To reach our Camino start point from Madrid, we decided to take the train. This proved to be a very pleasant journey on quite a fast train that at times hit 200 kilometres an hour. And we had a lovely view of the country side, and just north of Madrid are some beautiful snow-capped mountains.
The journey took us to León, where we changed trains very quickly onto a local train to Astorga. After Astorga, we made our way up to Foncebadón because as a bit of a warm up and also so we could see the Cruz de Fierro, we thought we’d take a small short walk across the top of the mountains past the Cruz de Ferro.
End Route to Cruz de Fierro
Even though we were doing the Cruz de Fierro at the beginning of our journey, it was still a very emotional moment. We left the albergue early, so that we were at the Cruz by about 8 am, just as the sun was coming up and clearing the clouds around the mountaintop.
Nearly at Cruz de Fierro
Almost There
Because we’d stayed overnight fairly close to the cross, and started out fairly early, there weren’t many people when we got to the top of the cross.
We stayed about 20 minutes, whilst we laid our stones and said our prayers, and remembered loved ones that were no longer with us.
Cruz de Fierro
We then continued on down through the little hamlet of Manjarin and down towards El Acebo and it was at this point, that we were to jump ahead to Sarria, to actually start our Camino proper.
Heading Down
Molinaseca
O Cebreiro
Lunch at O Cebreiro
Sarria
I flew over those snow-capped mountains 3 weeks ago Rob, to attend a gig in Madrid. They are worth a visit in themselves.