It was tough leaving O Cebreiro. It is a special place and probably one of my favorite on the Camino. It was beautiful weather when I was there and still, when I woke up this morning the wind was howling and it just felt raw when I went outside. It is the first morning I have worn my lightweight puffy jacket.

But, the jacket was off before the first hour was up. I generate massive amounts of heat when I exert energy and that I was doing!  Everyone else was still bundled up two or three hours into walking and I was in my shirt sleeves.

The bulk of the day was spent traversing the spine of the mountain and then at the very end we descended nearly 600 meters – the downhills are always the worst!

There are many pilgrim statues along the way. This one was quite large and stands at the top of Alto San Roque.

Every town, regardless of how small it is, has a church. Most are locked so it isn’t possible to see the inside but the exteriors are beautiful and rugged.

There are lots of these fall crocuses growing wild along the path.

The views throughout the day were beautiful as we walked along a meandering path that often made me feel like I was in Vermont.  

I had only had a really bad packaged pastry when I stopped for coffee around 10 so around noon I stopped for a jamon bocadillo and an Aquarius. As is usually the case, I ate half the sandwich and took the other half to go.

Ray, my ever-present virtual tour guide tipped me off that I would be coming to the smallest church on the Camino in Biduedo right before the decent. It indeed is tiny, but from the looks inside (I had to take picture through a grated window since it was locked) it could still be actively used.

The downhill was far from the worst and the views were spectacular. I could stop taking pictures.

How could I pass up the “best apple tart on the Camino?”

I haven’t had many pastries on the Camino, but as they go, I have to say this is the best I have had. First, it was homemade, a stark contrast to the horrible chocolate covered packaged thing I had for breakfast. But that isn’t a fair comparison. The apple tarte is in a completely different category. It is food with integrity. With the coffee it provided the perfect fuel to get me into Triacastella where I would be staying for the night.

I finally arrived in Triacastella shortly after 3. Then I had to climb up the hill to Casa Olga where Olga was out on the street waiting for me. The sheep helped guide me to her house.

Olga gave me a beer when I got into her pension. Boy that hit the spot!

I took a short nap and headed back down the hill for dinner. I had an OK pilgrim menu and was entertained by three cats as I ate (for many people, I know this would be a huge turn off!).

Dinner was unremarkable, but dessert was delicious. It was some of the fresh O Cebreiro cheese with membreillo and honey.

The Mystery Bus

Several times throughout the day a huge “tourisimo” coach bus was sitting as I completed a section of the trail. I believe this is the same group of Canadian “Peregrinos” who we saw a few days ago. In order to provide exposure to the Camino without overtaxing the guests, travel company’s run what I will call “Taste of Pilgrimage” tours. I have seen the bus stop are key points, drop off a load of pilgrims and then pick them up 5-6 kilometers later.

I checked out the local church on my way back to Olga’s  instead of the cemetery being in a separate part of town, it is right at the church. Another surprise is that all of the burial sites are above ground as you would see in New Orleans

Reflections: A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall

It was inevitable; I could not escape the Camino without some rain stories. For the past week rain has been in the forecast for Sunday and here we are in Saturday night.

I will be honest, I am shipping my little day pack ahead to Sarria where I will be tomorrow night. This plan reduces the weight of my pack a little and also hopefully provides me with dry clothes at the end of the day.

I haven’t been able to train much in the rain so this is new territory for me. Some Pilgrims actually say they enjoy walking in the rain. I am hoping that will happen for me!

What a difference a day makes!  Today was amazing from beginning to end! While I am claiming credit for 11 kilometers, the reality is that I walked 3 of those kilometers and Paula did the rest; she was my horse!

I walked the 3 kilometers to where I would meet up with the horse guy, Hector, in Las Herrerías. It was a wonderful walk because I had to send my pack ahead since I would be riding the horse. I just had my little backpack and my poles and I felt like I had lost 18 pounds…because I had without my pack!

I walked with a young man from Florence Italy and a young woman from Modena Italy; Danny and Elisa. Their English was excellent. They had just met in Leon and had been walking together since. Danny seemed to have a chip on his shoulder and as a vegetarian was upset that they “put fucking meat in everything in Spain.” The night before he had ordered a bean dish that was called vegetarian and when he pointed out the meat to the restaurant staff, the waiter said, “it isn’t meat, it’s just Chorizo.”

I think Danny had a right to be upset, but to calm him down I said how meat isn’t necessary when you think about the amazing dishes of Tuscany like Robolita (Twice cooked bread soup). With the same intensity and passion, Danny went on and told me, as any good Tuscan would, the ONLY way to make Robolita. He finished the recipe with an important note, “don’t put any fucking cheese in it.” 

The two stopped in a bar because all the talk of food made Danny hungry.

The highway system here is pretty amazing. It seems like rather than building the roads along the contours of the mountains, they just connect the mountains from peak to peak with huge bridges.

Today’s posse to ride up the mountain to O Cebreiro was 6 women; I knew all but one of them. I am not sure how Hector assigned horses, but I was the first rider up and I got Paula, a white horse who was so docile she didn’t even have a bridle with a bit; instead she wore a halter.

It took a while for every one to get up and as we were all getting set, several pilgrims we knew came by wishing us well.

Finally we were on our way. Despite having owned a horse and doing a lot of riding when I was young, I was petrified for about the first half hour.

About halfway up we stopped to water the horses. They were very thirsty!

As we passed pilgrims walking up they cheered us on. Ruth was incredibly enthusiastic for us (just as you would expect this bubbly, super positive woman to be) as were the three women from Burlington Vermont who were walking together – a first that I have seen since I met them!

The higher we we went to more stunning the scenery.

Just 166 kilometers to go!!

Loretta led the way and was well ahead of her daughter Claudia and I who were bringing up the rear

Just as we were almost at the top, we passed a sign telling us we are now in Galicia (Ga-lee-thee-a) the final Spanish region on our journey.

Hector, walked along side us to give you an idea of how slowly we went, but we still passed most walker and in less than 2 hours we were at the top of the mountain in O Cebreiro without breaking a sweat.

We went to a bar and had a delicious lunch of garlic soup, local fresh cheese with honey, garlicky pulpo and Tinto de Verano or summer wine that is red wine and lemonade (surprisingly delicious!).

Pulpo! Octopus. Yum

I was the only one of our horse-riding group staying in O Cebreiro for the night and I was questioning the wisdom of that decision when I could have gotten another 10km under my feet. But it turns out this was one of my best decisions.

This little village is charming and has a rich history. It has some of the harshest weather in all of Spain. In fact, had I continued my Camino last fall, I would have not gotten to see O Cebreiro because the trail up to here was closed for a week in late October due to an early snow storm. Hector told us that he finally plowed a small path all the way up the trail so he could continue his horseback rides and that enabled pilgrims to start walking up to O Cebreiro again as well.

Galicia was inhabited by the Celts over 1500 years ago which explains the Irish feel you get from this area.

This Palloza is a museum so I got to go inside to see how people lived back in the day…actually not so long ago and in my lifetime!

The round buildings are Pallozas which Hector explained people lived in less than 60 years ago. Their entire family would live in one of these buildings with thatched roofs and they would have their animals in there as well for warmth.

The church is believed to be the oldest on the French Way with the original construction dating back to the 800’s!

It is a beautiful church that is quite simple compared to many of the other gothic Roman cathedrals along the way. I can’t wait to be able to paint it in watercolor!

Reflections

I attended the mass tonight. It was very moving. The priest was amazing. He was a young guy with an assistant who was even younger. Some parts of the ceremony were in various languages as he had pilgrims read prayers in their native tongue.

He spoke of the importance of love and how our pilgrimages are about love and that when we return from the Camino we are to share the love of the Camino with others. He very effectively used his iPhone to play beautiful music at key times in the ceremony.

When he was giving communion he played Ave María. As a young girl, I remember seeing my dad sit back on Christmas Eve after we opened our gifts, listening to Ave María with a tear in his eye. He told me it was his favorite song.

A few days ago, my cousin Jeanne Mascheri sent me a picture of my father as a young man with his sister (my aunt) Jeanne. I realized in the 11 years since my dad passed away, I had only really thought of him as the person he was in the last few years of his life.  I am so grateful to cousin Jeanne for sending me this photo at the perfect time.

My dad in the middle with Aunt Jeanne and I believe my uncle Joe.

I felt my father’s presence so strongly in the church while Ave María was playing and people were taking communion. It was very moving.

The priest then called all pilgrims (probably around 40-50 people) up to the alter and blessed us for a safe journey to Santiago. Then, he went to each one of us, hugged us and told us Buen Camino. The younger assistant followed him and gave each pilgrim a stone with a yellow arrow painted on it.  This is the most treasured physical item I will take from the Camino and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life.

When I looked at the stone later, I noticed that part of the arrow was missing; it had chipped off. What a beautiful reminder of my two-part Camino!

Today was the toughest yet for me. No more Easy Peasy. I suspect it started to go wrong when I spent most of the night in the bathroom. I pride myself in having an iron stomach, but not in Spain this time. So I was starting a long day on very little sleep. Over the course of the day there were two optional routes that I decided I would not take and all I had to do was make sure I didn’t get onto them. But, just outside of Cacabelos I found myself ON the first option I wanted to stay off of. It turned out OK kind of.

The route was through vineyards; some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Lots of pinch me moments.

But, before I saw this beautiful scenery, I came upon a French couple. The woman had just tripped on a rock and fell face first. Her lower lip was gashed and she was shaken.

We were in the middle of no where and all I could think to do was offer to call a cab even though I didn’t have a nearby cab number. I looked on my Buen Camino app and was able to tell them that the next village was “peutetra une ou deux kilometers” (apparently my French is a little rusty, but they got the point). I waited until she was calmed down and started walking again and then moved on ahead of them.

Until I was distracted by those beautiful vineyards once the sun rose, all I could think about was if that was me. I was walking alone and I am a master of tripping. So much for shaking my fear of the unknown.

The good news is that I arrived at a town a couple of hours later and the couple was there having lunch! When they reached the village I told them about, they stopped to ask for help and the local person called the emergency number in Spain – 112. An ambulance came, the woman got stitches in her lip and they were having lunch before continuing on.

So it was OK that I ended up on that detour because I think I was a little helpful, but I did not want to climb the mountain that was on the next detour.

The alternative was flat, but it was on the road. For the most part, it felt safe, but there were some sketchy moments where trucks were flying off the highway and didn’t seem like they would be stopping should a pilgrim wander into their path.

Still, it was a pretty walk right along the river and on the road that parallels the highway (for Vermonters, I was on the equivalent of Route 2 with I89 usually in sight).

I did hear someone calling my name as I was getting into Villafranca. It was Rosevitha who I met the first day out of Burgos. She was a little behind because she had spent the morning in Ponferrada getting a cap glued back on the had fallen off the night before.

It was great to see her. She is an artist and we enjoy talking about the scenes we pass and how the light is hitting the objects or how we might treat the scene with our art.

Rosevitha and I both fell in love with this kitty who wouldn’t stop following us. She game him a piece of salami and much to my surprise, that did the trick. The kitty stopped following us.

Walnuts drying.

Another kitty. I could probably create a boo, Cat of the Camino. There are LOTS of cats!!

If you have done the Camino you will know what I mean when I say it was just one of those days.  I never thought it would end.  It was hot, mostly on pavement and while the river on the left was nice, the road on the right was not.

Then I get into my town for the night and discover there are only two restaurants and I missed the lunch service and dinner isn’t until 7. I just wanted to go to bed so I had another (not as wonderful) in-room picnic.

Reflections

Just when you are feeling confident, the Camino smacks you down (at least that is how it felt today!). It was my “why am I here,” homesick day. To make it worse, I knew my cell service wasn’t working and that Ray would be worried about me. I didn’t want to eat anything because I feared I would regret it so I had three bananas, two Aquarius’ and my first NUUN tablet of the trek.  I was probably running on reserves, but I reasoned I have a lot of them.

I hoped that getting to bed at 7pm after popping an Imodium would work wonders. Spoiler alert: it did!

Every day is different on the Camino and today I was all about embracing the differences; starting with breakfast and ending with dinner.

I started the morning with breakfast at the amazing Brazilian Hostel I stayed at last night. I don’t always take advantage of the cheap breakfasts offered where I am staying, but I did this morning because it felt right.

Instead of the usual €3-4 price, today’s was €5, but I went for it. It was super sweet to watch the Hostel owners work together to put out breakfast for 8 of us, all expecting breakfast at different times. Unlike most Camino breakfasts that are just juice, toast and church-urn style coffee, this one also included scrambled eggs, yogurt and a variety of beverage options.

It was also a chance to talk with fellow pilgrims. Two (a very young couple) were from Denmark, there were two women Aussies, and two 20-something girls from Minnesota. Breakfast was delicious and a great start to day. I normally start walking before eating, but this worked out well.

The big difference with eating first is that by the time I got my act together after breakfast, I didn’t leave until 8:15, a full hour past my normal start time. That’s ok. I had about 24km ahead of me and it was mostly flat.  

A large part of the day was walking on sidewalks and roads so it was easy, but not a trek that forces you to stop every few minutes to take a picture as was the case yesterday.

I love meeting and talking with people along the way.  Today I met Dave who is walking the Camino with his wife, but she has been bussing ahead some days leaving him to walk on his own at his own pace which is very fast!  But, when he got ahead of me, he stopped to shed a clothing layer and there I was; caught up with him! Dave and I probably walked together for 8-9km. We walked in and out of Ponferrada together which was great to have two of us watching out for arrows.

I know I call a lot of places on the Camino sweet, but that word doesn’t work with Ponferrada.  It is a larger city with a population of 65k residents. Perhaps it is a place to go back to next Camino?? But I wasn’t feeling the love when I was there today.

Dave and I moved through the town quickly snapping just a few photos. I was sorry to learn later that today it was free for pilgrims to tour the Templar castle. I guess that will be on my next visit.

Castillo de los Templarios

There is a nice history of the castle here, which I am going to let you read on your own. This pilgrim is racing to finish this post before she finishes a bottle of wine! Unlike our programmer Peter who does his finest work between the first and second bottle, I rarely have more than a couple of glasses of wine so this is an exception and could prove a problem for my nightly blog!

I guess I should also confess that I stopped at a winery around 12:30 for a little wine tasting.  I NEVER drink alcohol during the day on the Camino, but I figured…when in Spain.

I walked the remaining 6 or so km with Janet of team Burlington.

So, for what it is worth, I have now walked about 300km since starting in Burgos three weeks ago.  You may remember that I started at 501km out of Burgos. This of officially more than I walked last year… we are in new territory!

When I arrived at my reserved hostel for the night I was thrilled to see that I had a private “terrace.”  I am on the second floor (in the US add a 1 to that number as the ground level floor is 0) overlooking the church in the center of town. The setting told me that I would be having a wine and cheese dinner right there, washing it down with a bottle of local wine.

After my shower, I found the grocery store (the best so far on the Camino) and stocked up with local cheese, sausage, Iberico jamon, almonds roasted in the shell, bread, clementine oranges and a bottle of Albariño wine from this region (Berios).  Oh, and I also got a corkscrew!

And, here is the result.

I told a little white lie in the bar downstairs from my room that I needed ice for my knee and was able to chill the wine.

Please don’t be at all concerned about my knee; it is doing GREAT!!! Now I am feeling guilty about that white lie!

Before I headed back up to my room, I popped into the church which was really…yep, sweet.

Tile half-cylinder roofs in Spain are the norm here,but I haven’t seen many slate roofs. Yet they seem to be the standard in this upscale town of Cacabelos.  You just can’t appreciate them unless you see them with your own eyes

Reflections: Solitude

I was an extrovert before I met Ray. I got my energy from interacting with lots of other people. But in the past 10-15 years I have become more of a recluse and introvert. I don’t just enjoy my private time, I need it to rest and recharge. After an great day on the Camino connecting with other pilgrims, I often crave solitude. Tonight gave me just what I needed. I had my wine and cheese dinner, wrote my blog post which I love doing and will get to bed early thanks to all the wine I have enjoyed.

I know I will probably wake up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep but that’s ok rvery now and then :-). It has been a wonderful evening.

Buen Camino and Ultreia!!!

Today was a HARD 20 kilometers! It reminded me that not all 20k are the same. The first part of the day was the rest of the climb to the tallest point on the Camino and it was all downhill from there! I mean steep, loose rock, challenging downhill. But of course, it was great. But, I must remember that 20km takes different amounts of time depending on the terrain. I certainly wasn’t doing my normal 5km/hour pace.

The day started in the dark. I wanted to be at Cruz de Ferro before sunrise (which is now after 8:30am here in Spain).

I left shortly after 7am in the pitch dark with my trusty headlamp shining the way. There were several headlamps ahead of me and behind me as well. Dawn was breaking as I crested the hill and saw the Iron Cross, an Iconic Landmark on the Camino. It took my breath away.

This is one of the major steps in the pilgrimage to Santiago. Here you leave the stone you have carried throughout your pilgrimage as a token of the burdens you are releasing from yourself. I told Ray I have such an amazing life, I didn’t know what burdens I had to let go of. He said I would think of something as I walked up there, and of course, I did.

As I got nearer the cross with a huge pile of rocks mounded around it, I saw a dozen or more bodies of people sitting very quietly on the mound up toward to base of the cross. Other than the stones tumbling beneath my feet as I climbed up the mound, there wasn’t a sound. I couldn’t see anyone, just their silhouettes all facing the east. It was amazingly peaceful.

But then, more and more people came and this meditative moment turned into Disney World.

This is what you imagine your Cruz de Ferro moment would be be like.

And, this what it actually is.

Still, it is memorable and once I got up the guts to climb down the mound of rocks with my pack on in the dark, I moved to a quiet space and thought about the “burdens” I was going to shed. I left Cruz de Ferro before the sun rose. And up the trail went. I didn’t think we had that much further up to go, but I was wrong. And then we started going down; luckily by then it was light.

The terrain reminded me of the Pyrenees. And there was even a herd of cows with bells ringing.

Natashia from Holland and I struck up a conversation. She is very outgoing and super positive. When I expressed concern about the downhill, she said, “we can do it, just take one step at a time.”

We took several fun photos as we were walking.

And along the way we picked up a handful of Natasia’s closest friends and five of us stopped for breakfast after a town finally presented itself.  It was THE BEST BREAKFAST on the Camino so far!

A jamon omelet and toasted baguette with olive oil and a tomato smeared on top.

Ruth, who was part of our group, was really hurting and she said she needed protein. She ordered three sunny side up eggs, bacon, ham and lomo (pork loin) and potatoes. And a chocolate croissant and bread. It was all gone  by the time Ruth was finished eating! Walking clearly works up a hunger and petite Ruth had earned her morning meal!

When I left the bar, I saw Janet, one of the three women from Burlington and we walked together the rest of the way into our stop for the night, Molinaseca.  I appreciated having her footsteps to follow and the conversation took my mind off of the tough decent. I hope I didn’t slow her down too much.

We passed through a sweet little village, Riego de Ambrose, and saw some super cute goats and some beautiful buildings.

Finally we reached Molinaseca which is a lovely town. I checked into my Alburgue, the second in three nights owned and run by Brazilians.

I had linner after taking a shower. It was delicious and all homemade for just €12 including, of course, bread, wine and dessert.

Chickpea soup with some kind of smoked pork. I suspect of was some type of offal. It was delicious!

Whole Dorado, a flat fish, the obligatory potatoes and Perron peppers!!

I had plenty of time after linner to explore town and went to the church and met Tim. He was sitting in the church entrance welcoming pilgrims and answering questions they had.

Tim, from the US, walked the Camino three years ago, returned home, sold all of his possessions and now lives in Spain 8 months and the US 4 months each year. Tim volunteers his time to this church and thanks to him, it is open for Pilgrims to visit.

The bridge into the town is beautiful and well-maintained so I went down there for another look at it before sunset.

As I was sitting out on the upstairs deck that looks out to the street, I recognized Patricia, the owner of the Brazilian hostel I stayed at a couple of nights ago  I waved to her an she threw me big kisses. This Camino is a small world!

Here is the deck I was sitting on when I saw Patricia and yes, those are my clothes hanging out to dry. 🙂

Reflections: Death on the Camino

Death happens. And it happens on the Camino too. The story I have most often heard is of the pilgrim who went to sleep and never woke up. But as in life, there are all kinds of ways people see their last day here on the Camino.

Today I met a woman from Holland. I believe her name in Holland is Tinka, but in Spain it translates to Christina. She is here walking in honor of her friend who died on the Camino on her way into Leon in June. She and the pilgrim she was walking with were hit by a car driven by a young man who had only had his license to a few months.

The other woman in the accident is still in critical condition here in Spain. The dead woman’s son is also in Spain now walking the Camino appealing to pilgrims to leave a rememberence when they pass the accident scene.

Shortly after I started walking in Burgos, I read about a male pilgrim dying of a heart attack at the entrance of the Alburgue in Roncesvalles.  He had successfully made it up and over the Pyrenees and his heart just gave out.

A few days later, a 30-something male pilgrim jumped into the Atlantic Ocean at Finisterre and died. There was little info on what happened, but I have heard suspicion that he went into cardiac arrest when he jumped into the cool ocean water.

Just a day after I walked through Terradillos de la Templarios, a man from Virginia on his third Camino with his wife just didn’t wake up in the morning. I spoke with someone who had dinner with him the night before and she said he was happy and having a great time. Then he was gone.

I don’t mention these deaths to be morbid. First, the reality is that the Camino isn’t something that you do every day. It taxes your body like probably nothing else you have ever done. But, more important, the Camino is a metaphor for life and death is a part of that. Three years ago an aquaintence passed away somewhat unexpectedly and the light turned on for me when the minister said, all we are guaranteed it right now. That is when I made the decision to walk the Camino. If not now, when? I reasoned.

So, when you are trying to decide if you should do something or does it make more sense to hold off and do it another day, ask yourself, if not now, When?

Today was my longest walk so far on the Camino, and it included a nearly 2000’ climb, a good chunk at the end of the day. As a reference point for my Mad River Valley friends, from the Mad River Glen basebox to General Stark’s Peak is 2036 vertical feet. This walk felt easier than that hike, which Ray and I traditionally do each fall.

A miracle happened last night and I slept like a baby in the same room with nine others! I am so happy I stayed at Por se Hoge, which is Portuguese for Just One Night. After a couple of pieces of buttered toast and coffee (the breakfast of Champions in Spain) I took off before sunrise.

The exit from Astorga was relatively short for a big city and soon we were on a gravel path. The Camino rush hour was quite busy.

Two Camino routes converge in Astorga; the Camino Francés, which I am on, and the Via de la Plata, the longest Camino Route in Spain that originates in Sevilla in the southern region known as Andalusia. I have a couple of friends eyeing that route for their next Camino.

I had heard several days ago that there is someone from Vermont on the Camino Francés now and his name is Connor and he has red hair.  I had kind of forgotten about him.

So, today I had a woman walking in front of me in a red hiking skirt and I was soon next to her as she slowed down to take off a layer of clothing. With her obvious US accent, I asked where she was from and she said Vermont! Deborah is walking with two other women also from the Burlington VT area. They were both ahead of Deborah. So we walked for a while and she told me about Connor too. And, I kid you not, within 5 minutes, Connor went walking past us!

We snapped a selfie. And within a few more minutes, we entered a village and Deborah’s friends were there. All three are educators in the Burlington and I knew at least one had to know my friend Zelda who worked in the Chittenden South school system for many years. Sure enough Joan knows Zelda!

The three women went off and I continued the trek on my own. Today was a kind of Camino landmark day because we would be walking past the famous Cowboy Bar.

It is a quirky place with all kinds of memorabilia.

So, it only makes sense I would bump into this character again at the Cowboy Bar.

Allyson!!

We both ate half a boccadillo and I washed it down with an Aquarius and we took off together along with Angie from California. Angie is insightful and smart and the conversation with these two women was interesting. Both decided when we got to Rabinal Del Camino that they would go the extra 7km today to get to Foncebaden. This plan would leave a very short 2 km-100 meter climb to get to the famous Cruz de Ferro, the iron cross where pilgrims leave a small stone representing the burdens they want to leave behind. It is also THE HIGHEST point on the Camino.

Last year before my first Camino, I put a stone from our property into the pocket of my backpack and it has been there since. Through the winter it sat in the closet and it was with me on all of my training walks this summer. Tomorrow I say goodbye to the stone.

I am hoping to get to Cruz de Ferro to see the sunrise. That will mean hiking on a rocky trail with a headlamp.

This is what we walked on today for much of the climb and I suspect that is what it will be like tomorrow morning. I will definitely wait for full light to start walking down.

Allyson strongly believes that the best pilgrim experience includes staying in Alburgue dorms and not having a reservation; you show up and ask for a bed. I had really hoped that would be my Camino experience, but I have had too much fun micromanaging my overnight accommodations. I guess this is one lesson I will not get from the Camino.

When we passed this building-ish on the way into town, we kidded that was where Allyson would be staying tonight with her no reservation, dorm-life Camino principles.

But, the truth is that Allyson and Angie got a bed in the municipal Alburgue and when I went to visit them after I ate, it was clear that is where the action was in town.

A young Spanish man was playing the guitar and singing, lots of people were out on the front porch listening to him, drinking wine and chilling out.

I had a wonderful dinner tonight. I started with a Caesar Salad (with lots of salad dressing!)

And then Hake with vegetables.

It was yummy, but too much. I should have started with the hake and as Ray says, if I was still hungry I could have had the salad for dessert.

Heading back to my Alburgue, I had a pinch me moment, am I really here?  Such beauty!

Reflections

Today was a long distance with a challenging climb after days of flat flat. It was relatively easy for me. I am not going to say I ran up the hill, and I was definitely sucking wind, but I really think all of the work I have done preparing for this year’s Camino has helped. It also really helped to be walking with two other women, Allyson and Angie. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with the two of them.

As of today, I have officially graduated from the Meseta! Many people complain that the Meseta is boring and often will skip it all together. I don’t feel that way. It was really beautiful, expansive countryside. I am sure that more than other sections of the Camino Francés, it takes on a completely different personality with each season. There are the reported fields of poppies in the late spring, the green grains such as wheat in the summer and the bright cheery sunflowers in late August. The time of year when I am here the earth is being turned under and prepared for next spring’s planting.

This field has been cut and is awaiting plowing.

The first clue that the Meseta was behind me was the beginning of gently rolling terrain. I actually look forward to some variety in the walking, both ups and downs.

I really need a rear view mirror when I am walking here in Spain. I don’t want to miss anything and in the morning, with the sunrise behind me, most of the excitement is at my back. That results in my slowest kilometers of the day with constant turning around like a junkie needing just one more fix. “I swear, this is the LAST time I will turn around.” That promise lasts but a few minutes until I have to peek again.  

Today I bumped into Claudia and her mom from Toronto. I hadn’t seen them since I got sick. They were headed to a town ahead of me tonight. However, I think we will be heading up to O Cebreiro on the same day and we are both planning to ride horses up to the top. (More on this option next Friday after my ride.)

I stopped for breakfast after 8km or so and had a piece of amazing apple cake.  It was super moist and there was custard woven throughout it. While it wasn’t a protein forward breakfast like I try to have when I am walking, it was delicious.

I walked a little further and came upon a woman sitting at a small rest area that had a cross and a mannequin of a pilgrim.

I started talking with her; she is very interesting. She is from Ukraine, but now lives in Finland (oh, if we had the time the things I would like to have asked her!). Her name is Polina and she calls herself Polina Nomad.

Polina often volunteers at pilgrim hostels and currently is serving at a hostel in Hospital de Orbigo. Today she didn’t have to report for her shift until 4 so she was walking to Astorga and would be taking a bus back to Hospital de Orbigo.

Her English is excellent and I suspect she is fluent in many languages.  She is a graphic artist, but doesn’t like being in Finland in the winter because of the cold. So last year she came to the Camino in December and walked the Camino Francés. She saw no more than 5 other pilgrims on any given day. You might think the weather could be a challenge, but she said it was in the 50’s during the day and the whole time she had only 2 hours of rain. She celebrated the New Year at Fisterre, the end of the world!

Polina pointed out some “street art” she had done a couple of years ago. I have seen her work before and look forward to finding more later on the way.

There was a sweet little donativo stand that had all types of fruit and juice available. I took a banana for a donation of 50 cents.

Astorga came into sight, but it is always hard to judge the distance of a town. One thing is for sure, it is always further than you think!

Getting into Astorga required conquering the Pilgrim Torture Trap.

All this to cross two active railroad tracks. Easily 10 times the steps it takes just to walk across. Henry sent me the workaround for this beast, and I saw the secret path, but I couldn’t bring myself to defy authority.  Besides, I am sure tens of thousands of dollars when into designing and constructing this to protect pilgrims so I took the safe way.  Of course, many pilgrims coming into Astorga are on their 30th kilometer for the day when they hit this contraption, so I can understand the desire to circumvent it.

Dorm Living Again for me Tonight

I am staying tonight in a 10-bed dormitory Alburgue. We will see how it goes. This place doesn’t have any separate rooms, but what they do have is an amazing authentic Brazilian dinner.  So, in this case the promise of good food won over a private room.

After checking in and showering I toured around Astorga. Unfortunately the Famous Chocolate Museum was only open 10-2 today so I missed that opportunity, but I did get to explore the Astorga Cathedral, which like those in Leon and Burgos, is huge and beautiful. I thin my favorite is the Leon Cathedral. I think it has more stained glass.  

After a beer and a glass of wine (with a walk in between) I head back to my Hostel for a little rest

Then it was dinner time we were served black beans, rice, pork and a salad. This meal hit the spot.

Today was a planned short day and tomorrow will be short as well. I wanted to spend a night in Astorga and to do that I could either walk 30km in one day or break it up into two short days. I chose the later because I know that after a 30km day, I wouldn’t have enough energy to tour around Astorga.

Many of us Camino elders had this discussion last night and I am now seeing all of them in town tonight. Hopefully there will be enough going on in Astorga tomorrow, Sunday, to make this plan seem smart.

As I left early this morning, I was able to turn an unattractive, modern home into a charming silhouette against the breaking dawn sky.

It was a beautiful morning and leaving town it was pretty and quiet.

The “scenic” southern variant continued today for 14km. While it was pretty, it was fairly monotonous.

I passed this two tractor family home  Perhaps the mayor lives here?

The real show was going on behind me.

When I passed the 300km mark, I was surprised at my progress in just 11 days. I have now walked 200km (ok, actually 180 given the 20km day I took off when I was recovering in Sahagun) and only have 300km left to go to Santiago de Compostela! Just amazing.

Old shoes are abundant on the Camino and I have seen many creative uses for them, but this is the first shoe tree I have seen

This took someone (or several people) some work.

I saw Lynn from Schenectady ahead of me and was actually surprised she had gotten as far ahead of me as she had as she left just shortly before I.

Her knee is really a problem and getting worse every day. To see her getting started after sitting in a chair is painful to watch. She attributes her family’s stubborn streak for getting her going every day and not stopping. Enough people suggested she ship her bag ahead that she finally did that today. I have to believe it helped, but she isn’t sure. I decided I would walk with her to keep her company. She is still doing an impressive 4km/hour pace. I hope she isn’t doing any permanent damage.

I left Lynn just outside of Hospital de Orbigo as I tried to figure out where I was staying. She was heading into the next town.

As I was bringing up the directions for my hostel another pilgrim stopped me to ask if he was going the right way to his overnight accommodations. We figured out that he needed to go one way and I the other, so Raul and I said adios.

Coming into town there is a beautiful 19 arch bridge!! You can see the difference in materials. The first two arches on the right were from the original Roman bridge and the rest of the span was built in more recent times. The Roman bridges are really spectacular.   

Clearly there are not historic building codes in this town. Here is where I am staying tonight. It is a very modern 6 room Hostal.

There is not a pilgrim menu offered at the Hostal so I decided to go back to my Spanish eating schedule today. I found a really nice restaurant and ordered ala carte off the menu for a mid afternoon meal. I just wasn’t up for a potato and pork laden Menu Del dia or pilgrim menu. What I had was delicious; all regional specialties.

Croquettes. The filling was yummy although I am not exactly sure of what was in them.

Beans and clams. It sounds strange, but it was very good and filling.

Fried Milk. Frito Leche. I remember seeing this in my Camino Cookbook and thought I should given it a try. It is like flan that has been cut into a chunk and then fried. Interesting, but probably not something I will need to have again.

I took a leftover box back to the hostal for my evening snack.

Reflections

Today was easy walking and tomorrow will be too. The day after will be a 25km day and I am fine with that too. It is really surprising once I hit 20km how much more challenging 5km can be. And, each km after 25 is even more difficult. The difficulty isn’t so much with the walking as the recovery. Because you get in later you have less recovery time when you actually need more. It isn’t that I can’t do it, but on 25km plus days I would likely crawl into my Alburgue and fall asleep and miss exploring the town. At least that is what happened last year when I pushed myself further.

In the year I had time to reflect on a better Camino experience and one thing I wanted for sure was to get to know the towns I was staying in better. My 20km daily target has allowed me to do that and my body and feet are in pretty good shape. I am really enjoying this Camino experience.

It is always exciting to go into a big city on the Camino, but the downside is the entry and exit into and out of the city. Typically they are in unattractive outskirts and Leon was no exception.

As I was leaving the city, I saw few pilgrims and was on my own navigating my way. There was a young woman just ahead of me so I caught up with her and we walked together. She is Hoa from Tel Aviv, Israel. Talking with her made the two hours go quickly.

She is a student studying Chinese Medicine in Tel Aviv. She is on a short break between the 2nd and 3rd year of her program. Most college kids just want to go home and rest on the breaks; she chose to do the Camino. With limited time, she had just bussed from Burgos to Leon to continue and was missing the friends she had made on the first third of the Camino.

As we navigated the city, we crossed many busy streets. The cross walks here in Spain are usually set 10-20 feet from the corner so you are taking extra steps at each crossing. I suggested to Hoa that we should always cross at the cross walks. She said she doesn’t like following rules but always crossed with me where we were supposed to.

I didn’t tell Hoa, but I thought to myself, thank God young people question authority. Kent State, Tiananmen Square, Parkland High School students, Greta Thunberg – they all questioned authority.

We passed the Leon Paradore which is closed now for renovations. If you have seen the way, this is the hotel where Tom treats his Camino family to a night of luxury, each with their own private room, yet they all end up hanging out in his room as if they were in an Alburgue dorm room

I am pretty sure that Hoa and I solved all of the world problems in those 2 hours. We concluded that given the way everyone, with multicultural backgrounds, can come together on the Camino, the best thing that could happen would be for all world leaders to have to go on Pilgrimage. We chuckled at the thought of her leader and mine doing exactly what we were doing at that moment with a pack containing everything they needed strapped to their backs. Hoa and I parted when she stopped at an enterprising “rest area” set up in front of a manufacturing business.

In the final suburb before getting back into the country, I came upon an interesting Church and it was open so I went in. It was very contemporary.

We passed more Bodegas.

I would love to see inside of one of these. There is a bodega at a house on Brook Road in Warren. Maybe someday I will get to see inside of that one

Finally we were out of the city!  Note to self: next time take a bus out of the city to Virgen Del Camino. But, had I not done that today, I would not have met Hoa so the pounding was worth it.

I can’t resist taking photos of kitties. I have spared you of most, but I love this one of the kitty on the hunt.

And I guess I can’t resist taking photos of bodegas either. When I was walking with Hoa, she hadn’t seen one before and said it looked like a Hobbit House. That is exactly how the guides describe them!

This was the “southern variant” considered the scenic way. The northern variant goes right next to the highway. While I wouldn’t call this super scenic, the sky way beautiful and provided me with a gorgeous reference photo for painting this winter.

When I find I am getting a little bored, I look for heart rocks. There were plenty yesterday. Here are just a few.

Finally I arrived at my Alburgue for the night. Not bad right? Being a pilgrim doesn’t mean you always have to suffer. I signed up for dinner and breakfast because this town has very limited services. There are just three hostels and one is closed for a family emergency for three days.

After a shower I set out to explore the town. I  figured I would be back in about 15 minutes, but the Camino always gives you surprises when you least expect it.

First I went to the church. Two volunteers were sitting there, asked where I was from and handed me a brochure in English. The woman told me to sit down in a pew and read it; “it is very interesting.” The first part was about the church and town and was somewhat interesting. But at the end of the book there was information about storks. That was fascinating. I have been seeing HUGE storks nests throughout the Camino. While they are not exclusively on church bell towers I would say 90% are. Their size is amazing and they are built differently. Some are large and sprawling and others are vertical. I am going to put the two pages on the storks here in case you are interested. I know a few Mad Birders who might be! (Although it might be old news to them!)

After the church, I was wandering around the town and saw Rosevitha, a German woman who has pretty much been on the same schedule as I since I met her my second night on the Camino. She told me I must go to the Telephone Museum. Hmmmm, in THIS town??

I walked down the street and stepped into a Spanish National Treasure. A man who had been a telephone lineman his entire career has collected everything you can imagine related to telecommunications in the 19th and 20th century. He was very proud and wanted to show me everything. Here is just a taste of what I saw:

He even has a dummy lineman.

I signed his guest book and asked about leaving a donation and he pointed to a coin pay phone so I put some money in there.

The donation box is what the gentleman is leaning on.

The Pilgrim meal at the hostel was exceptional. A beautifully presented salad, gazpacho, vegetable Paella and a crepe plus, of course wine and bread was perfect. Once again the one-horse town surprises!

Reflections

Every day on the Camino is different and full of surprises; today there were many. But it always comes down to the amazing people I meet. Today they ranged from a thoughtful young Israeli womanhood wants to make the world a better place to an elder Spanish gentleman who wants us to remember the past. Both full of passion and life. I am so lucky to have met both – and in the same day!

Today was all around great. As my Alberta friend Kari said as we walked the last few kilometers into León together, for those of use who started in Burgos, today is roughly our first third point. That alone is something worth celebrating.

I tried to get a 7:30am start but realized I left something in the room just as I heard the door lock click. I knew the German couple next door to me hadn’t left yet, because I just saw the husband go down the hall and into the shared bath in his underwear, an upgrade from the towel he wore yesterday. So I waited for them to leave and ran back up to my room.

I was off and walking by 7:50 just as the sun was rising.

The sky looked like someone brushed watercolors onto it.

As the sun came up I saw a person ahead of me who seemed a little unsteady and possibly in some pain. As I walked past I slowed to talk with her and met Camino legend Allyson. She is only on her second Camino so I am not she she would qualify for official legend status but to everyone on the Camino at this time, she is a rock star.

Allyson did her first Camino in 2017. She heard about the Camino much the same way I did; she had a friend who posted pictures of her Camino on Facebook and Allison got intrigued and started her planning.

I am not sure of Allyson’s age. She is retired, but I am not going to take a guess beyond that. This woman is young at heart!

Every person we came across knew Allyson and when they saw each other it was hugs all around. And, by virtue of the fact that I was with Allyson, I too got hugged! In one day, I went from a solo pilgrim to being with the in crowd [chuckle here].

Here is what makes Allison super cool…she started this Camino in Le Puy en Valey. That Camino starts in Le Puy France and heads to the start of the Camino Francés at Saint Jean Pied de Port, 500 miles away!  By the time Alison walks into Santiago de Compostela, she will have walked 1000 miles.

When I heard that, I knew I needed to talk with Allison more. I have the Chemin Le Puy in the back of my mind for a future walk.

Allyson reminds me a little of Dorothy Tod for my Vermont friends who know who I am talking about.  She is the same petite size as Dorothy and has a lot of spunk and a great sense of humor.  She was a career letter carrier in the Seattle Washington area and so she walked for a living.  I remember reading something on preparing for the Camino and it said that everyone needs to train for the Camino unless they are a career mail person. Allyson didn’t train; she does serious hiking in the Cascades and is amazingly fit.

We passed an amazing 20-arch bridge, Puenta Ingente (the giant bridge), and I took quite a few pictures and told Allison I wanted to paint it in watercolors.  She asked why and I showed her how the light was hitting it and creating cast shadows.  She said she would love to paint, but has no artistic talent. First, I will bet you that she is very creative. And second, I am living proof you don’t need to have talent to paint :-).

Allyson stopped to chat with some folks (I am serious, she knows EVERYONE). Kari happened to be there at the time and so she and I took off for León. At first it seemed like it was going to be a Burgos-like entry into the city, but it wasn’t bad at all. We were on a gravel path until we were right in the city. And, they have made crossing the highway easy for pilgrims.

Apparently Leon, at some point, was a walled city and some of the ancient wall remains.

We got to a point where Kari needed to go one way and I another. We said goodbye thinking, because of our plans, we might not see each other for a long time. Chances are because of her rest day here in Leon, she will be a day behind me for at least the next week

Food Upgrade

I am staying in a hotel tonight and it is lovely. It is actually nicer than the Paradore I stayed in last year. Right next door is an Asian restaurant, Kamado, that I had lunch at. I was ready for something other than pork and potatoes!

The restaurant was amazing. Some of the best Asian fare I have had.

Duck Bao Bun

Best meal I have had on the Camino!

I toured the Leon Cathedral. Gorgeous!

I also walked around town quite a bit. Leon is my Favorite Camino city so far!

A Gaudi designed building turned into the Gaudi Museum.

Me and Gaudi

Reflections

Ok, I admit, I was feeling a little sorry for myself yesterday. But things changed today when I met Allyson and her 150 very close Camino friends. She was super interesting to talk with and I look forward to meeting her again on the Way. And, tomorrow I hope to meet up with Loretta and her daughter Claudia as we will both be in the same very small town. Great day!