Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Camino- The Perfection of Villafranca

Did you know the reason the "c" in Spain is pronounced "th" is because a long time ago one of the kings had a lisp. Instead of telling him, the whole country just started lisping too. Galicia (pronounced galethia) is so beautiful, green and babbling brooks and stone walls. The gateway town Villafranca is one of the loveliest towns I've ever seen. This was the view from our window, we stayed in an old convent school (40 euro)


Heres the outside of the convent from the bridge. Spooky possums sky innit?


We seemed to be the only ones staying... It had more than 100 bedrooms. The whole experience was a mix of The Shining and The Grand Budapest Hotel.


Heres the old Kevstar havent seen him in three days so i keep looking at this photo....He is still resting up in Santiago and has been forced to watch round the clock Kardashians which is the only english thing on telly. Oh well at least he and Cy will have something to talk abt when we get home. 


Look at the town gardens.. Love toi toi (the white fluffy plants) it grows wild in nz.





Heres that same statue pilgrim guy during the day... He had many moods this bloke, pensive then dramatic, he has the full range. 





Back in the day, everyone went through here - the Brits chased Napoleon through Villafranca. Its a wonder the Brits didnt stay... I walked with a chef from Fulham today and he said: " I cant believe I'd never heard of that place before I walked through it- it's perfect."

Ever been through somewhere like that?

17 comments:

  1. Great pics and I had some similar experiences while in 2007-2008 Baghdad 'The Cradle of Civilzation'. One day we had to escort personnel and equipment up to Camp Taji (approx.30 miles NW of Baghdad) and a bridge had been blown up so we had to take an alternate route which took us through the fertile Tigris River Valley and villages that didn't look to have changed in thousands of years and hadn't seen any bad stuff from the war. The villagers lined the streets, shooed away their goats and sheep, and waved with big smiles on their faces...which was the same reception we got everywhere we went every single day which the press refused to report.
    Today is September 11th and with recent events this has been much on my mind.

    Stay strong and safe Jody!

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    1. Wow, that is an incredible recollection GSL, I would say I feel right there with you, but I can't imagine going through something like that. Amazing, I wish you had been able to report and write pieces for the newspapers at the time

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  2. I agree with the chef, I'm amazed at just how fantastic the towns etc you are visiting are.I've wanted to do the walk for religious reasons and your posts have made me want to do it to satisfy more than just that part of me.

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    1. Hi THud, yes when i googled Camino it just came up with loads of people in plastic raincoats and desolate roads over mountains so we were pleasantly surprised.

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  3. What a beautiful place. I love the Spanish th and had no idea about its origin.

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  4. Villafranca is a place I will never forget. Stayed in a beautiful albergue along the side river built into the mountain (where they did my laundry perfectly) with a German friend. I found out there that my father-in-law passed away. Galithia is like a fairyland! More beautiful then words and the last push to Santiago! Take it all in. Sorry to hear about Kevin! I am enjoying the memories as you blog about your journey.

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    1. Gosh what a rich and eventful journey you had. Did you just find places or did you have a guide book? Truthfully we did not do much research.
      Galithia really was a fairyland, like Ireland except with tropical weather

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  5. Lovely pics. I've been through perfect little places like that too here, in Spain and in Italy. Little treasures they are.

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  6. It looks totally gorgeous and I love your description of The Shining - now I'm scared! x

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  7. The Grand Budapest I could do, the Shining no, lovely town though.

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  8. Galicia looks beautiful: I'd have gone back there after kicking Napoeon's derriere.

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  9. Walking with you (electronically) has been a great experience.

    The lithp story reminds me of how the Merengue was invented - it seems King Alfonso XIII had a terrible limp and tilted when he walked. Creative court musicians got to work and the rest is dance history.

    That story makes me wonder how the Cha Cha was invented.

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    1. How cool about the Merengue. First i read Meringue and imagined a titling sugar confectionary. You don't want to know how my scatty mind works

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  10. My most beautiful place. Have been fortunate beyond imagination to visit such
    beautiful places in Europe, Aust./NZ, USA, UK etc. but when I thought about
    it a place came into my mind that was on the shores of Lake Schrinigar in
    Kashmire. We climbed some hundreds of stone steps and at the top was a tiny monument shaped like an almond shell on end inside was a small man
    dressed in a loin cloth. He rang a small bell and you approached.He may have been sitting or squatting so our eyes were level about two or three steps from the top. In his hand he had a few segments of an orange he had peeled and was eating. He smiled and said something in a language I did not recognise and then offered me a couple of pieces from a non to clean palm. I thanked him and took them. They were delicious. the scenery was mind boggling, mountains, villages, lake, house boats, people but could not compare with the experience.

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    1. Hi anonymous, wow, this is so wonderful, the bell, the stone steps, the orange the not too clean palm.

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