Rabanal del Camino and el Acebo not on most maps!
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2008
1
5
27
Trip End
Jun 05, 2008
Rabanal del Camino, el Acebo,
Spain
Friday, May 2, 2008
Please note that Travelpod is having an impossible time finding these small villages on their map. Just know that we are working our way West from León to Santiago in 14 days through fields and forrests, small villages and larger towns, and with only good weather to carry us along. Oh, and photos have proven to confound me.
Bright blue skies, still around 65-70 dg. F
Dear Catania, friends and family--
The Camino saga continues. For the first two days, the daily hike was easier than our training hikes in Portland. Whoopee! Len is not too much of a task-master, and we make frequent stops for backpacks off, a drink and something quick to eat, for photos, etc. Ahhhhh... Jean doesn´t go quickly as she suffers from the heat and just can´t.
But something else has reared its ugly head, illness for Dick and me. Dick is suffering from a sinus infection and me, from strep throat! Thanks to Jean and Len´s preparedness (they travel with antibiotics), we are on the road to wellness again. But it has necessitated that the ladies take taxis for 3 days running as the guys walk the Camino. There are many ways to "do" the Camino...
Day 2, Rabanal del Camino, 1150m
Once on the trail we might decide where to stay for the night on arrival, which we did today. Rabanal is a medieval village full of narrow streets, restored stone homes, as well as, many buildings which are going back to nature. We settle in to Hostal El Tesín where, as usual, the owners work from dawn to dusk to serve us! One of the highlights of this village is the 12th century Romanesque church which was open for visitors but not used for mass, curiously. Gold abounds on all Christian adornment. It could have the very gold that the Spaniards looted from Latin America, or it could be Spanish.
At 7pm we attended a mass (complete with pilgrim´s blessing) spoken and sung in Spanish, English and German at another tiny church located across the square from a Benedictine Monastery run by an order of monks originating from Germany. The church was undegoing extensive renovations until the municipality ran out of money. What they have found so far are two Moorish arches and mass graves full of femurs and tibulas, etc., the remains of 12th century pilgrims! They even believe they have even found a bishop, because of the ring found on one of corpse´s fingers. This evening after a late dinner we fall asleep to the sounds of many pilgrims getting acquainted, singing, etc. What fun!
Day 3, el Acebo, 1150 m
Jean and I took a taxi to El Acebo while the guys headed out on the Camino. Our taxi driver filled us in on global warming and how it is affecting Spain. The Spanish are as concerned as the rest of us. Yesterday while in Rabanal, Len and I figured out how to use the pay phone well enough to make reservations at a wonderful hostal, La Rosa del Agua, en el Acebo. It is run by Cintia (Cynthia), originally from Madrid, and her husband, Manolo, from el Acebo, who love living in these mountains. We crossed the highest point of the Camino today, 5,400 feet and are now in the Cordillera Cantábrica, one of Spain´s many mountain ranges. Evidently Spain is the second most mountainous country in the world!
El Acebo turns out to be a favorite stop. Not unlike Rabanal, it is tiny, medieval and full of houses in and out of repair. But they love pilgrims. We heard and saw goats (with bells around their necks) being herded up the middle of the only street to pasture; a very welcoming tienda (tiny store) where we could get a glass of the local vino tinto (Bierzo) from a huge container, over which the owner put a tapa of sliced bread and jamón ibérico (their local ham). Later in the evening that same herd of goats returned to town and were put back into the barn, right in the middle of all of the houses!
Routine is beginning to set in: walk (or taxi if you are sick); settle on a place to stay according to how far you want to get for the day or how you are feeling; find a suitable place (or reserve ahead); get acquainted with the village; and most important, have your Pilgrim credential stamped. The stamps represent proof that one has traveled from village to village and each stamp is beautiful and distinctive with an identifying name and symbol.
Some observations about travelling on the Camino in Spain:
-You are rarely alone, although sometimes you would like to be.
-The Spaniards are friendly and welcoming--Buen Camino means "Have a good hike!" We all say it to each other.
-Spaniards love to sing their native songs. Someone is singing right now, in fact, entertaining pilgrims in this albergue.
-And the majority of Spaniards love to smoke and can do amazing things while holding a cigarette in one hand!
-There are people hiking the trail from all over the world (even the Spanish) for all sorts of reasons. We have met Australians, Canadians, German and French and a few other Americans.
-Where you stay is dependant on the hour you arrive and what is still free. An albergue is like a hostal (bunk beds and communal bathrooms, etc.
Get a large rubber bucket filled with greens...
for 5-7 euros), with or without restaurant, etc. Hostales are like 2 star hotels when privacy is longed for (40 euros)!-Breakfast is usually wonderful coffee, with or without milk and a roll or pastry of some kind. The big meal of the day could be eaten midday, or in the evening. The pilgrim´s menu has a first and second course, drink and dessert. The first course could be a huge plate of string beans cooked with ham; the second some type of meat or fish, usually friend, all for around 8-10 euros.
-People here work hard to serve the tourists from early morning to late at night.
-The villages are magical--stone upon stone laid to form walls without mortar and enclosures for gardens or domestic animals (although the only and few dogs we see are running around loose).
-The homes are also of stone with mortar. Or of what seems like adobe with straw. Often there is a huge door (much like a garage door but very beautiful, painted) which opens up into a patio, surrounded by the home or hostal.
Ciao, Dick and Sue
