May 21
We found a nice location for our group picture spot this morning, following breakfast, before we head back out to the trail. We have about a two block walk from the hotel back to the official trail.
Once again, we’re in an older section of town with the tighter cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture. We cross a bridge at the far edge of town. There are peaceful, small waterfalls, and an attractive fountain.We are now entering the older more sparse area outside of town.
We pass by a small simple cathedral as we leave the city and walk along a dirt road. Through an agricultural area.
We go under a very large bridge for the highway high above and continue through a beautifully wooded area.
Once again, we find ourselves following the Camino markers and going through another small village.
We turn a corner and there’s another historic cathedral in front of us sitting on a greene hillside. It is beautiful.
We pass a few more houses, one of which has an old well in front, and cross the highway again. We stopped at a cafe for a small snack. We sat with Sebastian, a pilgrim from Germany.
After leaving the café, we are back on another dirt road that is winding itself alongside vineyards. Soon we begin to walk parallel the main highway.
We turned back in to a natural area and wind our way through trees and streams. There is a beautiful fern grotto here.
We come out of the woods and find a cute café that we stopped at for lunch. Soon more of our group arrives.
Just as we leave the café, we come to another cathedral and cemetery. We admire some of the beautiful stonework and crosses.
We turn out of town onto another tree covered dirt path with wide open views to the valley
Coming back out of the wooded area we find ourselves on another narrow road with a tall wall covered in clover flowers next to it.
A small heard of goats passes in front of us with their handler on the roadway.
We come back into town again with the narrow streets, expanding out to wider streets as we enter the city. Off to the left is there a river with old school cathedral towers and a modern factory. The juxtaposition of the old and the new is not lost on me.
We pass by yet another cemetery with its accompanying cathedral and continue on to where we stop with a group of other hikers to wait for a train to pass
As we near a tunnel, we hear bagpipes; as we pass through we find the source and stop for a moment to listen to the music on the other side.
I noticed the smiling face in this bus stop decided to sit with it for a moment . Hiking is my happy place.
We continue through town. As it becomes more populated we walk through the city center along the river with some cathedrals, some benches, and some monuments.
Just as we prepared to leave the trail for our hotel, I bumped into a friend named Joseph that I met a couple of days ago. He is from Canada and Hiking with a group of students. When we first saw his group they were sitting on the grass in front of a cathedral, praying together. It’s nice to see young people exercising their faith. If you see other pictures with people carrying a soccer ball, those people are from his group.
The final walk through town away from the trail brings us to our hotel for tonight. One more day on our pilgrimage. Today’s mileage is 12.86.
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