Pilgrims on the Way

This monument stands near the village of La Portela. In addition to being a nice bit of Camino art, it’s multi-functional. It provides the name of the village, and it gives some version of the distance from here to both Roncesvalles behind us, and Santiago ahead. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: La Portella (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

I don’t think this sign needs any explanation. Oh, and Charles? It’s true. You need to walk the Camino. It’s time. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: Between Trabadelo and La Portella (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

We woke up early on the 25th of April, the Feast of Saint Mark. Our plan was a short day of about 17.5 km to the Galician village of O Cebreiro. The albergue where we stayed the night was in Trabadelo, a poor agricultural village with a rich history. It does appear rather shabby in this photo, but apparently this […]

Rebecca studies the signs as the Camino, having left the highway, enters the village of Trabadelo, population 523. Once ensconced in our albergue, Francine and Rebecca made a pasta dinner for the three of us. My sole contribution was to walk to the local shop and procure a bottle of very local wine and some chocolate for dessert. Date: 24 […]

There are only a couple of places on the Camino like this, and I hate all of them. The barrier may help with our safety, at least on this particular stretch of highway, but it does little for my nerves when cars zoom past at autobahn speeds. In many places in northern Spain, the Camino was the first major road, […]

This is the sign for the village of Pereje. Like many signs in the area, it has been altered from the Spanish spelling to the Galician spelling. This area, though it is not within the borders of the modern region of Galicia, is well within the bounds of both the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the Galician-speaking area of Spain. […]

It was bright and warm that afternoon in April, and we took some time to rest and rehydrate in the shade of an old tree. As you can see, Francine and Rebecca were happy to be out of the direct sunlight, if only for a couple of minutes. Date: 24 April 2016 Place: Between Villafranca del Bierzo and Pereje (Castilla […]

The Camino passes over this lovely little farm in the river valley below. Given the heat of the day – I very nearly zipped off the legs of my hiking pants – we elected to take the shorter of two options towards Trabadelo. The good news is that it was shorter. The not so good news was that it more […]

As we leave Villafranca, the Camino crosses the Río Burbia. This was the site of a famous medieval battle in the year 791 between the troops of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias and the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba. Although the battle was an Islamic victory, it forced the Christians to retrench and reorganise, and they emerged stronger and more united. […]