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🇪🇸 Ruta de la LANA (Valencia/Alicante - Burgos)
An Alaskan peregrina on the Lana — November 2021
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[QUOTE="Sitkapilgrim, post: 1032705, member: 40203"] So continuing: [B]Stage 28 - San Esteban de Gormaz to Quintanarraya, 32 km.[/B] I visited the Church of San Miguel in the morning on my way out of town - very impressive, and then walked across undulating hills and fields for 23 km until reaching Alcubilla de Avellaneda where I found my first open bar of the day. I was ready to stop for coffee and tortilla. And then up a hill, along a wide stoney path in the encina forests with views of snowy mountains to the north and northwest, and down into the village of Quintanarraya. This village has a simple albergue, [B]La Casa del Peregrino (5 euros) [/B]with 5 widely spaced beds, heat and good shower. The key is kept by the mayor, and when he is out of town, his wife has the key and lives nearby. There is no bar or tienda, but I knew that and had brought food. [B]Stage 29 - Quintanarraya to Santo Domingo de Silos, 24.3 km.[/B] This was a day of a fair amount of pavement. Perhaps I overlooked more scenic options early in the day. The first town at 6.4 km had several open bars, one with great food, and a supermarket not yet open. When I reached the huge picnic area of Pinarejos, with ermita and fountain, I found a trail, initially poorly marked, which was truly beautiful, and led to the village of Mamolar with a bar in the centro social which had cold drinks and potato chips. No coffee. No real food. But as it was a hot day, a coke and chips were fine. From Mamolar, there is an exceptionally stoney historical road/path around a mountain and down the other side to a impressive view of Santo Domingo de Silos and then a path steeply down into town. I had called the monastery the day previously and they were expecting me around 5 pm. That left several hours to visit the cloisters (free for pilgrims) and explore the town, full of Spanish tourists, until that time. Warning: the phone at the monastery is only answered when the monks are available, and their days are quite structured, so they are often not available to answer the phone. So plan ahead. The cloister museum staff do not notify the monks that you have arrived. At 5 pm, a monk of the Monasterio Benedictino was available, and took me to their [B]Albergue de Peregrinos (donativo)[/B] just opposite the monastery gates. It is very complete, with 2 bunk beds, washer, dryer, heat, hot shower, refrigerator and microwave. The welcome is warm, and a good opportunity for a religious themed conversation, if so inclined. The monk did note that with the war in Ukraine, energy costs were rising, and suggested that be taken into account when making a donativo. A very small store opens in the evening several blocks away, and of course there is an abundance of bars and restaurants. Evening vespers for me was very special. I had detoured to Santo Domingo de Silos on my first camino in 2008 to spend 2 nights there, to listen to a full cycle of sung liturgies, and appreciated a second opportunity to attend. [B]Stage 30 - Santo Domingo de Silos to Mecerreyes, 24 km.[/B] After morning lauds, where the four of us attending were invited to sit in the choir area with the monks, I walked stoney steep paths most of the day, ending with 7 km of highway against cold strong headwinds, to the village of Mecerreyes. The town of Covarrubias, as full of Spanish tourists as Santo Domingo de Silos, was a good place for a coffee and tortilla, 7 km before Mecerreyes. I liked the[B] Albergue municipal La Corneja, (5 euros)[/B] in Mecerreyes It is a 3 story house with multiple beds in 3 bedrooms, and has a full kitchen, hot showers, and heat. It has interesting architectural features including a huge enclosed fireplace/chimney which is the home of birds, (?swallows) which were very noisy in the late evening. I was the first pilgrim staying there in weeks. The bar just beyond, which has the albergue key, offered to cook me an evening meal whenever I wished, and it was more than adequate. As there is no tienda, her offer was perfect. The woman running the bar did try very hard to dissuade me from walking the next stage as she said it was too long and too muddy. She suggested the bus leaving at 9:20 am. There is one odd thing about this albergue. Through the night, the hall lights, activated by motion detectors, go on and off, so choose your bedroom carefully if you plan to leave the door open for warmth or coolness. It was not clear to me that anything specific was setting them off. [B]Stage 31 - Mecerreyes to Burgos, 35.5 km.[/B] Despite the length, this was not a hard stage, but it was interesting. There was a bar with food at Revillarruz, at 19.6 km, which was welcome. The bar in Huerta de Rey was closed that day. There were several spots whether the trail markings were challenging, but they are well explained in the paper guidebook from the Alicante based Amigo Association. They are also well illustrated in Sara Dhooma's you tube video of this stage. (She took a wrong turn to the right following the Camino del Cid signage, and had to backtrack. Actually without reviewing her video the night before, I might have done the same.) There is also a short section of bushwhacking through low thorny trees and bushes, where I found no arrow guidance, and where there certainly was no trail, but maybe I missed something. As I knew what direction to head, this was just a bit of fun, rather than worrisome. This was just before Revillarruz. After Revillarruz, the last 15 km or so is on a cycling/walking track on an old railroad bed, the Camino Verde, and is smooth fast walking. There is a shortcut avoiding a long curve to the right where you follow a path/farm road left down across a valley, cross a stream next to an old building in ruins, and head up the other side of the valley to rejoin the railroad bed track. It is a fairly obvious shortcut. Just after, is the railroad tunnel; I was glad I had a headlamp to avoid the water puddles in the middle. And on into Burgos and the end of the Ruta de la Lana. I then turned west and walked the camino frances, repeating my 2008 walk, though it seemed completely different. Of all the caminos I have walked, my favorite Spanish camino is still the Ruta de la Lana. I loved the variety of scenery, the wildness of some sections, the Romanesque churches, the almost deserted villages with their huge churches and castles, and the challenges of a solitary walk with so few pilgrims. My final tally: 2 pilgrims seen between Alicante and Burgos, one for one night, one for three nights. (This is not counting the pilgrim friend who came to join me for a week in November.) I loved the hospitality along the way, typical of the Spanish caminos less traveled. I liked the challenge of figuring out accommodation days in advance by phone, and the challenge of finding a coffee, bar food and grocery stores. I like caminos where I am challenging to improve my Spanish, as what else is there to speak? I recognize, this type of camino is not for all, but it may always remain my favorite.........until I find another favorite. [/QUOTE]
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