Camino Blog and Grammar Guide

I once spent a week in Santiago de Compostela on a Spanish language course. Whilst I was there I became more and more intrigued by the amount of people arriving day after day, dressed in walking gear, carrying backpacks and walking sticks, with huge smiles on their faces. I found out that these people were "peregrinos" or pilgrims - people who walk across Spain, along various routes, to get to the beautiful cathedral in Santiago, where, legend has it, the bones of St James are buried. People travel the route (known as the camino, or "way") for various reasons - religious, spiritual, health, or a love of travel or history. Some pilgrims cycle or ride a horse or travel with their dog. I decided to walk the camino with my family and we chose the most common route, the French way, from St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. Here's my account of our journey, with a few English grammar points thrown in!

2013

St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos (past perfect tense)

Day 1 - We'd arrived by train from Biarritz the previous day and it had been raining almost constantly since we got there. St Jean is at the base of the Pyrenees and is a traditional starting point for people walking the French Way to Santiago de Compostela. What a beautiful town, despite the weather! We'd chosen to walk the Valcarlos route over the Pyrenees, following in the footsteps of Charlemagne, rather than the Napoleon route, as we'd wanted to stop overnight and halve the 24km uphill climb! We had brought waterproof coats and trousers with us but occasionally the rain was so heavy I wished I'd also bought a waterproof cape to cover both myself and my backpack. We arrived at Valcarlos (in historic Navarre) during a festival and were lucky enough to see all the villagers dancing in formation along the main road. However, we didn't stay up late to enjoy the party as our first day on the camino had been a tough one and our beds were calling us!

St Jean

Into Navarre

Valcarlos to Roncesvalles (mini history lesson - can you find out: Who were the Franks? When were the Middle Ages? What was a Holy Roman Emperor? Who are the Basques? What is the Song of Roland?)

Day 2 - Valcarlos is named after Charlemagne, who was King of the Franks in the Middle Ages. I knew nothing about his history - when I wiki'd him I learnt that he is known as the Father of Europe and was also the first Holy Roman Emperor. His only military defeat occurred at Roncesvalles - he was attacked by the Basques - and although he survived, the famous military leader Roland was killed.

Another steady climb for most of the day - it felt like it would never end but at least the weather was much better. I had such an amazing sense of achievement when we reached Roncesvalles. We had even walked through snow and I was really grateful for my walking poles! We spent the night in the beautiful 18th century Casa de los Beneficiados and slept like logs!

Monument to Roland

Casa de los Beneficiados

Roncesvalles to Zubiri (comparatives and superlatives)

Day 3 - Uh oh!! My legs are killing me! I never knew walking downhill could be more painful than going uphill. Each step is like treading on swords! It feels as though they are stabbing up through the bones in my lower legs and twisting at the same time! Not quite as painful as childbirth but pretty close! (Actually worse in some ways because at least in childbirth I had access to painkillers and the chance of a little lie down if I needed!) The rain got heavier and heavier - I don't think I could have felt more miserable! We got lost in Burguete, which I had been looking forward to seeing due to its link with Ernest Hemingway and I just got grumpier as we had to make up the lost ground. Just when I was at my lowest ebb, I saw a "Stop" sign that had been graffiti'd/vandalised with the best advice - it made me smile and gave me the energy boost I needed to finish the day's walk and appreciate the beautiful woodland scenery. 22.2km according to the guidebook - that's 13 1/2 miles - probably the longest trek of my life - no wonder I'm sleeping so well!

Good advice!

Smiling through the pain!

Zubiri to Pamplona (could, would, should)

Day 4 - The final leg of this camino experience. We're doing the camino in short bursts as we couldn't take the time off work to undertake the whole journey in one go. I'm actually really relieved to finish. I don't think I could have done another day. I can't even say I should have prepared better before I set off because we did do plenty of hill walking before we left. At this stage I'm not even sure I would recommend it to my friends. This stretch has been cold, wet and hilly but nothing could have prepared me for the leg pain I had. Obviously I expected blisters, and they were a problem, but once we reached Pamplona I didn't even have the energy to explore this lovely town in my flip flops! It's such a relief not to have to continue tomorrow - I'm not sure how I would have coped but now I know why some pilgrims end up getting the bus! At this point I don't feel that I will come back next year to walk the next stage of the camino......

2014

Pamplona to Puente la Reina ("bring" - movement towards the speaker v "take" - movement away from the speaker)

Well, what a difference a year makes! Obviously I'm going to carry on walking the camino! The leg pain is a distant memory and all I remember is precious time spent with my family, the wonderful countryside, meeting lovely new people and the sense of achievement I took back home - I walked over the Pyrenees!! Admittedly, the ups and downs of the camino were never quite as difficult for me as they could be - I was walking what I called the "Camino Royale" - we had arranged with our travel company for our luggage to be taken for us each day by car to our next guesthouse. Every morning we left it at reception at 8am and a driver took it on for us. We didn't even have to struggle each night to find a pilgrim hostel as every room had been booked in advance - camino lite I know, but I doubt very much I could walk easily 20+km a day carrying 10kg on my back....

We flew to Bilbao and caught a bus to Pamplona to continue our walk. This time I had the energy to explore Pamplona but I also particularly enjoyed looking out over the main square from the beautiful Cafe Iruña, relaxing with a lovely Spanish coffee, just watching the world go by.

Day 1 - We set off under blue skies. After last year's poor weather, I had brought lots of wet weather gear but had forgotten to bring a sun hat with me. It was the end of March and I didn't expect it to become as warm as it did. We had a steep climb to reach the top of the Alto del Perdon hill but I couldn't wait to get there to see the pilgrim monument with the fantastic name - "Where the route of the wind crosses that of the stars"! The statues are stunning and the view absolutely amazing. I was glad I'd brought lots of water with me - we needed it to keep hydrated today. I was cross with myself for forgetting to bring a hat though - I normally take too much stuff when I travel - as soon as we reached a decent sized town, buying a hat was going to be my priority! We had an enjoyable walk (mostly downhill) to Puente la Reina, our stop for the night. Unbelievably, the bridge over the river Arga has been here since the 11th century - build by Doña Mayor, wife of Sancho III to enable pilgrims to travel safely.

Where the route of the wind crosses that of the stars

Puente la Reina

Puente la Reina to Estella (Apostrophes with contractions)

Day 2 - Lovely walk today in great weather - sunny but not too hot. I am a slow walker - my family are definitely getting fed up of having to wait for me to catch up every few miles. My husband wants to rush off at 8am and not stop for coffee until we've covered 2/3 of the way! I keep telling him it's all about the journey not the destination....I'm very happy walking alone, it's amazing how your mind wanders. I'm starting to understand why people travel the camino on a spiritual journey. The highlight of the day was seeing a bizarre map of the world build from lorry tyres. I don't know who'd go to all that trouble but it was an impressive sight!

Estella to Los Arcos (Apostrophes to show possession)

Day 3 - My favourite part of the day is leaving the village in the morning, the air is usually cool and I'm full of energy and looking forward to what we will be seeing today on our walk. We seem to be in the habit of stopping for coffee after about 2 hours and then lunch between 1 and 2 o'clock. Most of the bars and cafes have pilgrims' menus that are cheap and tasty but I'm noticing that my diet is really bread-heavy and it's impossible to lose weight on the camino even if I walk 20km a day! On this stretch I really enjoyed seeing the Irache Bodega's free wine fountain for pilgrims who want to arrive in Santiago "with strength and vitality"! Sadly I didn't enjoy my husband's disappointed face when he realised the fountain was empty! There were obviously too many thirsty pilgrims ahead of us - that would be my fault because I walk too slowly... Another lovely spot was the Moors' Fountain, a refurbished 13th century water cistern - I couldn't work out if it was water for drinking or washing but it's a lovely little building. As the day progressed I realised I was starting to get a lot of pain in my left hip. Strangely I didn't have any of the stabbing leg pain I had last year but I have started limping.... now I know why there are so many adverts for healing and massage services on every hostel's notice board!

Irache wine fountain

Moors' fountain

Camino to Los Arcos

Monument to Sancho IV Los Arcos

Los Arcos to Viana (to, too, two, toe!)

Day 4 - Unfortunately, lovely Los Arcos will forever be associated in my mind with the time that the nail on the little toe of my right foot turned black and FELL OFF!! I think that my feet must have swollen so badly in the heat that I literally became too big for my boots! I sat on the grass next to Sancho IV and tried to repair the damage with two Compeed blister plasters on each foot but even their powerful healing properties couldn't cope with the damage! (At least it helped me to forget about the pain in my hip.) The next day I was really regretting leaving a perfectly good pair of walking sandals at home, expecting the weather to be like it was last year. My family weren't too sympathetic either, but at least they couldn't hear me complaining two miles behind them! On the plus side, I was really starting to appreciate what you experience when you're not in a car - I wouldn't have noticed anything about all the beautiful villages and their architecture, or had a feeling of the history of the camino if I'd driven through them. There is also a wonderful tradition of saying the words, "Buen camino" to each person you pass - literally meaning "good path" but to me, its essential meaning is, "Hi, I'm glad to see you're on this road too, and I really hope you have a good journey!" The fellow pilgrim replies "Buen camino" - you often find yourself saying it dozens of times a day - I love it! It's like being in a special club. Maybe the camino is starting to affect me after all....

Los Arcos

Viana to Logroño (me, myself and I)

Day 5 - Out of Navarre and into La Rioja, famous to wine drinkers everywhere! I don't actually drink wine myself (it gives me migraine - apparently you're only supposed to sip it....), so being in La Rioja was almost wasted on me but my husband was very excited and kept asking me to take his photo in front of the vineyards. Anyway, at least I could enjoy the scenery as I hobbled slowly and painfully along, daydreaming about wearing flip flops and why isn't the camino made from marshmallows instead of earth?.... I loved Logroño - the first thing I did when we arrived was bought myself a pair of flip flops, the second thing - sat about in the sun with a nice cold beer. I'm already thinking about the next stage....

La Rioja

Logrono

2015

Logroño to Navarette (there, they're, their)

I'm really looking forward to this camino trip, although my children have decided they don't want to come, despite the promise of seeing lovely Burgos at the end! Maybe they miss their computers too much when they're away, although the wifi availability everywhere we've stayed has been really good - lots of modern pilgrims appear to want to stay connected! I have got into the habit of watching Emilio Estevez's film "The Way" before each trip - I love this film, despite the unlikeable Canadian woman and James Nesbitt's over-acting. It gives me a warm glow and I enjoy the way it portrays the camino helping the characters work through their problems. I also think there's a really good insight into the camaraderie you get on the camino.

Day 1 - I'd seen the weather forecast before we left England and it wasn't very promising - it turned out to be exactly right - the first day was cloudy, grey and wet but thankfully quite short as we had decided to split the 30km walk to Nájera. The weather didn't matter - there was still plenty to enjoy on the walk - great scenery and plenty of history - I was particularly interested in the remains of the medieval pilgrim hospital of San Juan de Acre and the incredible work of the 12th century stone masons. The gloomy skies didn't dampen a really satisfying first day and we seemed to have the camino all to ourselves.....

Navarette

Vineyard

Hospital remains

Original hospital entrance

Navarette to Nájera ("A"/"An" for something mentioned for the first time or an object that isn't specific, or "The" for specific objects or objects mentioned again)

Day 2 - Navarette is a lovely picturesque little town, although I'm a bit confused by the name as we appear to be in La Rioja, not Navarre any more...according to Wiki there is some confusion about the name - one theory is that it is very similar to the Basque "Door of Navarre" - I like this and it makes sense geographically! The weather has been grim today but there has been plenty of information to absorb from the guide book about the local area. Once again we followed in the famous Roland's footsteps - apparently he fought and beat a Syrian giant on a hill on the road to Nájera. The giant, whose name was Ferragut, feared nobody and was impossible to beat! The two men fought for many hours on the hill but there was no winner. They decided to rest and (?why!) Ferragut told Roland that his only weakness was his navel. Obviously Roland used this information to stab Ferragut in the navel and win the fight! Stabbed in the gut - ironically! We passed an interesting beehive shaped building whose purpose we couldn't guess and lots of lovely vines but I was glad to reach the hotel to dry off - hoping that the weather improves as it's a bit grey at the moment....

A random camino pilgrim!

Ominous sky

Beehive building

Nájera

Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada (cold weather vocabulary)

Day 3 - Unbelievably, we woke up to snow! As we left the hotel it was falling quite lightly but the sky was very overcast and as soon as we left the town the snow flurries changed to quite heavy snowfall. Nobody sensible sets off for a day's walk in a blizzard and we wondered how bad it was going to get and we hadn't seen a forecast. We only saw one or two other pilgrims, which worried me as I would have appreciated other people's opinions. Often, when you leave a town in the morning, there are dozens of other pilgrims all setting off at the same time and the large group steadily breaks up into individuals as people find their own pace. It was a lonely walk and strange to see fields of vines covered in snow! It wasn't particularly frosty - it certainly didn't feel below freezing and the ground wasn't icy - but it was chilly enough and once I got used to the novelty of Spanish snow the walk became a bit of a plod. I needn't have worried. As the afternoon progressed it started to drizzle and the snow turned to slush. By the time we reached Santo Domingo it was raining cats and dogs. Fortunately I was delighted to discover that our bed for the night was in a gorgeous hotel - a former 12th century hospital near the cathedral - no better place for a history-loving pilgrim!

Setting off...not too bad....

Bit worse...

At least it's stopped now!

Hotel, Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Santo Domingo to Belorado (informal language)

Day 4 - I'm kicking myself now for not exploring Santo Domingo. It was pouring down with rain when we got there and I didn't get to visit the cathedral the next morning 'cos it was shut. Saint Domingo built the pilgrim hospital we stayed in and loads of roads and bridges on the camino. Also, it sounds like I missed a really interesting little town - I'll definitely have to re-visit. Anyway, we couldn't hang about - we had 22.9km (14.2 miles) to do in the rain. The biggest problem was that the melted snow had created rivers of water on lots of the paths and leaving Santo Domingo was a nightmare. We got wet feet pretty early on, which just made the rest of the day really uncomfortable. The big highlight of the day was finding a brilliant bar that doubled as a delicatessen. It had an amazing selection of food, particularly cheese. I got myself some kiwi jam and a warming hot chocolate....mmm, yum yum!

Splish splash...

Into Castilla y Leon

Lovely Spanish cheese

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega (linking words - reinforcement)

Day 5 - A long one today - 15.1 miles - long for me anyway! Not only will it be a long day, it also looks like a steady climb on the map all the way to our destination. In fact, it didn't feel too bad. The rain held off so our clothes stayed dry. Furthermore, there was some lovely walking through high woodland that was some of the nicest scenery I'd seen on the camino. Unfortunately, there was then a really long stretch that seemed to go on and on through a pine forest. I thought we'd never reach the end! As well as being long, the path was really slushy from melted snow, so it was difficult to walk in it. Further along, there was a very moving monument to victims of the Spanish Civil War, killed in 1936, whose bodies were found in 2011 - it certainly gives you plenty to think about. We don't seem to do too much talking on the camino - you spend a lot of time in your own head - it's really therapeutic. Also, you feel to be moving away from the things that cause you stress in everyday life and seem to be able to develop coping strategies you didn't know you had! It's almost like magic!.....

Slow, steady climb

Long, boring, slushy forest

Monument to Civil War dead

San Juan de Ortega to Burgos (Adjective order)

Day 6 - last day of the walk today and a completely different experience to last year. No sunshine and lots of cold, wet weather - you definitely have to pack for all eventualities. I love finding out about the history of the places we pass, meeting new people, eating wonderful nutritious food, experiencing the constantly changing scenery - all of these things make up for any bad weather that happens. We passed through Atapuerca today - apparently the earliest human remains ever found in Europe were discovered here and its prehistoric caves are now a UNESCO World Heritage site, so it's not just medieval history on the camino! I had terrible problems with blisters on this walk - maybe because my feet had got wet a few times - and I struggled to climb the long, steep hill above Atapuerca. At least I had a lovely clear view from the top whilst I tended my swollen red feet! I was really fed up by this stage and it was hard to keep positive on the long walk down into Burgos, especially walking along the city roads to reach our destination. But what an amazing sight Burgos is! The medieval gate of Santa María, with its ancient white stone facade is like a building from a Disney film! The cathedral is stunning - building work apparently started in the 1200's - it's incredible to know there are buildings that old still being used today! What an amazing finish to our latest camino - I can't wait to rest these aching feet but my heart is telling me to book the next stage as soon as we get home!

Atapuerca

Grumpy pilgrim (very sore feet!)

Arco de Santa María

Burgos cathedral

2016

Burgos to Hornillos del Camino ('Going to' for plans we have already decided)

Day 1 - 2016 and the next stage of our camino begins! We’ve gradually built up our stages from 4 days, to 5, then 6 - and this time (are we mad?) we’re going to do a 10 day stretch! We were initially going to do two 5 day walks but eventually decided to bite the bullet and go for 10! We’re going to walk from beautiful Burgos to lovely Leon but I’ve read it’s along the least inspiring part of the Camino….I can’t believe this as we leave the city. We pass a monument to its famous son El Cid and pass several more stunning statues on the San Pablo bridge, including one of his wife, Doña Jimena. Through the lovely El Parral park - so far, so good….until the rain starts. And it rains for the rest of the day, so that by the time we reach Hornnillos (13 miles later), we’re thoroughly soaked. The first big town we reach I’m going to buy a really big waterproof. Fortunately our room has an abundant supply of old fashioned chunky radiators (turns out to be the only room on this trip that does) and I managed to siesta for an hour while all our sopping garments steamed themselves dry.

El Cid

Doña Jimena

The long and winding road

Hornillos del Camino - Castrojeriz (Passive tense)

Day 2 - Dried out nicely over night but the sky still looks a bit heavy and grey for my liking. A 12.6 mile walk today and although I couldn’t find anything about Hornillos to get excited by, I was very interested in Castrojeriz. Apparently John of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster, married Constance of Castile and she was born in Castrojeriz! This was all in the 1300’s and she was buried in Leicester when she died. I couldn’t believe there was such a close link between this tiny historic Spanish village and the city where I went to high school! I kept imagining that Constance would probably recognise most of what you can see in the area today as the landscape must surely be unchanged and the village looks pretty medieval to me! At least I can rest assured that she won’t have been surprised by the gloomy northern English weather! Talking of surprises - how lovely to pass through the huge arches of the ruined convent of San Anton, which was built in the 14th century for the monks to care for pilgrims suffering from “Saint Anthony’s Fire”. I hope the monk physicians’ cures were as powerful and magnificent as the arches because even I know that being a medieval, exhausted, poverty stricken pilgrim suffering from diarrhoea and gangrene must have been a pretty uncomfortable experience…

The convent of San Anton

Castrojeriz - Boadilla del Camino (Participial adjectives)

Day 3 - It’s a bit of a demanding climb as you walk away from Castrojeriz but I actually enjoyed it - it’s like seeing history laid out before your eyes! The weather picked up and we were pleasantly surprised when we came across the Ermita de San Nicolas, about 5 miles away from Castrojeriz. It’s a tiny 13th century hostel, with no electricity, so everything is done by candlelight. It’s an absolutely beautiful, restful place and I can still remember the feeling of peace I had once I’d gone inside. It felt so relaxing I could have stayed all day but we still had a few miles to go before we reached our destination. We crossed the river Pisuerga and I was really excited to find myself on the very bridge where Martin Sheen loses his backpack in the river and has to swim to fetch it in the film ‘The Way’ - well, it certainly looked like the same bridge, I was about 90% convinced it was! The river is a natural boundary between Castile and Leon and it was nice to feel that we were making progress, although it was an easy day for us today and it didn’t take long to reach Boadilla. We had a brilliant meal in the albergue - lots of different nationalities sitting round a massive table and great country food - one of the reasons I’m starting to love the camino so much, along with the history and the scenery - I’m feeling SO relaxed and positive - it was such a satisfying end to a lovely day.

Castrojeriz

Ouch!

Ermita de San Nicolas

Ermita de San Nicolas

Ermita de San Nicolas

Boadilla del Camino - Villalcazar de Sirga (Past perfect tense)

Day 4 - Though it’s only tiny, we’d had a good time in Boadilla! I hadn’t realised that today’s journey would be so interesting - we walked along the side of the Castille canal, built in the 18th century to transport crops and provide water power. I think it was the first time I’d seen a canal in Spain, though of course we’re used to them in the UK as there is still an extensive network of them, especially where we live, in the north of England. Further along there was a very pleasant few kilometres along the river Ucieza, which had become swollen and yellow from the mud swept along by all the rainfall. It was raining again when we reached Villalcazar and I didn’t have the energy to explore the village as I’d walked far enough in wet boots. However, I was very pleasantly surprised the next morning when I explored the little gem on our doorstep!

Medieval column in Boadilla del Camino

Castile Canal

Castile Canal

River Ucieza

Villalcazar de Sirga - Carrion de los Condes (Reported speech)

Day 5 - In view of the miserable weather we’d said that we would set off immediately after breakfast, before the rain got worse. However, after I’d read the guide book, I realised that there was a historical site in the town I really couldn’t miss. I asked my husband if he wanted to come with me to explore the Templar church of Santa Maria. It was built in the 13th century and apparently it’s now a national monument. Naturally he said that he would love to. Inside are the tombs of Spanish royalty and aristocracy but it was the little touches on the stonework that really caught my eye - as intriguing and lovely to me as the royal tombs. It was more like a cathedral than a church and I was so glad we decided to explore it before we left Villalcazar. We had a really short journey today and it didn’t take us long to reach Carrion de los Condes - my favourite little town so far on this trip. Our first job was to buy some huge waterproof cagoules that would also cover our backpacks and we found a great little shop along one of the twisting streets, where the owner fitted us out in massive waterproofs. She told us that sun was forecast later, so also succeeded in selling us some sun screen just in case! We walked through town to arrive at our hotel for the night - the absolutely wonderful 11th century monastery of San Zoilo - what a place! It’s like spending the night in a history book - I absolutely loved it - such an atmospheric place yet wonderfully comfy for the 21st century traveller!

Santa María internal wall

Santa María internal wall

Painted sepulchre Santa María church

Retablo Santa Maria church

Two pilgrims!

Carrion de los Condes - Moratinos (Verb complements, i.e. verbs followed by verbs)

Day 6 - I decided to do a little research about San Zoilo (Saint Zoilus in English) as I had never heard of him before arriving at the monastery. He was a Christian martyr from 4th century Cordoba. The Roman judge Daciano commanded him to give up his Christian faith and when Zoilus refused to do so, the judge didn’t hesitate to torture him, tearing his skin with iron hooks. Zoilus remained defiant and miraculously didn’t die, even when his kidneys were forcibly removed by his torturers. Daciano was so angry he slit Zoilus’ throat with his own hands and legend has it that his kidneys were thrown into a nearby well whose water became famous for curing people with kidney disease. You can’t avoid hearing about the Roman influence in Spain (and many other countries of course) - even the road out of Carrion de los Condes is part of the original road built by them - but as we leave, my mind turns to more prosaic matters: I’m almost hoping it rains a lot so I can get my money’s worth out of my new waterproof! We had to psych ourselves up before we set off, as this part of the route has nowhere to stop (i.e. bar) for 10 miles. According to our guide book, it turns out that the monastery was the biggest highlight of this part of the Camino, although we did pass through Terradillos de Templarios, which is apparently the half way point between St Jean de Pied de Port and Santiago. It didn’t even rain, so I ended up carrying my fab new cagoule the whole way!

(See my Grammar Rays page for more on verb complements)

Monastery of San Zoilo

New waterproof!

Moratinos - Sahagun (such + noun phrase, so + adjective)

Day 7 - We had such an interesting day today, I’m pleased to report! We had better weather and I encountered a couple of firsts for me…. As we walked we kept passing what looked like tiny little dwellings in the hillsides. They were scattered all along the route and we were so curious to find out what they were. On closer inspection I was very amused to read a sign explaining that the little caves were actually old bodegas and had been used in the past for wine-making and storing food, and disappointingly, not hobbit homes! This area was also full of adobe buildings, which I’d heard of but never actually seen - it fascinated me that such a simple form of construction could be so durable and weatherproof. We stayed in a modern hotel on the outskirts of town so I didn’t get the chance to explore Sahagun but we had such a great view of a nesting stork from our window - we saw so many of these along this part of the camino, on practically every church and chimney - I couldn’t believe it when I found out we hadn’t had any storks in England since the 1400’s! They’re such a part of our childbirth folklore (children are told that storks bring newborn babies to the family), although when I once tried to explain this custom to a Bangladeshi woman with limited English, she looked at me like I was mad!

Hobbit sign

Bodega

Hobbit houses???!

Adobe buildings

Walk this way!

Sahagun - El Burgo Ranero (Omission of 'if' in formal inversion structures)

Day 8 - We had the choice of two routes today - the more established pilgrim route with a comfortable gravel path or the rougher earth tracks along the old Roman road. We decided to follow the more popular first route, mainly because it looked as though it had a suitable place to stop for lunch halfway along! *Had I known how tedious the walk would be, I might well have chosen differently. The weather was perfect and as we left Sahagun we crossed a medieval bridge (the Puente Canto) - originally Roman, but reconstructed over the years. There is a municipal camping area nearby where legend has it Charlemagne (that man again!) was involved in another battle, this time with the loss of 40,000 Christians. Obviously there’s no concrete evidence of any of this history today and the journey turned out to be quite dull and flat (11 miles). However, there was one really pleasant interlude at Bercianos del Real Camino, which *we would have missed had two other pilgrims not drawn our attention to it from the other side of the road. Hidden down a tiny, overgrown path was a covered, wooden look-out point over an area of wetland. Shaded from the sun, we had a very relaxing twenty or so minutes watching the fish and listening to the birds bustling about in the reeds - lovely!

*More common, alternative structures - If I’d known how tedious the walk would be; We’d have missed it if two other pilgrims hadn’t drawn our attention to it.

Leaving Sahagun

Puente Canto

Wetlands

El Burgo Ranero - Mansilla de las Mulas (Adverbs of degree)

Day 9 - 11.7 extremely boring miles. The weather was absolutely perfect for walking - fine and not too hot. Unfortunately, we followed a modern pathway next to a road for practically the entire day and I found the whole journey pretty uninspiring. I realised quite soon that I wasn’t walking in a ‘mindful’ fashion when I found myself remembering a childhood story about seven league boots. Apparently these types of boots appear in the folklore of several different European countries - the person who wears them can take huge strides (seven leagues is about 21 miles) and so travel at great speed. I was obviously feeling slightly disheartened along this stretch of the walk if my mind was wandering to thoughts of getting to my destination quickly and not enjoying ‘the moment’. I kept dreaming about the idea of the boots - firstly, amazement that I had completely forgotten the story of the seven league boots (I hadn’t thought about them for probably 40 years!) and then secondly secretly wishing that I owned a pair so I could bring an end to this tedious journey. The highlight for me was meeting two German Shorthaired Pointer pilgrims (who happen to be my favourite dogs) walking the camino with their owner. They weren’t bothered about pathways that might be less interesting - they were just happy to be together, enjoying the sights and smells and meeting new friends - I think there might be a lesson there!

El Burgo Ranero

German Shorthaired Pilgrims!

Bodega at Reliegos

Mansilla de las Mulas - Leon (Negative 'not' after 'be', modal verbs and auxiliaries)

Day 10 - A better walk today, although the route into Leon wasn’t the most picturesque path we’ve ever travelled. It was the typical slog along miles of pavement that you get into any big town. It didn’t matter at all, because at the end of the road was the amazing city of Leon. I couldn’t wait to get there and I wasn’t disappointed once I arrived! It was nice to be in a bustling city again, and in typically Spanish fashion, there’s history on every corner! The 13th century cathedral is particularly impressive - it has the most amazing stained glass windows I think I’ve ever seen! We spent a lovely afternoon and evening there and I’d gladly go again tomorrow! The next day, we hired a car to drive to the south of Spain. As we drove out of Leon I saw a small group of pilgrims heading on along the route. I felt a pang in my heart as we passed them. I thought - they’re my gang, I should be with them, I’m part of that club and I want to be setting off on foot on the next leg of the camino - I don’t really want this journey to end!

Into Leon

A well-earned sit down!

Leon cathedral

Leon cathedral

Leon cathedral

I have no idea what I'm doing here!

2019

Leon to Villar de Mazarife (for and since with time)

We’re back! We’ve had a couple of years off the camino due to various family commitments and we can’t wait to get started (we haven’t been since 2016 - I can’t believe it!) We’re only going to walk for 6 days as I decided 10 days was too much living out of a suitcase (don’t forget this is Camino Royale!), plus I want to take my time because I don’t actually want my camino journey to end! We’ll be walking from Leon to Ponferrada, the weather forecast is changeable, and there’s a couple of highlights on this route that I’ve been looking forward to since I first started reading about the Camino Francés!

Day 1 - (21 km) - 2 degrees first thing, which I was happy about as I enjoy walking in cool, crisp air. However, we had to walk for almost two hours through Leon streets and industrial areas before we reached some countryside, so it was a bit of an uninspiring beginning. Things started looking up when we stopped for coffee in Oncina to discover that complimentary tapas are a ‘thing’ in Leon whenever you buy a drink! A delicious slice of warm tortilla went down a treat with our cafes con leche and set us up nicely for the second half of the walk, which was only really enjoyable for the last part of the journey. The highlight definitely has to be the bird life. I’m not a huge naturalist but it was really something special to walk along to the sound of larks and catch the occasional flash of colour from a jay. And as for the storks, well, more of them later!

A weary pilgrim in Leon!

Finally, a country road!

If you need a door, make a statement!

Villar to Hospital de Orbigo (present perfect)

Day 2 - (16 km) - not the best day I’ve ever had on the camino! It was pretty rainy most of the time and consisted of a long, long walk along a main road, followed by a long, long walk along a country lane! It was very boring walking and just as I thought it couldn’t get more miserable, we got hailed on! Brr! This is the earliest time of year we’ve walked the camino (we started on the 5th of March) and we seem to be the only people out here! I believe in the summer it gets too busy, which I don’t think I’d like, but it would be nice to meet some people on the road. The plus side is that everywhere you turn there are storks building nests. I’ve noted before, we don’t have them in the UK, so we always get a thrill when we see them. At this time of year they’re pottering about collecting grasses and twigs for their nests. Terrifyingly, an awful lot of them seem to have built their nests on electricity pylons but as we’ve seen so many of them around, I guess they know what they’re doing!

This road seemed to go on forever....

A quick break in the rain

Hospital de Orbigo to Astorga (past simple - nice and easy!)

Day 3 - (20.69 km) - What a difference a day makes! Today was wonderful! It began with a real highlight, the thirteenth century Paso de Honroso bridge (which has to be seen to be believed), and continued to remind me why I love the camino with amazing scenery and great weather. The one downside was that my legs were killing me by the time I’d walked half of today’s distance. Fortunately, Astorga is the birthplace of chocolate in Europe, so I self-medicated with some of its famous products and it worked really well! It’s a lovely town, known for its Episcopal Palace, which was designed by Antoni Gaudí. Apparently it’s built in the ‘Catalan modernisme’ style and according to Wikipedia, was designed to ‘harmonise with the cathedral’. Personally, it reminded me of the inside of a Victorian public toilet and the two buildings together are like chalk and cheese, but what do I know? Gaudí was a world renowned architect and I’ve only ever built anything out of Lego!

Paso de Honroso bridge

Shrine on the road to Astorga

Unmanned self-service stall for pilgrims

San Justo de la Vega

Episcopal Palace, Astorga

Astorga cathedral

Astorga to Rabanal del Camino (say and tell)

Day 4 - (19 km) - Well, I must say, we had a really lovely walk today! The scenery was gorgeous (snow-capped mountains in the distance) and my legs were feeling a bit better (I haven’t had any blisters since I discovered that if I put a Compeed plaster on each little toe and the one next to it before I start the camino I have no trouble at all). We walked through some pine forest and some oak - so picturesque! Interestingly, I’m obviously not the only one who has achy legs on the camino - there are stickers advertising taxi companies everywhere you look on this part of the route! I always tell myself that my legs would have to be broken to have to resort to wheels on the camino but it’s obviously good business for the local taxi drivers! The only fly in the ointment today was the worst soup I’d ever had in my life. The people on the next table had said it was horrible and they weren’t exaggerating. It tasted and looked like dishwater (one dissatisfied customer was seen to pour his into the rockery!) Naturally, being British, we didn’t tell the chef and left quietly, feeling sorely disappointed! Things improved immediately when we arrived at our billet for the night, Posada Gaspar in Rabanal. A gorgeous old building with lots of interesting rooms (bizarrely, one of them contains a concert piano that we were told was once played by Frank Sinatra!) and run by such nice people - highly recommended!

Snow-capped mountains in the distance

Stork's nest

Oak wood

Gate decoration

Emergency transport anyone?!

Lovely posada

Rabanal del Camino to Acebo (mid-position adverbs)

Day 5 - (18.65km) - Beautiful scenery all the way and the part of the camino I’ve been waiting for since I first learnt about the route. Cruz de Ferro marks the highest point on the Camino Francés. It is a tall iron cross and tradition has it that pilgrims frequently leave a stone beneath it that they bring from their own place of origin and it symbolises leaving your burdens here and walking on with hope for the future. We were lucky to be completely alone when we were there and I certainly found it to be the most spiritual moment on my camino journey. An absolute highlight without a doubt. Good job really because the next two hours consisted of a downhill slog on a really stony path and it was absolutely hideous! I’d probably skip this bit if I walked the camino again, it was that bad.

Still, we stayed in a lovely albergue with great food (La Rosa del Agua - I’d definitely recommend a stopover here) and that was all I needed to refresh my legs for the final day of this year’s trip.

Thanks, I needed that!

Getting a bit giddy now!

"This is a marvellous dream"

It certainly is!

A stone for me and my sister all the way from our home town of Colwyn Bay, Wales

Cruz de Ferro

Another stunning view

Acebo, a welcome relief!

Acebo to Ponferrada (end-position adverbs)

Day 6 - (16km) - The day began with more downhill drudgery and I had to walk really carefully due to all the rocks and stones on the route. It was slow progress even by my standards (I never walk quickly) but a couple of lovely villages lifted my spirits a lot, one of which - Molinaseca - is very picturesque indeed. I was also really impressed with the historic town of Ponferrada. It’s a charming place and there’s an amazing 11th century Templar castle there. When we arrived it was a Sunday and the square was full of families milling about happily, enjoying the sunshine and the cafes and bars that are ubiquitous in typical Spanish towns. It was a memorable place to finish this leg of our journey. Sadly, my heels are absolutely killing me so it’s a relief to stop walking but I’ll definitely be back next year; I’ll just go and write ‘break in a new pair of boots’ on my to do list!

Thanks again!

Molinaseca

Molinaseca

Molinaseca

Something tells me it's not just pilgrims that visit Molinaseca!

Ponferrada