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28 May – To Fonfría


Yesterday (May 28) we walked from 0 Cebreiro to Fonfría, past a statue of a peregrino,

with very sore feet judging by all the bandages he had. 


We got to our albergue quite early.



The Albergue A Reboleira is a big albergue with many beds, but arranged so that you had a sense of privacy even in a big room with many people. 

We (and many others) did our laundry. 


The evening meal was served in a big, beautiful roundhouse. It was delicious!

This was one of the best stays so far on the Camino. The staff at the albergue is great, the place clean and well kept, all around an excellent albergue. 

All in all, the steep walk up to O Cebreiro and then continuing at high elevation to Fonfría was one of the most beautiful stretches of the Camino Francés.

26 & 27 May – From León to Galicia 


We’ve been slowly walking uphill and into Galicia. We were in León for quite a while.


Total elevation gain in the last two days had been about 900 metres. We’ve had really good weather, warm and sunny, comfortable for walking. This section has been one of the most beautiful so far of the Camino. The views are gorgeous, the air fresh and clean, the towns interesting, and the food good.

We are now in O Cebreiro, a small town at 1300 metres elevation. Wifi, my connection to my family and to the internet, has been almost non-existent. There was none at the hostel yesterday. There is some at today’s place, but I have been unable to upload any more photos than those above. It is very frustrating.

It is now Tuesday morning, we need to move on to the next place, and I still am unable to upload any more photos. So … on to the next stop it is!

25 May – El Día de la Patria Argentina


On this date, in 1810, people in Argentina took the first steps towards breaking away from Spain and becoming an independent nation. 

My brother and I wanted to celebrate in some way, but this is a small town with no Argentinian food available. So we had a bowl of lentil soup, a ham and cheese sandwich, and each a glass of wine:


Besides celebrating a holiday, today we walked almost 20 kms. That’s not so much for many pilgrims, but for us it is more than enough. 


The vegetation is changing again. The wildflowers along the road are different than before. We see a lot of roses now, 

both the cultivated (garden) variety

and the wild roses. 

The vineyards are beautifully kept:


and frequently there are cherry trees, often at the edges of the vineyards:


Cottonwoods are going crazy, and sometimes the ground looks like fresh snow just fell:


And life on the Camino wouldn’t be full without some poppies:

23 May – The Camino Provides


A couple days ago I was quite homesick. The evening before I’d found a homemade sign at a small donativo, where someone wrote down a verse from a poem by one of my favourite poets, Antonio Machado (picture above). 

A rough translation is:

Last night while sleeping

I dreamed … oh blessed illusion!

That I had a bee hive

Inside my heart;

And the golden bees

Were making in it,

From all my old heartbreaks,

White wax and sweet honey.


I don’t think this is exactly what is meant when people say, “The Camino provides.” But in this case, for me, it worked. That verse made me happy, gave me peace. Poems often do. 

That said, a few days before that I saw a sign (no picture). It advertised something. In the upper right hand corner someone had printed

“SPAIN”

A wiseguy came along and wrote to the left of it

“The Camino provide”

At first I thought it was a spelling mistake. But then I read the whole sentence:

“The Camino provideS PAIN”

It made me laugh! 

Today’s hike was downhill from Riego de Ambrós to Ponferrada. It was pleasant. The views are quite beautiful, as are the towns. Below a few photos from the walk:


Finally, a woman from New Zealand took my photo today, and I like it. So I’m posting it here;:

20-22 May – Cruz de Ferro


The last three days we’ve been walking up to the highest point of the Camino Francés, Monte Irago and the Cruz de Ferro. We made it there this morning, and now are in a small town called Riegos de Ambrós, about half-way down the mountain. 


The Cruz de Ferro or Iron Cross is an iconic symbol of the Camino de Santiago. It is a reminder of the hardships and challenges that pilgrims face on their journey. It is believed to be one of the oldest markers on the trail. 

The tradition is to leave a stone from your home place at the foot of the Cross and with that stone leave your troubles and tribulations behind. It’s a symbol of the tings we want to get rid off.

We saw some beautiful landscapes both on the way up and the way down. Below a selection of pictures from the last 3 days: 

19 May – to Murias de Rechivaldo

Today’s walk started fresh and clear, with a coffee, orange juice and a pastry at the same café where we had the delicious salad yesterday. 

The Café


Then it was about 8 or so kms over rolling hills with red dirt, fields of wheat, trees – a peaceful, beautiful walk. 


We came to an overlook with Astorga in the distance. 


We walked into Astorga, a beautiful, bustling city, and beyond for about 5 kms to Murias de Rechivaldo. This is a small town, with a historic section, but also quite a few newer homes. We took two beds at the local municipal albergue. 

On the way into Astorga

In Astorga

The Albergue

The host, Pedro, is absolutely wonderful! When we arrived at about 2 pm, we were quite hungry. We had not eaten since breakfast and had walked about 18 kms by then. One local eatery was closed, the other was out of food. Pedro offered to make us a donativo lunch, that is, he made us food and we would pay whatever we could afford or whatever we thought was appropriate. So … he made us a delicious beet, tomatoes, corn, and a few peppers salad, gave us a whole wheat bun to go with it and a glass of red wine, then brought us each a large plateful of stewed white beans with morcilla (like black pudding). Then he gave us each a Greek yogurt for dessert. It was so good! 

Anyway. Below are pictures from this beautiful small town:


Tomorrow we start the climb to the highest point in all of the Camino Francés. We are doing it in 2 days. Tomorrow we walk to Rabanal del Camino. 

18 May – A Short Walk to Santibáñez de Valdeiglesias


Only 12 kms today. Yeah, say my feet!

Today’s walk was a great improvement over yesterday’s. Big improvement. It was a sunny, warm walk on a dirt path, through a couple charming towns, to the small town where we’re staying.


There are many bridges all along the Camino. Today we walked over the bridge at Hospital de Órbigo.


It turns out this is one of the best known bridges of the Camino Francés. The link below has the history of the bridge and the legend associated with it:

The Bridge of Hospital de Órbigo


We had one of the best lunches so far on the Camino. A salad with good lettuce, avocado, cherry tomatoes, fresh cheese (queso fresco) and smoked salmon. Delicious! We had a bottle of beer, Alhambra Reserva (the green bottle). We know one place at home where they serve this beer. It is good!


The albergue where we’re at is a renovated old home. It had been abandoned for 25 years before our host purchased it and converted it to a hostel. Originally it had a kitchen and small living quarters, a large patio where animals (horses, cows, pigs, chickens) and farming tools were kept, and storage rooms for grains and hay. The storage rooms are beautiful guest rooms now, the patio a commons area. There is also now a kitchen and a dining area. It must have been a tremendous amount of work to fix it all up!


Finally, there’s a dove’s nest outside our window, on a ledge across the alley. It is beautiful!

17 May – An Dull Walk and a Magnificent Sun Halo


Today we walked 25 kms from León to San Martín del Camino.

Shortly after leaving our albergue we walked by a historical building turned into a 5-star hotel. In front of the building there is a statue of a very tired peregrino. 


Getting out of Leon was about 8 kms through unattractive urban areas with factories, storages, all along a busy highway. A church on the way had a door with a saint figure on it. The story is, if you touch the saint’s nose as you pass, he will grant you a wish. 


The next 17 kms were along that same highway, with hardly any shade, a lot of paved portions, flat fields with weeds, and hot. There were few flowers in the ditches next to the trail. It seems a fair bit more arid here than before.

We did walk through a couple towns. In one of them, Valverde de la Virgen, there was again a belltower with huge stork nests. One of the nests seemed to have 3 adult a a number of chicks in it.


A bit later we walked into Villadangos del Páramo. I do not know what it is, but it was at the entry to town:


We had a late lunch in this town. From there we walked another 5 kms to our albergue in San Martín del Camino. It is during this stretch of the trail that we saw the magnificent sun halo:


We are at the albergue now. Our hostess and her daughters are welcoming, kind, and ready to help with anything we need. But now it’s time to go to sleep once again, to regain strength to continue walking tomorrow.

Poppies in Jail

The One Who Got Away


16 May – León


We cheated. We took the bus to León. I enjoyed the day off from walking!

We did walk around the historical centre of León, met and had a long, leisurely lunch with a couple from Australia that we’d met the first day of the Camino, and met here and there since. They are lovely people and I really enjoyed talking with them.

Here are some photos from today:


And a selfie, grandiosely titled “Me, Myself and I”:


Finally, translations between languages can be funny sometimes! We nevertheless did leave the table clean.