Author: Thom

In addition to an afternoon of uphill walking, the sun was shining with a fierceness. You can almost feel the sweat just looking at the photo – and she’s in the shade! Fortunately, it would get a little cooler as we gained altitude. Here Francine walks past the tiny Parish Church of San Juan Bautista de Ruitelán. We’ll take a […]

The stream rather grandly named Río Valcarce flows beside the Camino through the tiny village of Ruitelán (population 31, plus cows). These curious locks weren’t the only ones in the neighbourhood. What they’re precisely for, I couldn’t say. Irrigation, perhaps? Flood control? Date: 25 April 2016 Place: Ruitelán (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

We entered the village of Ruitelán, the latest of a string of villages in this valley, at about eleven o’clock. In the background you can again see the flying highway bridges that tower over this little valley. For reference, we will need to climb up to the level of that highway in the next several hours, and then further upward […]

As we leave the village of Vega de Valcarce, the Camino is carefully watched by the ruins of the Castillo de Sarracín on the hills above. Despite the similarity of names, the castle has nothing to do with the Saracens, except perhaps that the Moors destroyed the original Christian castle on this site in the year 714. It was rebuilt […]

After spending entirely too long at our second breakfast, we popped our heads into the the local church, which turned out to be quite lovely. For you liturgists following along, the altar is laid out in a fine example of the Benedictine arrangement. Among the statues and shrines in the church are those of Santiago, and of the patroness of […]

Here we see Francine and Rebecca happy to see their second breakfast. We stopped into a little village bakery to treat ourselves. It was delicious! As you can see, everybody is already pretty tired, and it’s only 9:30 in the morning. We’re steeling ourselves to climb a mountain. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: Vega de Valcarce (Castilla y León, Spain) […]

There was some incredulity surrounding Friday’s post about “the Bridge of Ambasmestas“. Well, here’s a clearer view a little further down the valley, in the village of Vega de Valcarce. In this one, you can get a pretty clear idea of the scale of the thing. That’s a major highway up there. It’s terrifying. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: Vega […]

Continuing our theme of hand painted signs involving quadrupeds, we come to this sign, which might be done by the same painter. And I mean, how could you not want goat cheese? Though the goat looks more like a giraffe to me. Date: 25 April 2016 Place: Ambasmestas (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

Through town and countryside, the Camino climbs up from the valley of El Bierzo to today’s goal: the first town of Galicia, O Cebreiro. It may not look like much of a climb in the photo, but one look at Francine’s face will dispel any notion of ease. The nearby shops have a large selection of walking sticks available for […]