Los Arcos to Viana

Total distance today = 11.5 miles 

Total ascent = 984 feet 

Total cumulative distance = 95 miles

Today we left the walled city of Los Arcos and walked 11.5 miles to the walled city of Viana.

Shortly after leaving Los Arcos we came to this cemetery.  The inscription over the portal reads: "you are what I once was, and will be what I am now".  Cheery thought of the day.

The first village, Sansol, was only 4.2 easy miles from our hotel. We had hoped to buy our picnic for later here, but the store wasn't open yet. No problemo. Onto the next village, Torres del Rio.  Well, that town is only a kilometer away. But wouldn't you know it - "the way of the Camino" kicked in.

See that village below?  That's Torres taken from just outside Sansol. 

But, by the time we followed the path around, this was the way into Torres del Rio.  You MUST go down, then you go up. 

We did pass an interesting Fuentes by the River. 

The cafe was open, and it was raining, so we decided to sit awhile and have an early lunch of - yep - jamon.  Our other choice today was chorizo. The spaniards love their ham so much they even have these. 

We ran into the mother/daughter pair from San Francisco again at the cafe. Our paths have crossed several times since the first day.  David kept them on the path early on the first day when they almost missed the first turn just outside of St Jean.  Our paths have crossed several times, but I give mom credit for getting up those mountains. 

After a brief rest, we continued on. As we left town, we passed a 12th C church, Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro. It's octagonal design is similar to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The Knights Templar built this church. They were a key element of the Crusades, and most of their leaders were eventually burned at the stake in the early 1300's by the French king under an agreement with Pope Clement.  Later popes cleared them of the heresy charges. 

The path stayed while flat for a while.  And I found some more snails. 

Soon, however, we had a couple of steep ups and downs.  David's feet are not happy.  He's got a nasty blister on his little toe. He needs his new boots. They should be here by Monday. 

It looked like a big storm was headed our way. 

Good thing there were shelters available.

Our destination finally came onto view. 

That was the movie version of the view. This is what it really looked like. 

While the hike has not always had the idyllic scenery seen in the movie, "The Way", we enjoy almost all of it. Especially our hotel tonight, a restored palace, owned a one time by Señor Pujadas, the Spanish consulate to Manilla in 1916. 

It's right across from the San Pedro ruins. 

The other church in town is Iglesia de Santa Maria. It is 13thC. The doorway is magnificent, but the interior is breathtaking. When I was there, about a dozen of the parishioners were cleaning the interior.  This picture does not do it justice.

Another great dinner and now it's off to bed.