Our first stop was in the town of Astorga which is the site of a battle between Spanish troops and Napoleon. It also has a cathedral and the bishop’s house was designed by Gaudi.

The bishop’s house.

The cathedral

Our second stop was at Santa Columba de Somoza, a small village nestled in the historic region of Maragateria. Residents of this remote region of Spain are known as Maragatos and they are believed to be the last living descendants of the North African berbers who arrived in Iberia in the eighth century. Unlike other Moorish groups who assimulated to Spanish culture after the Christian Reconquista in the 15th century, the agrarian Maragatos isolated themselves in the hills outside of Leon, and thus retained their own distinct identity. As Spain began to modernize in the 19 century, the Maragatos rural way of life fell out of favor, and the younger generations began immigrating to larger towns where work was more readily available. In the village, we visited a local beekeeper. Honey production is long been an important trade in this region with about 1000 beekeepers found in Leon. The beekeeper had a delightful program for us that he presents to school children. He talked about the life of bees and used delightful props. He had things to wear to be a drone or worker or queen bee. I’m sure it goes over very well with school children.

Our beekeeper’s tale.

We then had a luncheon in a traditional Maragato house. Out of economic necessity many of these houses have been converted to guest houses for pilgrims making their way to Santiago de Compostela.

After lunch, we made a stop at Villafranca del Bierzo where we saw a 12th century Romanesque church and had a coffee break at a hostel used by pilgrims on El Camino. 

Once in Sandiago de Compostela, we went out to dinner where our guide Mateusz met his mother. So we got to meet her too. Our guide has a very interesting background. His parents left Poland around the time of the fall of the Soviet Union and he was actually born in Norway. He is not a Spanish citizen, but is a resident He is married to a Spaniard and he has a five year-old son. He also has beautiful blue eyes.