LIVE from the Camino Accidentally Walking the Lana ( with a teeny bit of the Levante too)

[LesBrass]

We're travelling south to Southern Spain for Christmas with our family (we hope).

We decided to take a slow road trip from France and take advantage of a winter offer from the Parador Hotels... yesterday and today we accidentally found ourselves on the Camino de la Lana and WOW! Alcala del Jucar was an absolute treat... we're also meandering along the Levante and already planning our walk on this route in 2023 (more fingers crossed )

Seasons greetings pilgrims

 

[Tassie Kaz]

We're travelling south to Southern Spain for Christmas with our family (we hope).

We decided to take a slow road trip from France and take advantage of a winter offer from the Parador Hotels......

Stunning location & pics! Thanks for sharing.
Hope all your plans, both for time & place, come to fruition.
Best wishes for the season.

 

[wayfarer]

Beautiful photos.
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New year.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Alcalá looks stunning in Winter! And where on the Levante did you go explore?? I wish I could be back on the Lana right now...!

 

[domigee]

We're travelling south to Southern Spain for Christmas with our family (we hope).

We decided to take a slow road trip from France and take advantage of a winter offer from the Parador Hotels... yesterday and today we accidentally found ourselves on the Camino de la Lana and WOW! Alcala del Jucar was an absolute treat... we're also meandering along the Levante and already planning our walk on this route in 2023 (more fingers crossed )

Seasons greetings pilgrims

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Wow, how envious am I? Enjoy and a happy Christmas to you Peregrina!

 

[mspath]

LesBrass,

These are wonderful pictures!

In the current whirlwind of uncertainty
Carpe diem and Happy Christmas wherever you might be!

 

[VNwalking]

Just beautiful @LesBrass!
All of them. Especially the second one.
Thank you, and please keep 'em coming!
Buen autocamino and happy and safe holidays to you.

 

[ivar]

We're travelling south to Southern Spain for Christmas with our family (we hope).

We decided to take a slow road trip from France and take advantage of a winter offer from the Parador Hotels... yesterday and today we accidentally found ourselves on the Camino de la Lana and WOW! Alcala del Jucar was an absolute treat... we're also meandering along the Levante and already planning our walk on this route in 2023 (more fingers crossed )

Seasons greetings pilgrims

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Wow!

 

[LesBrass]

Alcalá looks stunning in Winter! And where on the Levante did you go explore?? I wish I could be back on the Lana right now...!

I think our roads are following along parts of the Levante... we drove from Cuenca to Albecete (the Parador is a few km out of the city). We haven't visited the city but instead drove to Alcala and from their to Chinchilla. Today were heading to Belmonte via Alarcon... so I think the roads we drive will in part take us through Levente country.

The weather has been glorious. We left home the day after the terrible flooding and expected much worse... every morning we have frosts but blue skies and by midday it's so warm were down to short sleeves... and gosh the sky is so blue.

I could happily leave the Paradors and grab a rucksack and go walk right now... maybe a southern winter camino woukd be an excellent idea

 

[LesBrass]

Just beautiful @LesBrass!
All of them. Especially the second one.
Thank you, and please keep 'em coming!
Buen autocamino and happy and safe holidays to you.

We've jumped around a few caminos en route... I'll post some more

 

[LesBrass]

So not the Lana but we spent our first night in Spain under the shadow of the big big hill at the start of the Norte just out of Irun. We'd hoped to go further but our house sitters arrived a little late... but thankfully no signs of the storms and the terrible flooding.

The following day we drove onwards, passing Pamplona and the Camimo Francis heading to Tudela. Here the signs of flooding from the Ebro were clear with part of the town still under water and shops pumping the remnants out into the street... very sad to see amongst all the Christmas decorations. We found a camino marker but I'm not sure which Route?

 

[LesBrass]

Our next day took us from Tedula to Teruel via Albarracin. I'm not sure if these are camino towns... we saw information for the Camino de El Cid but not sure if this is an official Santiago route... but gosh it was stunning.

The cathedral in Turuel had the most incredible wooden painted ceiling.

 

[Former member 99290]

That’s what I call a happy accident!

 

[Corned Beef]

France has just announced tougher border controls - at least with the UK. Hope you can get back home to France from Spain but if you can't, there are a few Caminos waiting.

 

[VNwalking]

from Tedula to Teruel via Albarracin. I'm not sure if these are camino towns

Teruel is smack dab on the Camino Sagunto;
Albarracin would be a bit of a detour.

The cathedral in Turuel had the most incredible wooden painted ceiling.

Wow. I have so many questions.
Edit. About the ceiling, courtesy of Wikipedia:

It has been called the "Sistine Chapel" of Mudéjar art, for its great architectural and pictorial value. It measures 32 meters in length and dates from 14th century. In its coffers are paintings of officers, craftsmen, historical figures, and fantastic beings. These diverse human types and extensive variety in pictorial imagery are well preserved because they were covered by a false Neoclassical ceiling in the 18th century, which protected the paintings from inclement weather.

 

[LesBrass]

Wow. I have so many questions.
Edit. About the ceiling, courtesy of Wikipedia:

You could walk up to the ceiling along a little high gallery... it was incredible

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

You could walk up to the ceiling along a little high gallery... it was incredible

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Holy ceiling,

I'm jumping up and down in envy...!

Btw you mentioned a camino marker around Tudela, that should be the Camino del Ebro

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@LesBrass, your pictures are all so gorgeous; truly candy for the eye! It's so refreshing to see a new variety viewed from "autoCamino" (as VN says); a nice addition to all of the other Camino favorites many of us often share.

 

[Margaret Butterworth]

Incredible shots! So much to discover in that part of the world!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Wow! What a happy accident!
Merry Christmas!

 

[LesBrass]

We found more arrows today's... but which camino?

It was our last day in Castilla-La Mancha... today we travelled through the lands of Don Quixote and El Cid with vast plains dotted with vineyards, almond and olive orchards, castles and windmills.

First we drove to one of the oldest castles in the region, again in gorge of the Júcar River, Alarcón Castle rises above the flatland with its own natural moat. It has been settled since prehistoric times and the first defenses were built in the 8th century. Today it's home to a Parador but we're not staying.



We drove onwards to Belmonte through glorious open countryside... I really can't wait to walk across these horizons! Our destination is perhaps one of the most well known castles (made famous by Charlton Heston in El Cid)... this enormous building dominates the landscape and thankfully it was open for a visit. It has been renovated and extended over its lifetime and was well worth our detour.

The sky was still blue but gosh it was bitterly cold today walking the ramparts... and as we left there were a few yellow arrows directing us down into the town... so which camino is home to Belmonte?

Tomorrow we head south to warmer climes... I wonder which camino we'll stumble upon

 

[Former member 99290]

Bonjour @LesBrass a quick question re your wonderful photos. I still use a camera (just a small but good point and shoot) rather than my phone.

Are your photos taken with a camera? If so, could you let me know what you use.

Merci pèlerine. Et bonne continuation

 

[LesBrass]

Bonjour @LesBrass a quick question re your wonderful photos. I still use a camera (just a small but good point and shoot) rather than my phone.

Are your photos taken with a camera? If so, could you let me know what you use.

Merci pèlerine. Et bonne continuation

Hi there... I use the camera on my phone... a Samsung Note 10+ ...many years ago had a little point and shoot but these days the smartphone is so much easier

 

[Former member 99290]

Hi there... I use the camera on my phone... a Samsung Note 10+ ...many years ago had a little point and shoot but these days the smartphone is so much easier

Thank you. Your photos are great.. I use my phone for photos day to day but have stuck with my camera when travelling. Think I may have to convert and teach myself,how to use my phone camera properly

 

[LesBrass]

Thank you. Your photos are great.. I use my phone for photos day to day but have stuck with my camera when travelling. Think I may have to convert and teach myself,how to use my phone camera properly

It's worth it... I found some helpful tutorials on YouTube and just played with all the different settings. I reckon I only use half of the functions and there's a whole pro setting I've not ventured to try yet

 

[Former member 99290]

It's worth it... I found some helpful tutorials on YouTube and just played with all the different settings. I reckon I only use half of the functions and there's a whole pro setting I've not ventured to try yet

Thank you. Will definitely do that before our next Camino. We plan to fly to Paris late March for two months in France and Spain. My husband is French and we haven’t seen his girls and grandchildren for two years. Will also visit Le Gers and Basque Country to see friends. And will have a few weeks to walk in Spain.

Happy travels to you and your family.

 

[Philtration]

Fantastic photos of an area of Spain I haven't really looked at. I tried to retrace your travels on maps. It looks like you made a big loop, but I'm not sure I got the order correctly. We're thinking of doing a couple of week car trip this spring, so your photos have been inspiring us to look in this area. Would love to see more photos, keep them coming if you have the time.

 

[VNwalking]

so which camino is home to Belmonte?

Hmmm. Not sure. But it's 9km from the Levante.

 

[Isca-camigo]

We found more arrows today's... but which camino

AACS La Santa Cruz - Cuencamino - Camino de la Santa Cruz

Baldosa señalizadora del Camino de la Santa Cruz

www.caminodelasantacruz.es

 

[LesBrass]

Fantastic photos of an area of Spain I haven't really looked at. I tried to retrace your travels on maps. It looks like you made a big loop, but I'm not sure I got the order correctly. We're thinking of doing a couple of week car trip this spring, so your photos have been inspiring us to look in this area. Would love to see more photos, keep them coming if you have the time.

I didn't post our journey here in order which may have confused things we live not too far from Bordeaux so drove down via Irun to Pamplona and Tudela. The next day on to Teruel via Albarracin... then on to Cuenca. We planned to stay the night in Cuenca but as a lot was closed we decided to drive on to Albecete... we chose this as a base to explore a few different places ( Alcala de Jucar and Chincilla)... today we drove on to Jaen for a couple nights before heading off to the coast... where our son lives.

I use two websites to help me plan... https://www.lospueblosmasbonitosdeespana.org/ and https://www.spainheritagenetwork.com/ I also like the Think Spain website. We drive south most years and we try to visit different places each time, avoiding large towns where possible. This year, because of the Parador offer we also planned around where they had hotels but I don't usually do that... Happy planning... I hope this is useful.

 

[Philtration]

Very useful. Thanks! Happy Holidays to you and your family.

 

[LesBrass]

We saw no arrows today but i know that they are here. We're in Jaen but we arrived late so we'll explore tomorrow... we stopped off en route at a little village called Banos de la Encina ... which had another spectacular castle.

I feel I've wandered off camino so I'm not sure if it's OK to keep posting tomorrow I'll search for some arrows... and the cathedral looks amazing.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Jaén is Camino territory for a branch of the Mozárabe, and Baños de la Encina is officially one of Los pueblos más bonitos de España! Looks lovely!

 

[domigee]

What a lovely journey! Enjoy!
(Still jealous of the blue skies )

 

[Tia Valeria]

Lovely photos, especially the castles and views across 'old'towns'. Have a wonderful Christmas and safe travels home.

 

[Kiwi-family]

It's worth it... I found some helpful tutorials on YouTube and just played with all the different settings. I reckon I only use half of the functions and there's a whole pro setting I've not ventured to try yet

Could you point me more specifically to the tutorials? Pretty please.

 

[LesBrass]

Could you point me more specifically to the tutorials? Pretty please.

Oh I wish I could... it was quite random ... I searched for things like " take better photos on a smartphone" ... some of the videos were specific to iPhone but the principle of composition and so on where the same. It was a few years ago that I started looking and honestly can't remember but I know that I found lots on YouTube... I'll see if I can find any but not sure I'd remember which ones... I'm so sorry

 

[LesBrass]

Jaen is absolutely camino country... what a fabulous city... and we found arrows today... along with the amazing cathedral and 11th century Arab Baths.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Absolutely stunning, @LesBrass !

 

[Kiwi-family]

Oh I wish I could... it was quite random ... I searched for things like " take better photos on a smartphone" ... some of the videos were specific to iPhone but the principle of composition and so on where the same. It was a few years ago that I started looking and honestly can't remember but I know that I found lots on YouTube... I'll see if I can find any but not sure I'd remember which ones... I'm so sorry

You obviously found much more than just the compositional rule of thirds! Stunning photography.

 

[Former member 49149]

Such a treat - for you and your husband in the travelling, and for us in the front row! Don't ever think twice, your photos will always be welcomed. For what it is worth, a simple trick I learned to get rid of a green spot that shows on iphone photos when facing the light: an app called Snapseed has a set of tools, and the name of the tool to get rid of the green spot? Healing! Gosh, if it were that easy for blemishes on humans! @LesBrass, thank you so much for sharing your photos, and here's wishing you a happy family Christmas.

 

[Kanga]

What wonderful weather, glorious places and beautiful photos @LesBrass. Spain really is the land of castles.

 

[LesBrass]

Almost at the end of our camino tour still on the Mozarabe but today in Cordoba. We visited here 20 years ago but memories had faded. We sadly couldn't get to see the Alcazar again as it is closed on a Monday ( we'll have to make a 3rd visit now)... but we meandered through the narrow streets of the old town and several in the new... and of course visited the amazing cathedral. Much to my amazement we never spotted a single yellow arrow... but no matter, it was another wonderful day.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Wow, can only say wow! Your photos are so beautiful...a "cut above", absolutely amazing! It's been lovely to follow you on your journey on four wheels by car!

 

[LesBrass]

Wow, can only say wow! Your photos are so beautiful...a "cut above", absolutely amazing! It's been lovely to follow you on your journey on four wheels by car!

Thank you... I love taking photos when I'm walking... over the years I guess I developed a kind of style... but regardless i do love both the blog writing and the photographs. I've started making photo books of our journeys as so often photos are never printed and just get lost. I hope we can continue our adventures as the world (hopefully) starts to heal.

Tomorrow we head to the coast to meet our eldest son... the youngest we hope will fly out in 3 days... waiting and watching the rules change is so difficult... but we're all jabbed and boosted and tested... and careful. I hope this is enough

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thank you... I love taking photos when I'm walking... over the years I guess I developed a kind of style... but regardless i do love both the blog writing and the photographs. I've started making photo books of our journeys as so often photos are never printed and just get lost. I hope we can continue our adventures as the world (hopefully) starts to heal.

Tomorrow we head to the coast to meet our eldest son... the youngest we hope will fly out in 3 days... waiting and watching the rules change is so difficult... but we're all jabbed and boosted and tested... and careful. I hope this is enough

I have two sons who will be home at Christmas...enjoy your holiday with yours.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

On a totally egoistic note... I hope to be back in a lot of these places next summer, Covid willing. Both Cuenca and Córdoba will be on my Camino(s), if everything goes as planned. My feet start moving just by looking at these gorgeous pictures!!

 

[LesBrass]

On a totally egoistic note... I hope to be back in a lot of these places next summer, Covid willing. Both Cuenca and Córdoba will be on my Camino(s), if everything goes as planned. My feet start moving just by looking at there gorgeous pictures!!

I hope that you get back too... and that things will be better for everyone... and I'll look forward to reading about your camino.

 

[VNwalking]

Cordoba!!!
Just...wow.
Thank you - a lovely Christmas gift for us all.

Tomorrow we head to the coast to meet our eldest son... the youngest we hope will fly out in 3 days... waiting and watching the rules change is so difficult... but we're all jabbed and boosted and tested... and careful. I hope this is enough

May it be so!

 

[samba]

We're travelling south to Southern Spain for Christmas with our family (we hope).

We decided to take a slow road trip from France and take advantage of a winter offer from the Parador Hotels... yesterday and today we accidentally found ourselves on the Camino de la Lana and WOW! Alcala del Jucar was an absolute treat... we're also meandering along the Levante and already planning our walk on this route in 2023 (more fingers crossed )

Seasons greetings pilgrims

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Yes it’s I think the most beautiful/ interesting / unspoilt Camino . Your photos sent a pang to my heart. We planning to return on 2022 but it all depends on fares / virus etc etc . Booked Salamanca for Semana Santa and hoping , Thanks for photos and Felice 2022 with plenty of Caminos