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Hi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
Wonderful!! Thank you sabineP you're a star.. it's been driving me insane all morning trying to remember where it was!!Astorga.
Llegada en Astorga - Albergue Villares de Órbigo
Cualquiera que haya recorrido el Camino Francés y haya comenzado antes de Astorga reconocerá este puente peatonal.www.alberguevillaresdeorbigo.com
There is at least one very similar on the Norte - stage that follows Santander.
Or the rattling beast of a bridge on the Portugués Coastal route.If COVID lockdown lasts another year I'm sure that by then we will have a thread called 'show us your best pedestrian bridge pics'. And I will be ready, with that vertigo-inducinig one in Ourense...
It's hard to forget, quite a drag after a long day up from San Martin, then a final slog up the hill into town!! Others have mentioned there is an alternative path across the railway line, but definitely not recommended..Wonderful!! Thank you sabineP you're a star.. it's been driving me insane all morning trying to remember where it was!!
I certainly canHi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
Couldn't believe my eyes when it came into view!The Green Mile.This is what we named it on 13/05/12. It was a long hot slog into Astorga but that bridge was nearly the coup de grâce.
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It was pouring with rain when I crossed that one. And traffic going too fast. Or is it a different bridge you are thinking of?Or the rattling beast of a bridge on the Portugués Coastal route.
If you were fearful for your life, it is the same bridge.It was pouring with rain when I crossed that one. And traffic going too fast. Or is it a different bridge you are thinking of?
OMGI don't remember it being very difficult, but I do remember thinking it was comical when a group started up ahead of me, and we could look across at each other walking different directions, some on the zig and some on the zag.
You and every local going to work/shopping in Astorga!The first time going into Asorga, I was a good girl and walked over the bridge. The second time, no mas. I hopped across the tracks shortly before that. There's a beaten path that you can see on google earth, so clearly I'm not the only one.
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You probably got lucky and followed some other pilgrim or local who knew the 'live fast' way across the tracks.OMG
and I can’t remember it at all!
I am wracking my tiny mind but not a flicker, not a notion and I’ve been Scrutinising the picture here
we’ve been through Astoria a number of times so how can both of us forget this bridge?
I remember the Cathedral, the museum and that’s about it! Guess I’ll have to go back again through Astoria so watch this space
Hi MargaretCheck what I wrote earlier about crossing here
I went around the Pilgrim Torture Tower!.The first time going into Asorga, I was a good girl and walked over the bridge. The second time, no mas. I hopped across the tracks shortly before that. There's a beaten path that you can see on google earth, so clearly I'm not the only one.
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According to this post from 2018 the bridge was briefly labeled as the Peregrino Torture Tower on Google Maps.I went around the torture device.
Thanks for telling me, I edited the post.Hi Margaret
Letting you know that when I clicked on your link - it didn’t take me to any of your posts. It links me to a (2012 thread ) by Annie Santiago about unlocking iPhone 3
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That's the one!If you were fearful for your life, it is the same bridge.
I am thinking it was MOLINASECA after a very steep hill with loose gravel beforehand.Hi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
Curious if you read any of the posts after the OP.I am thinking it was MOLINASECA after a very steep hill with loose gravel beforehand.
Me too. I found it unique and a bit eclectic. Doesn't take but a couple of minutes to walk it.I just took it for granted that the bridge was designed to be wheelchair and bicycle friendly. No harm in that really.
Memorable pilgrim moment. Pilgrim 1, on the bike, is passing as Pilgrim 2 cuts off a dred - which he has been doing one by one along the way, leaving them in places that struck him as memorable or significant. Which that bridge certainly is.In my mind, it’s easier (and more fun) to cross than the wind-swept pedestrian bridge over the highway before Leon....
I was overjoyed to see, in the distance, this green, metal bridge when trudging my lonely 3 day walk North on the VDLP. Happy to see all the pilgrims again.Anticipating dragging myself over it as I had done on the Frances a couple of years earlier, I was dreading it...but I was so pleasantly surprised when Astorga came into view from the South on the Via de la Plata, avoiding it completly!
To my mind it is an ugly, over-engineered, god-awful monstrosity. I would have though from an engineering perspective, an underpass would have been a far simpler solution to span a single line but perhaps drainage and flash flooding prevented that alternative or perhaps someone's brother in law owns a steel business, who knows....
And I loved those few solitary days of the northern end of the VDLP!I was overjoyed to see, in the distance, this green, metal bridge when trudging my lonely 3 day walk North on the VDLP. Happy to see all the pilgrims again.
If I were to leave some of my hair in memorable or significant places along the Camino I would have been bald long before I reached Santiago.Memorable pilgrim moment. Pilgrim 1, on the bike, is passing as Pilgrim 2 cuts off a dred - which he has been doing one by one along the way, leaving them in places that struck him as memorable or significant. Which that bridge certainly is.
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Some of us would love to leave mementos of our hair.If I were to leave some of my hair in memorable or significant places along the Camino I would have been bald long before I reached Santiago.
I’m pretty sure that’s just before AstorgaHi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
I must have followed someone as well, as I can’t remember it eitherYou probably got lucky and followed some other pilgrim or local who knew the 'live fast' way across the tracks.
I feel like Astorga needs a pair of those tourist binoculars, up in the Cathedral tower, just for looking back at the pilgrims slogging their way over the tracks. Extreme people watching.
And then, if memory serves me right, there was still that awful hill up to the city. Not so?Here, in all its gorgeous weirdness, in google street view
I was there in one of my worst walking days. So I was happy to cross it, as a sign that I was finally arriving.
Sometimes the most adverse situations we experience on the Camino end up providing some of the best memories and laughs in hindsight.We have a good laugh about this memory every time we talk about it.
Indeed, as in life!Sometimes the most adverse situations we experience on the Camino end up providing some of the best memories and laughs in hindsight.
You can just walk across the tracks. Look both ways first. The one on the Norte where you walk across a bridge is riskier but again easily doable. After Santa Cruz de Bezana.It's hard to forget, quite a drag after a long day up from San Martin, then a final slog up the hill into town!! Others have mentioned there is an alternative path across the railway line, but definitely not recommended..
Oh dear I do not recall this bridge on the Portugues Costal. What's it near?Or the rattling beast of a bridge on the Portugués Coastal route.
Yes I've walked across that one on the Norte...twice! Even after Nieves at Santa Cruz went to great lengths to dissuade pilgrims from crossing it. In fairness, the railway line at Astorga is probably a lot safer!You can just walk across the tracks. Look both ways first. The one on the Norte where you walk across a bridge is riskier but again easily doable. After Santa Cruz de Bezana.
one you are just walking across the tracks (Astorga). the other you are walking across a 70 meter bridge. (Santa Cruz de Bezana).Yes I've walked across that one on the Norte...twice! Even after Nieves at Santa Cruz went to great lengths to dissuade pilgrims from crossing it. In fairness, the railway line at Astorga is probably a lot safer!
one you are just walking across the tracks (Astoria). the other you are walking across a 70 meter bridge. (Santa Cruz de Bezana).
I remember having an exhausted lunch break there. It was such a hot day and that bridge zig sagged for ever!It's hard to forget, quite a drag after a long day up from San Martin, then a final slog up the hill into town!! Others have mentioned there is an alternative path across the railway line, but definitely not recommended..
Many ancient towns with fortified walls are situated on top of hills, easier to defend. Just another thing to get used to....And then, if memory serves me right, there was still that awful hill up to the city. Not so?
It's in Astorga certainly and it's over the train track.Hi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
Hi, andwild. That bridge certainly it's in Astorga and it's over the train track. "Buen Camino!"Hi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
Because they already have a functional bridge and stairs would cost more money?Spaniard are clever, why not add stairs as an alternative to cross the rail?
You think they go over the bridge?Wonder if locals complain the green monster whenever they cross it by their legs not wheelchairs everyday?
Glad you said that. I know the bridge on the Norte after Bezana. I remember the priest at Guemes also warned against it. It's a longish bridge and it is a frequently used suburban line. Once you start to walk along it and a train approaches, or worse, two trains approach at the same time from opposite directions, there is nowhere to go except to flatten yourself against the structure of the bridge. This, of course is assuming that you actually see or hear them approaching. Don't do it. Take the long way round or take the train.That's true and I've done plenty of way riskier and far more foolhardy things in my life up to now and somehow survived...I spent much of my childhood playing on the railway tracks...but as an adult I just wouldn't recommend to others whose abilities I can't judge, to put themselves in harms way by crossing an active railway line.
Fascinating topic, that metal construction between San Justo de la Vega and Astorga. I googled a bit ... no, the locals don't seem to complain. Looking at the map, I guess there are very few locals in the immediate vicinity because there are very few houses. There is a small industrial complex (to the right, not seen on the screenshot) with plenty of cars parked outside in Google Street View. There's San Justo de la Vega at a distance of a good 3 km (to the right) so that would make nearly an hour of walking, and I guess these locals are like the locals elsewhere, they take their car or bike or moped or the bus when they need to go to Astorga. This footbridge is a landmark for the pilgrim to experience and to enjoy! Some have, no doubt, trodden the small footpath to the north of the bridge to cross the railway there but oh what have they been missing by not walking over the metal bridge.Wonder if locals complain the green monster whenever they cross it by their legs not wheelchairs everyday? Spaniard are clever, why not add stairs as an alternative to cross the rail?
Here's the very clear image from Googlemaps already posted upthread that shows both the bridge and the path that goes around it, no doubt used by everyone except pilgrims. As @Kathar1na says, there are other ways over the tracks, for cars/cycles or footraffic.This is what we are talking about
You are right! My faulty memory! The wonders of the internet! I thought I had known about the footpath when we walked but I must have learnt about it afterwards on this forum in an earlier thread. Because streetviewing it now, I have no recollection of noticing the small footpath. By that time, we must already have been mesmerised by the green metal structure beckoning us.no doubt used by everyone except pilgrims.
Not my graffiti, but it amused me at the time.Hi all, just a quick one . Can anyone tell me where the pedestrian bridge is.. the one that's made of metal and zigzags up and over a road (or train track??) I seem to remember it was in the latter half of the Frances . As I was walking into a town at the end of the day so it might be one of the popular stage stop places... Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about because I certainly don't
Hugs
Andy x
I clearly need to develop a sense of humor.Not my graffiti, but it amused me at the time.
Maybe they made it like that on purpose to mess with our pilgrim minds.This bridge, imo, is ridiculous
And this bridge is even the color green...so not entirely off-piste.
Exactly! It jarred my pilgrim sensibilities.Maybe they made it like that on purpose to mess with our pilgrim minds.
Yep, that's it, a mini version. Thanks VNW.There is only this crossing the highway; it's a good deal less baroque.
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There is already electric out there for trains and lighting.Does the job, try getting power for a lift out there, or even think about getting bicycles into a lift. Suits walkers, cyclists wheelchair users (both the self powered and pushed variety). It is heartening that the planners thought of all users and not just walkers.
I nay be wrong but is there not a similar bridge between Viana and Logroño?
Yes, but when we purchase aDistance Certificate when we arrive in Santiago do they account for the extra steps? My certificate shows I walked 799 kilometers...I'm sure that bridge ramped it up by another hundred!Exactly! It jarred my pilgrim sensibilities.But really, it’s a perfectly reasonable bridge, catering to all requirements. Just a bridge we love to hate ... just look at how much mileage we’re getting from it.
Nope, I used the bridge. I exercised the option knowing of the path. I saw no problem with it. I'll try to understand your concerns next year when I use it again.If this was in your neighborhood, my guess is you would use path vs. walkway. ;-)
That said, bridge is there and you have options.
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