Spain
Villamarco

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    • Day 25

      Mansilla de las Mulas

      October 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

      Today we walked another long rocky path. We are now in a little place called Mansilla de las Mulas. Our room in the casa rural is extremely pink! Like electric bubble gum pink! And has religious paintings on every wall. We’re glad they have a pilgrim’s dinner here at 7:00 so we can just chill. We’ll have breakfast here tomorrow and walk to the big city of Leon, which is only 18 km away.

      Today we watched a different phase of sunflower harvesting. The big mower cuts the stalks of sunflowers down and then mulches everything and then it goes over to a big trailer and puts all the mulch in there. Then they take the trailer to a processing plant.

      There are a lot of irrigated corn fields around here too. We crossed a big concrete canal today too but it wasn’t very full.

      Today’s walk was straight and simple. I’ll post a few pics so you can see! I don’t really get where FindPenguins gets the temperature info on the blog posts. It’s been hot almost every day since the Basque Country. Here in Mansilla de las Mulas today it was 86° when we arrived. Hot to be walking in without shade! But it’s forecast to possibly rain starting on Sunday. We’ll see!

      David carried a tiny backpack today with his sweater and beanie in it. He seems to be doing okay! And although I’m no longer giving off COVID cooties, I still have a cough but it’s not slowing me down. We had dinner with two very nice Australian women last night and one of them is taking taxis now because her feet are totally thrashed with blisters. We have been lucky! Our feet sometimes get sore on a long walk but neither of us has any blisters. I figure we’ve been hikers for so long that the skin on our feet is all calloused up!
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    • Day 23

      Castilla y Leon o sin?

      April 14 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      There's an element of homeschooling to my time here in that I see something I don't understand during the day and then do homework on it in the afternoon when I have wifi. Learning is for life!

      As I mentioned, I'm in Castilla y Leon, the largest, but not only, autonomous region in Spain. Accordingly, most of the trail signage (which, by the way, I don't find as romantic as that in other regions, it's a bit HERE) says Castilla y Leon on it.

      Closer to Burgos, occasionally you'd see the 'y Leon' crossed out. In the past few days the 'Castilla y' has been attacked with a consistency and intensity that increases commensurate with proximity to Leon.

      Today for example, ending in a town 15 minutes from Leon, every single sign has been defaced and I've seen LOTS of graffiti saying things like 'Leon solo (alone)' and 'Leon sin (without) Castilla'. So it's obvious something's up in C y L.

      The long and short of it appears to be "a former Francoist minister, a failed appeal to the Constitutional Court and a counterweight to the nationalists."

      When the Catalan and Basque regions went autonomous in the 70s there was some anxiety they'd be too powerful, so one of Franco's guys convinced Leon to band together with the Castilla region to create a supergroup the majority of Leon people didn't want, and which Leon immediately and unsuccessfully tried to back out of after agreeing.

      They've tried appealing this for ages, and there's some suggestion a new legal avenue might have emerged in the last few years. By the looks of it, some in Leon remain quite enthusiastic about going at it alone.

      In other studies, mum has come through with some insights on those horrid caterpillars. As I suspected, they are up to absolutely ZERO good. Cop the following:

      "DO NOT touch the caterpillars! Their hairs are extremely irritating and may cause long-tern dermatitis and other serious skin conditions. Pets may also have negative reactions. …… The millions of long fine, needle-like hairs that cover each caterpillar are sharp and very brittle. These readily penetrate and break off in human skin and contain an irritating protein that produces a highly allergic response in most people. The hair shafts are covered in microscopic barbs, making them extremely difficult to remove. If these hairs get in the eyes, they can cause blindness …..Being voracious eaters, they will sometimes defoliate their tree and need to move to another. When they do this you’re likely to see them moving as a single train, of up to 200 individual caterpillars, in search of a new tree."
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    • Day 166

      El Burgo til Mansilla de las Mullas

      September 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

      Etter en god natts søvn bar det ut i en kjølig og vindstille morgen. En morgen med en flott soloppgang, som jeg ikke vandrer inn i, siden jeg går fra øst til vest, men dog allikevel vel. På morgenen hadde det varmet med solen midt i mot, men ut over dagen er det greit med solen i ryggen.
      Jeg gikk på meg en vannblemme for et par dager siden, på siden av den høyre helen. Jeg har plastret med compeed plaster, men den vokser seg større og i går sprakk den. Den er ikke spesiell vondt, og når jeg får tankespinn eller kommer i flyt sonen merker jeg ikke noe til den. Med compeed plaster leges den etter hvert.

      Været i dag var hyggelig og etter hvert varmet solen, slik at det ble t-skjorte vær. Landskapet er monotont, men hyggeligere enn de andre dagene. Solen og det gode været bidrar imidlertid mest til den positive opplevelsen.
      Dagen har gått greit. og med en god hvil og den sedvanlige lunsjen under veis, har leden vær lett å gå.
      Det har vært mange flyktige tanker til nå, men under oppholdet på klosteret St Cruz her om dagen, var ut med i en kaffesamling. Kaffesamlingen ble ledet av en nonne,hyggelig dame, som utfordret oss på hvorfor vi gikk pilegrim. Jeg har vært unnvikende til dette temaet og haar vel stort sett svart; hver ikke, jeg år se hva leden bringer. I dag har jeg tenkt en del over dette - en vanskelig tema;
      Jeg opplevde barndommen som strevsom, både for meg og Evert, med mye bråk, usikkerhet, redsel og til tider (litt for ofte) juling. Det bidro til at jeg flyktet inn i meg selv, inn i min egen verden, en verden med nye ark og fargestifter. Det har nok i stor grad blitt med meg videre i livet og bidratt til at jeg har problemer med å være fult og helt i nuet. Veldig rastløs og med planer for både det ene og det andre framover. Det meste for å slippe å være her og nå. Det er tanker som jeg vil forsøke å jobbe videre med framover. kanskje finner jeg en indre ro.
      Vel framme i Mansilla de las Mullas ble Albergue Gaia en hyggelig overraskelse. Riktignok 4 køyesenger på rommet, men med et hyggelig vertskap og en fin atmosfære. Plass i underkøya bidrar til en positiv opplevelse.
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    • Day 3,124

      Villamarco

      March 10 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

      Den Ort, und das Jakobsbild auf dem wofür auch immer dienenden Turm, sehen wir von der Landstraße aus nur in der Ferne. Der Camino Frances verläuft parallel zur Landstraße und ist zumeist von Bäumen begleitet.Read more

    • Day 44

      Camino 8 Sahagun to Leon

      July 10, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Yet another easy day where we are getting into our routine. Early breakfast, bash out 1/3 of our day's ride before second breakfast. Then another 1/3 of the day before lunch, and the final leg bringing us in mid afternoon.
      My highlight was the most beautiful sunflower field, and our photo shoot courtesy of two cheerful Italian pilgrims!
      Leon is spectacular! It's bigger and busier but brimming with charm, churches, architecture (including some Gaudi) and amazing food and tapas. It would be lovely to stay longer here.
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    • Day 25

      Mansilla de las Mulas

      July 26, 2021 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      Easy day walking today, about 12 miles. Not much in the way of scenery until we got to the town we’re staying in. Except I included a picture of one of the giant picnic tables common at rest areas/town picnic areas along this part of the Camino. They look big enough for food for everyone with room for dancing in the middle!

      Today was the last day I walked with the ankle taping I got in Burgos. Picture just before I removed it, and a significant amount of leg hair.

      The name of the town we’re in translates to “Mansilla of the mules”. It has some interesting wall remains from olden days. The walls must be 8 ft thick.

      I’ve mentioned that the last week or so, we have been walking through flat, dry, wheat country. I recently found out this area of Spain is historically called the “Cereal Plains”. It’s also called the Meseta.

      Went out to get dinner tonight and had a real tough time. Each restaurant we went to said no, they didn’t have food for dinner. But we could come back at 8 or 9 and the cook would be there then to cook dinners. We have seen this before, it’s the Spanish way to have siesta mid-day and dinner later at 9 or 11 in the evening. It’s tough for us pilgrims getting up at 5:30 in the morning to start walking. I know, First World problems.

      Tomorrow we have a medium day’s walk into Leon where we will take an extra day to rest up, do laundry, and see the city. They have a cathedral and several large churches we would like to see. Trying to find a tour we could take, but like in Madrid, the tours seem to have become victims of covid.
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    • Day 20

      ״רק״ 40 קמ׳

      April 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      אמש הרגשתי שהיום אני רוצה ללכת הרבה. קצת להתרחק מהקבוצה הקוריאנית ומחבר׳ה אחרים וגם קצת לאתגר את עצמי ולהרגיש משהו אחר.
      כאן במסטה ההליכה היא מישורית, ככה שזו סביבה יחסית נוחה לאתגרים מהסוג הזה.
      תיכננתי להמשיך וללכת בסה״כ 7 קילומטרים נוספים מעבר למקטע המקובל, אך כשהגעתי לשם הרגשתי שאני עדיין מסוגל להמשיך וכך המשכתי לעוד כ-8 קילומטרים. חשבתי בתחילת ההליכה בחלק הזה שאולי אוכל אפילו יותר, ואני בהחלט חושב שהייתי יכול (העיירה הבאה הייתה ״רק״ עוד 5 קמ׳), אבל בכוונה העדפתי להגיע לעיירה הנוכחית גם כדי לא להגזים לחלוטין, וגם בגלל החבורה כאן שלא פגשתי בשבוע. האחרון. כך יצא שהלכתי היום 40 קמ׳ — סוג של הגשמה ובוודאי שיא אישי בפער מכל מה שעשיתי עד כה בחיים.
      לקראת הסוף נזכרתי בציטוט של ברל כצנלסון ״התבונה לראות, האומץ לרצות, הכוח לבצע״, ואכן הרגשתי סיפוק על היום הזה ושיצאתי ממנו אמנם תשוש אבל במצב טוב, וגם על היכולת להיות ספונטני ולא להזמין מקום לינה מראש, ומעל הכל, על הזכות שאני יכול לתת לגוף קצת ״להתפרע״ ואין לי מגבלה פיזית או אחרת שמונעת ממני לעשות זאת.
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    • Day 21

      לראשונה בחרתי לדלג

      April 29, 2023 in Spain

      הבוקר התחלתי ללכת מעט מאוחר יותר מהרגיל, ישנתי עד 06:45 לערך. הלכתי כ-12 קמ׳ עד לעיירה המרכזית הבאה ושם בחרתי לאכול ארוחת הבוקר בסביבות 10:00. מתוך סקרנות הסתכלתי ב-Google Maps כדי לראות איך מגיעים משם ללאון — זו המלצה שקיבלתי מכמה צליינים שבחרו לדלג על המקטע הזה בגלל הסמיכות שלו לכבישים. בחיפוש ראיתי שהאוטובוס הבא הוא בעוד רבע שעה ואחריו רק בעוד שש שעות. בספונטניות החלטתי ללכת על זה, צעדתי לתחנה המרכזית והגעתי ללאון ב-11:00. בספר כתוב שההליכה אכן מייגעת, ו״הפרס״ הוא החוויה הנהדרת בעיר הגדולה לאון, והרגשתי שאני לא צריך להוכיח למישהו משהו, ואני יכול פשוט לנסוע כבר עכשיו ללאון ולגמור עם זה. יכולתי להגיע גם בהליכה לעיר, אבל אז הייתי מגיע מאוחר והיה סיכון של מזג אוויר לא נוח להליכה (רעמים, ברקים וגשם). אני מאוד מרוצה מההחלטה הזאת. אמנם זהו ניגוד גמור ליום הקודם שבו הלכתי 40 קמ׳, אך אני ידעתי שאהנה מאוד ואפיק מהשוטטות בעיר, כי זה מה שאני אוהב. למעשה הבנתי שהמסלול הזה של הקמינו מתאים לי במיוחד, כי הוא באמת לא שם דגש גדול מאוד על טבע, אלא מצליח לשלב בין סביבה פסטורלית לבין אורבּניוּת.Read more

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