Month: September 2024

Depart Time: 8:05. Temp: 44F RH: 85%

Walked: 7.3 mi. Camino 2024: 192 mi.

Today was surprisingly our most difficult of Camino2024.

When we left Foncebadón this morning we were looking forward to seeing the Cruz de Ferro again and to taking in some beautiful mountain scenery.

The walk to Cruz de Ferro went as expected and we did see some beautiful scenery. But shortly after leaving the “Cruz” and for the remaining 6 miles, we spent most of the time looking at our feet.

We reached the ridge that would lead to El Acebo (pop. 37), the end of our walk for the day. As the Clouds dissipated from a persistent morning sun, a beautiful cloudless blue sky emerged revealing the mountains and valleys along this section of the Camino.

This enigmatic little spot features a most unusual albergue, administrated by Tomás who considers himself a modern-day Templar, last of his order. Drinks and snacks are normally available as well as a none-too-private outhouse.

While the scenery was awesome, for the entire walk, the path was overgrown in places, rendering poles useless and blocking the view.

Trying to enjoy the views became hazardous when, without warning, a steep ascent, or descent, while short would be dominated by loose stones, some quite large and sharp edged shale, challenging any attempt at establishing firm footing.

Many pilgrims will ignore the footing issues we refer to. They pass us, sometimes nearly running up or down in areas that slow us up. All are much younger than we and others take Camino ending risks, we are unwilling to take.

We both have minor knee issues that we strive to keep that way, by being more careful. Linda wears sandals on the Camino to prevent blisters, a choice that had yielded good results for all of our Caminos. But sandals make it more of a challenge to deal with loose stones and uneven surfaces like we experienced today.

Further, because of our approach, our leg muscles are more tense and work harder as we walk more carefully, increasing the level of fatigue of a walk like today.

The following are the views and some of the terrain that made today a challenge for us.

Bottom line, we finished today’s walk without injury. It didn’t kill us, so we’ll probably be stronger as a result. And the relief we felt when the taxi arrived in El Acebo to allow us to skip the treacherous walk into Molinasaca and the monotonous walk from there to Ponferrada was a suitable reward for today’s performance.

And tomorrow’s 7 mile walk on relatively flat, foot friendly surfaces should be a “piece of cake”.

Buen Camino, y’all!

Depart Time: 8:10 Temp: 42F RH: 75%

Walked: 3.6 mi. Camino 2024: 184 mi.

Leaving our hostal, the path was level for the first time since entering Rabanal yesterday. However, in just a few minutes, that same path began a steep ascent of nearly 1000 ft. that continued for the entire 3 mile walk to Foncebadon, near the high point of the Camino Frances at 4918 ft.

A few minutes into the walk we looked back at sun rise, which was beginning to warm the 42F morning air.

From the very beginning of our Camino Frances experiences, we have sensed the mystery and the spiritual presence that exists here. After looking back at the sunrise, we looked forward and up into the beaufiful blue sky and saw this….

…. then this…

…. then this…

… and once again on the Camino France, we sensed a presence and a special feeling that reminded us of one of the reasons we keep coming back.

The following photos show the terrain and scenery of our 3 mile walk:

The food of El Trasgu’s Italian owner and chef comes highly recommended, so we gave it our test. It exceeded all of our expectations.

Today was a really nice day. The walk was an uphill challenge but not too long to be overwhelming. We experienced a very nice accommodation in this hamlet of only 8 permanent residents. And it became an additional, notable culinary experience for us on the Camino Frances and especially, Camino 2024.

The view this afternoon from the recently paved street in front of Pencion El Trasgu looking back from the top of the Camino.

Depart Time: 8:05. Temp:40F RH:40%

Walked: 7.0 mi. Camino 2024: 181 mi.

We opted to eat breakfast at Via Avis this morning. We normally walk first, then combine breakfast with a rest stop after putting a couple miles behind us.

However, we were, after all, staying at a B&B and we had already paid for both of the “B’s” plus, we also wanted to wish Carlos a proper goodbye.

Just before Ganzo is an unusual albergue called The American Indian Way. We’ve only seen it from a distance as we walked by in the past but Jim found a photo of the accommodations on the albergue’s website.

With a mile and a half to go, we decided to take the road. Both routes were quite steep, but the dirt path had a more difficult walking surface.

The main street in Rabanal (pop. 73) is steep from beginning to end. There are several types of places to stay: albergues, hostels, and even tents along the main street through the village … and several eateries.

On the way to our hostal, which was the last accommodation before leaving the village, we scanned menus on the few eateries available and their hours. We arrived at our hostal at noon and were able to checkin immediately.

We took a few minutes to recover from the walk and then discovered we have a terrace off of our room… it had the ambiance of a barber shop.

Before getting on with our chores, we decided to get lunch/dinner. By coincidence, our hostal dining room had the best menu and timing, so we walked downstairs and had the menu of the day.

After our meal we returned to our room to embark on the afternoon’s duties. The barber shop was open and the barber was in.

Our afternoon routines, napping, blogging and reading consumed the rest of the day.

We’re looking forward to the next two days as they will be different from our last several Caminos that passed through this area.

Depart Time: 7:40. Temp: 43 F RH: 50 %

Walked: 8.4 mi. Camino 2024: 174 mi.

Astorga is a pleasant city with interesting and varied historical buildings, just the right size to not be too overwhelming with main sites confined to the small Old City. First a Celtic settlement, Astorga developed into an important Roman city at the crossroads of the Via Trajana and the Vía de la Plata, as well as an important center for Christianity. According to legend, both St. James and St. Paul preached here. The bishopric of Astorga was one of the earliest Christian titles. The city passed to the Visigoths in the 5th century and was destroyed by the Muslims in 714, then reconquered by Ordoño I in the mid-9th century. After León was destroyed by Al-Mansur’s army, Astorga acted as the capital of the kingdom. The city flourished with the pilgrim trade and housed 21 pilgrim hospitals, the second most on the Camino Francés (after Burgos). One of these hosted Saint Francis of Assisi on his pilgrimage in 1214.

The Palacio de Gaudí, was a palace for Archbishop Juan Bautista Grau Villespinós until his death, when it sat empty until serving as a military headquarters for the Falange movement. In 1963, it housed the Museo de los Caminos with an impressive collection of religious art associated with the Camino.

Just before leaving the city we passed another small church covered with Camino and other religious mosaics. We couldn’t find the name of the church anywhere on the site or elsewhere. The interior included a large number of colorful stained glass windows and an otherwise subdued sanctuary design. It reminded us of the Helsinki Rock Church in Finland.

We walked out of Astorga on a sidewalk that continued for half a mile or so, crossed an expressway then continued on a dirt path to the Maragato village of Murias de Rechivaldo where we stopped at a popular bar (“Cris”) for a Colacao.

We continued our walk on to Santa Catalina along a straight, dirt path for the next 2.5 miles on a gradual uphill grade, working our way into the Cantabrian Mountains.

We arrived in Santa Catalina de Somoza (pop.60) before check in time, so we stopped for a seat and refreshment at the first of two bars, El Caminante, in the village.

We’ve stayed in Santa Catalina in all 6 of our Caminos.

We checked in to Via Avis and were recognized and welcomed by Carlos the owner. Carlos is from Spain and his wife, Daina, from Lithuania, run Via Avis. They are a charming couple that we got to know during our visit last year.

After getting settled, hand washing and hanging out clothes, we got lunch/dinner at San Blas, then retired to Via Avis for reading, blogging and napping.

We finished another long walk unscathed and are looking forward to another challenge as we climb higher into the Cantabrians.

Depart Time: 7:45 Temp: 40F RH: 65%

Walked: 8.6 mi. Camino 2024: 165 mi.

The walk to the bus station only took 15 minutes, giving us plenty of time to get oriented by finding our “dársenas” (boarding dock), inspect the bus station restrooms and relax with a cafe con leche and croissant before boarding time.

We boarded the ALSA bus at 9:00 and 39 minutes later, disembarked, collected our packs and began today’s walk at Hospital de Orbigo. Our one-way tickets were 3.70€ each.

Blogger’s note: Since our first couple of Caminos, we have used the bus to get us clear of the city and industrial areas that extend nearly 7 miles from Leon center to Virgin de Camino. The next 10 miles pass through uninteresting villages with limited services with the Camino path on or very close to a very busy secondary highway. In our opinion, Hospital de Órbigo is the first town of any significance related to the history and culture of the Camino that occurs after León.

If walking your first Camino, then walking the area we are skipping today is part of the Camino experience and we suggest you do it all, at least the first time.

For us, it has added little to our experience and actually detracts from it, after walking it a couple of times.

Today we chose to walk along N-120 to San Justa de la Vega. The official route is through the hilly countryside with no services for about 6 miles. The alternative route we are taking today is about the same distance but offers a rest stop at the half-way point that we prefer.

Today was our first real test after struggling with the after effects of an intestinal bug Jim came down with on the 7th, then shared with Linda a couple of days later. While Jim’s system seemed to be stable after about a week, Linda was running a couple days behind Jim, seemingly due to her timing. She’s pretty much clear of the bug symptoms today.

After being able to manage today’s relatively long walk, we’re finally feeling like we are back to normal and can return to enjoying Camino 2024 even more.

Based on today’s performance, we also don’t believe we lost the conditioning we had built on Camino2024 prior to getting sick.

First of all, if you wondered or might wonder sometime in the future, who the Queen was in yesterday’s selfie, it was Queen Urraca I of Leon & Castile. She reigned from 1109-1126.

As we said yesterday, we love our room.

First of all, it’s in the heart of Leon centre. It’s less than a 10 minute walk to the Catedral. It’s away from the crowds, if you like, but you can easily join the crowds with a three minute walk. It’s less than a two minute walk to a pharmacy, a fresh produce market and three bar/restaurants.

“Lodging City, Barahona 7” is a modern, 4 story collection of rooms, each named for a different city of Europe. Ours is Estocolmo, the Spanish name for Stockholm. The photos and murals in the room are of Stockholm.

The owner and manager of the property lives on or near the site and is professional, available, knowledgeable and helpful based on our first-hand experience in 2023 and 2024 .

We’ve stayed in over 200 different accommodations along the Camino Frances during our 5 plus Caminos. We’ve stayed in three other properties in Leon prior to 2023. We believe this property is the best in all categories, anywhere, at any price. As for the cost: 75€ all inclusive.

If and when we ever return to Leon to visit for any reason, this is our first choice and we highly recommend it.

Now, a little history of one of our favorite Camino Frances places:

León began as a Roman military encampment in 29CE and developed into a permanent settlement charged with protecting Galician gold on its journey to Rome.

Visigoths took the city in 585, only to lose it to Muslim invaders in 712. The city was reconquered by Ordoño I around 850, who initiated a building boom and welcomed Mozárabic refugees (Christians living under Muslim rule). The city was leveled in 988 by Al-Mansur’s troops.

Rebuilding began soon after, and León flourished as a wool industry center. In 1188, the city hosted the first Parliament in Europe under Alfonso IX and became wealthy enough to construct the astonishing cathedral.

León’s finest treasure is its sublime Gothic cathedral featuring 1,800m² of magnificent stained glass windows from the 13th-15th centuries. Without a flashy central retablo, the cathedral lets the streaming light steal the show. This is the fourth church on this spot, began in 1205 and completed in record time (about 100 years).

Ok, history lesson over, for now…. back to the present…

After sleeping late this morning, we walked a few steps down the street to Marbella restaurant for breakfast, then returned to our room to wash and dry all our clothes, taking advantage of the previously mentioned room facilities.

We couldn’t resist the comfortable arm chairs in the room, so we read and blogged while completing our laundry until our mid-afternoon lunch/dinner.

We headed back to Restaurant Trances after our good experience there yesterday.

Today we both had Ensalada Rusa for the first course.

For the second course, Linda had free-range roasted chicken and Jim had an Andalusian version of veal scaloppini called Escalopines al Cabrales. The veal was covered with a tasty white sauce from Cabrales blue cheese… considered one of the world’s greatest blue cheeses. It is made from the milk of cow, sheep or goats exclusively from a small area of eastern Asturias, Spain and produced in the same area. This particular type of cheese is controlled like a fine wine. If bought locally, it costs over $20/lb. Recently, a single wheel of Cabrales Cheese won first place in a cheese festival competition and was later auctioned off at $32,000!!’

For dessert, we both had homemade mousse: Lemon for Linda, Chocolate for Jim… topping off another very nice meal… for 15€ each.

Jim stopped by an ATM to beef up our € stash as ATM’s can be hard to find in many of the places we will pass the next week or so.

He also snapped a few photos of the Catedral (to supplement the above history lesson). Unfortunately it was closed for inside viewing most of the afternoon.

We chilled for the rest of the afternoon and made our plans for getting back on the Camino tomorrow morning.