Initially when we discussed going to Italy our only thought was that we wanted see the Southern part with no exact idea of where we go. We have a good friend in Vernon whose nephew, Renato, lives for part of the year in a little village in Calabria. Last Spring we met Renato and his bride, Karri, at their wedding that we helped cater. We told them that we'd be in Italy and they invited us to come visit them. Be careful if you invite us, because we will come...... We emailed Renato and Karri and told them our timing and asked if they'd be there at that time. They replied from their car saying that they were on their way to Rome and then on to the Formula 3 race circuit, that they work on. They encouraged us to go a stay at their home for as long as we wanted. So our decision was made - we booked our flight to Lamezia in Calabria and arranged a rental car for 10 days.
This brings us back to our early morning departure from Quarteira. Up at 6:00, a quick shower and out the door for the long walk to the bus station. After a 4 hour bus ride to Lisbon we took a cab to the airport and arrived with over 2 hours to spare before our flight to Rome, where we'd have a quick turnover, 45 minutes, to catch our plane to Lamezia. At the TAP (Portuguese Airlines) check-in Robert joked with the very efficient young man that he'd like a ticket to wherever they were sending his bag. (sense of doom......) With all the time in the world we wandered through the Lisbon airport and up to the departure lounge watching the board for loading info. That information just didn't show up, we waited and waited - as did all the other's on the flight to Rome. Finally after about an hour's delay we were called to board the plane. Of course we missed our connection but on arrival in Rome we were met by a representative who quickly took us to a check-in counter and then to the boarding gate for the next flight. As luck would have it this flight was also late so when we finally arrived in Lamezia it was past 11:00 pm. Robert hurried out to get the car and I waited for the bags. You guessed it - Robert's bag did not show up! There I was standing all alone in the arrivals terminal, the baggage carousel had stopped turning and I only had one bag. I won't go on much more because it is still pretty painful, just a couple of details - Robert was charged and extra 31 euros because HE arrived after the car rental agency after it had closed so they had to have someone wait, and his bag finally caught up with us 5 days later.
We had travelled for well over 18 hours so on our way up the coast we stopped at a little hotel named "Canada Hotel", at that point it seemed like a sign from the gods, so at about 1:00 pm we entered our room. It had maple leafs everywhere! Actually the whole hotel had maple leafs everywhere - in the wood work, in the tiles, cut into the railings on the decks, a little over the top really. Turns out our hosts had spent a few years in Thunder Bay and had returned with their fortune to open this hotel that in spite of all the maple leafs was not very successful. I personally think their lack of clients is due to the fact that the breakfast they included in the room price consisted of one croissant and an tiny, no minuscule, amount of espresso coffee, I believe they made one coffee and poured it into 2 cups resulting in a couple of tiny sips each. No matter, we were in Italy and we were not going to let a bumpy start ruin our time there.
I forgot to mention the best thing to happen at the airport - we rented the cutest car in existence - a Fiat 500! My new favourite car! I was happy, even if Robert got to do all the driving! So - we left the Canada Hotel and after a few wrong turns we found our way to the amazing old hilltop village of Savuto where we would spend the next 10 days. Renato and Karri's house is a cute little place with 3 rooms over 3 levels, each with it's own outside entrance. Top floor with the door at the main street level is the bedroom, down a little spiral staircase is the living room and then down a "cave" like set of stairs curving through the rock is the kitchen and bathroom. The door from the kitchen looks out over a valley of olive trees with the Tyrrhenian Sea in the distance. It was peaceful and so beautiful. The seaside and a town called Campora San Giovanni were just a short 10 minute drive away, once we figured out the maze of roads. We did venture to some of the towns in the area but mostly we just wanted to enjoy Savuto, we spent a lot of time exploring the village and getting to know the wonderful people who live there.
Our neighbour and cousin to Renato, Tonina, spoke very good English and was a great help in all things. Her father, Michael, owned the grocery store where we bought most of our food. He also has an olive grove from which he produces amazing organic olive oil. On our first visit to his store he took Robert down to a storage area that holds two 3,000 litre vats of olive oil, for a paltry 5 euros decanted a litre of liquid delight. YUM!
A very guilty pleasure that Tonina introduced us to was a Gelato bar in the city of Amantea just up the coast. Of course the Gelateria was owned by a friend of hers - it seemed that everyone was her friend! She recommended that we visit the centro storico (historical centre) of Amantea and include a stop for pistachio gelato. On arriving we explained to the owner that we were "amici Tonina" (bad Italian for friend of Tonina), he exclaimed "Tonina Savuto!" So we had an understanding. He exclaimed that the pistachio was the best! and it was just that! There was a lot of exclaiming! When we finished our gelato he asked if we wanted the orange chocolate gelato in a brioche - really! There was no way that we could eat anymore so sadly we had to pass. When we got back to Savuto Tonina asked if we had had our gelato in a brioche and was aghast that we had missed out on the perfect "ice cream sandwich". That meant of course that we had to make another trip to Amantea because one would not want to miss out, would one? Okay, I know I've told you about some great things we've eaten on this trip, but without a doubt, this amazing gelato served in a light, sweet brioche is worth the price of a ticket to this part of Italy - no exaggeration!
Calabria is mostly an undiscovered gem. The coast is every bit as amazing as Amalfi, but much less treacherous to drive, the beaches stretch for miles with lovely coastal villages that are a bit touristy but not to the extreme. The food is beyond good, so much of it is locally and organically produced. We found a little restaurant in Campora that is run by a family who have an Agritourismo. The chef creates amazing dishes using only local food and his wife serves his creations to the happy customers. We first went there on a recommendation from a fellow who worked in a store where we bought a GPS. A four course meal with wine, fruit, and aperitif for the two of us was 40 euros. We were so impressed with the food that we invited Tonina and her husband Giovanni (Johnny) to join us a few nights later. After a huge meal Johnny insisted on taking us to Amantea, you guessed it, to the Gelateria! Three of us enjoyed a glass of Grappa and Tonina had gelato in a croissant - another remarkable treat. What a great evening we had sitting outside at a little sidewalk table next to a narrow street that even at midnight was busy with pedestrians and cars. The air was calm and warm but lively with conversations from the other tables. Ahh! Life in Italy. Hard to beat.
A real highlight for us was a visit we were fortunate to make to the neighbouring village of Cleto to tour its 15 century medieval castle. Our friend from Vernon, Mauro, who grew up in the area, made arrangements with his friend, Antonio who is the city administrator of Cleto, to take us to the castle. It's quite cute how it all came to pass. One morning we had decided to walk the 5 kilometres to Cleto to see the castle. On the way a car passed us, stopped and backed up, a man got out, walked up to us and asked "Mr. Robert?" It was Antonio and he was on his was to Savuto to make arrangements with us to go to the castle that evening as he said it was too hot to go during the day. He picked us up as arranged and we also invited a man named Franco who spoke some English to join us. From the parking lot it was a hot, long steep climb up to the castle. It has undergone a 4 million euro restoration that is still not complete, but of course the money has run out. As it stands, it is not safe for regular viewing, but it is a splendid castle and we are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to view it with someone as knowledgeable as Antonio.
Between Tonina's and our house is the home of Zia (Auntie) Maria. She is a tiny little 78-year old dynamo that we met early on and developed a delightful friendship with, even though our conversations were through very bad Italian on our part, and much hand waving on hers. Both she and Tonina spoiled us with daily treats delivered to our back door. We felt loved.
On our first walk through the village we met a lady named Sabrina. She's originally from Poland, married a man from Savuto and has been in the village for 28 years; she is still called "Sabrina Polack". No disrespect really, just a descriptive. Twice she made us coffee and visited with us in the little square in front of her home.
Mauro contacted the people he knows in the village to make other arrangements for us. One day we were taken to see the church by the young woman who takes care of all things not priestly. She told us about their statue of the Virgin with a raised baton - she is Modonna della Mazzarella and she uses her club to chase out evil spirits. The little church shares a priest with Cleto and on Sunday morning the bells ring out across the valley; a charming way to awaken.
It was our pleasure to join a group of people in the town square every evening. The group consisted of Tonina, Zia Maria, a couple of sisters who come every summer to be with their aged mother. One sister lives in the north - she and her husband stay for about 5 months every year, and the younger sister (my age) from Ontario who comes for 3 months. Others from the village came and went but this was our main group, we met just as the sun began to sink into the sea and we chatted and laughed until the sisters (with the husband in tow) left to be sure that Mama was settled for the night, and then those of us remaining would eventually say "Buonanotte". As our time went on we all became very fond of each other. There were tears and hugs when all to soon it was time to say goodbye to those wonderful people and their beautiful village. I believe we will return.
Next edition - Britain!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
After Spain - Portugal
We are near the end of our journey and I have been negligent about writing for the last number of weeks. Not sure why, it just happened that way. I'll try to remember the highlights of our time in Portugal, Italy, England and finally Scotland and share them with you.
We left a cool and rainy Santiago on May 22 for Porto, Portugal. About 4 hours later we arrived in not only another country, but a totally different climate! The sun was shining and it was hot! We were dropped in the centre of the new town so oriented ourselves and found a nice little hotel close to the old town. First on the agenda was a barber to shave Robert's beard that he grew on the Camino. Right next door to the hotel was a barber shop that is caught in a time warp. The barber, Branco, has been in the same location for 57 years and I believe nothing has been updated in all that time. Robert settled in to the ancient chair and was soon back to his handsome self! We were ready for a quiet evening and nice dinner. The restaurant we decided on was recommended by the lady at the hotel desk, I believe they are connected somehow, but that doesn't matter because the meal we enjoyed was excellent. Robert had what he claims was one of the best steaks he's ever eaten and I enjoyed a lovely piece of salt cod. It's been a while so I can't remember all the trimmings, but the meal was exceptional so worth mentioning. We took a stroll down some streets lined with lovely old buildings heading towards the water front. Along the water front we looked across the Douro river at the "caves" or warehouses of the many wineries from the Douro provinces that produce Port wine. The river has traditionally been the highway along which Port wine has been shipped to the rest of the world. Although it doesn't look like it from where we were, the warehouses are actually in a different city called Vila Nova de Gaia that is accessed by huge high bridges across the Douro. Late the next afternoon we took the metro across the bridge and then a funicular down to the river level and walked to the Quevedo Winery for a tour and tasting. We were welcomed by a young man whose family owns the winery. His passion for the wine and for the work being done to improve the storage and tasting area made our time with him very pleasant. We purchased a 1992 Colheita that has arrived back in Canada safely. We may have to run a lottery to determine who we share it with!
After leaving the warehouse area we walked along the river bank and watched the early evening activities - young lovers strolling hand in hand, families with their children at the playgrounds, and a number of rowing sculls out on the river. There were many of restaurants and bars along the river as well and since it was close to dinner time we were interested in finding a place to eat. We stopped to watch some rowers carrying their boat to the water and heard some lovely music coming from above boat bay. Turns out there was a bar above the rowing club so we wandered up the stairs and arrived at one of those magical moments that sometimes happen when you follow your instinct. There was a large bar in a dimly lit room with tables occupied by a small number of people. At the opposite end of the room on a stage were three seated musicians; one guitarist and 2 others playing mandolin type stringed instruments. Standing on the stage was a man singing in a manner that is very hard to describe. He sang a story of love, loss, heartbreak and tears - I think - he was singing in Portuguese. It was moving and mesmerizing and ever so lovely. It was our introduction to Fado a musical genre that officially dates back to the 1820's. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics infused with characteristic sentiment of resignation. We loved it! In a way, for us, Porto was the best place to hear Fado because the sense of wistful sorrow that's reflected in its shabby old buildings that are from a different, more affluent time. The architecture in Porto is stunning but many of these gorgeous old places are suffering from old age and their "wrinkles" are showing. I loved Porto, the old quarter reminded me of a faded beauty queen - good bone structure, but all the makeup in the world can't hide the age. Of course there is also a vibrant new city but that is not where the soul of Porto is.
From Porto we travelled by train to Faro on the Algarve. We were picked up by Julia, the lady we rented our apartment from, and after a visit with her elderly mother we were delivered to our home away from home. The apartment was located in an area called Quarteira which is a beach resort catering to mostly English tourist. There is a marvellous beach that stretches for miles and most of it is bordered by holiday apartments, hotels and restaurants. Thankfully we were at one end of the developed area. There was a nice little bar right on the beach where most mornings we enjoyed our coffee in the sea breeze. We took many walks along the boardwalk and were glad to be there before the start of tourist season because we're pretty sure that it can get very crowded when all the hotels are full. Julia took us touring one day to a great inland village called Loule and to Faro beach, which is where the locals go. We enjoyed seeing a typical town with it's pretty white buildings and amazing tile murals, and the beach was so much nicer in many ways but especially because there was no development taking away from the natural beauty. I wish we could have spent more time there.
Our dear friends Geordie and Nigel from Vancouver stopped by to visit while on their way to Porto to walk the Portuguese Camino. We met them at the bus station in Faro on Saturday afternoon and had a short visit and drink before we had to hurry to catch last bus home at 7:30pm! They came out to see us the next day so we were able to have a nice long visit that included a bit of a walk and a late lunch. It was so nice to connect with someone from home.
We had a rather low key week in Quarteira. Since we are not really beach vacation people we only sat on the beach once, but we did enjoy lots of walks along the shore. One day we went to a big street market just a couple of kilometres down the road. It was quite overwhelming to see all the things for sale but really nothing to buy.... Still carrying those backpacks remember!
Our last night in Quarteira we asked a young man who worked in a computer store that Robert had frequented for a recommendation of a restaurant that would serve us a typical Portuguese meal. We ended up in old Quarteira at a place that served grilled chicken. We'd seen a number of restaurants all claiming to have "the best" grilled chicken; I don't know about the other places but I'm here to tell you we thoroughly enjoyed not only our meal but the whole experience. We had a delicious salad, really good french fries (we'd kind of given up on the mediocre fries we'd been served most places), and the chicken was fantastic. I washed it all down with a San Miguel beer and Robert enjoyed the wine that was recommended by our excellent waitress. It was a good thing that we had a bit of a walk home because we had over indulged! We felt lucky to have found the old town, it gave us a better feeling for the area. Old villages are our preference over touristy beach resorts.
The next morning we were leaving early for Italy so it was home, pack and bed.
Stay tuned for our Italian experience!
We left a cool and rainy Santiago on May 22 for Porto, Portugal. About 4 hours later we arrived in not only another country, but a totally different climate! The sun was shining and it was hot! We were dropped in the centre of the new town so oriented ourselves and found a nice little hotel close to the old town. First on the agenda was a barber to shave Robert's beard that he grew on the Camino. Right next door to the hotel was a barber shop that is caught in a time warp. The barber, Branco, has been in the same location for 57 years and I believe nothing has been updated in all that time. Robert settled in to the ancient chair and was soon back to his handsome self! We were ready for a quiet evening and nice dinner. The restaurant we decided on was recommended by the lady at the hotel desk, I believe they are connected somehow, but that doesn't matter because the meal we enjoyed was excellent. Robert had what he claims was one of the best steaks he's ever eaten and I enjoyed a lovely piece of salt cod. It's been a while so I can't remember all the trimmings, but the meal was exceptional so worth mentioning. We took a stroll down some streets lined with lovely old buildings heading towards the water front. Along the water front we looked across the Douro river at the "caves" or warehouses of the many wineries from the Douro provinces that produce Port wine. The river has traditionally been the highway along which Port wine has been shipped to the rest of the world. Although it doesn't look like it from where we were, the warehouses are actually in a different city called Vila Nova de Gaia that is accessed by huge high bridges across the Douro. Late the next afternoon we took the metro across the bridge and then a funicular down to the river level and walked to the Quevedo Winery for a tour and tasting. We were welcomed by a young man whose family owns the winery. His passion for the wine and for the work being done to improve the storage and tasting area made our time with him very pleasant. We purchased a 1992 Colheita that has arrived back in Canada safely. We may have to run a lottery to determine who we share it with!
After leaving the warehouse area we walked along the river bank and watched the early evening activities - young lovers strolling hand in hand, families with their children at the playgrounds, and a number of rowing sculls out on the river. There were many of restaurants and bars along the river as well and since it was close to dinner time we were interested in finding a place to eat. We stopped to watch some rowers carrying their boat to the water and heard some lovely music coming from above boat bay. Turns out there was a bar above the rowing club so we wandered up the stairs and arrived at one of those magical moments that sometimes happen when you follow your instinct. There was a large bar in a dimly lit room with tables occupied by a small number of people. At the opposite end of the room on a stage were three seated musicians; one guitarist and 2 others playing mandolin type stringed instruments. Standing on the stage was a man singing in a manner that is very hard to describe. He sang a story of love, loss, heartbreak and tears - I think - he was singing in Portuguese. It was moving and mesmerizing and ever so lovely. It was our introduction to Fado a musical genre that officially dates back to the 1820's. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics infused with characteristic sentiment of resignation. We loved it! In a way, for us, Porto was the best place to hear Fado because the sense of wistful sorrow that's reflected in its shabby old buildings that are from a different, more affluent time. The architecture in Porto is stunning but many of these gorgeous old places are suffering from old age and their "wrinkles" are showing. I loved Porto, the old quarter reminded me of a faded beauty queen - good bone structure, but all the makeup in the world can't hide the age. Of course there is also a vibrant new city but that is not where the soul of Porto is.
From Porto we travelled by train to Faro on the Algarve. We were picked up by Julia, the lady we rented our apartment from, and after a visit with her elderly mother we were delivered to our home away from home. The apartment was located in an area called Quarteira which is a beach resort catering to mostly English tourist. There is a marvellous beach that stretches for miles and most of it is bordered by holiday apartments, hotels and restaurants. Thankfully we were at one end of the developed area. There was a nice little bar right on the beach where most mornings we enjoyed our coffee in the sea breeze. We took many walks along the boardwalk and were glad to be there before the start of tourist season because we're pretty sure that it can get very crowded when all the hotels are full. Julia took us touring one day to a great inland village called Loule and to Faro beach, which is where the locals go. We enjoyed seeing a typical town with it's pretty white buildings and amazing tile murals, and the beach was so much nicer in many ways but especially because there was no development taking away from the natural beauty. I wish we could have spent more time there.
Our dear friends Geordie and Nigel from Vancouver stopped by to visit while on their way to Porto to walk the Portuguese Camino. We met them at the bus station in Faro on Saturday afternoon and had a short visit and drink before we had to hurry to catch last bus home at 7:30pm! They came out to see us the next day so we were able to have a nice long visit that included a bit of a walk and a late lunch. It was so nice to connect with someone from home.
We had a rather low key week in Quarteira. Since we are not really beach vacation people we only sat on the beach once, but we did enjoy lots of walks along the shore. One day we went to a big street market just a couple of kilometres down the road. It was quite overwhelming to see all the things for sale but really nothing to buy.... Still carrying those backpacks remember!
Our last night in Quarteira we asked a young man who worked in a computer store that Robert had frequented for a recommendation of a restaurant that would serve us a typical Portuguese meal. We ended up in old Quarteira at a place that served grilled chicken. We'd seen a number of restaurants all claiming to have "the best" grilled chicken; I don't know about the other places but I'm here to tell you we thoroughly enjoyed not only our meal but the whole experience. We had a delicious salad, really good french fries (we'd kind of given up on the mediocre fries we'd been served most places), and the chicken was fantastic. I washed it all down with a San Miguel beer and Robert enjoyed the wine that was recommended by our excellent waitress. It was a good thing that we had a bit of a walk home because we had over indulged! We felt lucky to have found the old town, it gave us a better feeling for the area. Old villages are our preference over touristy beach resorts.
The next morning we were leaving early for Italy so it was home, pack and bed.
Stay tuned for our Italian experience!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Camino Out Takes
There are a number of things that I did not include in my previous blog entries but are worth writing about. So in no particular order here's a bit about some of the people ,silly things, and observations that you may enjoy reading about. I'm going to save my favourite for the last.
The way markers on the Camino are yellow arrows painted on sidewalks, curbs, buildings, light posts, rocks, middle of the road, anywhere with a reasonably flat surface in locations that always seemed to be perfectly placed to help the pilgrim stay on the Way. Now that I'm no longer on the Way I still look for yellow arrows- how easily we become dependent.
Also along with the yellow arrows there are kilometre markers, but they are not nearly as reliable as the arrows. The numbers seem to be randomly chosen with no reference to the last one; for example the distance from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago is supposed to be 800k, from S-J-P-d-P to Roncesvalles is approximately 27k but when you leave Roncesvalles the sign says 798k to Santiago! There are numerous examples of this bad math! The kilometres also seem to be much longer here, we'd see a sign saying 5k and think that's nothing, at home I can walk that in under an hour, well not so here, an hour and half later we'd still be walking! Don't get it….
The kilometre markers were little concrete pillars about 1/2 a metre tall, with a tile that has a blue background and a yellow shell on it. Each of these markers had a small pile of stone on top. I got in the habit of picking up a stone and carrying it while thinking about a loved one and putting a wish in it for that person and then leaving it on one of the markers. For example I picked up a pretty little stone for Cadence and wished her the peace of the Camino.
It was interesting to see what pilgrims would discard along the Way to lighten their packs. We saw jeans, sweaters, shirts and toiletries on the trail as well as in Albergues. I picked up a tube of SPF100 that will come in handy on the Algarve.
We came up with a rating system for the toilets: if there was seat, running water, soap, towel or air dryer, and toilet paper it received top marks. Unfortunately few received top marks. Also, the lights in Spain are on timers and many are motion sensitive, so if you go in a cubicle and are not finished your business in a short period of time the lights go out and you need fumble around trying to get them back on!
There were a number of people cycling the Camino but very few had bells or any warning devise at all. It can be a bit alarming to have a number of bikes suddenly show up and whiz past you. There are many sections along the Way that I cannot imagine riding a bike over and yet many people do. Quite a few groups cycled from other parts of Europe and then rode the Camino - good on them! But they should have bells!
As we walked down from the Iron Cross we came upon an unusual sight, an odd settlement with Knights Templar crosses, a few scruffy looking men dressed-up in odd costumes and a sign post indicating distances to places all around the world. Megan was just reading about it as we approached and just as she read that a bell is rung to welcome pilgrims the bell rang! It was a rather broken down place with too many semi-neglected looking dogs. Kind of a Knights Templar/Hippy enclave.
There were a number of places where we came across trays of food - cookies, nuts, fruit for example, and water for pilgrims. Sometimes there was a box for donations and sometimes it was there for the taking from kind souls who take care of pilgrims. One day we were walking through a number of farm yards when we came upon a little old lady who offered us a homemade crepe. She was so pleased to have us stop and talk to her and her crepes were delicious. On her apron she had a Canadian pin so we told her that we were from Canada. I had a little white teddy bear with me that had red maple leaves on it so I gave that to her and a couple of euros donation. We left a very happy lady and with pleasant memories of the encounter.
Birds played a role in our enjoyment of the Way. While walking through forested areas we were serenaded by their lovely songs. They were very elusive and we seldom actually saw the singers. We did see many storks mainly from Leon on, although never at high altitudes. They build huge nest on high surfaces and seem to particularly love church bell towers. In some cases there were 5 nests on one church tower. Storks are very amusing to watch when the greet each other - they throw their heads back and clatter their bills in a joyful welcome to their partner returning to the nest. The strangest bird sighting we saw was a pilgrim with a small brightly coloured parrot like bird in a cage at the top of his pack. When we were in front of the cathedral in Santiago we saw a little bird very much like the pilgrim's flying around the square. Hopefully, if it was a lost bird it has been safely found. Poor little thing could not compete with all the pigeons!
I mentioned many people that we met but somehow missed telling you about a couple from Germany who completed the Camino with us and who became very special friends. They are Berndt from Munster and Irene from Berlin. A mature couple with a blended family of grown children and one new grandson. It was a pleasure to witness their dedication and love for each other. Their Camino was not an individual journey, it was for the two of them. We saw them quite a bit the last few days in Santiago, seemed like wherever we went they were there too. Robert and I took the bus to Finisterre on Monday to complete our Camino by going to the "end of the earth". We spent some time in town and then walked the 3k to the lighthouse that marks 0.00k of the Camino. On our way up the hill we stopped to photograph a statue of a windblown pilgrim overlooking the bay, when sure enough coming up the road behind us it was Berndt and Irene. We took pictures of each other and as a group and just as we were leaving to finish our walk to the lighthouse I stepped over the guardrail, caught my toe and fell in an ungraceful heap on the side of the road. Berndt rushed over to me and made sure nothing was broken before he would let me get up. The only thing injured was my dignity. I managed to walk across Spain over some very extreme terrain and end up throwing myself on the ground on a perfectly flat surface! Back to Berndt and Irene - we had a coffee with them at the lighthouse and then rode the same bus back to Santiago and said our good-byes with hugs and promises to stay in touch and to visit each other someday. Later that evening after a bit of shopping we stopped into a little bar for tapas and of course there were Berndt and Irene! They were the last of our Camino friends that we saw and we said goodbye to them many times.
I did mention in a blog entry that we had eaten octopus (Pulpo) but I did not tell you about a phrase that we coined in association with Pulpo. Not mentioning any names (must protect the innocent), but somebody from our group informed us that after eating pulpo that had been covered in olive oil and sprinkled with chill pepper the night before, they had gotten up in the middle of the night and had to rush to the toilet and the result was a "Pulpo-Pow!" The term came in handy to describe a variety of afflictions.
The funniest thing I heard along the way was from an Irish man, Sean, who I sat next to in the cathedral in Santiago for the pilgrim's mass. He and his wife, both I'd say in their late 60's, she seemed a bit more capable than him as he wore supports on both knees. They had walked from Samos which is about one of the last places you can walk from and still receive a Compostella - Mrs. Sean (never did get her name) said that he was too slow and she just had to leave him to walk on his own. She was the chatty one, but Sean did get to tell me about his experience in the confessional. He said that it was apparent that he hadn't been to confession in a very long time because when the priest raised his hands to bless him, Sean thought he was doing a "high-five" so he gave the priest a high-five!
So on that note, I'd like to give all my fellow pilgrims a high-five!
To any of you who are considering walking the Way I say go for it, you will have all your own experiences that will be totally different than mine. Just remember that it is harder than you think, but with training and a sensible approach you can do it. High-five!
We are now in Portugal and I will continue to write about the rest of trip, but for now I'm going to walk on the beach and rest!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Santiago
This is a very difficult blog entry to write. How do I tell you of the many and varied emotions that one feels after having planned something for many years, spends 34 days realizing the dream and then in a few moments have it all come together? As it had from the very beginning, the Camino presented the ending to me in unexpected ways.
We started out on Saturday morning about 20k from Santiago; a relatively easy day considering..... The morning was spectacular, light mist on the trees with sunlight streaming through as we walked past one small village after another. There were a few more hills - of course, the final one Monte Gozo seemed to be considerably further away than the way markers indicated. At one point we walked so far on a long straight road with no camino signs that we thought we were on the wrong road. Finally we could see the odd modern sculpture that marked the first place that we could see the city of Santiago and the spires of the cathedral from. Traditionally, the first person in your group to spot the spires from this hilltop and to call out "Mount Joy" becomes the King. The spires are now almost hidden behind a stand of trees, but Robert spotted them and just as he was pointing to them the sun shone on them and we all shouted "Mount Joy" at once!
We still had about 5k to cover before we got to the Cathedral so we started out, watching the black clouds gather over the city. Andre was carrying a litre of wine and a picnic lunch so at the first park we came to we toasted our accomplishment and enjoyed our last meal on the road. As we finally entered the old part of the city the rain clouds were more threatening. We thought we heard thunder as we approached the Cathedral and the rain started with a vengeance! It rained just like it had when we left St. Jean-Pied-de-Port - absolute buckets! The thunder on the other hand was not thunder at all, it was the noise from a huge stage set up behind the cathedral. There was a BMX bike race with the course set up around the square and a couple of Rap artists on the stage! It jarred my senses completely - I had expected a peaceful arrival at this special place, what we got was a shock to the system. There could not have been a worse arrival for me, it was too much, I burst into tears. It seemed so wrong, so sacrilegious, so surreal. We escaped the rain through the side door of the cathedral and were overwhelmed by the grandeur. It is too much to take in all at once so we just wandered in complete awe for a few moments before deciding that we needed to get our Compostella and find our hotels. At last we found our way to the pilgrim office so we could receive our Compostella; the piece of paper that we walked the better part of 800k to receive. Of course the office was upstairs; and as we waited in the queue we recognized many pilgrims we had befriended or greeted along the Way. More tears, this time of joy and relief!
Our hotel was a converted monastery just across a small square from the cathedral. The room was an updated cell, very pretty but also quite small. The outer walls were a meter thick, and there was a lovely garden where the cloister would have been. It was a perfect place to stay at the end of our pilgrimage.
The next morning we had arranged to meet Tony in front of the cathedral to attend the pilgrim's mass. There was a bit of confusion about the time for the mass so we actually attended two, the first one being a regular mass and the second one the pilgrim's. As usual, my expectations were different than reality. Crowds of people continuously moved through the cathedral; tour groups, pilgrims, people confessing their sins in the booths along the side aisles. Not a quiet reverent place at all, it was a bustling centre of activity. As the first mass was drawing to a close there was a mad rush of pilgrims pushing their way to the prime seats for the next "show". Out of the speakers came the most amazing woman's voice asking for silence in the cathedral. The noise settled and all of a sudden there was the "voice of an angel" that I had heard about, the nun singing so sweetly it made me weep. None of the annoyances mattered any more, I just wanted to hear her sing. The peace and serenity I sought was there in her voice, the entire trip was worth it, just to sit in that incredible cathedral and hear her sing. And finally the icing on the cake! The botafumeiro was lifted into the air and swung through the cathedral with such drama. More tears!
As we left the mass Megan reminded me that through out the ages there has been entertainment and activity around the cathedral and that the pilgrims have always behaved badly by pushing and shoving their way to the altar, apparently at one point the cathedral had to be re-sanctified because of pilgrims misdeeds. So I spent some time rethinking my reaction to the Rap music and the BMX bike race; it is a modern day type of entertainment, the equivalent of a medieval travelling entertainment circus. If you are familiar with the old movie Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead you will understand the type of show I'm referring to.
Megan and Andre had to catch the train to Madrid so we spent our last bit of time together quickly scouring the many souvenir shops before our tearful good-byes. We were so happy that they joined us on our journey. Their arrival could not have been better timed as we had become a bit disheartened and having their youth and energy to encourage us was exactly what we needed. They were fun to spend time with and we all respected each others need to have time to walk and contemplate alone at times. Perfect travelling friends.
Sunday evening Robert and I finally toured the cathedral with the audio translator. The building itself is a marvel and the artwork amazing. The sense of peace that I was seeking turned out to be behind the altar where a statue of Santiago (St. James) is available for embracing. Not being Catholic and so having limited exposure to saints I did not expect to be moved by the simple act of hugging a silver statue. I have to say that James and I had a moment! I was carrying a little gift for him from a young woman in Calgary who had prayed to Santiago during a difficult pregnancy promising that she would send him something if her baby had a safe arrival. Her little girl is a healthy little 4-year old and the Saint has his gift. My job was done.
I have accepted that our arrival in Santiago was not what I expected, but it was certainly unique. No one can say that our Camino experience was not interesting! In retrospect I would not change it for anything!
We started out on Saturday morning about 20k from Santiago; a relatively easy day considering..... The morning was spectacular, light mist on the trees with sunlight streaming through as we walked past one small village after another. There were a few more hills - of course, the final one Monte Gozo seemed to be considerably further away than the way markers indicated. At one point we walked so far on a long straight road with no camino signs that we thought we were on the wrong road. Finally we could see the odd modern sculpture that marked the first place that we could see the city of Santiago and the spires of the cathedral from. Traditionally, the first person in your group to spot the spires from this hilltop and to call out "Mount Joy" becomes the King. The spires are now almost hidden behind a stand of trees, but Robert spotted them and just as he was pointing to them the sun shone on them and we all shouted "Mount Joy" at once!
We still had about 5k to cover before we got to the Cathedral so we started out, watching the black clouds gather over the city. Andre was carrying a litre of wine and a picnic lunch so at the first park we came to we toasted our accomplishment and enjoyed our last meal on the road. As we finally entered the old part of the city the rain clouds were more threatening. We thought we heard thunder as we approached the Cathedral and the rain started with a vengeance! It rained just like it had when we left St. Jean-Pied-de-Port - absolute buckets! The thunder on the other hand was not thunder at all, it was the noise from a huge stage set up behind the cathedral. There was a BMX bike race with the course set up around the square and a couple of Rap artists on the stage! It jarred my senses completely - I had expected a peaceful arrival at this special place, what we got was a shock to the system. There could not have been a worse arrival for me, it was too much, I burst into tears. It seemed so wrong, so sacrilegious, so surreal. We escaped the rain through the side door of the cathedral and were overwhelmed by the grandeur. It is too much to take in all at once so we just wandered in complete awe for a few moments before deciding that we needed to get our Compostella and find our hotels. At last we found our way to the pilgrim office so we could receive our Compostella; the piece of paper that we walked the better part of 800k to receive. Of course the office was upstairs; and as we waited in the queue we recognized many pilgrims we had befriended or greeted along the Way. More tears, this time of joy and relief!
Our hotel was a converted monastery just across a small square from the cathedral. The room was an updated cell, very pretty but also quite small. The outer walls were a meter thick, and there was a lovely garden where the cloister would have been. It was a perfect place to stay at the end of our pilgrimage.
The next morning we had arranged to meet Tony in front of the cathedral to attend the pilgrim's mass. There was a bit of confusion about the time for the mass so we actually attended two, the first one being a regular mass and the second one the pilgrim's. As usual, my expectations were different than reality. Crowds of people continuously moved through the cathedral; tour groups, pilgrims, people confessing their sins in the booths along the side aisles. Not a quiet reverent place at all, it was a bustling centre of activity. As the first mass was drawing to a close there was a mad rush of pilgrims pushing their way to the prime seats for the next "show". Out of the speakers came the most amazing woman's voice asking for silence in the cathedral. The noise settled and all of a sudden there was the "voice of an angel" that I had heard about, the nun singing so sweetly it made me weep. None of the annoyances mattered any more, I just wanted to hear her sing. The peace and serenity I sought was there in her voice, the entire trip was worth it, just to sit in that incredible cathedral and hear her sing. And finally the icing on the cake! The botafumeiro was lifted into the air and swung through the cathedral with such drama. More tears!
As we left the mass Megan reminded me that through out the ages there has been entertainment and activity around the cathedral and that the pilgrims have always behaved badly by pushing and shoving their way to the altar, apparently at one point the cathedral had to be re-sanctified because of pilgrims misdeeds. So I spent some time rethinking my reaction to the Rap music and the BMX bike race; it is a modern day type of entertainment, the equivalent of a medieval travelling entertainment circus. If you are familiar with the old movie Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead you will understand the type of show I'm referring to.
Megan and Andre had to catch the train to Madrid so we spent our last bit of time together quickly scouring the many souvenir shops before our tearful good-byes. We were so happy that they joined us on our journey. Their arrival could not have been better timed as we had become a bit disheartened and having their youth and energy to encourage us was exactly what we needed. They were fun to spend time with and we all respected each others need to have time to walk and contemplate alone at times. Perfect travelling friends.
Sunday evening Robert and I finally toured the cathedral with the audio translator. The building itself is a marvel and the artwork amazing. The sense of peace that I was seeking turned out to be behind the altar where a statue of Santiago (St. James) is available for embracing. Not being Catholic and so having limited exposure to saints I did not expect to be moved by the simple act of hugging a silver statue. I have to say that James and I had a moment! I was carrying a little gift for him from a young woman in Calgary who had prayed to Santiago during a difficult pregnancy promising that she would send him something if her baby had a safe arrival. Her little girl is a healthy little 4-year old and the Saint has his gift. My job was done.
I have accepted that our arrival in Santiago was not what I expected, but it was certainly unique. No one can say that our Camino experience was not interesting! In retrospect I would not change it for anything!
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Night Before Santiago
I'm not sure if I have ever been this tired, or in this much discomfort, or filled with so much anticipation before - certainly not all of the above at once! Today I felt like Job in the Old Testament where he is tested by God with many hardships. I seem to be developing a new blister daily, my feet are very sore, I have Robert's cold, I have a cold sore and I think I'm allergic to the room we are in! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Not a good way to start my blog entry - really our experience has been more positive than negative. We are so fortunate that we are able to make this pilgrimage and to arrive relatively unscathed. The completion marks a big entry on my bucket list and I have learned so much from this journey. I have spent a lot of time contemplating why this was so important to me and also why it is important to so many people. The thing that keeps coming back to me is the thought that the majority of people on the Way have relatively easy lives. I know that many use the time to work through personal issues or major decisions in their lives, but I believe that we, in most of the countries represented here, have not really suffered in our lives. The Camino is a way for us to come to a realization of what it is like to live with very little, to make do with what we have, to feel some physical discomfort and to remove ourselves from our easy lives
I have walked through areas where people are still living very close to the earth. They work hard, they do without - they suffer. I wonder what they think as we pilgrims walk past them with our hundreds of dollars worth of gear, our designer outdoor wear and expensive shoes. We are mostly just doing this for a whim, really. My purpose is still not 100% clear to me. I have seen amazingly beautiful places, met great people from many countries and have tested my physical ability. But why am I here?
The other day we were walking through a village and we saw a little old lady coming up a lane, we greeted her and carried on our way. A little way down the road I stopped to take my jacket off, I looked around and saw her walking towards us. She came up to me, stared talking and looked very confused. I thought for a moment that she was going to fall down so I went to her and put my hand on her back to steady her. She took my arm and walked with me to a cemetery just down the road - all the time talking and crying. The cemetery was behind a big wall and gate; there were many crypts along the wall. I'm not really sure what she was saying but it appeared that she was telling me about her family who were in the cemetery. She showed me a family crypt with the names an old man, and middle age woman and a young man, there was an empty spot which I assume is for her. She then lead me down the road a bit further to another cemetery where she spent time explaining it to me. There was also a very old church that she lead me into. I had to look at all the saints and hear her description of what everything was in the church. We finally were able to leave her, she really did not want to let go of me! As she spoke to an old man in the church we quickly said Adios and rushed away.
I can't help but feel that somewhere in that encounter there was a Camino message for me. Maybe it is that I really do have such a good life and so much to be thankful for. This poor dear soul is all alone and has to kidnap pilgrims for company. She was probably in her 90's but I can attest that she is very physically strong, she had quite a grip on me! I wish I could have understood what she was saying to me.
The villages we have been to here in Galicia are not as interesting as some we have seen in other parts of Spain, but the countryside is beautiful. The Way has taken us through many lush forests. I was thrilled a couple of days ago when we arrived at our destination and I look at the horizon and there were no more mountain ranges! There's still been ups and downs but no more mountain passes!
We have tired a bit of pilgrims menus, not the most healthy food so we try to make other choices when possible. Yesterday we got to sample a real Galician delicacy, Pulpo, (octopus). The guide book recommended a place in a town we were walking through so we had decided to give it a try. This place was amazing, an absolutely huge restaurant with a stand-up bar at the front and multiple rows of long tables with benches filled the back. The pulpo was being prepared at the front counter, it's piled on small wooden plates then sprinkled with course salt, hot chilli pepper and doused in olive oil. This is served with a big bowl of crusty bread and a traditional regional white wine poured into small pottery bowls. First thing we saw as we entered were 3 nuns eating pulpo and drinking the wine so we knew it was a place that locals enjoyed as well as pilgrims. We all agreed that we enjoyed the experience of eating octopus but probably wouldn't seek it out again anytime soon.
One of the most interesting people we have had the privilege of meeting and spending time with is Juan who is walking the Way with his girlfriend, Eva. He lives in the southern part of Galicia and is a baggage handler at the Vigo airport. It's hard to describe this highly intelligent, philosophical young man. In his calm gentle manner he shares his thoughts, ideas and his love for Galicia. There is no cell phone or computer in his life, his best friend at work is a crazy Irishman who doesn't speak Spanish and Juan does not understand his accented Engllish. Here is a person who loves his life and his country, Robert says that is a fairer world Juan would be paid to be an ambassador for his region.
It's very late. We want to make an early start for our last 20.5k tomorrow so I will say Good Night and I'll fill you in on our arrival in Santiago.
Ultreia!
Not a good way to start my blog entry - really our experience has been more positive than negative. We are so fortunate that we are able to make this pilgrimage and to arrive relatively unscathed. The completion marks a big entry on my bucket list and I have learned so much from this journey. I have spent a lot of time contemplating why this was so important to me and also why it is important to so many people. The thing that keeps coming back to me is the thought that the majority of people on the Way have relatively easy lives. I know that many use the time to work through personal issues or major decisions in their lives, but I believe that we, in most of the countries represented here, have not really suffered in our lives. The Camino is a way for us to come to a realization of what it is like to live with very little, to make do with what we have, to feel some physical discomfort and to remove ourselves from our easy lives
I have walked through areas where people are still living very close to the earth. They work hard, they do without - they suffer. I wonder what they think as we pilgrims walk past them with our hundreds of dollars worth of gear, our designer outdoor wear and expensive shoes. We are mostly just doing this for a whim, really. My purpose is still not 100% clear to me. I have seen amazingly beautiful places, met great people from many countries and have tested my physical ability. But why am I here?
The other day we were walking through a village and we saw a little old lady coming up a lane, we greeted her and carried on our way. A little way down the road I stopped to take my jacket off, I looked around and saw her walking towards us. She came up to me, stared talking and looked very confused. I thought for a moment that she was going to fall down so I went to her and put my hand on her back to steady her. She took my arm and walked with me to a cemetery just down the road - all the time talking and crying. The cemetery was behind a big wall and gate; there were many crypts along the wall. I'm not really sure what she was saying but it appeared that she was telling me about her family who were in the cemetery. She showed me a family crypt with the names an old man, and middle age woman and a young man, there was an empty spot which I assume is for her. She then lead me down the road a bit further to another cemetery where she spent time explaining it to me. There was also a very old church that she lead me into. I had to look at all the saints and hear her description of what everything was in the church. We finally were able to leave her, she really did not want to let go of me! As she spoke to an old man in the church we quickly said Adios and rushed away.
I can't help but feel that somewhere in that encounter there was a Camino message for me. Maybe it is that I really do have such a good life and so much to be thankful for. This poor dear soul is all alone and has to kidnap pilgrims for company. She was probably in her 90's but I can attest that she is very physically strong, she had quite a grip on me! I wish I could have understood what she was saying to me.
The villages we have been to here in Galicia are not as interesting as some we have seen in other parts of Spain, but the countryside is beautiful. The Way has taken us through many lush forests. I was thrilled a couple of days ago when we arrived at our destination and I look at the horizon and there were no more mountain ranges! There's still been ups and downs but no more mountain passes!
We have tired a bit of pilgrims menus, not the most healthy food so we try to make other choices when possible. Yesterday we got to sample a real Galician delicacy, Pulpo, (octopus). The guide book recommended a place in a town we were walking through so we had decided to give it a try. This place was amazing, an absolutely huge restaurant with a stand-up bar at the front and multiple rows of long tables with benches filled the back. The pulpo was being prepared at the front counter, it's piled on small wooden plates then sprinkled with course salt, hot chilli pepper and doused in olive oil. This is served with a big bowl of crusty bread and a traditional regional white wine poured into small pottery bowls. First thing we saw as we entered were 3 nuns eating pulpo and drinking the wine so we knew it was a place that locals enjoyed as well as pilgrims. We all agreed that we enjoyed the experience of eating octopus but probably wouldn't seek it out again anytime soon.
One of the most interesting people we have had the privilege of meeting and spending time with is Juan who is walking the Way with his girlfriend, Eva. He lives in the southern part of Galicia and is a baggage handler at the Vigo airport. It's hard to describe this highly intelligent, philosophical young man. In his calm gentle manner he shares his thoughts, ideas and his love for Galicia. There is no cell phone or computer in his life, his best friend at work is a crazy Irishman who doesn't speak Spanish and Juan does not understand his accented Engllish. Here is a person who loves his life and his country, Robert says that is a fairer world Juan would be paid to be an ambassador for his region.
It's very late. We want to make an early start for our last 20.5k tomorrow so I will say Good Night and I'll fill you in on our arrival in Santiago.
Ultreia!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Oh, the places we've been and the things we've seen!
There is so much to tell. We left Leon 7 incredible, long, hard days ago. It was great to have had the time in Leon to discover the city and surrounding area as well as recover a bit from our efforts. The highlights from Leon are many: the cathedral is so beautiful with over 1800 square metres of stained glass, it is a lovely jewel amongst the cathedrals we have seen. The old town with the many narrow streets and little plazas is wonderful to stroll through. I did feel a bit tortured the day we wandered in to the main plaza during a street market on Wednesday afternoon- the food was amazing! I wanted to buy everything but unfortunately we didn't have anywhere to cook! I did buy a giant red pepper, a couple of oranges and lemons and got change back from 1 euro! We happened upon a wine festival on Friday afternoon. For very little money we bought a wine glass for each and 8 tokens for tastings - the tastings were full servings! Each of the booths had tapas as well as the wine they were promoting. At the Peregrino (Spanish for pilgrim) Wine booth we met a couple of crazy Spanish people who were enjoying their wine and food as much as we were and we spent a couple of hours drinking and laughing with them. We left with a few tokens still in our pockets so had to plan a second visit later in the weekend.
Thursday we took a bus up to the city of Astorga. It is on the pilgrim trail, but we knew that we would not have time for a proper visit when we were walking through and there is just so much to see. Of course it was raining that day, but after a good soaking the rain stopped and we were able to proceed with our plan. First on our agenda was a visit to Gaudi's Bishop Palace. The Bishop never did live in it because it was considered too extravagant so this whimsical building is now a pilgrim museum and in my opinion it could have served as the inspiration for the Disney Land castle! We enjoyed a real cup of tea in a shop across the street from the palace as we waited out yet another cloud burst and then walked to a restored medieval village, Castillo de Polvazares, that is just off the Camino. In our guide book it says that this village lacks the authenticity of the "crumbling" villages we are used to seeing, but we enjoyed seeing the village as it would have been centuries ago.
On Saturday we met our new friends Eileen and Gunther for a Chinese Buffet lunch. Odd I know, but it was actually quite good. After lunch they drove us out of town to visit a very old monastery with Moorish influence. We returned to the city just in time to catch up with Tony who had walked 38k that day. He was hungry and tired, we were just tired, so we watched him eat his dinner and agreed to meet for breakfast the next morning.
Sunday was a day of anticipation, we had a number hours to kill before Megan and Andre arrived on the 5:30 train from Madrid. We saw Tony, toured the cathedral and bumped into a number of pilgrims whom we had met along the way. There was a market along the river so we went to check it out, this one was all merchandise rather than food and produce. We've never seen anything like it! It must have been close to 500 metres of clothing, shoes, handbags, jewellery, sewing notions, watches, everything! As we were heading into another mountain range we were looking for one more warm top and we found just what we needed for a very reasonable price. Finally, it was time to meet our new walking buddies and give them the whirlwind tour of Leon. They were pretty tired as they emerged from the train but after a shower they were ready to go! First it was drinks with Tony, a walk around the old town, the cathedral, the wine festival - a hit with everyone - a late dinner at the German bar across the street from our Pension and at last bed and a well deserved rest for everyone!
We were on the road again on Monday morning and yes, it did rain - but not immediately. Our destination was St. Martin del Camino which involved a long stretch of walking beside a busy highway; not the most pleasant but it meant a shorter day plus it put us closer to Astorga the next day. The albergue we arrived at offered small rooms which has become our preference over bunk beds and dormitories. We paid for the pilgrim's dinner, settled into our rooms and went for showers. Let me set the scene - 4 cold, wet, tired, hungry and dirty people, 2 rooms with no heat, showers down the hall and 4 hours until dinner. I quickly headed down for a shower - so looking forward to nice hot water and clean clothes. I undressed and turned the shower on and waited for the hot water, I waited, and waited, and waited…… finally it went from arctic cold to something slightly less cold so I bravely stepped in and quickly stepped out. Now I was really cold! I dried myself with my tiny micro fibre towel, dressed and rushed back to the bedroom where I crawled into my sleeping bag and pulled a blanket over me until the shivering quit. Apparently I should have waited longer because eventually there was hot water for late night showers. We were all pretty hungry so we decided to see what we could find to tide us over until dinner. A bar down the road that was filled with little old Spanish men, and was thankfully steamy hot, served us beer but only had potato chips as food. Further searching turned up a bakery that had closed an hour before but the lady saw us from her home next door and came over to sell us some cookies. Finally it was dinner time and the first course arrived, it was a steaming pot of soup! Just what I needed to warm me up and sooth my soul. Except this turned out to be the worst thing I had ever been served! It was tasteless, greasy broth with noodles and something slimy floating in it. Yuck! Second plate was not much better, mystery meat - either chicken or pork, with green bits on it and french fries. Not a great day on the Camino!
The next day turned out to be quite wonderful. Our walk took us off of the main roads and through some lovely villages. One of our favourites was Puenta de Orbigo with one of the longest and oldest medieval bridges in Spain, it dates from the 13th century and was built over an earlier Roman bridge which formed one of the great historical landmarks on the camino. The bridge carries you across the Rio Orbigo via a passage of honour Paso Honroso so called because of the famous jousting tournament that took place in 1434. A knight from Leon was scorned by a beautiful lady and he threw down the gauntlet to any knight who dared to pass as he undertook to defend the bridge against all comers. Knights from all over Europe took up the challenge, He successfully defended the bridge for a month until the required 300 lances had been broken. After that he proceeded to Santiago to offer thanks for his freedom from the bongs of love and for his honour, now restored. The bridge and village have seen many other conflicts and events over the years but this isn't a history lesson so I won't go into any more detail. I will just say that the bridge is lovely as is the village and surrounding area. The people we met there were also very pleasant, they seemed to be very happy in their beautiful village. Although our walk was considerably longer than the day before it was much more pleasant because so much of it was away from the busy highway. We walked through fields, forests, farms - literally through a farm yard - and finally we saw Astorga's cathedral in the distance. We arrived to find that the hostel we had hoped to stay in was full so we were forced to stay in a very nice hotel in the main plaza - such a treat after the night before. We had a nice dinner and fell into bed, exhausted but very happy pilgrims.
The hotel provided us with a very substantial breakfast that served us well on our walk which took us back through the medieval village that Robert and I had seen the week before and then a gentle climb towards the mountains. We had a couple of cafe con leches along the way and stopped for a nice picnic lunch beside the trail. This day signalled a big change in the weather, finally, finally the sun came out! So we slathered on the SPF55 and enjoyed our walk. Our destination was the village of Rabanal where there is a centuries old tradition of caring for the pilgrims before the next day's climb to the highest point of the Camino. There is a 12th century Romanesque church that was probably built by the Knights Templar. We attended Wednesday vespers there - Gregorian chanting of the entire service.They actually provided an English translation so we could follow the service as it was sung in latin. The only beds available in the albergue, other than top bunks in the dormitory, were mattresses on the floor in a huge barn like room that held a large selection of beautiful antiques. We were happy to accept these beds and actually slept very well in the cool, relatively quiet space. The people who run this albergue continue the tradition of caring for pilgrims, it was clean, the food was good and plentiful and the beer was cold! There were hugs all around when we left the next morning.
Thursday's stage took us up to the highest and one of the most anticipated spots on the Camino - Cruz de Ferro. A simple iron cross stands on top of a pole where pilgrims leave rocks that they have carried from home, along with the rocks you can leave a prayer or a good wish for yourself or someone you care about. I left rocks for my family, friends and myself. It was a very emotional time as I stood on top of the pile of rocks and thought of all those who are important to me and sent them all love - did you feel it? The day was wonderful in so many ways, the change in the weather seems to be permanent - we went from extreme lows to higher than normal temperatures in a day, the scenery was amazing and I even managed to fly my kite when all the conditions were perfect! The only downside to the day was literally the "down" part. The last 8 or so kilometres were over very rocky steep paths. By the time we arrived in our next village, Molinaseca, , my knees were very sore. It was a long stage of over 26k so we were ready for our beds after dinner on the riverfront with our pilgrim friends.
On Friday we were facing a very hot day and a 30k walk, starting with a walk through the city of Ponferrada. I had decided a while ago that I did not want to walk through the kilometres of concrete required to get us through cities so Robert and I took a bus into the city but still had to walk a few kilometres to get to the outskirts where we met Megan and Andre. Our walk took us through many vineyards and nice villages. I started off feeling refreshed and ready to go but as time went on my knee started to give me major grief. Whenever we would stop for a coffee I would get a bag of ice for my knee. It was really slow going for me and I started to feel very sorry for myself; worried that I'd done major harm to my knee and I worried about being able to finish my Camino. Megan stayed with me and kept encouraging me to take a taxi to the next village on our agenda. We caught up with Robert and Andre who were sitting in a square waiting for our arrival, I went into a bar to ask for a bag of ice. There was a gentleman sitting at the bar who asked me about my knee and then went outside to his car to get a first aid kit. This very kind man, Michele, is from Paris, he has had knee surgery so he is driving while his wife and her friend walk the Camino. He kindly offered to drive me to the lovely village of Villafrance and even wanted to make sure that I found a place to stay - which was my assignment from my walking partners. I assured him that I would be fine and after a kiss on each cheek he drove off and I hobbled in to town to try and find accommodation for our group. It was very hot, I was probably a bit dehydrated, my knee was very sore and I felt a bit lost. The albergues were not what I was looking for so I started into town looking for a reasonably priced pension or hostile with private rooms. The first place I stopped in seemed more than I thought we wanted to pay so I continued my search. I managed to get myself completely lost and still had not found a place to stay. The more I walked the more upset I got because I knew that everyone would arrive hot and tired and I wanted to make sure I found a good place for us. I finally settled on the first place I had looked at and was received by one of the nicest men I have every met. He could tell that I was in very bad shape so he pulled a big ice cold bottle of water and out of the fridge for me and helped me carry my stuff up to the room. And what a lovely room it was. The building is overt 400-years old, he and his wife have done a great job of renovating it and making it a very comfortable and welcoming. So on one day I met two incredibly kind men who took care of this weary pilgrim.
Saturday's stage was yet another 30-kilometre walk involving a very steep climb to O'Cebreiro which is a tiny village of 20 houses. Robert has been battling a nasty cold so we decided that neither of us needed such a strenuous effort so we took a bus and then a cab to this beautiful place in the sky. The village is virtually perched on top of a mountain so on one side of the village there was a view down over a huge valley that was shrouded in clouds when we arrived, but later in the distance past farms and villages we could see a highway with huge bridges. On the other side of the village the view was over a vast valley of green farm fields. The typical Galician thatched buildings are of Celtic origin and are arranged higly pigly throughout the small village. At one point in the early afternoon a small band of drummers and bag pipers appeared and played a couple of rather Celtic sounding tunes that got people dancing in the street. I managed to video tape the second one and then they all just walked away - kind of like a flash mob Galician style! It was a great day and we did manage to get a bit of rest.
Sunday we set out to walk to the village of Triacastela, a trek that started out along the highway but involved incredible views that continued once we turned on to paths that took us through the farm country. About 15k in we reached a village that was the start of a severe downhill stretch so Megan and I decided to take a taxi and save our knees and our feet as we both have a number of blisters. We were a bit disappointed with the town and with the meal we had in the evening - it was a pilgrim dinner served as if we were a real bother to the server. Oh well, you can't win them all.
This morning we had the option of two different routes that would take us to Sarria. Robert and Andre decided to take the longer route that involved a visit to a monastery, they apparently didn't sign up while there ;-) Megan and I took the shorter route that was billed as the more scenic route. Our walk was really amazing with lovely scenery and very little road walking. We walked through Oak forests, farm yards, ancient paths with spring water running down the path and past quaint villages. R & A enjoyed their walk as well, they said that it was very scenic and they enjoyed seeing the monastery although they did not wait around for the 3:30 tour.
It has been very hot for the last 5 days and we are doing our best to take care of our skin. We've seen some really bad sunburns. A couple from Brazil had all the right clothing on as well as fingerless gloves with a high UVPF that I coveted. I use SPF lotion on my hands but it washes off so I have to reapply and then my walking sticks get all gooey….. whine, whine. If you have not yet visited the Save Your Skin Foundation website I invite you to do so www.saveyourskin.ca. Remember to take care of your skin!
If you have actually read this whole entry I must thank you. We are now within striking distance of Santiago just 120k to go; we will arrive Saturday afternoon. That's only 5 more days so my next blog entry may not be as long.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Burgos and Leon
We are in Leon. As planned we are staying in a pension for the week and will try to do walks from here. The bus schedule is a very elusive beast here in Spain and we have yet to figure out if there is any way that we can possibly cover some of the missed Meseta by busing to villages along the route that we skipped over yesterday. That plan may not work, but we had a chance meeting in a grocery store that provided us with an opportunity to have a nice long walk today. As we were contemplating the wine selection in the grocery store a lady came up to me and asked if we were walking the Camino. She was very friendly and said that we should come out and visit her and her husband. It seemed a bit odd to receive such an invitation after just meeting a person but she appeared to be genuine so we continued our conversation with her. As it turned out her daughter and Spanish husband run a language school very close to our Pension so we went with her to meet the daughter and have a cup of tea at the school. The lady, Eileen and her husband Gunther, are from New York originally but lived in Germany for many years and now live here to be close to their 3 granddaughters. After tea we agreed that we would walk to their village, about 17k north of where we are, for lunch today. It was a great walk, although a bit odd to not be following yellow arrows. It was about 3 degrees when we started out and the black clouds threatened us all the way but it didn't rain until after we arrived at their home. We caught the 6:00 pm bus back into town after a really nice lunch a great visit.
Our time in Burgos was really very special. Once we got over being so tired and a bit depressed about the weather we set out to enjoy the city. The cathedral is amazing! It is a World Heritage site with many chapels, the oldest one from the early 1200's. We spent a very chilly afternoon wandering through the grandeur and opulence of this cathedral.
The next day we decided to take in the Museum of Human Evolution just across the river from our hotel. The building is shaped like a prism and has a total floor area of 15,000 square metres. Half of this area is for the permanent exhibition. The focus of the main exhibit area is the Sierra de Atapuerca archaeological sites. This is an area just outside of Burgos where the remains of the oldest human being in Europe (1.3 million years old) were found. The exhibits were very informative as well as interactive. There was also a section given to Darwin and Ramon y Cajal, two of the most eminent scientists in history. We should all know about Darwin - but you may not know that Ramon y Cajal demonstrated the workings of the nervous system and cellular and neural connections. There was a exhibition that showed the evolution of hominids over the last seven million years. We saw it on Sunday afternoon and the museum was filled with families enjoying this great place.
After leaving the museum Robert and I walked across town and climbed up to the castle that overlooks the city. It was closed, which was okay we mostly wanted to see the view from on the hill. The castle sits behind the cathedral so we were able to view it from a different angle. Of course while we were up there it rained a bit so our photos may not be what we had hoped.
That evening we reconnected with Isabella, Renee and John who were staying at the same hotel we were in. We all agreed to meet Tony for dinner at 7:00 in front of the Cathedral. There was a pilgrim's mass at 7:30 so we decided to go there before dinner. Not being Catholic and not speaking Spanish was not an issue as the priest enthralled us with his devotion and the way he spoke his message. I didn't need to know what he said - it was the way he said it. At the end of the mass he called all the pilgrims to the altar and gave us a blessing that was very touching and brought tears to my eyes. I walked out feeling that my Camino once again has purpose and I am eager to continue.
After leaving the Cathedral we walked across the square to a restaurant that came highly recommended as a place that serves cordero (lamb). This was a much more high class place than we've been dining in lately and of course the prices reflected that. I have to tell you though without a doubt, it was the best lamb I have ever eaten. Robert and I shared a salad and appie of grilled chorizo and then shared the main - roast baby lamb with patatas fritas (french fries). We shared a couple of bottles of local Crianza wine with the rest of the group. There was much moaning and slurping going on at the table as everyone enjoyed their meals immensely. I was happy that we had a few blocks to walk back to our hotel (if you get my meaning Lori ;-) This night will remain a high point of the Camino for us. Unfortunately, it will be the last time we are all together as John left the next morning to return home with his injured leg.
Tomorrow we will spend the day walking around Leon; there's a market in Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza) so we'll take that in. There is also a building by Gaudi that we need to see. We have already seen the parador that was featured in the movie The Way as well as the Cathedral. There's lots to do and see!
Thanks for the comments and encouragement, it means a lot.
Our time in Burgos was really very special. Once we got over being so tired and a bit depressed about the weather we set out to enjoy the city. The cathedral is amazing! It is a World Heritage site with many chapels, the oldest one from the early 1200's. We spent a very chilly afternoon wandering through the grandeur and opulence of this cathedral.
The next day we decided to take in the Museum of Human Evolution just across the river from our hotel. The building is shaped like a prism and has a total floor area of 15,000 square metres. Half of this area is for the permanent exhibition. The focus of the main exhibit area is the Sierra de Atapuerca archaeological sites. This is an area just outside of Burgos where the remains of the oldest human being in Europe (1.3 million years old) were found. The exhibits were very informative as well as interactive. There was also a section given to Darwin and Ramon y Cajal, two of the most eminent scientists in history. We should all know about Darwin - but you may not know that Ramon y Cajal demonstrated the workings of the nervous system and cellular and neural connections. There was a exhibition that showed the evolution of hominids over the last seven million years. We saw it on Sunday afternoon and the museum was filled with families enjoying this great place.
After leaving the museum Robert and I walked across town and climbed up to the castle that overlooks the city. It was closed, which was okay we mostly wanted to see the view from on the hill. The castle sits behind the cathedral so we were able to view it from a different angle. Of course while we were up there it rained a bit so our photos may not be what we had hoped.
That evening we reconnected with Isabella, Renee and John who were staying at the same hotel we were in. We all agreed to meet Tony for dinner at 7:00 in front of the Cathedral. There was a pilgrim's mass at 7:30 so we decided to go there before dinner. Not being Catholic and not speaking Spanish was not an issue as the priest enthralled us with his devotion and the way he spoke his message. I didn't need to know what he said - it was the way he said it. At the end of the mass he called all the pilgrims to the altar and gave us a blessing that was very touching and brought tears to my eyes. I walked out feeling that my Camino once again has purpose and I am eager to continue.
After leaving the Cathedral we walked across the square to a restaurant that came highly recommended as a place that serves cordero (lamb). This was a much more high class place than we've been dining in lately and of course the prices reflected that. I have to tell you though without a doubt, it was the best lamb I have ever eaten. Robert and I shared a salad and appie of grilled chorizo and then shared the main - roast baby lamb with patatas fritas (french fries). We shared a couple of bottles of local Crianza wine with the rest of the group. There was much moaning and slurping going on at the table as everyone enjoyed their meals immensely. I was happy that we had a few blocks to walk back to our hotel (if you get my meaning Lori ;-) This night will remain a high point of the Camino for us. Unfortunately, it will be the last time we are all together as John left the next morning to return home with his injured leg.
Tomorrow we will spend the day walking around Leon; there's a market in Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza) so we'll take that in. There is also a building by Gaudi that we need to see. We have already seen the parador that was featured in the movie The Way as well as the Cathedral. There's lots to do and see!
Thanks for the comments and encouragement, it means a lot.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Limping Pilgrims
Once again it has been a number of days since I have been able to post to my blog. Let's start back in a much quieter place and I'll bring you to the bustling city of Burgos.
Sunday morning we left Torres del Rio in record time - before 8:00 am. We had stayed in a nice private albergue with a lively group of pilgrims. As we left the lovely little village the roosters were crowing - a fine send off. I plugged into my IPod and Jose Carrera was singing "Granada"; how perfect to be walking through this amazing Spanish countryside to the perfect song! Our destination was Logrono about 20k away. The weather was great for walking, cool with sunny breaks. There were quite a few hills although the route looked fairly level in the book. We passed by many vineyards still pretty much dormant. The terrain changed from the day before's lush green fields to more similar to the area around Vernon - scrub brush and rocky. There are small green fields tucked in amid the rocky hills. Along the path many wild herbs grow - fennel, thyme, rosemary and another one I could not identify.
Sunday morning we left Torres del Rio in record time - before 8:00 am. We had stayed in a nice private albergue with a lively group of pilgrims. As we left the lovely little village the roosters were crowing - a fine send off. I plugged into my IPod and Jose Carrera was singing "Granada"; how perfect to be walking through this amazing Spanish countryside to the perfect song! Our destination was Logrono about 20k away. The weather was great for walking, cool with sunny breaks. There were quite a few hills although the route looked fairly level in the book. We passed by many vineyards still pretty much dormant. The terrain changed from the day before's lush green fields to more similar to the area around Vernon - scrub brush and rocky. There are small green fields tucked in amid the rocky hills. Along the path many wild herbs grow - fennel, thyme, rosemary and another one I could not identify.
The route took us into only one village, Vianna, and as we approached I started to feel a pain under my left heel. As I mentioned previously my shoes were starting to fail so we kept our eyes open for a store to buy some new ones. A very well placed outdoors shop was right on the pilgrim's way as we entered the village. I bought a new pair of Columbia trekking shoes that weight almost nothing and have a handy adjustment to snug the heel nice and tight. I also bought a new pair of socks because my favourite Smart Wool ones had suffered at the hands of my shoes - there is a big wear spot on the heel. I decided to wear my new shoes and new socks. We had lunch in the village square with our new friends Tony and Dana and then walked the rest of the way to Logrono. Just a few kilometres down the road the pain under my heel got quite bad so we stopped to have a look - it was a blister! The route into Logrono is mostly flat, it leaves Navarre district and enters Rioja just before Logrono. It was a long and painful walk in to the city on concrete for many kilometres, but we made it and gladly we had booked a hotel room. After a hot bath and bit of rest we went to a pharmacy and bought a Compede patch specifically for heel blisters. We met Tony and Dana for a pilgrim's dinner and turned in early.
We had a great rest that night, in the morning we decided to give my foot a break and to not do the 30k walk to Najera. It felt like cheating, but as we were a couple of days behind on our schedule it made sense to take a bus and save my foot rather than risk further injury. While we were waiting for the bus a bizarre little man who had all the pilgrim paraphernalia walked up to Robert to engage him in conversation. He seemed to be giving Robert severe s**t for taking the bus. Through his odd sign language he indicated that we should be kicked off the Camino and not be allowed to receive our Compostela (the certificate for finishing the pilgrimage). It was oddly disturbing to be judged by such a weird little man.
We arrived in Najera just after noon, had a bit of lunch and walked through the village then we had a siesta. It seemed strange not to have walked for a day. As we walked through the town we saw many pilgrims suffering with blisters, injuries and just plain exhaustion. This seems to be a low point for many of us. We'll just keep walking I guess. That evening we were in a little grocery store buying a bottle of local wine and we bumped into Tony! That gave us an opportunity to have a drink with him and Dana and to say goodbye to Dana as she was leaving to go back to Afghanistan the next day. The next stage looked very nice and we were hopefully that my foot would okay - it was only 20.5k to Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
The weather held and we did have a nice walk mostly on wide country paths through lovely farmland with snow covered mountains in the distance. As we left Najera we stopped to photograph storks nesting on red cliffs on the city's outskirts. A young man from San Diego, Andrew, showed interest in what we were doing, we quickly discovered that he works for Apple and is just the kind of "geek" that Robert loves to talk to. We walked most of that day with Andrew; as well as with a niece and uncle from Ireland who are walking the Camino 1 week per year. We decided to stay in the large Albergue in Santo Domingo. There were 10 of us in the room; besides ourselves, the 2 Irish, 2 girls from England and a French family - dad, mom, son & daughter. We have seen this family many times over the last week or so - they never make eye contact, never return a greeting - just keep to themselves. It's rather strange to share a room with people who completely ignore you! The oddness continues - imagine this, 10 people, 5 bunk bed sets that creak with every move, at least 4 people snoring and at 3:50 French dad goes to the bathroom, comes back and starts a whispered conversation with his wife - until 4:30!!!! You know that nothing is louder than a whisper.....
Tony stayed in a parador that evening - for 64 euros I might add! Usually the cost for staying in one of these government operated luxury hotels is over 200 euros! We met him for a walk around town and dinner. I made the big mistake of wearing my sandals without socks - another blister! This one on the base of my toes and it has spread between my toes - very hard to dress!
Up at 6:30 the next morning, out of the albergue by 8:30, breakfast at the bar next door and on our way to Belorado 24 km away. There are 4 well placed villages along the way, of course we stopped at the first one, Granon, for coffee con leche. As we were leaving the village we were excited to see a young couple from Vernon that we had been watching for; they are travelling with their two little girls, 3-years and 7 months! The little ones were in a cozy stroller that seemed designed for just such a trip, the parents each had a large back pack on and they were really on the move. Because it is less disruptive for the girls to be changing environment every night they are camping along the way. I cannot imagine what they have been going through because the weather has been so changeable and actually quite nasty so much of the time.
A cold wind blew for most of the day, it rained on and off; a large part of this stage is right beside a busy highway so not at all pretty. We made good time getting into Belorado mostly because there really wasn't much to see. We decided on a private albergue that is run by very nice lady who made us feel a bit better with her warm welcome. The dinner for 10 euros was amazing - salad, paella (huge serving!), meat - pork I think, with vegetables and a selection of milk based desserts (ice cream, flan, yogurt) with all the wine we wanted and of course the ubiquitous basket of bread. With very full tummies we waddled up to our room and crashed - hard! It was so nice to be cosy, full and in a quiet room!
It rained hard all night and was raining hard in the morning so we decided to skip a couple of stages and bussed into Burgos. From the bus window we saw sodden pilgrims plodding along the path - once again right beside the highway. We are both feeling a bit depressed with the weather and with the Way right now. Once again today we've seen quite a few discouraged and injured pilgrims. We even jokingly (?) suggested to a couple that we should go to Crete for a week until the weather changes!
Right now we are in a little hotel near the magnificent cathedral here in Burgos and have spent a lot of the day talking about our next week. Our friends Megan and Andre arrive in Leon on May 6 and will walk with us into Santiago, this has played a big part in our decision making. The forecast is for rain and cold the next few days and the next few stages are on the Meseta. The Meseta is above 800 metres and is mostly flat, endless crop fields with little or no protection from wind or rain. This is really not appealing to us in this weather. We've decided to go right into Leon on Monday and to situate ourselves in a room where we can leave our packs. We'll backtrack by bus each morning to a stage - walk that stage and then take a bus into Leon in the evening. I know this sounds strange, but we feel if we can walk without packs (other than a small one with what we'll need for the day), and know where we were going to be in the evening it would make it less of an ordeal. Buses run regularly and the ticket price is very reasonable so we think this is a good solution.
We've just received news that John from our original group is having to leave the Camino because of severe shin splints. He suffered terrible blisters and knee pain but continued to walk and now is paying a painful price.
The Camino is challenging us in many different ways. We need to stay focused, on track and try not to be too discouraged.
We welcome your comments and encouragement.
The weather held and we did have a nice walk mostly on wide country paths through lovely farmland with snow covered mountains in the distance. As we left Najera we stopped to photograph storks nesting on red cliffs on the city's outskirts. A young man from San Diego, Andrew, showed interest in what we were doing, we quickly discovered that he works for Apple and is just the kind of "geek" that Robert loves to talk to. We walked most of that day with Andrew; as well as with a niece and uncle from Ireland who are walking the Camino 1 week per year. We decided to stay in the large Albergue in Santo Domingo. There were 10 of us in the room; besides ourselves, the 2 Irish, 2 girls from England and a French family - dad, mom, son & daughter. We have seen this family many times over the last week or so - they never make eye contact, never return a greeting - just keep to themselves. It's rather strange to share a room with people who completely ignore you! The oddness continues - imagine this, 10 people, 5 bunk bed sets that creak with every move, at least 4 people snoring and at 3:50 French dad goes to the bathroom, comes back and starts a whispered conversation with his wife - until 4:30!!!! You know that nothing is louder than a whisper.....
Tony stayed in a parador that evening - for 64 euros I might add! Usually the cost for staying in one of these government operated luxury hotels is over 200 euros! We met him for a walk around town and dinner. I made the big mistake of wearing my sandals without socks - another blister! This one on the base of my toes and it has spread between my toes - very hard to dress!
Up at 6:30 the next morning, out of the albergue by 8:30, breakfast at the bar next door and on our way to Belorado 24 km away. There are 4 well placed villages along the way, of course we stopped at the first one, Granon, for coffee con leche. As we were leaving the village we were excited to see a young couple from Vernon that we had been watching for; they are travelling with their two little girls, 3-years and 7 months! The little ones were in a cozy stroller that seemed designed for just such a trip, the parents each had a large back pack on and they were really on the move. Because it is less disruptive for the girls to be changing environment every night they are camping along the way. I cannot imagine what they have been going through because the weather has been so changeable and actually quite nasty so much of the time.
A cold wind blew for most of the day, it rained on and off; a large part of this stage is right beside a busy highway so not at all pretty. We made good time getting into Belorado mostly because there really wasn't much to see. We decided on a private albergue that is run by very nice lady who made us feel a bit better with her warm welcome. The dinner for 10 euros was amazing - salad, paella (huge serving!), meat - pork I think, with vegetables and a selection of milk based desserts (ice cream, flan, yogurt) with all the wine we wanted and of course the ubiquitous basket of bread. With very full tummies we waddled up to our room and crashed - hard! It was so nice to be cosy, full and in a quiet room!
It rained hard all night and was raining hard in the morning so we decided to skip a couple of stages and bussed into Burgos. From the bus window we saw sodden pilgrims plodding along the path - once again right beside the highway. We are both feeling a bit depressed with the weather and with the Way right now. Once again today we've seen quite a few discouraged and injured pilgrims. We even jokingly (?) suggested to a couple that we should go to Crete for a week until the weather changes!
Right now we are in a little hotel near the magnificent cathedral here in Burgos and have spent a lot of the day talking about our next week. Our friends Megan and Andre arrive in Leon on May 6 and will walk with us into Santiago, this has played a big part in our decision making. The forecast is for rain and cold the next few days and the next few stages are on the Meseta. The Meseta is above 800 metres and is mostly flat, endless crop fields with little or no protection from wind or rain. This is really not appealing to us in this weather. We've decided to go right into Leon on Monday and to situate ourselves in a room where we can leave our packs. We'll backtrack by bus each morning to a stage - walk that stage and then take a bus into Leon in the evening. I know this sounds strange, but we feel if we can walk without packs (other than a small one with what we'll need for the day), and know where we were going to be in the evening it would make it less of an ordeal. Buses run regularly and the ticket price is very reasonable so we think this is a good solution.
We've just received news that John from our original group is having to leave the Camino because of severe shin splints. He suffered terrible blisters and knee pain but continued to walk and now is paying a painful price.
The Camino is challenging us in many different ways. We need to stay focused, on track and try not to be too discouraged.
We welcome your comments and encouragement.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The Rain In Spain
I am not going to dwell on the rain, but I will say that it has influenced our first week on the Camino. Today we had a very light sprinkle as we walked from Los Arcos to Torres del Rio - we actually had a bit of sunshine too so I slathered on the SPF50 and was thankful to not be soaking wet. Yesterday on our way from Puente La Reina (the Bridge of the Queen) to Estella the sky became black, there was thunder and lightning overhead, the skies opened up and it poured! We quickly donned our rain capes but they were really not much good. My feet were soaked and I ended up with a rub on my heel from the wet sock. Here I thought I was going to manage without foot issues. Added to my foot concerns is the fact that my shoes are failing. There is a hole on the inside of my heel that has rubbed a hole in my favourite socks. We'll try a quick repair (duct tape) until we get to Logrono tomorrow where I may look at buying a new pair!
Let me tell you about our journey since I last wrote. We left Pamplona - in the rain - after staying in a hotel for our second night there. I had a long hot bath and a bit better sleep, it felt like heaven after the municipal albergue that was about on par with a homeless shelter, except at a homeless shelter they provide a towel and soap! We expected the albergues would be sparse but I am finding it very hard to get a good rest with so many people around and all the snoring! I digress! Back to our walk. We had breakfast at a village, Cizur Menor, on the outskirts of Pamplona. From there we headed across fields towards a mountain ridge. The climb to 790m was up a steep slope, the path was very rock and covered thick with sticky mud that sucked at our shoes and made the going very slow and strenuous. When we arrived at the top I experienced yet another emotional moment as we had reached Alto del Perdon - the iconic set of iron statues of the pilgrims - heads bent into the west wind. Also along the ridge, there are a great number giant turbines that harness the wind energy. The turbines were strangely still when we were on the top, black clouds gathering all around us but we must have been in the eye of the storm. We experienced a feeling of calm as we gazed back to Pamplona in the distance and then forward down the steep hill towards the endless green fields that we would soon walk through. We looked back up an hour or so later all the turbines were turning.
We have entered into a more agricultural area, there are green fields of grain, almond trees as well as olive and fig trees. The spring flowers are starting to bloom with bright red poppies nodding their heads along the path. Each day the leaves on the trees are a little bit larger as are the blossoms on the flowering trees, all due to the rain we've experienced. The soil has also changed, the deep red soil of the Rioja region is evident. Tomorrow we enter the Rioja wine district.
The villages are further apart it seems and eerily quiet as we go through them. We seldom see many people - just shuttered homes and the odd dog or cat. Puenta La Reina was a bit different, we walked through the village around dinner time and saw children playing - there is life in the villages.
Our accommodation at PLR was in an albergue but we paid a bit extra and got a private room with our own bath! I actually slept 8 solid hours. The next morning I was ready for the 22k walk to Estella. We walked most of the way with two very interesting people. The man, Tony, who is walking to Santiago, is from England and Dana a younger woman is only walking for a week. They have worked together as representatives of their governments in some of the real hot spots in the world including Kosovo. Dana works for the US government and is currently in Kabul in the capacity of aid for agriculture. Tony is a retired Marine so even at 66 he was hard to keep up with. We did move along quicker than we have, so that and along with the good dousing we received we needed a good rest so once again we got a private room. I crashed immediately after dinner and slept 10 hours. We stayed in a 400-year old house run by a Dutch evangelical group. The food was so good, both dinner and breakfast. Dinner was a salad (rare so far), pasta with lots of vegetables and chicken and rice pudding for dessert. Breakfast went beyond the usual white bread, jam and coffee. There was granola, yogurt, grainy bread, cheese and salami. Their hours were quite strict - breakfast 6:30 to 7:30 and leave by 8:00. The early start was great for us, we saw amazing light on the fields and took lots of photos on the 12k to Los Arcos. We stopped in the square by the church for coffee, hot chocolate, oranges and pastry! While we were there the bell tower struck 12:00 and the ringing went on for about 3 minutes - perhaps because it's Sunday? We arrived at 2:00 at our final destination 8k away in Torres del Rio (Towers on the River). Our laundry is done, we've showered and now we'll wander the village looking for a place for dinner. Today we walked mostly by ourselves which was perfect.
Let me tell you about our journey since I last wrote. We left Pamplona - in the rain - after staying in a hotel for our second night there. I had a long hot bath and a bit better sleep, it felt like heaven after the municipal albergue that was about on par with a homeless shelter, except at a homeless shelter they provide a towel and soap! We expected the albergues would be sparse but I am finding it very hard to get a good rest with so many people around and all the snoring! I digress! Back to our walk. We had breakfast at a village, Cizur Menor, on the outskirts of Pamplona. From there we headed across fields towards a mountain ridge. The climb to 790m was up a steep slope, the path was very rock and covered thick with sticky mud that sucked at our shoes and made the going very slow and strenuous. When we arrived at the top I experienced yet another emotional moment as we had reached Alto del Perdon - the iconic set of iron statues of the pilgrims - heads bent into the west wind. Also along the ridge, there are a great number giant turbines that harness the wind energy. The turbines were strangely still when we were on the top, black clouds gathering all around us but we must have been in the eye of the storm. We experienced a feeling of calm as we gazed back to Pamplona in the distance and then forward down the steep hill towards the endless green fields that we would soon walk through. We looked back up an hour or so later all the turbines were turning.
We have entered into a more agricultural area, there are green fields of grain, almond trees as well as olive and fig trees. The spring flowers are starting to bloom with bright red poppies nodding their heads along the path. Each day the leaves on the trees are a little bit larger as are the blossoms on the flowering trees, all due to the rain we've experienced. The soil has also changed, the deep red soil of the Rioja region is evident. Tomorrow we enter the Rioja wine district.
The villages are further apart it seems and eerily quiet as we go through them. We seldom see many people - just shuttered homes and the odd dog or cat. Puenta La Reina was a bit different, we walked through the village around dinner time and saw children playing - there is life in the villages.
Our accommodation at PLR was in an albergue but we paid a bit extra and got a private room with our own bath! I actually slept 8 solid hours. The next morning I was ready for the 22k walk to Estella. We walked most of the way with two very interesting people. The man, Tony, who is walking to Santiago, is from England and Dana a younger woman is only walking for a week. They have worked together as representatives of their governments in some of the real hot spots in the world including Kosovo. Dana works for the US government and is currently in Kabul in the capacity of aid for agriculture. Tony is a retired Marine so even at 66 he was hard to keep up with. We did move along quicker than we have, so that and along with the good dousing we received we needed a good rest so once again we got a private room. I crashed immediately after dinner and slept 10 hours. We stayed in a 400-year old house run by a Dutch evangelical group. The food was so good, both dinner and breakfast. Dinner was a salad (rare so far), pasta with lots of vegetables and chicken and rice pudding for dessert. Breakfast went beyond the usual white bread, jam and coffee. There was granola, yogurt, grainy bread, cheese and salami. Their hours were quite strict - breakfast 6:30 to 7:30 and leave by 8:00. The early start was great for us, we saw amazing light on the fields and took lots of photos on the 12k to Los Arcos. We stopped in the square by the church for coffee, hot chocolate, oranges and pastry! While we were there the bell tower struck 12:00 and the ringing went on for about 3 minutes - perhaps because it's Sunday? We arrived at 2:00 at our final destination 8k away in Torres del Rio (Towers on the River). Our laundry is done, we've showered and now we'll wander the village looking for a place for dinner. Today we walked mostly by ourselves which was perfect.
Friday, April 20, 2012
First week
Here I am, finally! The Camino is already teaching us that what we anticipated is not necessarily what will happen. I thought that we would walk for five to six hours a day, arrive at our destination early afternoon and then I'd have lots of time to relax and write the blog. In reality…. mostly we are on the road longer and arrive in the late afternoon just in time to join our fellow pilgrims in the bar for vino or beer and lively conversation. By the time we shower and get our beds ready we have dinner and fall into bed too exhausted to write.
Today we took a "rest" day in Pamplona and are staying in a hotel so I will write about our last week so you can catch up on our time so far. I will probably run out of descriptive words like spectacular, amazing, lovely etc. That's just the way it is!
Last Thursday after 30 hours of being awake we arrived in Bilbao, Spain. On the bus into town from the airport we were excited to catch our first glimpse of the Guggenheim museum, the first of many awe moments. This is a beautiful city with varied architecture, interesting history and great coffee! Our hotel was just a short walk from where the bus stopped in Moyua Square and with the help of a few people on the street we finally found it just as it started to rain. Our huge English lunch at a pub in Heathrow was still sustaining us so we just settled into our lovely, very modern room - our last bit of luxury before becoming pilgrims. On the desk in the room we found an advertisement for a group called the Bilbao Greeters offering free guided walking tours of the city, since we only had one day we thought it would be a great way to see the city. Robert sent an email to the contact person suggesting we meet at 10:00 am in our hotel lobby thinking that it was very short notice and it probably wouldn't work out. In the morning there was a reply that we would be met and taken on a 2 1/2 tour. Our guide was Marivi, she was born in Bilbao but has spent time in the US and England so her English was perfect. She took us to wonderful places both by walking and by the underground. We saw a huge old building that had once been used to store wine and olive oil, it has been converted to house restaurants, a public sports complex - including a pool overhead with a glass bottom so you can look up and see swimmers overheard; a large library and open area with many individually designed pillars. We poked our heads into the Carlton Hotel to have a look at the gorgeous stained glass and then headed to the old town via the subway. After visiting the fresh food market we wandered the narrow streets and stopped for coffee and a sweet treat in one of the many little cafes. Marivi pointed us in the direction of the museum and we parted ways with kisses on each cheek and fond farewells. There was not enough time for us to properly visit the exhibits in the museum so we spent time photographing this architectural marvel from the outside and then walked along the river in the rain. We found the bus station and bought tickets for our early morning departure then wandered the maze of city streets finally arriving at our hotel. Robert was much better at orienteering, I was clearly was lost with all the traffic circles and narrow streets.
A very special gift that Marivi gave us was contact with a young couple who run a bar/restaurant within a block of our hotel. She made arrangements, on behalf of the Greeters, for us to have a special dinner there at 9:00pm. We were welcomed by the wife Marlie, originally from Venezuela, who runs the bar and her husband is the cook. He's Basque and I have no idea what his name is…. Our dinner was excellent on all levels. We asked Marlie to decide what to serve us saying that we would share our plates with each other. First plates were a beautifully presented huge salad and a dish of mushrooms and pate cooked in a cream sauce with local cheese on puff pastry - one of the best things I have ever eaten!! Second plates were both fish - salt cod in a black squid ink sauce and a small fish in a red pepper sauce, both served with green peppers and potatoes. Dessert was an adult float - orange juice, ice cream and orange liquor. Everything was a beautiful as it was tasty. We enjoyed a bottle of local white wine that paired with the food perfectly. All this for the grand total of 42 euros - no tip no tax!
We really didn't expect much beyond the museum from Bilbao and were very pleasantly surprised by all the city had to offer. This city deserves more than one day and hopefully some day we can return and really do it justice.
Saturday morning we left the hotel in the dark and walked in drizzling rain the few blocks to catch our bus. The bus terminal in Bilbao is typical of bus terminals everywhere - tired people, surly ticket sellers, the smell of diesel, with one big difference - this one has great coffee con leche that we quickly gulped down before heading to the loading area. Just as we approached our bus a bunch of obnoxious drunk young men gathered around the driver- they stood around blowing smoke in his face and hooting loudly. They probably had be partying all night! This did not bode well for the 3-hour bus ride ahead. Thankfully they only rode until the next town, but while they were there they made the journey very unpleasant for everyone. The rest of the journey was uneventful, we proceeded to Bayonne in France, walked about 20 minutes to the train station had a mediocre cup of coffee of French coffee and boarded the train to St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
We had a reservation in an Albergue in the old town just across the street from the Pilgrim Office. We were welcomed like old friends by the Dutch couple, Huberta and Arno, who operate L'Esprit du Chemin "The Spirit of the Way". After settling into our rooms we crossed the road to check in with the pilgrim office and to receive our pilgrim passport. This turned out to be a very emotional time for me, I burst into tears as I watched the first stamp being applied to my credentials. Along with the map of the first stage we were given a warning that due to extreme weather conditions the route over the mountains was not recommended. There are two different routes to Roncesvalles, the Camino's first stop in Spain. The high route, aka Route Napoleon and the valley route via Valcarlos. We had chosen the high route because of the spectacular views on the climb up and over the Pyrenees. The bad weather was the topic of much discussion and speculation back at the Albergue, as some of the other pilgrims, us included, had nonrefundable reservations for their first night in the Albergue at Orrisson, about 9 kilometres up the mountain. The weather forecast changed a number of times during the afternoon and evening, in the end a group of us decided to go as far as Orrisson the next day, we'd assess the situation and make a decision on how to proceed the following morning.
With our first major decision our to the way it was time then to find some energy food and to explore St-Jean. We climbed the narrow cobble stoned street that leads up to a citadel on the hill over looking the village with lovely views of the Pyrenees. The clouds lifted a bit so we could see part of the way were would take in the morning. There are lovely little shops along the street, but since we already had too much to carry the only thing we bought was waterproof pants! (and a small bag of macaroons - we were in France after all and a girl needs to celebrate her birthday as she can!)
As we gathered with the other pilgrims for dinner our hosts served an aperitif of a choice of either a local muscatel or a port that we sipped as we took turns introducing ourselves and sharing our stories of why we are walking the Camino. There were 18 around the table and as many different stories. Canada was well represented with 4 of us, 3 Americans, Germans, English, French, Belgin, and a lovely lady from Brazil. Our first pilgrim dinner was a very colourful one, hearty vegetable soup, beautiful salad, red cabbage, spatzle with choizo and a delicious rice and mushroom pie. Dessert was yogurt with fruit - mine arrived with a flare in it!!! I had taken a bottle of ice wine to share with dark chocolate as a treat from Canada. I missed being with my friends and family back home but it was very nice to spend my birthday with my new friends. Soon it was 'lights out' and we had our first night sharing a room with strangers. Robert and I were in with a man from Quebec, Michel, and a Frend fellow named Tiery. I knew I was in trouble when Tiery asked if we had ear plugs and Michel said that he had not been able to bring his snoring machine! My first night of very little sleep!
Sunday morning we left St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port in pouring rain! Our group included ourselves as well as Isabella from Brazil, Rene from New York, and John from Sussex England. All our plans to photograph the significant landmarks and signs at the start of the Camino were for naught, we just pulled our ponchos over our heads and waded out of town. Soon we were in the lush green county-side - climbing, climbing, climbing past picturesque French farms with white houses and sodden sheep in the fields. Every once in a while the rain would stop so we'd pull off the rain gear and then it would rain again and we'd put the rain gear back on! I have read so many different descriptions of this part of the Camino but nothing can describe what it is really like. The views are breathtaking, the trail seems never ending - you need to reach into every bit of reserve you have just to keep going. We ended up walking mostly with Renee who was really struggling with a too heavy pack. It was very slow going. Finally, finally - over one last little hill and around a corner was our Albergue! Whew! We had made it a small part of the way up the mountain. It was cold and foggy so we had to wait until morning to get the full impact of the spectacular views.
Dinner was edible at best, a poor comparison to the delightful meal we'd all enjoyed the night before. But our spirits were high and we enjoyed the lively time spent with the other pilgrims. We were starting to form comfortable friendships with a group of people - that continues to grow. We've picked up a pair of Michaels from Cambridge who brought along young strong Jonathan (who is only walking for a few days as he has to get back to run the London Marathon on Sunday!)
The morning was very cold, the spectacular panorama views showed us that a lot of snow had fallen during the night on the route over the mountains. The recommendation was that only experienced mountaineers or those with proper clothing risk going up and over. Out of the twelve pilgrims half decided that they had enough gear to take the high route; the other half, us included, retraced our route from the previous day to a path that took us into the valley. This route follows a pretty major highway that we had to walk on for a ways, a bit hairy at times. We crossed into Spain at a rather sad border shopping centre that is dying from neglect since the EU removed the borders and thus the need for duty free shops. Our destination for the night was Roncesvalles a lovely old abbey where the two routes merge. The monks of the monastery have welcomed pilgrims since the 12th century. It has been updated and modernized inside to make it a very comfortable place to stay. We regrouped with our friends, enjoyed a great pilgrim dinner in the pub, and attended the pilgrims mass in the beautiful French Gothic church. Those who took the high route said that it had been very cold and windy but they had loved the experience of crossing the pass. They were very fortunate that the owner of Orrisson had driven their packs part way up the route and then had personally guided them through the snow so they would not get lost. I'm sorry that we missed the high pass, but we did not have the right clothing to have made it safely. Every year at least one person dies on the pass, we were not interested in becoming a statistic!
Our next day's walk took us to Zubiri about 21 kilometers down the road through fields, forests and villages. The Michaels and Jonathan went an extra 5 km to Larrasoaina to be that much closer to Pamplona the next day. That left John, Isabella, Renee, Robert and me to enjoy the little village's bar for pilgrim's dinner and share a room with 3 others for the night. Part way down from Orrisson Robert had realized that he left his good Tilley hat in the room. With much difficulty, many phone calls and a great deal of frustration the hat was located and arrangements were made for it to be delivered to Zubiri at 10:30 the morning, so we started our walk to Pamplona later than the rest. This meant a late afternoon arrival at the municipal albergue and top bunks for all! Pamplona's municipal albergue is located in the old town very close the the Cathedral, near the streets that the bulls run on in July and is surrounded by many wonderful pintxo bars. Pintxo's are the Basque version of tapas. Each bar has an assortment of these tasty treats on display, you choose the one you'd like and order a glass of wine or beer to go with it and then usually head to the next bar to start the process all over again. We loved the variety and the fact that you can enjoy a delicious snack and not feel overstuffed.
Our group spent the evening eating, drinking and talking. In the morning, after bidding a fond farewell to all but Renee, we found a hotel room in the area and set out to see the city. The "rest" day was particularly busy, besides coffee and a bit of window shopping we visited the Cathedral and Citadel. This is a beautiful city and we enjoyed our time but we agreed that it is the country side that is captivating us on our walk across Spain.
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