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.....

Glasgow - PureDeadBrilliant part 2

The great CRM did not monopolize our entire time in Glasgow.  We visited a number of galleries, including Kelvin Grove Art Gallery.  The highlight there was Salvador Dali’s “Christ of Saint John of the Cross” - very impressive!  

The Pollok Estate comprising 361 acres of parkland situated right in Glasgow, was given to the city in 1966 by the Maxwell family who had owned it since the mid-13th century.  The current house is a huge 18th century mansion filled with the family’s wonderful collections of Spanish art, antique furniture, silverware, ceramics and an impressive library.  Included are works by El Greco (the famous Lady in a Fur Wrap) and Goya, as well as works by the English poet and artist William Blake.

When the Pollok Estate was gifted to Glasgow, provision was made for a site to house another collection that had been gifted to the city in 1944.  Sir Willam Burrell’s donation of over 9,000 works of art had languished in storage at Kelvin Grove Art Gallery waiting many decades for a suitable pollution free site.  No visit to Glasgow would be complete without seeing this collection of Medieval art, tapestries, stained glass, English oak furniture, many European paintings, including works by Degas and Cezanne, Islamic art and modern sculpture by Epstein and Rodin shown to their best advantage in the purpose designed building.  It is one of those WOW places!  

We had lunch at Pollok House, in what used to be the grand kitchen, then walked through the park passing by a small herd of shaggy Highland Cattle, to The Burrell.  A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

On another day we drove a short distance from Harry’s house to Cathkin Braes, a sprawling natural park with open fields and wooded areas - the Big Wood for one (nope we didn’t run into Pooh Bear).  We had a lovely clear fall day, and as this is the highest point in Glasgow we had excellent views across the city and beyond.  There is a large cairn, “Queen Mary’s Seat”, where Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have observed the defeat of her forces at the Battle of Langside in May of 1558.  

After leaving the Braes we visited Holmwood House, a fine 1858 classically inspired villa designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.   Conservationists are currently working on the house so you can see glimpses of its original decor.  There had been a Halloween Party there on the weekend so we had to look beyond the ghosts and fake cobwebs for the true beauty of the place.  We were the very last visitors to tour Holmwood House for the year so we had the complete attention of the volunteers - yet again the last of the tourists ;-)

Daylight was fading as we left Holmwood House but we had one more stop on the itinerary - Greenbank Gardens.  We arrived just in time to quickly walk through the 2.5 acre walled garden before dark but saw enough to encourage us to return the next day.  This gave us the opportunity to see the garden and its 30 different areas in daylight.  Following this and a walk through the surrounding parkland we proceeded  to Harry’s gym for a proper workout - first one in way too long! 

Our last outing took us to Prestwick for a long walk along the shore and the sand dunes.  It threatened to rain but the weather held and we had a bracing walk in the sea breeze.   As we walked on the beach we watched what we believe to be an Easy Jet pilot practice landing at nearby Prestwick Airport.  The same plane flew over, touched down, and took off again numerous times - it was kinda cool to see.  

Glasgow is an amazing place to visit.  There is so much to see and do whether you’re interested in nature, culture, history or food - both local specialties and international.  We had amazing Indian food, the best Chinese food we’ve ever eaten, and we’re not telling how many, but let’s just say enough fish & chips  suppers to last until our next visit!  A “pint of heavy” at Glasgow Central one afternoon while we waited for our train was a real treat.  

Epilogue

We came away from Scotland with a larger family than we realized we had, a true appreciation for our central heating and a few extra pounds!   

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Harry who spent 2 weeks of his vacation time taking us to many marvelous places and made us so very welcome in his home.  Prior to our arrival he completely redecorated our bedroom.  We love you Harry!

We said at the beginning of our travels that our lives may be changed by what we would see and do during our time away.  Our lives were certainly enriched by the people we met as well as by the things we saw and did, but now that we’re back home to our “normal” life, it seems that we are the same people who left here at the end of August.  We’re people who want to continue to travel, that has not changed, but we have a clearer idea of how we want to travel in the future.   Our next trip, the gods willing, will be in a couple of years to Spain to walk the Camino.  Until then, please keep in touch, and thank you for joining us on our travels.

Glasgow - PureDeadBrilliant

We arrived in Glasgow in the early afternoon of Thursday, October 23 and took the bus from the airport to the Buchanan Street Bus Station.  Robert’s sister Ann was arriving there from Newcastle at 6:00 PM so we stored our luggage and decided to spend the next few hours walking around downtown Glasgow.  There was quite a blustery storm that day; on almost every street there were garbage bins stuffed with discarded umbrellas that had lost their battle with the wind.  Luckily we had good rain gear on so we didn’t have to endanger our umbrellas.  We checked out some of the shops before having tea at the Willow Tea Rooms, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh - Robert’s favourite Glasgow architect and designer from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s -- more about CRM later.

Harry arrived to pick us up just as Ann’s bus pulled in - the Rutherford reunion began.    We started with fish & chips for supper and spent the evening catching up and reminiscing.  It had been 25 years since the three of them were all together so there was lots to talk about.  

 

Friday was a fairly quiet day.  Brenda’s cold had never really left and she was feeling quite poorly so Harry made an appointment for her with his doctor.  We all walked up to the doc’s office and later had breakfast at a little coffee shop up at the “toll”.  Later that evening Harry’s good friends Wally & Joan hosted us at their home for dinner.   

Saturday was very rainy - “chucking it down” as Harry says.  We drove to the national heritage village of Strathaven to visit with the Marshalls, Robert & Ann’s mother’s side of the family .  Robert had contacted his Aunt Jennifer before we left Canada and found out that two of his his uncles had passed away since our last visit in 2004.  Although Jennifer is Robert’s aunt (his Mother’s half sister), she’s actually a couple of years younger than he is.  She organized the family get together at his Aunt Jenny’s home.  Robert hadn’t seen this side of his family since before he left Scotland in the 1960’s.  He expected to see maybe 3 or 4 people, so you can imagine his delight when we walked in to a room full of people.  We spent a wonderful afternoon reconnecting with Robert’s family.  Truly a highlight of the trip!

When we were in Scotland in early September we bought memberships in Historic Scotland and the National Trust.  These organizations own or manage many properties throughout the country; everything from gardens, to estates, to castles and more.  Basically, 3 visits to any of the sites covers the cost of membership and since almost every place we wanted to visit was under one of these organizations it made economic sense to invest in these very worthwhile charities.  Besides seeing some of the best sites Scotland has to offer, the volunteers that are on hand at each location are real treasures as well.  They are very knowledgeable and personable so we came away with a more intimate sense of each place we visited.  Enough about that, let us tell you about the places we did visit.

On a rainy Sunday we drove to South Ayrshire to visit Culzean Castle & Country Park, a magnificent eighteenth century estate.  The grounds are extensive with paths leading for miles through woodlands, past a Deer Park (with a herd of red deer), and to a Swan Pond;  or you can walk along the four miles of rocky shore, sandy beaches and cliffs with spectacular views over the Firth of Clyde.  There are a number of buildings including a glass house called “Camellia House” where exotic plants are grown.  The estate had it’s own facility for converting coal to gas, there’s an interpretive centre explaining the whole process in the little house where the “gasman” once lived.  There’s a walled garden holding on to its incredible beauty even with the flowers finished for the year.   

And then there’s the castle!   Between the years 1777 and 1792 the architect Robert Adam converted the castle into a bachelor residence for the Earl of Cassillis.   We took a guided tour and were shown the best features of the house including Adam’s masterpiece, the Oval Staircase, as well as the fine collection of paintings and furniture.  A top-floor apartment was presented to General Eisenhower for his lifetime in 1945 in recognition of his role during WWII.  It was interesting to see his office as it was when he was there.  As the daylight started to fade, we were on the top floor of the castle looking out over the Clyde when dark clouds gathered and the wind began to blow huge white caps onto the shore.  It felt like there should be a clap of thunder and the lights should suddenly go out to the eerie sound of the wind - or was that a ghost?  A great place to visit!

On Monday morning we said farewell to Ann at the bus statios and headed to Helensburgh to visit Hill House, a home designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for publisher Walter Blackie, at the beginning of the 1900’s.  We had a couple of hours to kill before the house opened so we walked the 3 miles along the Clyde from Helensburgh to the village of Rhu in sunshine with a brisk wind blowing in from the sea.   We didn’t spend a lot of time in Rhu just visited the war memorial in front of the parish church and then returned to the car for a short drive up to Hill House.  We had visited Hill House in 2003 and were happy to wander through the familiar rooms once again.  Of course, as it is with any intricate work of art, no matter how often you see it, each time something else comes to the fore.  The lovely fabric designs and gesso panels created by CRM’s wife Margaret Macdonald really caught our eyes this time.  Considering the age of the home the main bathroom is quite ingenious with the hot water pipes running through the towel rack to warm the towels, and in the shower the encircling pipe work has multiple spray holes on different levels - a thoroughly modern idea!  Although the entire house is spectacular our favourite room in Hill House remains the White Bedroom, as it incorporates the many aspects of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s genius.   We enter this room with a reverence usually reserved for a holy place.

A quick lesson on Charles Rennie Mackintosh

“The Scottish architect, designer and artist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was one of the most individual and creative designers of the turn of the last century.  Today he is internationally celebrated for many architectural masterpieces, the Glasgow School of Art, the villa, The Hill House, and his remarkable city-centre team room interiors for Catherine Cranston.  His beautiful interiors place distinctive pieces of furniture/sculpture with subtly harmonious colour schemes, the whole imbued with a sensitivity to light and atmosphere which at times verges on the spiritual”  (quoted from a flyer we received. )

On our journey down the “Mackintosh trail” we also visited The Mackintosh House in the Hunterian Art Gallery on the University of Glasgow campus.  The principal interiors of  the home were removed prior to the demolition of the original home in the 1960’s and reassembled, with the original fixtures, and is displayed, with the homes contents, as an integral part of the University’s Hunterian Art Gallery.  

We spent an afternoon at the House For An Art Lover, the greatest house that Mackintosh never built.  It was designed by CRM with much contribution from his talented wife, as an entry for a German design competition in 1900.  As this was not a commissioned piece Mackintosh was not restrained by budget or other considerations so he was free to let his creativity flow.  The result was a design that is stunningly beautiful, but not in your usual “family” home way.  Unfortunately, the design was disqualified because he did not include vital interior perspectives.  No first prize was awarded in the competition and he was instead the recipient of a special prize.  Decades later, using the original drawings the house was built in Glasgow and is a wonderful place to visit.  We particularly like the fact that since the furniture is not original turn-of-the century Mackintosh, you are free to touch, photograph and sit in them.  Indeed, the house is available for private functions and is a popular wedding venue.