8JW Camino de Santiago - The St. James Way 27.09.-05.10.2023

Let's go! Everyone is already a bit excited. The shuttle takes us to Unquera. The Picos de Europa mountain range is our main attraction today. We cycle along the Rio Deva through the impressive Desfiladero de la Hermida, the Hermida Gorge. Here the rock walls rise up to 600 m skyward. The wild river accompanies us the whole day. Lunch is, let's say interesting, the Visitor Center in the Picos impressive. After a coffee break in Potes we go up, up and up again. Our destination is Fuente Dè. 70 km and 5.800 feet of altitude - and nobody used the shuttle. Respect!!

An awesome day today, also the longest on our trip. We were leaving the Picos de Europe, the seafarers lighthouse - the first thing they would see before reaching shore. We had a pretty relaxed morning, we were going by Van in the morning in order to make the trip not too long. The most of us stepped out of the Van right before the mountain pass San Glorio - what a ride up there! We were lucky we didn't have to cycle up there - we were able to enjoy this amazing landscape out of the Van. Ursula dropped us of, and then we were heading to our destination. A long trip... not as long as the one of our todays mileage heroes though (Which would be Michael and Norbert). They made 96 kilometres or 60 miles, pretty good, isn't it? We found each other again at a nice Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, where we had a good coffe before heading on. We were having lunch at the Embalse de Riano... Riano by the way is not the original one though, it is now called Riano nueve, which means the new Riano. When they built this big reservoir (embalse) about seven villages were drowned. Riano was the only village which was lucky enough to be rebuilt -  they still got the (rebuilt) church and some corn bunkers left of the old village. After the heavy lunch we hopped on our bikes and cycled to Vegaquemada, where a well deserved boot beer was waiting for us. We did have a nice family style dinner, which was a worthy end of this day! 

By the way, it is now time to have our second introductory round!

These guys were like the first contact into the pilgrimage we had coffe at, thank you for the nice welcome

The last representatives of our group: Diane and Michael. You were very brave when ordering that

Nach dem langen Fahrtag gestern ist ausschlafen angesagt. Ein spätes Frühstück, ein kurzes Briefing und los gehts. Wir haben den heutigen Tag kurz gehalten, damit unsere Gäste genügend Zeit in der Königsstadt Leon haben. Wir radeln entlang am Rande der Meseta Hochebene direkt vor das Parador de Leon, unser 5 Sterne Hotel, mitten in der Stadt.

After the long day of cycling yesterday, it's time to sleep in. A late breakfast, a short briefing and off we go. We have kept today short so that our guests have enough time in the royal city of Leon. We cycle along the edge of the Meseta plateau directly in front of the Parador de Leon, our 5 star hotel, in the middle of the city.

Schweren Herzens verlassen wir unser Parador in Leon. Per Bus geht es in die alte Römerstadt Astorga. Hier trafen sich wichtige Handelswege und die Stadt ist Durchgangsstation für die Jakobspilger. Wir laden die Räder aus, unsere Gäste erkunden die Sehenswürdigkeiten. Dann gehts los - wir erklimmen den Höhenzug der Maragateria. Es geht steil bergan bis zum Cruz de Ferro, dem höchsten Punkt des Jakobweges. Natürlich müssen wir uns zwischendurch mit iberischen Schweinespezialitäten stärken. Dann "fliegen" wir viele Kilometer steil bergab Richtung Ponferrada. Dort steht die trutzige Templerburg. Es ist nicht mehr weit bis Villafranca del Bierzo, das im gleichnamigen Weingebiet liegt.

A bit sad we leave our Parador in Leon. By bus we go to the old Roman city of Astorga. Important trade routes met here and the city is a transit station for the pilgrims of St. James. We unload the bikes, our guests explore the sights. Then we start - we climb the mountain range of the Maragateria. It goes steeply uphill to the Cruz de Ferro, the highest point of the Way of St. James. Of course we have to strengthen ourselves in between with Iberian pork specialties. Then we "fly" many miles steeply downhill towards Ponferrada. There stands the defiant Templar castle. It is not far to Villafranca del Bierzo, which lies in the wine region of the same name.

Hoffentlich sind alle gut ausgeschlafen. Wir nähern uns Santiago und der heutige Tag wird etwas sportlich, zumindest in der früh. Es gibt erstmal 3 Pässe über die wir müssen - O`Cebreiro, Alto de San Roque, und Alto de Poio. Alles in allem 1.500 Höhenmeter. Was für ein Glück, dass wir E-Bikes haben und nicht laufen müssen wie die vielen, vielen Pilger, die wir treffen. Eine kleine Off-road Umleitung aufgrund einer gesperrten Straße war etwas abenteuerlich. Dann gab es noch eine richtige Überraschung am Wegesrand!! In Samos steht ein mächtiges Kloster, in dem nur noch 6 Mönche leben. Leider wegen Reichtum geschlossen. Wir segeln mal wieder bergab nach Sarria. Unsere heutige Unterkunft ist eine alte Poststation.

Hopefully everyone is well rested. We are approaching Santiago and today will be a bit sporty, at least in the morning. There are first 3 passes to climb - O`Cebreiro, Alto de San Roque, and Alto de Poio. All in all 1.500 meters of altitude. Luckily we have e-bikes and do not have to walk like the many, many pilgrims we meet.  A small off-road detour due to a closed road was a bit adventurous. Then there was a real surprise along the way!!! In Samos there is a mighty monastery where only 6 monks still live. Unfortunately closed because of wealth. We sail downhill again to Sarria. Our accommodation today is an old post station.

Not everybody gets the Ireland experience in Northern Spain. Altough it was cold, it was nice to not have it too hot one day. The fog was really thick and really wet in the morning. In the afternoon, at the hotel it cleared up though. 

Our first stop, the coffe stop, was at Portomarin - a city flooded in a water reservoir in the 1950's - the embalse belesar. Now the water is so low, you could even see the ruins of the former Portomarine. Talking about old buildings - the people back then were even able to save the middle ages curch, which was rebuilt in the now city centre. They set the whole new town centre up really nicely - they tried to give it a middleages touch - they succeded!

After our coffe stop we got the full Pilgrims experience. It is only necessary to complete the last 100 km of the Camino de Santiago in order to get your compostela (certificate that you completed). Needless to say, from the last 100 km on all the Pilgrims were loose. Sometimes it was hard to get by all the people on the streets. We even had lunch at a real pilgrimage tavern!

In the end we arrived at a very nice hotel, cootage style, right after the city of Melide.

Der Countdown läuft. Lavacolla ist die letzte Station vor Santiago. Im gleichnamigen Fluss unterzogen sich die Pilger des Mittelalters einer gründlichen Reinigung. Wir stoppen am Monte do Gozo. Er ist eigentlich nur ein Hügel. Alle zieht es hierher, weil von hier aus lässt sich erstmals die Kathedrale von Santiago de Compostela und damit für die Pilger das Ziel der Wallfahrt sehen. Von hier aus gingen die Pilger früher barfuß und Pferde wurden am Zügel geführt. Wir radeln lieber.

Santiago –  stimmungsvolle Plätze, unzählige Kirchen und Klöster, alte Herrenhäuser und ein quirliges Nachtleben bildet das eindrucksvolle Gesamtkunstwerk. Wir übernachten im 5 Sterne Parador direkt neben der riesigen Kathedrale.

The countdown is on. Lavacolla is the last stop before Santiago. In the river of the same name, the pilgrims of the Middle Ages underwent a thorough cleansing. We stop at the Monte do Gozo. It is actually just a hill. Everyone is going to come here because it is from here that the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela can be seen for the first time. From here, pilgrims used to walk barefoot and horses were led by reins. We prefer to cycle.

Santiago - atmospheric squares, countless churches and monasteries, old mansions and a lively nightlife form the impressive overall picture. We spend the night in the 5-star Parador right next to the huge cathedral.

Es war wunderbar mit Euch! Wir haben es sehr genossen. Vielleicht sehen wir uns ja mal wieder. Kommt gut heim und behaltet die schönen Erinnerungen. 

Alles Liebe 

Ursula und Christoph

It was wonderful with you! We enjoyed it very much. Maybe we will see each other again. Safe travels and keep the good memories. 

All the best

Ursula and Christoph