“Dos personnes para Leon, por favor Señor” – and with that, we had two tickets – thanks to the Translate app from Google. We were at the bus station in Burgos, with half a dozen other pilgrims planning to skip the Meseta, each for their own reasons. We had done the maths: with …
The toy train This morning turned out to be Spain’s National Day and everything was closed for the public holiday. It rained for much of the day, so we took the toy train ride to take in the tourist experience. It was a delightfully absurd way to see the city. …
We visited the Museo de la Evolución Humanes – the Museum of Human Evolution. They told us that, being a Tuesday, Atapuerca was closed today, and tomorrow’s tour was already booked out. ‘Besides’, they said, ‘the tour is all in Spanish and the artefacts are all here at the museum’. …
Up at sunrise, we set off in fog – and our first frost! Our lack of gloves meant that we were quickly walking with both sticks clipped together and alternating one hand in the coat pocket to keep the hands thawed. We were heading to Atapuerca and then on to …
Our destination today is the town of Agés. From Villafranca Montes de Oca the road climbed steeply straight out of the town. Steeply. Towns called Villafranca – are towns that were settled by the Franks – French pilgrims who settled in Spain from around the C9th. Villafranca Montes de Oca also …
We departed Vilamayor del Rio before dawn, aiming to reach Villafranca Montes de Oca. The streets were deserted and the light made stark contrasts, giving the buildings an unearthly cast. It was slow going, mostly uphill until we were able to take a break for breakfast at Belorado. Belorado is …
The air was thick, stuffy and heavy with humanity as I woke around 0230am. 26 bunks, all full, and only two small windows slightly ajar. There was no air movement. I forced myself to settle in a bid to conform to the 07.00am rule. Several people snored, making for quite …
We departed Azofra after dropping off our bags at the Municipal Albergue for despatch to Santo Domingo de la Calzada – home of the rooster and chicken. We quickly found that our headlights are not adequate to the task – while new batteries might help, I suspect we will ultimately need …
Latin Gregorian chants woke us early and we set off with some enthusiasm in the dark. We nearly lost the trail before we started, but found it by venturing a little further – I need to trust to more distance between markers. Heading uphill (is there any other way in …
