Friday, April 21, 2023Walking from Aljucén to Alcuéscar21.2 kilometers Another day starting cool and brisk as we left Aljucén. We walked out of town at about 7:30 AM and the bar/cafe was already doing a good business, including with some pilgrims inside having breakfast. We walked by this old stone church, similar to many we have seen in southern Spain. Very quickly we were down in a broad river valley leaving Aljucén. The sign is […]
Thursday, April 20, 2023Walking from Mérida to Aljucén16.4 kilometers We left the dismal, uninspired albergue in Mérida at 8:00 AM, a little later than we had hoped. Finally on the road, our target was a town called El Carrascalejo. Since it was only 14 kilometers and the next town of Aljucén was only another 3 kilometers, we decided to see how we felt when we got to El Carrascalejo and if we could go another […]
Wednesday, April 19, 2023Walking from Torremejia to Mérida18.4 kilometers Today is another cool day in southern Spain. Cool in the morning, good for walking, and warming as morning progresses to almost hot in the afternoon. The hotness of the afternoon is not good for walking, we leave early to walk in the cool morning and arrive early in the afternoon. But after going through the daily routine of checking in, getting lunch, having a shower […]
Tuesday, April 18, 2023Walking from Villafranca de los Barros to Torremejia27.5 kilometers Today was a long, long day, and a very good day. The road from Villafranca de los Barros to Torremejia was almost completely straight north, off the main roads, and in lush and strikingly beautiful farmland. There is not much to report along the way, as the route was very straight and the farmland repetitive, making time for introspection and reflection. We started […]
Monday, April 17, 2023Walking from Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros20.2 kilometers Today marks the start of the second week of walking on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes. A note on Maps and Step Counts I’m not happy with some of the technology I am trying to use on this Camino pilgrimage walk. The maps Samsung Health provides are not satisfactory, and while the Google Fit maps […]
Sunday, April 16, 2023Walking from Fuente de Cantos to Zafra26.2 kilometers, 37,700 steps The end of the walk today marked one complete week on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago collection of pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela. This was a day that started in a beautiful cool spring morning and ended with pain in my right foot and a dense fog of frustration in my mood. The walk […]
Saturday, April 15, 2023Walking from Monesterio to Fuente de Cantos22.5 kilometers, 23,400 steps The sixth day on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage paths started in very cool, but clear weather promising being quite warm by midday. My foot is continuing to heal albeit slower than I had hoped. As yesterday, our Taiwanese friend Sharon and I are again having our backpacks taken by taxi to our ending point […]
Friday, April 14, 2023Walking from El Real de la Jara to Monesterio20.7 kilometers, 27,9000 steps We are on our fifth day, closing in on the first full week on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage paths. Today is another shorter day, deliberately so to ensure that healing is taking place. Our Taiwanese friend Sharon and I are again having our backpacks taken by taxi to our ending point to […]
Thursday, April 13, 2023Walking from Almadén de la Plata to El Real de la Jara14.4 kilometers, 20,240 steps Today is the fourth day of walking from Seville to Santiago de Compostela on the Camino de Santiago route known as the Via de la Plata. And today was to be a shorter day at about 14 kilometers. Our Taiwanese friend Sharon is going to walk again today after two days resting her hip, and to ease […]
Wednesday, April 12, 2023Walking from Castilblanco de los Arroyos to Almadén de la Plata18.2 kilometers, 18,540 steps Today turned out to be more interesting than expected. There are two section of the route from Castilblanco de los Arroyos to Almadén. The first section is 16 kilometers on a very narrow path adjacent to a highway. The second section is about 14 kilometers through what is called a park, but really more of a nature preserve. […]
Tuesday, April 11, 2023Walking from Guillena to Castilblanco de los Arroyos18 kilometers, 20,600 steps Today was a challenging day, not because of the difficulty, but because we are still finding our Camino fitness. And, somehow, when we took a break, both the Samsung Health and Google Fit applications reset. Samsung Health reported that I only walked 1.8 kilometers and I know the walk was much longer. Google Fit broke the walk into two sections where […]
Monday, April 10, 2023Walking from Seville to Guillena22 kilometers, 33,700 steps Today is our first day walking the Via de la Plata route of the family of Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes. Southern Spain is having slightly warmer than normal temperatures, with the high in Seville expected to be 33-34 C or about 90-92 F. We decided to get a fairly early start, and met at the cathedral at about 8:30 AM. Here is my […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 