Pavement is Tougher Than Dirt - Day 9 (April 22)

Elephants in Africa have large ears and elephants in Asia have small ears. That is the thought I awoke to in the middle of the night. Crazy I know and don't ask me what that has to do with the Camino, I am sure nothing, but maybe I will be surprised to discover it somewhere along my journey,

The path out of Logrono felt quite long as it was about 5 miles on pavement. Pavement seems to really take a toll on the feet and joints as opposed to the gentleness of dirt paths. Makes me think that sometimes our attempts to make things easier can sometimes have negative effects as well.

I discovered something new today about my backpack. All along the path, I have struggled with getting my water bottle out of my backpack and have enlisted the help of Fred to provide me with this necessary nourishment. Lo and behold, I learned that I could retrieve it through an opening in the side of the netting that holds that bottle. All along I have tried numerous contortionist movements in an attempt to wriggle it from the top to absolutley no avail. Nine days into my journey and I am still learning such basic things!

Speaking of backpacks, I feel as though my backpack is becoming much like the shell that the snail so adeptly carries on his back. It feels as if it has become a part of me. I barely notice it's existence. When I shared this with Fred, he said his pack feels more like a tumor. Guess trying three different packs versus just grabbing one based on weight alone has it's merits!

Mural

As we have passed tunnels that take us under highways, there has always been grafiti to send messages of one sort or another. There was a particular tunnel today that had the neatest mural depicting people on the camino both my bike and on foot. Just a neat connection to the anonymous person who painted it, a sharing of the camino experience if you will.

As we walked above the freeway heading into the village of Navarette, there was a chain link fence presumably to protect any waywards from plunging to certain death. What was neat about it was that pilgrims had made crosses out of sticks they had found along the path and placed them into the links of the fence.

Also as we headed into Navarette, there were ruins of an old pilgrim hospital that was built in 1185. It was strange to think of people walking this same path nearly 1000 years ago.

Ornate Church

In Navarette, there was a chuch in the square that was open and beckoned us in. We are thankful that we did because it was the most ornate chuch we have seen along our way. As I have indicated previously, we have preferred the austere churches but beautiful music was playing and the lights were shining on the front of the church creating an almost mystical moment.

We also met some new people - Glen, originally from Canada but has lived the better part of his life in Thailand; Ann, a lady from Australia traveling by herself. We found these people to be fast friends. We all had dinner together and had such and amazing time conversing about a host of topics. We certainly hope our paths continue to cross as we press on to Santiago.We decided that we were not going to try to make it to Najera and opted instead to stop in Ventosa. We are so glad we did because we found the most beautiful albergue of our journey. Better than that, we reconnected with Steeve and Steen and Inger from our first stop in Orisson. We thought they had gone ahead of us so were very excited to see these fellow prilgrims and now, friends.

To Santiago

Lesson for the day: There can be surprises around every corner - and it is such delight when you come upon them.

 

 

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A Day in the Sun - Day 8 (April 21)

Today has been our most challenging thus far. Not physically, we actually walked 17.9 miles, but mentally. Most of the path was in the open with little protection from the sun so we grew weary of that. Plus we seem to have lost contact with many of the pilgrims we started with on our journey.

Virtually every village here has a cathedral, many quite magnificent. It made us wonder who commissioned them to be built. Was it the Roman church or the leader of Spain at the time? Something we will definitely have to research when we get home. Made me wish I had spent a little time on the history of Spain before our journey.

We stopped at a church in Torres Del Rios, Iglesia Del Santo Sepulcro, that was built in 12th century. It was a much more modest church than many of the others we have seen. We appreciated it's simplicity, seeming more akin with the spirit of the camino.

Withered Hands

There were not as many flowers in this section as we saw previously but we did stumble upon some very small dainty orchids. Don't know that I have ever seen orchids in the wild before so that was pretty cool. The scenery was mostly vineyards, olive groves and wheat fields. Little or no yellow canola fields that lit up the hillsides on previous days. Some of the vineyards had such old grape vines that had been pruned so low to the ground that they took on the appearance of old withered hands reaching up out of the earth.

It was on the way down from this hill that I nearly had a castastrophe. The shoelace on my right foot decided to attach itself to the top open loop on my left boot which was not terribly conducive to moving forward. Luckily my trusty trekking poles saved me from certain disaster, easing my fall to a gentle displacement to the ground. I have decided that trekking poles are a necessity on the camino. Not only did they rise to the occasion in this instance but they are continually helping me climb my way to the top of hills and bracing my declines from them. At the top of the one hill of the day, there were stone monuments created by the many pilgrims that had passed before us. They left behind what might be taken as bad habits they were trying to rid themselves of on the journey, a pack of cigarettes most notable.

Discarded Habits

We had quite a philosophical discussion today about evolution, one that was precipitated when we came upon a number of pill bugs on the road. Suddenly we were asking how these little guys that are also so prevalent in our part of the world are here. Did they walk from one location to the other (that would be quite the undertaking) or were they transported via dirt that was attached to some plants that were carried by some unsuspecting traveler. And where did they originate - there or here or someplace else entirely.

Our original plan was to end our day's travels in Viana but it was only 1:00 when we arrived there. Since we were still feeling physically strong, we decided we would walk the additional five miles to Logrono which made this the longest day of our journey thus far. And it means we have walked a total of 105 miles in eight days - not too bad for a couple of old people.

While we were washing clothes, a lady came up to us and asked if I was Jackie. She turned out to be Paula, a friend of my sister who lives in Battleground. Her and her husband Chris started the camino about the same time as us and we thought our paths might cross and so they did. There is just so much magic on the camino!

Logrono is known to have great tapas (pinchots) so we went on search for them. After wandering around, I decided to ask the next person I saw if they could speak English. Yes, all my efforts to learn Spanish have pretty much failed me. I actually told one lady that I couldn't read something because I wasn't wearing my boligrafos (pens) rather than my gafas (glasses). Anyway, a delightful young man who had been an exchange student for a year in Michigan helped not only direct our path, but gave us pointers on the correct etiquette of tapas bars.

There was a woman at the albergue with a terrible cold (or worse) which provided us with quite some concern as we were in the same bunk space as her. Paula and Chris shared our concern so we went in search of another room in the albergue with an open space and found one. So like thieves in the night, we moved all our things to this new space.

Buen Camino

Tomorrow, if we continue to follow the stages in our Bierley guide book, is another long day. We may decide we are not quite up to that. We will see.

Lesson for the day: Make sure your boot laces are tucked in. Not very philosophical, I know, but practical.

 

 

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A Day in the Countryside - Day 7 (April 20)

Today was a really good day. Our bodies seemed to have relented to the idea of daily extended walks carrying the extra weight of our backpacks. We are so pleased that thus far we have not experienced the pain of blisters as have so many sharing this path with us. We walked thirteen miles but they were easy ones through beautiful countryside of vineyards, canola fields, olive groves and wheat fields.

Just outside of Estella, at the top of a slight incline, we were rewarded with a stop at Fuente de Irache where we had a sampling of wine on tap that had been set up specifically for peregrinos on their journey. There was a group of fellow travelers who sang a short beautiful angelic song while we were there. A great start to our day's journey.

Fuente de Irache

Since we had only a croissant as we walked out of Estella, we were ready for something more about 3 miles into our travels. A stop in Torres del Rio provided that - a Tortilla Patata and coffee. Refreshed, we were ready for the miles ahead.

We were quite surprised to see farmers were using CD's for reflectors to keep birds away from their produce, something we had used for the grapes on our backyard. We thought we were being quite creative - I guess not!

We were pleased to find a church open - Iglesia Santa Maria. We liked this church because it was very simple. Not ornate like so many others. A caretaker welcomed us and stamped our credencias, a reminder of our visit there.

Walking along further who did we come upon relaxing next to a field, packs off, socks off, but Steen and Inga. Inga had some pretty sore toes so Fred gave her his extra pair of Injinji liner toe socks. Later down the trail, they passed us up - Inga doing a jig as she went by. Guess the socks gave her happy feet!

We were pleased to arrive at our destination by 2:30 in the afternoon. Our albergue offered laundry service which we very quickly agreed to. Much easier than hand washing and drying. Especially since we have only four clothespins. You know, to keep things light!!

Canola Fields

Refreshed by a shower, we were ready to head to a local bar for a glass of beer and some tapas to hold us over until dinner. It was nice to have an opportunity to catch up on our journaling and blogging. It seems after a day's walk we are either too tired or out of time to spend on these activities.

There are restaurants in each town along the Camino that have meals specifically for peregrinos. They are very similar - a choice of primary course, usually a salad or soup or pasta of some sort; a secundo course with choice of port, chicken, fish or beef with french fries; and a dessert. These are really inexpensive meals, typically 8-10 euros a person. And always wine.

After a week on our Camino experience, we are so in awe of all the journey has to offer. Time for reflection, beauty all around, bodies pushed to their limit, and relationships forged with total strangers all along the way. There is such an unbelievable community of spirit with fellow pilgrims. Sometimes, it makes me quite emotional.

Lost Boots

Outside of our decision to go on the Camino, the next best choice was to limit our first day to Orisson rather than go on to Roncesvalles. We feel so connected to the people we met there and carry them along the way, just as they do us. I can't wait to see what the path ahead holds for all of us.

Lesson for the day: Sometimes there are delightful surprises along life's path. You just need to make sure you don't miss them.

 

 

 

 

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Can We Make Estella? Day 6 (April 19)

When we arrived at our albergue last night, the bunk next to ours had a teddy bear laying on it which made us quite curious. Fortunately during our breakfast today our curiosity was satiated when we met its owner - a lady from Texas. She had recently lost her husband and daughter, both to cancer, and decided that she wanted to walk the Camino, probably as a way to help her heal. Her grandchildren had given her the teddy bear to take with on her journey. She had not really done any walking prior to this trip so she was walking quite slowly. It is our hope that we will see her at some point when we arrive in Santiago so we know she made it okay.

The Teddy Bear

I am not sure, but I believe there is some significance to snails on the camino, perhaps it is that they carry everything they own on their backs just as we are. This morning we came upon two of them making their way across the path ever so slowly. It reminded me that even if you move at a snails pace, as long as you are moving forward you will eventually reach your destination. Unless you gets squashed, as we discovered later.

Snails on the Camino

Today was a day of rescue for Fred. FIrst a shirt he left behind in our albergue was picked by a group of German ladies who have been on the path with us. They had stayed at our albergue the night before. As we walked by them in the first village on our path, one of them asked us to look at her pack. Lo and behold, what was there but Fred's shirt! They knew they would see us along the path so took it with them. It was a good thing too because he only has one other short sleeve shirt.

Later he was rescued by some other peregrinos when he left his trekking poles behind. This time it was a Spanish couple who had been leap-frogging for a few days. We heard someone yelling, hey peregrinos only to turn around and see him running toward us with Fred's poles. Fred decided that he does not want to live out of a backpack forever. For me, I find it rather freeing to have everything I really need on my back.

We passed some interesting historical scenery today. Part of our path took us on an old Roman bridge and road made of rocks. We are starting to get closer to the Riojas region so are beginning to see some vineyards and also some olive groves. Felt a little like I was on our farm as we passed wheat field

We passed through a little village, Villatuerta, where we came upon three little girls, one pushing a stroller with her baby doll. Reminded me that kids are the same wherever you go. The little girl pushing the stroller showed me up when I said "Ola" and she responded with "Hello"! Just past them, there was a group of children getting drinks from a fountain painted like a clown. They posed for me and then sent us on our way with "Buen Camino", probably the best version of this I have heard thus far!

Between Villatuerta and Estella, there was a very old church, Archangel Miguel, built in 1060 that we stopped to check out. It was very cool as previous peregrinos had left behind testaments of their passage - rocks and snail shells. It is so amazing to think about how many other people have traveled this ancient path. Sometimes it can be quite emotional.

Church Offerings

Our descent into Estella was past what appeared to be peasant farm territory. Horses were virtual lawn movers, tied up in an area to eat the grass in the ditches only to be moved, we assume, to a new area. Seems easier and certainly quieter than the proverbial lawn mowers we use.

Altough today was the easiest day for terrain, I think my body has begun to realize that we are not just on vacation and it is telling me it did not sign up for such an adventure. Aches, although certainly not serious, moved from feet to hips to knee to......

By our arrival in Estella we were ready to call it a day. Found the municipal albergue to obtain one of the last beds, much to our relief. We showered, washed clothes and as we were waiting for the machine to complete it's cycle, who did we see but our friends Jean Robert & Ayala, John Sebastian and Steen & Inga, all with whom we started our journey in Orisson. It is truly amazing how quickly one connects with people who travel along this path with us. Sharing bedrooms, bathrooms and essentially see each other in your underclothes, it has a unique way of breaking down barriers.

We went to dinner with Jean Robert and Ayala and then went back to get our clothes finished up and get ready for the 10:00 lights out. As I was getting ready to get into my bunk, someone grabbed my leg. It was none other than Inja. It seems we were bunkmates once again! A great way to end a wonderful day, in the company of Camino friends.

Lesson of the Day: Even though you might move slowly, as long as you keep moving forward, you will eventually make your destination. One step at at time.

 

 

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To Obano - Day 5 - April 18

The streets of old town Pamplona were bustling with people as we headed back to our aubergue at 9:00 last night. This morning there were only the street cleaners to witness our departure from this unique city. We couldn't even find an open panaderia to get a morning coffee and roll. So on we went to start our day, hoping we would come upon an eatery somewhere in our early travels.

As we departed the city, we walked past a park with beautifully planted flower beds - such a great collaboration of colors to bid us farewell.

It was three and a half miles and we were beginning to think we were going to be withered persons lying alongside the path from lack of food when we finally discovered a panaderia sign. By then we were so hungry we ordered two pastries and 5 medialunas (small glazed croissants) to go with our coffee.

Our purgatory, if you can call it that, of walking through the outskirts of Pamplona was well rewarded with the beautiful countryside outside of the city. The rolling hill landscape was frequented with yellow canola fields intermixed with green. The path had also gone from concrete to soothing dirt. It was here that we came upon Elaine, a fellow bunkmate in Zubiri. She shared her frustration with feeling the walk through Pamplona with all it's busyness was so contrary to the spirit of the Camino. We full-heartedly agreed with her and were pleased to be back on the path outside the city.

Canola Fields

Our journey today started with many adjustment stops. Adjustments to backpack straps and belts, adjustments to clothing, add rain gear and rain covers for a short burst of rain and most all-consuming, adjustments to my boots. I was still having problems with the top of my left boot rubbing against my ankle bone. I had brought some Dr. Schools heel inserts with a removable donut hole and thought perhaps just adding that would raise my foot up enough to prevent the rubbing. All that seemed to do was put added pressure on the balls of my feet. A brilliant idea came to me though - to remove the donut and insert the heel pad into my sock by my ankle providing a cushion from the boot. It worked!

I was very glad for that because the next section of the path was a rather arduous uphill climb over rocks, not quite to the level of those manuevered so adeptly by mountain goat, but close. At the top of the hill was a line of wind turbines. They were like giant sentinels welcoming us to victory at the top. Also there was an iron monument to the pilgrims of the Camino. We had seen pictures of this in some of the books we read so it was pretty cool to actually see it. We rewarded ourselves for our accomplishment by sharing a Leffe beer and a bag of M&M's. Yes, there was a road to the top and someone had conveniently set up a little stand with refreshments, including beer.

Pilgrim Monument

I must mention that we have seen at least one butterfly each day of our journey, well except for the windy one up the Pyrenees and no self respecting butterfly would have subjected themselves to such certain death by flying that day.

Of course going to the mountain top means you must go down so down we went, again over rocky terrain. Once down, we had a delightful walk to where we had decided to end our day's journey - Obano. Again we were walking past fields of canola and now also fields of peas.

One last climb to our albergue and we were pooped. But would you believe after a quick beer and some chips we were refreshed enough to walk another three miles round trip to visit a church, Iglesia Santa Maria de Eunate. It was an octagonal structure that was built in the 1100's and believed to be a refuge for pilgrims on the Camino.

Iglesia Santa Maria de Eunate

We arrived back to the village in time to attend a short prayer service at the chapel and join fellow pilgrims for a peregrino meal at the bar/restaurant. Wonderful food and even more wonderful conversation and campanionship with people from France, Germany, Brazil and Denmark. One gentleman was walking with his little daschund dog - crazy.

Lesson for the day: Sometimes things are better used for something other than for what they were created.

 

 

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On to Pamplona - Day 4 (April 17th)

Our morning started out at 6:30 and went reasonably well until Fred went to get his Credencia and could not find it in it's usual place. He emptied his backpack. I emptied my backpack. Nothing. I mean really, how many places could a little booklet go when your entire belongings are relegated to a backpack? I went to breakfast while he continued to search. Still nothing. One more time through his backpack before we headed out resigned to it's loss and the need to search for a Camino office to obtain a new one. Low and behold it was taking refuge in his journal!

Feeling much relieved, we headed out on today's journey to Pamplona. The beginning of our trail was through open fields followed by pavement through an industrial section. It was here that we spotted a sandwich laying on the road. Some poor pilgrim lost their lunch! It reminded us that we did not purchase a thing to eat along the way and although tempted to pick it up in case we found ourselves perishing, we thought better of it and left it behind.

Missing Their Lunch

A little later, we came a couple of pilgrims with a plastic bag containing one sandwich and another empty wrapper dangling from their backpack, the obvious victims of the lost sandwich. We told them about it so they wouldn't lose the second one. They were going to head back to retrieve it until we said it was too far back. This event provided the lesson of the day.

It had rained during the night and the path was wet so there were several slugs making their own camino across the trail. A couple of deceased ones, as well as a mouse, had rocks places around their remains, tributes from peregrinos who had passed before us. We reached a spot where the path had actually given way creating a fairly steep embankment. It was at this location we came upon a Danish couple who had started the Camino with us in Orisson. Unfortunately, he had fallen and the wife was taping his foot up. She had been asking him to go with her on the Camino for many years and he finally relented. She jokingly commented to us as we walked by that she was going to have to kill him if this kept him from finishing the journey! Shows the passion of people walking this ancient path.

Slug Memorial

Again there were flowers to greet us all along the way. I have made it a point to photograph each different flower I find - there have been many.
After about 5 miles, we were ready to get something to eat. Luckily there was a little restaurant just ahead in Zuriaian where I had a mushroom omelet and a banana. Fred had ham and cheese on a baguette. Revived, we continued on the 8.4 miles to Pamplona. In Arre, a town along the way, there were some unique trees planted on each side of the sidewalk - they actually joined together in the middle like lives melded together, forming an arch that lined our path through and out of town.

Melded Together

We were pretty tired from walking on cement through towns when suddenly we were in Pamplona. We tried to get into the alberque that our friends were going to stay at but it was full. The hospitalero checked and said they were not there and sent us on to the municipal alberque - Jesus and Maria. This alberque is a literally a row of bunk beds with dividers between every four bunks - three floors of them!

Checked in and who did we see - Ayala and Jean Robert!! They were headed out to get a SIM card for their phone and we were going to get something to eat. Unfortunately we did not connect up until much later and it was time to call it a day. Not sure we will make it as far as they are planning to go tomorrow. They have a more agressive plan to complete the Camino than we do so it is possible that we may not be continuing this journey hand in hand with them.

We had some wonderful tapas for an appetizer and then found a place for a hamburger and fries to share. Pamplona is a neat old city that comes to life after 8:00 at night. Just our style, if we weren't tired peregrinos anyway.

Back at our wonderful bunks, we decided to use the washing machines and dryers to wash our clother rather than by hand. Fred is actually off doing that as I am writing this. Tomorrow is another day of ascents and descents, although nothing like the first couple of days. Looking forward to what we will see!

Lesson for the day: When you lose something, sometimes it really isn't worth going back for it.

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Destination - Who Knows? Day 3 (April 16th)

As quickly as the lights were turned off signaling bedtime, the lights came on at 6:00 a.m. letting us know it was a new day. Unlike the abrupt lights out, this time we were lulled awake by wonderful Gregorian chants. Such a delightful way to start this,, our third day on the Camino.

From here it is 790 kilometres to our final destination - Santiago. It seems a number of people begin their camino journey from this starting point to avoid the strenuous climb through the Pyrenees. We are glad we were not among them. Would not have wanted to miss the experiences of the last two days and the unbelievable beauty of the Pyrenees.

Our first order of business today was to find an ATM so we would no longer be penniless. We found one in the very first village we passed through. Relieved that we now had money for the next portion of our journey and to buy a breakfast of coffee, croissant and ham and cheese sandwich.

Today was supposed to be much easier than the previous two days. We actually found it to be more challenging. Not sure if it really was or if our preconceived ideas of the Pyrenees being the most difficult part of the Camino played a role in our feeling it wasn't that tough. At any rate, we walked a total of 12.4 miles from Roncesvalles to Zubiri, twice as long as any of our training days. It was a series of up and down hills that left our legs feeling quite weary.

The countryside today went from pastoral to mountain paths through forest ending in a steep descent over hard rock surface into Zubiri. Spring flowers greeted us all along the path, providing photo opportunities and respite from the constant pounding to our weary legs. Other than that it doesn't seem like there is much to report about today's journey other than that we walked and walked and walked, playing leapfrog with fellow travelers on the path with us.

Although the forecast today was 100% chance of rain, we only got a light sprinkling about half way through, which seemed only right after the wind we experienced the previous day. Just as we arrived in Zubiri around 3:00, the clouds decided to let go of their moisture so we were happy to be at our destination. The first Albuerque we came to was full but we were referred to another just around the corner. We opened the door to discover none other than our friends Ayala and Jean Robert as well as Sebastian Robert, another fellow prilgrim who started with us in Orisson.

We arranged to have dinner and breakfast at the albuerque and were directed to our room - one with 10 beds and a shared bathroom and shower area. There is very little privacy on the Camino. We learned the names of some of our bunkmates - Elaine, Penny and Gary who was an author from England.

I am very pleased with how my knee is holding up. I am wearing a brace just to give some additional support but it really hasn't hurt at all. I do have a hot spot on the bottom of my left foot but hope tomorrow's mostly flat terrain will give it some relief. There have been several people on the path that already have blisters. I do not want to be among them.

Our dinner was wonderful - yummy salad, potage of some sort, pork ribs and fried potatoes, lemon mousse and of course wine. Such lively discussion at our table with Jean Sebastian, Ayala and Jean Robert and a couprle from Portland - Bill, Jean and daughter Julie from Montana.

Posting pictures from my camera has proved to be time-consuming so will add pictures later.

Lesson/s of the day: Although it is important to always move forward, sometimes it is good to look back as it may give you a new perspective on your journey.

 

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