There is much talk among the hundreds of pilgrims from many nations that the Camino is yours to do with as you please. I am comforted with that as I have read the guidebook and understand the recommendations but I will walk when I choose and stop when I choose. It is all good. There is no present like the time.  Papi

There are many Villafranca along the Camino Frances  this one is part way up a hill with a great Albergue in a cute town. I was able to take a short 17km day getting here just after noon. Will low a rest before tomorrow morning’s climb to San Juan de Ortega. Tough start for the day as it will be 12 km up hill with no towns along the was for a cafe con leche. Last night we had an interesting collection of a dozen pilgrims in the only Albergue in Vialmayor del Rio. All English speakers from Australia, England, Tenn, and Scotland. Most curious is that I may have been the youngest pilgr present. One of my fellow pilgrims reported that Sep is the busiest month on the Camino and more than half the pilgrims are over 60.  Looks like I have now walked about 160 miles or 250 km in the 10 days. I expect to walk about 15 tomorrow but we will have to see. One never knows on the Camino. We all hope to just keep getting closer to Santiago. 

As this blog is also serving as my diary, there are many people I met along the Camino that I do not want to forget. My descriptions of them are my own and a number of names have been changed should my memories of them not be very positive or kind. 

El Brazilero. Departing Pamplona, I passed a couple people walking together. She was from Colombia and he Brazil. I only saw her once again. But the Brazilero I have run into many times to include two nightsf ago when he was in the bunk next to mine. He is one who stays up late to make business calls to Brazil and he needs to have a sleep study done.  

Tomas from Belgium. A very nice man who speaks good English. We were in at least 3 places together in the first week but he is a very fast and hard walker. Have not seen him for weeks.

La Polaca. A a very nice Polish woman in her 50s who has done the Camino before. She rises very early and walks 30-40km per day speaking no languages other than her own. I last saw her waiting on a bench in the dark for someone with a head lamp to lead her out of Ciruena. I did so and left her after sunrise when I stopped for coffee. I don’t know if she does not stop for lack of money or haste. 

Bishop Jung and Im. Very nice Korean couple of ministers married to each other and walking the Camino together. She did the Camino seven years ago and he wanted to do it too. He started too fast leaving his wife behind and developed blisters badly. He now walks slowly with His wife. Their church is in Madison, Wisconsin. Fun people who see goodness everywhere. 

Today’s challenge was to get up the hill to Villafranca del Bierzo and cut tomorrow’s climb down to a manageable challenge. The climb to O’Cebreiro may not be the highest point of the Camino but it is the toughest (a 700 meter rise in 15km) so breaking it up is the strategy. Had my latest start on the trip this morning hitting the road about 10 til 7. Always interesting walking in the dark and I enjoy walking past the people just starting out from the next town around 8:30. There was a full steady climb of 4km coming of Cacabelos. One of those climbs I hated most as a runner. The kind that winds up the hill and each time you get to a curve and think it is over there is more hill to climb. At the top you look for someone to give a high 5 but must keep it to yourself. 

Villafranca del Bierzo is a gorgeous mountain town filled with tourists as this was a Sunday AM. Some of the tourists were taking pictures of the crazy pilgrims walking through town. They in their winter jackets at 48 degrees and me sweating bullets for the climb I just described. Many important historical buildings there including the Iglesia Colegiata formerly the church of our Cluniac lady (Nuestra Señora de Cluniaco) as the Cluny monks from France were early patrons of the Camino.  

 Tomorrow is Monday and I have 18-20km to the top. Once there I will be in Galicia and only 96 miles from Santiago. Stay tuned. 

I am afraid to mention the weather as we have had warm sunny days in a delicious string. So was today. The walk down from El Acebo was difficult as one can imagine a 1000 year old mountain trail might be. Doing it in the dark adds a degree of difficulty. Once back into the valley the walking got better and the sights more so. Ponderrada has a number of amazing churches and Roman bridges (see Facebook) and a 12th century Castillo de Los Templarios. The knights that served to protect the pilgrims.  It has been beautifully restored and towers over the center of town.  I was there early so after a short visit I continued on to Camponaranya. A small town along the way.  In keeping with my practice, I continue to stay in towns NOT one that is recommended by the guide book. This albergue is new and modern with its own bar and restaurant. Everything a man needs after a day of walking.  

Like a chess game, plans for a walk must consider the moves that will come after the next one. Tomorrow I hope to get past Vilafranca del Bierzo in order to have a shorter walk up the steepest hills on the Camino and on into Galicia. The last province I will cover  and the seat of Santiago de Compastella. By tomorrow, I will have completed 75 percent of the Camino and in 2 or 3 days I will be inside 100 miles. Stay tuned to see what happens. 

There were the Swedes. English speaking and world travelers they were doing only a portion of the Camino but we had a great night together in an albergue where English was the common language. I guess their ages at late 60s. He is a Walter Mitty character always with a book in his face and little to say. She is still a stunningly beautiful blond that could still be modeling today.  Full of life, they travel the world. 

Donna is a 69 year old Italian American from California with money. She has one new hip and will need another soon. She is a delightful and fun personality who walks the Camino but sends he pack ahead each day to lighten her load. Great company on the walk or at dinner in town. 

The Kicks:  A wonderful Australian couple who are homeless in Europe for two years. They rented their home and decided to house sit for a couple of years in Europe. They established a web site and flew to Paris for the first job of 3 weeks. Their next job of house sitting is in Italy for 3 months but not until Oct. So the Camino was filling the gap. They are also in their 70s and full of life. Later I will tell a funny story about my helping them to make a reservation. 

Etienne is a French retired satellite engineer for Air Bus. We walked together today and I heard fascinating stories about the management of satellites.  He is about 70 with 3 daughters. Retired a year ago and an excellent walker. His English is so French. 

More later. 

Now three weeks into the Camino and I might get the hang of this. A tough day of 28 km that took us over the highest point in the Camino. I stopped short of the day 24 guidebook recommendation at El Acebo. This is a beautiful mountain town and the albergue I chose was just built last year. It is new and modern with a fantastic view of the town of Molinaseca. There will be one of those great Spanish sunsets out my window. If only I can stay awake for it.

Not a walk in the park today as the climb was one challenge but the climb back down was very tough on broken shale and washed out trails. One finds oneself focusing on every step knowing that one wrong move can end the Camino for you. On the way I crossed the highest point on the Camino, the Cruz de fiero at about a mile high. Magnificent views from up there but we are always aware of the fact that what goes up must come down. Now with 140 miles to go. Tough decision tomorrow as I have the possibility of a bed at 16.4 km or 33 km. Nothing in between. The Camino and my body will tell me what to do.   If only I will listen. 

I have written of the many nations, ages, genders, and sizes of the people who walk the Camino. As I have a couple weeks left, it may be time to start singling them out (since they are unlikely to ever see this blog). 

Starting in the bus station in Pamplona with me were Hugh and Chris from BC, Canada. He is originally from NZ and a forestry specialist and she is Polish raised in Edinburough, Scotland. Very pleasant and engaging. He is 71 and she is younger than he. This is the couple I wrote of that we’re no longer walking together as he left her behind as she was too slow for him. One has to wonder how that will play in future family gatherings. 

Austin is a very large man, perhaps 30 with several degrees, speaks many languages and is not employed. He was walking his 4th Camino. Never saw him after St Jean. 

The first two days I had an excellent walking partner who had completed the Camino from Pamona to Santiago but needed to do the portion from St Jean to Pamona. I wrote that I walked with.a Lutheran priest from Finland. True enough but I did. I failed to mention that the priest was a woman in her late 50s

Somewhere along the trail I passed a couple with a Deep South accent. Dave and Beverly from Memphis and I spent at least 3 nights in the same albergue with them before Burgos. Very nice people. He is 71 and a former designer and builder of parade floats and she is likely a bit younger. 

Bradley and Carol are two 40 something’s from Australia. Their kids are off to college so they both took jobs in London for two years. Their visa was up so they are walking the Camino jobless and homeless and as happy as can be. Wonderfully engaging and friendly to all. I still owe him a beer. 

More later:  

It is not my nature. I know that I am more than two days ahead of the guide book and that I have added four days at the end just in case of injury. I know that I could be strolling through the Spain and even taking days off. I find that to be more stressful than walking. It is not that I do not know how to have a good time or that I do not know how to relax. Those readers that know me know that the above is true. I find that I have wanted to do this for so long that what I want to do is do it. I wrote earlier a phrase that a reader described as “Alice in Wonderland. The part about the going is to get going. I compare it to when you decide with whom you want to spend the rest of your life-once you know, you want the rest of your life to start right away. I have tried to walk slowly but I do not enjoy it. I have tried to start later in the day but it makes me anxious that I should be going. It is not that I am not enjoying myself. I am and I am pleased in so many ways that I am able to do this. Whether I walk fast or slow, early or late, I have the same enjoyment and get the same amount of reflection on life as others. Even if I get that satisfaction after the walk in the early afternoon. 

So I will continue to consider the advice and counsel of so many but the fact remains that this is something I am doing for me. And I must do it as me. 

Tomorrow I cross the highest mountain on the Camino. Stay with me my readers. 

Spent the night at a Parish Albergue in Hospital de Orbigo. This was a first for me. The priest oversees all activities and says mass at 8:00 each night. All the work is done by Spanish speaking seminarians that are sent here to help and Hungarian Spanish speakers who volunteer two weeks at a time. Perhaps y’all will consider flying to Spain for a couple weeks to live in some no name town cleaning toilets and making beds. Any takers?

I rose early as in my custom and started walking in the dark at 6. Covered the 26 km past Astorga and on to Santa Catalina de Somoza. Astorga has a magnificent cathedral and a building known as the bishops house designed by Gaudi of Barcelona fame. Astorga sits on a hill surrounded by hills. As I crested the top of the last hill at 8 something, the sun broke over my shoulder to light up the city and the cross that overlooks it. This is the scene I captured.