Stapleton Travel Blog

We walked 20.3 k or 12.6 mikes today.  It was one of the  most picturesque days we’ve had on the Camino and also one of the more challenging walks. We started with an uphill climb  to the Cruz de Ferro.  This monument has become an iconic image of the Camino.  It’s a simple iron cross where pilgrims add a stone or other token of love or blessing to the pile.  We added a simple stone from our vegetable garden at home. That’s me at top leaving our stone.

Next to the cross is a stone chapel.

We arrived early enough to see the sunrise behind the cross. It was really beautiful.

The rest of the walk was in the mountains.  The views were beautiful but it was difficult to look around to see them because the mostly steep downhill walk was so treacherous we didn’t dare take our eyes off the ground.

We stopped in Acebo for an early lunch.  It was such a pretty village.

Finally, we arrived at our destination Molinasca and the village is beautiful.

Camino Fun Fact:  If you walk into an Albergue and there are a group of men sitting in common areas in their underwear they are French. 🙂

 

We woke to 35 degree temperatures and had to layer on our clothes (practically all of our clothes).  This is Tom using socks as gloves and his buff as a hat. By early afternoon it was in the 70’s again.

We’re back in the mountains so the walk was a gradual uphill grade for most of the day.  We ran into these guys and their burros who didn’t mind posing for a photo but then asked for money to feed them.  It felt like Times Square.

We then met a knight of the Templar who introduced me to his falcon, Julie.  Yes, Julie. It was very cool holding her.

The terrain then became very challenging – all uphill for 6 kilometers until we reached Foncebadon.  We stayed in a former convent that was converted to an Albergue and hotel.  We were booked for 2 beds in the Albergue but they gave us a private room for the same price.  It was great having our own bathroom.

Camino fun fact: Many of the bathrooms and showers in the albergue are communal, shared by men and women.  The individual stalls are private so it’s really not a big deal.

 

 

Our stay at Albergue Verde was really special.  It’s a “green” Albergue with a real Bohemian feel.  They had their own vegetable garden and greenhouse.  Our dinner was vegetarian but we snuck in ham and cheese for lunch.  We were with Glynnis and Robert from South Africa and Jean Marie from France.

Before dinner we all took a yoga class to stretch out our sore muscles and joints. Yes, this included Tom, too!

This Albergue is so popular with volunteers there were 12 volunteers for 28 pilgrims.  As a result they erected a yurt for thr volunteers to sleep in.

We were serenaded before a really nice dinner and then Bryson from Canada also played guitar and sang a few songs.

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Our walk on October 6th was 22 k or 13.6 miles.  Tom has a blister on his heal that he got on our rest day in Leon so we treated it and hope it doesn’t get worse tomorrow.

We stayed in a really nice albergue with a very pretty courtyard where we relaxed before dinner.

Dinner was vegetarian again and delicious.  The first course was pea soup and each serving dish read “Buen”, “Camino” or had the iconic arrow.  The second course was an amazing vegetable lasagna.

 

Today we were up with the roosters and walked 16 k (10 miles) bringing our total to 510.9 k or 317.4 miles so far.  We got to see another beautiful sunrise.

The highlight of the walk was this medieval bridge.  Along side (where it looks like sand) they have jousting contests in the summer.

 

We’re staying at a very nice albergue tonight. Really

More tomorrow.

Today we went to Villar de Mazarife and checked into Casa de Jesus. We saw Brock and Sue from Austraila who had already checked in there as well. I took one look at the room  and said “this will not be good”.  I wanted to show you a picture of the room but we thought it would scare the kids reading this blog (by kids I mean Drew and Xander since I know our kids aren’t reading this)  There were a lot of sleazy looking people around, I’m pretty sure even Jesus wouldn’t stay here even if it was the only room in town.

We took a walk to go to a shop in town  and I saw another albergue and I stopped in to see what that looked liked and it was a whole lot better than that prison chamber that we checked into earlier.  I booked the  room and then sneaked out the back door of the prison chamber with our backpacks.

We were relaxing on a chaise lounge with a beer on the front lawn of the new albergue when we saw Brock and Sue from Austrailia strolled  by.  They came over and told us that they thought Casa de Jesus was horrific but because  we were  staying there, maybe it can’t be that bad.   We felt bad that we deserted them but I thank God (and Jesus) that I didn’t have to sleep in Casa de Jesus.

A group of us (Austrailians, South Africans, and New Mexicans) then went to the local bar in town and had a great time. We left around 19:00 to have a great meal (paella) at our new albergue. Brock and Sue stayed at the bar because they were afraid to go back to  their own room at Casa de Jesus. I think their plan was to get as drunk as possible before heading  back to their house of horror (sadly there isn’t enough wine in the world to give them any level of comfort).

Hasta Winebago.

We arrived in Leon (big city) today after a short 18 kilometer day (11+ miles). We met people we haven’t seen in awhile, which was fun.

We arrived in Leon on the second day of a 5 day San Froilan festival.  The place was full of people enjoying the festivities.

 

We visited the Cathedral of Leon. It was spectacular. The pictures don’t even come close to showing the grandeur of this wonderful place. The stained glass windows were breathtaking.

We are going to enjoy our day tomorrow by resting and enjoying more of the festival. Hasta luego.

 

We can’t believe it’s October already!  We’ve been very lucky with the weather, even in the Meseta it’s been chilly in the morning and mid 70’s in the afternoon.

Today we had to wait until 7 am for breakfast and carry food and water because there would be nothing available for almost 20 kilometers.  We had cheese and crackers by the roadside while we gave our feet a rest.

We walked through fields of wheat and corn for another 25 k until we finally arrived at Reliegos and the Elvis Bar. This somewhat famous bar has a character for an owner, great music and anot interesting atmosphere.  There are markers on the counter and you can leave your mark if you choose.  My favorite was Carpe Diem.

We had the great surprise of running into several people we haven’t seen in a while.  It was really nice to catch up with them.

Tomorrow we’re in Leon and have a much needed day of rest planned.

Today was our biggest day so far, 27 kilometers.  The Camino path split today and we decided to take the less traveled path.  I thought we would be walking on a Roman road but it was more like Roman rubble. Very few people take this route. For most of the afternoon it was just me, Beth and alot of flies.

Having these big days behind is giving us the confidence we need to complete this journey.  We have been noticing we haven’t had that ” Zen” moment when we walk. We are usually thinking about where the next coffee or restroom stop is or why our feet hurt so much. They say you need to listen to your body when doing the Camino. Our feet are usually shouting at us “Stop walking! Stop walking! What about “stop walking” do you not understand!

 

We are spoiling ourselves in a lovely small hotel in town run by a husband and wife that could not be nicer.

 

 

Last night after posting the blog we attended a special mass for pilgrims in the Santa Maria church.  These photos were taken earlier in the day.

After the mass the priest welcomed all the pilgrims and made sure to mention every country represented.  Next, two nuns welcomed us to their Parrish in both English and Spanish. They said they made a gift for each of us but were quick to add that they were light weight.  With us pilgrims it’s all about the weight on our backs.  Then the priest laid his hands on each of us in a special blessing and we were given a paper star by the nuns.  It was a beautiful blessing and service.

Thursday we woke up early to walk as much as possible in the dark.  The sun on the Mesata can be brutal.  One if our room mates called Tom out while we were packing to see the stars – they were amazing!  I tried to take a picture but it didn’t come out.  While we were walking we became unsure that we were on the right path.  On the Camino if you come to an intersection and don’t see an arrow you’ve taken a wrong turn.  There were about 10 of us from the US, Italy, Spain and Germany all trying to confirm we were headed in the right direction.  Finally we spotted an arrow!

The rest of the day was very tough, the landscape was all the same and we were lost in our thoughts along the way. We did stop in this picnic area to rest and stretch.

 

This was the view from the front porch of the Albergue we stayed in, I thought I’d share a sunset for a change.

Can’t wait for  Leon in a couple days.  We’re staying in a hotel and taking a rest day.  I need a pedicure!

 

 

 

 

Woohoo!  Today we are officially halfway through our Camino, both in days and distance. The writing on the coke machine reads, Santiago 419 k so it must be true.

Fromista yesterday was forgetable.  The Albergue was very pretty and there was a beautiful 10th century church but the hosts were abrupt and posted too many rules throughout the building.

We walked 20 k today and the sunrise was beautiful but the walk was tedious.  We were on the same road the entire day. There was nothing but wheat fields as far as the eye could see.

We’ve  learned that it’s really all about the people so today we’really staying with nuns. So far so good, they are very nice and we don’t have to sleep in bunk beds tonight (but we do have to clean the erasers and wipe down the blackboard).