Day 9 dawned with Roberto The Italian rustling his bags at 6:05 am.  I figured that since I was thus awake, I'd might as well arise too - better for the others to make one round of noise than separately (our Group of Seven had our own room).  I had a  nagging urge to walk two … Continue reading Day 9: to Aljucen, 32.7 kms

27 kms on a straight dirt road under grey skies with a strong cold wind blowing.  Ugh! Edit: I'm back home now and am able to attach some pics of the municipal albergue in Torremejia.  A very modern renovation of an old monastery.  There's several rooms with lots of bunks but the building is on … Continue reading Day 8: to Torremejia, 27.4kms

a square in Villafranca Finally we have a little peregrino community going, we bonded last night in the tiny bar of the warm kitchen over red wine and trail notes. There's some concern over how busy the camino is due to Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week) so the 7 of us booked ahead for tonight at … Continue reading Day 7: to Villafranca, 19.5 kms

A simple day of just easy walking on wide dirt farm roads. 2 streams to fjord but luckily it's been very dry this winter and the little rocks that were strategically placed as stepping stones were sufficient to make the crossing. how cute is that little train sign! I'm spending the night in the city … Continue reading Day 6: to Zafra, 25 kms

The villages are far and few between on this route and so I'm often finding myself down a pint or two of coffee. I could have stopped for my cafe con leche as soon as I started this morning but I espied 3 pilgrims ahead of me and my competitive spirit didn't want to lose sight … Continue reading Day 5: to Fuente de Cantos, 21.6kms

The Big Red Tomato Returns! Rain, rain, didn't go away.  The showers of yesterday afternoon that interfered with my laundry drying satisfactorily returned this morning as a steady drizzle.  I walked most of the day in my striking red rain poncho, with my damp socks pinned to my pack, dangling underneath.   I had on … Continue reading Day 4: to Monesterio, 20.4kms

El Real de la Jara I must confess right at the start to cheating a tiny bit today. The first half of the stage consists of walking 16kms on the shoulder of a rural highway, which didn't really appeal to me especially as I always seem to injure myself walking too much on pavement.  So … Continue reading Day 3: Castiblanco – El Real de la Jara, 30kms

Castiblanco - "white" town Today was a good day.  It had an inauspicious start as my darn roomies were rustling their backpacks at 5:45am, a time which the stars haven't even begun to think of snuffing themselves out, all so they could congregate in the common room over their coffee or cafe or whatever the … Continue reading Day 2: Guillena – Castiblanco, 17.8 kms

Day One: Sevilla to Guillena (22.8kms) I had hoped for an early start this morning but it was still pitch black at 7am!! What a shock from the Desert where the sun pokes its head over the horizon well before 6am. I puttered around the hostel's common room, saying hello to all the other pilgrims … Continue reading Day 1: On My Way

It was a super easy trip to get here: a quick change of planes in Atlanta, a comfy if sleepless flight to Madrid, then I hopped on the bus to the train station for a fast 2.5 hour ride to Sevilla, one short taxi ride, and Voila! Triana Backpacker Hostel, aka where the pilgrims stay … Continue reading Sevilla!!