Spain
Villatuerta

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 6

      Villatuerta

      April 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

      Trotz Regen und Fuß - aua, vier Stunden Schlaf......... Die Reise - meine Reise muss weitergehen.

      Ich mach mich auf den Weg Richtung Ende des Ankommens.

      So ging es im Regen los, heute mal alleine.

      War verwundert dass ich so viel Energie hatte und war ziemlich zügig unterwegs und den ganzen Tag eigentlich mit Musik auf den Ohren.

      Coole Tour und am Ende waren es heute wieder 24 km mit vielen Eindrücken,Gedanken und da war ich echt bei vielen Themen und bei euch, mit wem ich wann, seit wann und welche Erinnerungen mit daran verbundenen sind🤭🤭😋

      Wollte gern mal sagen, schön dass es auch gibt 😍und hier mit dabei seid.

      Im ersten Ort endlich ein Frühstück und weiter. Normale Route heute aber durch den Regen viel schlammig. Zudem den Weg immer gefunden und kein Zeichen übersehen.

      Ziemlich viel auch an Gefühlschaos gehabt, viele Eindrücke aufgenommen und wirklich schöne Orte gesehen. In mir vieles geordnet und einen wirklich einzigartigen Moment gehabt, wo ich beide Arme zur Seite gestreckt habe, aufs Tal zugelaufen bin und dachte das Panorama zu umarmen und einfach das Gefühl aufkam "Freiheit und alles ist möglich" und war total mir selbst nahe. Gänsehautmoment.

      Irgendwie bin ich heute stolz auf mich 😊

      Jetzt bin ich platt und fühle mich emotional völlig durcheinander, war heute eben auch viel hoch und runter.

      Eine Tagesetappe hab ich schon aufgeholt und wenn die Energie, Zeit und Geld ausreicht, dann schaffe ich es vielleicht auch noch ans Meer von Santiago de Compostela nach Finistere.

      Hoffe bei euch ist alles gut 💋
      Read more

    • Day 11

      On the Old Camino

      September 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Our Albegue host Jordi encouraged us to walk the Old Camino, through the hills above the valley. The route changed in the 1200,'s, when the Monastery on the hill complained to the King of Navette, too many Pilgrims we're walking to Santiago. The route was changed to the valley.

      This morning we hiked through the hills, past a boat load of sheep and great views.

      We took a short detour, half mile, Down to the valley route, tho visit the Irache Wine Fountain.

      It is 5 O'clock some where!

      Back up to the Old Camino, then on to our next stop. A short day today, only about 12 km I think, with the detour.
      Read more

    • Day 7

      Estella

      September 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Today was not an especially tough day but it did get hot and the last few kilometers I trudged along pretty slowly. One of the photos is of a tunnel under a highway that gave welcome shade for a rest stop.
      Celebrated finding beds in the municipal albergue, which has a much quieter vibe than the last couple did.
      I was super pleased with myself when I used my phone to navigate to a grocery and ATM, and then found my way back without my phone. Whoo hoo! Visited a gorgeous church and cloister, which purports to house a relic of St. Andrew. The really ornate photo is of where it’s housed.
      Get to sleep on a lower bunk tonight, such a treat!
      Read more

    • Day 13

      Villateurta (18km / 108.4km)

      April 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Our entire walk was through farmlands today. The numerous wild poppies reminding us that today is Anzac Day - honouring those who served Australia and New Zealand in battle.

      We passed through wheatfields, canola, olive groves, new and established vineyards, “mange-tout” snowpeas and other beans.

      An amazing combination to the farms were the ancient Roman roads, bridges and tunnels we passed through on our journey.

      Cirauqui was one of the towns we passed through, a medieval hilltop village made more famous in the movie “The Way”. A stunning backdrop as we approached.

      We spoilt ourselves with a private room and our own bathroom in Villateurta, ( Casa Magica), a restored medieval building and were treated to a home made Paella with other pilgrims and the now obligatory vino!

      A quiet evening turned on its head when a Group of about 15 Portuguese men arrived! They found some musical instruments and the concert began. They sang some traditional Portuguese revolution songs and ….? A lovely evening.
      Read more

    • Day 10

      nur bis Estella

      April 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

      Vamos!

      In der Alberge versammelte sich eine bunte Schar zum Pilgermenü gestern Abend:
      Fanny mit Papa Thomas aus Schweden, Marc und Marina aus Frankreich, Sylvia aus Chile mit Ehemann Richard aus Florida und ihre Freundin Beatriz aus Kolumbien sowie Maryann und ihr Mann Henk. Ich nenne sie ab jetzt MaryHenk.

      Wir bekommen ein leckeres Pilgermenü, ich habe einen Riesenteller Salat vor mir, die anderen bekommen eine Gemüsesuppe danach gibt es einen Teller Pesto-Pasta und als Nachtisch leckere süße Erdbeeren. Rotwein und Wasser sind auch dabei. Was sind wir glücklich!
      Es wird viel geredet, erzählt und gelacht. Maryann kümmert sich um die rechte Seite des Esstisches, Henk um die linke.😃
      Fotos werden gemacht und um 21 Uhr geht jeder in sein Zimmer, Ich biete Maryann mein unteres Bett des Etagenbettes an denn ich bin viel jünger und kann auch hochklettern. Aber sie lehnt mein Angebot ab.
      Wir schlafen schnell ein, MaryAnn ist die ganze Nacht mucksmäuschenstill , Henk hingegen macht alle möglichen Geräusche, von denen ich nicht wusste, dass es sie gibt.
      Das Frühstück wird wieder von den lieben Ehe-Leuten des Gasthauses José Ramon und seiner koreanischen Frau Sau serviert. Für die Nacht zahle ich 13 €, das Menü 13 €, und das Frühstück kostet 3 €, unfassbar günstig.
      Mit Fanny hatte ich während des Frühstücks ein sehr nettes Gespräch, sie erzählt von ihrer Patchwork Family und ich nicke verständnisvoll, ich kenne mich aus.
      Thomas hat einen guten Humor, die 2 Mamasitas haben das höchste Wort und sind mit guter Laune aufgestanden.
      Okay, Vamos!

      Weil ich zu sehr mit den Schnecken beschäftigt bin, die sich auf unserem Weg bewegen, und ihnen auch noch helfe, sich im Gras zu bewegen, verlaufe ich mich. Ich laufe und laufe, ohne etwas zu bemerken.
      Dann erwischt mich ein Wolkenbruch und der Wind fängt an zu blasen, ich bin völlig durchnässt.
      Meine Schuhe sind sofort 300 Gramm schwerer auf jeder Seite.
      Plötzlich taucht im strömenden Regen ein Jogger auf, der nach oben zeigt: "Da musst du hin", und lächelt. Wie süß, er hat mich gerettet, ich bin wieder auf meinem Weg, danke lieber Jogger.
      Samstagmorgen ist wohl Joggertime für die hübsche Toreros, sie rennen überall rum, sie lachen freundlich und wünschen Buen Camino. 😊

      Und ja, wer kommt denn da? Maryann taucht auf und hält eine große Albert Heyn-Tasche in der linken Hand. Sie hat Henk zurückgelassen.
      Wir laufen zusammen und sie erzählt alles mögliche, ich frage sie was sie mit der AH Tasche vorhat.
      Da sind Sachen drin die nicht gebraucht werden und vorgeschickt werden.

      Ich bleibe in Estella, weil ich bis auf die Knochen nass geworden bin und vor Kälte zitterte.
      Die Wohnung mit Schlafzimmer teile ich mit 2 Kanadiern, sie sind nicht an mir interessiert.
      Kein Problem, ich gehe jetzt Tapas essen.
      Morgen laufe ich was das Zeug hält.
      Read more

    • Day 9

      Villatuerta

      September 13, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

      Today turned out to be a 'people day' with only 11 miles of hiking but lots of social time. The walk took us through wonderful narrow street villages with fun stops to visit with old Camino friends and meet new ones.

      We stopped 1.5 early for the stage in Villatuerta at a wonderful albergue with regular beds (no bunks)!! It really has turned out to be a retreat after many miles on our bodies. We spent the afternoon doing laundry with a washer/dryer rather than in a bucket, were provided tubs of warm water, Epsom Salts and vinegar to soak our feet (amazing), showered in showers without flow restrictions (like in the states), drank $5 bottles of wine and just chilled. Looking forward to paella for dinner tonight! This albergue, Casa Magica, is for sale. Hummmmm....
      Read more

    • Day 10

      Puerta la Reina to Villatuerta

      September 27, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      I'm going to do this post backwards from where we are now to where we started this morning. We are in the coolest albergue tonight. Abergues are lodging that have large dorm-style rooms and also a few private rooms, often with shared bathrooms & showers. Kitchen and spaces to relax with others are also common.

      Albergues are fairly inexpensive & usually very basic. This albargue is lovely. Recently renovated & decorated very creatively. The owners shared their story with us. All of the furniture was left behind or purchased at used furniture places. Just feels welcoming, homey & comfortable after a tiring day.

      We met up with Jim & Sandy after lunch they walked with us our last 3 miles.

      Found out the berries we've been seeing along the road are actually the berries that Sambuca is made from. Also saw a huge field of asparagus!

      The soil through much of today's walk is very red and clay-like. There are lots of grapes going here. We're not into Rioja country yet though. Just as aside, the local wines are very good in this Navarre region. The are light & the alcohol content is much less than what we have when we buy red wines at home.

      Met Annabell formerly after we passed each other for the hundredth time over the past 3 days.

      We left before the sun was fully up at 8am this morning. Albergues tend to want their pilgrims out early so they can clean & prepare for the next wave of pilgrims that will be spending the night.
      Read more

    • Day 11

      Villatuerta and Marty

      June 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

      Walking after lunch I had an enormous sense of open-hearted love and happiness, a skip in my step, and an easy appreciation of the beautiful vineyards and wheat fields, the mountains, the wildflowers and thistles along my path.

      I walked into and through the town of Villatuerta, seeing only a few other pilgrims, until I arrived at the attractively aged church.

      Upon the wall by a fountain is engraved:

      BEBED AGUA PEREGRINO
      TOMAD DESCANSO Y DEJAD SED
      Y EN PROXIMA ETAPA SABED
      QUE OS DARA FUERZA UN BUEN VINO

      AQUI NACIO SAN YEREMUNDO
      QUE EN IRACHE FUE SU ABAD
      PEDID SU GRACIA Y MARCHAD
      HACIENDO AMOR CON EL CAMINO

      translated roughly:
      Drink water Pilgim
      Rest and relieve thirst
      In the next stage
      A good wine will be given to you

      Here San Yeremundo was born
      His abbey was in Irache
      Ask his grace and march
      Making love to the Camino

      ................

      And I noticed a young man in the doorway, so I asked if I could enter. He opened the door and whispered "pase"

      Inside was cool and I sat on a pew to contemplate the ornate effigies, deciding to carry forward the sense of open hearted wonder and appreciation. My mind turned to all the weddings, funerals, celebrations of births and prayers that must have been said inside those walls over the last few centuries.

      Normally, I find little inspiration within the boundaries of a house of worship: my own faith thrives in the outdoors.

      Villatuarte was different. I had the clear and distinct sense of my brother being there with me, only that the two of us were standing in a wheat field enjoying the view of vineyards rolling off into mountains and the feel of sunshine on our backs.

      As tears welled up in my eyes, I spoke with him and he to me about how amazing that place was; how beautiful.

      "Wow. This is really cool" he said in a way that he said to me a thousand times.... Looking at me and quietly smiling while he shrugged his shoulders.

      He thanked me for bringing him along with me on my journey and told me that he had to get moving along on his own Camino, indicating a path I couldn't see.

      My tears poured out, dripping down my chest, onto the pew, and I was weeping (I'm crying now, to be honest... Feeling foolish in the courtyard of the hostel while people bustle around me).

      Alone in that church with the sounds of my chest-heaving sobs I continued to have the most mystical experience I think I've ever felt.

      I was in two places at once and speaking with my dead brother ... Telling him how much I didn't want him to leave yet, how much I miss him. He agreed... Said that he didn't want to go either but that it would be ok. And while I was overwhelmed with sadness and sense of loss.... I felt a deep sense of peace as well.

      I cried there for a while longer, reluctant to move and to break the spell. It my have been minutes or hours.

      When I did finally stand, I realized that the young man (the priest?) was there patiently waiting for me. He asked if I was ok, in the gentlest voice. I laughed and he smiled, I told him "no" but I am better than I was. He smiled, I smiled and cried again, we both laughed a little.

      I asked if I might please use the restroom.

      He led me through closed doors and down a corridor to use a humble restroom, asking that I turn off lights and close the doors when done. It was not a public space.

      As I left, he locked the door behind us and hurried off somewhere - I suspect I had made him late for wherever he was headed. I glanced at the church hours as I was wiping my face up and realized that when I first asked to enter he was locking up for the afternoon.

      I don't pretend to understand what happened there: neither what inspired me to request entry, nor what it was about the moment that invited me to sit in contemplation. I can't say what drove the vision or experience that I had beyond: The Camino.

      This is why I came here. The realization of how my grief has been choking me for a year and the knowledge that I cannot keep it inside me any longer.

      I'm making peace with it now.

      As I walked onward (miles to go before I sleep...) I had to stop several times to cry. The emotions were (are) strong and fresh and full of both love and sadness. Peace is the overarching sensation.... Leaving behind a weight that has been with me every day, weight I am reluctant to release for fear of losing what I have left of him.

      But it's time; my Camino does not require me to suffer that particular weight any longer.

      So today I'll wipe off my tears again. I'll pack my mochila and shoulder the load, find coffee and walk West.... Irache, the famous wine fountain, is a few miles away and I plan to toast my brother there.... Then carry on.

      Buen Camino
      Read more

    • Day 7

      Estella

      August 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Es war gut, heute mit extra Polsterung an den Füßen zu laufen. Auf halbem Wege dann Julie&Delia wieder getroffen, die ich in Pamplona verloren habe. So ist das. I.d.R. trifft man sich wieder, da der Großteil der Leute ja dieselben Etappen läuft. So sind wir also um 14 Uhr im Refugio San Miguel eingelaufen, welches von Freiwilligen betreut wird und man nur auf Spendenbasis zahlt. Diese Sorte ist mir bisher entgangen und speziell dieses soll einfach irre nett sein. So fühlt es sich auch an, auch wenn alles etwas shabby ist, aber die Stimmung ist gut. Wurde auch schon zu Pasta eingeladen. Ich hätte heute sogar Lust gehabt, mit den anderen Ladies für alle zu kochen, aber wir haben uns dann doch auf Ausgehen geeinigt. Ansonsten kenne ich sowieso inzwischen 2/3 der Pilger im Hostel, zum Teil auch mit Namen. Estella ist eine tolle kleine Stadt mit viel Geschichte, die aber irgendwie in den Hang geschlagen ist, so dass man irgendwie dauernd steil bergauf laufen muss.....Read more

    • Puente la Reina to Villatuerta & Estella

      September 18, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      After breakfast at the Apóstol Albergue we had a shorter day of about 17km with a few stops. The weather started quite cool but was sunny and warm soon enough. We walked through lots of fallow fields and also vineyards and olive groves.

      We stopped for café con leche in Mañeru; then a foot cooling boots-off stop in a nice olive grove with views to Cirauqui, a very picturesque walled city built on a hill. We had a cold drink and bumped into various pilgrims we’d met earlier. Kevin also spoke to some Brazilian coffee farmers from Minas Gerais.

      Our next stop was where the Camino crosses the river Salado. The water looked tempting so we dipped our feet in the frigid water. It apparently flows out of the bottom of a dam further up the hill. Feet refreshed for the 2nd time, and John’s blister re-dressed, we hoofed it on into Lorca for lunch. But not before stopping at the free-for-pilgrims snack table setup somewhere before Lorca: chilled water and toast soaked in olive oil; good fuel.

      Then we walked a few hot sun-washed kilometers into Villatuerta. We’re in a casa rural called the 643KM. That’s the remaining distance to Santiago. Very nice room.

      We decided on a rest day and checked in for a second night in our casa rural in Villatuerta then took a taxi about 5k to Estella, a beautiful medieval city of 14,000 people.  We ate breakfast and then a had a stroll around the older parts of town. Saw the magnificent church of San Pedro and its adjacent cloister.

      Then we walked the Calle Mayor, the main street dating back to medieval times, very narrow and lined with 5-6 storey buildings with shops on the ground floor. Coffee and cake in one of them.

      Kevin bought a better phone SIM, and we topped up our supplies for blister wound amelioration, and snacks for a planned early start tomorrow. We walked a leisurely loop through the beautifully shaded park near the river, then found a sandwich for lunch and booked the next two nights’ lodging. We caught a taxi back to Villatuerta after attempting a bus ride. Alas Google Maps had the bus schedule wrong.

      Tomorrow is a longish haul to Los Arcos so we plan to begin at 6am. We are both feeling better after a rest day. There are no restaurants open here in Villatuerta, it being Monday, so we will buy ingredients and throw something together in the kitchen in our albergue.
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Villatuerta

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android