Carmel and Paul Gresham - Buen Camino
The Final Chapter Part 1
My inspiration to start The Way of Saint James was our half term visit to the vibrant city of Santiago in October 2013 observing pilgrims filing into Cathedral Square weighted with back packs and the unforgettable experience of witnessing the giant Botafumero swing at the pilgrim mass. At home we watched the Martin Sheen film ‘The Way’ and decided then that it was one for the retirement ‘to do’ list.
Friday 5th September - 6am flight to Madrid, train to Leon to complete stages 4 and 5 of the Camino Frances Pilgrimage.
Saturday 6th September:
Leon to Villadangos del Paramo (14.86 miles)
A hotel breakfast only opening at 8am meant a later than desired start to the day. Coupled with difficulty finding our way out of the city we were already behind our preferred schedule of leaving early to minimise time in the sun.
Once we found our way we passed the lovely Renaissance monastery of San Marco which was originally the HQ of the Knights of the Order of Santiago who formed to protect the pilgrim way. Now a beautiful luxury hotel known in Spain as a Parador.
With the sun getting warmer we got into our first day of Camino walking since June and arrived at La Virgen del Camino home of a very modern looking church with 12 huge bronze statues of the disciples above the door with St James facing towards Santiago. The church is built on the site of where a shepherd in the 16 C saw a vision of the Virgin who instructed him to throw a stone and where it landed to build a church. It became a place of pilgrimage itself.
The rest of the walk that day was very unremarkable and followed a path alongside the
N 120 road and was about as pretty as it sounds.
Sunday 7th September:
Villadangos del Paramo to Astorga (18.54 miles)
Mindful of a predicted 17.7 miles today according to the Brierley guidebook (to which we have learned now to add at least another mile), we left at 7.45am after a simple breakfast in the Albergue. Our fellow Peregrinos were from Toulouse, Quebec and Ireland. The route was again as dull as yesterday hugging the side of the N120 with no attractive scenery to distract us.
If you follow football, you may appreciate Paul’s description of today’s scenery as equivalent to a ‘Stoke away on a wet Tuesday night’ kind of view!
After about 4 miles we arrived in Puente de Orbigo, home of one of the best medieval bridges in Spain complete with stories of brave Knights and chivalry. Coffee was drunk and on we pressed.
Along the path we caught up with and walked a while with a spritely retired Psychiatrist from Buenos Aires. A few miles later we paused in the village of Hospital de Orbigo to light candles in the parish church of San Juan Baptista. (St John the Baptist).
Lunch in Santibanez de Valdeiglesia was followed by a difficult few miles uphill in ever rising temperatures whilst simultaneously trying to bat away scores of tiny flies intent on getting into our noses. Infuriating!
After a while we came upon the Cruceiro Santo Toribo stone cross commemorating the 5th century Bishop of Astorga and showing fine views of the city. Lurking menacingly behind the city and awaiting us in the coming days, the Montes de Leon the highest point of the entire Camino Frances.
The ascent into the city, population 12,000, was hot and very tiring and seemed to last forever. We checked into our rather grand Gaudi hotel at 4pm which faces the beautiful Plaza Catedral housing next to the Gothic Cathedral the Bishop’s Palace (Palacio Episcopal), designed by Antonio Gaudi, whose most famous work is Sagrada Familia, the imposing Cathedral of Barcelona. Putting it into context, this small city of 12,000, home of a beautiful Gothic Cathedral compared to Maghull with a town population of 20,000 (2021 census).
Monday 8th September:
Astorga to Rabanal del Camino (13.60 miles)
Starting at 7.30am on what was a very chilly morning, fingers struggling to hold my walking poles, we stopped in a small village for coffee and toast, the only Peregrinos there. Our fellow diners were workmen and two armed (of course) Police Nacional. Today we entered the “Maragateria” and the Montes de Leon. The people, the Maragatos, are said to be descended from Berber tribes from the Moorish invasion of Spain in 13th Century.
We took a recommended diversion off the main Camino route to visit a Maragato village which has been restored beautifully in the dry-stone walling style seen in British countryside. The features of the homes included stunning solid arch shaped doors.
My favourite feature of the village was its feathered inhabitants - hundreds of swallows perched along cables, nesting in the eaves and swooping and swerving above our heads. The photo attached does the scene no justice.
At last, the route was kinder on the soul and the eyes as we left behind the harshness of the N120, as the Camino threaded its way through pine trees with enormous pine cones beginning to drop. In May we saw the glory of the yellow broom in full bloom and scent and giant purple thistles standing tall. As September advances the broom has lost its glorious flowers and the thistles turn to delicious autumnal shades of orange and brown.
In this September trip we also noticed that all the stork nests we had enjoyed so much in May were empty, their residents already migrating for winter.
We arrived at our very simple Hostel in Rabanal and shared a dining room with just one couple who were French in their 70’s and shrugged when we said we were from Liverpool and claimed they hadn’t heard of The Beatles!
Beautiful Maragato Village
Swallows perched on the Cables
Rananal - View
from Bedroom
Sunrise
Cruz de Ferron
Descending Alto Mayor The highest point of
the Camino
Tuesday 9th September:
Rabanal del Camino to Molinaseca (17.50 miles)
We left at 7am in the light of the moon and stars and a cold 7 degrees with added wind.
A quick breakfast in Rabanal and then into the low ground of the Montes de Leon. It was a relief when the path went into a tunnel of broom, ferns and oak saplings to break the icy wind.
Our first stop for coffee was in Foncebadon and some 2 miles later we reached the Cruz de Ferro, one of the most famous markers on the Camino Frances. The cross itself is a simple iron cross atop a wooden pole, but has been a poignant tradition for Pilgrims for hundreds of years, who have left small stones at the foot of the cross symbolising burdens from home that pilgrims leave behind and release emotional burdens on their spiritual journey. We duly left our stones, prayers and thoughts.
Speculations abound, but the most popular belief is that the cross was put there by Apostle James himself. As the tale goes, St. James was passing through the land on one of his evangelical missions when he encountered pagan priests performing a ritual of human sacrifice. Full of anger, he grabbed a stone from his pocket and threw it at the pagan altar. Guided by the Lord, the stone shattered the altar into a thousand tiny pieces, and St. James erected a large cross in its place to mark the power of the Almighty.
Regardless of the actual truth, Cruz de Ferro is beautiful to behold, and climbing to the top of the hill was breathtaking in both senses of the word.
We then pressed on to Alto Mayor which at 4,920 feet (1.515m) is over 500 feet taller than Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest peak and the highness point of the whole Camino Frances.
The descent to the village of Acebo 12 miles into today’s walk was fairly brutal over rocks that were often slippy and all our concentration was needed. We were alone with our own footsteps and birds, no other pilgrims in sight until nearly at the very pretty village of Acebo. Lunch was french onion soup and delicious almond cake.
The final 4 miles or so were still over difficult terrain. We were joined at this point by a young woman from South Africa who was walking the route solo. The steep drop was relentless and tiring and it was a genuine relief to reach our billet in Molinaseca at 4.30pm
Wednesday 10th September:
Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo (20.20 miles)
Another 7am start in the pitch black, this time in faint drizzly rain past the far too many pretty but neglected street cats. We had some difficulty finding our way onto the path. Once we had the reassurance of the yellow arrows, we walked 4 uninspiring miles until we reached the drab outskirts of Ponferrada, a city of 9,000 inhabitants.
We had a truly delicious breakfast in a modern cafe opposite the castle, a real oasis after our morning so far. A bowl of greek yoghurt, chopped pears, honey and topped with delicious crunchy nutty muesli - yum!
Another 6 miles of tired town scenery not impressing. Eventually at 12 miles on approaching Cacabelos, the vista opened up with vineyards of the Bierzo region of the northwest province of Castillo y Leon.
We stopped in Cacabelos and whilst in the cafe I saw a lady in her 70’s writing a placard ‘Genocidio Israeli en Palestina’.
As cycling fans we had been keeping in touch with the ‘Vuelta’, the Spanish annual grand tour and knew that yesterday’s route had to be diverted, so great was the volume of protesters against the Israeli team’s participation in the race.
‘The Vuelta must be passing nearby’ I suggested to Paul and to our absolute delight, when leaving, the cafe owner advised that the Camino route was temporarily closed due to the Vuelta and the cyclists would be along in 20 minutes! We managed to get a half decent view as the team cars, emergency vehicles and then the cyclists themselves poured over the bridge and round the bend in front of us! Having travelled to France this summer specifically to follow several Tour de France stages, we couldn’t believe our luck!
Shortly after leaving the village we bumped into 3 women from Saddleworth, instantly recognising Northern accents and the first English people we had met. The next 5 miles were tough in the sun and we plodded on ever west, the landscape eventually giving way from faceless towns to huge tracts of vineyards of the El Bierzo region.
On the outskirts of Villafranca del Bierzo we came across the church with a Romanesque portal, a holy door called the Puerta del Perdon that grants pilgrims unable to continue their way to Compostela with the same indulgences as if they had reached their destination, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Villafranca lies directly before the steepest and most treacherous part of the journey to Sanitiago, providing some possible hints at the significance of this portal.
The Vuelta Bike race
in Cacabelos
Pro Palestine demonstrations at Vuelta
