Days 22 to 28 Hospital to Sarria 158 k´s

It has been a long time since our last comments this is due to the fact we went in a time capsule back to the early 1300´s when they had no internet access...I think they were happier in those times.

Ok we will try and recap what has happened, but just before we do there was a development with the Stalking Hun who you may recall latched onto Father Christmas. He was obviously easily shrugged off by FC and a couple of days ago we had blissfully forgotten all about him. Our bliss was to be shortlived, there we were having a lovely cold beer sitting by the river in the middle of Molinaseca, where the river was a sort of Lido for the local kids ie they splashed and swam around and before we knew what had happened there was a surge of water and a Speedo clad Franz appeared in front of us like the creature from the black lagoon. Unfortunately his speedos were eye level which was rather off putting to say the least... this was not the last we saw of him...

So enough of the Creature of the Black Lagoon for the time being.....

We have had THE best 7 days walking of the whole Camino......an easy day into Astorga (now renamed Extorta as we seemed to get consistently ripped off in this tiny touristy town) where we were greeted with one of gaudi´s more conservative pieces - the Archbishop´s Palace and a chocolate museum!

The next day (23), full of sugar we literally scampered off on our first real climb of the Camino through an isolated area called the Marageteria
(?). We stopped the night at Rabanal del Camino, a restored village which apparently has a population of no more than 50 (without pilgrim´s) where we were treated to some of the best food we have had and a very good and quiet night´s sleep (most unusual for this walk!).

Day 24 has been the best walk so far - we left at 7am and climbed to 1500m where we stayed for most of the day walking through heather, treated to glorious views in gorgeous sunshine. A tricky descent on loose slate and shale (but we beat some of the day trippers!!!) to Molinaseca.

From Molineseca (day 25) we headed into Bierzo - another wine region of Leon-Castilla - and ambled through vineyards munching on cherries which just dropped off the trees into our open palms. At Cacabelos (a key wine town in the region) we ate pulpo (octopus) for lunch, dined with a picnic by the river watching an old man catching his trout dinner for him and his wife....

Onto Villafranca (day 26) and into the Val Valcarce to Las Herrieras, listening to a babbling brook all day on our left! The Valcarce Valley was beautifully lush and alive with bird life and livestock. We stayed at a lovely old house in the middle of nowhere sipping wine on the terrace where we met a lovely German girl (Manuelle) and her Dad on their week´s walking holiday...

Onward we climbed to the Hobbit Burrow of O´Cebreiro, a climb of 800m through woods and fields and over our last set of mountains....a stunning stone church greeted us at the top as well as a biting wind! We stayed at 1200m most of the day and overnighted in a lovely albergue in Fonfria (where I had stayed before) where we enjoyed a delicious homecooked communal dinner with our fellow pilgrims.

Day 28 (today) and onto Serria where this is being written. It was a tricky day of walking with lots of downward direction we left early as we had a lot to cover ie 28k, the early morning mist snuggled into the folds of the hills ,the hedgerows were delicately decorated with the most intricate cobwebs which were shaped like 3 dimensional circus safety nets ,anyway thats what we thought. A lot of the walk was on wet muddy laneways with inclines of 5:1 and slimy wet stone and shale underfoot, this did not deter us and we skipped down like newborn lambs (not). We lumched at an isolated bar which was suddenly overrun by a coach load of English day trippers we scuttled out quick sharp.
It is funny we come across all different types of Pilgrims there is one type we have nicknamed ¨the tortoises¨they clatter along hunched over their sticks walking doggedly but slowly, we overtake them have a rest then there they are again.There is a particular african lady who we see all the time and we are dumbfounded as to how she appears in front of us all the time even tho we walk faster. This mystery was solved by Nikki who quietly informed me after about 3 days of this slow motion cat and mouse game that ....yes there were 2 African ladies and they were walking 0ne day apart!!

Day 21 - Leon to Hospital de Orbigo 32kms

Our destination today is aptly named "Hospital" as both of us could have done with one after a 32kms slog along the National Highway to this wonderful village! The ipods came into their own as we have been buffetted by trucks all day - the N120 stretch from Leon to Astorga must be one of the busiest in Spain. We decided to get all the nasty bits out of the way in one go and stumbled across the Orbigo pilgrim bridge this afternoon with not even the strength for a beer and fell straight into our showers and bed.

The village where we are staying boasts a jousting field and I think one of the longest pilgrim bridges with 20 arches....a beautiful sight to see! We were also delighted to see the return of the nesting storks which have been largely absent over the Meseta.

I also want to say a special thank you for the people wo put all the straw down on the last 1km of the footpath by the road today - it made a huge difference to me as it felt like walking on velvet!

Days 19 to 20 Leon

We had a relatively light day yesterday arriving in Leon at about noon, the walk itself was a mix of countryside and the outskirts of Leon which was industrial, housing estates. We wended our way thru the old town where we came to the Cathedral, our hotel where we are encamped for 2 nights, is next to the Cathedral it is very quiet location as our room overlooks a light well so no noise from the street thank goodness.
When we entered into the old town we were greeted by a huge religious festival the Ascension of Christ so lots of floats everyone in their finery and 2-3 brass bands each trying to outdo the other in terms of volume (not music).
We celebrated with a magnificent long lunch Nikki has officially completed the Camino now having walked from Leon 2 years ago, we have busted the 400k barrier and are more than halfway so we reckoned we deserved a nice lunch. We slept soundly in the afternoon and then went to a great little bar in the evening which was full of locals it was called Jambon Jambon (ham ham) and that is what we ate lots and lots and lots of different types of ham so much that we sneaked slices into our knapsack for scoffing later.
The previous day was long hard grind but we were rewarded with a most delightful hotel with a small flower covered courtyard and a most engaging landlord, the room was sizable and looked out onto a tiny little street which was narrow enough to smell the breath of the man in the room opposite.
We have been dogged by a german guy who seems to pop up all the time we met him on the way into Burgos about a week ago and had dinner with him since then he has appeared every day and latched onto us, luckily he has now found a new friend (a 71 year old man from New Jersey who looks like Father Christmas), anyway I guess that happens.
The Cathedral is v impressive with some superb stained glass windows, it is debatable whether it is as good as the Cathedral in Burgos though.
Well this afternoon we plan to have more hot chocolate as we did in Burgos mmm can hardly wait.
Monday is a curious day in Spain with nearly all public buildings closed so it looks like some serious doing nothing is on the agenda for the rest of the day. As I am babbling on Nikki is investigating places to stay along the way, she is a whizz on the computer, lucky old me!!

Day 17&18 Terradillos to Mansilla

Well we were warned by everyone about the last few days as being v dull and hard work. The temp has increased so today we walked in 36c but luckily we started early before the sun rose and so did not suffer too much. Only 1 day to go before Leon where we have a day off gosh we can hardly wait. Then a hard day to get out of the rubbish...
The first part of the day is very pleasant we generally start off with a great cup of coffeee in a small cafe and have a chocolate croissant lovely and fresh we then enjoy the cool of the morning and the singing of the birds back packs feel feather lite and feet are uncomplaining. As the day wears on and in particular after lunch which is generally a crusty bread stick with ham cheese and tomato, the backpack feels more uncomfortable and the aches start. I believe that a small wizened man sneaks out of the undergrowth and puts rocks on our backpacks.
We saw an interesting sight yesterday a guy with a big straw hat was leading a mule along which carried his belongings, he is doing the camino with his mule, it was being v difficult making an awful noise.
Today we are staying in a most delightful house with a small courtyard its own bar and restaurant and a most engaging owner. The computer is a bit old so no photos today.

Day 15 (or 16?) Carrion to Terradillos

The sun has got his hat on hip hip hoorah ie the weather has changed and we have lovely warm sun again. The walk however is still similar to previous days ie arrow straight with little of interest to see. Burgos to Leon has very little to recommend it!

In fact we were very lucky today as we thought we might have to walk 39k to get to a hotel due to a Fiesta and bull fight, in town which meant no rooms available (No Room in the Inn!) how those words reverberate down the centuries however we managed to find the last room in an Albergue (hostel for the pilgrims). A couple of Grandee Cervezas later and we were right as rain.

Q - we hope that the Earth starts moving quicker so that we do otherwise we may have to invest in a yak! Or horse....sounds quite nice actually!

Marathon Man - thank you for your support...

Day 14 - Fromista to Carrion de los Condes

Snore snore snore snore brrrrrr.....
That sums up today...very boring walking along a road - the 20kms seemed like 40!!!! And it rained and there were a lot of very unhappy pilgrims on the road today. And can you imagine some bright spark actually got a sign made telling us we had 6kms to go to Carrion and only 463kms to Santiago.....I know I am German but that one made everyone´s sense of humour fail.
We both ache today - sore feet, sore shoulders, sore souls..
However the sun is now shining which means that one of us is less likely to decamp to the bus stop tomorrow (the German one..I guess that is why we lost the war...)
Anyway - off for a beer....

Days 12 to 14 - Burgos to Fromista (65kms)

Again, many thanks for your (mainly generous) comments.

We have had a very difficult couple of days brought about mostly by a combination of the weather and the terrain. We left Borgos on Sunday and surprised ourselves by completing 31k . This in itself is a record (for me, but not of course for the Olympiad) but it also gave us a preview of the much feared " Meseta" - for those who don't know, this is a stretch of The Camino that runs arrow straight across a semi arid stony landscape with barely a tree, a river, a living creature in sight. In fact the Way is interspersed with the bleached bones of the weak and feeble pilgrims who were overcome.. Unlike Michael and Jen,Shawrie Q&A we did not have baking sun to contend with,just the wind which hit us straight on,powerful enough to blow the hats of our heads. With our bowed heads and clutching hats to our chests we must have looked a sorry sight.

Luck was with us as we shuffled into the only village (Hontanos) see photo, for another 12k and we found the last bed in the hotel.

Thoughts that kept us going for the last little bit that day include remembering all the delicious pinchos we had in Burgos - bacalao, botones, cheese balls, conjodones - all sorts - during our a Spanish Pub crawl to 6 different bars sampling some wonderful local red wines during the evening...actually I think is is part of the reason why the day was so long.

Suffice it to say we did not follow the unbelievably heroic steps of Michael and Jen the following day (who did another 30k) rather we did 12k and booked into a small hotel at about 1045 in the morning. This proved a very fortuitous decision as the weather really set in and the wind picked up and the rain lashed down all afternoon, we were snug in our hotel (hee hee).

The town was called Castrojeriz and it is hidden in a narrow fluvial depression. A strange town with not a shop or cafe or restaurant open at least that is what we thought. After searching in vain for somewhere to have lunch we were on the verge of eating our remaining chocolate bar when we came across a tiny sign advertising a restaurant, upon entering the place was full to bursting, Nikki commented that it seemed to be all men (which it was) - we made our way to our table all eyes on Nikki....about 100 pairs of them...

A funny thing struck us all the men had very small heads,what were they all doing there? it turned out it was a meeting of the all the surrounding villages volunteer firemen (¨bomberos¨), I cannot explain the small heads (maybe they get discount helmets I dont know).

We are now going to nip out to get something to eat and will finish this at another time..

Back now after our Peregrino supper. where we had salad,lovely fish n chips and ice cream and a bottle of wine all for 9 Euro. Prior to that and much to our delight we came across a Cheese Museum where we enjoyed a sample of the local cheese and a vino tinto.

Today was another pretty tough walk up hill and down dale to start with then a sandwich in a windswept village square and followed a canal during the afternoon.

We had thought to entitle these last few days " Cuckoos to Curlews" as the dominating sound in the oak woods before Burgos were cuckoos and on the moorlands and some parts of Meseta were curlews. The wheat crop is ripening before our eyes and today it was a light yellow. OK enough already off to bed for a sleep.

Santo Domingo to Burgos Days 8 to 11

73kms in three days from Santo Domingo to Burgos plus a much needed rest day. We have not written the blog for such a long time we can hardly remember where we left off – it feels like we are in a time capsule at times….

Well – having reached Burgos we have finally reached the Spain that we have been looking for – friendly people, lovely wine and great tapas…..we also soothed our leg pain with delicious churros and hot chocolate…..that should get us ready for the next 480kms….

The countryside has been great as we trudged over hills, through pine forests and meadows (for the first time). The snow capped mountains are in fact snow capped and we found out why the day we walked into Burgos (that was a horrible 10kms into the city) as temperatures fell to an unseasonable 14 degrees centrigrade……..we are nearly wearing everything we brought with us.

Today we went sight seeing and visited an old monastery from the 11 century which was actually more like a royal tomb.....

Q & A you will be pleased to hear that we have escaped food poisoning so far…..…

thank you to all of you who have posted comments it means a lot to know that we have your interest and support. Today we arrived in Santo Domingo de Calzada the walk was reasonably flat with one ginormous (big) hill which seemed to go on forever I think it took the best part of 45 mins to walk up it even the horrid cyclists who normally whizz by, giving us a fright, had to get off and walk (hee hee).

We came across a couple of New Zealanders who were peering into a murky pond which was full of enormous irradascent green frogs speckled in gold I think Nikki was on the verge of kissing one in the hope of getting a more handsome replacement than the slow moving old man she has saddled herself with...

There are some increasingly unusual people on this stretch, we came across a frenchman who is doing his 7th Camino (he walks in tennis shoes) we often see a couple from Quebec who are pushing a 2 seater baby pusher (with one 4 month old baby inside), we have also heard of a south african, whom we have yet to meet, who is doing the walk in bare feet.

Eyes play strange tricks when it comes to distances it is almost as if they have a telephoto lense so as soon as the destination town is seen it seems as if it is very close only to get further and further away as you trudge towards it..like a dream. We have been walking towards a snow capped mountain now for 4 days and we are no closer to it so it seems..

We are now officially 555 k from our final destination of Santiago, unless of course we decide on walking on to Finistera (mmm we shall see).

We keep ourselves amused along the walk by playing word games, listening to music, and on the odd ocassion ¨playing Pooh Sticks¨ over the river.

Last night we had a lovely picnic on the banks of the river which runs through the town, fresh ham,cheese,sausage, tomatoes, cherries, and of course chocolate. As the sun set we watched a fly fisherman and listened to the clacking of the young storks high up on the rocks and on the church steeples.

Well that´s it for now, I am nervous about putting photos on this blogsite as they seem to magically reappear on Facebook...I wonder who that can be?

Days 5 and 6 - Viana to Najera

we have had a couple of easy days covering a total of 36k which is what was needed interspersed with lots of rest. The countryside has become marginally more hilly as we entered the Province of Rioja with Nikki smacking her lips at the thought of some good red wine. The people also appear a little more outgoing than in Navarra but again if you dont speak Spanish you have no chance, luckily Nikki can make herself understood quite adequately, I just raise my voice and speak louder in English (not really) but my miming is good.
We are currently in Najera where we are staying in a 2 star hotel (not many of those in Dubai) outside our window on the chimney pots opposite we can see nesting storks feeding their young, the clatter of the beaks is an unusual sound.
We had a mild celebration yesterday having passed the 100k mark so we are one seventh of the way to Santiago,not that we are fixated on the distances!
The food has been quite varied with some superb meals (rabbit stew, rack of lamb in particular) and some fairly ordinary cuisine but that is the way it goes and one cannot complain at the cost of 8-10 euros which includes a bottle of wine for a 3 course meal.
As far as health is concerned we along with all the other pilgrims suffer towards the end of the day with muscle aches and pains, in fact I discovered some muscles yesterday that I did not know existed before, it really is a Symphony of Pain.