Spain
Valverde de la Virgen

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    • Day 20

      Leaving Leon !

      April 29, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

      Today started kind of hectic - left my bag w all my stuff (wallet, passport, pilgrim’s credential) at my hotel and had to taxi back for it and then taxi back to where I was. However, I fell back into the rhythm of things ! The trail was right next to the highway the entire day today, which meant I spent more time listening to audiobooks trying to drown out the cars than I usually do. I arrived in the town I originally planned to stay - San Martín Del Camino - too early (noon) and I was having fun trying to converse w a French lady who spoke zero English but spoke Spanish to the same level I do. Although we were able to communicate pretty well via Spanish, a lot of the ‘conversation’ was just us laughing because we were mutually struggling to communicate. Anyway, I decided to walk 5 mi further than previously anticipated to Hospital de Órbigo. I love this town and the albergue I’m staying in tonight so much that I’ll dedicate a later second post to it !Read more

    • Day 27–29

      Day 23 and 24 Leon Day 25 San Martin

      May 4 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

      We arrived in Leon after a 25km day. We are ready for a rest day tomorrow. Because almost everyone takes a rest day in Leon, Day 24 had us catching up to people we haven't seen in awhile. Really nice to hear how everyone's journey is going. Day 25 - it's s raining...hard. We head out for our 25 km day walking through suburbs, industrial areas all by the highway in the rain, what a slog🤪. We say goodbye to the Mesaeta and start our 3rd and last part of our journey.🤗. Onwards!Read more

    • Day 4

      Walking Day 1, León to Villar de Mazarif

      May 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

      Walking through Leon was difficult for me because the yellow arrows were difficult to see while watching for traffic and the uneven pavement ect. Sad to say that because of my vision i would not be able to do urban sections solo. Once outside the city, i did well. I'm glad i made the commitment to learn some español, it was very useful today. I spoke with an older local man who visited his professor son in Mexico recently, and also my albergues roommate from Chile, A kind S Korean woman gave us fresh cherries. The only annoyance is the rude cyclist that fly by with no warning and don't give me. any berth. I'm learning to look behind me and hold my poles horizontal to force them over. We stopped for coffee and baño at an improv stand asking only for donations. He had a world map and asked us to put a marker dot on our home location. It's so amazing that I am actually here and doing this! (i just teared up writing that) My feet, however are not that thrilledRead more

    • Day 20

      Take the long way…

      August 19, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      After the first 7 km today pilgrims need to decide between 2 variants: route A is 3.4 km shorter but constantly next to the highway! Route B is nicer but longer! Let’s see! A friend sent me „It’s Friday again“ and I also listened to „You take me up“ from
      Scotch- love it! Today I walk alone- just saw a Portuguese guy that I met yesterday evening! He recommended my next stop in 20 km! I changed shoes because of the blister (Blase) and so far it works! I met Germans on the Camino who always complain! I learned here that you need to accept certain situations and do something with it (mach was draus)! Or you simply change it! But staying in a given situation and not changing anything but complaining is NOT a healthy option!
      Ps: if you have a song you recommend for walking, please send it!
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    • Day 28

      Stage 25: León -Villadangos del Páramo

      October 10, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      13.1 km/8.1 mi, 51°-61°, about 3.75 hours walking after 7.7 km/15 minutes on the bus to La Virgin del Camino on the outskirts of León. I wanted to avoid the miles of urban walking on pavement out of León while I seem to be recovering from shin splints. Ended up walking on a fair amount of pavement even so, though mainly on a gravel path running alongside the N-120 highway. A lovely cool, mostly overcast day, the terrain becoming more varied. Checked into the Hostal Alto Páramo, iced and elevated the minimally complaining right lower extremity, had a hearty lunch and am now relaxing, catching up on reading and plotting out my remaining stages to Santiago, mulling over what all this experience has meant to me so far. Didn't take many pictures today, mostly thoughtful.Read more

    • Day 21

      Best pilgrims stall

      August 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Just outside the city, we stopped at this stall believing it would be the usual kind of overpriced snack business we have seen at other places. We were wrong! This is a community service. It offers things a pilgrim may genuinely need (including dark chocolate), and we were invited to take anything we wanted and leave a donation for a value we considered fair.
      They also ask each pilgrim to mark their place of origin on the map. The maps in the photos are just for August 2022, and today is only the 12th. No wonder I'm seeing so many Italians and Germans!
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    • Day 21

      Another variant

      August 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      There are about 50k between León and Astorga, and we believe Astorga will be worth spending a night at, so we are planning our walking accordingly.
      The first decision was to take the variant route, via Villar de Mazarife. It's only 3k longer, and much more quiet and enjoyable than the route on the side of the road.
      We saw another half a dozen or so pilgrims on this route, which is a good number (small enough to be quiet, but not deserted, and providing opportunity to talk with other people). There was a French guy, a Korean girl, a German guy and 3 Americans, plus one or two others whose origin I don't know.
      I walked part of the way with JinJu (Korean) and Jan walked with the German guy.
      Our destination for today was Villar de Mazarife, a 22k walk.
      The first couple of hours we walked in urban areas, and then we could see that the meseta is giving way to a new landscape, with some ups and downs, some trees, and some grass for animals to graze on.
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    • Day 27

      Day 28. Vilar de Mazerife

      May 26, 2023 in Spain

      Awoke at 6:00 am after a restless night to loud singing and carousing that sounded close to our window. Cathy, who had not slept well, said it had gone on all night. I guess I must have gotten more sleep than she did because I hadn’t heard a thing to that point.
      We went to 8:00 am breakfast where we met the same people who were there yesterday: three Canadians and a British couple. The camaraderie we had created yesterday just continued from where it had left off. In fact, one of the ladies, Laurel, who has worked at Plumber’s Lodge , out on the east arm of Great Slave Lake, told us the receptionist complained about noise made by loud “Americans “ at yesterday’s breakfast.
      It took us over an hour to get out of Leon encountering many parents walking their children to school. We had to pay close attention to follow the Camino signs - yellow arrows and shells - competing with the many other signs in a busy city. There was a fork in the path allowing us to continue following a direct route along the highway, but we opted for the more scenic, and longer, rural route next to the open scrubland paramo. Once we got past Virgen de Camino, a Leon suburb I assume, there were no facilities open right up to Mazarife. Despite being her first day, Cathy held up well on this 21 km walk.
      On today’s walk, we reconnected with Jim, from California/Mexico who was recovering from having had imbibed too much the night before. His pace was down to a crawl, but Raymond, from Germany, tagged along to keep him company. We also met Jack, from Boston, on the Camino without his wife, because “ she’s not cut out for this.” He had hoped to be further than this, but was laid up with the flu for over a week, staying in hotels rather than auberges. He relented into taking a bus from Burgos to Leon. Jack shared with us that he “ suffers from knowing what others should be doing.” I guess we all suffer from that to varying degrees.
      Overall, though a great start for Cathy, but it doesn’t get any easier; tomorrow’s 31 km challenge will be another test.
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    • Day 24

      Oncina de la Valdoncina

      June 26 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

      Relaxing whilst dinner is made for one weary peregrino and one peregrina. Most blessed. A kind lady on the local bus spotted me 0.30 cents and insisted I take her seat as I am a peregrino. People with passion, love and faith. Siempre.

      A TORMENTA (thunderstorm) blessed us during dinner but failed to break the heat. Olga our hospalitero is a hippy who travels to the Canaries during the winter months.
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    • Day 31

      San Martin del Camino

      October 5, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

      Dzisiaj sobie pospalismy, tylko plecak Kasi został oddany o 7 rano. Wyszliśmy około 9 rano było dość chłodno ale temperatura powoli szła w górę. Droga była bardzo uciążliwa gdyż ciągnęła się przez większość czasu wzdłuż ruchliwej szosy. Zrobiło się gorąco i hałas jadących samochodów robił się mało tolerancyjny.
      Z drugiej strony udało się zobaczyć i być częścią paru fajnych wydarzeń. Zaraz koło starego miasta wyłonił się kościół/ bazylika San Isidro El Real. Znajdują się w nim relikwie Sw.Izydora z Sevilli. Jest to najstarszy kościół w mieście zbudowany na miejscu dawnej świątyni rzymskiej poświęconej Merkuremu. Niestety zamknięty.
      Po paru kilometrach dotarliśmy do miasteczka La Virgen del Camino. Był to wyjątkowy dzień gdyż obchodzono bardzo uroczyście dzień Sw.Froilana . Były długie przemarsze z ogromnymi flagami na masztach, które były noszone przez jedną osobę ale z zabezpieczeniem przez co najmniej 3-4 osób. Przechodzilismy wzdłuż tego przemarszu koło pięknej Bazyliki de La Virgen del Camino, gdzie znajdują się mosiężne drzwi z płaskorzeźbą świętego Froilana, na dobre szczęście należało potrzeć swój nos o jego nos. Obecnie, po Covidzie pociera się nos świętego ręką. Pozniej już tylko droga, monotonna, żużlowa, pełna kurzu. Dotarliśmy do postoju na noc troszkę po czwartej i był to fizyczny i umysłowy koniec.
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