(September 14) After the tranquility of the countryside, our guidebook warns about the hustle and bustle in Burgos (population 180,000), not to mention the possibility of being overcharged or becoming the victims of theft. Actually, we are pleased to be in a city for a day or two where we walk less than on other... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 12: Walking the meseta
(September 15) We leave Burgos early this morning and before long we are on the meseta, the large central upland plateau that covers much of the Iberian Peninsula. The meseta is in some ways similar to the high rolling prairie in the Swift Current or Maple Creek area of southern Saskatchewan. We left the mountains... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 13: Two women named Pilar
(September 16) I have on this trip encountered two lovely women named Pilar. The name is a common and traditional one in Spain. There is even a Day of Pilar to celebrate an occasion back in 40 AD when the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the apostle St. James (Santiago) when he... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 14: Good Samaritans at Boadilla
(September 17) We leave the tiny village of Boadilla del Camino well before sunrise this morning, planning to get most of the day's hike completed prior to about noon, when it gets hot. Martha has a small headlamp to show the way in the dark but the Camino signage, usually very good, is not so... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 15: Roman roads
(September 18) We leave Carrion de Los Condes early this morning for another day in the open country of the meseta and we walk for 27 kilometres, encountering only two small villages along the way. We end the day at a modern hotel just outside of tiny village called Terradillos de Los Templarios. Roman engineering... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 16: oasis on the Meseta
(September 19) We arrive in the village of Calzadilla de los Hermadillos this afternoon footsore and tired following a 27-kilometre walk through the meseta. The clouds gather and rain threatens just when we enter the village but fortunately the first building that we encounter is the Albergue Via Trajana where I had reserved a private... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 17: Via Romana
(September 20) We sleep in a bit this morning and get a later start than usual. We now have less concern about walking in the early afternoon because the high temperatures are in the 20s and today there is a stiff breeze. In the evenings now we have to wear long sleeves and a fleece.... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 18: León’s cathedral of light
(September 21) We ended yesterday in the town of Mansilla de las Mulas but today we decided to take a cab into Leon, 18 kilometres down the road. That spares us the walk along a busy highway into the city and will allow us to spend a full day in León and to visit its famous... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 19: Outback to Astorga
(September 22) We begin today by taking a comfortable bus out of Leon for about 40 minutes to a town called Hospital Del Orbigo. We are dropped off at the highway and walk into the old town in search of the most famous of the surviving Roman bridges along the Camino. It spans the Rio... Continue Reading →
Canadians on the Camino, Day 20: A brief history of The Way
(September 23) Pilgrims have been walking the Camino since at least the ninth century. There is a long history of pilgrimages in the Catholic Church but this one celebrating St. James (Santiago in Spanish) has its own unique set of drivers. Origins of the Camino The reasons for pilgrimages are supposedly religious -- to petition... Continue Reading →