Once again, I was the first to leave the albergue. Up at 7am and out by 7:30. It's a cold crisp morning and I can see my breath, but it's pure sun above. In the beginning the Walk is along a cliff with a pine forest on the left and a river valley far below … Continue reading Day 9: Pining Away

Castillo in Coca Well, not really. I woke up at 7am and was ready to go. Thru the skylight I could see that it was light and still dry so I thought I'd better make tracks while the going was good. Not wanting to waken the boys, I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my pack … Continue reading Day 8: Away in the Night

A 7:30am start, tromping up into the old town then down and out the Santiago Gate in the old city walls to the country beyond. Once you exit the walls you are immediately in the country, surrounded by verdant green grass (wheat?) and brown fallow fields. After 8.5kms at a steady pace I reached the … Continue reading Day 7: And On To Santa Maria

Legs felt pretty good this morning. I hobbled around a bit for first the few steps but then loosened right up. I'm sure I could have walked 20kms today, but 20 'miles' again would have been too much, too soon. Normally I'd have walked >10 days before tackling a 32km-er, so 2 in a row … Continue reading Day 6: Segovia, Part Deux

(This blog is coming 'Twitter-style', thoughts as I think them. I'm too pooped-a-pilgrim to edit and I wanted to post as I don't know when I'll get online again) A day not to be missed! Though I almost did!! Going to bed last night I had settled on taking the 7:55am train in the morning, … Continue reading Day 5: Oh My Goodness!

I took the 9am train to Segovia today.  We went through a tunnel shortly after leaving Cercedilla and went from sun to overcast grey skies.  My Fuenfria is affecting the weather!  It remained fairly cold walking around town, I wish I had my big-girl fleece with me but I had left my backpack at the … Continue reading Day 4: Segovia

Another gorgeous day walking. Rained during night but was perfect walking weather.  I walked alongside a huge hill today, full of Flintstone-type boulders, much like Joshua Tree National Park (well, 'twas much greener!) That's the pic above, I'll find an Internet cafe in Segovia to add other photos to this and previous posts from my … Continue reading Day 3: A Chatty Day

What a wonderful walk today! Sorry poppies, but it was all about the lavender today. Mile upon mile of glorious bunches of wild lavender crowding the walking path as well as festooning the fields with color. I'm actually hesitant to call them fields, they were so untamed. Yes, there were stone walls dividing the land … Continue reading Day 2: It’s All About The Lavender

Pilgrim Notes: if you take the train to Tres Cantos, turn left on exiting the train station to see your first arrow, and there's also a supermarket in the same building (and the Camino looked quite nice walking from Fuencarral, as seen from the train window). Once you cross over the overpass the road soon … Continue reading Trail Notes for fellow pilgrims

A great day! Off to a bit of a slow start this morning - it was 11pm before I knew it last night (that's what you get for starting dinner at 9:30!) and I had to pack and get organized so 7am rolled around far too early this morning. 7:30am sounded better, so I rolled … Continue reading Day 1: Madrid Route to Colmenar Viejo