Month: September 2023

Tuesday, 9/26: Today we depart Ponferrada to head to Villafranca del Bierzo, a relatively easy 25 km ride. The skies are clear and the temperatures are hovering around the low 70’s when we depart.

On the way we ride through vineyards to stop for lunch in a small city called Cacabelos. It turns out to be market day in the main plaza and we find an outdoor stand preparing octopus the Galician way – boiled and then seasoned with olive oil, paprika and salt. We definitely would not see this type of entrepreneurship allowed in Florida.

We arrive in Villafranca del Bierzo and as we ride to dinner we see the sunset over the vineyards.

We planned to stay an extra day to rest and enjoyed walking through the charming town.

A rest will serve us well as we prepare for Thursday when we will pick up the pace again as we make our way to O Cebreiro and arrive in the new region of Galicia. From our current elevation of 540 meters we will climb 700 km in about 15 km to an elevation of 1,350 meters at an incline of no less than 10%. 🤯💪

Monday, 9/25: We leave Astorga to head to Ponferrada – a 57 km trip with a couple of peaks hovering around 1500 meters, the elevation gain of over 600 meters will be the challenge for the day. We also make the full transition away from agricultural fields to forests and mountains.

On the way we ride through a quaint village representative of the change in the region , Castrillo de los Polvazares, as evident by the barrel tile roofs, stonework walls and cobblestone paths through town.

Making our way up with the electric assist bikes had us passing other bicyclists which felt odd. Even though I’ve accepted my limitations, I feel like I’m not playing by “the rules” of this journey requiring hardship.

This stage of the trip has a unique waypoint known as la Cruz de Ferro (or Iron Cross) at the top of one of those peaks. The tradition of pilgrims leaving a stone they’ve carried with them up to this point and leaving it at the foot of the cross symbolizes something they wish to “let go and let God”. Needless to say, the base is filled with stones, some with pictures attached or names written. It felt intrusive to look too closely at these remnants and so I did not take a detailed picture.

And while the ascent is quick, the downhill is long and fast – about 920 meters in less than 15 km. As we descended I said a silent prayer for my brakes to not fail us.

We arrived in the city of Ponferrada, and were greeted by the the Castle of the Knights Templar. Known as one of the “military orders of the Catholic faith” of medieval times, they were welcomed to Ponferrada in 1178 to protect the pilgrims and the route across the Sil River on the iron bridge (Pons Ferrata) to El Camino de Santiago. They took over the castle that had been built over a former Roman settlement and built more fortification, wineries, breadstores and vegetable gardens over the subsequent century. The story of the Knights Templar is fascinating and much deeper than the stories we have heard through pop culture movies like “National Treasure” or “Indian Jones”. As we walked through the Castle’s exhibits, what struck me was the fact that at their peak the Knights Templar commanded over 20,000 members that were either warriors, supporters (i.e. administrators, farmers, laborers of their various businesses and facilities all over Europe and in the middle east) or clergy. Some would say they were the first multinational corporation, also creating the first system of banking. Initially though, before they achieved great economic power, the draw seemed to be the sense of belonging and support they offered with a clear purpose: their motto “not for me but for the Glory of God” resonated with Catholic Christians of the day.

Throughout history we see people seeking a sense of belonging and purpose. As I observe the extremes in our world today, it seems clear to me that sometimes that very human need/want is the ember that gets stoked to fuel the fire for other purposes, not always for the purpose of the common good.

Sunday, 9/24: Today we make our way to Astorga, a 51 km ride in clear weather that has warmed up considerably. As we leave Leon, we enter La Maragateria, the ancient historical region of the Maragatos in the Leon Province. It is the transition point between the never-ending plains of the mesa we’ve been traveling and the edge of the Leon Mountains.

We stop at the historical town of Hospital de Orbigo where we must cross the Orbigo River using the medieval Bridge of Orbigo, originally engineered by the Romans. Historically at a strategic point at the foot of the Cantabrian mountains, its beginnings trace back to the old Roman road called the Via Aquitania used to link the Roman cities of Asturica (present day Astorga) and Tarraco (present day Tarragona). Love and wars are intertwined in this site: for a fascinating story, read about the Passo Honroso tournament in 1434.

It was beautiful to see this ancient river and place being enjoyed by its residents today.

While Astorga has been a part of history for over 20 centuries, it is a beautiful blend of old and modern. They have roman ruins, as well as the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Mary and the second site of young Antoni Gaudi’s architectural genius, known as el Palacio de Gaudi.

We’ve visited 14 cities/towns/villages/hamlets over the past 14 days and no matter how far back their history, the common thread that is woven through all these places is the people: the joy of living, eating, drinking has been visible every day.

Saturday 9/22: The temperature is hovering in the low 40’s so it’s a second day of wearing several layers as we venture to our next destination, the city of Leon approximately 40 km away. We make a concerted effort to limit our stops so we can spend more time in Leon.

We stop briefly in Mansilla de las Mulas to see their Puerta del Castillo of the old walled city.

We arrive by midday in Leon. We begin with a tour of the Basilica of San Isidoro and the accompanying Museo de San Isidoro Real Colegiata which traces its beginnings back to the 10th century when it began as a monastery. In the 15th and 18th century it became an important library that today houses about 2000 books dating between the 10th and 18th century. We were amazed to see one of the rarest codices in the world: a Visigothic-Mozarabic Bible that was the work of Florencious and Sancho in 960. It is composed of 514 parchment leaves and the preservation is perfect. It is called Mozarabic because the monks who made it were Christian but culturally they were Arabian from the South of Spain, Al-Andalus.

Then to the Santa Maria de Regla Cathedral, c 13th century. It holds one of the largest collections of medieval stained glass in the world.

Finally, we visit La Casa del Dragon de Gaudi (AKA La Casa Botines). My first exposure to Gaudi was in the city of Barcelona. Seeing this, one of his first residential projects as a young architect, and only 1 of 3 projects he ever did outside of the Catalonia region of Spain was fascinating. The story of how he laid the foundation, his genius in designing for the weather patterns of Leon to design the windows for efficient cross-ventilation in hotter months, for diffusing the heat of the sun light for the colder months, the selection of slate for the roof to manage snow conditions. If only today’s developers would embrace the power of good design for housing that can withstand the elements and provide healthy living for residents.

Leon is definitely a highlight for this journey.

Friday, 9/22: As we depart Calzadilla de la Cueza, the temperature dropped after the weather front worked its way through the region, dropping to 39 F. Fortunately the sun will warm up to 67 F by 3 p.m. The landscape remains the same as it’s been for the past week, fields as far as the eye can see, very little tree canopy. Reminds me of how life can seem monotonous with our daily routines and frequenting the same places in the neighborhood. Being in the moment sometimes is about looking for the little things. The unkept grasslands harbor tons of birds and as my bike nears the edge of a path, I inevitably startle them and they fly out alongside me, showing me their colors and shrieking their fevered pitch.

Just as in life we have milestones that set apart certain days from the routine, this day we realize that we will reach an important milestone in our journey, the halfway point after we officially enter the province of Leon.

We make our midway stop in a small city called Sahagun whose beginnings trace back to the 12th and 13th centuries when it was a center of economic and religious activity that attracted muslims (known as mozarabes) who wanted to remain in Spain. It was the shared experience of these cultures that led to a surge of artistry in wood, stone and brick. Seeking diversity in the people and places around us can also foster greater appreciation for the moment we are living in.

We completed a relatively short leg at 40 km and stopped for the night in a small village that basically is at a crossroads of major highways for the region, El Burgo Ranero.

Thursday, 9/21: Today started with a weather front moving through the region which brought rain for the first half of the day. We opted to wait to begin our next stage to Calzadilla de la Cueza until 12:30 when the rain stopped. Fortunately the 41 km was doable in 3 hours, even with the 10 knot headwind with gusts up to 20 knots (it probably would have taken double that time without electric assist). The landscape was primarily fields as far as the eye could see.

A stop in Villalcazar de Sirga allowed a visit to the Church of Santa Maria la Blanca. A surprisingly grandiose church with reinforcements more suited to a fort. Built by the Knights Templar at the end of the 12th century, it also houses the remains of members of the royal family of the time.

We did not stop, but there was a lovely green space for pilgrims to rest in Carrion de los Condes in front of the church of Santa Maria de la Victoria.

Arriving in Calzadilla de la Cueza we found a a humble restaurant whose proprietors were originally from Las Islas Canarias and we enjoyed a dark rum from there with our coke zero before having dinner with other pilgrims as we compared notes of our travels along the trail.

Wednesday, 9/20: Today we traveled the longest stage thus far, 67 km and faced headwinds of 10-12 knots with gusts up to 25 knots. Beautiful plateaus with fields of grain and generally low hills. Except the steep descent they call “Matamulos” just before we reached Hornillos del Camino.

As we approached the village of Castrojeriz we are greeted by an arch over the roadway.

Then the entrance to Castrojeriz with an abandoned castle at the top of the hill.

Finally, the entrance to Fromista as we cross the Pisuerga River. And a view of one of the connections to the famous Canal de Castilla.

It was an 8 hour day, with us cycling a little over 5 hours with an elevation gain of 1,437 ft. With the wind, we would have never made it before nightfall had we not had the electric assist bikes. Grateful for humility to to know our limits… and for technology.

Tuesday, 9/19: As we leave San Juan de Ortega to head to Burgos, the terrain continues to be primarily agricultural fields. While the weather has been warm it is manageable, averaging between 78-85 degrees Fahrenheit. The challenge has been continued windy conditions. Which we assume is the prevailing condition as evidenced by all the wind turbines installed along the mountain ridges. Over the course of today’s 25 km that headwind not only slowed us down, it also undermined concentration as you have to contend with the constant noise in your ears. Who knew that could contribute to exhaustion too.

We finally arrived in Burgos, one of the larger cities in the Castilla y Leon region of Spain. It was founded in 884 and is known for its industry and the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos. Built in 39 years, a record for its time, it has been designated a World Heritage site. Just a beautiful city to explore.

The site where the Constables of Castilla welcomed Queen Isabela to confer privileges upon Christopher Columbus after his successful return from the second trip to the new world in 1497.

Walking up to to Castle of Burgos, we encountered the story of the Siege of Burgos when French armies under orders of Napoleon entered the Iberian Peninsula with the intention of invading Portugal and ultimately used the dilapidated medieval castle as a strategic base from which to operate. Although initially intended to be a point of transit for the French to reach their intended destination, it quickly became an occupation of the peninsula leading to war between Spain and France between 1808 and 1813. History is filled with examples of chaos that result from wars of aggression. Are we always bound to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Now the castle grounds serves as a park and viewing point for the city.

We are 301 km from where we began in St. Jean Pied de Port, France. We have officially walked 26.5 km and biked 274 km. Looking to tomorrow we must travel 67 km to our next stop in Fromista – the longest distance so far. We have evaluated the route ahead and given the wind conditions forecasted on Wednesday we have decided to switch to electric assist bikes for the rest of the trip. We have exceeded the requirement of 200 km by bike in order to earn the official “compostela” given in Santiago. We remember the mistakes made early on when we overestimated our abilities with the challenge of the trail, compounded by weather conditions, we want to apply lessons learned. The impact of consecutive days of travel only increases the possibility of injury from overstraining. Our ultimate goal is to complete this pilgrimage safely without injury. Onward!

Monday, 9/18 we embarked upon the segment from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to San Juan de Ortega.  It was planned as a slightly shorter route which would give us a bit of respite at the end of the day but once again El Camino tested us in new ways.  The sun was shining and a cool breeze was blowing at 57 degrees as we made our way out of town through paths used by farmers to tend to their fields of sun flowers.  

The first challenge arose with the wind forecast that proved to be accurate:  we were facing headwinds at 13 knots with gusts up to 30 knots.  After the first hour on the trail we calculated that at the pace we were keeping we would probably take a minimum of 7 1/2 hours (without breaks) to complete the 50 km to our next stop.  

We persevered slowly but surely, crossing the boundary of the Rioja region into Castile y Leon region.

The next challenge we encountered was an extended stop in the middle of a field of sunflowers to fix a flat in Tom’s bike.  We changed out the inner tube and got on our way.

We made a brief stop in Viloria de Rioja, the ancestral home of St. Domingo de la Calzada, beloved by Spaniards for his care of pilgrims and making the Camino safer for their journey.  For this he is also known as the patron saint of engineers and builders.  

As we made our way out of town in a gently descending path to the main road, Tom encountered a second flat.  The coincidence indicated we probably  missed the culprit on the tire itself.  At this point I located the nearest bike shop in the town of Belorado, approximately 5 km from where we were.  We proceeded to stop every kilometer or so for Tom to pump up the tire. About an hour later we arrived at El Salto Albergue – a hidden gem alongside a flowing water canal surrounded by apple and pear trees.

The inn keeper, Fernando was incredibly helpful in determining the cause of back-to-back flats (despite being in the middle of preparing for the arrival of pilgrims who usually arrive by 2 p.m.): a thorn that looked like it had been pricked off a rose bush and perfectly inserted on the inner edge of the tire tread . When he pulled it with his fingernails and displayed it on his thumb I exclaimed “increible” to which he responded, “actualmente muy creible” (actually very believable). After all the energy expended with the flat and fighting the headwinds and calculating the prospect of cycling at dusk, we realized that the remaining 20 km to San Juan de Ortega would best be completed by taxi — with a bike rack. Apparently we weren’t the first pilgrims to need assistance, nor will we be the last.

Arriving in the small hamlet named after San Juan de Ortega we settled in and recharged the batteries. We then ventured out to explore the former monastery and church dating back to 1142 which was built by San Juan de Ortega and his mentor, Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Having withstood the test of time, it is known for its unique architectural design that perfectly aligned a small window placed in the main facade to allow a stream of light to shine twice a year on the solar equinoxes in March and September. As the light streams in, it shines on one capital of the main column depicting the Catholic theology of Jesus’ nativity: the annunciation, the visitation of Mary by her cousin Elizabeth, the birth of Jesus and the announcement to the shepherds.

After a day of facing headwinds and adjusting our pace, changing gears (literally and figuratively) to compensate for the fact we could not control the wind, only how we reacted to it, I was glad that we saw the light: completing the goal safely sometimes requires asking for help.

On Saturday, 9/16 we departed Estella to head to one of the larger cities on the Camino: Logrono. The terrain was green with many vineyards and other fields of agriculture. This segment comprises 49.6 km with a cumulative change of altitude of 785 m. and many pretty hamlets and villages along the way.

We stopped in the hamlet of Los Arcos to admire the Church of Holy Mary and the Gates of Castilla (c. 17th century).

Also Torres del Rio has a beautiful romanic design of octagonal shape: Iglesia del Santo Sepulcro.

Lovely lunch of pinxos in the village of Viana fueled us up for the last leg to Logrono.

Unbeknown to us the city of Logrono was celebrating their Feast of St. Mateo, with concerts, bull fights and much festivity in the old town streets.

The next day, Sunday, we departed Logrono to head to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. This segment comprises 50.9 km with a cumulative change of altitude of 845 m. We are in the Rioja province, known for its winemaking and then as we get closer to our destination, we see the shift to fields of grain.

Logrono has a lovely bicycle path into and out of their town that with the elevation gives one a great panoramic.

Unfortunately we encountered dirt roads that turn into clay mud with rain and/or irrigation.

Walking the bike through we made our way into town – slowly but surely. This small village cares for the Cathedral that holds the tomb of St. Domingo, much beloved for his care for pilgrims and making their journey safer.

After a long day, we hoped that the day’s obstacles did not foreshadow what was to come.