Real news on the road

 

Today is a day where we find ourselves away from the traffic of the motor vehicle and onto the by-ways crammed with pilgrims. According to the Office of Pilgrims in 2021 90128 men and 88784 women took the way of St James. 93.75% were on foot 6% of bikes, 0.1% on horse and 37 on wheelchairs. They are silent on the matter of pogo sticks. Given who is taking the data the following may require more delving however 80% said it was for religious reasons. 58% were aged 30-60, 26% were under 30. 68% were Spanish, The British come in 11th with 0.81%.


We are following narrow roads, so narrow streetview goes not to to it. We will come to a tiny township, La Faba, which has vending machines for pilgrims on the way in. The bar, Tito La Faba is described as LGBTQ+ friendly and temporarily closed. It gets 4.8 stars. Mikala said
“The staff are so kind and this was one of my favorite dinners of the camino. The albergue is fairly nice too—the rooms have AC. There’s only one shower/toilet but it’s small enough it’s not an issue, We were able to make a reservation over email the day before and they quickly responded to confirm. Muchísimas gracias a Tito La Faba por todo!”


There was a pilgrim hostel which appears to have burnt down recently, according to a web story of 25th January. The church is dedicated San Andrés, from the 16th and 18th centuries and with a mixture of two periods: Renaissance and Baroque. It is a building with a single nave divided into two sections, the head with a half-barrel vault and perpian arch supported on attached pilasters giving access to the nave, which is covered with a gabled wooden structure with braces, being later located on an elevated , the choir, made of cut wood and with a very rudimentary access staircase. Its heritage is made up of a baroque style altarpiece and two fonts, one baptismal with gallons, and another for holy water of large proportion and low foot, with the same decoration made of solid ashlar stones.



La Laguna is another micro settlement and the last in Leon. It has a hostel, La Escuela. It opened in 2008. https://www.alberguescaminosantiago.com/albergues/albergue-de-peregrinos-la-escuela-la-laguna-de-castilla-leon/ The most recent review says…
‘Was passing by, already a little tired from the 20 km, They boosted my energy with a good beer and the sounds of Galicia. the owners are cordial with a smile on their faces.’
Tomorrow, Galicia. Today was achieved by wandering around York.
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