Day 2 on the Camino

Hola!

Today we travelled to Hospital de Orbigio. It was another warm day, although we finished our travels around 2pm we were very tired. At 30C, we stopped looking at the temperature so we could focus on getting to our destination. Today´s lesson was all about planning ahead. Although we knew what facilities each village had, we didn´t plan for them not to be open. We had expected the Cafe to be open for breakfast at 9am, this was not the case today. So, we had to venture a little further on before our morning meal. We were thankful that we had eaten some fruit before we left the albergue.

We are hopeful that we will be able to get a good night´s rest tonight. There is a festival in town this weekend, lots of people dressed in midevil garb celebrating. The setting is fitting as the Hospital de Orbigo hospice was founded in the 12th century by knights of the order of St. John.

Christiana and Shiloh

First Steps on the Camino

Hola from the Camino,

Today we took our first steps on the Camino. We arrived in Leon at around 2pm and instead of looking for an albergue in the city we opted to make a short trek to Virgen del Camino about 7k outside the city. The weather is very warm today, and having arrived at 2pm, that put us walking in the 28C heat for a couple of hours. Tomorrow we will walk in the morning.

Travel advice...when in Spain take the train. We were quite impressed with the rail system, the train stations are much nicer than the airport and the trains were roomy and quiet. Shiloh was expecting a slow ride to Leon, but was quite impressed with the 198km per hour speed at which they travelled.

Spanish lessons are going well. Today we took a trip to the grocery store and I got exactly what I asked for which also happened to be what I thought I ordered. Two apples, two oranges, and two bannanas. I didn´t get any cherries because I haven´t learned how to count past 10.

Adios!
Christiana and Shiloh

Hola from Madrid,

We arrived yesterday to wonderful sunny weather 34C. We had very smooth flight from Calgary to Frankfurt, and after experincing a very cosy flight to Madrid on SpanAir I promise not complain about the lack of leg room on Westjet. We have now started the best spanish lessons ever! We´ve managed to fnd our hotel, order dinner and use a bank machine in a language we know very little of. By the end our trip, we might even be able to speak a few complete sentences in Spanish.

Today we will make our way from Madrid to Leon via train and find our way to the Camino.

Adios!
Christiana and Shiloh

PS: please excuse the spelling errors, I ran the spellcheck only to discover that it too is Spanish!

Our Journey Begins

In just a few days we will begin our journey, a walk in northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago. The Camino is also known as The Way of St James; the route is to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where the remains of St James are buried. The camino has existed for many centuries, and was highly travelled in the middle ages. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, as it is a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned.

We will be following 325km of the Camino Frances (also known as the French Route)from Leon to Santiago de Compostela. We invite you to join us on our journey through this blog.