John Journal

Santillana del Mar to Comillas 14.3 Miles/32,720 Steps – (Total 111.5/258,896) Everywhere we are surrounded by ancient rocks piled in walls and houses and churches. “Oh that’s only 17th century,” I said of the small village church. “Did you really just say that,” Sonia replied. We have seen so much that is so old, and […]

Mogro to Santilliana del Mar 11.4 Miles/27,059 Steps – (Total 97.2/225,176) A short distance was planned for the day, with the destination of the medieval village of Santilliana del Mar as the days objective. We arrived before 1pm and went straight to the 11th century Collegiate Church and cloisters to pray. The walk had been through one of the least

Santander to Mogro 12.0 Miles/28,006 Steps – (Total 85.7/198,117) A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. There is a fairly straight line between Santander, where we started the day and Mogro where we ended. We took the other, as just as fair. It offered the potential for beautiful scenery. In that regard it did

Güemes to Santander 16.9 Miles/37,273 Steps – (Total 73.8/170,111) After the rain from the day before the sun was a welcome partner on a cool September morning. One of the joys of heading west is the sun at your back each morning lighting the way. As we left the small village of Gûemes (after a delightful OCD breakfast laid

Santoña to Güemes 13.6 Miles/31,513 Steps – (Total 56.9/132,838) She didn’t believe me that it was right over there. The last few miles had been on busier roads with a steady drizzle. As we sat in the shelter of the local church making the reservations for the night. For the price of a Motel 6

18.7 Miles/43,391 Steps – (Total – 43.2/101,325) We didn’t know we were lost. We were passing through the first small village on our route. We were happy to find a grocery store so we could replenish our food supplies after eating everything we had with us for dinner the night before. The roads went off

14.4 Miles/34,238 Steps – (Total – 24.5/57,934) The picture looks bucolic. The scenery did not disappoint. We climbed a huge flight of stairs and were deposited on a path right along the coast. The views were spectacular. The photo above is very similar to the one on the cover of our guidebook. God’s beauty was in the

10.1 Miles/23,696 Steps – (Total=10.1/23,696) The day began in Bilbao with a visit to the Guggenheim. A short train hop to Portugalete and we emerged on the Camino de Santiago where we will journey for the rest of the month. We only walked about seven miles today but the terrain was varied and beautiful. We emerged from