Our destination for the day is Lamego, Portugal, in the Douro Valley. Our first stop in route to Portugal was Ponte de Lima where we were supposed to walk part of the Portuguese El Camino. Unfortunately, it was raining so we shortened our walk. We did get to cross a very old bridge. Ponte de… Read More On to Portugal

On the way to Santiago de Compostela, I came down with a bad cold and spent our first day here in bed. Luckily, I was well enough to join the group on the second day. Our first stop Happiness Hill, known as Monte do Gozo, has a history tied to the Camino de Santiago since the Middle… Read More Sandiago de Compostela

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… Read More Overland to Santiago de Compostela

Leon was originally founded as a Roman military base and has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site for it place in history as the first established location of a European Parliament. Our day in Leon was spent visiting a rural farm. The owner was quite passionate about her work and her animals. She owned… Read More Leon

Today we leave Basque Country as we head west across the north of Spain. We made one more stop in Basque Country at Ubidea where we visited an archeological laboratory. In my last post, I talked about Charlemagne’s lost battle. He lost many soldiers who were buried in a common site. That site over the… Read More Pamplona to Leon

The history of the Camino de Santiago began in the 9th century. A hermit named Pelayo reported seeing mysterious lights in a forest, which led Bishop Teodomiro to find a mausoleum believed to be the tomb of Saint James. The first pilgrim was King Alfonso II of Asturias, who made a journey to the site in… Read More Camino de Sandiego

Today we left Bilbao for Pamplona with a stop in San Sebastian on the way. San Sebastian is a seaside town and is considered Spain’s gourmet capital (many Michelin star restaurants). It is also the gateway to the mountains of Basque country. We took a walking tour of the town before having lunch at a… Read More On to Pamplona

One of the main reasons I wanted to come to the north of Spain was to go to Guernica. Guernica is a relatively small town, just east of Bilbao in Basque Country. During the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939, which put Franco in power, the Basque people fought against Franco. Franco was determined to unify… Read More Guernica

THERE IS LOX ON THE BREAKFAST BUFFET. Our first activity was a panoramic bus tour of Bilbao. Bilbao was a heavily industrial town until the middle to late 20th century when industry dried up. The town then made a conscientious decision to hire some really good architects to build up the town in order to… Read More First Full Day in Bilbao with Tour Group