Caminos Teresianos - Day 2

29 October 2023

Gotarrendura to Fontiveros - 25 kms

We set out earlier this morning as daylight saving finished last night meaning sunrise was an hour earlier. We walked out through the main plaza of Gotarrendura and past the Palomar of St Teresa - St Teresa's dovecote - which she inherited from her grandmother. 

Then we were out in the countryagain. We walked through, or past, four small villages: El Oso, Papatrigo, Narros de Saldueña, and Collado de Contreras. There were no services at all, and the two small churches we saw were locked even though it is Sunday. 

We had a quick morning tea break on a seat in Narros de Saldueña. Two ladies were quite concerned about us, managing to convey that it was going to rain very soon. 

Heeding their advice, we quickly set off. We didn't have any rain but from Narros de Saldueña we had extremely strong side-on wind - it was so strong that it was hard to use our poles.

Apart from a section of pine forest, the whole way was through open cropping land - the crops long harvested and much of it plowed. The roads were endless, just a slight rise or bend breaking the kilometres. As we walked through this landscape we wondered what it was like 500 years ago when St Teresa travelled through it. What did she experience? 

We went straight to a bar in Fontiveros where we had to register to stay in the municipal albergue and collect the key. We were offered a meal first, and it was fantastic. The bar/restaurant was incredibly busy and the noise level was tremendously high as the Spanish speak at great volume. 

The lady who manages the pilgrim accommodation, and is the restaurant owner, is lovely. She was so nice to us making sure we had everything we needed. She asked some of her younger restaurant guests to interprete for us. She then asked a family to escort us to the albergue. When we left the restaurant we found that the expected rain had started and it lasted quite a while. We finished our walk for the day at the right time. 

The albergue is one massive room with 16 camp stretchers, a microwave and a small fridge. women's and men's toilet and shower rooms. And there's local art around the walls. We're the only ones here tonight. 

Fontiveros is the birthplace of St John the Cross. A contemporary of St Teresa's, he helped her to reform the Carmelite Order.

Uploading photos is extremely slow tonight so I won't be able to add many. 

I have added captions to several of yesterday's photos. 

In the main plaza, Gotarrendura. 

St Teresa's palomar - dovecote. 

Beautiful morning light as we were standing by St Teresa's palomar in Gotarrendura. 

Approaching El Oso. All the villages seem to appear out of nowhere. 

In El Oso. 

El Oso was such a small village but it has wonderful displays and art pieces. Many to honour agricultural labour.

This art sculpture was amazing as from one angle it showed a woman but from another angle, a man.

A sculpture named Tree of Life, infront of the Church of St Peter the Apostle. 

The roads were never ending. 

The forest made a change from the vast open spaces. 

Resin being collected .

Papatrigo appearing in the distance. At this point, although is doesn't look it, there were still several kilometres to walk before we reached it. 

The wind was extreme by this stage. 

Finally, Fontiveros came into view. 

Walking in to Fontiveros. 

Being escorted to the albergue. 

One of the pieces of art on the albergue walls. I like this one as it shows a Caminos Teresianos marker. 

Then we saw the scene as were walked through the village. 

Caminos Teresianos - Day 1

October 28, 2023

Ávila to Gotarrendura - 24 kms

It is quite fitting that we started our Caminos Teresianos today, the 28th October, as it is Grandma Teresa's birthday. I wonder if her mother named her after St Teresa.  

A note about the name of this pilgrimage route. The Association who manages this route has named it Ruta Teresiana, de la cuna el sepulcro - St Teresa, from the cradle to the grave, however our credentials have the name Caminos Teresianos and many of the markers use this name, and one or two have Camino Teresiano. I have decided to go with Caminos Teresianos as per our credentials and majority of the signs. 

It's been a fantastic day. We started at the Convento de Santa Teresa and walked out of Ávila through the Puerta de Santa, the St Teresa Gate in City wall. 

Most of the day's walk was gently undulating scrub covered country with some farmland among it. We walked through three small villages, the first, Narrilos San Leonardo, had a panaderia but it was somewhat off route so we were very disciplined and kept walking. The second village, Cardeñosa, had a bar and we stopped there and had a small meal of tortilla, croquetas and bread plus hot chocolate drinks, and the third village, Peñalba de Ávila, had a bar but we didn't stop  .

As we walked through and out of Peñalba de Ávila the landscape drastically changed. Suddenly, in front of us, was the wide open, seemingly flat, land of the meseta, just like we walked through on the Camino Francés with vast land and skyscapes as far as we could see. The change from what we had walked through for most of the day to the landscape we're in now is massive. 

As we walked we were aware that this was St Teresa's country. That we were walking through areas that she had traveled through so many times. We're in the small village of Gotarrendura for tonight, the village were she spent most of her formative years. In fact, one of the locals said that St Teresa was born here. We were told that all of Teresa's siblings' baptisms are in the Gotarrendura parish records - just the page of when St Teresa would have been baptized is missing from the church registers. The feeling in Gotarrendura is that church authorities in Ávila removed the pages and changed history to claim St Teresa as their own. Whatever is the truth doesn't really matter but it means a lot to the village of Gotarrendura. 

As well as walking through lands that was part of St Teresa's life we ​​were also walking through land that the Romans had walked through. At one stage we walked on a Roman road and crossed a very small Roman bridge. 

We're in a very basic community pilgrim albergue tonight - for pilgrims on the Caminos Teresianos and the Camino Levante - we're the only pilgrims staying tonight. Today there were markers for both pilgrimage routes, meaning there were markers for both, but the Camino Levante and our route diverges tomorrow so we will lose the the yellow arrows and will have only our red Teresianos markers.

When we left Ávila the path climbed for a way, taking us quite a bit higher than the 1132m at Ávila, but nearing the end of our day's walk it dropped down to 931m at Gotarrendura. 

We had dinner in the only bar, the only shop of any sort, and the wife spoke excellent English. She has already run through to our albergue for tomorrow night to let them know we're coming, and that we don't speak Spanish. 

The photos are a bit of a mess. The majority have uploaded in reverse order - the top nine - for the end of our day's walk - are in correct order but at the top of the others! Also, I'll have to add captions another day. Go down to the bottom of the photos then scroll up. 

Gotarrendura 

Walking into Gotarrendura. 

A sculpture of St Teresa as we came into Gotarrendura. 

The main entrance to our albergue in Gotarrendura. 

This was our camino angel - he showed us the way to the bar where we had to sign up to stay in the albergue and collect the key. 

Our albergue for the night. 

A carving of St Teresa in our albergue courtyard. 

The nine photos above are in the correct order so go to the top of then scroll back down to here - sorry about the muddle.

The roads went on and on.

Out into the open spaces of the meseta. 

The bar we stopped at in Cardenosa.

First real autumn colours. 

Penalba de Ávila 

There are markers for both directions - to Abla de Tormes and to Ávila. 

In Narrilos San Leonardo.

Cows free-roamed.

And the very small Roman bridge. 

 

A section of a Roman road. 

Out the middle of nowhere was this wonderful entrance way.

The sky looked so dramatic. 

A painting of St Teresa copied from the sculpture of her outside of city wall in Ávila. 

Fantastic art work. 

Coming Narrillos into San Leonardo.

Our first concrete Caminos Teresianos marker. 

The rectangular Caminos Teresianos sign as well as the red marker. The other sign, the red triangle with two red circles are for a cycle path.

Then we had 2 or 3 kilometers of busy roads to navigate before we were out in the country. 

A last look back at the city walls.

The Cuatro Postes - the four posts - gives a good view back to the city of Ávila.  As a 7year old, St Teresa was fascinated by stories of saints and martyrs, so much so she convinced her brother that they should run off to the Moors to be martyred. It is said that their uncle found them at this spot and returned them home.

The two different markers - the red Caminos Teresianos marker and the yellow arrow of the Camino Levante. 

We walked past several hundred meters of the city wall when we first set off.

We left Ávila through the Puerta de Santa, the Gate of St Teresa, opposite the Basilica. Looking back from the other side is the statue of St Teresa above the entrance of the Basilica - see next photo. 

The official start of our Caminos Teresianos, the Basilica of St Teresa.