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. 

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.

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.

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 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.

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.  

Some Pre-Camino Thoughts

The Camino has always been way off in the distance and now suddenly it is racing towards us. One day left here at home. Do we have all we need? Do we have too much? Have we done all we need to do? Have we trained enough? Have we trained too much? What the heck are we thinking??? These are all middle of the night worries. When I'm awake and thinking sensibly I know that we are in great shape, both physically and mentally for our pilgrimage. Our shoes have taken us on many good walks, our packs have been checked and weighed, rechecked and reweighed. It's all good. We will take each step as it comes, value each day and each experience. The goal is to stay in the present, to embrace the Camino and accept whatever has to offer.

As previously mentioned Brenda is dedicating her Camino to Melanoma research and awareness so you are invited to go to http://www.saveyourskin.ca/ and read all about what this foundation is involved in and if you are so inclined please make a donation to this very worthwhile organization. Donations go towards educating and raising awareness, providing critical and timely treatments, and promoting ongoing research into the disease. Thank you for your support.

And so, we drive to Calgary tomorrow for some granddaughter time and then it's off to Spain on Wednesday. Please come along and enjoy the trip!

One final thought - a T. S. Eliot quote recently posted on a friend's Facebook:

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T.S. Eliot

Preparation for our Pilgrimage

One month from today we will arrive in Bilbao Spain on our way to Saint-Jean-Pied-de Port in France and the start of our pilgrimage walk across Spain to Santiago.

We have been training for the 800 km walk by working out in the gym and taking long walks wearing our backpacks that are loaded with everything we will take with us for our 10 week journey. The pilgrimage should only take us about 5 weeks, then we will spend a week of recovery on the Algarve in Portugal (ahhhh!), a couple of weeks in Italy and then on to Scotland to see family.

Robert will of course be capturing all the moments of our trip with his camera and we will share some of his images with you along the way.

Brenda is fulfilling her dream to walk the Camion Frances. We will start the day after her 60th birthday. Two years ago she had a brush with melanoma and is therefore dedicating her pilgrimage to melanoma awareness and research. Her hope is that through this blog, guests will learn about how to take care of their skin, will connect with The Save Your Skin Foundation, and perhaps feel that they'd like to support this group through a donation. More about that later.....