Nick BarlowThirty-eight days left in the year, so thought I'd mark them by remembering the 38 days I spent walking the #CaminoDeSantiago earlier this year photos from each day. Day 1 took me from Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port to Roncesvalles via Valcarlos, crossing from France to Spain over the Pyrenees. A day that started in the valleys, then went up and up into snow and fog. A testing walk, but one I passed. #walking
Day 2 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories, heading from Roncesvalles to Zubiri, slowly dropping out of the Pyrenees and the snow as the early morning mist burned off to reveal a bright day. #walking
Day 3 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories from this year. Zubiri to Pamplona was a stage full of great Navarrese scenery (though not many cafes en route to stop at) and then the first city of the Camino full of twisty old streets, tapas bars and all the running of the bulls memorabilia you could ever need.
Day 4 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories from this year (and yes, this is a day late!). A lot of walking on a bright Saturday, starting with the ascent to the Alto del Perdon with its famous sculptures of pilgrims over the years, then diverting from the main route to visit the twelfth century church of Santa Maria de Eunate before ending the day in Puenta La Reina.
Back on schedule with Day 5 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories from April. This took me from Puente La Reina to Estella. By now the Pyrenees were well behind me and the path was starting to flatten out. Still some hills and slopes, but short ones, and the countryside was opening up. The sun came out too, and I managed to get a bit of sunburn - but only on my left arm. Walking west, that's the side that faces the sun. I slept above a weir and the white noise of it gave me a great night's sleep.
Looking back at Day 6 of my #CaminoDeSantiago journey and this was my first day walking more than 30km from Estella to Torres Del Rio. It started with the free wine at the Irrache wine fountain - some filled a bottle, I just took a sip - and ended with a quiet couple of hours walking between fields and vineyards.
Ending November with Day 7 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and still on course to fill the rest of the year with these. This day took me from Torres del Rio to Logroño and into La Rioja. It started by threatening heavy rain, but before long it was drizzle and then nothing. A nice walk through the countryside with roadside stalls providing drinks and snacks along the way, then exploring the many tapas bars of Calle Laurel in the city. For half an hour, until they closed for the afternoon.
Day 8 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories and it was another longish day from Logroño to Najera. A nice day's walking, though, interspersed wth various examples of Spainish art from an Osborne bull to a massive golden altarpiece in a village church. Then another evening of wine and tapas, and this time they didn't close early...
Day 9 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories from this year with the journey from Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It was a day of nice walking through the countryside, an eerily empty town of golfers, a Maundy Thursday market in town and the sacred chickens of the cathedral. And worried discussions and rumours about just how much of Spain would be totally closed for Good Friday the day after...
Day 10 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and it was time for me to leave La Rioja and enter Castilla y Leon. From Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado on Good Friday, starting with hot air balloons rising in the mist and ending with a holy parade through the streets of Belorado.
Day 11 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories and this was a short day from Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca. I was a bit run down and tired after a bad night's sleep with some kind of bug. Took it slow, then when I got to Villafranca for a break to ponder my next steps I was greeted by a pair of cats and took that as a sign to stay there for the night.
Day 12 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories and I marked Easter Sunday by being recovered from whatever bug had been causing trouble for the last couple of days. A long walk through a forest today and stopped to pay my respects at the memorial for the mass grave of Republicans murdered by Franco's thugs during the Civil War. Then on to Atapuerca where I found an albergue that looked like it was in Hobbiton and spent the rest of the holiest day of the year drinking with Irish pilgrims.
Day 13 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories. A cold morning leaving Atapuerca and up a hill that gave a view down to the day's target of Burgos and the expanse of the Meseta beyond it. Not the most thrilling of walks after that, but a diversion to a secondary route at the edge of Burgos meant I got to approach the city along the river rather than following the main route of the Camino through industrial estates.
Day 14 of #CaminoDeSantiago from April this year. After Burgos, out came the Berghaus. Waterproof trousers were needed for my first real wet day of the trip as I began the crossing of the Meseta (AKA "the vast Meseta" in just about every Camino guidebook). Flatter terrain and open countryside full of farmland. Was invited in to visit a church and get dry at Rabe de las Calzadas, then made it to Hornillos before the rain really started coming down.
Day 15 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and now I was deep into the Meseta. The day started wet and grey, but lightened up after Hontanas, giving some great views on the way into Castrojeriz. I then pushed on from there and had the path to myself for most of the afternoon, seeing a donkey helping to herd sheep, then having a glorious view of the countryside before finally being greeted by a cat in the doorway of the albergue at Itero de la Vega. A good day.
Day 16 of the #CaminoDeSantiago was another long one. A pleasant first half from Itero de la Vega on a morning that started chilly then warmed up for a stroll along an old canal to the ancient locks at Fromista. Then a steadily warming afternoon following the long straight P-980 road to Carrion de los Condes. I got to hear someone sing a Spanish version of My Way when I stopped for a drink, but apart from that it was a long trek...and rain was in the forecast for the next day.
Day 17 on the #CaminoDeSantiago memories and this was the day it rained. Not quite all day, there were a couple of patches of hail too, but just continual rain for much of it. Also the day that started with 17km of walking along an old Roman path with no aces to stop along it, so finally seeing Calzadilla was a massive relief. Then just a few kilometres of walking after that to a night in Ledigos drying out many things, including my pilgrim credencial.
Day 18 of the #CaminoSeSantiago memories, and this was another mostly wet day. Was dry when we left Ledigos but started raining at the hobbit-esque bodegas of Moratinos, and then got cold too. However, today was also the day I reached Sahagun, the official halfway point of the #CaminoFrances with a warm albergue and a much drier forecast for the coming days.
Day 19 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and after two days of rain, this was all about sun and big sky. Long flat roads across the Meseta heading from Sahagun to Reliegos with not too much to see but that was OK, by this time on the walk I was enjoying having time with my thoughts and working through a lot of issues.
Day 20 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories and the end of the Meseta as I made it to Leon, where I stayed in an albergue run by Capuchin monks. At one point I was talking to a Faroese fellow pilgrim about why we'd come to walk this and he described it as dealing with all the weights of life he was carrying.
"And you," he asked, "did you come here with a heavy weight or a light one?"
"A heavy one," I replied, "but it's getting lighter all the time."
"And you," he asked, "did you come here with a heavy weight or a light one?"
"A heavy one," I replied, "but it's getting lighter all the time."
Day 21 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and while the Meseta might have officially ended, the terrain was still flat and there was a lot of walking by roads again. Had to push towards the end as dark clouds was gathering but got to my art-filled albergue at Hospital de Orbigo just before the rain started falling.
A day late, but here's day 22 of my #CaminoDeSantiago memories, where I finally left the flatlands behind and discovered the joy of walking through hills again. Not really big ones (though the final ascent into Astorga was steep) but a welcome change after a week of the Meseta. Got to stop at the Casa de los Dioses, an off-grid donativo stop where David has spent years providing sustenance for passing pilgrims - and I got to squeeze my own oranges for juice, for once.
Day 23 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories and now I was definitely back in the mountains with the path on a steady upward incline. Lovely weather all day, lots of sun and managed to stop at a cowboy-themed bar and see a vintage car rally passing by as we walked near the road. Then I ended up at Rabanal which had a beautiful small chapel where I attended Vespers and Compline in plain chant by Benedictine monks. New experiences every day.
Day 24 for the #CaminoDeSantiago flashbacks, which was a tough day physically and emotionally. Physical because the long descent to Molinaseca was tough on my knees and toes, and emotional because it was the day of the highest point of the Camino and the Cruz de Fierro. This is where pilgrims often leave stones behind to signify burdens left behind. I left three: one for my brother, one for my mum, and one for my bad thoughts and depression.
Another one a day late - got distracted by actual walking yesterday - here's day 25 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories. It was the last day of April, which started early in Molinaseca watched over by the cats of that town, then past a massive ancient Templar castle in Ponferrada, before pushing on to the fringes of Galicia in El Bierzo and finishing in another Villafranca where there was a festival going on, complete with Galician folk music in the streets.
Day 26 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories, which was an interesting day through El Bierzo where I was walking both alongside and under a road. Along the old road through the valleys until I took a final turn off into the village of Las Herrerias, but also under as there was an entire motorway short-cutting through on giant pillars across the valleys. Torn between glad to not have the traffic, appreciation of the engineering feat and annoyance at the giant concrete pillars in this wild space.
Day 27 of the #CaminoDeSantiago, and I missed noting in yesterday's post that it was now May. Today was a big upwards pull towards O Cebreiro where the Camino would finally enter Galicia and there'd be just a hundred miles to go to Santiago. The climb wasn't too bad, partly because the views were breath-taking at points, and after crossing the Alto de Poio it was down a little to Fonfria for the night and some superb Galician cooking to round off the day.
Day 28 on the #CaminoDeSantiago started in mist at Fonfria, but this was a day of descending so I was soon under the clouds and taking in the views of Galicia. A long downhill on old paths past ancient trees and through narrow villages. My knees were complaining lots by the time I reached Samos, but ended the day meeting a friendly dog at the casa rural I stayed at that night.
Day #29 of the #CaminoDeSantiago started in a misty Samos and then into the woods for a while for an atmospheric walk into Sarria where around half the people who walk the #CaminoFrances start their journey, some of them by going up the 68 steps into town. A sunny afternoon's walking, then a night at a great albergue in Ferreiros where we were given a lot of wine and I got to sit in a very relaxing basket seat as I watched the sunset.
Another day late, and day 30 of my #CaminoDeSantiago started with just a little bit of a hangover after the wine the night before so it was a bit of a slow day. One where I could have done with some mist and cloud but got plenty of sun instead. An interesting stop in Portomarin between waves of pilgrims and then on to a pleasant night at a lovely little albergue, Casa Molar in Ventas de Naron.
And back on schedule with day 31 of my #CaminoDeSantiago. A misty start from Ventas de Naron and even a month into the Camino there were still some firsts, this time seeing pilgrims on horseback for the first time. After cooling my feet in a swimming pool, had a nice evening in Melide that included watching the delicate arts of ham carving and the first churros of my journey.
Quick chance to update my #CaminoDeSantiago memories with Day 32. A short day from Melide to Arzua, which turned out to be inadvertent good planning as it was already 29°C when I got to Arzua at noon. Nice days walk through the woods and had a peaceful few moments of watching two butterflies dancing around each other. Met up with some people I'd not seen for a few days for pizza and wine in the evening.
Busy yesterday, but here's Day 33 of #CaminoDeSantiago memories, and a nice days walk amidst the trees from Arzua to O Pedrouzo. Paths were definitely getting busier on the approach to Santiago, but there was still quietness and solitude to be found as well as open-air cafes with a welcome from a dog. Then ended the day with a random encounter with a fellow pilgrim I hadn't seen for almost a month, a reminder of how many stories there ran parallel to my own.
Day 34 on the #CaminoDeSantiago was the day I reached Santiago de Compostela. It was an interesting walk into the city, through lots of green spaces and the final small towns and villages before reaching the outskirts. Then, after weaving through the streets, I made it to the cathedral of Santiago l, where the #CaminoFrances ends, but I still had a few days to go until I reached the end of the Earth.
Day 35 on the #CaminoDeSantiago? Didn't I grt to Santiago on day 34? I did, but I still didn't feel like I'd finished when I got there, so after a couple of rest days I continued on the #CaminoFinisterre to the coast. Back on a quieter path again, fewer pilgrims around and enjoying the wuiet od the back roads and the forests I walked through to reach Negreira.
Day 36 on the #CaminoDeSantiago had an early start from Negreira, catching the sun as it peeped over the hills I'd crossed the day before. Then got to meet the friendliest Spanish cat yet wo sat on my lap for a while as I took a break. Then more criss-crossing across farms, woods and hills until views over the lake at Lago, where they obviously didn't take too long to think of the name.
Day 37 of the #CaminoDeSantiago memories and this was the last day of walking through the Galician countryside as I made my way from Lago to Cee. And at Cee I reached the sea for the first time since I'd been under it on the Eurostar several weeks before. Another quiet day, with a long section between the final two towns and a steep descent at the end, but I was able to dip my toes in the Atlantic - which was bloody cold, despite the boiling hot day.
KiwiJohn@nickbwalking Well done, Nick. I'm starting on the 25th of August. Can't wait!
Indigo@nickbwalking Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Magnificent!