Levante/Zamorano/Sanabres Short Combo

[KinkyOne]

Hola, amig@s,

This is more or less just a post for the posting in the Camino Calendar. On March 30th I'll come to Valencia to take my first group of "tourigrinos" on a super fast Levante/Zamorano/Sanabres Camino Combo. All in all just 8 days but I'll be in heaven nevertheless

I won't have much time during the day but in the evening (after dinner) when the group will be too tired or will have time to explore the towns on their own I might be available for a drink or rather two. So if anyone interested here's the list of planned overnight stops:
- 30.03.: Valencia,
- 31.03.: Almansa,
- 01.04.: somewhere halfway between Toledo and Madrid so that's a no go,
- 02.04.: Avila,
- 03.04.: Zamora,
- 04.04.: Ourense,
- 05.04.: Santiago de Compostela,
- 06.04.: sorry, flight back home.

Take care!

K1

 

[peregrina2000]

Oh, wow! K1 this is wonderful news. Sounds like a great trip. I hope it goes well and that your clients all like beer. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[KinkyOne]

Oh, wow! K1 this is wonderful news. Sounds like a great trip. I hope it goes well and that your clients all like beer. Buen camino, Laurie

Thank you, Laurie, but I hope they don't like beer so I would have some time on my own But it's OK, that's just work with a pinch of joy being on Camino again in any way that might be.

 

[peregrina2000]

How did you pick the towns and cities?

 

[KinkyOne]

How did you pick the towns and cities?

Well, the tour is organized by a tourist agency which sells pilgrimages (with no walking as in Camino way) to Fatima, Rome, Santiago, Jerusalem, Međugorje etc. But for this kind of combined pilgrimages they offer 8 days tours. Which left me with only 6 days of possible walking stretches (1st and last day for transport from/to home) so I had to be a bit imaginative which walking sections (5 walking days with 115km altogether) to chose between Valencia and Santiago with Braganca thrown in for a treat. Furthermore the agency guarantee sleeps in 3 or 4* hotels (breakfast & dinner included) with a Slovenian language mass each day. So the overnight stays just must've been planned in larger cities along the way because of all of this. But I think I composed a gem of a 8 day tour with two detours that in whole will include Valencia, Almansa, Toledo, Madrid, Avila, Salamanca, Zamora, Braganca, Ourense, Santiago & Fisterra. Hope I answered

 

[OzAnnie]

Enjoy it @KinkyOne - I can understand that just to be back In any way, on or near these trails, will feel wonderful after the long break.

Buen camino

 

[amsimoes]

I was recently in the cities of Bragança and Vinhais and observed most of the path marked with yellow arrows.
In conversation with a lady from the municipal council of Vinhais I was informed that the path in this municipality is already marked and that the construction of the albergue is being finished, which is right in the center of the city. From Vinhais, the Portuguese variant of Via de la Plata (or Zamorano), goes to the municipality of Chaves, heading to Verin (Galiza) and the Sanabrês path.
I cannot say that the path (caminho Zamorano - portuguese via) is all finished, but in the year 2021 there was a great effort for this path to be signaled.

 

[KinkyOne]

I was recently in the cities of Bragança and Vinhais and observed most of the path marked with yellow arrows.
In conversation with a lady from the municipal council of Vinhais I was informed that the path in this municipality is already marked and that the construction of the albergue is being finished, which is right in the center of the city. From Vinhais, the Portuguese variant of Via de la Plata (or Zamorano), goes to the municipality of Chaves, heading to Verin (Galiza) and the Sanabrês path.
I cannot say that the path (caminho Zamorano - portuguese via) is all finished, but in the year 2021 there was a great effort for this path to be signaled.

Yes @amsimoes , a friend of mine was returning from SdC to Madrid on foot last June on the Zamorano and he said that the markings are being repainted and there are more of them now. So he had no problem finding the way even in reverse.

 

[samba]

Hola, amig@s,

This is more or less just a post for the posting in the Camino Calendar. On March 30th I'll come to Valencia to take my first group of "tourigrinos" on a super fast Levante/Zamorano/Sanabres Camino Combo. All in all just 8 days but I'll be in heaven nevertheless

I won't have much time during the day but in the evening (after dinner) when the group will be too tired or will have time to explore the towns on their own I might be available for a drink or rather two. So if anyone interested here's the list of planned overnight stops:
- 30.03.: Valencia,
- 31.03.: Almansa,
- 01.04.: somewhere halfway between Toledo and Madrid so that's a no go,
- 02.04.: Avila,
- 03.04.: Zamora,
- 04.04.: Ourense,
- 05.04.: Santiago de Compostela,
- 06.04.: sorry, flight back home.

Take care!

K1

Buen camino.Will keep an eye on your walk as thinking of doing the same one this year soon ,now we Australians can get back here !You should stay Orense a few nights id you have time -the hot springs along the river, free,are fantastic.

 

[OzAnnie]

Buen camino.Will keep an eye on your walk as thinking of doing the same one this year soon ,now we Australians can get back here !You should stay Orense a few nights id you have time -the hot springs along the river, free,are fantastic.

Hi @samba
When are you planning to start ? And will you start in Valencia?
Buen camino

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hi Kinky,
What a nice surprise to see you "up and running" a bit on the forum again, and hope to see more of you "here and there".
It will be a new experience guiding some touragrinos along "the Way", and hopefully a positive experience for you!

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi Kinky,
What a nice surprise to see you "up and running" a bit on the forum again, and hope to see more of you "here and there".

You know very well it won't happen (and why) But in PM always for you!

 

[OzAnnie]

So? @KinkyOne
How did it go?

 

[KinkyOne]

Well...

Since there was some interest in this tourigrino endeavour of mine as a guide in PMs I decided to write something brief about it. Some will be surprised that I'm posting at all and the others won't even know why the minority is surprised. But let's leave it at that. I also doubt that anything I will write could really help "walking" peregrin@. OK, maybe food options.

The group consisted of 16 pilgrims, 1 priest (Slovenian-Argentinian which was great because of his fluent Spanish) and 1 myself Half of them jubilados and almost half of all of the group (completely coincidetially) were active or retired medical doctors which didn't prevent that half of us returned infected with Covid. We had our own mini bus and Spanish driver once in Spain. Every day I found a church for a holy mass in Slovenian language. Travel agency was selling this trip for 1250€, half board in hotels at least 3* (if not in hotels then the meal was for me to find). We never had dinner before 21:30 and it was really hard to explain and prove that it is almost impossible to get dinner in Spain (within menu del dia) before 20:00 or 20:30. All other expenses were on them. Anyway they didn't have any time to spend any money Baaad baaad K1

Let's go:

Day 01 (Wednesday, 30.03.)
- 08:00 - start by bus from Ljubljana (Slovenia) to Treviso Airport (Italy)
- fly to Valencia
- from airport (landed at 15:35) by bus to the city center and then on foot: Porta dels Serrans - Placa de la Mare de Deu - Catedral - Placa de la Reina - Mercat Central - Placa del Ayuntament - Iglesia de la San Juan del Hospital
- where we were met by @JLWV who brought us credenciales (2 per person!!!), had a photo session for bishop's office and then headed to...
- La Cigrona (on Jean-Luc's recommendation) for dinner: ensalada mixta, paella Valenciana/Mariscos etc. for 20€, very good
- bus to hotel Holiday Inn Express Valencia Bonaire (some 13kms from the center, don't know how much the agency paid for hotels but this one is of no use to us ordinary walkers anyway).

Day 02 (Thursday, 31.03.)
- 08:30 bus to Parroquia San Josemaria Escriva for holy mass (never was departure scheduled before this hour because I firmly stand on my opinion that if I'd want to walk around the foreign country early and in the dark I could as well walk around my house in the middle of the night whole year round... I want to see!)
- bus to Platja del Cabanyal where (mostly) jubilados ran like little kids barefoot across some 200 meters of sand to the Mediterranean Sea. The Priest and myself just standing there in awe
- bus to Ciutat de les Arts y les Ciencias
- bus to Moixent
- walking Moixent - La Font de la Figuera (ca.18km)
- bus to Almansa (Blu Hotel & Spa Puerta de Almansa)
- dinner at Meson de Rogelio (+34 967 34 00 16) where we had the whole place for ourselves for 12€ pp and could choose individually what to eat which resulted in 3 hour visit

Day 03 (Friday, 01.04.)
- 08:30 bus to El Pedernoso
- walk El Pedernoso - El Toboso (ca. 20km)
- holy mass at El Toboso (Iglesia de la Comunidad de Monjas Franciscanas Clarisas)
- bus to Tembleque and a tour around one of the loveliest balcony squares
- bus to Toledo (Mirador del Valle)
- bus to Puente de Alcantara
- walk to Remonte de Safont - Alcazar - Santa Iglesia Catedral - Iglesia de Santo Tome - Museo del Greco - Mirador del Paseo del Transito - Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca - Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes - Puerta del Cambron
- bus to Hotel Hidalgo Esquivias (50km in direction to Madrid)
- dinner in hotel (Sopa de Picadillo, Emperador a la Plancha etc - very good)

Day 04 (Saturday, 02.04.)
- 08:30 bus to Madrid
- walk Palacio Real - Teatro Real - Almudena Catedral
- walk to holy mass in Real Iglesia Parroquial de Santiago y San Juan Bautista
- walk to Plaza Mayor - Puerta del Sol - Gran Via - Plaza de Espana - Plaza de Oriente
- bus to Avila (Hotel II Castillas - ca.3km outside in direction of Toledo)
- walk Avila (Catedral, walls etc. - very short)
- dinner at hotel (Sopa Castellana, Chuleta de Sajonia a la Brasa etc. - quite good)

Day 05 (Sunday, 03.04.)
- 08:30 walk Avila - Gotarrendura (ca. 22km)
- bus to Salamanca
- walk Plaza Mayor - Catedral (old & new)- University
- bus to Zamora
- walk from Puente de Piedra to Iglesia de San Pedro y San Ildefonso (holy mass)
- bus to Ares Hotel (very nice and 400m from Pl.Mayor but the staff is there just until 8pm for check in!!! Maybe because it was Sunday???)
- walk Hotel - Parador - Albergue de Peregrinos - Catedral - Castillo - Plaza Mayor
- dinner at El Horno (16€, Sopa de mariscos - UNFORGETTABLE!!!, Secreto a la brasa etc. and there's a story about the wine which is quite similar to Port Wine. The manager Ruth told me it's from Moro which has for itself some of the best wines in Spain. The wine was produced by her father, the vine is the same as Port but the earth is different and it was barriqued for 2 years in oak barrels, 15% alc! Yes you can buy it - 5€ for a bottle, believe an old alcoholic - the best of the possible bargains there is!!! EVER)

Day 06 (Monday, 04.04.)
- 08:30 bus from hotel to Iglesia de San Pedro y San Ildefonso (holy mass)
- bus to Calzadilla de Tera
- walk to Rionegro del Puente (16km)
- lunch at Me Gusta Comer with Teo(filo) - it was my 4th time there, hahaha (13€ and I have no idea what we were eating but it was almost Micheline as always)
- bus to Braganca (Portugal, on Camino Zamorano), visit new Catedral, old Catedral, Castello
- bus to Ourense
- walk Puente Romano - Catedral (in scaffolds) - Plaza Mayor
- bus to Hotel Eurostars Auriense

Day 07 (Tuesday, 05.04.)
- 08:30 bus to Capela do Santiaguino (Outeiro, by the albergue after Ponte Ulla)
- walk to Praza do Obradoiro (ca.24 km)
- holy mass at Igrexa de Santa Maria Salome
- a lot of drinking and few free afternoon hours for the folks
- bus to Hotel Santiago Apostol (nice rooms but 4 km before the SdC)
- dinner (only bad experience, personally wouldn't pay more than 5€ for that food while the wine was a la carte and the cheapest wine although good was 16€)
- bus to Alameda Park for a night panorama and back to the hotel

Day 08 (Wednesday, 06.04.)
- bus to the Seminario Menor
- walk to Mercado de Abastos - Catedral
- 12:00 pilgrim mass at Catedral
- direct bus to Cabo Finissterre (the shortest)
- lunch at Rte.Tearron in Fisterra (not expensive and good but not really memorable)
- bus to the Plaia da Langosteira where exactly the same scene as a week before took place in Valencia but now while running to walk into the Atlantic barefoot Ah, those kids... (Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean)
- bus to Lavacolla Airport (along the coast through Muros and Noia)
- 22:30 flight to Bergamo (Italy)

Day 09 (Thursday, 07.04.)
- 00:50 landed in Bergamo
- bus to Ljubljana (Slovenia)
- 07:00 arrival

That was it. My first group of tourigrinos. It's easier to guide an individual or a pair but it is what it is. I have four more Camino Combos up my sleave so let's see what'll happen next

 

[OzAnnie]

(A brief from Tolstoy ) Thankyou.

@KinkyOne
That was a good summary and there is much in there for walkers.
Btw - your group did walk some decent stretches and would have been tired at the end of each day / you covered a lot of miles and places of interest.

Did you encounter any other pilgrims on the walking stages ?

I think you will do well with this more balanced tour experience you are doing.

Buen camino and thank you
Annie.

Edit: 1/2 the bus caught Covid ? Hope you are ok.

 

[KinkyOne]

Did you encounter any other pilgrims on the walking stages ?

Yes but not much of them:
- Avila - Gotarrendura
- Calzadilla de Tera - Rionegro del Puente and
- Outeiro - Santiago

 

[KinkyOne]

Oh, I forgot to add maybe the most useful info on Levante - the bar and restaurant in Gotarrendura is open again

The waitress speaks English too (she's Romanian) but I don't know whether she's just hired or did she actually takes over the place...

 

[OzAnnie]

Oh, I forgot to add maybe the most useful info on Levante - the bar and restaurant in Gotarrendura is open again

The waitress speaks English too (she's Romanian) but I don't know whether she's just hired or did she actually takes over the place...

I was going to ask whether you had checked out the bar. .
Did you find the connections to St Teresa? (Dovecote) I didn’t look around when I was there before.

Edit : afterthought re Gotarrendura

Did you ring ahead to warn the bar that the town would have a mass explosion to its population. The bar must have been hopping with all of you there ?

 

[Donna Sch]

Some of my favourite days there and I love that you stopped in Rionegro. Good choices.

 

[JLWV]

Day 07 (Tuesday, 05.04.)
- 08:30 bus to Capela do Santiaguino (Outeiro, by the albergue after Ponte Ulla)
- walk to Praza do Obradoiro (ca.24 km)
- holy mass at Igrexa de Santa Maria Salome
- a lot of drinking and few free afternoon hours for the folks
- bus to Hotel Santiago Apostol (nice rooms but 4 km before the SdC)

Wow, I missed your group for few time: I was in other group, Spanish, for a cultural trip in the Rias Baixas, and we decided an unforeseen visit to SdC on the same day and were there from 17:00 to 20:15.....

 

[KinkyOne]

I was going to ask whether you had checked out the bar. .
Did you find the connections to St Teresa. (Dovecote) I didn’t look around when I was there before.

Edit : afterthought re Gotarrendura

Did you ring ahead to warn the bar that the town would have a mass explosion to its population. The bar must have been hopping with all of you there ?

No ringing ahead otherwise. Except for meals. The restaurants are almost without exception afraid of the groups because of the ordering process which takes so much time so they wanted me to choose one single choice within their menu. And I did. And I didn't tell that to the pilgrims

Two things I did more than OK for my group (as they told me) is selection of walking stages and food options. I'm more than happy with that

 

[KinkyOne]

Wow, I missed your group for few time: I was in other group, Spanish, for a cultural trip in the Rias Baixas, and we decided an unforeseen visit to SdC on the same day and were there from 17:00 to 20:15.....

Ahhh, Jean-Luc, it would be nice to meet again in SdC. At least we've had some off limits time that afternoon. After the Slovenian language mass in Rua Nova I walked back to the Cathedral around 17:00 and were drinking beer with few of the group at the bar just down the stairs off the Pr.do Obradoiro (between Pazo de Raxoi and Colexio de San Xerome)... In the sun, on the street, pure bliss