Sunday, May 12, 2024 – Combarro to Barrantes

Travel Blog 2 Minutes

Happy Mother’s Day!

We started the day with a 10 kilometer hill climb up to Armentiera.

This is a communal wash basin. Every Spanish town we have walked through seems to have one. In the days before washers this is where the local women would come to wash their clothes.
This is a donativo drink stand. Inside that ice chest there is a variety of sodas and bottles of water. Take what you need and pay what you can.
The view from half way up the hill.
This is an apple.
These are horse apples. I saw a bunch of these piles of horse apples on the trail. The Colorado Cowboy on the Camino has plenty of experience tracking and deciphering based on piles of horse apples. It was clear to my expert eye that these horse apples came from a horse that has an apple allergy. Don’t ask me to explain. It is very technical and complicated. You just need to trust me on this. The only horse I know on the Camino with an apple allergy is Bucky. He must have escaped from his fenced field and now he is out ahead of me on the Camino. I wonder who will get to Santiago first, me or Bucky.
This is lunch in Armentiera. I ordered a tortilla español. I meant to order a slice of tortilla. Why in the world would I want the whole thing. It was very good but I could only eat half. I think the waitress brought a whole tortilla just to jack me around.
After lunch I went to Mass at the church in Armentiera. It was a full house and I enjoyed the service. I usually join in with some sort of mumbo jumbo when it is time for the congregation to play their part in the Mass. At this Mass, right before Communion, the congregation started signing what appeared to be The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I know that tune so I was able to sing along enthusiastically. I have no idea why they would be singing The Battle Hymn of The Republic as part of a Spanish Mass, but I was glad to have an opportunity to really participate in the Mass. I said a prayer for everyone

Just outside Armentiera there is a section of the Way called The Path of Stone and Water. It was spectacular.

Back in the day this stream powered a number of small sawmills.
The remains of one of the sawmills.

The following pictures should give you some idea of the beauty of this path.

After we walked the 5 kilometer Path of Stone and Water we had to walk another 3 kilometers to find our hostal.

I should be walking the wine route instead of the Path of Stone and Water.
As I was walking in the countryside to get to my hostal I ran across Whitey. He told me that he saw Bucky a couple of hours ago galloping hell for leather down the Camino toward Santiago.

When I finally got to my Hostal it was closed. 😱

I started calling phone numbers and finally got a woman who didn’t know a lick of English, but with my Spanglish I let her know I had a reservation and needed to get in to my room. She was there in a minute and gave me a room upgrade for the screwup.

Very nice room!

That’s it from Barrantes, Spain. I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.

Steps walked – 30,262

Kilometers walked – 23

Flights of stairs climbed – 33

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Published by abeandmarkonthecamino

I've been retired from the Union Pacific Railroad since 2017. I've been planning to walk the Camino for about 6 months and can't wait to get started.

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2 thoughts on “Sunday, May 12, 2024 – Combarro to Barrantes”

  2. You are weird and funny at the same time, lol. I appreciate your sense of humor. I loved your blog today, especially the apple parts. The trail looks very beautiful and peaceful. Take care.

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