Moratinos and Terradillos de los Templares

Moratinos is a tiny village on the Meseta - the tableland - of Castilla-Leon. It's just outside the township of Sahagun and on the Camino Francés between Burgos and Leon. You'd probably need all those references to locate the place on a map!

I caught the train to get to Moratinos. It first headed to Ourense, a journey that took me four or five days to walk. The train did it in 40 minutes... It was a little odd to be travelling through the countryside I'd walked. The weather was overcast and misty, not unlike the weather when I'd walked the Camino through this part of the country.

There are about 20 full-time residents in Moratinos - although it boasts an albergue and a hostel which both compete for the pilgrim traffic. A couple of years ago a bar-restaurant opened too. So it's not entirely uncivilized here!

I'm a volunteer for a couple of weeks to work in the English Camino Chaplaincy which is organized by a Scotsman who lives in Santiago. A local resident, an American married to an Englishman, organises the chaplaincy here. I stay in a flat attached to their house and have most of my meals with them.

I open the tiny church here and greet pilgrims who visit, give them a stamp in their credential and then in the evenings, celebrate Mass in the nearby town of Terradillos. I go over there because the albergues there are larger and more people come to Mass. The American lady drives pilgrims across to Terradillos from the albergues in Moratinos.

I also celebrate the Sunday morning Masses for the locals. They're not big congregations - about 10 or 12 in Moratinos and maybe 35 in Terradillos. It's great being part of these communities - they're farming families. There's a dairy farm here, but most of the land is given over to arable farming.

Most of the houses are adobe - earth and straw or brick. There is little stone here so the houses are made of available materials. Consequently there are few ruins.

About halfway to Terradillos there was a medieval village called Villa Oreja or "Ear Village". There is no sign of it now. According to local legend it grew up around a monastery. Apparently the monks got tired of saying prayers and began to prey on pilgrims. Terradillos de los Templares is so called because the Knights Templar established themselves there to protect pilgrims - from the monks! They certainly succeeded - the monastery and the village have been erased from the land.

Santiago!

 

First glimpse of the Cathedral

The arrival into Santiago is hard to describe. I had walked from Ponte Ulla with John the Aussie and we met up with a couple of German girls nearer to Santiago. I realized I wanted to finish on my own, so I sent them on ahead. So the last few kilometres I walked slowly - not that I didn't want the pilgrimage to end, but somehow I wanted to savor it, I guess. The drizzle turned to rain. Then, in the distance I glimpsed through the mist the towers of the cathedral! I was really aware of the millions of pilgrims over the last thousand or so years who'd glimpse these same towers as they neared the end of their pilgrimage.

 

Finally there!

The arrows petered out. I got lost! Finally I could see the towers again and I made my way to Obradoiro square in front of the Cathedral. I had done it! I guess my major feeling was one of relief, perhaps tinged with sadness that it was done, tinged with happiness I'd arrived. 

 

The next day with fellow pilgrims from Holland, Ireland, Japan, Aussie and NZ!

The weather was really damp - I got someone to take a photo. And off I went to find my lodgings. Later I caught up with some companions at the pilgrims' Mass that evening. I concelebrated Mass - this was really emotional. The botfumeiro flew at the end of Mass for all us pilgrims there.  As the guy grabbed the swinging botafumeiro to stop it the organ thundered its final chords, marking the real end of my pilgrimage.

 

Main altar

Since then I've been catching up on sleep, catching up with friends made and trying to work out what it all means!

I think that may never be made clear!

 

From the roof of the Cathedral

The weather has improved today, so I'm now a tourist. Tuesday I'll head for Moratinos where I'll be a chaplain on the Camino Francés

 

Praza Obradoiro 

 

Some medieval Mason's sense of humor

 

Medieval pilgrims burned their clothes beneath this lamb and Cross on the roof. They were given a new tunic as a symbol of their new life

 

Minor Seminary - still a seminary, and hotel and albergue

A Laxe to Ponte Ulla

Just a short hop today - second to last day on Camino! I've mixed feelings as I write that... Is there a Stockholm syndrome for long distance walks?

 

Anyway today began in pouring rain - and it had rained most of the night. I'm still only using my brollie instead of a coat or poncho. And the brollie was up to the task. Luckily there was no wind - and the rain let up finally. We had quite a nice afternoon. It's plain to see that this area is somewhat more prosperous than other parts of Galicia. 

Vth century bridge

 

The farmers seem to have small herds of cows - which live inside and are fed grass harvested for them. The paddocks seem so boggy there's probably no other way. It's mixed farming I guess - pigs and sheep are present on most farms too. 

 

Gallego Cabbage - a staple in Caldo Gallego, a soup

We wandered through a few small villages and had a beer in a couple of them! This place is a surprise - a deep river valley crossed by a number of bridges. The earliest being Roman! 

 

Bacon and cheese buttie!

Tomorrow we have only 21km to walk into Santiago. I've walked 979kms... Actually it's a lot more with all the times I got lost, but we wont count those!

 

The view down to the river Ulla

 

Not the Bayly Road!

 

Church of Santiago de Taboada - St James busy slaying Moslems in the top part of the altarpiece!

Ourense to Oseira to A Laxe

 

Church at Xunquiera

 

The camino is more river than trail!

I haven't updated this for a couple of days. We arrived quite easily into Ourense - a town of  110,000 people in a river valley. It's one of the biggest in Galicia. It certainly too an age to arrive in the centre. Janet broke the bad news after we'd been walking for an hour through an industrial área that we had another hour to go! 

 

St James - Portico of Glory, Cathedral, Ourense

 

Local cows - a special breed (they probably have webbed hooves!)

 

We all felt like a break from the albergue - me because my hacking cough was making me hyperconscious during nights not to cough and disturb others, so much I wasn't sleeping! So I had a great night's sleep and left early for a place called Oseira. It's an alternative route, a bit longer, but just as authentic. Apparently it was used when conditions got too dangerous or expensive on the other route - for example when the local Lord began charging pilgrims too much.

 

Roman bridge leaving Ourense

 

The other thing of interest there is a Cistercian Monastry that dates back to the 11th century. The albergue is in a huge barrel vaulted room with about 50 bunks. Too many for the 8 of us! It was also freezing cold. We had a tour of the place. It had been mostly built during the 16th century, but one part dates to the 12th. It had been abandoned for a time, used for other things, partly destroyed and now occupied once again by the Cistercians and rebuilt. It's now a tourist destination and the monks live by the tourists and by sales of their liquor: Eucaliptide. A liquor flavoured with eucaliptus! Probably makes you as silly as a koala!

 

 

Part of the Monastery

 

The albergue 

 

The inside at 6.30am!

We were away early - thanks to a gang of Poles who like getting up before dawn! The walk today was up out of the rather damp valley where the monastery is and into a wide more open and, today at least, dry valley. 

 

 

It all seems very fertile - they even have cabbage trees and varigated flaxes growing here! I think most farms are very small scale though. I arrived first at the albergue so got first choice of bed. Woohoo! I've done my washing and had it rained on twice, so now it's hanging inside. Hopefully it'll dry overnight. 

 

 

 

Not far to go...

Vilar do Barrio to Xunquiera de Ambia

We decided on a short walk today - just 14km. It was meant to rain so we (Janet, the Kiwi and John the Aussie) thought a short walk would do. The night in Vilar was wild, Rain and wind. I have to say I didn't feel like a long day in that! As it was it was fine. The sun even came out! 

 

Horreos - for storing corn

So after a very nice stroll, the first part through flat farmland along a dead straight track and then the second along stone walled paths through oak forest. Spring seems advanced here compared to the earlier parts of Galicia. The oak trees have their new leaves, whereas earlier there was no sign of even buds. This valley seems more fertile and prosperous too, although we walked through a few semi-deserted villages today. 

 

A famous person from this village!

I've had a lazy day mostly in the bunk - trying to shake a cough I've had for a day or two. Tomorrow Ourense! 142kms to go.

 

Marker stone - windy day

 

 

O Pereiro to Campobecerros to Vilar do Barrio

Not a lot to report - yesterday it hosed down! The rain in Spain falls mainly on the pilgrim! I had a good night's sleep at O Pereiro in a hostel - which was a good 1.5km off the track. Still I had a room to myself and it was well heated, so I got my washing dry.

 

Bridge made of granite slabs 

The next day - late - I left for either A Gudiña or further afield. I was in A Gudiña at 11.30, so carried on. It was a bit of a slog too - along a road that happened to have a lot of cement trucks on it. Not too pleasant in the heavy rain. I got right off the road whenever one appeared out of the mist. Finally the camino diverged from the road and the rain eased off. From time to time I got glimpses of deep valleys. It looked much like Ireland and Scotland - hills covered in heather. There must be something about the Celts and the type of landscape they occupy!

 

 My new Chinese boots didn't handle the water too well. The inner soles began to disintegrate... After a bit of a slog I sighted Campobecerros - mostly because of the AVE fast train line construction nearby. I got a top bunk in the Albergue - it was already fairly occupied by some wet weary pilgrims. It got a bit steamy. Everyone was trying to dry their gear. The lady at the local cafe had a go at returning all the kilos I've lost - huge portions!

 

Portocamba. - an almost abandoned village

Today was finer - a soft day as the Irish would say. Good for walking with my umbrella deployed. It was up and down to Laza, where the town was celebrating a feast of Santo Cristo. So after a beer and sandwich I went to watch the procession. The beer by the way was recommended by a rather bleary eyed young chap in the bar I entered: he said "drink or go"! I think more in a spirit of wanting everyone to get into the spirit of the fiesta than being unfriendly.

 

The highlight was a small troupe of dancers and bagpipe band, who played and danced in front of the image of Mary and the Crucifix as they were processed through the town. There were a gang of priests accompanying the procession too. The dancing was somewhat like Irish dancing. 

 

 

From there I headed to Albergueria for the almost obligatory stop at the Pilgrims' Cafe. Each pilgrim writes his name on a shell which is hung on the wall. The first Kiwis were a couple in 2004. The guy who runs the cafe reckons there are about twenty who have passed through. From there it was a short hop to Vilar do Barrio where I met Janet - another Kiwi! 

 

The weather has turned nasty again. So maybe a short day tomorrow.

Vilar do Barrio