Day 9 & 10

Day 9

At 7 in the morning we have to leave the monastery, we walk around the town, drink a coffee and look for the bus station. However, we regret the part of the Meseta that we will not see but the conditions do not allow us (we do not find accommodation open, the internal situation in Romania is a bit uncertain) and the fear of being stuck in Spain does not give us peace. While we wait for the bus we make reservations for albergues in Leon and Astorga so that we don't have any problems. 

We arrive in Leon feeling down and quite worried about the situation at home, we don't even have the strength to go and visit the city. We go shopping for the next day, wash our clothes and clean the wheelchair of mud and dust after the past few days. Vasi rests all afternoon. The albergue where we are staying is a new and modern one with an adapted bathroom and very good conditions, so I can wash  without any stress. 

Day 10 : Leon - Astorga

Today's stage is a long one because, in fact we planned to do two combined stages 24.6 km to San Martin del Camino plus the 23.7 km to Astorga.

At the exit from Virgen del Camino we choose the common route because we don't know anything about it,  we prefer to go parallel to the national road N120. It is a boring stage without big differences in level but also without places where you can drink a coffee or something refreshing. After Hospital de Orbigo we meet a completely different relief, we leave behind the vast fields of cereals or vineyards and the hills are a bit more pronounced and then we meet the gorgeous alpine vegetation.

We arrive in Astorga. Entering the beautiful town is difficult for me and my 3-wheeled bike stairs, obviously I can not climb them and on the road the severe slope of the hill tests us. Good thing, it's a short distance. We find a chic town where you can admire the beautiful cathedral and the wonderful episcopal palace, the last work of Antoni Gaudi. The pedestrian squares are full of tourists and pilgrims, the terraces are lively.

The municipal albergue in Astorga is quite modest, it has a lot of stairs at the entrance but I was somewhat lucky because they had a bedroom in the basement and a spacious bathroom quite accessible. Next to the albergue just a few steps away is a beautiful garden where you can spend the afternoon in peace,while you can taste the wonderful chocolate made right in the village. We rest quite well due to the fact that in the basement bedroom there's just the two of us.

 

Day 4 - 28.06.2020

 We leave Logroño around 6:30 am. The exit route from the city passes through a beautiful park, a pity that part of the alleys werein construction and we could not see it in all its splendor, although we managed to meet a little friend, whose picture I'm gonna leave lower, so you can enjoy it too. The park hosts a biological research station that studies the ecosystem around Lake Grajera which we thought was really cool.

Route

little friend

    Onwards the road passes through wide valleys, fields full of vineyards and sprinkled with a multitude of bodegas, too bad they were closed and we could not taste some wine, gentle hills, culminating in two more steep climbs: El Alto de la Grajera and El Alto de San Anton.

Born on the Way

Born on the Way

Born on the Way

    The only inconvenience of this stage, if you let me put it this way, is the presence of the A12 motorway, which accompanies us on many parts of the route.

    We arrived safely in Najera, since the morning we looked for accommodation during the short breaks we made, the only private hostel open in Najera, did not want to give us beds in the common albergue,  only in a private room due to restrictions Covid-19. We hardly managed to climb the 26 steps to the so-called room, the room had no bathroom, and the shared bathrooms were impassable: narrow doors and even narrower showers so in these conditions we appeal to a high level of hygiene: wet wipes. We eat cold canned  lentils, from the only open store  (it was Sunday and we had lost the count of days and thus ran out of food) and potato tortilla from a nearby bar, because we can not use the kitchen to heat them, another safety measure Covid -19.

    

    But of course we are happy and grateful to have a place to sleep. Ah, yes I forgot to tell you we were the only pilgrims in the albergue. Another day ends...

Day 3 - 27.06.2020

     I forgot to tell you, yesterday we spent the night at Estella in the house of a kind gentleman who, despite the storm, came by car after us personally so as to not wander aimlessly through the town.

    We easily cover the 21 kilometers to Los Arcos. Although this stage of Camino is famous for the multitude of services (shops, bars or restaurants), most of them are closed. We didn't even have a place to stamp the valuable Credential.

Los Arcos

    We mainly follow dirt roads without any places where you can sit in the shade and take a well-deserved break, so a rather difficult stage from this point of view in the heat of summer. Of course, arriving at the normal destination (from the appointments on the profile sites), we already expected to encounter problems in finding accommodation, so without thinking too much we set off for Vianna, believing that in the city we will have more good luck.

 

Vianna

Vianna

   The adventure continues on dirt roads, but also paved or concrete sidewalks at the entrance to the localities. Walking so many kilometres (about 48 kilometres) through different forms of relief we meet many cereal fields, olive groves, but also asparagus crops, we no longer think of the fatigue that is obvious, we think that we are very blessed.

asparagus crops

between villages

    We arrive in Logroño, although officially the private albergue where we spent the night was closed, we received accommodation due to an online reservation of a French woman, which makes our accommodation possible.

    I forgot to tell you about the food we ate these days: of course sandwiches, but also cans with lentils, beans with chorizo :)), which we could not even heat, but also salad.

    We are grateful to the entire Universe.

Day 2 - 26.06.2020

    Early in the morning we wake up with more vigor after yesterday, the sneakers still wet (they were soaked in water, although we put newspapers in them, according to the instructions of the host), after a cafe con leche and a hearty breakfast (included in the price of accommodation) and a photo as a souvenir (I was going to forget, the owner told us that we are the first post-Covid pilgrims to stay in his house).

    We start moving, we actually have to recover the 7 km from the last stage and the 21 km from the current stage. Great aspirations, but we start with hope. The 7 km from Uterga to Puente la Reina are done without any problem, the only inconvenience was the lack of shops, well, the lack of open shops. A saviour appears as the following event happens to us in Puente la Reina. I was sitting outside on the sidewalk, Vasile, my husband, sitting on the curb, enjoying a soda and a well-deserved break, and we were watching the lively conversations of the locals. We decide to start following the original route, but we don't make more than a few steps and we are interrupted by a voice that warns us from behind: “No podeis ir por ahi con la bici, teneis que tomar la carretera. Hay escaleras al bajar”, what we didn't know and the local tells us is that when we go down from the village we will find stairs following the traditional route. We couldn't go that way of course, so the local led us to the road, we thanked him and we started for the Roman bridge that is after the descent. 

Roman Bridge

We are on the right way

Refugio de P.P Reparadores-Puente La Reina

Refugio de P.P Reparadores-Puente La Reina

Two pilgrims walk on the Roman bridge

    In our thoughts we thank heaven and the man that warned us for sparing us of the unnecessary effort. We advanced another 5 km on a dirt road, keeping the highway on the right.

Highway on the right

Small Break

Dirt Road

Camino 

Highway 

Under the Highway

Under the Highway part 2

    A not so very pleasant part of this stage is the ascent of Mañeru. Although it is very hot since the morning, you could feel the effects of yesterday's storm, the humidity of the air stuck to our skin and the hot air took our breath away. The sloping dirt road with numerous ditches made of water flowing down the valley, along with mud and stones made the ascent a torment. 

Ascent

    We move slowly as if time stood still, we finally manage to reach the end of the climb, sweaty and weak. We don't even feel the rest of the trip to Estella, how it passed, what happened, although there were many ups and downs. We arrive in the city, we are one hundred percent sure that we will find open hostels (on the specialized sites they were all open), surprise !! Everything is closed, another storm is approaching and we are without accommodation, so we took all the hostels in the city one by one. In the end we find something accessible from all points of view, financially and without too many stairs. Of course, human nature in conditions of stress toys with us, dark thoughts surround us: what do we do if albergues will not open? What if we have to continue to stay in hostels / hotels? We decide to calm down and take each day as it comes. It's a wonderfully special trip, let's enjoy it!

Day 2

Somewhere on Camino

On Camino de Tronos you either walk or die