May 8, 2016 Sunday The Rain in Spain falls…on the plain. Walking Day #17 Today it rained on the plain in Spain. It was cold and wet. The rain was hard enough that I kept my camera safe and dry deep in my backpack, so there are no pictures of the walk today. It was green and beautiful, thankfully short at 20 kilometers (13 miles), and very flat. The scenery on the meseta was much […]
May 7, 2016 Saturday A Slower Walk across the Meseta to El Burgo Ranero Walking Day #16 My goal today was to keep it to a slow pace, this being my first day back walking on the Camino after my fairly short, but dramatic illness. After a breakfast of tea (not coffee-con-leche), toast and jam, and yogurt (following doctor’s orders…no milk except yogurt, and no zumo narranjo for a few days), I set out for […]
May 5 and 6, 2016 Thursday and Friday Health drama on the Camino My short-lived, and not really that serious health drama is over. I did spend time in the hospital, but I am well, and I appreciate all the well-wishes from everywhere and everyone from which they have come. Many people really came through for me here in Spain, especially the Spanish people. We hear that it is their culture to support the pilgrims […]
May 3, 2016 Tuesday The Meseta on the way to Fromista Walking Day #15 Another day on the meseta. From the elevation diagram, it seems we are in for a fairly major hill climb just outside of Castrojeriz about 3 kilometers. Again, walking over relatively flat farmland and over a small river, the hill emerged in our view ahead of us. As we got closer, it looked too long and steep to possibly the Camino […]
May 2, 2016 Monday The Meseta starts: Hornillos to Castrojeriz Walking Day #14 After getting a ride from the remote El Molina hotel to the town of Hornillos del Camino, I naturally started walking with the Brazilian couple. They were going at about the pace I wanted to walk, so it worked out well. Leaving Hornillos, we started a gradual climb. Many of these towns on the meseta are in river valleys, so to […]
May 1, 2016 Sunday From Burgos onto the Meseta and Hornillos del Camino Walking Day #13 I was able to leave Burgos early on Sunday morning, at about 8 AM. It was cold, a thermometer reported 4 degrees, which is about 38 degrees fahrenheit. I am glad I got the wool hat, and I am glad I have gloves. Walking out of Burgos was very different than walking in to Burgos. While walking […]
April 30, 2016 Saturday A Rest Day in Burgos: The Cathedral I spent a rest day resting in Burgos. The focus was on visiting and taking in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos. This is a cathedral that is in short amazing; as with many things on this Camino pilgrimage, words fail me – the cathedral is just simply amazing in all elements – the history, the architecture, and the artistry. This was a […]
April 29, 2016 Friday A Long Walk to Burgos and a Rest Day Walking Day #12 The walk today from San Juan de Ortega to Burgos is a generally flat 26 kilometers (16 miles) walk, with one very steep, fairly long (almost a kilometer), and very rocky uphill. As with the walk into San Juan de Ortega, the day’s walk started in the forest, and while it was a cold morning, it was beautiful and […]
April 28, 2016 Thursday An Uphill Walk to San Juan de Ortega Walking Day #11 Today started out somewhat cold; we could see our breath in the air as we started walking through Belorado. The weather prediction was for rain or snow, and I was hoping we would at least get close to the end before it started raining. Walking through the small town of Belorado, I looked for way markers on the sidewalks, […]
April 27, 2017 Wednesday An easy 22 kilometers to Belorado Walking Day #10 Today was an easier day from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado, only 14 miles. I laugh as i wrote that because in most other contexts, walking 14 miles would not be prefaced with “only.” But here on the Camino, it was an easier day, partly because of the distance, but mostly because of the relatively gently rolling terrain — no […]
April 26, 2016 Tuesday A Walk to Santo Domingo de la Calzada Walking Day #9 Today’s walk was a little shorter than I had thought before I read over the guidebook. Yesterday was about 30 kilometers (20 miles), and today, the distance from Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a mere 20 kilometers (13 miles). And there is to be only one major hill, and it does not look too terribly bad. […]
April 25, 2016 Monday The long walk from Logroño to Nájera Walking Day #8 Today was a very long day of walking in terms of distance, 28 kilometers from Logrono to Nájera in the La Rioja area of northern Spain. This is the wine country, and the vineyards were around us all day. We started walking from Logroño, a busy city of over 150,000 population. We will be walking to a much smaller city […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 