Oct 22, from Peratallada to Llafranc, a Costa Brava coastal city I awoke in Peratallada bundled in one of the coziest beds I’ve ever slept in, with large pillows surrounding me. It was barely light outside and almost 8am but was chilly and cloudy out. I met our group for a very light breakfast (the fare varies quite a bit …
Oct 21, 2016 Today our group, again led by Pablo, ran about 25k (15.5 miles) from just outside of Girona into a town called Peratallada which means “carved stone”. We saw remnants of a castle, many old stone walls, a moat, and a church, along with some highly ranked contemporary restaurants which suprised me! Not that the food in Spain …
Oct 20, 2016 Girona is one of the major Catalan cities, and has a complex and interesting history through stories and rulers of the Iberians (indigenous inhabitants), Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and Charlemagne. Though all those changes various religions dominated and combined. In the 12th century the Jewish community flourished in Girona. All of these noteworthy groups have left their mark …
Barcelona to Girona! October 19, 2016 After an unfortunate mechanical delay which required over 3 hours and an unplanned plane change in Newark (though with gritted teeth I reminded myself to be thankful that a malfunction is caught before the plane leaves the ground..), I was finally en route to Spain. The excitement has been building over the past month as …
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir August 4-6, 2016 “Choose your own adventure”‘ Abram Dickerson tells our group of 10 runners who sit around the picnic table, eagerly listening to details before the first day of …
Some people do walk back to Santiago from Finisterre, or by way of Muxia where I had already been. I felt fortunate to have had the time to walk out to the sea, but needed to bus back to Santiago to fly home on Thursday. I had a leisurely morning, with some breakfast and coffee with an ocean view, then …
Last night I stayed in a “Pensión”, which is basically renting a room in a house. I think they are usually advertised as such and have some loose regulations of what they’ll provide, but I have also had people ask me in cities if I’m looking for a room to rent and in some of the smaller more rural pueblos …
Today was a planned shorter day, since I walked longer yesterday in the sunshine. It rained a lot last night – I heard it – but I awoke to a partly cloudy/sunny morning. I eased into the morning, no rush needed. Bacchus, the only other pilgrim who stayed in the albergue last night, was getting ready to go about when …
The time changed here in Spain last night! Unexpectedly, to me. My watch was an hour off when I awoke (the time on my phone read correctly). I changed my watch and didn’t think much of it. The sky was lighter, though, which made getting up and going out much easier. There was some fog, but the sun was up …
It was strangely hard for me to leave today. I let myself sleep in because of 2 nights in a row staying up so late (experiencing the late-night food scene!), and today I don’t have that far to walk to my first destination on the way to the coast. But, I really felt like I was dragging my feet. I …