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 […]
Friday & SaturdayApril 6 & 7, 2023 Traveling to Asia or Europe from southern California is a long process. I will be making the 1000 kilometer pilgrimage walk from Seville to Santiago de Compostela with my long-time friend Tom from Sydney, Australia. We will start the walk on April 10, the day after Easter Sunday. Tom has been in Seville all of Easter Holy Week, and has sent me a few pictures of the elaborate […]
Friday, March 31, 2023Planning a return to Spain I am returning to Spain, leaving from home in a week on Thursday April 6, 2023. Very early on Friday I’ll fly from Los Angeles to Atlanta then to Madrid, arriving Saturday morning. That afternoon I’ll take a train to Seville where I’ll have two nights to adjust to the 9-hour time difference and ready myself for a long walk starting Monday, April 10, 2023. In Seville, […]
16 October 2017 Walking day 33: 20 kilometers Today, Monday, 16 October 2017, I walked into Santiago de Compostela and arrived at the cathedral. I made it! This is the end-point of the 800 kilometer Camino Frances. Unfortunately, the cathedral is undergoing a multi-year cleaning, and is covered in scaffolding, but this is the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela: My body is tired, my feet are tired and sore. I am stopping my 2017 Camino […]
15 October 2017 Walking Day 32: 21.5 kilometers Today was another really nice day walking on the Camino de Santiago, although it was noticeably more humid than in past days. For the past two or more weeks, the temperature at the start of the day has been in single-digits (Celsius, 38-50 Fahrenheit). Today, coming out of the hotel in Arzúa, was 18 at 8:15 AM! (64 F). Dark, but already warm and already humid. We […]
14 October 2017 Walking Day 31: 28.8 kilometers Today was a very nice walk on the Camino de Santiago. There were definitely some challenges, but it was a very nice day. The day started out in the pre-dawn darkness at about 6 C (40 F), and gradually warmed to be about 28 C (82 F) and just a little more humid than in recent days. I started again in the pre-dawn darkness at about 8:00 […]
13 October 2017 Walking Day 30: 30.5 kilometers Another day of the Camino in which I started before the sun rose, and walked up hill. This up hill stretch was much like yesterday, with a steep section more than 1.5 kilometers to Monte San Antonio, then 12 kilometers up to the high point for the day at Sierra Ligonde. With about 6 kilometers to go to Palas de Rei, I made a diversion of 5 […]
12 October 2017 Walking Day 29: 22 kilometers For many of the pilgrims on the Camino route today, this is their first day, since many start the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Sarria, 110 kilometers from Santiago de Compostela. For me, it was just another day, slightly shorter than some, and with the knowledge that I have only five days of walking to Santiago de Compostela. It was challenging, though, as the first 11-12 kilometers […]
11 October 2017 Walking day 28: 25.5 kilometers Today started out the coolest so far, at about 5 degrees C (38 F). I decided to walk to Sarria from Triacastela via Samos. Samos is home to one of the oldest monasteries in the western world still operating, having been founded in the 6th century. And the alternative route via Samos from Triacastela to Sarria is mostly in the forest. I am walking alone today, as […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 