Leon to Molinaseca--Redux

After Leon, we were repeating parts of the Camino that we had walked in 2009. However, our impressions and experiences were different. Thus, we are inserting this section, written in 2011, into our narrative at this point to maintain the geographical linearity.

June 8 and 9: A Short Walk and an Albergue

We walked 5 miles the next day to test Russ' ankle. It held up ok. The following day we wanted about a 10 mile distance. Luckily there was a town in the right place. Unluckily, it only had an albergue. Luckily, the albergue had a double room and took reservations, and even more importantly...it rented sheets, blankets, and towels for $3. So we had a very fun afternoon and night there. The electricity did not go on until dark...inconvenient for charging one's camera battery. We talked long into the evening with a Dutch mother and daughter walking to celebrate a 21st birthday and a Canadian couple originally from Mauritius (in the Indian Ocean.)

More wine "cellars"

Our albergue room

An albergue with bunks

An albergue, unusual because it is without bunks

  

June 10 and 11: The Road Gets Back to Wonderful

We walked 12 miles and 8 miles over the next two days. Much of it we'd done before although we took alternate routes where possible for the variety.

 
 


 
 

June 12: A Favorite Place

The 11 miles we covered this day to Foncebadon were blooming with heather when we were here in 2009. We were disappointed to have missed much of the color by a few weeks this time. Missing it did not spoil the beauty of this section, however, nor the quaintness of the semi-abandoned Foncebadon where we stayed in casa rural El Convento and had a medieval dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 13: Morning Glory, Cruz de Ferro, Enough of the Downhills!

The golden sun coming out of Foncebadon was awe inspiring. The road to Cruz de Ferro was uphill and challenging but we could not stop exclaiming at the vistas. At the Iron Cross, pilgrims leave a stone to symbolize unburdening their lives. Emotion fills the air. It is cathartic to place your burdens in the mound and start down from the Camino's highest point.

 

 

Alas, we'd forgotten how steep and rocky the path becomes from here. Two years after our last time on this path we found ourselves intimidated by it. We walked very cautiously, slipped and tripped a few times, wondered at the ineptitude of our memories, but made it to Molinaseca with only a few new bruises.

Happily, it was still a beautiful day because it was the end of this journey for us. We stayed in one of our most authentic and quaint medieval houses here. The living room floor was cobblestone. Wine flowed freely all afternoon, and the self-make breakfast included lots of breads and local eggs to be fried up on the spot. It was a worthy end to a wonderful Camino.

June 14: Back to Madrid and then to Gainesville

We're Back from our third hike on El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, The Way of St. James. We have now hiked all 495 miles of the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Santiago. By luck, we finished before the Martin Sheen film about The Way is released in the US in September. It is already out in Europe and we heard that some of the scenes were filmed in a B&B where we stayed. That will be fun to see! Mostly, I am eager to see it for the scenery.

 

The Plan: In 2008, we walked about 100 miles in France along the LePuy route, from Figeac to Moissac and then trained ahead to St Jean and hiked over the Pyrenees to Pamplona...the beginning of the Camino Frances in Spain. In 2009, we hiked about the last 200 miles of it, from Leon to Santiago. This year, we did the middle. We started where we'd finished in Pamplona in 2008 and we repeated some parts that we had remembered as particularly beautiful between Leon and Molinaseca.

We found that our memories had tricked us more than a little about hiking downhill.

What was it like? We loved almost every bit of it. The weather smiled. We had only half a day of rain. That was unfortunately enough for one of us (Russ) to slip on the mud while fighting with his camera to get a great photo of me stumbling through a huge puddle, and twist his ankle miserably. We learned when we were home and he finally went to a doctor because it would not stop hurting, that he had broken a bone in the ankle. Bummer! But, as I say, we loved almost every minute of it.

New Friends: This year we met even more fascinating people along the trail than in previous years, which is hard to imagine. They weren't really more fascinating...just more of them this time. A real treat. We now have about 6 new friends who may come to visit in Florida...from Germany, Canada, and Ireland. Maybe we can convince them to come for the Gathering of the American Pilgrims on the Camino in Orlando next spring and then spend time with us in Cedar Key!

Costs: We calculated our costs for this amazing trip. The airfare was $750 each. In addition, it cost us $60 a person per day. That includes everything ...lodging, food, souvenirs, trains, buses... except our two days in Madrid after we finished hiking. Seemed pretty good to us.

Other things to report on...pilgrim food, how we adapted to being 2 years older this time, alberque versus fluffy towel decisions...Hope the day-today story gave you a sense of the place and the experience.