Sol y Nieve

So, glorious Catherine brought the glorious weather with her for her first day of walking. We took the bus back to where I left off in Villafranca on Saturday morning and got started around 10:30. We probably had the best weather of the whole trip. It was sunny and warm but not too warm and the route was pretty hilly with beautiful views of the green rolling hills and farmland. We had planned to go about 30 km. to O´Cebreiro but I had told Ina and S.K. that we might, in fact, go just abou 20 km. to a small town called Ruitelán. After a few hours, we caught up with Ina who was leaving a note for me (we sometimes write notes and place them on the road with stones to hold them in place) saying that she and S.K. who was ahead of us had decided to stay in Ruitelán instead of continuing the steep climb up to O´Cebriero. Christian (who is now miles ahead of us as we learned that he walked 60 km.--approximately 36 miles--one day) had heard that the albergue in Ruitelán was supposed to be great. We arrived there and it was wonderful. We arrived, threw in a load of wash, went to the local bar, sat in the sun and had some beers (Catherine´s treat). It was very relaxing. Then we returned and the two guys running the place cooked what might have been the best meal of our trip. We had a great carrot soup, a wonderful salad with fresh cheese & roasted red peppers, spaghetti carbonara, dessert and wine. Us four girls shared a room and Raúl and three Spanish men were in the other room. Raúl is continuing to limp along but we look forward to seeing him at each location where we all examine his swollen knee and completely torn up feet. The albergue played great music. They told us that due to the time change, not to get up until 8 and not until we heard the music. At 8 we heard "Ave Maria" sung by Montserrat Caballé streaming into our room. We had a great breakfast and headed out into the light rain. Ina lent Catherine her giant red rain poncho/backpack cover which completely dwarfed Catherine. She looked very funny. Catherine was great. Even though it was raining she was so enthusiastic and excited to be on the Camino. As we climbed higher and higher to reach O´Cebreiro, the views became more and more fantastic. I think C. joined as at just the right time to see what just might be the most beautiful part of the Camino. As we got higher it started to snow a little. We got to O´Cebreiro which is the first town in the region of Galicia. Galicia is beautiful--it is very green and very celtic--just like Ireland. But, like Ireland, the reason that it is so green is that it rains all the time. O´Cebreiro is a small and charming village with most buildings made of gray stone. There seemed to be some Spanish day trippers there for a Sunday excursion. We went to a great little restaurant where we had Caldo Gallego (a soup with potato, white beans and greens sort of like Swiss chard) and some local soft cheese with honey and bread. We also had wine which they serve at all meals by the bottle (for something like 3 dollars). Catherine felt we shouldn´t let it go to waste but I didn´t think it would help with the remaining miles. When we left the weather took a turn. It started to thunder very loudly and then pour down....snow! It was the craziest thing. Then there were some ice pellets but mainly snow. We walked and walked and although we thought once we reached O´Cebriero that the rest would be down hill, this wasn´t exactly the case. It continued to snow and once again, we amended our plan. Instead of making it a 30 km. day to Triacastela, we decided to stop in Fonfria (about 20 km.). The three older Spanish men who we really get a kick out of, were also there. Nicole arrived with Hungarian Eva and new friend, Portuguese Carlos. As you may or may not know, I love Portugal and now Carlos is well aware of this as about every minute I´d announce some other Portuguese town, food, drink, etc. that I love.
The albergue appeared very nice but was freezing cold--even though they had heat it wasn´t on much and it was by far the coldest night that I have spent on the Camino.
This morning we left the albergue and it was extremely cold, foggy and damp but as we walked the day turned out to be lovely. The views, again, were amazing and I was so glad that Catherine joined us when she did as I really think this is the prettiest part of the Camino. The sun came out, the sky got blue, the temperatures warmed up quite a bit and we continued on our way. If our remaining days will be as nice as today we would be very happy walkers. We arrived this afternoon in the village of Sarria. I went to the convent to get another pilgrim passport (you collect stamps in your passport as you walk through each village and mine is now full). Shortly after we arrived, the whole gang filtered in: Nicole, Hungarian, Carlos, Raúl, a Spanish couple from way back in Rabanal. I trust the three Spanish men will be there when we get back. Ina would like pizza tonight so we are trying to find a place but the prospects look a little bleak.
Speaking of food, I had hoped and expected to have the pounds just falling off of me on this Camino. I´m not very good at determining my own weight without a scale or noticing how my clothes fit. On this trip I have no scale and I´m wearing loose fitting drawstring pants so I really have no gauge. The first couple of weeks I think I probably lost quite a bit--I wasn´t eating so much and I was doing those very long, back-to-back 20+ mile days. But in the last week or so, I´ve been walking less and...eating more. The more social our group has become, the more we eat. It seems logical that one would lose weight. When I lived in Korea, all of the Americans living there lost tons of weight...all of them except my friend Pia and me. We were the only ones to gain weight--something that we were vaguely proud of. Our Korean neighbor even said, "I can hear you gaining weight." So, logic seems to have little to do with it in my case. It might be like the time I worked in Duluth, Minnesota with my friend Valerie for about 6 weeks. Once again, I was wearing very loose clothes and had no mirror or scale. It wasn´t until we were driving home and stopped at a wretched Motel 6 in Gary, Indiana, that I went into the bathroom to take a shower and gasped as I saw a big fat lady in the mirror. I was genuinely startled and alarmed by my reflection and it wasn´t until I got home that the scale verified that I had gained about 30 pounds. I though maybe I had gained 5. So, what with all the ham and wine consumption, it´s a real crapshoot.
We´ve been away for internet for a bit. Many have reported worrying if they don´t hear anything on this blog--we´re always okay--just not able to communicate it.

Catherine has arrived safely!

We met up in Ponferrada last night and stayed there. We have taken the bus to Villafranca del Bierzo to start from where I left yesterday. The hardest day of the Camino (or 2nd hardest) is today--Catherine´s first. --All up hill...all day. Catherine says....

Laura is a goddess! She came all the way back to the previous town just to meet me at the bus. We walked to an albuerge and were greeted by friendly older folks with big volunteer signs on their chests. Potts and I had our own room w bunkbed! It feels like camp, with Gregorian monks chanting instead of a rooster waking us up at dawn! Last night when I got off the bus and LP called my name I was so happy! All is well, sun is out, we begin our walk together! Somebody, please call Brenda and let her know I am safe! Gracias!

Muy Duro

I´ve missed a few days here as we have been in some places without internet access. We had a good time in Mazarife, the last place that I mentioned, as there were just 7 of us there. I really enjoy it more when it is a small group. We walked to Astorga that day which is a really nice little city. The albergue there was great. In our room it was just our group (Christian, Ina, Sang Kyoung, me, "Nicole"--another Korean girl). An actually very nice restaurant had a special discounted pilgrim´s menu and the five of us went there. It wasn´t a super fancy place but so much nicer than what we have grown accostomed to. We actually felt sort of foolish in our hiking clothes. We were told to bring our ¨Pilgrim´s Credential" in order to get the good deal but one look at us and the waiter was pretty sure we qualified. Christian, especially, looked funny with his loud African drum pants. We had a wonderful meal and it was nice to have a table cloth and a waiter with a tie, etc. It felt very special. It was in Astorga that we noticed that Ina´s ankle had swelled to the size of a softball. The guy who ran the place gave her ice packs and rubbed olive oil on it. Olive oil, I suspect, is a Spanish cure all. He urged her to stay one extra night and we volunteered to stay with her but she is as stubborn as a mule so she went on with us.
For some days we had noticed beautiful snowcapped mountains in the distance. As the days passed the distance became less, the mountain range seemed wider, and there seemed to be no gap in the mountains. With this information, Ina went out on a limb and suggested that we would, in fact, have to cross the snowy mountains and as it turned out, she was correct. We left Astorga in our group, along with Raúl, a Spaniard that we met in Astorga. I walked with Christian as he and I tend to walk pretty fast. The day was something of a mess--as we went a little higher it rained, then got sunny, then a rainbow, then more rain, then many ice pellets, sleet, snow--a "wintry mix" if you will. It was quite horrible and windy and cold. It was a short day´s walk (about 13 miles) and Christian and I made it there very quickly. Shortly before he arrived in the village of Rabanal, Christian said that I walked too fast. I did walk fast but it was because 1) I was behind him and following his pace 2)the weather was horrible and I just wanted to get to the albergue 3) I really had to go to the bathroom. Of course, he might have said something else. Ina and I surmise that about 21% of what we communicate to Christian is actually understood--and vice versa. I speak no French, he speaks little English. Everything we know about him involves a "may or may not". His daughter may or may not prepare dogs for dog shows. His sons may or may not be cooks. He may or may not have said that he is going to go to India to work for Mother Teresa´s outfit. He may or may not prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate. It´s all a big guessing game.
The albergue was pretty nice but I was so cold and I never felt warm again that day. I also was annoyed as there were tons of people there and as we arrived the snow really picked up so nobody was wandering around the villlage--just hanging out at the albergue walking around. I thought I was going to go crazy with the opening and closing of doors every 5 seconds. I got into my bed in my sleeping bag for about two hours and lovely Ina thankfully offered me her MP3 player to listen to some music. At 7 we went to the small chapel to hear the Gregorian monks chant their evening prayers. It was very nice, actually. I noted that everytime I have been to church on this trip, it has snowed. Lesson learned--I won´t go to church anymore. We went back to the albergue and had dinner. The next day´s leg (today--from Rabanal to Molinaseca) had been reported to me to be "muy duro"--very hard, by José Luis, a Spanish guy who we met some days before. He went through my guide book and told me it is probably the hardest part of the Camino (due to the crossing of the snowy mountains) but also the most beautiful (again, I´m guessing, because of the crossing of the snowy mountains). That night at the albergue the snow plow drivers arrived and told us that the road was impassable and that we would probably have to stay another day in Rabanal. So, we got up a little later than usual, ate breakfast and learned that during the night, the temperature had gone up, it had rained all night and much of the snow had melted. Christian had been with us for the previous 5 or 6 days and I think he slowed down to be with us as he usually covers a bit more ground than us. For these last few days, we all gather with our guide books and then decide where we will meet to stay that night. (It is at this point that Ina will write the name of a village and albergue on a scrap of paper for Sang Kyoung who carries no guide book). This morning, Christian said he wasn´t sure where he would go so I figured he was going to forge on ahead farther than what we were planning. When he left, he said to me in English (which is very rare for him), "I see for you." --I took this to mean "I will look for you." (as in, on the Camino, over the next few days). But, then again, he could have said, "I sing for you." which sounds strange but we do make him sing French songs for us including but not limited to, "Somewhere, Beyond the Sea" (your favorite song Lichan) but, you know, the French version by Charles Trenet and not the Bobby Darrin version. He also could have said, "I ski for you." or "I seem for you." It´s pretty much always like this with him. A sidenote on Christian. I really am hard pressed to believe that the French stereotype is true but I always ask just to check and sure enough, at the mere mention of Jerry Lewis, Christian´s face lit up. He, like all of the French, loves Jerry Lewis. He also went on to say (we think) that he likes Robert Stack and Dean Martin. I asked if he liked any American actors who were not dead or did not have one foot in the grave. He couldn´t really come up with anyone but about 6 hours later mentioned Dustin Hoffman. So there you go.
So, I started out on my own this moring and as José Luis said, it was Muy Duro. It was particulary hard due to the severe wind. It was like being in a wind tunnel--at times I could not go forward. Brian, remember when we were at the sand dunes in Michigan and the wind blew so hard it broke my camera. It was just like that, only except for sand stinging my face, it was bitterly cold rain. Oh, and instead of it lasting 10 minutes like in Michigan, it lasted about 4 hours. And, I´m thinking the other 5 times that José Luis walked the Camino and deemed it the most beautiful part, that perhaps the visibility was greater than 30 feet. You could see nothing. I (and everyone else, I think, except for superhero Christian) went on the main road in lieu of the Camino proper as the main road was clear of snow. But, you just walked up and up and had the stinging rain and no view and the wind was "muy duro". After a few hours I got to a village and stopped for a coffee and Christian was just leaving so he waited for me and then walked with me on the descent the last 6 or 7 miles to the next village (Molinaseca). The fog lifted a little bit and the wind died down a little bit and the view was really very beautiful. I stayed in Molinaseca (where I now am) and Christian continued on to the next town. Ina and Jennifer arrived shortly after I did and that about brings us up to date. The albergue here is very new and nice and clean and comfortable and the village is quite charming. In a bit will go into the village for dinner.
I´m trying to think of answers to questions that you´ve asked. Lichan the place in Spain where we stayed with your parents, was La Manga (de mar menor) where we went to the bar with the happy hour that said,"A great time for the kids". I speak Spanish with the Spanish people and now that Holy week is over , there aren´t that many of them. Usually I am speaking English but I´m generally the only native English speaker. I translate a lot when people have questions for the Spanish people. With Christian it is some sort of Spanish, French, English medley but it isn´t understood so ... Oh, Marisol, if you were here, you could be the official translator for Christian. Marisol is my wonderful Spanish friend who speaks French and Spanish like a native and I´m pretty sure her English is better than mine. I'm sorry I didn´t get to see you this time Marisol. I don´t listen to an ipod--just the crazy thoughts in my head. The places usually have pillows and blankets
CCW --I willl send you an e-mail but I think that the night of the 28th I will probably stay in Villafranca del Bierzo--leaving the morning of the 29th for Ruitelán where the albergue is supposed to be great--I should sleep there the night of the 29th. But, Let me know where you will go and I can probably go back to Ponferrada or Viallafranca del Bierzo by bus or train to meet you. We also have to get you a pilgrim credential so that you can stay at the albergues and they don´t have them at all of the towns. They will probably let you stay without one for one night though. I will pass through Ponferrada tomorrow and can find out about buses,etc.

Lazyish Days

Well, Christian´s dinner was great--a wonderful salad, potatoes, pork ribs in a really great sauce, lots of wine and some yogurts for dessert. The funny thing is that Sang Kyoung doesn´t really eat pork but does when Christian cooks. After dinner we were all going to go to mass at 8 p.m. (the night before Easter) at the village church. When we got there, however, we found out that it was not until 10 so we were forced to go to the bar for two hours to bide our time. We went to the mass which was nice but I think Ina thought it was a bust as she thought what with Easter there should be more people--she counted only 45 and 7 of them were us. The mass was rather long what with the blessing of the holy water and all of the locals bringing up their empty Coke bottles and what not to be filled with said holy water.
We woke up to a light dusting of snow which really just made everything pretty and Christian, Ina, Sang Kyoung and I made the short walk (about 11) miles to Leon which is a nice city. We were able to check in at the albergue early. We were pleased to find that the dorms were separated for men and women which really reduced the snoring for us on the women´s side. We walked around Leon, had some drinks and tapas, went out to dinner, etc. The albergue in Leon is run by the nuns and they had a nice little end of evening prayer service last night at 9:30. I generally understand Spanish pretty well but I must say that these nuns spoke such a crystal clear Spanish that they might as well have been speaking English as it was so easy to understand.
Ina, sadly, had her camera stolen and Sang Kyoung´s broke so this morning we decided to have another easy day (about 14 miles) and instead of starting out early, went to El Corte Inglés Department store where they bought new cameras. Sang Kyoung also bought an incredibly enormous, gold colored, man´s Swatch watch that is hysterically funny due to her tiny arm. We have promised to ask her the time at least 5 times per day. A funny sidenote was when we were walking with Christian and Sang Kyoung offered him a cookie and he declined, Sang Kyoung said, ¨You should take it. I ate the pork¨." She says these things for my benefit as the English is rather lost on Christian. We got a late start from Leon but had a gorgeous day and a beautiful walk with lots of snow covered mountains in the distance. When we arrived in town a little while ago (Villar de Mazarife), Christian was waiting for us on the front porch with beer and dark chocolate. The woman who runs the place is making a paella dinner and Ina, Sang Kyoung and I have a load of clothes in the wash so we are pretty excited. Tomorrow we will go about 18 miles to the city of Astorga. It´s nice not having the super long days of walking and being able to relax.

The Best Day Ever!

I started out this morning from Sahagún and for the second day in a row as I set out at about 7 a.m., I saw the Spanish youth filing out of the discos and bars from a night of revelling. It brought back memories of when I lived in Salamanca and after a night out, my friend, Lisa, and I would go to this all night snackbar for bocadillos de tortilla de patata and then to the churros and chococlate place. I chatted with them for a awhile and once again realized that the time schedule of the walker on the Caminio in no way coincides with that of any normal Spanish person. Today was probably the most rural or isolated of any of my walks. The route went on the old Calzada Romana, a Roman road. For about 15 miles it passed through fields with no villages, no roads, no cars, really nothing. It was a windy but beautiful day with bright, blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and far off in the distance I could see the snowcapped Picos de Europa mountains. I saw no other walkers all day but enjoyed MOST of the 23 miles. I can´t imagine doing this in the summer-no shade at all--the amount of water you would have to carry would be prohibitively heavy. I was feeling a bit lonesome and was missing my new friends. I´d had an e-mail from Ina and she and Sang Kyoung and Christian were a day ahead of me. She said that they would try to stay in Leon for an extra night so that I could catch up with them there on Easter. The last 4 or 5 miles of these long days are always kind of hard and today as I neared the village, I could see that the fluffy white clouds had changed into dark clouds and rain seemed iminent. The worse part was that I had to walk directly toward the storm. It seemed to be some frozen rain or sleet or something that was comprised of tiny white pellets bouncing off of me. It only lasted a few minutes but was none too fun.
I continued into the village, Mansillas de Mulas, and as I approached the albergue, I saw Sang Kyoung sitting in the window at a café. She and Ina stayed in this town an extra night to wait for me. I couldn´t believe it--I was so happy to see them. And that wasn´t all--they alerted me that Christian stayed and extra night and so did Toby (our German friend) and Kim (from Holland). You cannot imagine how happy I am to be able to spend time with these new friends. Christian is preparing a big dinner for all of us--it should be good--he´s been working on it for hours. I am as happy as a clam that we are all together. The albergue is really nice as well and as the other five were all here last night and had the run of the place. They asked to be moved to the best room where they saved a bed for me. I couldn´t be happier. This day´s walk was unusual as there were two routes to choose from --usually there is just the one. I chose the one that was about a mile longer but reportedly more scenic. This morning, anticipating my arrival, Ina and S.K. went out to the other route to leave messages for me (hearts in orange peel, etc.). They also had my bed decorated with an orange peel heart and had bought me a dark chocolate bar and Hit biscuits which I love. They are calling me to dinner now so I must run. I wish you all the happiness that I have today.

A Little Weary

Last night there were some processions for Easter in the village of Carrion. Big cities in Spain have a lot of these events during Holy Week. You may have seen photos of these processions. There are large groups of people who wear what I can only describe as Klansmen hoods and masks. These costumes are not meant to be evil, however. In Carrion, the people do not wear these costumes but wear black wool capes that old Spanish men routinely wear in winter. They carry big statues of religious icons. I watched for a bit but it was very cold.
Today I had a very long day from Carrion to Sahagun. I have passed the halfway point. I walked about 24 miles today--actually probably 26 due to my backtracking when I was somewhat lost. I´m a bit weak of body and spirit today. I¨d hoped to catch some of my friends here but so far I don´t recognize anyone. If I feel up to it, I might do another long day tomorrow as then I could do a short walk Sunday morning to León and be there on Easter which might be nice. This morning was very cold--I´m not sure of the temperature but I did fill up my water bottles when I left the albergue. Two hours later, one of them had started to freeze up. It was a nice walk though and like all of the days, full of beautiful scenery. It was chilly most of the day but now the sun is very strong and feels wonderful. I sat here in this town´s Plaza Mayor soaking up the sun and watching the kids play in the square. I later went back with my book and sat and read and chatted with the 80 year old men--who are always wherever the sun is in Spain. It was fun to chat with them.
That´s all for now. Beth A. --don´t know if you are keeping up with this or not...if so, Maite and Maria José´s kids are lovely.

Starting Over

I had a fabulous time in Valladolid with my wonderful friends. Last night we all went to Maria Jose and Alberto´s house for my favorite Spanish meal. We had tons of really good food--kind of tapas style--big plates of jamon serrano, about 4 other cured meats, 3 or 4 kinds of cheese, empanadas, olives, lots of wine, other stuff that I´m forgetting. It was really fun and was so glad that I got to spend time with these amazing friends who always look after me so well when I visit. It was great to meet their wonderful girls who I had not met before. Another friend of ours, Cati, and her husband and child were out of town so sadly I missed them but apart from that, all was perfect. Some friends of this group were driving to Santander this morning so they drove me to Fromista (where I left the Camino on Tuesday) and dropped me off there as it was right on their way. I got started right where I left off on Tuesday. It seemed so strange though--just like I was starting over again. I felt a little bit lonesome as all of the other people that I passed on the Camino were strangers to me.
I had a pretty short walk to Carrion de los Condes (about 12 or 13 miles) and checked into the very nice albergue run by the Claras (nuns). Then I went into town and for once I was at a restaurant at an appropriate Spanish lunch time. It is a holiday here (Holy Thursday) and there were a lot of people out and about. It seems I picked the most poplular restaurant in town. It was super crowded and as a result I was seated at a table with others--this used to happen to me sometime when I lived here and I loved it. I sat across from an old local guy who eats at this restaurant everyday and as such often sits at the table for single diners and is accostomed to chatting with strangers. It seems all the others who sat around us were people on holiday from Madrid. So, I had some fun dining companions. I had a great meal--a garlic soup and then some very good beef--kind of like a stew, I guess. They also just plant a bottle of red wine in front of you and you can have what you like--the charge is the same whether you have one glass or say, three or four. I also had a tasty strawberry mousse dessert. It was a lovely meal and afterwards I headed back to the albergue to see some familiar faces. Some of the group from the "family" dinner that Alex made last week were there. Alex, German Elena, and the two Hungarian girls, Eva and Leda. I though these last two were students but no, we have a psychiatrist and a dentist so I guess if I go over the deep end, or chip a tooth, I´ll be in good hands. There is a mass tonight at the convent where we are staying but I¨m not sure if I´ll be able to stay awake for it. I had a late night in Valladolid last night and I´m very sleepy.
Oh, throughout this trip, I have carried my passport, credit card, larger bills, etc. in a safe place but have had change and spending money in a snack sized ziplock bag. Ina, I´m pretty sure, has been mortified every time I pull it out to pay. Today at a bar where I stopped for a coffee, the lady working there took pity on me and gave me a little coin purse with the name of the bar on it. It is the perfect size and I love it. I have clean clothes, a great room tonight (only three beds--no bunks--sharing with the Hungarian girls) and I have a wonderful coin purse. I´m very excited. I think I will do a long walk tomorrow (maybe 40 km from Carrion de Condes to Sahagun) --Oh, and tomorrow, I will pass the half way point. I can´t beleive it.
I hope you are all enjoying your holidays--I sure am. I think if I push it, I can be in Leon ( a great city) on Easter morning where I might catch up with some of the others.

Goodbye and Hello

Yesterday was really a lovely walk from Hontanas to Fromista. The weather has gotten cooler which I rather enjoy for walking. I arrived in Fromista and had about two hours to wait for the train to Valladolid. Ina and Sang Kyoung (pictured here) spent the whole time with me before I left. They checked into the albuergue and then we had a drink. Then they went with me to the train station to see me off. After nearly two weeks with Ina and a week with Sang Kyoung, I was sad to say goodbye. I´m not sure that I'll catch them but we have made arrangements to meet in Santiago if I do not see them sooner. The short train ride brought me to Valladolid where my dear friends, Maite and Maria Jose picked me up at the station. I had not seen them for nearly 8 years. We met up with their husbands and kids as well and I´ll get to spend more time with all of them this afternoon. Maite, Maria Jose, Goyo and Alberto all congratulated ourselves and each other on not having changed in the least in the last 8 years. Maite brought me home and I´ve been living the life of luxury. I have a comfortable bed in my own room, a great bathroom, freshly laundered clothes, meals prepared for me and a super-huge thick bath towel. It might be hard to go back tomorrow morning. I also had a chance to post pictures here on the blog--there is one for each previous entry as well as those on the sides. Maybe it will help you picture things better. The pictures of the countryside are pretty much my wonderful view all day everyday. Tomorrow morning I plan to take the train back to Fromista and walk just about 12 miles to Carrion de los Condes.

Bars and Cars

I have reallized that I may have mentioned stopping in at bars a lot and I´m wondering if I´m giving the wrong impression. Years ago when I lived in Spain my parents came for a visit. After they returned home I had a letter from my sister that said,"It sounds like Mom and Dad had fun in Spain, from what I can gather the three of you spent most of the time hanging out in bars." I guess she was picturing us in a smoky bar slamming whiskey shots. Cafe might be a better word but especially in the small villages the bar is the social center. In the morning people go in for coffee and maybe a pastry, later in the morning a tapa and a wine, in the afternoon the same and maybe in the evening a drink or meal. They are full of old people, kids, teenagers, moms, dads, infants, etc. Sunday, for example, on my very hard walk to Burgos, I was getting very hungry. In the one village the bar was closed so I was relieved to find an open bar in the next village. I went in and had to holler to find someone there. I got a ham bocadillo and a juice and was on my own. A couple of minutes later an old man came in carrying a branch. Then two kids came in carrying branches (at this point I figured out it was Palm Sunday and here, the evidently get some sort of azalea branch rather than a palm frond). Within about 10 minutes the tiny bar was packed with what I can assume was the whole village--about 40 people strong--dads carrying toddlers, young children, teenagers, grandparents. So, that´s the story on the frequent bar visits. Mainly that´s where I´m eating breakfast lunch and dinner.
After the last posting here, Ina, Christian and I wet out to dinner. Nigel later joined us. I don´t know if I have mentioned him. He is a British guy but has lived in Bilbao (in Northern Spain in the Basque Country) for 26 years. He is a violinist in the Bilbao symphony and is a very nice man. He is walking the camino in legs and does about a week every couple of years. We were fortunate to have him with us for a few days. Burgos was his last stop this go around and we will miss him.
Oh, Brian has alerted me that I am not always clear on which towns I have walked to each day. This makes it very difficult for him to figure out my progress on his elaborate map of the Camino which he flags, pins, and notes every step of my way. So, on the 17th we walked from Burgos to Hontanas and today, the 18th from Hontanas to Fromista.
Korean Dana never turned up in Burgos and Ina and I were pretty disappointed. We were about 2 hours out of Burgos on our walk when we thought we spotted her ahead of us. We finally caught up with her and had a happy reunion right on the Camino. The three of us walked the rest of the way to Hontanas together and we really needed each other´s support. It was only about 18 miles but a very hard 18 miles. Usually you can see the village that you will visit miles in advance but we walked a solid 7 miles with no sign of anything--no roads, no buildings (well one), no sign of anything. Pretty fields but unchanging scenery---no trees, just fields. Finally we saw a sign indicating that the town was about 500 meters away. We could still not see the village. Finally the road dipped and about 20 yards before the tiny village we could finally see it. It was a really hard walk. This, like many of the villlages enroute, is probably being kept alive by the Camino. It is a tiny little village and the only businesses there are the two bars connected to the albergues. The "car" in my title today is actually a truck. As the village has no shop, we were informed that a truck would roll through town at 6p.m. and we could go out and buy fruit, vegetables, yogurt, etc. It is a little store on wheels that serves this tiny community. So, it was with great surprise that while in this tiny town, in the middle of nowhere, when eating at the bar, the lady who runs the place came around the tables yelling ¨Laura Potts? Laura Potts? Telefono". I had used the pay phone to call my friend, Maite, earlier but there had been no answer. I guess Maite used the caller i.d. and called the payphone but I sure was shocked when I had a telephone call at this bar as nobody in the world knew I was there. Joining us for dinner last night were a girl from the Czech Republic (who must weigh about 90 pounds and carries about a 25 pound backpack) and stunning Kim, from Holland. Kim recently quit her job of 5 years as a criminal defense lawyer as in the words of M. Kem, she didn´t want more money, she wanted "less job." So, she is walking the Camino and will then go work for KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines as a flight attendant. I think she will soon become the featured flight attendant on all their ads, promotional videos, in flight procedural videos as she is incredibly beautiful and you could not find anyone who looks more typically Dutch than she.
Also adding to the cast of characters...in Burgos we met Florence a French woman who runs some sort of donkey farm in France where she builds elaborate donkey carts and then trains donkeys to pull the carts and shows people how to use the carts. She went to Mongolia to buy yurts (Mongolian tents) presumably to be used on the donkey carts. Sadly she fainted the other morning in the bar--it was pretty scary--she claims it was because she hadn´t had any bread the day before. I told Ina that if I happen to faint in a bar, to please try to kick the cigarette butts and trash out of the way before I hit the ground. Hero Christian, caretaker of the Camino, was there to revive her and to walk with her all day to make sure she got to the next spot safely.
I´m now on my vacation at my friend Maite´s house in Valladolid. I had a great shower, my clothes are in the wash and now it´s dinner time. It is really like living in luxury.

Velour and Happiness

When Pretty Boy Juan announced last week that he would walk 40 km (24 miles) per day, we thought he was crazy. Oddly, I¨ve been walking between 20-24 miles everyday for the last 4 days. I don´t set out to do so though. I get up, plan to go 15-18 miles and I do...but I arrive at the village at about 11:30 a.m. The alberegues don´t open until about 4 and these villages have maybe one bar or a church so then I decide I might as well keep walking. And then, in the back of my mind I have it that maybe if I go the extra mile, I will catch the Norwegians or Christian. There will be no forthcoming novel but I do think that ¨Catching Norwegians¨ or "Chasing Etienne¨(I know his name is Christian but then in might seem like a religious story) might be good titles. Anyway, today was particularly grueling--about 25 miles . The weather was not as windy as yesterday but cold which was fine with me. I wore my orange fleece cap the whole day (a first). Before I came here I thought I´d really like getting to cities but a strnge thing has happened. After walking in rural places alone, the cities make me uneasy. I mean, I feel safe there and not intimidated but I want to leave. Also, following the trail in the city is harder as you tend to be looking around at shops, etc. and lose sight of the yellow arrows. Invariably, some kind Spanish person will spot the hapless dorks in the backpacks and send them the right direction.
Last night was fun. The more we see people that we know, the more family atmosphere there is. Alex, a young Austrian announced that he would buy groceries and cook for the whole group (about 12 of us). We all gave him a couple of bucks towards food and wine and he made a pretty good stew for us. Korean Dana, Ina, Toby were there as well and two Hungarian girls, a couple of other Germans and a French foursome. The France contingent was comprised of a man and two women in their late 50s and the fourth was...a two year old Black Lab named Velour. ¨Velou¨is the seeing eyedog of the French gentlemen who is blind. We had so much fun and we enjoyed having Velou in the dorm with us.
Like I said, today was a long hard walk--lots of pretty views but lots of rocky hills. The worst part was arriving in Burgos--I had to walk the last 8 miles of the 25 down a noisy road with factories and warehouses. It was not charming...I did get to see pretty Burgos but was competely spent when I arrived here. My feet felt so tired, I felt so tired and hoped their would be space for me as there is no way I could go further. As I sat at the desk registering and yapping with the old, funny, Spanish guy working here...I looked up and saw my hero, Christian. At last we have found him. I am reveling in the happiness of seeing my dear friend. That and a shower have done wonders for me and I guess I´ll be ready for another 40k tomorrow.

Flechas Amarillas and Reunions

The Camino itself is made up of gravel roads, dirt farm roads, wooded paths, old roman roads, rocky paths, wooded paths, roads, sidewalks, etc. The camino is very well sign posted with many flechas amarillas (yellow arrows). These yellow arrows are painted on the pavement, walls, buildings, road signs, everywhere. In the cities you tend to see blue stickers with a yellow arrow pointing the direction --the are stuck onto road signs, lightposts, etc. There are also scallop shell signs pointing the way. The early pilgrims used to continue on to Finisterre (The end of the world--as it was then thought to be--where Spain meets the Atlantic ocean). While there, they would get a scallop shell from the beach and wear it home. The scallop shell is now the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. I think the camino was marked best in Navarra. In Rioja it was a bit confusing in spots but generally after you´d walk a bit, you´d see a yellow arrow pointing the way. I am now in Castilla y Leon which is the largest region in Spain.
The weather has been something. The last two days, although gorgeous for most people, were a wee bit warm for us walkers. I don´t know the actual temperature but it felt like it was about 80. It was probably in the low 70s but very hot. People who do this in the summer are crazy. This morning started out nice and cool and it has turned extremely windy. It is VERY HARD to walk with the wind blowing so strongly. I´m taking a little lunch break and hoping it will die down a bit. This is our third day of 20-22 miles per day and it is a bit tiring. Especially in the hot weather and now in the wind. I left Logroño after having tasty tapas and some wine the other day and Ina and I ended up in Navarette--the only ones there. It was great place. By the way, the showers have been great for the last few days. If I don´t complain, you can assume they are fine. We stayed last night in Santo Domingo de Calzada--a really nice town. The albergue was in a beautiful old building and was pretty comfortable. Most people walk at their own pace and not necessarily together. Until yesterday, the only people apart from Ina and the Norwegians that I´d encountered on the Camino were cyclists. Yesterday I passed about 11 people. I hadn´t seen that many before. Since we had long walking days we thought we might catch Christian but I was shocked when I entered the albergue yesterday as I did not expect to see young Juan. We figured he was halfway to Santiago. I had told Ina that we would never see him again unless he was injured--and sadly, that is the case. Evidently his knee is quite bad. He is very dissapointed and has had to take buses the last couple of days. Evidently his low point featured him lying on the trail calling his father to come and pick him up. His father told him he could be there in 7 hours so Juan sucked it up and hobbled to the next village. Toby made him a walking stick. Poor Juan. It´s like he´s had the life sucked out of him. He informed me that the older Australian couple had been preparing family meals for everyone at the albergues. I asked if they accomodated his Vegan life style and he replied, ¨No, I´m eating everything now--ham, beef, fish.¨ He doesn´t seem happy about it but it is easier than walking out to eat. Today he won´t even attempt to walk and we should see him at the next village. I was happy to see him but wish he would have remained well. He´s thinking of just going home. We also saw Korean Dana who the day before had walked a shocking 50 km. (30 miles) --it was not her intention but all the albergues where she tried to go were closed. As a reward though, she did get to meet Christian who cooked dinner for her. We also saw the Austrian guy from my second night. The friendly Australian couple cooked a big dinner for everyone which was really nice. We met Nigel, a violinist with the Bilbao symphony and finally met the Dutch couple whose comments we´ve been reading in all of the guest books at the albergues.
Today we might end up all split up. We said that we would meet in Villafranca Montes de Oca but I think with the weather many will stop sooner (someone here at the restaurant has just said it was raining--so that with the wind)...I don´t know. Juan was planning to take the bus there but I´m not sure the rest of us will make it. I¨ve walked about 15 miles already today and it´s another 7. I¨ll give it a go but the rest of the group is behind me (I tend to walk fast) so not sure that we´ll all meet up. I am looking forward in a few days to meeting up with my Spanish friends from Valladolid. I can´t wait. Since I am ahead of schedule I might even go and stay with them one night. Staying in a real house and not an albergue would be really something.
Hope you all are enjoying your breaks.
Not so amusing-things aren´t quite as funny when you are tired and hot.

Fuente de Vino

When Catherine was deciding if she would join me on the first week of the trip or the last it was something of a toss up. The last week would feature, warmer weather, warmer showers, actually getting to see Santiago, etc. The first week would feature cold, snow, cold nights, cold showers, etc. --a dilemma?--Well yes, because I think she was lured by the promise of the famed wine fountain. I cannot even believe that I didn´t mention this yesterday, but yes, at the festive wine drinking hour of 8:23 a.m., I passed by the wine makers, Bodegas Irache. The have kindly set up a wine fountain for passersby on the camino. It´s not manned by anyone, you just take your cup, bottle, or what have you and turn on the tap. I had a wee bit and toasted to happiness as instructed on the sign. Then I filled up on water which they also graciously supply. They apparently have a webcam that shows pilgrims hiking up to the fountain and filling up.
Let´s see, after I checked in, Ina arrived and new friend, Sang Kyoung, from South Korea. She is kind of like a Korean Dana B.--very outgoing, lively, energetic, etc. Unlike young Dana, she is 31 but didn´t want her parents to worry about her walking across Spain on her own so she told them that she was traveling in Europe, which is true. They have no idea she is doing this though and her friend was all in on an elaborate rouse of meeting her at the airport to take her large suitcases home with her and replacing them with her light weight backpack. She says she will tell them when she gets back. She feels she should be more religious on the trip and has brought a small bible and has vowed to read ¨ten chapters¨each day--alas she claims that it makes her very sleepy.
Rodrigo, a guy from Argentina also arrived. He is walking from Santiago to Rome. Evidently while working at the plant center he fell from an 18 foot palm tree and his head landed on a rock. The rock reportedly split in half but he was fine so he feels he owes thanks to a higher power. Shortly after my entry yesterday he came running into the room with an armload of vending machine sandwiches. Some of these villages are really small and it is hard to find food so the some of the hostels have vending machines. The vending machine guy was there to reload it and these sandwiches were expiring that day so he gave them to us (about 10 or so). Rodrigo bought about a 2 dollar bottle of wine from the hostel proprietor. The proprietor gave us some almonds which she had salted and roasted and we had a little party--they sandwiches were the worst part.
I have gathered some fame(well among 3 people) on the Camino as the ¨orange artist¨. When I was walking with Ina we would always see orange peels and wonder if they belonged to someone we knew who was walking ahead. So, yesterday when I knew I would be ahead of her, after eating my orange I made an arrow shape out of little pieces of peel and layed it out on the camino. She guessed that I had done it. The Korean girl was like, "You're the one who did that?", "I took a picture of it¨ and then showed me the picture. Today I left orange peel in a peace sign design.
I´m still having quite a bit of trouble sleeping. I lay awake for 2-3 hours usually thinking about my spelling errors and what would have been a better story to write.
I can´t bother to re-read all of these entries but I don´t think that I ever mentioned the funniest thing about young Juan. His mother is Scottish and his father Spanish and he grew up in Spain. His English is perplexing. Sometimes he sounds like a full on Scottish person and at other times just like a Spanish person speaking English. I asked him about this and he said,¨yeah, I think that when I have no idea what I am talking about, I sound like a Spanish person speaking English.¨¨
Today´s walk, so far, was pretty good. I left the region of Navarra and entered La Rioja--you wouldn´t think you´d notice a change but even after a few miles you can notice that it is not nearly as green here--seems a lot more dry. Less green fields, more dry shrubby looking stuff. Another LOVELY day though. Wow, I feel fortunate.
The other day I was in a very tiny village and stopped to look at my book to see if there was mention of any food and a guy walked by and I yelled after him in Spanish to ask if there was any place to eat. It turns out he is Irish and is working at the albergue. He looked Spanish though and it reminded me of when I saw Irish actor Gabriel Byrne interviewed. He said when he was young he had worked in a small town in Spain teaching. Because he looked Spanish, people asumed that he was and couldn´t work out why his Spanish was so bad. Evidently they just thought he was the village idiot.
Lisa L. --I am in Logroño now at the library and am just about to go have some tapas before moving on to Navarette. You would be having so much fun. When I arrived in Pamplona on day 1 I went to a cafe and got a tortilla de patatas and they were playing that song, ¨No me importa nada¨ on the radio--remember, it was popular around the same time as ¨Basta ya de tanta tonteria¨which we performed with Marisol at the Palencia talent show. It was like I never left--really. It´s great everyday, the old men in their berets, the lovable Spanish busybody ladies with their "maja" this and "hija" that. I even enjoy seeing the piping hot coffee served in juice glasses. I think maybe we should walk this together when we are 60. Oh, there is an El Submarino in the main square in Logroño . I have not donned a Minnie Mouse costume and danced on a box as it wouldn´t be the same without you, Fidel, and for good measure I´ll throw in the Happy Swede. You asked about the Catholic thing--I guess I¨m Catholic like you, John, and Rand (?) and Pepe are.
Off to eat and then walk about 10 more miles ( think I have done about 10 this morning) to Navarette. Not so exciting today--very tired. Sorry these are rambling but otherwise, I guess, you wouldn´t know that I was the one writing them.

Olive Trees and Vineyards

Today was another amazing day weather wise. Sunny, blue skies, light breeze, maybe 60-70 degrees. It was just gorgeous--the landscape here is very beautiful-bright green rolling fields, small hills topped by villages, olive trees, and now lots of vineyards. I have been in the province of Navarra the entire trip but tomorrow will enter Rioja which is famous for its wines so I am encountering a lot of vineyards. Navarra has been lovely. I had not spent much time here before so it was really a pleasant suprise. I guess I had not thought much about the scenery before arriving here but I can tell you that walking here offers much more inspiration than say, walking on Huntsman up to the Giant plaza in Springfield. Hard to believe..well yes. Navarra has a very strong Basque presence. March 9th, national elections were held and in this area (Basques want independence) they were encouraged to boycott the elections--loads of flyers, posters, etc. promoting the boycot. I had asked young Juan to give me a rundown of the election a few days ago. He felt he had to break it down to a level that I would understand and said, ¨Well, one candidate looks like Mr. Bean...¨ He referred to him as Mr. Bean for the rest of the explanation. I did see a couple of days ago in the paper that Mr. Bean won the election.
Today I walked about 16 miles to the village of Torres del rio. It is very small and perched up on a hill with...yes...another octagonal church---also connected to the Knights Templar. If I am lucky, there may be a bar open serving food. The señora who runs this place is, to me, very typically Spanish older lady. Lisa L. you know what I mean--straight out of central casting for an Almodovar film. She is very nice. Ina has just arrived (I walk faster). There is a guy from Argentina here who started in Santiago and is walking to Rome. We believe that he had a sighting of our dear Christian who is a day ahead of us.
I´m very excited about tomorrow´s walk for I will arrive in Logroño. My friend Lisa once lived there and has written me extensively about which tapas bars to go to. Lisa and I worked together in Salamanca nearly 20 years ago (yikes). Every Monday, Wed. and Friday we would go to Calle Toledo and have tapas from something like 7-8 p.m. on our teaching break. We like to think we know something about good tapas so I´m very excited about tomorrow´s eating of the pinchos (that is what we called tapas in Salamanca and I believe here too.)
As it is not ¨the season¨, not all of the albergues (hostels) are open which can be frustrating as if you want to walk a few miles more you cannot as the place in the intermediary town will be closed so some days you have to limit yourself to 12 miles even if you don´t want to as the other choice is 24 miles. I tried to go a little further today so I could go somewhere farther the next day but the Argentine reports that the place that I want to go to is closed.
Ina has been particularly amused by another character who I forgot to mention. A few nights back we met a guy who is from South Africa and London, he says, who I can only describe as looking like Robin Crabb at age 50. Since this description will do nobody any good except Lisa Carlson, I will just say that he looks like maybe a character from H.R. Puffenstuff --the type that would wear a purple, velvet, Lepruchan style suit and prance around sprinkling glitter out of a basket. He is short and slightly stocky and has a white Keith Partridge style hair-do and a white beard. He seems to love the Camino but does not love walking and takes cabs portions of the way. The hostels really let you stay only one night unless you are severely injured but at the place where we last saw him he was going to see if he could stay another night. Ina said it was a shame that the hostel at the other end of town was closed--otherwise he could have walked the 3/4 mile down there to complete a day on the road. He was very nice but it just seemed and odd sort of vacation for him.
Several have asked, in kind words, how I am holding up. So far so good. My feet are in great shape--no blisters, no soreness, no problems. My legs feel a little tired by the end of the day but not sore. I guess acupuncturist, Larry, fixed my bum knee as that has not bothered me either. My back and shoulders feel a bit sore at day´s end but usually feel okay when I´m walking.
We´re hoping for another great day tomorrow.
Thanks for the comments.

Cigueñas and Blue Skies

Yesterday, when we entered the town of Puente de la Reina, I noticed a cigueña(stork) flying overhead. In Spain you will find a lot of these elegant birds. They tend to build their large nests at the highest spot in town and in most Spanish villages this would mean on the domes and bell towers of churches. Sure enough, at the church just across from our hostel there were three or four large (a few feet across) nests made of twigs and sticks. When I lived in Spain, it took me a few weeks or months to identify the strange clicking sound that I heard as coming from the birds. The storks make a sound that I can´t describe but it is somewhat similar to the spinning wheel used in the boardgame ¨Life¨--you know, the one from the 70s where you push your plastic car around the playing board filling it with pink and blue peg people. The Wheel of Fortune style spinner made a sound sort of like these storks. When I lived in Spain I could look out my window and see several storks´ nests and I loved the sound they made. I think it was my favorite sound in Spain so last night I was delighted to see and hear the ciguenas. As a sidenote. You know how we say that storks deliver babies? In Spain they say that storks bring babies...from France. I have no idea why.
So, today I walked on my own and it was another short day (about 13 miles)--I think they suggest shorter days at the beginning to get you accostomed to the routine. I started out on the main road as advised by the priest and then got on the Camino proper which was pretty muddy for a stretch. Then I went through a very charming village and exited town via an old Roman road and Roman bridge. Then the most amazing thing happened. The clouds cleared and it was sunny with blue skies. It felt like the temperature shot up to the 60s and for the first time I was able to take off my raincoat AND my fleece jacket. It was amazing. It remained like that throughout the afternoon. I walked very quickly and it was mostly on the flat and after about 4 hours arrived here in Estella--a really beautiful little town. It has very narrow streets with old stone buildings and up behind the buildings is a rocky hill--it makes for a lovely backdrop for the town. There are a few very charming main squares.
As you probably know, Spanish mealtimes are very different from our own. They aren´t big breakfast eaters but at about 10 they may saunter down to the cafe for a coffee and some type of snack, then maybe pre-lunch tapas, then their big meal of the day at around 3 and a lighter dinner at 10. Although I easily adapted to this schedule when I lived here, it is not compatabile with the walking schedule so I have been eating mainly bocadillos (enormous sandwiches) and tapas because you can more easily get them throughout the day. Usually when we start out, breakfast isn´t available so I eat something like a granola bar or yogurt. Then around 10 or so I stop for a more substantial meal. The bocadillos are anywhere from about 8 to 14 inches long and are served on baguette type bread (only wider) so it is quite a lot of food. Of course, my very favorite meat in the world is jamon serrano--(the Spanish ham that is something like prosciutto) so I get that a lot and I´ve also been having one with grilled pork loin, cheese and roasted peppers that is pretty tasty. Last night at dinner I noted on the bill that my red wine was about a dollar and five cents and Ina´s Coke was nearly 3 dollars. I suspect that you can all imagine that I´ll be making out like a bandit on that account--got to watch the budget you know. (If you are Ms. Loughran´s Spanish students and have access to this--it is VERY bad to drink wine unless you are old and/or walking across Spain!)
As for an update as to the original characters--as you pass through villages, go to the hostels, and meet other walkers you can ask if they have seen a certain person, who stayed in each hostel last night, etc. We believe that young Juan is well ahead of us on his race across Spain so that he can get home to see his dog. When we see cyclists on the Camino we have them relay messages to those ahead of us. We believe that dear old Christian is about a half day ahead of us and hope he will be in Logroño in two days´time when we plan to get there but we´re not so sure. The dear Norwegians are behind us. Sadly the two Spanish men (the snorer and the eyeglass wearer) had to abandon the Camino as one of them had a death in the family. We were so sad to hear. We have a new companion, Toby, who is German and as a suprise we have run into Englebert, a tall German man that we met on night number one. Ina is here tonight as well and there is a funny Spanish couple from Tarragona that we met last night. The hostel where we are staying tonight is great. I was the first one there today and had the greatest shower ever--very hot and very strong water pressure. I washed clothes and hung them on the line to dry in the SUN! They are dry already. Life is good!

Day Three--Cizur Menor to Puente de la Reina

I had worried an awful lot about not being able to walk so far and granted it is only day 3 but so far the walking seems to be the easy part and the fun part. The bunk beds, snoring, possibility of cold showers, lying awake from 2 to 4 am for unknown reasons --that´s the hard stuff. So barring injury or severe weather, I think the walking part will be fine.
We (young Ina and I) arrived in Cizur Menor, a small town outside of Pamplona, in the afternoon and were very pleased. The hostel was great--hooks in the bathroom for your clothes, hooks all over the place for clothes, a woman who would run your handwashed clothes through the spin cycle of the washer so they´d dry faster on the radiator, clean & modern bathrooms, somewhat warm showers, friendly señora to tell us important things to visit on the Camino, etc. I washed clothes--the sun even came out so we could put them on drying racks on the patio. There were only four of us last night at the hostel. They say during the Holy Week that the Spaniards will come out in droves. I'm pretty sure that I've been spoiled by choosing my own bed, NOT having someone in the bunk above me, etc. When it is crowded I suspect it won´t be as pleasant. Ina, my hero--Christian--and I went out for dinner. You'd think between the three of us we´d be able to communicate better but it involves a series of drawings, etc. and we´re still not sure of what he is saying. We now understand that the aforementioned wrinkles are somewhat indicative of age as he is 59 and claims to only smoke 4 cigarettes a day (but they are those brown cigarettes that old French ladies smoke that look like cigars). The three of us got out our rough itineraries and it seemed we´d be together for several days. We set out this morning but Christian went on ahead as he is a much faster walker than the 23 year old and me (note to self: turn 59 and take up smoking). The walk was really beautiful--green rolling hills with little villages tucked here and there. We had to climb a very high and very muddy hill that took a couple of hours. It was hard as the mud added a few pounds of weight per boot and you'd try to scrape it off but it would just accumlate again. It was a bit cold and windy up there with the on and off again drizzle. I think at one point it was snowing but maybe mixed with rain. The 4th person, the night before at the hostel, was a cyclist. We had assumed he would ride on the highway but no, that morning when I told him to be careful on the highway he replied that he went on the same path as us. As Ina and I walked up the muddy and narrow path for hours we said, "There is NO way that the cyclist is going up this hill.¨ After we got down the hill and went to the restaurant for breakfast, he came in and verified that he had done so--pushing the bike up the hill, racing down the boulder and mud strewn path at top speed on the way down. Ina and I sat in the near empty restaurant applauding and saying, "bravo." I´m sure he was touched.
We detoured a couple of miles off the camino today to visit a pretty cool octagonal church reportedly built by the Knights Templar to protect pilgrims in the XII century. It just sat by itself in a green field in front of some rocky and green hills. When we got into Puente de la Reina and went to the hostel where Christian had insisted we meet up, we found it was closed. We figured that since Christian was well ahead of us by a couple of hours, he would have arrived at 1 pm. and would have gone on to the next village. We stayed here in this town which is Puente de la Reina--a very nice little village of mostly stone houses. The bridge was created centuries ago at the behest of a queen who wanted the pilgrims to have save passage across the river. So, we backtracked to the hostel run by the priests. It´s okay but no heat although there is a wood burning fireplace in the sitting room which is nice. Internet but no heat--you decide. Needless to say, we are heartbroken as we expected we´d be eating meals each night with Christian for at least the next 6 nights. We were even more saddened when we learned the next hostel that is open (many are closed until April or at least until after Easter) is about 10 miles further on--we don´t think that Christian was aware of that and suspect that he is okay. We don´t know if we will see him again but fortunately we have his e-mail address so we can send him fan mail in English which he won´t understand. We have another shortish day tomorrow--the priest came over and warned the group of mud/water problems so we will walk on the main road heading out.
Oh, the keyboard here is different and it is hard to find all the symbols and type at the same rate. Also, the internet is somewhat spendy and not always available so I won't be checking for spelling and typos--I know, I know, not really writing workshop protocol...I guess I´ll try to use this keyboard excuse to cover grammar irregularties as well.
Thanks for all the comments--love them.

My Hero

So, Friday night I arrived in Roncesvalles, the main town to start my Camino. The bus to Roncesvalles chugged up the foothills of the Pyrenees and the snow was falling. They hold a mass each evening for the pilgrims. Walking into the lovely old church with the snow falling down was really beautiful. Four priests conducted the mass and yes, there were 4 of us attending the mass so I guess one priest per pilgrim. It was nice as they said a blessing in several languages. Then I went straight to bed and felt so happy to be able to lie down after the cramped airplane ride, sitting in airport, other airplane ride, sitting in bus station, bus, etc.
So, today I´m on day two of walking and over the last two days there has been a light drizzle off and on but mostly off so walking has been really pleasant and not too cold. Even though there are lots of people walking, about the same group of 9 of us have been at the same hostels the last two nights. Even though I know there are people ahead of us and behind us, it seems like we´re the only ones walking...
Here´s a brief run down of the cast of characters...
Norwegian couple-they are retired and live in a village in the South of France. The wife is some sort of pioneer in the world of interational quilting. She is featured in an upcoming magazine and has exhibits of her work. Their son makes 24 foot long origami sculptures and also does some sort of performance art that includes playing some sort of noise box with different sounds while a light show of computer generated origami designs is displayed. I'm not making this up. I walked most of the first day with them.
Juan Jose--teenaged Spanish vegan who is mourning the loss of his hair. Evidently at the end of his 2000 euro flight attendant course he was told that he would have to cut his waist length hair in order to graduate from the course. He did and now has shoulder length hair. He is quite distraught about this. He has decided to complete the camino in 20 days and is walking 25 miles today--leaving us in the dust --as he really misses his dog (a boxer) he is eager to get home. Additionally he was recently kicked out of a heavy metal band as he disagreed with the singer over the name of the band. He packs like Becci Sponseller --bringing a 1000 plus page novel, a large container of energy drink powder mix, full sized containers of shampoo, toothpaste, etc. He is really his own person and we wish him well--unless he falls injured though, we doubt we will see him again.
Ina--very nice young German girl preparing for her teacher´s exam. I'm walking with her today. As far as I know she is no relation to the barefoot contessa
The two spaniards--one sleeps in his eyeglasses, the other snores
and...
My hero, "The French Guy". He started over a month ago on his walk--he walked from France. When he gets to Santiago he will turn around and walk back to France but must stop on May 15 so he will only go as far as that takes him. His age is indeterminate due to the wrinkles which I can only guess are caused by the extensive smoking. Last night´s hostel was horribly cold and he just sat outside smoking, writing in a journal and having a beer. Sadly, apart from gestures and the odd word here or there, we are unable to communicate although the Norwegians are excellent interpreters.
We all went out last night to eat dinner as a big group. We arrived at the hostel at 3 p.m. and found no bars, no restaurants, nothing. As a last resort, the two Spaniards went to the sports center to see about the possibility of a vending machine but to no avail. Hungry, bored, and cold, we later learned (around 6 pm.) of a restaurant about a mile down the highway so we all went there on foot. We were so, so, happy, it was warm AND they had food. Really not much more to ask for than that. We have a short day today--walked about 9 miles so far and are in the city of Pamplona and will continue on about 3 more miles to the next stop. I´m really having a good time and it doesn´t seem too hard. I guess I prepared well. The pack doesn´t seem to heavy--it is MUCH smaller than everyone else´s but then again, I guess they are more likely to have clean clothes and other such luxuries. There´s a rumor of washing machine at tonight´s hostel.

My Horoscope

I´ve been debating for weeks what to bring on this trip. Is my bag too heavy? What can I eliminate? etc. They suggest you take something that is 10 % of your body weight or less. Mine came in at just under 10%. I worried about this and the ever clever Mary Beth "Pamutin" solved the dilemma by telling me "just gain weight, that way you can carry more". So, it was with these worries in mind that I boarded my flight and while still on the ground at Dulles I read the Iberia inflight magazine. Here I will quote my horoscope verbatim, "Be sure to keep fit by doing assiduous exercise" and "EXCESS WEIGHT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE ENEMY"
I arrived safely and today was my first leg of walking (about 17 miles). It was a bit snowy and plenty muddy in places but otherwise really great. The camino passes through a number of very charming villages--lots of stone houses with bright red or green wooden shutters--very narrow streets--green hillsides --some with snow. I walked about half of today´s walk with a friendly Norwegian couple and now we are at the hostel for the night. The apparent teenaged Spaniard who left before dark this morning beat us here. I guess by leaving an hour later we missed the raging snowstorm that he spoke of.
Anyway, I must run and shower before the others arrive and use up the hot water.
I´ll try to post some pictures later.

A wee bit nervous

I'm leaving tomorrow night and I'm feeling a tad nervous. I'm very excited but have many worries--is my backpack too heavy? Will I get a bum knee? Will the walking be more difficult than I have anticipated? Most of the packing lists that I've looked at have been created by summer pilgrims but I have to prepare for cold and warm weather. With my pack heavier than I'd hoped, I've contemplated taking out my wool blend shirt, mittens and neck warmer thing. Although I've been keeping my eye on the weather forecast for Roncesvalles (my starting point)--I didn't really anticipate the snow. The picture is from another website--reportedly taken yesterday. I guess I will not ditch the winter woolies. Brrr...

Camino de Santiago--Some Background

This Thursday (3/6/08) I will be heading to Spain for a month to walk the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). For me, it will be about a 465 mile walk across northern Spain which ends in Santiago de Compostela, the purported resting spot of St James the Apostle (Santiago). Long story short: James the Apostle reportedly preached in Spain during his lifetime. Later after he was martyred around 42 AD in the Holy Land, his body sailed to the West coast of Spain on a marble ship.
Hundreds of years later, in the
9th century, a hermit found the remains of a body in a field. It was determined to be the body of St. James and a church was built. Soon this place, Santiago de Compostela, became a major pilgrimage site with people walking hundreds of miles from all over Europe. The pilgrimages continued several centuries more before dying out.
When I lived in Spain, in the early 1990s, I never head about modern day pilgrims walking the Camino. I visited many of the towns and cities along the route. I visited historic churches, pilgrim lodges, bridges, etc. built during the heyday of the pilgrimage but I never saw, nor heard of, any modern day pilgrims. During the last 15 years, however, the Camino de Santiago, has enjoyed a great resurgence in popularity and each year, more and more people walk the Camino. Last year, nearly 100,000 walked all, or a portion of, the Camino. Like most of them, I too, will walk the Camino Frances (French Way)--so called as most of the routes from France merge into this one main route at the French/Spanish border.
Much like the Appalachian trail, the Camino de Santiago is just there for the walking. You do not have to start at one particular point. You can walk it in phases or all in one go. You can walk with a group or on your own. There is no set amount of mileage that you must cover each day. There is no start date nor finish date. Weather dependent, you can walk the Camino any time of year that you choose. Unlike the Appalachian trail, the Camino passes through many villages, small towns, and larger cities. Hostels are spread along the trail for the pilgrims. Most pilgrims sleep in these hostels and eat meals at restaurants and cafes along the way. Each night they have a hot shower and a bed to sleep in.
Several years ago, when I first heard that people had started walking the Camino, I was interested. It wasn't until a couple of years ago though, when my Australian friend, Philip, walked the Via de la Plata (a longer, less traveled, and presumably more difficult route to Santiago starting in Southern Spain), that I began looking at it as a reality. Most of the pilgrims walk in the summer when it can be terribly hot. Due to the large numbers walking in the summer months, it can be difficult to find a bed to sleep in at the end of a long day's walk. I didn't think I'd be able to endure the heat and a 16 mile daily walk and hours of looking for accommodation so I've opted for spring. It could be quite cold but certainly will be less crowded.
I bought new hiking boots several months ago and have been doing long walks fairly regularly. On weekends I try to get in about 12-18 miles each day and during the week I try for 5-8 miles a few times a week. I probably should have been walking with a pack more than I have and I should have walked more hills but other than that I feel pretty prepared. I'll have to walk an average of about 16-17 miles per day in order to arrive in Santiago. Although I'm starting out on my own, my Spanish friend, Marisol, plans to meet up with me for a bit and my friend Catherine will walk the last week with me.
I'm NOT very computer savvy and have never done a blog and wasn't that keen to do so but several people have expressed interest in keeping up with my
journey and I thought this might be the easiest way. I figure that after walking 16 miles each day I won't have a lot of energy to write witty nor well written descriptions of my day so it will likely be more of a log--a boring log but we'll see.