Walking the Camino de Santiago
Somehow I managed to leave the albergue right about 6:30. I was hoping there might be a place open in the village for breakfast. There was a place scheduled to open at 6 AM, but they were not. Perhaps they were hung over from Spain’s World Cup game last night. Well, I’ve done this before. I set off down the […]
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Last night I slept hard. I woke with a start at about 6:15. I was slow packing up and was the last person out of the albergue this morning. I still somehow managed to leave before 7 AM. This turned out for the best, because the café across the street opened at seven. I met and had a breakfast with […]
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This morning I was up and out by 7 AM. The year was relatively cool, and the skies were overcast. Again, they were predicting thunderstorms for the afternoon. Within minutes, I crossed the bridge over the Río Sil and was looking for breakfast. The Camino took me through a beautiful riverside park which, however, didn’t really have anything resembling a […]
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Yesterday I joined the monks of Rabanal in chanting Vespers for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This was in Latin in Gregorian chant, but using the modern Liturgy of the Hours with just a few additions in the monastic tradition. It was absolutely sublime. Compline followed after dinner. This morning, breakfast was at 6:30, and I […]
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It felt strange this morning packing up and leaving alone. Herve has been part of the Camino since Périgueux, which was back on May 2. A little bit more than a month ago, and it seems like a lifetime. But he must rest, and I must walk today. We shall meet again in Santiago, if not before. I was out […]
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A late start to the morning. After yesterday’s walk, we might be forgiven for oversleeping. After breakfast, Herve and I headed out the door just after 8:05. It’s probably the last morning I’ll be able to say that, as his plan is to take a rest day in Astorga, and I will continue on. The morning was cool, but not […]
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This morning I tried something different. I shipped about half the contents of my backpack forward and carried the rest. The hotel breakfast began at 7:30, and we were out the door by 8:15 AM. My bag had already been picked up for transport. In retrospect, it would have been better to leave at 6 AM and grab breakfast at […]
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While I was definitely feeling better this morning, out of an abundance of caution I elected not to walk with my backpack today. I’ve never used a baggage forwarding service on Camino before, but Herve took the lead, and the kind lady working the breakfast counter at the albergue walked us through it and assured us that everything would be […]
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Apparently we needed rest, as both Herve and I overslept this morning. We have a long breakfast – it needs to do double service as first and second breakfast, since the next village is 17.6 km farther down the Meseta. Today would be a day of isolation on the deep Meseta, looking for a section of Roman frontier road that […]
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Breakfast wasn’t scheduled to begin at the albergue until 7 AM, so Herve and I elected to skip it in favor of the next village. We were walking by 6:40. The morning was cold and windy, and we were greeted by a cacophony of birds. After winding through the village, we found ourselves on the same white gravel road of […]
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