From the Ebro to the Castellano-Aragones

[peregrina2000]

This was a wonderful walk, in spite of two water crossings (one a little hairy under the autovia) and one busy highwayvcrossing. But the rest was amazing. Two 13-14 km off road stretches interrupted by the town of Magellon with some beautiful mudejar architecture.

Almost every km was off road. On the kms out of town, I saw a total of two people. One guy driving a Mercedes changing a tire and one farmer in a tractor.

Lots of excellent time for introspection/prayer/thinking for me and several forum members. I have yet to find an open church since Zaragoza but I have had many hours of real reflection. Which is unusual for me, bring kind of a no-nonsense pragmatic person.

Just finishing lunch in the Boveda. Please will someone recommend a restaurant in Tarazona. These last two have been FABULOUS. Thanks @alansykes and @SabineP!

 

[AlanSykes]

Glad the Boveda is still good. In Tarazona I liked El Galeón, just opposite the turísmo in the centre of town. It has fairly mixed reviews on Tripadvisor, but I enjoyed my €9 mdd very much, and it was heaving with people, from big multigeneration families and people in business suits to single men in work overalls.

 

[Castilian]

Keep enjoying! I suspect you are going to enjoy a lot the Camino Castellano-Aragonés.

I have yet to find an open church since Zaragoza

Tomorrow you could to visit the Cathedral in Tarazona if you were willing to make it. Standard fare: 4 Euros. There are reduced fares for some groups (students, pensioners...) but I don't know if you'll meet the requirements. If you want a guided visit it's a bit more expensive. Take a look at www.catedraldetarazona.es for more info (or just ask locally tomorrow). BTW, the web of the Cathedral has info too about other monuments in Tarazona.

Magellon

Magallón; a town well-known by the wine and the pulida magallonera.

 

[peregrina2000]

I had already noted the Galeon from your notes, Alan, and that's where I'll be headed.

I will visit the cathedral in Tarazona tomorrow for sure. Thanks Castilian.

After one day I can say this is a beautiful camino. Looking forward to more!

 

[VNwalking]

No recommendations from experience, Laurie, but you have several Michelin bib gourmand possibilities coming up, in Tarazona, 3 in Soria, and even one in Covarrubias...have fun and buen camino!
Saboya 21 in Tarazona
3 restaurants in Soria (Rincon de San Juan, Baluarte, and Fogon de Salvador)...looking even more pricey than you'd expect...
De Galo in Covarrubias
There are also 2 in Navaleno (La Lobita and El Maño) but I'm not sure if that's on the way...
http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Restaurants?geoboundaries=41.5558663,-3.5238647:42.2447854,-1.4474487
Have fun and Buen Camino!!

 

[AlanSykes]

No recommendations from experience, Laurie, but you have several Michelin bib gourmand possibilities coming up, in Tarazona, 3 in Soria, and even one in Covarrubias...have fun and buen camino!
Saboya 21 in Tarazona
3 restaurants in Soria (Rincon de San Juan, Baluarte, and Fogon de Salvador)...looking even more pricey than you'd expect...
De Galo in Covarrubias
There are also 2 in Navaleno (La Lobita and El Maño) but I'm not sure if that's on the way...
!

I can vouch for the Rincón de San Juan in Soria, and not especially pricey for a Sunday treat, surrounded by chic Sorianos looking slightly surprised to be eating their setas and ceps with the scruffy pilgrim.

De Galo in Covarrubias was great, the best inland meal I had on that camino. They imply that Lorca stayed there on his visit in 1918, although it's not clear from Impresiones y paisajes. I think the town has improved a great deal since then, and certainly didn't come across el amargo sello del aburrimiento trágico de la población.

 

[VNwalking]

surrounded by chic Sorianos looking slightly surprised to be eating their setas and ceps with the scruffy pilgrim.

 

[peregrina2000]

In Tarazona-- Just checking in to confirm the name of today's restaurant before heading out for another menú del día and then a couple of church and cathedral visits. Wow this is a pretty little place.

The walk after Buste would have been impossible without GPS. I would never recommend it. Across a few hills on overgrown tracks, twisting and turning along the sides of ag plots. The arrows were usually there but often hidden by overgrowth and obvious only bc I had the GPS. So I've stopped taking detailed direction notes because I would feel awful having someone start out using my directions through this part. With GPS it was a challenge but never unnerving. Overall a great day with lots of views of Moncayo and many hours of the cierzo blowing all around me (Luckily it was very cool). Tengo hambre. Voy a comer.

Ps. Thanks for more restaurant recs but don't think I'm a foodie in need of a Michelin bib. Good home cooking is fine with me.

 

[LTfit]

Good to see your thread Laurie. Miss the daily updates from Annie but she is now enjoying Nata in Portugal.

The newfound need for reflection time comes as no surprise, might come more to the surface as we enter new phases of life.

You know that I am no foodie but if you wish to have some info as you enter the area around San Leonardo (leave out de Yagüe for obvious reason) let me know and I will ask my buddy here as it is her "pueblo". Will you be sleeping there?

Take care!

 

[Castilian]

There are also 2 in Navaleno (La Lobita and El Maño) but I'm not sure if that's on the way...

Yes, (of course), it is.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi Lee. Today's walk is a keeper. At least for anyone with a GPS. Without it would be silly and even unsafe IMO. Just way too remote. I am glad to have figured out the GPS basics bc I would have been in trouble today without it.

I will sleep in San Leonardo and then taxi To Ucero so I can walk the entire path along the canyon. Of course a Romanesque church is also involved.

 

[VNwalking]

Canyons and Romanesque churches? Now you're talking!
I hope you have a fabulous journey through there tomorrow, Laurie.
Glad you have that GPS!

Thanks for more restaurant recs but don't think I'm a foodie in need of a Michelin bib. Good home cooking is fine with me.

Ha ha...Well, heavens, neither am I!!
Think of it this way...not only do you get to enjoy a very good meal, but by being the 'scruffy pilgrim' (as Alan said) you're a messenger of another way of being. Who knows? seeing you might open the door for someone.
(Full disclosure...well, I've never been in a Michelin-recognized restaurant in my life. And like you, simple is my preference...)

 

[NualaOC]

Great progress Laurie - glad it's going so well for you.

 

[peregrina2000]

Canyons and Romanesque churches? Now you're talking!
I hope you have a fabulous journey through there tomorrow, Laurie.
Glad you have that GPS!


Ha ha...Well, heavens, neither am I!!
Think of it this way...not only do you get to enjoy a very good meal, but by being the 'scruffy pilgrim' (as Alan said) you're a messenger of another way of being. Who knows? seeing you might open the door for someone.
(Full disclosure...well, I've never been in a Michelin-recognized restaurant in my life. And like you, simple is my preference...)

That night in San Leonardo is still almost a week off, sorry if I was confusing. Tomorrow it's up to Agreda, which could be 24,28 or some other random number. I think there's about 500 m elevation gain, today was 300 -- I had better get some more of this if I'm going to be on the Salvador in a couple of weeks!!!

 

[LTfit]

Hi Lee. Today's walk is a keeper. At least for anyone with a GPS. Without it would be silly and even unsafe IMO. Just way too remote. I am glad to have figured out the GPS basics bc I would have been in trouble today without it.

I will sleep in San Leonardo and then taxi To Ucero so I can walk the entire path along the canyon. Of course a Romanesque church is also involved.

Do you know exactly what day you will arrive in San Leonardo? Maybe I can organize a welcoming committee.
I only walked a part of the Cañón de Rio Lobos but what I say was very nice. This was at the end of July and we only saw a few walkers. We almost lost Guapito in the woods but luckily a cyclist brought him back to us, him running behind the bike at top speed!

Enjoy and keep posting. Buen Camino amiga

 

[peregrina2000]

Do you know exactly what day you will arrive in San Leonardo? Maybe I can organize a welcoming committee.
I only walked a part of the Cañón de Rio Lobos but what I say was very nice. This was at the end of July and we only saw a few walkers. We almost lost Guapito in the woods but luckily a cyclist brought him back to us, him running behind the bike at top speed!

Enjoy and keep posting. Buen Camino amiga

Glad you didn't lose guapito bc that would have been very sad who is he staying with while you're in San Sebastián?

I'll be in San Leonardo on Tuesday June 7 if all goes well. I'm staying in Hostal Torres. I hope to be welcomed by a new credit card sent from US but anything else you can arrange will be swell.

 

[LTfit]

Glad you didn't lose guapito bc that would have been very sad who is he staying with while you're in San Sebastián?

I'll be in San Leonardo on Tuesday June 7 if all goes well. I'm staying in Hostal Torres. I hope to be welcomed by a new credit card sent from US but anything else you can arrange will be swell.

Guapito will actually be staying with my Spanish friend who is from San Leonardo. Hmmm now I WILL have to organize something Off to get to work!

 

[peregrina2000]

Tarazona to Agreda is a very very pleasant walk. By streams, rivers, reservoirs, all very shaded and lots of soothing water noise. I saw no one for 20 km. Except for one random guy out in the middle of the wildlife refuge that formed part of the walk. I have to admit I was a little spooked, this was really in the middle of nowhere, but we said buenos Dias and walked on. I still can't figure out where he came from or where he was going and he clearly wasn't hiking, but oh well.

This stage was very well marked except for one spot where the GPS was a huge help once again.

Two days to Soria, 20 and 37. I wish there were some way to break that up better, but apparently not. Since the day after Soria is also about 40, I am going to take a rest day there. Of course it helps that there's a lot of Romanesque in town!

Agreda has an important moorish past so I will go see what there is to see now that my belly is full.

Note to self: if you have paella, avoid arroz con leche for dessert.

 

[peregrina2000]

Lovely day to Pozalmuro, population 35. But this would not be so pretty in summer or fall -- the green fields and wildflowers are beautiful. Here in town There's a bar, a teleclub owned by the town, which makes meals. There's a room behind the doctors office with beds. Clean bathroom and shower with hot water. No money accepted.

Tomorrow 37 to Soria. I will take a rest day on Sunday and I'm ready for it!

 

[LTfit]

You go girl!

 

[VNwalking]

No money accepted.

The Camino is so special.
Happy long walk tomorrow, Laurie, and I hope you enjoy that rest in Soria! It sounds like a very interesting place.
Sent you an email with a map and a PM with the explanation.

 

[peregrina2000]

Wow this was a great day except for the last kms on abandoned RR tracks and then on the highway.

Though it was raining steadily when I left, it stopped within 1-1 1/2 hours. Just long enough to get my feet wet.

But what a walk. At least four romanesque churches in tiny towns as you turned the corner and saw them without warning. Amazing capitals and a tympanum that was world class and required pushing your way through overgrown wet grass and those prickly weeds. How is it possible that they are unvisited???? Not to mention two or three medieval towers/castles. And the endless emerald green of the fields was jaw-dropping.

I'll be a tourist tomorrow. Rincon de San Juan looked closed but I'll find a good meal somewhere.

@alansykes you were right. This is one wonderful camino.

 

[Castilian]

How is it possible that they are unvisited????

Soria province has so many great unvisited places... Anyway, trying to provide some sort of answer to your question: Many/most visitors to Spain (as well as many Spanish making tourism within Spain) aren't interested in inland tourism. Among those interested in inland tourism, few are interested in Romanesque churches (as much as to go to a tiny village just to see a church that most likely will be closed if they didn't find otherwise beforehand). Among those interested in Romanesque churches, most of them will know about the Romanesque in Palencia province, about the Romanesque in the Vall de Boí, some/many will know (beforehand) about the Romanesque in the city of Zamora... but (very) few people have enough knowledge to know about about the churches you saw today. And among the few people that knows about them, many will visit them just once in a lifetime...

I guess you've already discovered why the tourism slogan of Soria Province is Soria ni te la imaginas.

Keep enjoying! You have yet a lot of Soria (city and province) to discover.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks Castilian. Im in Soria for a rest day. I'm off to enjoy a cafe con leche in the plaza and then a full day of Romanesque awaits me!!!

 

[VNwalking]

Happy very well-deserved rest day, Laurie. You've been moving right along
Romanesque sounds wonderful...and just wait till you see the Visigothic gems ahead!

 

[peregrina2000]

Soria was a wonderful stop. I will post more about it when I'm back but it was a four star day. San Juan Del Duero is one of the most amazing places I've visited. So glad I got there right at 10:00 and had the place to myself for a half hour. The ticket lady assured me there would be a steady stream of buses after that.

Today's walk to Abejar was long (38km) with no bars but plenty of fountains, but almost all off road. I wouldn't say it was spectacular but fine till the last ten kms or so when I started dragging. Those asphalt kms around the reservoir almost did me in but then there were a lot of kms through a pine forest.

I'm in a municipally owned albergue turístico tonight. All alone. 17€ and you get sheets and towels! If I had arrived tomorrow, there would have been no room for me bc a group of school kids is coming. But there are plenty of private places to stay, so it wouldn't be a problem.

I think I've walked my last 35+ km day for this year. That would be fine with me. Tomorrow San Leonardo, and I am learning all about the Yague controversy. Never a dull moment. Buen camino, Laurie.

 

[peregrina2000]

Today in Hontoria Del Pinar after an amazing walk through the cañon del río lobos. Highly recommended. The first 8 km are out of this world, the last 18 are nice but not spectacular. Thanks to @LTfit I had my camino angel waiting for me in San Leonardo. It was a wonderful, absolutely wonderful day. I am so grateful. Tomorrow less than 3o to Santo Domingo de Silos.

 

[Castilian]

Today in Hontoria Del Pinar after an amazing walk through the cañon del río lobos. Highly recommended. The first 8 km are out of this world, the last 18 are nice but not spectacular.

Sometimes to get out of a camino (de Santiago) is a good idea, isn't it?

Anyway, stickting to Caminos to Santiago, some day you have to walk the Viejo Camino out of Pamplona. Or, maybe even better, the Vía de Bayona till Miranda de Ebro continuing on the Viejo Camino from Miranda to Aguilar de Campoo (that's basically the GR-99 from Miranda de Ebro to Villanueva de la Nía plus a self-designed stage from Villanueva de la Nía to Aguilar de Campoo).

Keep enjoying!

P.S.: An alternative to the self-designed stage from Villanueva de la Nía to Aguilar de Campoo would be to make a (2 days) detour and continue on the GR-99 till Arroyo where you would join the (Bilbao branch of the) Camino Olvidado.

 

[LTfit]

Glad to hear that it all worked out and that Ceni took you around town. Wow tomorrow on your way to Santo Domingo de Silos. When starting from León, Sunday?

 

[VNwalking]

Sounds really wonderful, Laurie.
And you're walking like the wind--soon already you will be in Silos!!!

Anyway, stickting to Caminos to Santiago, some day you have to walk the Viejo Camino out of Pamplona. Or, maybe even better, the Vía de Bayona till Miranda de Ebro continuing on the Viejo Camino from Miranda to Aguilar de Campoo (that's basically the GR-99 from Miranda de Ebro to Villanueva de la Nía plus a self-designed stage from Villanueva de la Nía to Aguilar de Campoo).

Castilian, you just planted another seed...been thinking something like that and have a few threads bookmarked already. Happy to share bookmarks, Laurie, once you're home and planning again!

 

[Ramblanista]

Sometimes to get out of a camino (de Santiago) is a good idea, isn't it?

Anyway, stickting to Caminos to Santiago, some day you have to walk the Viejo Camino out of Pamplona. Or, maybe even better, the Vía de Bayona till Miranda de Ebro continuing on the Viejo Camino from Miranda to Aguilar de Campoo (that's basically the GR-99 from Miranda de Ebro to Villanueva de la Nía plus a self-designed stage from Villanueva de la Nía to Aguilar de Campoo).

Keep enjoying!

I dipped out of the Viejo at Reinosa last year, having joined it in Sodupe. A return is high on my list (alongside the Castellano Aragones) but I think I'd follow the Pamplona route to Miranda then on to Aguilar de Campoo, as you suggest.

 

[LTfit]

Laurie @peregrina2000 PLEASE check your whatsapp messages and contact me lo más pronto posible

 

[peregrina2000]

End of Camino. I'm in Santo Domingo de Silos and will visit the cloister in about an hour and then go to vespers at 7.

The walk today was quite nice, but I would have spent a lot of time getting lost without the GPS. The camino goes through lots of fields with no obvious paths. The arrows can always be found but without a GPS to point you in the right direction, it would be tough. Lots of nice kms in the company of cows along a ridge. All in all, except for the rocky descent into town, quite a lovely 30 km day. But it's HOT!!!

Soon to visit the cloister and then vespers at 7. Tomorrow begins the camino San Olav after Covarrubias. Thanks to @Viranani for much guidance here. I am now going to study her many good suggestions, permutations, and reverberations.

 

[mspath]

Laurie,

Glad that you made it Santo Domingo de Silos!

Tonight after vespers if you are looking for a simple good restaurant try the Casa Guzman. It is a pleasant inexpensive hostal with good food, open fireplace in winter and simple comfort. Best of all it is just 1 minute from the visitors entrance to the monastery; perfect!

Hope tomorrow goes well and is not too hot!

Buen camino!

Margaret Meredith

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks Margaret. Great suggestion.

I am so excited that my solitary walking comes to an end tonight with the arrival of Rebekah on the bus from Burgos. Hope she will make it for vespers.

Tomorrow we'll forge ahead to Covarrubias and then see where the San Olav takes us! After all these days alone I will probably give Reb reason to wish she had brought earplugs or headphones. .

 

[Castilian]

I dipped out of the Viejo at Reinosa last year, having joined it in Sodupe. A return is high on my list (alongside the Castellano Aragones) but I think I'd follow the Pamplona route to Miranda then on to Aguilar de Campoo, as you suggest.

I'm pretty sure almost everyone would love (most of) the strecht from Miranda de Ebro to Aguilar de Campoo. It requires some planning though because accommodations aren't plentyful but I think the main problem is that the stage from Villanueva de la Nía to Aguilar isn't marked. You may design one by yourself but that's not for everyone. An alternative is to continue following the (GR99 on the) Ebro till Arroyo where you would join the (Bilbao branch of the) Olvidado. That's a (2 days) detour but it worths it because that way you enjoy the Ebro a bit more, got to see the Ebro dam, can visit Reinosa and don't miss the Colegiata at Cervatos... So maybe the bigger problem isn't so much a problem, after all.

But it's HOT!!!

It's (way) hotter in the South. For example, yesterday they had (a bit over) 39ºC in Granada and in Córdoba... Today will probably be even hotter... Image what would it be if you were on the Mozárabe!

The good news is that today is the last day of hot (for now).

 

[VNwalking]

Woo hoo! You're there in SDdS...and now you and Rebekah are probably on your way to Vespers.
Wishing you a fabulous walk tomorrow. And uncomplicated logistics...
Lots of good wishes coming your way for a continued Buen Camino...on the St Olav, El Cid, or however you go...

 

[peregrina2000]

Woo hoo! You're there in SDdS...and now you and Rebekah are probably on your way to Vespers.
Wishing you a fabulous walk tomorrow. And uncomplicated logistics...
Lots of good wishes coming your way for a continued Buen Camino...on the St Olav, El Cid, or however you go...

Woke up this morning to an email from Ana to arrange things in Pension Julita. Talk about amazing councidences.

We had a light supper at the Guzman and will soon be on our way to Covarrubias. Looks like the Lana and the Cid coincide till there, and then it's off to find the Olav at the church outside of town.

 

[VNwalking]

Will be thinking of you 2, sending all sorts of good wishes that Santa Maria de Lara is open when you go by tomorrow!