Monthly Archives: September 2014

Team Camino grows

Today is our second rest day. Although we keep walking for sightseeing (almost 1/2 the distance of a typical walk day), it is nice to not have a backpack for that walk.

We did not have a set agenda for today. I decided to use the hotel spa in the morning. At ten we met for breakfast. After that we all went our separate ways to explore the city. Some to the museum and guided walks and other to explore the back alleys.

I discovered the farmers market and shopping near plaza mayor.

Pat and Vandana ran into our German friends during their cathedral tour. We all met for lunch and enjoyed some donner kebabs.

Two of Sitara’s friend Emily and Stephanie joined us. Stephanie also brought her friend Noah. Going forward now there will be 8 of us.

A warm welcome to our 3 new companions.

From my right to left, Sitara with Emily, Stephanie, and Noah.

We had our last opportunity to listen to the organ and singing at the cathedral. Here is our goodbye to Leon as we leave early in the morning.

Elegance of Leon

6 Replies

Leon is the fourth major city in our path to Santiago. We loved Pamplona and it’s wild bull. When we made it to Logrono, we fell in love with its life, especially after 8 pm. Burgos was pretentious and loud (especially the Cathedral).

We found Leon to be graceful and elegant. As we entered the city, we were greeted by the river.

The 13th century gothic cathedral is nothing like the cathedral in Burgos. While the cathedral in Burgos was huge with 23 chapels, the cathedral in Leon was simple. Elegant, and graceful.

The stained glass inside the cathedral was breathtaking, giving the cathedral a peaceful feeling, leaving us in awe.

Our hotel was close to the cathedral and afforded this view from one of the windows.

In the morning after our customary coffee, orange juice, and pastry/croissants , we went on a 45 minute bus tour of the city.

The tour took us past the cathedral to the first century roman wall, to the basilica, and to plaza San Marcos.

We then decided to go on a walking tour of Leon.

11th century San Isidoro basilica church was peaceful.

The 12th century plaza San Marco Monastery has seen many faces through times. It is now converted to a fancy parador (hotel) but has served as pilgrim hospital, prison , concentration camp, and headquarter for knights of Templars protecting the Camino pilgrims.

We had stumbled upon the organ playing and singing at the cathedral mass the previous night. The voice was heavenly so we decided to go back to the mass a second night for the beautiful and heavenly voice. At the end as everyone was leaving we were still huddled around this man and he did a virtuoso performance for us the likes of which I have never witnessed. As we have 3 new comers joining us tomorrow for the rest of the Camino, we get to enjoy yet another rest day and may be listening once again a third night to the singing and organ playing.

Leon here we come

1 Reply

Our goal for today was 19 km to Mansila, a walled city in the outskirts of Leon. We decided to take the advice by many of the pilgrims who have done this in the past as well as our book to take the bus and avoid the last 20km of concrete jungle and highway walking to Leon. The team Camino was excited about this decision as it would give us 2 rest days. Sitara was also very excited as two of her friends will be joining us in Leon for the Camino.

We only needed 19 km so decided to leave an hour later than usual (@ 7:15). It was an overcast and misty morning. We missed our usual sun rise but as Sitara puts it our best Meseta morning that reminded her of Monteverde in Costa Rica.

We again enjoyed our picnic breakfast at one of the rest area along the path.

We enjoyed our juice and coffee at the next town before moving on to Mansila.

We arrived in Mansila around noon, had our lunch, walked around town and are now waiting for the bus for Leon.

Next stop Leon.

Inching toward Leon – part 3

3 Replies

Here are the rest if the pictures I could not post last night.

Along the way we saw this guy parked on the side of the road with engine running, sleeping in the car (recovering from Saturday night’s party?).

We made it to El Burgo Renero a little after 11 and decided to call it a day after 17 km ( our shortest day yet from time perspective ). The next town was 10 km away and Mansila about 19 km our destinTion for next day.

After lunch we checked into our Albergue. As soon as we were settled a big wind and rain storm started. We were happy to be indoor while other pilgrims were caught in the Mezeta with no shelter.

We decided to cook our dinner as there were cooking facility and had lovely evening in Albergue.

Inching toward Leon – part 2

Inching toward Leon

2 Replies

Every time we cross a highway or a village we see the signs for our biggest city on the way to Santiago. It is merely 60 km away. In America that would be just a 30 to 45 minute drive to work or visit to a friends home. When you are walking the Camino, that is a 2 day walk if you are covering 30 km a day. For most that is 3 days of walk.

We had to make the choice of taking the Camino Francis which allows you to make it in 17, 19, and 18 km chunks. We could also take the Romero way which was 10, 25, and 18 km (two routes merge on the last day from Mansila to Leon). Both the guide recommend to take the bus as it is industrial and requires crossing the freeway multiple times.

For today we decided to stay on the Camino Frances and travel 17 km to El Burgo Renero another small town but with multiple Albergue and restaurant as well as a grocery store.

Once again we were treated to a magnificent sun rise spectacle.

We were ready with breakfast this morning and made a picnic stop around 7 km away (every ones pace has improved and the are moving a lot faster even with all the aches and sores)..

Continued on part 2…

Walk to Sahagun – part 2

5 Replies

I have discovered that after so many pictures my app crawls trying to finish the blog. Rather than spend hours, I am testing to see if breaking it into smaller blog helps. Sorry for spamming you!

Anyway, it’s amazing how beautiful every thing looks early in the morning. The walk itself become a meditation with little mindfulness and the Meseta comes alive with beauty.

Breakfast once again consisted of coffee, croissants, and orange juice. We continued to make good progress toward Sahagun.

Sahagun has some of the structure that date back to 8th century. We made it here at around 1 pm. We found a nice room at an old monastery and had a nice lunch at the plaza.

Walk to Sahagun

3 Replies

Our goal for today was 22 km to Sahagun. Every one loves the idea of getting out early and getting some miles before breakfast. Also, the town that we stayed on was very small with no stores and only one restaurant. We also had a restful afternoon as we were done before noon.

It was once again cool and crisp wether as we left again in darkness. The morning breeze felt good as we walked past the next town about 6 km away which also happen to have no stores and one restaurant with not much to offer. We continued to push on enjoying the peaceful morning and once again a gorgeous sunrise.

Sun rays were soft and gentle and made every thing look beautiful. I decided to shoot some simple weeds and wild flowers as they seemed unusually superb.

The story continues in part 2…

Unbelievable but true

9 Replies

This rag tag team has made it half way through our Camino journey of approximately 500 miles. Three weeks and 2 days (including 3 days of rest) into our walk, we have made it past the halfway point. Although, in the path there is no point, it is a journey that goes on. We celebrated this by taking this selfie.

Our goal today was simply to go to the next village. The trick, it was 17 km with no water or food along the way.
Since we had done over 27 yesterday, this was considered short and easy day. We left the alberge around 6:45 in the morning.

Morning was crisp and cool and full of quite sweetness as we moved through the town and onto country road.

When the sun finally started to emerge it bathed the world in soft glow without any harshness to it.

When the rays finally grazed the fields , it was the grace dancing with field and creating a soft and gentle feeling of nurturing and healing.

It was peaceful and quite. Every one walking in their own rhythm dealing with their aches and pains as well as joy and bliss. Unexpected surprise was finding of picnic area and food where there was none thought to be available. Most every one was prepared for solitary journey but welcomed the pleasant surprise.

We ran into our German friends again today and enjoyed the travel back and forth.

We made it to Calzadilla, our destination just before noon. This was our semi rest day as we continue to move toward Leon. Every one was marveling at what we have accomplished so far and energized to tackle the next half of our journey.

Boadilla to Carrion De Los Condes

8 Replies

Our goal for today was 26.5 km so we began at 6:25 in the morning.

We made good progress walking along the canal. The morning breeze was sweet and comforting. It reminded me of the early morning walks we used to do as kids in Chittagong. As we walked we started to plan out our next reunion hopefully in December of 2015 in Bangladesh. We will see if this can materialize or we were just reminiscing the good old days. The early morning light just slowly filtered in as we kept walking at a brisk pace.

We made it to Formista before 8 am covering 6 km and had a quick breakfast. We then travelled another 2 km to the next town where we had the choice of wking along the canal again or walk along the highway (slightly shorter). We chose the scenic route which was another 10 km. along the way we met Pepe. Who was sharing fruits and candies with the pilgrims.

A little past 12 we had already covered about 20 km. we decided to check out the beautiful church and grab a lunch before our last push of the day in the hot sun.

I though the last 6+ km in hot Meseta sun will be slow and hard but team Camino after completing 3 full weeks is rocking and strong. We reached our destination without struggling and ready to explore the town. After dinner when I checked our mileage we had done over 31 km for the day, a new record for us.

We are staying in the monastery of Santa Clara whose claim to fame is the fact that St Francis of Assisi stayed here while doing the Camino. We get to enjoy his energy tonight. We wanted to have dinner with the singing nuns but they are on a spiritual retreat. We did enjoy the singing and sharing communal experience with other pilgrims and volunteers of the Santa Maria alberge.