Hot and dry!



Once again ... it seems like no one lives in town ...
perhaps it is because it is so hot and they are all staying inside!

Early Morning ... so peaceful



and the sun rises over the hills behind us.

Couldn't help but notice this lone beautiful poppy growing in the midst of these rocks ...

Ancient castle in the distance

The only canal system that we came across



Loved this statue ... complete with chair to sit beside a fellow pilgrim.



Houses built into the earth

Very special friends from Lithuania ...
MD (blue shirt) and Deimis Ambrazieius (white shirt)

Martin Sheen comes passes through this area during the filming of 'The Way' to be released in Canada 2011

Some pilgrims stopping for a rest

Wow, it has been quite something going from a cold arctic type wind to the heat of summer! The past couple of days were spent walking in very warm temperatures. We had every intention of beginning our daily ´outing´ much earlier than we have, but, it has taken much longer to bandage my blisters than I would like it to. We were up at 5 a.m., however, the bandaging, etc, took over an hour and so it was 7 a.m. before we were on our way. I have now developed nine blisters, from the size of a dime to a silver dollar and tonight discovered that the one that was causing the most grief today, is actually under the tip of a toenail. Martin, is not too sure if I should write down that ´he has no blisters yet!´ and those were his exact words! He was experiencing a bit of back grief today, I think due to extra weight for foods and also because we were mostly walking on tarmac today. It is a section of the Roman Road; however, this time they have paved over top of it. It is very interesting as it goes straight through the bog, they needed a 100,000 tons of rock to bring it up to above the winter flood levels. Every ton had to be transported from elsewhere! Can you imagine this ... two thousand years ago. We did 23 kms today, after doing a few 30+ km days back to back ... 17 of these kms were absolutely ´prairie straight´, essentially without shade and no community or village to rest at. We did find a few trees at one spot half way through with a picnic table and had a thoroughly enjoyable picnic lunch --- which consisted of a can of cold beans, a donut, a pear and some trail mix.

The village that we are staying in tonight appears to be here exclusively for the perigrinos, as they have one albergue (hostel), one bar and one church.


Before hitting the prairies today, we stopped at a cathedral that had the most amazing miniature village that we have ever seen. It was a reconstruction of Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus and it was complete with moving parts. It was so great ... unfortunately photos did not turn out. :(  You will just have to check it out for yourself!


Tomorrow, we hope to travel to Sahagun, which is 23 kms away; it is a larger village and has three albergues; so hopefully, we will find a place to lay our head. Every night finds us in a very different place and for the most part they are great and provide us with everything that we require. Last night was particularly interesting. The first interruption to sleep occured at 12:45 when youth were outside our building playing basketball and then the next time was at 4:45 when there was a travelling band, complete with one drum and many voices singing at the top of their lungs! We now know what it is like when ´fiesta´ begins! I can think of worse things to be awoken from.


I particularly would like to add on a few more kms each day, but, out of concern for my feet (and Martin´s insistence) we only go as far as we do. After ten kms tomorrow, we will have completed the first half of our pilgrimage. This is truly an answer to prayer and an amazing experience.


Love to all! Thinking of you and praying for you.