Miles walked: 8.2
Cumulative total: 139.5
Flights of stairs equivalent climbed: 17
Pleasant easy walk today, cold at the beginning, warm at the end. Went through several charming little towns.
We had breakfast in the small village of Tosantos. I’m mainly bringing this up because I love that name: Tosantos. The bar there seemed like it was set up in someone’s house and was run by three or four very young people. Barely in their 20s, I think. Our order of fried eggs and toast really confounded them and they spent a long time trying to figure out what we wanted and then how to charge us since it wasn’t on their regular menu. They were very serious and discussed it together for a long time.
Villafranca Montes de Oca is a small town but as usual with an impressive church.
This was a feared point in the medieval pilgrimage to Santiago because it is at the beginning of the Montes de Oca (Goose Mountains) which were plagued by bandits and robbers.
We wanted to stay in the super nice and historic hotel here (where we stayed in 2014) but there was no vacancy when I was making reservations a few months ago. So we are in Pension y Bar Ivis which, despite 4.3 review on Google, is not great (soft beds, ouch). We decided to hang out in the bar/meson at the other end of town. (The only other place in town open.) A busy place full of locals out for Sunday lunch.
If you look at the stonework you will see changes, which imply several periods of construction. The upper part might have collapsed for some reason, like a fire or just poor construction (a lot of these small churches were built without a lot of expertise).
Also, guidebooks/history plaques often date a church from its initial construction, even if it was totally torn down/remodeled.
These are just speculations. Without actually researching the history of this particular church it is hard to say.
Having to prebook the entire trip certainly takes away from the romance of the Camino, and being shut out of your hotel of choice months in advance is even worse. Despite the fact that walking the Camino seems wonderful, the forced rigidity of the experience would discourage me from doing it.
At least that your breakfasts and often wonderful lunches are still free form partly makes up for it.
That’s a good way to put it, Henry. It takes away the romance. It certainly takes away the flexibility. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to feel comfortable doing a Camino again without booking. If we weren’t too picky about where we stayed I don’t think we would have to pre-book. But since we like private rooms preferably with private bathrooms, it’s become hard to get those at the last minute. Even pre-booking, we have had to have several places that did not have a private bathroom. Mostly that has not been a problem but not ideal. One of the reasons we chose this Camino this time is that we thought there would be more services, more places to stay, given our short walking distance. We were surprised that it has been a challenge in some places.
At our ages a private room with its own bathroom is almost an absolute necessity.
We decided to try the Camino Frances this year for old times sake but it is more crowded than the others. I think it would still be possible to walk other Caminos and just reserve a day or two in advance. The Norte is beautiful and the Northern Atlantic coast is a favorite summer holiday spot. This means reservations are hard to get in the summer but easier in the spring.
I’m not able to read all your posts, but looks like you two are having a great time! Warm wishes, Jan