The Wanderers

We have had two good days of walking since returning to the path from Leon.  We caught the 9.00am bus and had indulged in a second coffee before heading off from la Robla by 10.00 am.  There was an earlier bus at 7.00, but even leaving our hostal at 8.00 am we were still in the half dark! We had to be very careful leaving la Robla as this is where two paths - the Camino San Salvador and the Camino Olvidado - merge and separate.  Getting ourselves sorted we set off on the way, taking a while to leave the industrial parts of the town.  Indeed these past two days we have passing numerous quarries, the first one being about an hour out of the town.  Leaving la Robla  We had company as we walked through one village.  These are big dogs and they made us feel nervous,  and so we didn't linger to take photos.  It is not only cars that that are parked in village streets. We stopped and had lunch in a bus shelter in the village of Olleros de Al

After leaving Puente  Almuhey  we had a wonderful walk along quiet rural roads and pathways.   We passed through some delightful villages and steadily climbed to a height of 1,116 metres.  It sounds a lot, but we actually began at around 970 metres. The view of the church in Puente Almuhey.  The bridge (Puente) that gives the town its name. The first village,Tarantila, we pass through.  The walls around Palacio Renado Over the past few days we have been bumping into Elena and Agostin - 2 Spanish  peregrinos.  We have stayed in the same abode for several nights, and yesterday, while we were resting, they caught up with us.  We sort of followed them after that, and we all ended up at the Santuario de la Virgen de la Velilla, an absolutely lovely  spot.     Santuario de la Virgen de la Velilla.  Note the grazing horses. The pilgrims hostel at  Santuario de la Virgen de la Velilla.  Agostin has been unwell since we first met t

Well, it has been a couple of days since my last post, but we have only really had one day of walking! We left Cervera de Pisuerga on a glorious cool, sunny morning making good headway up hill.  The path quickly left the road and headed along rough tracks, even involving a bit of bush bashing.  We began with a fairly stiff climb which levelled out on what may have been an old railway line leading from a mine in the hills.  Lovely paths, interesting ruins, and great views. We had magnificent views of the mountains and I had to stop frequently to photograph and admire the scenery.  We stopped, rested, and ate lunch in the porch of a church.  This has actually been the first time we have done this as either there has been nowhere to sit, or it has been in the sun, but this time it was a perfect spot, and we were able to eat our picnic lunch of empanadas in comfort. Our lunch spot in Cantoral de la Peña, an

We caught  a taxi from Reinosa to Olea to pick up the path again.  We have had a delightful few days as we have walked across the Plains of the plateau, still up high, at roughly 900 - 1,000 metres. As we descended down an inline from Olea to the valley floor we heard what was a constant sound for not only that day, but for the next few - cow bells.  Cow bells though is a misnomer.  These bells are on sheep and the many horses roaming the paddocks too.  We have had this sound occasionally accompanying  us for quite a few days, but it has been a real constant recently.  The path has been winding itself across the valley floor with mountain views to catch our eye.  We are now getting closer to the Picos de Europa and they are taking a prominent sight as we walk ever closer. Our last day to Cervera de Pisuerga has been a delight, following the Rio Pisuerga as it gurgled its way to Aguilar de Campóo, which is on the river also.  W