Day 30 - Santa Catalina de Somoza to Rabanal del Camino

Day 30 – May 2 Santa Catalina de Somoza (Km 250) to km Rabanal del Camino (238)– Cumulative 506 km

"Hi Brandon et al

Friday May 2, we walked 12 km to Rabanal del Camino. We were unable to confirm accommodation at the next village on so we stayed in Rabanal. A good decision as it turned out as your Mother was exhausted and both Sue and Dick had respiratory infection."

From Sue Schubert:

"Rabanal is a medieval village full of narrow streets, restored stone homes, as well as, many buildings which are going back to nature. We settled in to Hostal El Tesín where, as usual, the owners work from dawn to dusk to serve us! One of the highlights of this village is the 12th century Romanesque church which was open for visitors but not used for mass, curiously. Gold abounds on all Christian adornment. It could have the very gold that the Spaniards looted from Latin America, or it could be Spanish.

At 7pm we attended a mass (complete with pilgrim´s blessing) spoken and sung in Spanish, English and German at another tiny church located across the square from a Benedictine Monastery run by an order of monks originating from Germany. The church was undegoing extensive renovations until the municipality ran out of money. What they have found so far are two Moorish arches and mass graves full of femurs and tibulas, etc., the remains of 12th century pilgrims! They even believe they have even found a bishop, because of the ring found on one of corpse´s fingers. This evening after a late dinner we fell asleep to the sounds of many pilgrims getting acquainted, singing, etc. What fun!"