Author: Thom

As we made the steep climb up into the Montes de Oca, the wind picked up. The forest we entered was eerie. The trees were black and bare, awaiting their spring colours. A note on my map said: “In medieval times, dense forest, wolves, and bandits made this one of the most difficult stretches of the Camino.” I can well […]

If this sign is accurate (and for that, see posts passim), we are 12km from the village of San Juan de Ortega, our intended resting spot for the night. We are already 12km into today’s walk. This photo was taken at about half past noon, so if nothing else, we’re making decent time. It’s twenty days or more to Santiago. […]

As we leave the little village of Villafranca Montes de Oca, the terrain opens out before us. Low hills roll into the distance, and the Camino, as full of possibilities as ever it was, winds its way through them. Date: 11 April 2013Place: leaving Villafranca Montes de Oca (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)Today started: somewhere just before Belorado […]

This elegant lamppost is located just outside the parish church of Santiago Apóstol in Villafranca Montes de Oca. The church itself is (from the outside at least) an unremarkable 18th century stone structure. This lamppost, on the other hand, is delightful Date: 11 April 2013Place: Villafranca Montes de Oca (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain)Today started: somewhere just before […]

We lunched in a picturesque truck stop in Villafranca Montes de Oca. It was easily some of the best food I’d had on the Camino to that point, and it was stupid cheap. The place was full of truckers and Guardia Civil. Based on some certificates on the wall, the proprietor was once a member, so it makes sense that […]

Finally! Lunch! Here we see Viola and Eamon heading for a likely looking place for lunch. The sign advertises it as “the Pilgrim’s stop on the Camino”, and that was good enough for us. It had a sort of truck-stop vibe, perhaps influenced by the lineup of trucks (and military vehicles) in the parking lot, just out of shot. Inside, […]

We arrive in Villafranca Montes de Oca, looking for some lunch. There are a handful of towns on the Camino named Villafranca (the French village). This is because as the Camino road began to be claimed from bandits and Moors, the local nobility encouraged settlers to settle along the Way. The settlers – whatever region they might have been from […]

Here we see Viola pointing at the wee ruin I posted the other day. I love this photo because it shows the terrain and colours of this part of the Meseta, as well as the relatively small number of pilgrims on this stretch of the Camino. And by the angle of the plants and the streaming of Viola’s hair, you […]

This wee little pile of stone, about the size of a large hut, is all that remains of the once mighty Monasterio de San Felices de Oca. It was once part of a venerable Mozarabic church and monastery, built in the ninth century and dedicated to the hermit San Felices of Bilibio. According to tradition, it is the resting place of Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, Count […]

Just after we left the village of Villambistia, one of my fellow pilgrims snapped this photo of me. You can see the village in the background. I’m scruffy, wearing my sunglasses (a rarity), and my hat is in “windy” configuration. It was a beautiful morning, chilly but sunny. Date: 11 April 2013Place: just past Villambistia (Province of Burgos, Castilla y […]