Pleasant day. 12 miles. About 1000 feet of climbing, but it was gradual.
Umich IT folks… I walked for about an hour with a couple friends. I was surprised to learn one used to work for PeopleSoft higher education group years ago before the Oracle acquisition. We never crossed paths before, I think, but we had some common people we knew.
Bill, is there something you packed that turned out to not be needed? Have you seen something that other hikers have that you wish you had thought to bring?
The only two things I haven’t used are some medicine and my sleeping bag. Glad I haven’t needed the medicine! As for the sleeping bag, I ended up in slightly nicer places than I expected and they all have adequate bedding. The sleeping bag is too expensive to dump, so I’m still carrying it. It weighs 17 ounces, so it’s not a major issue.
As for needing something… everything I need I can buy in the bigger towns. I’ve bought gloves, a fleece jacket, some socks and foot-care products. I know friends who have bought shoes, which is risky since they didn’t train in them.
We splurged and had a nice dinner last night. Matt & Kristi (Michigan/Texas), Clara & Dave (Philadelphia) and Derek & Jolynn (Portland). I washed all my clothes at a laundromat yesterday. That’s a treat because sink washing just isn’t as good. The warning on the washer was a little disturbing. Did someone put Fido in an upright washer making this alert necessary?The main altarpiece in the Cathedral in Astorga. Mural in Astorga. It was odd to see a milatary mural, so I looked it up… During the War of Independence, Astorga was besieged by the French twice. Moreover, Napoleon’s army conquered the city in 1810, which was French for two years. In this mural of 320 square meters you can see several soldiers of the Leon Volunteers troop firing.On the Spanish part of the Camino it’s not unusual to walk through small villages with several cafes and stores for pilgrims and no other businesses. I walked through this one today. (Frankly, these villages wouldn’t exist without the Camino.)In the morning it was cool and cloudy. Good for hiking. It cleared up in the afternoon. The views are better now that we’re out of the plains. Video: The view from my room last night. This room was great and cost about 70€ (about $68 US). That’s about 25€ more than usual, but it was wonderful. What kind of room would $68 get in a tourist city in the US?
10 thoughts on “Day 57 – Rabanal del Camino”
“prendas de animales” would be animal/pet clothing or blankets 😉
Beautiful scenery now that the slog through the meseta is over!
Bill how are you finding the air? At times while we were on our trip to Spain and Portugal it was really smoggy. We also saw parts of the Camino that runs through Portugal.
It’s been clear. There were fires in this region a couple of months ago but nothing now. “The Camino Portuguese” runs from Lisbon to Santiago. People love that route but it doesn’t intersect with the one we’re on. Hope your trip was great!
I only speak English so learning a language is not necessary but helpful.
In France, most people speak a smattering of English but are not conversational. You can get by but won’t have a lot of long conversations.
In Spain, English is ubiquitous. Many pilgrims are fluent in English. Some local business folks may not speak English but you can get by pointing and using Google translate.
🙂 How fun that you ran into a PSoft/Oracle rep! That’s one of the things that I love about traveling and meeting folks is also seeing how small of a world we really do live in.
I love your cathedral pictures. I was drawn to cathedrals (and taking pictures) all over Europe. Each one had such a different personality? Do you find something similar, or are the Spanish ones more like each other?
Bill on the Camino 
“prendas de animales” would be animal/pet clothing or blankets 😉
Beautiful scenery now that the slog through the meseta is over!
Well, that makes more sense! I was feeling bad for Fido!
Bill how are you finding the air? At times while we were on our trip to Spain and Portugal it was really smoggy. We also saw parts of the Camino that runs through Portugal.
It’s been clear. There were fires in this region a couple of months ago but nothing now. “The Camino Portuguese” runs from Lisbon to Santiago. People love that route but it doesn’t intersect with the one we’re on. Hope your trip was great!
Were you required to learn Spanish and French for this trip?
Hey Bill, How many languages are spoken across the Camino and are you fluent as pertinent?
I only speak English so learning a language is not necessary but helpful.
In France, most people speak a smattering of English but are not conversational. You can get by but won’t have a lot of long conversations.
In Spain, English is ubiquitous. Many pilgrims are fluent in English. Some local business folks may not speak English but you can get by pointing and using Google translate.
🙂 How fun that you ran into a PSoft/Oracle rep! That’s one of the things that I love about traveling and meeting folks is also seeing how small of a world we really do live in.
I love your cathedral pictures. I was drawn to cathedrals (and taking pictures) all over Europe. Each one had such a different personality? Do you find something similar, or are the Spanish ones more like each other?
I’m not an expert so the look a lot a like. Although certain regions were more ornate.