Day 18 (5/29) Murias de Richavaldo to Rabanal

We left Juan's place and were immediately on trail surrounded by vibrant yellow flowers (Spanish/Scotch Brooms). We spent more time today digging deeper into the flora of the Camino. 

Today was another good cafe stop day. We ended up in Cafe Susana in Santa Catalina de Somoza, where we struck up a conversation with cafe owner Raquel (from Germany). She hooked us up with a free beverage because Cory played guitar. Raquel eventually took over guitar duties and sang an incredible rendition of "Running up that Hill" by Kate Bush, and we all agreed that Raquel's version was better, and we also all agreed that Stranger Things rocks.

I also finally found the pair of earrings that spoke to me and I've been wearing them on trail ever since. Photos eventually.

After Raquel's, we literally stopped to smell the roses at every possible opportunity. Next cafe stop was Messon Cowboy for smoothies, but I have to mention here that I have a weird neurosis that I call the "free sample effect."

When I go into a store offering free samples (Costco, Trader Joe's, etc.), I cannot take a sample unless I am committed to buying the item. I feel bad taking advantage of the service. I recognize how asinine this behavior is. Jeff, Cory, and I stopped to take a picture in one of those big photo cutouts of Big Jim, and when the cafe owner came out, I totally panicked and immediately sat down to order a coffee while my companions looked at me through their eyebrows (whatever that means. . .Cory's words) and carried on to the cafe next door. When I eventually made it next door to join Cory and Jeff, they were also accompanied by students Toby and Lauren, and I have to mention that Lauren ordered ramen and kimchi, the traditional Camino meal, in this cafe. We had a raucous conversation about hats and bandits and jodhpurs and pit helmets. Also, I have to give Jeff kudos--he's an incredible speller. I've asked him to spell at least 7 words for the last two posts (including "asinine," "jodhpurs," "neurosis," etc.)

We left the cafe and did more walking (Jeff: "as one does.").

At the end of this route, we had a beautiful walk through a forest that was lined with a wire fence with stick crosses woven into the route. I got birdmanned at the next cafe stop by Toby and Lauren.

The evening in Rabanal was jam packed. We bought groceries for breakfast the following morning, we had a student presentation on gastronomy of the Camino, we had dinner (in two shifts), and we attended a church service with Gregorian music.

Day 17 (5/28) Leon to Murias de Richavaldo

Today was a magical camino day. Also, **Happy Birthday, Cory!!**

We said goodbye to Dean Matt in the morning before starting our walk. We walked past the cathedral one last time before boarding a bus to a small town called Villares de Orbigo to start our walk to Astorga and eventually on to Murias de Richavaldo. Today's walk was open farm fields with beautiful poppies popping through long fields of wheat, and you better believe I mentioned Sting's Fields of Gold no less than 3 times while walking. Mom, I have clear memories of listening to Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales on cassette tape in the Oldsmobile Silhouette and can probably still name the track list in order.

The real highlights from today were the cafe stops. A few miles into the trek, we came across this amazing respite that we referred to as "The Oasis" that had an incredible spread of food ranging from hard boiled eggs to squeeze-your-own orange juice, and we supplemented our second breakfast with existing cheese from La Casa de los Quesos. When I asked Cory and Jeff what they remembered about the Oasis, they both immediately responded with "orange juice," and Jeff added "dogs." We got to speak with other pilgrims and spend time in community. We met a woman named Marissa, who I will mention later.

I'm putting a reminder to myself to go back to previous entries and add information about other good cafe stops, including the food truck on the hill climb with Jeff and Matt and the blue respite where we had a fantastic trail picnic.

After the Oasis, lots of walking. Lots of planted forests. We stopped off at a roadside craft table and spoke with Joe, who made unique metal wrappings--we all purchased a few and discussed the beauty of community.

We eventually made it into Astorga, which was the historical capital of the area. One of the best features of the walk was a small chapel that contained a sculpture of what we referred to as "Skinned Shin Jim" or "Shinned Skin Jim" who was accompanied by his dog with a piece of bread in its mouth. We named the dog Tortilla. Jeff posted about Skinned Shin Jim and was gently and swiftly corrected by a colleague that the sculpture is not of Santiago but rather Saint Roche. The skinned shin is a plague sore and he is identified in iconography by the dog that brought him bread while he was sick and his shin. The more you know...(cue the NBC shooting star)

The walk into Astorga was full of fascinating street art and sculptures, so I'll add some of those photos later. In Astorga, we invited Marissa to have lunch with us, and we dined on two different kinds of paella (negro and mixta). Marissa is doing the Camino for spiritual purposes, and it was a pleasure to hear her journey and what she hopes to experience while completing the Camino.

From lunch, Jeff and Cory and I got into a "spirited, thoughtful, passionate, philosophical" discussion about the merits of going off trail to visit the Gaudi house in Astorga. As a professional lazy person, I loathe going off trail and made my point very clear. Lucky for all parties involved, the Gaudi house, was, in fact, very much on trail, and this unique feature of the house was pointed out by both of my colleagues on at least...a few occasions.

A few more miles of walking and a few Aquariuses later, we eventually made it to la Casa de Aguedas, otherwise known as Juan's place. I think I did a pretty thorough discription of Juan's amazing albergue last time, so feel free to revist that post. That said, this time, there were kittens. Like, really tiny kittens. 4 week old kitties and 1 week old kitties, and out there somewhere, there's a cat that needs a vasectomy. We saw the tuxedo mother nursing both litters.

Prior to dinner, the group spent several hours in Juan's lovely yard, where activities ranged from keepy uppy with the world's most deflated volleyball that would make even Tom Brady blush, sunset gazing, bocce, paddle ball, a student presentation on the evolution of the camino, including the responsibilities of the hospitaleros (the hosts of the albergues). Deya presented on "empty Spain," referring to how the youth are leaving rural areas of Spain to live in larger cities. 

Juan provided our group with a delicious dinner and a sound bath (or what we are referring to as a sound nap), Cory got to jam on his new backpacking guitar, and we all appreciated how beautiful the rooms and stonework are in this space. Much appreciation to Deya for maintaining solid friendships with the hospitaleros and finding us incredible places to stay. Solid, solid day.

Day 16 (5/27) Carrion de los Condes to Leon

I'm writing this post 4 days into the future, but I am also writing it from the comfort of a laptop, so while this post will probably be superficial and undetailed, it will at least have good formatting and minimal spelling errors.

If I recall correctly, we left CdC pretty early to avoid the heat and to maximize time in Leon, one of the larger cities we visit on the Camino. 

As I'm typing this, I'm like, nope, nope, nope. We got in late ~3PM because we only had an hour to get settled/showered before our cathedral tour. The walk itself, I recall, was pretty industrial. The first stretch was pretty (long grasses and wildflowers) but followed by lots of flat, paved surfaces next to car dealerships. Jeff, Matt, and I walked together and enjoyed good company while admiring the car dealerships. In the future, this would be a walk I'd recommend skipping.

We got into Leon, checked into a cute albergue (Hostel Palacio Jabalquinto), which was a first for me as the last time we were in Leon (2024), it was a quick lunch stopover without an overnight stay. 

The cathedral tour was great, as usual (I'll add photos later). Hara, our tour guide, is trained in the ability to restore or repair stained glass, and taught us the difference between the two. I don't entirely remember the specifics of her description, but according to the internet:

Stained glass restoration involves the complete off-site disassembly, cleaning, and structural rebuilding of a historic window using new lead and support frameworks. In contrast, a repair (often what people mean when contrasting the two) addresses minor, isolated damage while the window remains structurally sound in its frame. (NPS)

Hara had something to say about an additional panel (I think?) behind restored panels that does something different to the light that filters through the window. For future tours, Hara gave us all headsets, and as someone with hearing loss, it was also a game changer.

After the tour, we tapas hopped from cafe to cafe while I waited for Cory's train to arrive. He got in around 9 and we met the faculty at Marcela Brasa y Vinos for dinner before enjoying a nightcap in the cathedral plaza. Solid day.

Day 15 (5/26) — Boadilla to Carrión de los Condes

Okay, I have got to get my act together and start writing some posts of substance because these posts are doing NOTHING to entertain, provide context, or at minimum inform planning for future Camino programs. Step it up, Gerbers.

This morning while waiting for our cab (more on that in a second), the faculty got a tour of the albergue basement from the family that runs the albergue. There’s Roman architecture that they are preserving and adding a large soaking tub with very ornate stonework and solar energy. Naturally, I took no photos, but it’s a multi-year project. If I’m lucky enough to return, I hope it’s complete by the next trip.

This morning (as I’m writing this entry), the faculty and Dean are meeting with representatives from the city of Palencia to explore potential future partnerships. I’ll report back after the meeting.

(Next day)

Wow, what a great day! I thought I would be more bummed that we weren’t walking, but based on student feedback (long, flat, hot), it doesn’t sound like we missed out on anything significant, and our day spent with the people of Palencia was AMAZING.

We met Patro and Ana in the central plaza of Palencia. Ana works as the Director of Tourism and Patro formerly worked for the same department and now works for City Hall (I think). We started with a tour of the Palencia Cathedral. Let me tell you — I’ve toured my fair share of cathedrals and ruins in my day, and this one easily lands in the top 3. Started in the 8th century, the Cathedral of Santo Antolín is a beautiful and fascinating time lapse — Roman and Gothic influences, incredible paintings and sculptures and tapestries. And Ana’s tour and information tremendously enhanced our experience. In future programs, I would recommend skipping this 16 mile walk and bussing the group to Palencia for a cathedral tour and town visit.

After the cathedral, we met with faculty from the Palencia satellite campus (La Yutera), part of the larger Universidad de Valladolid system. Margarita is an education faculty member, Jesus is a sociologist, and Christina coordinates programs. We explored a variety of potential partnerships, which I won’t go into detail about on this blog, but I will say that I am excited and optimistic that our universities will be able to partner in some form or fashion in the future.

Ana, Patro, and the Westminster team had lunch at D’Candela, where we feasted on pork belly, blood sausage, ensaladilla, calamari, and ice cream before we said our goodbyes and took a cab to Carrión de los Condes to meet the students. 10 out of 10 would recommend Palencia for future Camino side trips — particularly for place-based learning.

Upon arriving in Carrión de los Condes, the faculty went shopping so that we could host what is now a time-honored tradition of picnicking in the park with manchego cheese, a baguette, charcuterie, cookies, and the dulcet tunes of Spanish guitar. We also were very immature and hosted an epic clipping war.

After dinner, we decided to get second dinner at a very fun and fancy monastery-turned-hotel restaurant called San Zoilo. I polled my colleagues for a description of our dining experience:

• “Third most heavy in a not very good mob movie who we know will do anything.” 
• “Suppressed rage.” 
• “Surly is too nice.” 
• “Poorly concealed contempt.” 
• “The fear dinner.” 

We had an absolute blast at dinner and the food was pretty good, but my god, the server’s attitude toward us was so antagonistic, it was truly comical.

Day 14 (5/25) Burgos to Boadilla

Boarded a bus to shorten the distance between Burgos and final destination of Boadilla. Morning got off to a bumpy start, but I had a nice long walk and two lovely cafe stops with Matt and Jeff. There was a food truck after a long hill climb that provided much needed shade and refreshment. I’ll remember that truck and that hill.

Boadilla is very small, but the lodging is beautiful and the service is great. I need to remember that this is one of my favorite places to stay.

Day 13 (5/24) Belorado to Burgos

Boarded a bus, picked up the group in Villamayor and drove to Atapuerca, an archeological site. Check my blog from 2024 for details.

Took the bus from dig site to Burgos. I love Burgos. Great food, cafes, people watching, lodging. Spent the afternoon touring different cafes, helping a student resolve a passport issue (lost). Dean Matt joined us for dinner. We went to Burgos’ very impressive Cathedral at the end of the evening and it was stunning and a truly memorable moment from the trip.

Day 12 (5/23) Cirueña to Villamayor del Río and Belorado

I apologize that I have very little to say or recollect from this walk. Most notable feature is that our group is split between 2 towns. Jeff and 12 students are in Villamayor. Deya, 6 students, and I are in Belorado. Cute albergue (hostel?) and quaint town. I’ll add photos later.