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Yes, right off the bat, from the sound of it ! ~While supposedly under lockdown, the NHS very kindly provided me with a couple of new knees, the more recent one exactly 6 months ago, so now seems as good a time as any to put them both through their paces.
May they go well and keep well! Wishing you a very buen camino.I took the footpath to the lovely Santa Cova, and then down the mule path (or GR5 "sender dels Miradors") to Collbató. It's a bit of a scramble in places, but nothing too extreme
Alan, did you approach Cervera from the East, staying North of the Autovia, or from the South, crossing it again and following the Riu Ondara at Vergos de Cervera? I've two possible tracks (turquoise in map below) and wonder which you'd recommend.It's a bit of a slog up to Cervera, through the impressive city walls.
Great to read of your current camino, and I trust your NHS knees will serve you well. The story about the drummer boy reminds me of one, which I think is safe to tell, as it is lost in the mists of time: battle scene in Scotland. English King keeps on sending soldiers up the hill. None return, and there is a fierce noise of battle. Eventually, when finally one last brave stalwart arrives back down to the King, he blurts out: "Sire, there's two of them!"Covid having cut my 2020 camino short, I have been fortunate to be able to restart it in 2021 at Montserrat. While supposedly under lockdown, the NHS very kindly provided me with a couple of new knees, the more recent one exactly 6 months ago, so now seems as good a time as any to put them both through their paces.
The albergue at Montserrat Is still closed, but the local Amics are allowed to lodge pilgrims in rooms at the Abat Oliba hostal (on the same floor where the albergue normally is), which was fine, 10€. They also very kindly organised a pilgrim blessing for me, after vespers in the chapel behind the morenata.
As I decided my first day would only be the 16km or so to Castelloli, I could have a leisurely morning up the top. And this year the monastery museum is open again, so I was able to enjoy my favourite Caravaggio for the first time in 15 years, as well as many other masterpieces from el Greco to Dalí.
Rather than follow the usual marked pilgrim path along the road towards the motorway, I took the footpath to the lovely Santa Cova, and then down the mule path (or GR5 "sender dels Miradors") to Collbató. It's a bit of a scramble in places, but nothing too extreme.
The next village on, el Bruc, is unremarkable except in that it can claim to be the first place French troops in Spain were defeated in 1808. An almost certainly apocryphal story claims that a local drummer boy was drumming in the narrow gorge and the echo made it sound as if there were thousands of troops defending the spot, causing the French to retreat.
Anyway, a few km from el Bruc I was reconnected with the yellow arrows, and so on to Castelloli, where I enjoyed an excellent menú del día in Cal Betis, the first bar in the village. They gave me the number code to the albergue, in the former presbytery next to the church. Very large, very comfortable, plenty of hot water to wash clothes and self, free.
Castelloli to Jorba
One of the bars in Castelloli opens at 7, so I was able to have my coffee and be on my way as dawn was breaking. Not that it's a long day but the heat is still nudging the 30s in these parts, so getting a few km under my belt as early as possible appeals. Igualada is the first major town on this route, and a last chance to see the jagged edges of the magic mountain receeding into the heat haze. On the outskirts is a rather fine statue of Antonio Franch ("el Heroe del Bruc") with palm outstretched, looking a bit like a bronze traffic policeman. And just outside town is the really very lovely Romanesque chapel of Sant Jaume, with a wide crack in the apse caused by an earthquake in 1429.
The hospitalero of Jorba is also the parish priest, who also acts as a caterer, so is clearly a very busy man. He is very keen to repeat that he doesn't open until 6 (I think it was 5 to when I saw him at his door and went up). The albergue is fine, but I'm glad I was alone, as I felt rather squashed in a very narrow room with 3 bunks. 10€.
View attachment 110395
I didn't cross the motorway, or go into Vergos de Cervera, passing through well tended allotments and then up through the city walls to the Plaça Major and the impressive campanile, a 100 yards from the nunnery/albergue.Alan, did you approach Cervera from the East, staying North of the Autovia, or from the South, crossing it again and following the Riu Ondara at Vergos de Cervera?
I guess my husband and I were two of the 40 who took advantage of this kind offer two years ago. Hopefully you will not have issues finding a place to stay in Zaragoza. It is a marvelous place to explore. I had hoped to return one day but as we have now left Spain, it seems unlikely. So many treasures await you. Enjoy!Fraga is neatly bisected by the Cinca river, smooth and silvery green and very tempting. Before crossing the river you visit the partly Romanesque church of San Pedro, where the parish priest will give you a voucher (funded by the town hall) for a free night at the Hostal Trebol, just over the bridge. The priest told me about 40 pilgrims a year take advantage of the scheme. Looking at the calendar, he assumed I was aiming to hit Zaragoza for the fiestas del Pilar. Which stupidly hadn't occured to me, and will make finding somewhere to stay this weekend almost impossible. A plenary indulgence would be nice, but a bed is nice too.
You and I make 5% of them this year.The priest told me about 40 pilgrims a year take advantage of the scheme.
Ah, lucky you. On top of that lovely stage.with a murmuration of starlings as well.
I am glad to learn that the museo at the Monastery is open-- I highly recommend it.
Not everyone loves these kinds of landscapes, so perhaps these days are part of the reason this arm of the camino gets dismissed as "not as nice."Last day in the lovely Monegros
What is it about deserts and gambling? Thank God for the crash - one Las Vegas on the planet is more than enough.I was astonished to learn about a supremely crass €34billion scheme (supported by the junta of Aragón) to build 32 casinos here, 70 hotels, 200 restaurants, some golf courses, five theme parks, an international airport and a new 100,000 population town. Fortunately the financial crash of 2008 put paid to that idiocy.
Looking forward to reading about who and what you encounter up there in the Mons Caius. A griffon vulture, or footprint left by a wolf, perhaps? In the meantime may you enjoy the quietly flowing Ebro and all she offers.the squat grandeur of Moncayo, about 4 days
Goes off, chuckling...Quite how it was a "diálogo entre dos genios" I didn't get.
Yup, the Aljafaría Palace, built in the 11th century, shortly before the reconquista of the area.The photo in your last post - I assume it's from Zaragoza
I expect the former at least, as one of the lesser summits of the range in called La Buitrera. Lucky Caius to have such a beautiful mountain named after him.to reading about who and what you encounter up there in the Mons Caius. A griffon vulture, or footprint left by a wolf, perhaps?
(From this webpage)BIRD SPECIES
RESIDENT: Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Griffon Vulture, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Woodcock, Tawny Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Blue Rock Thrush, Dunnock, Eurasian Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Citril Finch, Common Crossbill, Chaffinch, Rock Bunting, Eurasian Jay.
SUMMER: European Bee- Eater, Egyptian Vulture, Short-Toed Eagle, Red-rumped Swallow, Water Pipit, Tree Pipit, Rock Thrush, Northern Wheatear, Common Whitethroat, Bonelli’s Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Ortolan Bunting.
OVERWINTERING: Eurasian Bullfinch, Brambling, Alpine Accentor, Redwing, Wallcreeper.
MIGRANT: Greylag Goose, Common Crane, Dotterel.
OTHER FAUNA
MAMMALS: Roe Deer, Wild Boar, Wildcat, Badger, Pine Marten, Crowned Shrew.
AMPHIBIANS: Palmate Newt, Marbled Newt, European Tree Frog, Midwife Toad.
REPTILES: Smooth snake, Snub-nosed Viper, Western Green Lizard, Common Wall Lizard, Slowworm.
FISH: Brown Trout
An amazing vista.visible thanks to the astonishing gin clear air and totally cloudless sky.
It's a great path, though it was rough this year in the full summer heat, and it was an unusually hot day when I was on it.The best bit of the day was the 5km on the canal imperial de Aragón after Ribaforada. There's a pleasant dirt track going beside the wide pale green canal, and you get to see the water gates, some of them open to irrigate the fields of crops.
That's a great place, and I'm glad you too were lucky to arrive there at the weekend when it's open.Just before the canal comes off the Ebro itself, there's a really lovely public park, El Bocal. This was established when they were making the canal in the 1789s, and is a km long series of avenues of trees, neatly tended herbaceous borders, well-watered lawns, the oldest oak tree in Navarre, shady places to sit and enjoy it all, and, of course, loads of fuentes. Very, very pleasant, and, other than a single gardener tending a huge vegetable patch, I had the place entirely to myself.
Thank you for the report Alan. I've quoted your comment above to tell the folks who don't know that the the Spanish term via verde is pretty much equivalent to the American rail trail. I just wanted to be more explicit than your mention of using the rail line.Virtually the whole day is on the vía verde Tarazonica following the disused railway line between the two towns.
Alan, where did you sleep in
Pina de Ebro ?
We don't see any lodging listed in Gronze.
Also, across the road from the Pensión Los Valles, there is a "refugio" for pilgrims, also on C/Magisterio (shared with the local hunters' office). Ring the bell on the house on the corner next door for the key, free.There is on Mundicamino.
Yes they take their mushrooms very seriously here. One of those little towns on the Castellano-Aragonés had a small municipal office dedicated to teaching people about safe mushroom collecting. I can’t remember the term in Spanish. They also let people bring in their mushrooms to see if they were edible or not.I'm looking forward to my first sight of the Heraldo-Diario de Soria on the zinc - surely the only daily paper in the world that regularly has a fungus-related splash.
I bet. A bit of shock to the system after the flats by the great river.15km of continuous ascent (roughly 600m cumulative) from Tarazona to the little village of Vozmediano, tucked into the side of Moncayo at just shy of 1000m up, was a change
Really sad.groups come and take all the mushrooms off the monte, usually when the pueblo is in fiestas and no one is looking, and then go sell them.
Is the albergue still in the big room behind the doctor’s office?By 4.30, he's been given the keys to the kingdom - well, to a bed in a secure place with plenty of water to wash with.
a relatively elderly lady came up to me,
Oh my.Neither he nor the villagers who came in batted an eye at the sight of me sitting there with my mattress in the middle of the room. They just very politely walked around it and said buen camino
Yes!...I try not to rely on it, but never fail to be astonished when this miracle occurs: at 4pm, a dusty, tramp-like figure arrives unannounced in an almost uninhabited pueblo. By 4.30, he's been given the keys to the kingdom - well, to a bed in a secure place with plenty of water to wash with. It really is a miracle...
Is the albergue still in the big room behind the doctor’s office?
Yes and yes. Bécquer's (wife's family) home is looking pretty derelict, but still just holding its own. Not for long, I'd guess.Did you go out to see if Bécquer’s home is still standing? It was pretty precarious when I was there.
I took this route in 2016 and spent the night in Vozmediano at the hotel, in rooms across the street. It seems to be a holiday spot for hikers and couples (a couple from Madrid kindly shared their chocolate with me on the way in). It has a few street signs commemorating right-wing figures from days past, which might have fallen victim to renaming since then.Tarazona to Ágreda
The official camino route goes up the río Val and its reservoir but, looking at the map, the way up the Quieles (the river that bisects Tarazona) appeared only 2km longer, and followed the Roman road, the Vía XXVII Antonino. So I thought I'd risk another day without arrows. After the flat of the Ebro, the 15km of continuous ascent (roughly 600m cumulative) from Tarazona to the little village of Vozmediano, tucked into the side of Moncayo at just shy of 1000m up, was a change.
I was puffing a bit when I reached it, and surprised and delighted to find a couple of bars open, and quite a lot of people about, and a hotel and a couple of casas rural. A thriving-looking place, under the gaunt stare of its ruined castle. Allegedly a permanent population of 38, down from over 400 a century ago. Doubt I'd have got my coffee on a weekday.
A few 100m from the village, you pass the source of the Quieles, where it bursts out of the mountainside at up to 3000 litres a second, according to an information panel. Very dramatic, also very tasty, although not quite as cold as I was expecting.
Autumn up at 1000m plus is much more advanced, with the poplars already golden. Huge quantities of rose hips suggest that spring flowers must be quite spectacular round here as well. Once above the tree line, the roman road continues over beautiful wide open empty moorland, bliss.
By 3pm I was installed in Ágreda's truck stop, and tucking into this year's first sopa castellana in Castille. This one, as it was a Sunday, had boletus in it, yum. Mushrooms are big business up here, and people are impatiently waiting for the autumn rain to arrive, to get the harvest moving. I'm looking forward to my first sight of the Heraldo-Diario de Soria on the zinc - surely the only daily paper in the world that regularly has a fungus-related splash.
I try not to think that whoever is responsible for marking the way into Soria after you cross the N-234 after Casas de Cerro Gordo is a sadist. That can't possibly be true, but I can't think of any other explanation. I think Alan walked along the N-234, but silly me, I followed the arrows
I also am curious about this, stashing whatever information anyone offers for further reference.Alan, did you stay on the highway into town
Yup, there does seem to be an attempt to move the path quite a long way north from Fuensaúco, but I didn't see the sign, and remembered not to go down to the disused railway line, entering town through the nice riverside park and island, just as Machado wrote - "he vuelto a ver los álamos dorados, álamos del camino en la ribera del Duero, entre San Polo y San Saturio, tras las murallas viejas de Soria - barbacana hacia Aragón, en castellana tierra".Alan, did you stay on the highway into town as you did last time or has maybe the camino changed from my walk in 2016.
This one (Tozalmuro)? - an advantage of autumn walking is that the weeds have died backOh I remember those churches. One with a particularly nice entrance was overgrown with weeds so I assume it is locked up and unused.
I didn’t know the ruins were so close by! Did you take any photos?About an hour later, after a little climb, I got to the ruins of Numancia, an iron age hill fort partly guarded by the Duero forming a moat on three sides, and giving spectacular views forward and back.
The hilltop setting is really more interesting than the remains, at least to a non archaeologist like me. To my untutored eye, a lot of it looked remarkably like rubble. Cervantes' play is interesting in that religion gets very little attention, the women's voices are as important as the men's and, while not glorifying suicide, it certainly doesn't condemn it, in direct contravention of the (then still recent) Council of Trent.I didn’t know the ruins were so close by! Did you take any photos?
That photo is gorgeous. What a sight it is even in a photo, let alone real life.Calatañazor is amazing,
Yes, haha.If as VN suggests you do go to Medinaceli check out the famous Roman arch with 3 portals.
Returning to this thread to add this piece that I found of interest to anyone who arrives in Siguenza with a few extra days on your hands.
20 kms away, on the Camino del Cid, is the town of Medinaceli. It was a hugely important defensive fortress, and has the only remaining Roman triumphal arch in Spain. The latter looks really impressive.
https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arco_de_Medinaceli Screenshot_20211023-212153_Google.jpg
Medinaceli looks like one of those unknown but amazing places that take your breath away when you stumble into them unawares.
It has much of interest besides the arch, Roman mosaics, and salt mines going back to Roman times - there's of course a castle, plus the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, a ducal palace, loads of arab remains, and - much to my astonishment - even a beguinage!
To get there, here's a mountainbike wikiloc track to and from Siguenza, two different ways:
The Camino del Cid goes there too: https://www.wikiloc.com/mountain-biking-trails/ruta-del-cid-5a-etp-siguenza-medinaceli-10511616
There are at least 3 places to stay. Wprd to the wise: avoid the town during the firebull festival when it's bound to be booked out by both gawkers and protesters.
For the curious among us:Perhaps it was a wolf-like golden jackal that you spotted. I recall being quite startled to see one of these creatures while walking the Madrid Camino.
The brochure "Experimenta el Camino" suggests a "camino del Sur", going from Zaragoza, through Santa María de Huerta, Medinaceli, Almazán, Berlange de Duero and Gormaz. Sounds very tempting, although I suspect it exists as a walkable trail largely in the imagination of a tourism officer sitting in an office in Valladolid.If as VN suggests you do go to Medinaceli check out the famous Roman arch with 3 portals.
It must have been a glorious place, once.two romanesque churches,
Someone's clearly put some effort into that imagining. It may be like the Camino del Cid - as much as an automobile journey as anything.Sounds very tempting, although I suspect it exists as a walkable trail largely in the imagination of a tourism officer sitting in an office in Valladolid
the traveler must be reminded that in the surroundings of Medinaceli Almanzor was buried, who had turned this town into the headquarters of the Marca Media from where he forged various aceifas in Christian lands, the most notable being the one that led him to sack Compostela on 10 July 997.
If you go via Santa Maria de Huerta, there is a monastery shop where they have really useful items like - foot balm! Be careful crossing the railway track.El Burgo de Osma to Caracena
Santiago is believed to have preached here during his visit to Spain, and Astorgio, one of his disciples, was the first Bishop of Uxama. Apparently, at least in the 12th century, if I'd left the money it would have cost me to get to Compostela with the cathedral here, I'd still have been entitled to my plenary indulgence, and could have headed home. I think I'll carry on anyway.
The path leaves town by a pleasant tree-lined path along the río Ucero, with the first rays of dawn hitting Almanzor's forbidding castle high above. This was the front line of the reconquista for centuries, and the landscape is littered with castles and look out towers.
My 7th crossing place of the Duero was at Navapalos, where there is an atalaya - watch tower, otherwise only some falling down houses. El Cid crossed here on his way to exile, and had a "sweet dream" - the archangel Gabriel told him
Cavalgad çid el buen campeador
Ca nunqua en tan buen punto cavalgo varon
Mientra que visquieredes bien se fara lo to
Which cheered him up.
Shortly after, you leave the Duero Valley and cross over into the Caracena one, rich with walnuts on the ground providing a tasty snack. The valley walls get higher and the countryside wilder as you slowly move upstream, joined at one point by 7 or 8 circling vultures - the second largest kettle of them in Soria province, according to a tourist panel. Eventually lovely Caracena village appears, with its two romanesque churches, ruined castle, stone main street and permanent population of 9, swelled on Sunday with visitors. I was soon installed in the bar and presented with a tasty fried pepper, tomato and egg dish - I think she called it a pisto, similar to the piperade of my childhood in France. Also the key to the acogida her son has rigged up - a couple of beds, a shower, some kitchen stuff, in the bar's storeroom across the road. We had a slight argument about how much I should pay: she said the note I offered was much too much as there was no heating; I said it was, if anything, too little for what was provided plus the privilege of sleeping in such a wonderful place, and anyway, I come from the Scottish border "y del frío no tengo miedo". She eventually agreed, but made me up a café con leche to microwave in the morning, and a package of magdalenas, so she got the last word really. Sunset over the valley was wonderful, and the stars completely untouched by light pollution - Venus was blazing bright low in the west while the last burn of sunset was still visible, and Jupiter a little further south not long after and almost as bright. What a place.
View attachment 112073
The brochure "Experimenta el Camino" suggests a "camino del Sur", going from Zaragoza, through Santa María de Huerta, Medinaceli, Almazán, Berlange de Duero and Gormaz. Sounds very tempting, although I suspect it exists as a walkable trail largely in the imagination of a tourism officer sitting in an office in Valladolid.
It must have been a glorious place, once.
Could you get into them?
Haha...yes."have been"? - it's still glorious.
She was much more interested in the fact that it apparently appeared in an American reality TV show called "un juego de tronos" than that el Cid considered it "una peña muy fuerte".
Sigh.And sure enough, when I got up to the top, on an information panel, there was a picture of an uncomfortable-looking iron throne in front of the castle.
Amazing. I just measured it (well, OSMand did), and as the crow flies it's exactly 110kms - almost the same distance in the other direction gets you to Pina de Ebro, which is 3 kms longer.It's still wonderfully clear, but I was surprised to get a last glimpse of Moncayo's distinctive saddleback in the haze far to the east.
Beautiful photo, Margaret.If as VN suggests you do go to Medinaceli check out the famous Roman arch with 3 portals. Nearby in
Estación de Medinaceli are a few simple truck stop resto/lodgings which offer good solid fare. My husband and I drove through that area a few years ago.
View attachment 111907
I didn't see Moncayo until just after Zaragoza, but hadn't been looking for it. When I saw the Pyrenees from Gallur I came up with 100-110km for the foothills. Sadly those long views are suspended as a front has moved in for the holiday weekend.as the crow flies it's exactly 110kms - almost the same distance in the other direction gets you to Pina de Ebro, which is 3 kms longer.
@Bad Pilgrim mentioned that corridor of fencing.In a little over two days the landscape has gone from virtually subsistence upland farming to, shortly before Mandayona, a vast hacienda with 8 foot high partly electrified fencing, a drug baron-style automatic entrance gate bristling with surveillance devices, a heliport, a stupid nationalistic slogan painted on the gate and "vigicaza" signs everywhere. I think I prefer the uplands.
(I will refrain from voicing my opinion, except to say that people with the most money often seem to be the most miserably paranoid. They can have their fences, and their fear. No, thanks.)The only obstacles, literally, are the gates that you have to figure out how to open between Mandayona and Baides. I had to climb one or two of them, because I just didn't get through the locks. There are fences on both sides, like you are walking in a corridor, so you can only choose to walk forward - or admit defeat and return to Mandayona.
"Fence" and "corridor" doesn't sound very scenic, but this is a beautiful stage whith many wild animals: both on the right and the wrong side of the fence
No, I got picked up by my farmer on the fenced section before the gates. So perhaps he did do me a favour.. Did you have trouble with gates?
The Medinaceli part of that route sounds unlikely from a practical perspective, as the only real option from Medinaceli to Almazán is the old main road parallel and right next to the motorway.The brochure "Experimenta el Camino" suggests a "camino del Sur", going from Zaragoza, through Santa María de Huerta, Medinaceli, Almazán, Berlange de Duero and Gormaz. Sounds very tempting, although I suspect it exists as a walkable trail largely in the imagination of a tourism officer sitting in an office in Valladolid.
The Palacio's kind dueña has warned me that there is a fiesta in Madrid coming up which may make next weekend a problem as well. Sigh.
Perhaps you could ask mapy.cz to arrange a shortcut? If you can get to Torrelaguna, it's a straight shot via to Manzanares el Real and the Camino de Madrid on the Camino Mendocino.So deliberately slowing my progress seemed the best way to get round the block.
Would love to hear more about your stay at Montserrat; while I won't' be starting from there, I am going there for three nights right before, mostly because its a place I've always wanted to visit, and to prep my mind a bit before taking a train to SJPD. Buen Camino!Covid having cut my 2020 camino short, I have been fortunate to be able to restart it in 2021 at Montserrat. While supposedly under lockdown, the NHS very kindly provided me with a couple of new knees, the more recent one exactly 6 months ago, so now seems as good a time as any to put them both through their paces.
The albergue at Montserrat Is still closed, but the local Amics are allowed to lodge pilgrims in rooms at the Abat Oliba hostal (on the same floor where the albergue normally is), which was fine, 10€. They also very kindly organised a pilgrim blessing for me, after vespers in the chapel behind the moreneta.
As I decided my first day would only be the 16km or so to Castelloli, I could have a leisurely morning up the top. And this year the monastery museum is open again, so I was able to enjoy my favourite Caravaggio for the first time in 15 years, as well as many other masterpieces from el Greco to Dalí.
Rather than follow the usual marked pilgrim path along the road towards the motorway, I took the footpath to the lovely Santa Cova, and then down the mule path (or GR5 "sender dels Miradors") to Collbató. It's a bit of a scramble in places, but nothing too extreme.
The next village on, el Bruc, is unremarkable except in that it can claim to be the first place French troops in Spain were defeated in 1808. An almost certainly apocryphal story claims that a local drummer boy was drumming in the narrow gorge and the echo made it sound as if there were thousands of troops defending the spot, causing the French to retreat.
Anyway, a few km from el Bruc I was reconnected with the yellow arrows, and so on to Castelloli, where I enjoyed an excellent menú del día in Cal Betis, the first bar in the village. They gave me the number code to the albergue, in the former presbytery next to the church. Very large, very comfortable, plenty of hot water to wash clothes and self, free.
Castelloli to Jorba
One of the bars in Castelloli opens at 7, so I was able to have my coffee and be on my way as dawn was breaking. Not that it's a long day but the heat is still nudging the 30s in these parts, so getting a few km under my belt as early as possible appeals. Igualada is the first major town on this route, and a last chance to see the jagged edges of the magic mountain receeding into the heat haze. On the outskirts is a rather fine statue of Antonio Franch ("el Heroe del Bruc") with palm outstretched, looking a bit like a bronze traffic policeman. And just outside town is the really very lovely Romanesque chapel of Sant Jaume, with a wide crack in the apse caused by an earthquake in 1429.
The hospitalero of Jorba is also the parish priest, who also acts as a caterer, so is clearly a very busy man. He is very keen to repeat that he doesn't open until 6 (I think it was 5 to when I saw him at his door and went up). The albergue is fine, but I'm glad I was alone, as I felt rather squashed in a very narrow room with 3 bunks. 10€.
View attachment 110395
This is a much longer conversation.It was a bit scary walking through the suburbs down huge architecturally soulless brick canyons 8, even 10 stories high, half a km long, with each street probably having more people living there than all but a couple of the towns and villages I'd walked through the previous weeks. The horror, the horror.
Do a search, because Alan wrote more last year.Would love to hear more about your stay at Montserrat;
It sounds like those 110km vistas are long gone.To the west, faint in the haze, I could just make out the Cuatro Torres of Madrid's financial
Nope, the camino went through Cabanillas de la Sierra, several km fourth south. A pity.I surmise you will be going past this place?
They say they're open for visits again, but that post was last year. It looks like quite a place
Thanks for my new word today - Marcassin. I must keep my eyes peeled in case I see one tomorrow!Miraflores de la Sierra to Rascafría
Miraflores' handsome Edwardian villas receeded along a tree-lined avenue and the day's work began. Shortly before the town's reservoir, there was a sign saying "La Morcuera: 2 hours". "Yeah, right, I thought, 700m of ascent in 2 hours, that's not going to happen". But it did: a good breakfast, fresh legs, a beautiful morning and a relatively straightforward climb over only 5km, and I was on the top by 10.30. At the top were what I assume will be the last views down onto Madrid and the Manzanares reservoir. The pass is 1796m - exactly the same height as Fuenfría - but the snow wasn't a problem: a very light dusting, only awkward when the sun partially melted it over still frosted ground.
The way down was much more gentle, almost entirely on woodland tracks, often with a thick coating of pine needles, my favourite walking surface. From under 1500m the pine turned to oak. At one point a family of wild boar crossed in front of me - the parents and 5 or 6 marcassins. Otherwise just a few people looking for mushrooms.
It was just starting to sleat when I arrived in Rascafría, where I was soon enjoying a menú del día in the Plaza Mayor. For the first time this camino I'd booked my bedroom in advance, but probably needn't have bothered, as there seemed few people about. Hope San Ildefonso tomorrow will be the same.
View attachment 112640
Well, I went past the Cascadas del Purgatorio the previous day, so shouldn't be surprised to meet the devil.starting with a warm-up past the Cerro del Diablo.
Sadly, I seem to have lost the knack of wikiloc. Every time I try to record a trail it either drains my battery or loses the GPS and just records a straight line. This is my "Relive" of today:. I don’t see your tracks on wikiloc, but I am hoping against hope that you have made them and will post them
Relive is super - it's fun to click on the play button and see the photos in sequence. I haven't played with it to see if the track can be downloaded, but in any event your route for this day is easy to discern - there's not much choice.I seem to have lost the knack of wikiloc
So the world will end in ice? (Goes off chuckling, but also wondering who named these places - devil-obsessed Carthusians at Rascafria?)Cascadas del Purgatorio
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