All posts filed under: Travels

Day 5 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Las Herreías to O Cebreiro

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I overslept! Gah! Woke up at 6:45am after the best sleep I’ve had in weeks! But of all the days to do this, did it need to happen today when I had a date to walk with others. Well, the good thing is that I probably needed it because I’ve been sleeping very little for far too long.  Left Las Herrerías at 07:20 and though I was the last pilgrim out, but of course I wasn’t. The climb is steep at first, but wonderful. The forest is refreshing and has a sweet scent of leaves, bark, and soil, and I’m incredibly happy to be in Galicia again! Well, technically I’m still in Castilla y León. The border to Galicia is a bit further on up the mountain, but mentally I’m already there. As I have anticipated this climb to be difficult, I’m booked to stay in the village of O Cebreiro at the top of the mountain, so I can take it easy and walk at my own pace. It’s going to be fun to …

Day 4 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerías

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Not quite the 05.30 departure I had in mind, but 06.15. I’m getting there if slowly. The town sleeps but is pretty with all the lights. Don’t see anyone else around and it will be a while before I run into other pilgrims. I chose the Pereje route which is relatively flat. For the more fit and seasoned walkers, there are two other routes, one that takes you over Alto Pradela and the other longer one over Alto Dragonete.  Villafranca del Bierzo in the distance Today I’m heading to Las Herrerías, which makes it a 20,3 km day, a more suitable length for me. If you follow different forums and groups, as I have done this second time around, you’ll discover there are about as many opinions as people. My tip for you would be, read them but then follow your own instincts. Someone wrote that he thought this particular stretch was boring as it’s next to a highway, so you might as well take a taxi…I myself enjoy the walk. Sunrise behind the mountain …

Day 3 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo

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Good morning! I aimed to leave at 6 o’clock, but it’s 6.30 before I begin walking. The town is quiet, but eventually new hikers appear and silently exit the town, each in their own thoughts. I’m starting to enjoy these early mornings and being able to see the sun rise. The air is fresh, and it feels incredible for a die-hard night owl like me to be part of the awakening of a new day. The first leg down to the large town of Ponferrada is very steep, and as my poor knees and feet haven’t quite recovered from yesterday, I stop at the very first café that is open at the outskirts of the town to have a little rest and my morning coffee. I haven’t very high expectations of this modern metropolis with a population of 69 000, but it surprises me in a good way. The route I follow takes me though the medieval part and some of the main historic sites such as the XIIthC Templar Castle, Castillo de los Templarios. …

Day 2 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Rabanal de Camino to Molinaseca

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Wake up early and collect my now dry clothes from the clothesline, get dressed and out of the door at around six thirty. Today’s walk is 25,6 km, but it’s the steep descent down mountainside that’s going to be the challenge. Typical pilgrim shadow in the morning The first part is wonderfully cool and walking up the mountain is no problem at all. Beautiful nature and wildflowers and the higher I get, of course, a wonderful view, once I pass the fog. I take my morning coffee in the small village of Foncebadón, just before the peak experience for most pilgrims, the large cross, Cruz de Ferro, standing 1,504 meters above sea level on a large mound of stones and pebbles. Pilgrims traditionally leave a small stone at the Cruz de Ferro, to symbolize leaving all their burdens behind. I find myself unexpectedly unmoved by this iconic place, both physically and spiritually. Perhaps it’s because I expected it to be on the very peak of the mountain with uninterrupted views, but it’s surrounded by high pines, and …

Day 1 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Astorga to Rabanal de Camino

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I follow the French Way or The Way of St. James which this ancient pilgrim path is also known as, just like the last time, but this time starting in the region of Castilla y León that borders to Galicia at O Cebreiro. It will be fun to discover a new part of the Camino.  It’s a beautiful start and feels wonderfully flat! In reality it’s a steady ascent from Santa Catalina to Rabanal, however I stop every 5 km as I had planned, for a coffee, lunch or something to drink, and luckily there are cafes evenly distributed along the trail.   Passing pretty and very rustic doors on the way. I knew that there has been a tremendous rise of pilgrims since my last Camino in 2012. The statistics show a staggering 438,589 thousand people finished the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 2022, as opposed to 192,488 in 2012, and indeed, there are a lot of pilgrims on the trail today. However, I enjoy having brief chats with people from many parts of the …

My Camino to Santiago de Compostella 2023 – Arriving in Astorga

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This year the Camino called me again…  The first time I walked part of the Camino to Santiago de Compostela was 2012. At that time, I was living in Malmö in the south of Sweden and working at IKEA Communications, the in-house marketing agency of IKEA. This meant that I had to join the ranks of IKEA’s many commuting employees, spending a good three hours on the train every day, starting at the crack of dawn. The upside of this was that I got to know and become friends with a good many of my co-workers.  Anyway, one Friday evening in May, while we commuted back to Malmö, Gen, one of my interior designer friends from Quebec told me about walking the whole 800 km stretch of the Camino when she was in her twenties. Something struck a chord inside of me when I listened to her story. The whole of the next day I thought about it and the next day I found myself at my computer Googling away. On Monday when we met …

Palma in my heart

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What can I say. I love this town! It has everything really. It’s beautiful, cosmopolitan, vivid, has amazing cuisine, a wonderful climate, bags of culture, beautiful old buildings, a cathedral, old churches, a beach, the list goes on… As a wonderful coincidence my family is also here at the same time as I am. They arrive in intervals and we meet up a couple of times when I’m on my road trip around Mallorca. Here are some snapshots from Palma. Strolling around town and enjoying the ambience. Palma has some awesome architecture. Lunch at Duke. Heavenly salad. Cool small interior shop in La Lonja, Viveca. I really like chocolate ice cream and look what we found. Lucky me! More of these cool tiles, here at Hotel Cort. La Rosa is a wonderful place to have a few tapas before heading out for dinner. Having one of the best dinners ever here at Canela. The food is amazing! It’s the last night with this gang. Family, friends and a random guy. Copyright and photo: Anita Martinez Beijer …

Getting about Mallorca

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I’m very happy to arrive in Alaró, the third stop on my trip. Once again I’m in the Tramuntana mountains. I instantly take to this pretty little village and I adore the central position my apartment has, right in the middle of the village by the market square. I have a small balcony overlooking it, and I at the back I have a terrace overlooking the village, the mountains and one lonely palm tree.  I like that I only have to cross the square to buy fresh bread at the bakery in the morning. And also to have good restaurants on my very doorstep. But the best part here is that I have a sneak peak at village life from my vantage point on the balcony, without being noticed. The restaurants are frequented by locals and occasional visitors, not the other way around. I’m happy to see that there is a very active local scene here, just like in Esporles, after my brief visit on the southeast cost where tourists seem to dominate the scene. Though I’m sure there are still some nice unspoilt places there too for me to …

Road trip in Mallorca

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I love Mallorca and I decide to explore more of the island than I have done previously. Said and done I plan a route that take me to different areas, from small authentic villages in the mountains to popular costal areas where the tourist flock. I plan to stay in private homes as I always do. I book a flight, a car and set out in the height of the summer.  My first stop is in Esporles, a small but beautiful old village with honey coloured houses nestled in the Tramuntana mountains. Here I have my own room at the top of an old town house and I have a private roof terrace with this amazing view. In the morning the locals meet and chat outside the local shop. This shop hasn’t got any signs or displays outside, so arriving the previous evening there was no trace whatsoever that there is a shop here. It looked like an ordinary house like all the others. No garish signs are in your face when you enter either. Just …

Snapshots from New York

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New York New York. I feel exited to be here at last. I have a hectic schedule while I’m here so I barely have time to land before I’m off to work. But how rewarding isn’t it? I meet wonderful people! And get to see amazing homes! I’m down in the subway in no time. I discover, since it’s Sunday, that this isn’t the best of days to travel by subway, because a lot of maintenance are made on weekends and therefore some of the lines are closed. Which leads to a general confusion, not only for me, on finding the best way to get to one’s destination. And the journey back home takes forever. Oh well, all the more time to people watch then. I people watch and people talk too, as I continue to strike up conversations with whoever I meet. This artist I observed while he was sketching some people on the train and we had a nice chat waiting for the next train. He is armed with his sketchbook, pencils and …