Molinaseca

Todays hike was by far the hardest and highest day yet. From the time we left Astorga yesterday and including today's ascent we had an accrued ascent of 5,000 feet.  Climbing up to the top of the mountain wasn't bad; for the most part it was gradual with a few steep areas.  It took us about 4 hours to get to the top including our rest stops and coffee break. What nearly killed us was the decent!  We climbed down the other side of that mountain and it took us about 5 hours to get all the way down.  The path was extremely steep and rocky we needed to be extra cautious so that we wouldn't fall, strain or break anything. Good thing we had our trekking sticks with us because they saved us both a couple of times. Below are some pictures of the terrain.

This is going to be a short post for today, we just wanted to let you know that we are still alive and didn't fall off the side of the mountain!

Tomorrow we head to Villafranca Del Bierzo and celebrate Lee's birthday.

Rabanal Del Camino

Today we headed for the mountains and tomorrow we climb to the highest point of the entire route. We walked about 13.5 miles today, much of it was a gradual uphill climb.  After leaving Astorga this morning we walked through several small villages; had lunch in Santa Catalina and stopped off for a cold drink (water & orange juice) at a "Cowboy Bar" in El Ganso.  Below is a picture of the outside of the bar. Neither Lee or I drink wine, but it's plentiful here.  You get your choice of water or wine with every pilgrims meal.  The cost of a glass of wine is about the same as a soft drink so most people  prefer wine.  I found out the other day that those underground homes in the side of the hill are called "bodega's". They are actually wine cellars where they make and store wine in these parts.  We've seen a lot more of them lately.

Today's walk was past oak and pine trees.  Along the side of the path are little purple flowers that seem to just pop up out of the earth, no leaves, just the flower.  See picture below. Fall is definitely in the air; trees and grapevines are changing colors. It was cool heading out this morning and we needed to wear gloves for the first couple of hours.  The rest of the day was sunny and beautiful.  We've been lucky with the weather this week...I hope it continues!

Tonight we are saying in Rabanal Del Camino. This town continues a centuries old tradition of caring for the pilgrims before they take the steep path up and over Monte Irago.  The Knights Templar are thought to have a presence here as early as the 12th century ensuring the safe passage of pilgrims over this remote mountain terrain.  The parish Church of Santa Maria was reputedly built by them.  Out the window of our room is the church about 50 feet away.  We will be going there this evening to listen to Gregorian Chant with Vespers and receive a pilgrim blessing from Benedictine monks who live in the monastery.

Below is a picture of our modest hotel room with a beautiful view out the windows.  The bath tub is the smallest tub I have ever seen...it's just the perfect size for Lee and she really enjoyed it. As for me...well, I should be able to soak my feet in it at least!

We hope you enjoy our pictures from today.  Tomorrow we head up and over the mountain to Molinaseca.

Astorga

Unfortunately we had to leave the Casa rural guest house we stayed in last night right after breakfast. Below is a picture of us and the rest of the guests having breakfast together.  If you ever find yourself in Villavante, Spain make reservations to stay at Molino Galochas.  We fell in love with the place and the innkeeper's are very gracious. We found out that it's a renovated mill, part of it built right over the river.  It makes sense to me now as they probably used the flowing river water to move the grinding wheels in the mill.  We told the owner if they ever wanted to sell the place to give us a call.

When we left this morning at sunrise it was cold and fogging out for the first two hours and then the sun broke through and ended up being a fantastic weather wise the rest of the day. The first village we came to was Puente de Orbigo on the east side of the Rio Orbigo.  We then crossed the river on one of the longest and best preserved medieval bridges in Spain dating from the 13th century and built over and earlier Roman bridge.  As the story goes a famous jousting tournament took place here in the Holy Year 1434. A noble knight from Leon, Don Suero de Quinones, scorned by a beautiful lady, threw down the gauntlet to any knight who dared to pass as he undertook to defend the bridge (and presumably his honour) against all comers.  Knights from all over Europe took up the challenge. Don Suero successfully defended the bridge for a month until the required 300 lances had been broken.  Together with his trusted comrades he then proceeded to Santiago to offer thanks for his freedom from the bonds of love and for his honour, now restored!  Wow, and to think all we did was walk peacefully over that same bridge and thru the next village of Hospital de Orbigo with any problems! Below is a picture of the bridge about half way across.

For the most part the walk today was pretty pleasant; a little over 13 miles with rolling hills.  We did run into a lot of rocks on the path which can be taxing walking over and trying to dodge.  There was about a good two miles today where the knats were out in full force.  Lee kept trying to swat them away and I accidentally inhaled one. Oh the challenges of the trail...you never know what your going to run into next!  Below are several pictures of various pilgrim statues taken along the way today. I have yet to find a statue of a female pilgrim, but I know there's got to be one as there are just as many females on the trail (if not more) as males!

For the most part the Spainards are very nice. While walking through one of the villages today a woman gave us both a couple of apples that she had just picked. They wish us a good walk (Buen Camino) and smile at us a lot.

As we came over the last hill today there was a large stone cross on the side of the hill with the town of Astorga in the back ground. We hope you enjoy the pictures from today. Tomorrow we're off to Rabanal Del Camino and only 162.4 miles to Santiago!

Villar de Mazarife - Villavante

We left Leon this morning.  We really enjoyed the part of the city within the old walls.  There were hardly any cars, just people walking and talking.  It was the quite part of the city considering the congestion surrounding it.  We headed for the Plaza San Marcos and the ancient monastery dedicated to St. Mark (Marcos in Spanish). The first few pictures below are taken out front of the monastery.  It was built in the 12th century and became the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of Santiago which was formed to protect the pilgrim way.  Below is also also a statue of a medieval and a couple of modern day pilgrims sitting at the base of a stone cross, admiring the stately surroundings while resting their weary feet.

Leaving Leon we crossed the Rio Bernesga on a 16th century stone bridge and headed through the outskirts of town.  The first town we got to after Leon was La Virgen del Camino.  As the story goes, a shepherd, in the early 16th century, saw a vison of the Virgin who told him to throw a stone and then build a church on the spot where it landed.  The town became famous on account of miracles performed here.  We continued on and walked through a couple other small villages before stopping in Chozas de Abajo for lunch.  Sandwiches here are called Bodillos and they are usually a big piece of Frenchbread with sliced cheese and ham on it and that's it.  We usually have a small jar of mayonnaise in our backpack to add to it and we ask for tomato to be added,  otherwise you need lots of water to help swallow it down!

Our final destination for today was the pilgrim friendly village of Villar de Mazarife.  The pictures of the church below are taken from the center of that village. Check out the steeple with the 3 stork nests!  The pilgrim statue I took a picture of was in the church courtyard.

Tonight we are staying in a lovely rural quest house.  A creek actually runs under the home!  In the living area they have a clear glass window on the floor that you can look through and see the water flowing by...it's so cool!   The innkeeper's are making us dinner tonight and there is a fire going in the fireplace.  Lee just looked at me and said "I'm not leaving!"  We both would love to have a home like this...it's amazing.  Below are a couple of pictures of the home and it's surroundings.

I may have to pry Lee away, but tomorrow we head for Astorga.

We are liking Leon!

We left Mansilla de las Mulas shortly after sunrise this morning.  We had another beatiful day of weather and a comfortable easy day of walking; only 11.2 miles into the city of Leon.  We met with and visited with 3 other pilgrims that were staying in our small hotel last night: Karen from Virginia, Jack from Ireland and Kate from England.  It's fascinating to meet people from all over the world that come to walk this pilgrimage for their various reasons. Some we may see once and never again, some we will keep running into over and over again.

One thing interesting that we've been seeing lately are stork nests built in the highest location of the village which is usually the church steeple.  Pictured below is one we saw today.

We left the Palencia region of Spain the other day and entered the Leon region.  Leon is the capital and was once a Roman military garrison and base for its 12th Legion, hence the name Leon, from Legion.  We are staying tonight in a hotel just outside the walls of the old city.  There is every period and style of architecture here that you can imagine; Romanesque, Gothic and modern.  The building pictured below is called the Casa de Botines and was designed by Gaudi.  The Gothic Cathedral pictured below is the Pulchra Leonina and can be seen right out of our hotel window.

Since we didn't have that far to walk today we got into town in the early afternoon. After we finally found our hotel and checked in, we went out to a very nice restaurant in the center of town and spurlged on a nice meal.  Below are pictures of our desserts. We will be going out his evening again to explore the city and the shops after we rest a bit.  We could spend days exploring this city but tomorrow we will be on our way again.  My blisters are healing and we are feeling pretty strong considering how far we've come.  Today we started our 4th week of walking, and we have less than 200 miles to go! We are heading to Villar de Mazarife in the morning.