Day 0/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Tuesday 2nd April - travel day - 🚗 🚝🚇🚝✈️🚎🥾
Weather: inside all day - it looked sunny 🌞
From: home 🏡 Wirral 🇬🇧
Start time: 9.40am
To: Seville, Spain 🇪🇸
End time: 10.30pm
Accommodation: Hostel Room007 - top bunk (4 bed dorm)
💰Costs: train to London £59.20 (booked in advance & used Virgin points - saved £25) * I might be able to get a full refund as the train was over an hour late.
Flight to Seville £10 (also used points to pay for flight)
Bus from airport to city €4 / £3.42
⭐️Highlights: making the train from Liverpool- my first train from Hoylake was cancelled. So I needed to get the later train. Which meant I only had 5 mins to change trains. Which involved getting it the end of the platform, getting the lift and then running to platform 9 - the other end of the station. Or else I would have needed to wait another hour. It was a good thing I made that train as….
🏔️Challenges: 🚝train delays - we’re bad.
I honestly thought I was going to miss my flight. I got to London Euston around 2.44pm (I should have arrived at 1.03pm) and that gave me enough time to get to get in the underground to Victoria and catch the next train to Gatwick. Which was only 3 stops and 30 mins.
I arrived at 3.49pm and made it from the train and through security in 11 mins. My backpack got searched but it was still quick and efficient.
💭Thoughts: trains are so expensive- I normally priced out and have to travel by bus, As it’s so much cheaper. When I’m short on time and need to get somewhere - then I’ll go by train. But try to book in advance to get the cheapest ticket I can.
I’m not taking my go pro this time as I want to try creating YouTube shorts (with my phone) I’ve got no idea how to do this and if it will be popular or not. But I need to try something new - as I’m not able to edit the go pro videos as quickly as I would like. So let’s try this out and see what happens!
Day 1/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Wednesday 3rd April
Weather: rainy 🌧️
From: Seville Catherdral
Start time: 11am
To: Guillena
End time: 4pm
Accommodation: albergue - top bunk (room with 8 beds)
Terrain: city streets & roads, gravel, farmland. Muddy & a little wet
🥾Km: 26
🥾Miles: 16.16
🦶Steps: 33,388
Total Km: 22.8/995
💰Costs: €2 pilgrims passport/credential
€10.30 food - gf cookies, gf Madeline’s, crisps, 2x tangerines 🍊
€14 albergue
Total €26.30
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 2/10
Ease of terrain: 2/10
⭐️Highlights: when the sun came out later on in the afternoon !
🏔️Challenges: finding the credentials - there was a bit of back and forth trying to find it and then getting the stamp from the Cathedral.
No WiFi in the albergue
8 people in a very small room!!
💭Thoughts: slept too well!! Didn’t wake up till 9.25am!
Also took an afternoon nap from 4pm - 8pm. (I have to do this - in case I don’t sleep due to people snoring 💤 this way I won’t be exhausted in the morning).
Such a shame it’s raining - I was expecting gorgeous sunshine! ☀️
Still trying to figure out YouTube shorts and how much filming I need to do! I had it dialed in with the go pro. It’s like I’m starting all over again. I’m sure I’ll figure it out - it’s just uncomfortable when you start something new.
Probably only going to walk to Castilblanco de los Arroyos, 18.2 km – 11.3 miles. Tomorrow as the next town after is an additional 28.8 km – 18 miles.
Day 2/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Thursday 4th April
Weather: dry
From: Guillena
Start time: 8.30am
To: Castilblanco de los Arroyos
End time: 12.30pm
Accommodation: albergue - bottom bunk
Terrain: roads, muddy fields, gravel tracks, through olive trees.
🥾Km: 21.1
🥾Miles:13.1
🦶Steps: 27,127
💰Costs: €10 donation albergue
€11 food - onion, red pepper, tomato pasta sauce, gf pasta, cheese, chocolate, crisps, 2x tangerine, 2x plums.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 3/10
Ease of terrain: 2/10
⭐️Highlights: chatting with Elizabeth from Korea 🇰🇷
Getting stuck behind about 200 goats!!! 🐐 at least it wasn’t cows!
It was a lovely day of walking, really relaxed and pleasant.
☀️I sunbathed in the afternoon and created my first YouTube short, which wasn’t a scary as I thought it was going to be!
Although I did release it, it was on a private setting so people couldn’t actually watch it 🙈But you learn from these mistakes!
🏔️Challenges: none - although I did have the 💩 in the morning. Which means I’m going to start my period 🩸at some point today! Joy! I
💭Thoughts: I thought this Camino was going to be so quiet! There are so many pilgrims. It seems really busy!
Day 3/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Friday 5th April
Weather: Sunny ☀️
From: Castilblanco de los Arroyos
Start time: 6.35 am
To: Almadйn de la Plata
End time: 1pm
Accommodation: public albergue - bottom bunk
Terrain: 17k road walk, country park, gravel. 1 steep climb - but over quickly.
🥾Km: 31.4
🥾Miles: 19.51
🦶Steps: 40,294
💰Costs: €10 bed albergue
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 3/10
Ease of terrain: 4/10
⭐️Highlights: finding a bed. 2 places were full before I reached the public albergue. Where there’s was plenty of room. It’s always scary when you think you’re not going to have anywhere to stay and may need to carry on walking.
🏔️Challenges: I should’ve started so early. It was pitch black when I was walking. I didn’t like doing the road walking at that time in the morning. Going forward I’d like to start more around 7/7.30am .
I couldn’t be bothered to go to the supermarket- so I ate the rest of my left over pasta, crisps, and some Nutella for dinner!
💭Thoughts: Pleased to be finished by 1pm - with a bed - plus there is wifi! A very chilled day. Good walking and good weather. No issues with navigation- everything was well signposted.
Day 4/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Saturday 6th April
Weather: dry
From: Almadйn de la Plata
Start time: 7.50am
To: Monesterio
End time: 2.40pm
Accommodation: albergue - municipal. Top bunk - 4 people in the room.
Terrain: roads, gravel tracks, farmland, clay tracks.
🥾Km: 35.7
🥾Miles:22
🦶Steps: 45,629
💰Costs: €10 albergue
€2.95 ice lolly
€26 food - gf bread, gf digestive biscuits, pesto, peanut butter, chocolate, ham, cheese, apple, tangerine, crisps,
€2 wire to charge battery back
Total €40.95
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 3/10
Ease of terrain: 3/10 - it was a long day - but nothing particularly difficult
⭐️Highlights: getting a bed. The albergue is very cute & homely. Lovely pilgrims - chatted in the kitchen while eating apple & cheese. The supermarket doesn’t open till 5.30pm so chilling for a few hours.
🏔️Challenges: Being on my period 🩸always make me feel rubbish- lack of motivation and energy. I do notice it. It becomes hard to do the bigger days. Now it almost over - I can feel my energy coming back and I’m ready to start doing bigger days! Let’s go!
💭Thoughts: got a bigger day tomorrow- need to figure out food and what time I need to start.
Going to set the alarm for 7! And hopefully leaving by 7.20am ish
Day 5/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Sunday 7th April
Weather: dry & sunny ☀️
From: Monesterio
Start time: 7.30am
To: Zafra
End time: 4.30pm
Accommodation: albergue
Terrain: country lanes, past wild flowers, pigs, sheep. Small gravel paths, sandy paths
🥾Km: 44.4
🥾Miles: 27.5
🦶Steps: 57,054
💰Costs: €12 accommodation
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 7/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 3/10
⭐️Highlights: walking through fields of wildflowers - stunning 😍
🏔️Challenges: feet were getting sore towards the end of the day. No kitchen at the albergue and supermarket is shut as it’s Sunday. My map didn’t fully download before I left. So I was navigating without gps. Which was ok - but a little uncomfortable as I didn’t know exactly where I was and how far I had to go. A bit more guess work involved.
💭Thoughts: i’m so done in. 😩I’ve got no energy to move. I won’t be having a shower tonight. But I have caught up on my YouTube shorts which is awesome. 🤩 Not filming on my GoPro actually gives me a lot more time. Because I only need to film about 15 small clips for YouTube. so it is actually a lot easier to manage. I don’t know how they’re gonna perform though. But I’m enjoying the process. Although some of my voice overs are a little bit random!
Day 6/32 🥾Camino Via de la Plata, Spain 🇪🇸
ℹ️Stats: Monday 8th April
Weather: cloudy ☁️ & rainy
From: Zafra
Start time: 7.20am
To: Torremejía
End time: 4.40pm
Accommodation: albergue (worst place I’ve stayed for a while) 12 people in the room
Terrain: gravel paths, country lanes,
🥾Km: 46.8
🥾Miles: 29
🦶Steps: 60,141
💰Costs: €16 for a very dodgy bunk bed, which feels like it’s going to collapse at any moment.
Subjective feeling out of 10 on:
Enjoyment: 6/10
Fatigue: 4/10
Ease of terrain: 4/10
⭐️Highlights: I seem to be out of the pilgirm bubble 🫧- I had a room to myself last night and slept sooo well!
🏔️Challenges: dealing with a few blisters. My new inov8 are slightly too small for me. New design - I need a 9. Old design I’m a 8.5
Food is becoming an issue again. I cannot eat eggs anymore - I’m just over them. It’s almost becoming that way with crisps and chocolate!!!
No kitchen at the albergue - so can’t cook my pasta!
The room with 12 people in stinks - think smelly feet and wet/damp waterproofs!
💭Thoughts: such a long long day. I was too exhausted to eat anything when I arrived. Had some chocolate spread and peanut butter on the last of my gf bread before bed.