Finisterre – Day 1
Thursday, January 31st, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 2 Comments »The real traveller finds sustenance in equivocation, he is torn between embracing and letting go, and the wrench of disengagement is the essence of his existence, he belongs nowhere. The anywhere he finds himself is always lacking in some particular, ...
Away from the end of the world – Day 2
Friday, February 1st, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 2 Comments »It’s an overcast morning, and the long stretches of sandy beach that lead us away from the town are not at their best. The medieval pilgrims who walked from all over Europe to reach the shrine of St James at ...
Galician rains – Day 3
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 2 Comments »After the oppressive heat of yesterday afternoon and with another twenty mile epic ahead of us, we decide to get up at dawn, rummaging around for our gear in the still-dark pilgrim refugio to be rewarded with a pink sunrise ...
To Santiago de Compostela – Day 4
Monday, February 4th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »Thankfully the rain has stopped. We soon reach Puente de Macera, the first conventionally attractive village we’ve come to, its old stone houses with carved coats of arms lining each side of a river with a weir and waterfall. This ...
First break – Day 5
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »Only three days into the trip and we have a major worry. Helen has a sharp pain in the arch of her foot. She started limping yesterday evening but it seems even worse this morning. Yesterday she walked in her ...
Under the stars – Day 6
Friday, February 8th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »Helen is hobbling terribly as we leave town and it doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to go far. The only encouragement comes from seeing the state of the people coming the other way; if this motley crew have managed ...
Buon Camino – Day 7
Sunday, February 10th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »Last night was the first so far when it hasn’t rained, so a lucky choice to begin our camping. We planned to use the tent most nights, but there have been few spots to put it up so far, and ...
Hotting up – Day 8
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »I’m woken at five by other pilgrims blundering around the dormitory trying to pack their bags. They tried to be subtle by not switching the light on but were instead using a flash torch that could have doubled for use ...
Chicken Run – Day 9
Friday, February 15th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »We too have now decided to wake before dawn to try to cover today’s distance before the afternoon heat. Not that we were asleep – we might have had the kitchen to ourselves, but the cows just outside the window ...
Refuelling in Sarria – Day 10
Sunday, February 17th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 2 Comments »There’s absolutely nothing to do here, which is good news for Helen’s foot. Away from the old main street, the rest of the town is a grid-plan of typical Spanish blocks of concrete flats. I’ve never spent a more relaxing ...
To the hills – Day 11
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »I’ve adapted to the ‘V’ shaped bed; I slept like a log in our attic last night. It certainly beats a noisy kitchen floor. A peaceful river valley and shady lanes bring us to Samos, the site of a great ...
Pallozas – Day 12
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »We set off at dawn so we can make the presumed big ascent before the heat hits, but today there’s a wonderful cool breeze and the way turns out to be very well graded. There are panoramic views, with the pastoral farmland and ...
Motorway Madness – Day 13
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »We set off downhill towards a spectacular sunrise. We’ve now left Galicia and entered Castille and Leon. It’s an odd feeling to suddenly realise we’ve left behind one of the regions whose names have absorbed me for the last three ...
Cherries to Ponferrada – Day 14
Monday, February 25th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »Yesterday's soaring temperatures have left us feeling washed out, so thankfully it's a much needed shorter day today, giving us the luxury of a lie-in in our quiet, comfy bed. The Sierra is now behind, and the undulating countryside ahead is carpeted ...
The Montes de Leon – Day 15
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 1 Comment »This morning we started so early we walked for thirty minutes in the dark, wearing our head torches to help cars to see us. The camino forms the main street of Molinesca, where it is lined by old limestone houses ...
The Maragateria – Day 16
Friday, February 29th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »We’re now in the Maragateria, a plateau named after its mysterious inhabitants, the Maragatos. It’s thought they are descendents of the Berbers, and they only married amongst themselves until recent times. We see few people around though - the landscape ...
Astorga – Day 17
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »We really need a day off, especially after last night. We do manage to visit the grand (for the size of Astorga) Cathedral, whose interior is strangely almost split in two by a giant organ. Apart from that, we spend ...
Roadside tramping – Day 18
Thursday, March 6th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | 6 Comments »It’s sad to leave Astorga, and a few miles north we look from a plateau back to see the town bathed in the dawn light. Pleasant walking through wheat fields bring us to Hospital de Orbigo, which has a fabulous ...
To Leon – Day 19
Saturday, March 8th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »The road walk continue once again, and at one point we have to walk on the hard shoulder only inches from speeding trucks, and cut across motorway slip roads. Further on, we realise we’d missed a new part of the camino ...
Cathedral and Tripe – Day 20
Monday, March 10th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »The shop below our room happens to be a bakery, so we start the day with huge napoletanas, the Spanish version of pain au chocolat. It makes a change from our usual breakfast fare of tortilla. First up has to be ...
Onto the plains – Day 21
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »An exit from the city along another giant main road brings us back to our own version of reality. We follow the road for four and a half hours but time seems to go quickly in the cool morning, and ...
Sahagun and the Moors – Day 22
Friday, March 14th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »The stars outside the tent last night were amazing. There were no lights within sight, no hills to block the view, just an enormous half sphere of sky with more and brighter stars than I’ve ever known. The walking is ...
The Frying Pan – Day 23
Monday, March 17th, 2008 Posted in Spain, To Be A Pilgrim | No Comments »I’ve always wanted to watch the sun rise on midsummer’s day from somewhere special but a couple of miles outside Sahagún will have to do. We’ve watched so many sunrises lately. Luckily the countryside is a little less flat than ...
Festival of Flowers – Day 24
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | No Comments »CHAPTER 2 - FIESTA! The fiesta was really started. It kept up day and night for seven days. The dancing kept up, the drinking kept up, the noise went on. The things that happened could only have happened during a fiesta. ...
A room of our own, Day 25
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | No Comments »Some of the other pilgrims in the hostel set a new record by getting up at four o’clock, whilst we depart at the lazy hour of a quarter to six. The cycle track leading to Fromista is flanked by several ...
Breaking Bread together – Day 26
Monday, March 24th, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | 3 Comments »A miracle has occurred - there are clouds in the sky! The next village of Itero de la Vega has tudor style black and white houses, which makes it seem ancient, since to British eyes these are about the oldest ...
A load of tripe – Day 27
Saturday, March 29th, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | No Comments »Our final two sections of meseta, separated by a wide chalk valley, are bathed in a rosy, soft dawn light that makes you feel even more apart from the world below. It’s a tiring but very pleasant walk, and we ...
Burgos, City of El Cid – Day 28
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | No Comments »It’s a whole week since we last had a day off, and our aching bodies aren’t allowing us to forget. We head over to the Cathedral, packed in amongst a maze of streets, a Gothic giant which dwarfs that in ...
The Cyclops – Day 29
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | No Comments »As we leave the city centre at six o’clock the next morning, great crowds of people are still wandering the streets, or queuing to get into nightclubs. The waking hours we are keeping are truly alien here. We’ve been dreading the ...
The Big Paella – Day 30
Sunday, April 6th, 2008 Posted in Fiesta, Spain | 2 Comments »We’re passing frequently through villages again, which is good news as it means I don’t have to carry four kilos of water, with every Spanish village having a public fountain. Many houses here are stone to the top of the ...