Cathedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda, 1670, in Logrono
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Saturday, April 30, 2016
Pictures to go with today's post
On the way today -
Cathedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda, 1670, in Logrono
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Cathedral de Santa Maria de la Redonda, 1670, in Logrono
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Logrono, Saturday afternoon
We had a short walk (19km, or about 12 miles) yesterday from Lorca to Villamayor de Monjardin, a gorgeous village on a hillside where we stayed in an albergue run by a Dutch ecumenical group. It was so pleasant! The hospitalera who checked us in was a "permanent volunteer" of some 4 years from Ohio. The village sits on a hill overlooking vineyards and other crops, just amazingly beautiful to sit in the sun all afternoon. We were served a delicious pilgrim meal of salad, chicken stew with peas, carrots, and other vegetables, bread, wine, water, and pudding or yogurt for dessert. They also served a wonderful breakfast, perhaps acknowledging that the next stop was a far piece hence.No wifi though, so no post.
Part of the reason for the short day yesterday was that the next alburgue, or food, or ANYTHING was 12km further, and part was that B's feet just couldn't do any more.
We passed the very famous "wine fountain" and took the requisite photo! These bikers were filling their quart bottles -
After drying his poor raw toes yesterday afternoon we walked those 12km to the next stop, Los Arcos, this morning, then took a taxi to the large city of Logrono to try to find a better pair of boots before the shops closed for the weekend.
It so happens that the Spanish are big on celebrating May Day, (tomorrow, the first) and Logrono is packed full of people here for the holiday weekend, so all the small hotels and the first albergue we tried were full. We have ended up at our first really big municipal albergue, has 68 beds in three rooms. Thank goodness we were able to find B a pair of boots, a size bigger than the ones from home and rather lighter and softer construction, and we are thinking we need to actually rest his feet for two nights, so we'll look for other accommodation tomorrow and start walking again on Monday. Not what we'd hoped, but we must care for these feet!
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Part of the reason for the short day yesterday was that the next alburgue, or food, or ANYTHING was 12km further, and part was that B's feet just couldn't do any more.
We passed the very famous "wine fountain" and took the requisite photo! These bikers were filling their quart bottles -
After drying his poor raw toes yesterday afternoon we walked those 12km to the next stop, Los Arcos, this morning, then took a taxi to the large city of Logrono to try to find a better pair of boots before the shops closed for the weekend.
It so happens that the Spanish are big on celebrating May Day, (tomorrow, the first) and Logrono is packed full of people here for the holiday weekend, so all the small hotels and the first albergue we tried were full. We have ended up at our first really big municipal albergue, has 68 beds in three rooms. Thank goodness we were able to find B a pair of boots, a size bigger than the ones from home and rather lighter and softer construction, and we are thinking we need to actually rest his feet for two nights, so we'll look for other accommodation tomorrow and start walking again on Monday. Not what we'd hoped, but we must care for these feet!
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Thursday, April 28, 2016
Tonight in Lorca, about 25km, or 15 miles
Oh my gosh the weather could not be more beautiful for walking !! I am so grateful for the sun and the cool breezes. Today we traversed quite a bit of difficult, rocky, straight up and picking your way straight down terrain on trails that were often the remnants of Roman roads. I can only imagine how difficult it could be if it were raining, as is quite normal this time of year.
We began in Zariquiegui, over the Alto de Perdon,
through several other small (and sometimes tiny) villages to the village of Lorca. Scenery changed from mostly oilseed rape and grain fields to many olive groves and vineyards. Fields of peas as well!
We crossed the river Arga at Puente de la Reina,
During the Middle Ages a queen had the bridge improved to protect the lives of passing pilgrims, thus "the queen's bridge".
Following Roman roads, we crossed near a medieval bridge,
a Roman bridge, encountered a shepherd with his sheep, beautiful old streets, and a most unusual map of the world!
On the downside, despite all his preparation B's pinky toes are beginning to resemble hamburger, but among the pilgrims it seems to be a pretty common affliction. We are grateful for hydrogen peroxide and Compeed blister bandages!
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We began in Zariquiegui, over the Alto de Perdon,
through several other small (and sometimes tiny) villages to the village of Lorca. Scenery changed from mostly oilseed rape and grain fields to many olive groves and vineyards. Fields of peas as well!
We crossed the river Arga at Puente de la Reina,
During the Middle Ages a queen had the bridge improved to protect the lives of passing pilgrims, thus "the queen's bridge".
Following Roman roads, we crossed near a medieval bridge,
a Roman bridge, encountered a shepherd with his sheep, beautiful old streets, and a most unusual map of the world!
On the downside, despite all his preparation B's pinky toes are beginning to resemble hamburger, but among the pilgrims it seems to be a pretty common affliction. We are grateful for hydrogen peroxide and Compeed blister bandages!
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Wednesday, April 27, 2016
A short day today
Today is day four on our Camino, and yesterday was pretty long, 28 kilometers, so today we packed it in at 20 km, which was about 1:30 in the afternoon. We are at albergue St. Andreas at Zariquiegui, nearly up to the Alto de Perdon, which, if you remember any of the films it's the place where the metal silhouettes of people are along the crest of a hill, along with windmills (the big electricity generating kind). We'll reach there mid-morning tomorrow.
(Photos to follow as we're having wifi challenges)
Second photo is of a very coolly decorated coffee shop we stopped at in Pamplona. We ordered chocolate and churros for a mid-morning pick me up and were surprised to get glass mugs half full of a thick, triple chocolate, piping hot mixture that resembled pudding in the making, alongside three freshly fried churros. My stomach wasn't quite sure what to make of the richness, but the flavor was out of this world!
Medical report : despite our best efforts of buying boots with plenty of room and wearing them 200 miles plus, coating our feet morning and night with medicated powder, we are succumbing to blisters as each day goes by. It's hard to do a test of our days on the road uphill and down 😏. It's "muy importante" to stop and dry your feet at midday, feet sweat a lot and wet skin is vulnerable to rubbing injuries.
That said, other body parts are holding up well, especially B's new knee. I am amazed how much my quadriceps ache, and shoulders just a bit.
Today we came through Pamplona, here are pix of the Magdalene Bridge and the drawbridge at the pilgrims entryway. We managed to miss the Cathedral, but I must confess we were so enjoying just walking and looking that before we knew it we were through town - I'm not sure I want to have my nose in a guidebook all the time, but we'd like to figure out a way to notice important landmarks.
As I cannot seem to post this with all the photos, I'll try two posts for today - Good night!
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(Photos to follow as we're having wifi challenges)
Second photo is of a very coolly decorated coffee shop we stopped at in Pamplona. We ordered chocolate and churros for a mid-morning pick me up and were surprised to get glass mugs half full of a thick, triple chocolate, piping hot mixture that resembled pudding in the making, alongside three freshly fried churros. My stomach wasn't quite sure what to make of the richness, but the flavor was out of this world!
Medical report : despite our best efforts of buying boots with plenty of room and wearing them 200 miles plus, coating our feet morning and night with medicated powder, we are succumbing to blisters as each day goes by. It's hard to do a test of our days on the road uphill and down 😏. It's "muy importante" to stop and dry your feet at midday, feet sweat a lot and wet skin is vulnerable to rubbing injuries.
That said, other body parts are holding up well, especially B's new knee. I am amazed how much my quadriceps ache, and shoulders just a bit.
Today we came through Pamplona, here are pix of the Magdalene Bridge and the drawbridge at the pilgrims entryway. We managed to miss the Cathedral, but I must confess we were so enjoying just walking and looking that before we knew it we were through town - I'm not sure I want to have my nose in a guidebook all the time, but we'd like to figure out a way to notice important landmarks.
As I cannot seem to post this with all the photos, I'll try two posts for today - Good night!
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Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Beautiful, sunny warm day!
Wow, today we left our albergue at 7:45, stopped for a coffee after about an hour.
We had a lovely walk to Zubiri, where we had lunch - mine a "tortilla", which in Navarre is a potato frittata with a layer of ham and cheese in the middle, B had an omelet sandwich (egg, ham and cheese).
Left Zubiri shortly before noon and on to Larrasoana, where we stopped at a market and bought dates, an apple, and a banana. Tough to find "servicios" since we weren't in a restaurant!! But the market owner obliged B and our walking partner for these two days, Jaquie from Vancouver.
This evening we are in a gorgeous, quiet parochial albergue run by sisters of the order of Sacred Heart.
They are adjacent to an ancient church with a bell from the 13th century, altarpiece is colorful and very beautifully carved, dates from 16th century after a school in Pamplona.
We did 28 kilometers today, had a simple dinner and a lovely pilgrims service after dinner. Good night!
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We had a lovely walk to Zubiri, where we had lunch - mine a "tortilla", which in Navarre is a potato frittata with a layer of ham and cheese in the middle, B had an omelet sandwich (egg, ham and cheese).
Left Zubiri shortly before noon and on to Larrasoana, where we stopped at a market and bought dates, an apple, and a banana. Tough to find "servicios" since we weren't in a restaurant!! But the market owner obliged B and our walking partner for these two days, Jaquie from Vancouver.
This evening we are in a gorgeous, quiet parochial albergue run by sisters of the order of Sacred Heart.
They are adjacent to an ancient church with a bell from the 13th century, altarpiece is colorful and very beautifully carved, dates from 16th century after a school in Pamplona.
We did 28 kilometers today, had a simple dinner and a lovely pilgrims service after dinner. Good night!
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Monday, April 25, 2016
Oops - today we crossed the Pyrenees!
This morning we left the little alburgue at Orisson about 7:45 and continued on the "route Napoleon", so named because Napoleon used it to enter Spain through the mountain pass from Aquitaine during the Napoleonic wars.
It was a steep climb to 1400 meters and got pretty cold and breezy, but we were VERY grateful that we weren't dealing with snow or rain.
As we came down to breakfast there were peregrinos from St. Jean lined up outside the alburgue, looking for coffee and breakfast - they must have left St. Jean at 4:30 or 5:00 in the dark!
Our breakfast consisted of cafe au lait, bread (you could toast if it you stood in line at the toaster), with butter and jam, and orange juice. We had pre-ordered sandwiches to have for the road, B had ham and cheese and I chose pate, expecting to have something resembling liver wurst, but it was more like a mixture of chorizo, potato, tomato, and other unknowns. Interesting.
The pictures show our day, pretty much in order. We stopped at Roncesvalles to use the facilities, get a stamp in our pilgrim passport, and eat our sandwiches; although there was a large alburgue there we didn't stop, it just felt too early, so we walked another 6.5km or so, to Espinal. There are 8 folks staying here, in double bunks as last night, from Brazil, Sweden, Germany, and Canada, besides us.
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It was a steep climb to 1400 meters and got pretty cold and breezy, but we were VERY grateful that we weren't dealing with snow or rain.
As we came down to breakfast there were peregrinos from St. Jean lined up outside the alburgue, looking for coffee and breakfast - they must have left St. Jean at 4:30 or 5:00 in the dark!
Our breakfast consisted of cafe au lait, bread (you could toast if it you stood in line at the toaster), with butter and jam, and orange juice. We had pre-ordered sandwiches to have for the road, B had ham and cheese and I chose pate, expecting to have something resembling liver wurst, but it was more like a mixture of chorizo, potato, tomato, and other unknowns. Interesting.
The pictures show our day, pretty much in order. We stopped at Roncesvalles to use the facilities, get a stamp in our pilgrim passport, and eat our sandwiches; although there was a large alburgue there we didn't stop, it just felt too early, so we walked another 6.5km or so, to Espinal. There are 8 folks staying here, in double bunks as last night, from Brazil, Sweden, Germany, and Canada, besides us.
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Crossed the Pyrenees, just like Napoleon!
Did not post due to lack of wifi last night, sorry all!
Our hostess shooed us out of our accommodation in St Jean Pied de Port at about 8:30 on Sunday morning. Since there were no shops open and, let's face it, shopping was out of the question anyway, we headed out the Citadelle gate and up the hill toward Orisson. I don't know if it was beginning of the trail excitement or the exuberance of remaining jet lag, but we arrived at Orrison, 8km up the pass where we had a reservation to stay the night, at an embarrassingly early 10:30AM! The place was packed with pilgrims getting coffee, potato tortilla, sandwiches for the road, and basque almond cake (excellent stuff).
We sat and chatted with many different folks until we were shown our room. Six of us shared three double bunks. We set up sleeping bags, got next day clothes out and commenced cleaning ourselves and our clothes. All took a nap before dinner at 6:30. Dinner was lentil soup,
Coc au vin, bread, wine and the aforementioned delicious basque cake. We met folks from England, Brazil, Japan, Canada and India. It was a good first day. Lights out at 9:30.
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Our hostess shooed us out of our accommodation in St Jean Pied de Port at about 8:30 on Sunday morning. Since there were no shops open and, let's face it, shopping was out of the question anyway, we headed out the Citadelle gate and up the hill toward Orisson. I don't know if it was beginning of the trail excitement or the exuberance of remaining jet lag, but we arrived at Orrison, 8km up the pass where we had a reservation to stay the night, at an embarrassingly early 10:30AM! The place was packed with pilgrims getting coffee, potato tortilla, sandwiches for the road, and basque almond cake (excellent stuff).
We sat and chatted with many different folks until we were shown our room. Six of us shared three double bunks. We set up sleeping bags, got next day clothes out and commenced cleaning ourselves and our clothes. All took a nap before dinner at 6:30. Dinner was lentil soup,
Coc au vin, bread, wine and the aforementioned delicious basque cake. We met folks from England, Brazil, Japan, Canada and India. It was a good first day. Lights out at 9:30.
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Saturday, April 23, 2016
There's (practically) no room at the inn
We arrived in St Jean Pied de Port about 1610 this afternoon to find many of the albergues full!
When we checked in at the pilgrims office our helper guided us to an albergue, gave us lots of local information and a warning about the path change going into Roncesvalles. Seems the steep straight down hill run thru the last few km has been rerouted, a bit longer but less steep. Too many pilgrims are getting injured falling during the steep and apparently very slippery descent.
Our hospitalera told us to be ready for breakfast at 6:30 sharp so we could make the long walk to Roncesvalles tomorrow, but we're starting off easy with a short stroll straight uphill to Orisson. We are grateful that our hostess moved breakfast to 8:00 so we don't get to Orisson too early in the morning!
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When we checked in at the pilgrims office our helper guided us to an albergue, gave us lots of local information and a warning about the path change going into Roncesvalles. Seems the steep straight down hill run thru the last few km has been rerouted, a bit longer but less steep. Too many pilgrims are getting injured falling during the steep and apparently very slippery descent.
Our hospitalera told us to be ready for breakfast at 6:30 sharp so we could make the long walk to Roncesvalles tomorrow, but we're starting off easy with a short stroll straight uphill to Orisson. We are grateful that our hostess moved breakfast to 8:00 so we don't get to Orisson too early in the morning!
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Friday, April 22, 2016
Made it to Madrid!
We got to Vancouver in plenty of time to have our backpacks wrapped prior to checking. Upon check-in, the Alaska Airlines folks said we could have had them bagged at check in - live and learn!
From Vancouver flew back to Seattle, oh my, what a treat! Flying over the San Juans, Anacortes, Whidbey Island and on down to SeaTac at 15,000 feet on a clear, beautiful evening was worth every minute of extra time. Then on to London overnight, arrived late and missed our connecting flight to Madrid, but got booked on another flight out about an hour later. We're settled in at a lovely hotel near tomorrow morning's train station, and we're happy the bags made it on time and in wonderful shape!
Our 'laugh at ourselves' for the day - we've learned how much we didn't even dream of learning before we came! Like tipping etiquette in a restaurant in Madrid. Oh well, I think our lack of Spanish was somewhat entertaining for the waitstaff, and we learned later that our tip was appropriate, so all was good.
On to St. Jean Pied de Port by train and bus tomorrow!
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From Vancouver flew back to Seattle, oh my, what a treat! Flying over the San Juans, Anacortes, Whidbey Island and on down to SeaTac at 15,000 feet on a clear, beautiful evening was worth every minute of extra time. Then on to London overnight, arrived late and missed our connecting flight to Madrid, but got booked on another flight out about an hour later. We're settled in at a lovely hotel near tomorrow morning's train station, and we're happy the bags made it on time and in wonderful shape!
Our 'laugh at ourselves' for the day - we've learned how much we didn't even dream of learning before we came! Like tipping etiquette in a restaurant in Madrid. Oh well, I think our lack of Spanish was somewhat entertaining for the waitstaff, and we learned later that our tip was appropriate, so all was good.
On to St. Jean Pied de Port by train and bus tomorrow!
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Thursday, April 21, 2016
The toughest part.....so far
It's travel day one of three. Is everyone in agreement that, on any long trip, getting out the dang door is one of the toughest parts??
Took our beloved pup to stay with the wonderful Winters family at Canine Cozy Care resort in Stanwood. Friends Drew and Julia brought us to Bellingham Airport, where we'll catch a shuttle to Vancouver airport to begin - what was that film? - oh, planes, trains and automobiles, no wait, and busses too! Walking begins in St. Jean Pied de Port, France on Sunday.
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Took our beloved pup to stay with the wonderful Winters family at Canine Cozy Care resort in Stanwood. Friends Drew and Julia brought us to Bellingham Airport, where we'll catch a shuttle to Vancouver airport to begin - what was that film? - oh, planes, trains and automobiles, no wait, and busses too! Walking begins in St. Jean Pied de Port, France on Sunday.
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Saturday, April 16, 2016
Getting close!
We're down to our last few training days. Time now to put daily activities on hold, unpack and reorganize the packs one last time, and embrace the adventure!
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Can I do this?
So many friends and family have asked how they can "follow" us along our way, I'm hoping this little blog will meet most folks needs. It's always a challenge for this 'digital immigrant' to figure out how things work! This post is an experiment in adding a photo to text.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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