the walk go by quickly, and we found out we were staying at the same place - Casa El Cura.🙂

    I can’t say enough about how nice this place is! Gemma and Leo are wonderful hosts! The home is filled with old family photos and antiques and Gemma took the time to tell us about her family and items in the home. Then, Leo prepared a delicious dinner that had all of the guests raving about the food. We finished the evening with shots of liqueur for everyone and Leo and Gemma posed in a picture with us all. 📸

    Tomorrow, we will head back to the regular route and walk to Mansilla de las Mulas. I can’t believe we are almost to León.🙂    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 23

    To Sahagún

    September 22, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We said goodbye to Paul and Mirabelle tonight 🥺, but I know in my heart we will see them again someday. ❤️❤️ What an amazing gift for them to join us over these past two days…We walked and talked, explored Sahagún, watched the children in the plaza, and shared some wonderful food. Camino magic at its finest! 🙂 Safe travels to our friends as they drive back to The Netherlands. 💕

    Now Some Logistical Stuff:

    The Camino has been busy with a September wave of people and pilgrims have been a bit stressed about getting beds, so Alan and I have now planned out how far we want to walk each day and we were able to reserve something through October 12 when we will arrive in Santiago.

    We are officially halfway through the Camino Frances. Tomorrow, we will walk to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    Day 22

    To Moratinos

    September 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 54 °F

    September 21

    We have had some long days and our bodies were feeling it! So…because it was supposed to rain today, we took a taxi to Calzadilla de la Cueza (saving 17 k). Boy did it rain and blow! Alan wore his new poncho and I looked lovely in my rain skirt and jacket. We would not have won any beauty contests, that’s for sure! 😂

    Paul and Mirabelle walked very fast to meet us in Ledigos for lunch and by then (thank goodness), the rain was done. We met a very nice old man at the bar. He didn’t speak English and we know very little Spanish, but he communicated his wish for us to have a good Camino (buen Camino) and then told us to eat the bocadillo for fuel for our Camino walk.💕 He’s just an example of how kind the local people are. They go out of their way to wish us well or point us in the right direction. 🙂

    We are staying at Albergue San Bruno tonight. It is owned by an Italian couple so tonight’s dinner had an Italian touch. I really enjoy the communal pilgrim meals. It’s fascinating listening to the different languages and watching how we all communicate. It’s a good thing. 🌍💕

    Our shorter day today combined with another short day to Sahagun tomorrow should help our bodies recover a bit, and walking and visiting with Mirabelle and Paul is just icing on the cake! 🙂    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 21

    To Carrión de los Condes

    September 20, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    September 20

    Huge happy moment today!!! Paul and Mirabelle, who we met and walked with on the Camino five years ago, surprised us by driving down from the Netherlands to walk with us for two days. ❤️🙂 We were sitting in the plaza and could not believe it when they walked up!!

    What is even more amazing is Alan and I spent a lot of time talking about them today, and we reminisced about what we had experienced with them in this town five years ago. When you think you might not see people ever again, and then you do…it is beyond special. It will be a magical Camino memory forever in our hearts.❤️❤️

    We are looking forward to the next two days! Tomorrow, we walk to Moratinos then to Sahagún on Friday.    Read more

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