Our packs feel so much lighter today- that’s the good news! The bad news is we are wearing almost all our clothes because it’s so darn cold!

Today we left at 6:30 with a 48 degree temperature, and winds at 25 with gusts to 35 mph! Within a few minutes of departing, it start to sprinkle, so we put on our rain gear. The winds we so cold, and the sky was threatening, so we kept our rain gear on as a wind break and just in case it started to rain again.

We needed to walk 18.5 miles today- which we did, since our walk tomorrow includes a 12 mile section of no services. We are holding up well, and our feet, and knees are in good shape!

As we entered Fromista, we noticed they had a large weatherproof book with the village history. The bookmark is a large chain. It was interesting to look at even though we couldn’t actually read it. The village also had an interesting canal system that continues through the northern provinces for over 200 km.

We wanted to stop in Revenga de Campos for lunch. It is a one bar town, and we found out when we got there the owner closed for a couple of days for vacation. We had to walk another hour to get to the next village. We saw Teepees in the distance, and since we were so hungry we ended up stopping at that Albergue for lunch. It was an ‘interesting’ place in a odd, weird, unusual sort of way! You could choose to sleep in a teepee, a tube, (a sewer pipe), or a cottage that is the size of an outhouse, or a tent! Free range chickens – actually a menagerie of animals were all over the place!
The people there were just weird- a collection of leftover 60’s hippies, including the owner.

We are very happy with the double room with ensuite we booked. Unless the alternative is sleeping outside, I won’t be sleeping in a bunk bed again. We are booking a day ahead, and that is working out well.

We were pleasantly surprised when Michael and his girlfriend walked into the same restaurant as we were finishing dinner. We enjoyed catching up with them once again.

We were on the trail by 6:30 this morning, knowing that we had a long day to Ledigos. The temperature was nice, started out in the mid 50’s and ended up in the low 70’s. The wind was light- a pleasant change from the past couple of days.

We headed to the village of Carrion de los Condes. The village had a few interesting monasteries we walked by.

The rest of the day was about as boring as a long walk can be. 12 miles along a straight road with nothing but harvested wheat fields.

Today we walked 19 1/2 miles and only 24 flights of stairs.

Tomorrow will be a lighter day as we head to Sahagun, which claims to be the midpoint of the Camino!

After a few grueling days, we decided that today would be easier on us. Our goal was Sahagun – which claims to be the half way point to Santiago. There is a bit of a conflict as to where the Camino actually starts- and whether Sahagun is the halfway point, but we are going with; ‘We made it half way!’ We walked 15 miles.

We met Karen again- we first met her on the bus ride into St Jean, which was our starting point. We have seen her regularly on our walks. Today we were debating on where to have lunch, and picked a restaurant that wasn’t as busy as the others – and there was Karen! We had a good laugh and have decided we are meant to keep in touch!

We went to the Santuario de La Pererina, and got the stamp and certificate for completing the Camino half way.

We spent the afternoon walking around to see the sights in Sahagun. The Arco de San Benito welcomes you into the city. In the ‘Old City’ we saw the 12th century Monastery ‘Torre del Reloj and the (churches) Iglesia de San Tirso and Iglesia de San Lorenzo. Close to our Hostal is the 17th century church, Iglesia de San Juan de Sahagun.

We went to the Plaza Major for dinner, picked a restaurant for a pilgrim dinner and found Bill and Joy there ( the New Zealand couple that sailed around the world). We joined them for dinner and great conversation.

Tomorrow we head to Leon!

After several aggressive days of walking, we decided to avoid the industrial stretch that enters into Leon. We took the train from Sahagun to Leon this morning. We walked from the train station into central Leon, and dropped our backpacks off at our Hotel Infantas de Leon, so we could walk around with a lighter load. Our walk today was 7 miles. One of our light days, but we needed it!

We went to Mass at the Cathedral of Leon. We were surprised when we saw all of the priests process in- there were 9 priests concelebrating!

After Mass we walked by several interesting buildings including Gaudi’s Casa de Botines, that features a turret on each corner. We saw the 16th century Palacio de los Guzmanes, which now houses the provincial court. Two of the roundabouts we walked through were very nice; one has a fountain, and the other a statue dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

We also walked to see the famous hotel – San Marcos. It was featured in the Movie ‘The Way’, as well as many other movies. The parking lot was filled with more than 150 Porsches today! The Porsche Espana club had a three day gathering in Leon.

Tomorrow we are headed to Villar de Mazarife. The Camino splits, so we had to figure out which route we want to walk. The one we picked is a little longer, but is said to be more scenic and doesn’t follow along the highway!

We headed to the Cathedral Square for dinner. In our conversation on the way, we were saying we hadn’t run into Karen today. (We met her on the bus on the way to St Jean- we have seen her frequently in the last couple of weeks). Soon we heard our names called- and there was Karen with her walking buddies! They shared a funny story about booking a hotel in Leon. They were using  an internet booking site to find a hotel in Leon. They found a great deal on a room with 3 beds! When they arrived, they couldn’t find the hotel, and checked the confirmation – only to find out the hotel they booked was in Leon, Mexico! Since we found that we had to really watch locations when booking online, we knew how easy that can happen!

It’s so great how you meet up with some of the same people you start the Camino with over and over again!

We left Leon this morning for our destination of Villar de Mazarife. After the Leon suburb of La Virgen del Camino, we proceeded to walk along the alternate route.

We are now starting to walk in more scenic areas, with rolling hills and frequent small villages.

The temperatures are great- we start out in the upper 40’s, and by late morning are able to remove the outer layer and enjoy low 70’s and sunshine.

We are at Albergue San Antonio de Padua tonight and are thankful for our small double room. We got to experience another great communal Camino dinner tonight. So much fun to visit with others that are walking ‘The Way’.

Today we walked almost 20 miles, tomorrow we are giving ourselves a shorter day.

Today our 14 mile walk took us through Villante, and Puente de Orbigo, as we followed the longer ‘ walkers route’ into Santibanez de Valdeiglesias.

We crossed a long old bridge in Puente de Orbigo. They had a billboard on the bridge showing pictures from an annual medieval celebration the town does on the bridge and surrounding parkland.

Just before we entered Santibanez, we walked by an unusual ‘vineyard/orchard’. From a distance it even looked like poplar trees. We walked a little out of our way to see exactly what it was. It was hops! Getting thirsty for a cervesa.

Our village tonight is very small. Our Albergue has the only food in town. Needless to say our dinner choices were very limited- and they even ran out of red wine before dinner.

We went for sandwiches and a vino blanco and cervesa.

Our walk out of Santibanez started out with rolling hills and quite a few new Camino roads.

After a few kilometers, we came upon a ‘pilgrim oasis’; someone had an eclectic setup with shelters and benches to sit on, a stand with fresh fruit, juice and coffee available on a donation basis. It was a welcome treat!

At the top of the hill on the way to
Astorga, we had another pilgrim take our picture by a hilltop cross with the city of Astorga in the back ground. There were other photo ops on the way with various statues.

Astorga is an interesting town. It has the remains of the old Roman city walls, and other Roman ruins, a cathedral, and a palace designed by Gaudi. After walking around Astorga, we continued on our way to Santa Catalina de Samoza. It was a hot, long straight path.

We had good views of the mountains in the distance, that will be in our future walks, beginning tomorrow!

We were pleasantly surprised with our room here. We have a huge private patio all to ourselves!

Our walk today covered 14.25 miles, and 76 flights of stairs!

We are planning our days now to hopefully be less aggressive in our walking, and having more time to enjoy the villages we pass thru. From now on it is supposed to be the best of the Camino!

We decided not to cover as many miles today knowing that it was all going to be an uphill climb. We covered 10.75 miles and walked up 129 flights of stairs!

The walk started out going uphill gradually. After a few miles it was definitely a lot more work – a very uneven rocky, mountain climb, through the woods.

Our village today – Foncebadon, apparently was an abandoned village that has slowly come back to life with the albergues that have been started since the interest in the Camino has increased. The entrance into this village is unimpressive, but the albergues are nicely restored.

Tomorrow we continue our uphill climb.

We began our day walking up to the Cruz de Ferro. This is the famous cross on a pole, that you bring a rock from your home, and leave it there; along with your burdens. (Ours were from a Retreat weekend) Yes, our packs are a just a little bit lighter now that we are not carrying that rock anymore!

After the cross, we continued uphill to the Alto de Cerezales, which is the highest point you walk up to on the Camino. It’s over 1500 meters or over a mile high! At this height we had amazing views for most of the day. Going up that high, also means we have to walk down!

Today our 14 miles was one of the toughest days we have walked. Descending on a steep downhill grade on loose rock and uneven bedrock was grueling. We had to take it slow so we wouldn’t injure a knee or ankle. We were exhausted by the time we reached our village.

Tonight we are in Molinaseca. It is a very nice village. Even after walking all day we enjoyed a walk around the village. Our room overlooks the arched bridge that dates back to the Roman period.

Our first stop today on the way to Cacabelos was Ponferrada. Approaching the city we had a beautiful mountain view on our left side, and on our right housing, with areas of graffiti. It was quite the contrast. Ponferrada was a really interesting city. The Ponferrada Castle is a great example of a Templar castle. It was built around the 12th Century (the time of the Crusades). Ponferrada is also the home of Europe’s largest wind turbine factory.

The region we are in is called El Bierzo. Our walk today took us through several vineyards. It is harvest time, so we saw workers in the fields, tractors hauling trailers filled with grapes to the Vineyard Cooperative.

At one of the vineyards, the workers were very interested in our Camino walk. One worker asked us where we started from. They weren’t familiar with St Jean, but when Steve said Roncesvalles, his coworker knew where it was, and translated for him- he knew it was a long way, gave us a huge smile, and then gave us big clusters of both red and white grapes.

This part of the route is through some of El Bierzo’s best grape growing areas. The main grape here is the Mencía, a descendent of the Caberet Franc grape, said to have been carried here by a French pilgrim. From it are produced the area’s distinctive reds and rosés. Another grape variety, La Godello, is used to produce white wine.

A short time later we walked by a small operation that was hand pressing red and white grapes to make a rose wine. That was interesting to watch!

After checking into our room, getting out of our boots, and showering, we walked the town of Cacabelos. We picked up a bottle of the local Mencia red wine, and sat down to work on uploading photos, and posting our blog for today.

Today we walked 16 miles that was relatively flat- only 51 flights of stairs!

After today’s walk we are less than 200 km from Santiago. We do have a few more mountain top experiences in our future, but we are now comfortable being able to start walking shorter days!