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Ambasmestas

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    • TravelerCamino Santiago de Compostella
      Day 30

      The earliest departure ever

      June 16, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

      Got out shortly after 6 in the morning in order to attack the big hill that is coming up and give myself plenty of time to do that
      temperatures are still supposed to get hotter in the day with the possibility of thunderstorms developing after 2:00pm

      Obviously got treated to a sign of a full moon and unfortunately missed the pink moon the previous night      Read more

    • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
      1
      1
      Day 34

      Villafranca del Bierzo/Vega de Valcarce

      October 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

      October 2-3

      I am in our room in Vega de Valcarce with the balcony door open listening to the sound of the rio Valcarce babbling just below us. The sound of the river is absolute HEAVEN, and the terrain we have now entered is soothing - hills, trees and the sound of water. We are almost to Galicia.

      Yesterday, we survived some early morning road walking while dodging a few cars. Then, we walked through some beautiful vineyards! My favorite part was a gorgeous white house on a hill flanked by big trees and surrounded by the vineyard.

      It was hot yesterday afternoon and Alan wilted big time. First thing we did when we arrived in Villafranca del Bierzo was sit down and order a couple of beers and pizza. Alan perked up immediately! 😂 While hanging in the plaza we had a chance to visit with Camino friends Stefan, Kim, Don and Maryann. We also saw Karen, Pam and Hanz who we hadn’t seen since Hontanas.

      This afternoon we had our best meal of the Camino at Restaurante Espinol. The couple who own the restaurant (Julio and Maty) were so kind and the food was spectacular! I was able to satisfy my steak craving and Alan loved his grilled sea bass.

      We finished off the afternoon with a trip to the supermercado for a couple of snacks and then the pharmacy for some more electrolytes for our water - Alan hopefully won’t lose all of his energy again on this trip. 👍🏻

      Best Parts of the Past Two Days:

      1. Laundry Service in Villafranca del Bierzo - Our clothes needed it!
      2. Comfy bed two nights in a row!!!
      3. Seeing Katrina (New Zealand) again after thinking she was way ahead of us
      4. Visiting with Judy (Dublin)
      5. Trying some Galician liquors
      6. Meeting quick witted Trudy (Australia) Trudy’s quote on how far she’s walking each day - “I’m on an Ibuprofen timeframe” 😂

      Tomorrow, we have a big 2300 foot climb up to O’Cebreiro and then to Linares, where we will be staying for the night.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino Frances
      1
      1
      Day 20

      Villafranca to Vega de Valcarce

      May 20, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      18km - lê al wakker in die warm kamer wat ek deel met 9 ander mense van 2 uur af. Ek sluip buitentoe met my sak en begin al teen 4am loop. Dis dood stil en n vars briesie kom van die stroom se kant. Eks skaars uit die dorp en gewaar iemand amper reg langs my. Ek skrik my stert af maar dis net Van, die man van Pennsylvania. Hy het 40km om te loop en wou vroeg begin voor die hitte ons slaan. 3 ure later het ons al die wereld se probleme opgelos en ek was al amper by my bestemming.

      Die wonder van die Camino is dat jy met soveel mense praat wat jy gewoonweg nooit sou ontmoet nie. Hier is almal dieselfde maak nie saak wat jou finansiele of sosio-ekonomiese agtergrond is nie.

      Die laaste 3km drink ek koffies en oefen my spanglish op verskrikte inwoners.

      Ek loop verby die beroemde Casa Susi, een van die albergues wat die Camino gemeenskap gered het van sluit gedurende lockdown.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino Frances
      1
      Day 21

      Vega de Valcarce to Linares

      May 21, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      17km - moeg en grumpy wakker geword. Dalk omdat die perdry ge kanselleer was. Dit het gelukkig vir die beste uitgedraai. Dit was een van die mooiste dae op die Camino en kon dit net op voet waardeer. My sak was klaar betaal om te vervoer en het toe vandag minus 7kg gestap en dit was hemels! Die berg op kom jy agter hoe fiks en sterk jy geword het die afgelope paar weke. Geen pyn of skete gevoel nie.

      O Cebreiro in Galicia is pragtig en ek voel sommer hartseer om te moet deur stap na my akkomodasie in die volgende dorp. Ek loop by die klein kerkie in en kry n emotionele spaanse vrou. Ek vra “estas bien?” (you ok?), en sy vat my arm en bars uit in trane. Ek tjank sommer saam vir geen rede. Paar minute later verduidelik sy in gebroke engels dat die kerk baie betekenis het vir haar.

      In ander groot nuus kon ek vanoggend vir die eerste keer brunch bestel in flot Spaans 🎉      Read more

    • TravelerCamino Santiago de Compostella
      Day 29

      Albergue

      June 15, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

      El Paso like in Texas
      OMG.... it is actually A/Cd 😍🆒️
      I sort of can dig these short stages...
      Walk very leisurely for 4-5 hours with breaks included, get to Albergue either right by or slightly before the opening time, be one of the first ones in, take a nice shower, reorganize for tonight and tomorrow and just chill..🤩😇

      And beyond the clothesline if you can zoom in at the clump of trees beyond the meadow- there are horses out there      Read more

    • TravelerCal’s Camino Adventures
      Day 30

      Day 30

      September 22, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

      Have had a really enjoyable day.. who couldn’t have with such amazing views, scenery and company..
      Met back up with Robbie to walk up to O’Cebreiro this morning.. what a fabulous walk, really cold and clear skies to start with, but it warmed up quickly and I seriously didn’t notice how much we’d climbed as it went so quickly, poor Robbie’s ears must have been ringing😬.. in my defence, I’ve hardly spoken to anyone I know for 4 weeks 😂😂
      We literally just walked passed chatting, so many people struggling… I guess we’re both fitter than the average walker doing the Camino..
      There was a lovely church in O’Cebreiro that I lit a candle for Jack I and just sat in for 10 minutes ❤️
      My accommodation was a 10 minute drive outside of the village, so I had a number for Miguel, who had arranged my transport ..
      My meal this evening was seriously underwhelming, so I thought it only seemed right to have an extra glass ( they did give me a bottle) of the slightly less underwhelming red wine 🤪
      All a bit brief tonight, but I’m really tired looking forward to going to bed 🥱      Read more

    • TravelerCamino de Santiago 2023
      1
      11
      Day 36

      Day 32: Cacabelos to Vega de Valcarce

      June 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

      Mileage: 16.75 miles
      Altitude gain: 1,309 feet
      Altitude loss: 889 feet
      Weather: lovely but quite warm in the afternoon
      Total mileage: 383 miles

      Sundays are always a little quieter, and today was no exception. Lots of up and down in the first six miles, and then a gradual but steady ascent the rest of the day as I head into the mountains. Those early hills plus (as of today) three 16-mile days mean that my legs are tired! Looking forward to a good sleep tonight.

      The early part of the day took me through miles of vineyards, on dirt roads. The rest of the day was alongside a river - Río Valcarce- and a highway on asphalt. The river is also next to my hotel, so it will sing me to sleep.

      I had lunch and dinner with two women from Finland today. Their English is impeccable, of course, so we had nice chats. They’re walking ahead of me tomorrow so I won’t see them after tomorrow, which is often the way of the Camino. I was glad to have their company today.

      Tomorrow will be short(er) but intense - 8 miles up a mountain! Wish me luck.

      1. and 2. I took an embarrassing number of pics of the vineyards this morning, so be glad I managed to control myself here!
      3. One of the towers of the Castillo-Palacio de los Marqueses de Villafranca
      4. This is a hostal, apparently! San Nicolas el Real in Villafranca del Bierzo
      5. Colegiata de Santa Maria de Cluni; not the only church in town! I had a really nice conversation with an older woman headed to mass at one of the others after this. She promised to pray for me.
      6. Looking back over Villafranca
      7. The Río Valcarce kept me company today.
      8. A nice divergence from the highway took me up this road.
      9. Paella for lunch! I was very grateful for an open restaurant on a Sunday and happy to eat the carbs. Delicious!
      10. Yes, another one of these. I can’t stop! Maybe Neal can photoshop out the power lines. There were a lot of those today, ruining my shots! This is in La Portela de Valcarce.      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

    • Camino de Santiago
      22
      Day 37

      10+ km to Las Herrerias

      October 24, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Finished our day's walking to this village at the foot of tomorrow's climb up a mountain.

      We stayed mostly dry today, a couple of sprinkles late morning, then a light rain right before we arrived at our Casa Rural for the night.Read more

    • TravelerCompostelle 2023
      223221
      Day 42

      Montée et plus!

      May 30, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

      Chemin de Compostelle 33/40
      Étape #. 26. Camino francés « Vega de Valcarce à Hospital ». Kilomètres parcourus 19 km. Cumulatif : 857,2 km, moyenne 25,9 km par jour. Étapes restantes avant Saint-Jacques de Compostelle : 7 et moins de 157,5 km à fouler.

      Nous avons réussi à gravir les 1310 mètres sans embûche. On a bien géré ça. La stratégie étant de quitter tôt 6h30 (Vega de Valcarce ) et marcher lentement pour grimper les 12 kilomètres.

      Nous avons pris le petit déjeuner après avoir marché 7 km. Puis au 11e kilomètre, on est arrivé à la borne de la province de Galice (photo). Nous sommes arrivés au sommet d’O Cebreiro et nous avons pris le temps de nous asseoir dans cette magnifique petite église et se recueillir un peu en écoutant des chants grégoriens. Une halte reposante à tous les points de vue.

      Après, nous avons mangé un peu et comme notre forme était bonne, nous avons décidé de poursuivre pour 7 kilomètres additionnels jusqu’à Hospital. Nous avons déniché une albergue, soulagement.

      Nous avons marché 857 kilomètres et demain nous serons sous les 150 km avant Santiago (Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle). C’est encourageant et émouvant de réaliser le chemin parcouru depuis le 21 avril.

      Demain nous marcherons un minimum de 23 kilomètres, nous sommes motivés!      Read more

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