Author: Thom

We haven’t seen much in the way of vineyards since we left La Rioja. Like those points far to the east, El Bierzo is wine country. And what wines! So very tasty, and so very difficult to obtain outside of Spain. Like the vines in La Rioja, these are very much in the “zombie hands emerging from the earth” phase […]

Given the heat wave we’re struggling with here in the PNW, it seems appropriate that at this stage of our 2013 Camino adventure, we were struggling with exactly the same thing. Heat makes me stupid, and heat makes me slow. Francine, who was only walking her fourth Camino day, would have struggled anyway, but add to that the heat, and […]

We struggled on in the heat of the day. We were slow, and we were cranky, but this odd sign unaccountably cheered me up. Although we were not yet in Galicia proper – and Galicia, as the locals will never tire of reminding you, is a Celtic country – we were definitely in its cultural orbit. Three years later, we […]

Since nothing was open in Columbrianos except for a small pastry shop, we pushed on. At about a quarter after three, we found an open bar in the village of Fuentes Nuevas and stopped in for a tasty cold beverage. In Spain, the local bars and cafés typically only carry one kind of beer, so you don’t say “cerveza” to […]

By the time I took this photo in Columbrianos, it was two in the afternoon, it was ridiculously hot outside, and we were desperate for some shade and a drink. Our pace, never speedy to begin with, had slowed to the point that we were discussing cutting our day short. We had hoped to make it to Villafranca, but that […]

We walked for a brief while through vineyards before spotting the village of Columbrianos. Records of this place date to the early tenth century, and it was a prosperous town for a long time. During the medieval era, at one point its official border was partway into what is now the city of Ponferrada. These days it’s a sleepy farming […]

After Compostilla, the suburban sprawl of Ponferrada, such as it is, thins out pretty quickly. Soon we’ll be back to villages in the countryside. Date: 23 April 2013Place: between Compostilla and Columbrianos (Region of El Bierzo, Province of León, Castilla y León, Spain)Today started: Molinaseca (Region of El Bierzo, Province of León, Castilla y León, Spain)

This is just one of the brilliant murals adorning the campus of the lovely little church of Santa María de Compostilla. Although I can’t remember for sure, I don’t think this one was actually on the church building proper, but rather on another building nearby. I’ll have to go back and check. In any case, it was ’round the back […]

This is just one of the brilliant murals adorning the outside of the lovely little church of Santa María de Compostilla. The archangel Gabriel greets the Virgin with the words from the Gospel of Saint Luke, which form the first part of the Hail Mary (Ave Maria) prayer. I believe the chant is Hodie nobis caelorum Rex, one of the […]