Here are the pictures from yesterday. As we are leaving the town of El Ganso.
As we walk to Rubinal.
360 view along the path to Foncebaden.
Cruze De Feroze
Having fun.
Journey to Foncebaden – part 2
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Journey to Foncebaden
Today our goal was to walk 18 km to Foncebaden, only 2km from Cruz de Ferroz.
This felt like the last full day in Meseta as the landscape has changed completely and we are in the lush green and hilly terrain. I am not sure how many beautiful sun rises will be in the next stages.
It was once again a fantastic morning for a hike. The slight coolness in the air made it sweet. Half waning moon was spreading enough light so we did not need flash light in the morning. We left at about 6:25 and were in El Ganso before the town was up so we kept going to the next town.
We made it to Rubinal De Camino by 9:30 and had already covered over 10 km. After breakfast we moved IMO our slow climb of the day through the beautiful mountIn toward Foncebaden.
Foncebaden was a ghost town until 2000 and is beginning to come alive with albergue’s due to Camino.
I am unable to load any pictures as there are no wifi in this town and the phone signal is not strong enough to upload pictures.
We are settled in for the day with a nice lunch. Few of us decided to climb to Cruz De Feroze this afternoon after the rain as we will be passing it early in the morning before the sun rise.
Tomorrow after a brief climb we will be going down to Ponfereda some 25 km. It is a much bigger town so hopefully I can post the pictures for both day.
To Astorga and beyond
Our goal today was the ancient city of Astorga and then continue on to Santa Catalina de Somoza, a distance of 22 km. we wanted to make it to Astorga mid morning when we had energy to enjoy the town. We left at about 6:40 and made slow progress through lush green hills (you can feel the land beginning to change).
We ran into David, who exuded pure joy and happiness. He was manning this booth with fruits, coffee, cookies, nuts etc in the middle of nowhere. Every thing was free (there was a box for donation)
David has done Camino multiple times. He seemed well travelled. He has been to India. He has been manning this booth for 5 years and living a simple life that reminded me of Walden Pond. He was oozing positive energy.
Our first glimpse of Astorga was from this mountain with the cross.
As we entered we saw a house structured in the third century. We also had our breakfast at the plaza.
We then saw the bishops palace and the cathedral.
In the next town we found a cafe with great fruit juice and vegetable smoothie where we also picked up our dinner food as it looked very good.
After 5 more km we arrived at our Albergue. We are all done with our 22.5 hike and dinner.
After dinner as we were taking a walk around town, we saw this flag carrying practice for some celebration for Virgin Mary coming up on September 22nd.
13th Century Bridge – part 2
Since I could post any of these pictures yesterday due to connectivity issues, I will try now!
This 13th century bridge is the most intact among a all the bridges along the Camino and built on top of a previous roman bridge.
We did find a cold stream to cool our feet. I have found this to be one of the best therapies during Camino.
13th Century Bridge
Today we decided to stay with another 20 km day. Our goal was the tiny town of Santebeniz De Valdeiglesias. We again took the slightly longer and more scenic path to Astorga.
The wifi connection is very bad in this town so I am not sure if I can upload any more pictures. It took me quite a long time to load the two above.
Since I can’t seem to load the pictures, I will provide a quick summary. We traveled about 9 km before breakfast. It turned out to be a fairly leisurely day as we moved from town to town in a group. We enjoyed the 13th century bridge (last picture) as we walked through history. The scenery is changing as we are in hing toward the end of Meseta in the next few days. We start to begin our climbs starting tomorrow.
Leon to Villar De Mazarife
Leon was without question our best rest stop and sightseeing town. We had plenty of time to explore and rest up for our last 3 weeks. We saw this marker in Leon and were excited and disappointed at the same time. Excited at what we have accomplished and disappointed that it will end in few weeks.
The group was ready in the morning and we met at the cathedral at 6:20 to begin our 22 km walk. We decided to take the scenic route which adds extra 5 km over two days but avoids the route next to highway.
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We walked through the city streets for about 6 km and then we were back in our first village having our early morning breakfast.
Our new team was doing well. We all felt we were back in our grove with all of our aches and pains.
We even had time to enjoy the play ground (thanks to the abundance of young energy).
We made it to our Albergue before 1. We were able to enjoy a nice lunch together. Stephanie, Emily, and Noah are all doing well but also are a bit sore and using the afternoon resting like the rest of us.
Tomorrow we head toward Astorga (part of the way). We have another day or so of Meseta and then we will be out of flats and into mountains again!.
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
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
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
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.
Camino Mystic 