We´re On The Road Again, We´re On The Road Again

Jane:  Well we,re back.  back walking, back blogging.  Actually we have been back walking for six days now but haven´t been able to access a computer -- I know, it´s Spain!  It has been absolutely brilliant to be walking again and everyday Charlotte´s shin gets stronger and stronger.  It is not quite right yet, so we are having Charlotte´s backpack (with loads of my stuff in as well) portered by a firm called Jacotranss (brilliant business to be in).  Charlotte keeps thinking she has left a baby somewhere and we are having to accept we have become "tourigrinos".

Last time we blogged we were a pair of culture-vultures resting in Astorga.  Since then we have done a bit of walking.

We left Astorga bright and early thanks, not to Charlotte´s usual phone alarm, but to the extremely useful "character clock" immediately outside our window.  This clock very usefully struck every quarter of the hour and of course on the hour, the appropriate number of bongs) and just in case you hadn´t heard it the first time, it repeated itself just after the hour. We woke up on time.

First he hit it then she did.  (I took this photo from our Velux window.)

During our rest period we had seen pilgrims coming into town wearing every garment they possessed and with gagoules zipped up to their noses.  We had read and heard about the terrible weather we would be likely to meet in the Montes de Leon that we had to climb over.  The guide book (our bible) talked of the almost perpetual shroud of mist.  Anyway, as you can see from the photos below, we had a little more luck than that. 

 Blue sky, sunshine and no pack was the order of the day. We went cautiously but the day went brilliantly.

 Poor old us, forced to look at this view.  There snow capped mountains in all drrections. This is an indicator of the temperature.  This day and for everday since we have been accompanied by the sound of cuckoos and skylarks and the scent of broom (which is white here) and heather (which is head-high and shades of deep pink) -- a heady mix.


The next two pictures are for all you "doubting Thomases" who didn´t believe I had seen a huge green lizard as big as a small kitten.  If you look carefully you will see, first the head end of one of two such lizards that crossed our path.  You will then see the other end (they are very hard to photograph as they very well camoflagued and don´t stand still).

This is the Pilgrims Oak Tree.  We were very tired but nearly at our destination and very pleased with our progress.

We have arrived and it was getting cold and windy.

The following day the sun shone again and once more it was pretty cold.  We were heading for the highest point of the whole Camino Way -- yes higher than the Pyrenees!

An indication of how clean the air was, was this group of furry" trees. This lichen was incredibly long and soft, a little like seaweed.

As you can see it´s cold but beautiful with lavender and heather and mountains and blue sky -- OK we´ll stop rubbing it in -- some of you are still working.

This is La Cruz de Ferro - an important stage of the Camino Way where people are encouraged to let go of troubles/sorrows they may have. There is a small mountain (see second photo) of tokens and momentos that have been left by the thousands of pilgrims that pass by.  Here you see Charlotte is leaving her own token and, if she felt light before without her backpack she virtually floated the rest of the way down this mountain!

As Henry said, this is the nearest I would get to heaven (what does he know?)

 As you can see above the sky is gloriously clear. However, we later met a German woman, Claudia, who had gone up and over just the day before and it snowed while she was crossing -- she saw nothing - nada.

On the other hand this is what we saw!

This day we climbed down out of the mountains and met the Spanish heat for almost the first time.  It was also a very long day´s walk.  We got lost in Ponferrada and felt very hot and frazzled.  However, we met a lovely American girl, Meg, from New Jersey but studying in London and doing the Camino Way as part of her practical research into the interface of tourism and religion.  She suggested the interesing picture we took outside a little church wasd in fact the four houses of Hogwarts.

Here is Meg on the left and Vicky, from Zimbabwe.  Both girls were suffering with leg injuries. Meg is flying home on the same flight as us so we will hopefully meet her again.

The next was another gorgeous day and started with a steep gorge -- Jane in gorge.

After going down, of course we then had to go up a very, very big hill.  We could have stayed on the road, but this was a much more beautiful option.  Apart from Victor from Brazil in front of us it seemed as if we were the only pilgrims taking the high road.  we walked down through mature sweet chestnut groves -- no pictures as by this time we were exhausted and somewhat dehydrated -- not used to walking in such heat.  Arrived eventually at a lovely "gastropub" run by a Dutch woman and her Spanish partner who knew Sheffield and wanted to know where Tarzen  was (me Jane).

 An example of the very varied countryside we travelled and the some of the many vineyards we walked past.

The next day was a big day for us.  We had to climb O´Cebreiro, as tall as Ben Nevis.  We set off at 6.40 and fairly galloped the first six miles. We then fairly crawled the remainder of the way. (See diagram below.) It was another stunning day so it was good to set off early and get the climb over before the heat of the day.  we were so ahead of ourselves we arrived at 12.50 before the pack had arrived and in plenty of time to become "Ladies who Lunch" -- and we did.  We also became tourists and bought pins for our hats and Galician music CDs (I bet you can´t wait!)

Up, up and away she goes (yeh -- where´s the pack!!)

Ah there´s the pack -- no wonder Jane is stopping for (yet another) breather.

This was a momentus moment for us.  We have to travel through four provinces in Spain: Navarre, Rioja, Castille y Leon and finally Galicia.  Here we are on the homeward stretch

This is the stunning mountain view of Galicia as we arrived and headed to the village.

Chillaxing

This is the view from our window. We felt as if we were on top of the world, both physically and metaphorically.

This is the same view but at 6.00 am this morning showing the mist in the valleys and the mountain tops floating on seas of cloud.

As you can see, we are alive and well and enjoying our journey.  Charlotte is looking well pleased as she has just had a near miss with a bowl of tripe -- that will teach her not to learn Spanish before coming to Spain.  (Tripe is callos incase you´re ever in that predicament yourselves.)

We continue walking for another six days.

More tomorrow (we hope).  Lots of love to everyone J & C xx