The Road from Santiago

  Before we leave Foncebadon let us visit La Taberna de Gaia. Little can beat a glass or two of the nearly local red, some chorizo and jamon. 4.7 stars from almost 1000 reviews suggest it is worth a visit. Two weeks ago Abel Percio gave it 5 stars. A month a go it got another five and I had dinner here a month ago and I still remember the taste. When I said I wanted to eat spicy food, the owner recommended pasta and ordered it, and it was the best. I put Vietnamese pepper on top, set it aside and ate it, and it was warm and plentiful. My group ordered the grilled cod pilgrim menu. It was grilled in a frying pan until golden brown and lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It was savory and light. It was the best food throughout the pilgrimage. The chef here would be a big hit if he went to a big city and opened a restaurant. We give you the highest Michelin score. Lets be honest, the chief interest today is the Cross of iron, the high point on this trip. We are 1504m above sea ...

  We are beyond Nevis today! We have risen 165m to be a mighty 1417m above the sea. We will follow the road. The pilgrim trail is a little to the north. We link up at the Pilgrim Rest area. It has two, 5 star reviews. Coyotico’s back! They say ‘Right at the entrance to FONCEBADÓN, so you have time to reorganize yourself.’. We will enter Foncebadon and will enjoy its eastern half. It has grown somewhat since I passed through in the 1990s. At that point it only had a couple of people living there. It had not been always thus. Local legend says it was spared taxation in the 10th century because of the villagers efforts in marking the camino with 500 stakes. Ramiro II of León convened a religious council in the village, and in the 11th or 12th century, the hermit Guacelmo established a hospital and a church It has grown much since the revitalisation of the pilgrim trade - which is marked by the large number of hostels and the like. A sculpture, the Crucero de Foncedbadon gets 4....

  We are now 1252m above sea level - in British terms we are only behind Ben Macdui [1309] and Ben Nevis [1345m]. Rabanal del Camino is in the middle of the Roman gold mining region. It contains the remains of a Romanesque church whoch belonged to the Templars. It is virtually the last stop before the high mountains and revived in the late twentieth century as interest the camino increased. We will pass Casona Rabanal OCA Mary Rosales gave it 4 stars Stayed here during my camino. Made the mistake of going straight to the casona without checking my emails -- the check in is not on site (its at a bar restaurant a bit of a walk back to the entrance of town) so be aware! But the person cleaning the casona was so nice and offered that I could leave my pack while I walked back to Posada el Tesin to check in. The room was spacious and clean, the bed was comfortable, I got to use the laundry facilities, the common bathroom was also very clean. Wonderful place to stay, but my stay was ill-t...