Almost to Galicia!

At La Cruz de Ferro

We have just walked over the Montes de Leon and are about to enter the Spanish province of Galacia.  It is hard to believe that we have been walking for 29 days and that we have only 8 more days of walking until we arrive at Santiago!

The evening after our 30k walk to Astorga, we stayed in a small village called Rabanal del Camino.  It was a beautiful but chilly day.  When we got to Rabanal, we stopped for a late lunch in the sun and as we sat and ate, clouds gathered and snow began to fall!  The albergue in Rabanal is run by the British Confraternity of St. James, an organization we joined in preparation for the walk.  It was a great place -- they even served tea and biscuits (cookies) at 5 in the evening -- so civilized.  We added a bunch of new Peregrinos to our list of friends as we all sat around drinking tea and exchanging stories or our walks.  After supper we went to Compline at a very small monestery (3 monks) across the street from the albergue.  It was an emotional service, filled with pilgrims and ending with a pilgrim blessing.

The next day (Sunday) was one of the most emotional of our journey.  We walked up to La Cruz de Ferro, the highest point on the Camino at 1550 meters (about 5500 ft).  When we left the albergue at 7:00 am, it was a clear and very cold morning with temps at -4C (about 25F).  But we were invigorated.  The sun came up and it was just a beautiful day.  At La Cruz de Ferro, a cross has been erected and the tradition established that each pilgrim places a stone from her or his home at the base of the cross -- a small bit of each of us left at this desolate place in Spain.  I brought a small peice of polished basalt that Carolyn and Christian gave me when they were very young.  After I placed it and said my prayer, I thought, ``I am standing on a pile that contains a bit of Carolyn that she left when she stood in the same spot in 2009.´´  Tom placed five Idaho garnets at the cross -- one for each of his parents, for Carolyn and Christian, and for me.  It was an incredible moment for both of us!  

After La Cruz de Ferro, we began a long and very difficult descent of about 1100 meter (in about 7k) to a small town called Molinaseca.  The trail was very steep and rocky.  When we got to the bottom we were pretty wrecked!  We got through our chores and made plans to eat the pilgrim menu at the only restaurant in town open on Sunday.  We ended up at a fabulous meal with some of our very best camino friends including Jacob and Stella, the young couple we have been walking with, and friends from Germany, Hungary, the UK, Canada, Poland and Italy.  It was a funny and crazy meal as we all tried to communicate and somehow managed to get each other most of the time.

Yesterday was a hard day for both of us.  After the steep descent of the day before and our raucus dinner, we were both pretty tired.  Today was better as we began our walk up into the mountains toward Galicia.  It was beautiful.  We walked through the vinyards of El Bierzo, past meadows teaming with wildflowers and through chestnut orchards.  We are staying at an albergue filled with friends again tonight and have plans to watch some big soccer match on the TV at the ajacent bar.  I could care less about the soccer but I know the gathering will be fun!.

Tomorrow we will walk O´Cebriero.  We are both thinking of Carolyn as this place was one of her favorites.

Liz

(The picture is of Tom and me at La Cruz de Ferro on Sunday.)

The Longest Day -- 31km!

We are in Astorga tonight after walking our longest day of the Camino.  The official walk today was 31 km (about 18.5 miles).  After walking around town to see the sights today we have logged amost 35 km!  According to my pedometer we have done over 55,000 steps.  My WW friends will appreciate that according to the pedometer I have earned 22 activity points today (and the pedometer does not know that I have been walking up and down hills and that I was carrying at 15 lb. pack!)   In any case, we are doing very well but we are very tired.  I know we will both sleep well tonight -- we could have the worst snorer in the world next to us and I don´t think we would know it!

For the past two weeks (since Burgos) we have been walking through a high plateau area.  The first part of which is known as the meseta.  It was an agricultural area with (surprise) lots of mesas.  It was beautiful.  Then we entered an area known as the tierra del campos.  This too was beautiful but was a bit like walking across Nebraska.  Its actually hard to walk when there is no geographic diversity.  Plus the walking trails in this section tended to be packed gravel or paved.  Today we started back into the mountains and we are so glad to be back in the hills.

Two days ago we were in Leon.  It was an absolutely beautiful city and the Cathedral was luminous.  We really enjoyed it.  We treated ourselves to a hotel which happened to have a water spa, so we spent 90 minutes in the spa pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hot beds.  It was a great treat.

We have met many wonderful people on the Camino from an unbelievable number of countries.  So far we have met folks from Vietnam, Aruba, Panama, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Ireland, Austraila Hungary, the US, Canada and of course, Spain.   Yesterday we met another Idahoan -- a student at BSU who is thinking about law school (Gee can I get my camino expenses reimbursed if I do a little student recruiting while walking ?  Hmmm.....).

We met a guy from russia who has lost 75 kilos of weight (more than me) and the two of us really enjoyed talking about our weight loss experiences.  Two of our favorite pilgrims are two young americans with a great story.  They walked the camino in 2009 and met during their walk.  After returning to the states they corresponded (he was in Indiana and she was in Texas).  He decided to move to Texas so they could date two years ago.  They will be married on May 17, two days after they finish walking the Camino!

I will tell you some more great Camino stories when I am a bit less tired.  For now, I will sign off with

Buenos Noches,

Liz

Hard to Believe We Are Halfway to Santiago!

Hi All,

We are writing tonight from Terradillos de los Templarios, which is the halfway point between St. Jean Pied de Port (where we started) and Santiago.  We are having the time of our lives!

I thought I would tell you about a typical day in the life of these two peregriños.  We usually wake up about 6:15 or so.  Sometimes we wake earlier (if there are rude people in our dorm room) -- but most of the pilgrims are really respectful so we usually get to sleep until 6:15.  We get up quietly in the dark, get dressed and take our stuff to the common room to pack so we don´t disturb the late sleepers.  If the albergue has a kitchen or a microwave (which most do) we like to heat some water, make tea and have some fruit before we leave about 7 or so.  If there is no kitchen we leave a little earlier and try to stop for breakfast at the first bar or cafe we come across.

During the time we have been walking we have met up with a number of pilgrims who are moving at the same pace as we move.  When we heat our tea at the albergue, we usually sit with Michelle and Marie-Claude, from France.  If we go to a cafe we almost always run into Josef, DeeDee and Marie from Holland.

We walk for a couple of hours and at about 10:30 or 11 we like to take a mid morning break.  We often stop at a cafe for tea and, my favorite, -- cafe con leche (basically a latte).  We are almost never alone at this break.  Like me, Josef, our Dutch friend, loves cafe con leche and we can usually count on seeing him and his two colleagues even if we did not see them at breakfast.  Lots of times we also stop and shop at this break.  We like to buy bread, cheese, bi-fruitas (more on these later), nuts, fruit, and dried fruit for our lunch supplies.

After the mid morning break we usually walk until sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 depending on where the most convenient stop is.  Tom and I tend to eat lunch on our own (although our various fellow travellers often greet us as they pass).  I mentioned our typical lunch supplies above.  The Bi-fruitas I mentioned are these great drinks we have found that are a combination of milk and fruit juice.  They come in a wax paper-foil container like a kids drink and although it seems like the milk would curdle, it doesn´t.  They are very refreshing and come in flavors like tropical and meditereaneo.

After lunch we usually walk to our desitnation albergue and arrive sometime between 2 and 3.  If we still have a long walk, we might also stop for coke or more cafe con leche before we get to our stop depending on how we feel.

At the albergue, we shower and get organized for the next day.  We usually wash our clothes by hand (in cold water) and hang them outside to dry.  About once a week, we try to stay at an albergue that has a laundry service where we can pay about 7 euros, hand the hospitaliero all our dírty clothes and get them back a few hours later clean and dry!

After laundry we most often walk around town, find the shops, a spot for dinner and to visit the local sights (usually the church).  We often will stop to sit at an outdoor cafe with others and relax.  Our favorite late afternoon companions are Jacob and Stella from the US.  I have to say there is almost nothing better than sitting in the Spanish sun about 4 in the afternoon drinking vino tinto (red wine) or cerveza (beer).  Life is good!  This is also the time we scope out our route for the next day, figure out whether we need any supplies, organize pictures.  I also use this time to write in my journal.

About 7 or 7:30 we like to go to a local bar or restaurant that serves a "pilgrim menu".  This is a great deal.  the typical menu consists of three courses (including dessert), wine and bread.  We pay anything from 7.50 to 12 euro each for the whole meal.  Usually the choices for each course are limited to two or three things.  Typically we might have ensalada (a green salad often with tuna fish) for a starter.  The main course will consist of pork, stewed beef, some kind of chicken and chips.  Our favorite dessert is flan which is ubiquitous here.  We usually sit with other pilgrims at dinner.  Sometimes the tables are big with 8 or 10 and other times they are small.  No matter what, the company is good.

When we finish dinner at 8:30 or 9 we head back to the albergue and are usually in bed deaming by 9 or 9:30.

I will write later about some of the people we have met.  To a person they are wonderful and we are loving their stories.  For example, today we ran into a Russian guy who has lost 75 kilos in weight (I lost about 67 to put his loss in perspective).  Needless to say we had a lot to talk about!  The group of fellow travellers is constantly changing yet stable.  Some people we have loved we have never seen again.  Others we don´t see for a couple of days and then out of the blue there they are again.  Still others seem to move along at our pace.

We are three days walk from Leon where we plan to stay at a nice hotel and take an extra day of rest and to sight see.  I suspect that will be the next time we write.  We have decided that we cannot keep on uplading all our pictures as the internet connections we get are not fast enough and often the software is antiquated.  We will put up an edited slide show later this spring after we have time to get it together.  In the meantime, Tom took the picture with this post at dinner a week ago or so.

Buen Camino,

Liz

300 K Down, 500 to Go!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since we posted.  We have either not had access to the internet or the connection was too antiquated to access Blogger!

We are in Burgos tonight.  As with past posts, we will do our best to add photos but uploading takes a lot of time so we are posting this message first.

The last I wrote we were staying in Viana and Tom had pulled a muscle in his back trying to pull a wine cork with the cork screw on our Swiss Army knife.  We thought he was doing better, but he reinjured his back at our albergue in Viana.  It had three teir bunks and getting into the middle bunk turned out to be an acrobatic act.  To make matters worse, we purchased some ibuprofen at a Farmicia and got these huge 600 mg pills.  They helped with the back pain but really upset Tom´s stomach.  The long and short of it is that we slowed down a bit and today was the first day Tom has felt 100%.  I am really glad to have him back up to snuff! 

Despite Tom´s back and upset stomach, we have been having a great time.  After Viana we stayed at a wonderful albergue in Navarette -- clean comfy and quiet.  We also went to mass at the church there and had a real treat.  The preist did a pilgrim blessing at the end of the service.  Then he invited us all to the sacristy and showed us all of the treasure of the church ( which were many).  The church itself was incredible --  it had a huge gilt altarpeice -- larger than most we had seen and also had some beautiful art and treasures. 

The next day was the worst for Tom so we made it short and stopped in Najera.  There we stayed in a very nice hotel.  This allowed Tom to rest and soak his back in a nice bath tub.  The hotel was nice and the rest was also good for Tom.

From Najera we walked to Santo Domingo de Calzada.  This was another delightful small town and I had a fun experience here.  I needed to go to the Farmacia to get sun screen (yes, the weather has really warmed up!).  The hospitaliero (the albergue worker) asked his friend to show me the way.  They guy spoke no english but we managed to communicate and he walked me to the store.  I got my sun screen and lo and behold, the guy had waited for me.  He asked if I wanted to go get a cup of cafe con leche (yum) and although I was sùrprised, I couldn´t forgo the treat so off we walked.  After coffee at the local bar and hangout (at which I was introduced to all the patrons), he walked me around town explaining what a great place it was and how much better small towns were than big cities.  Eventually he walked me back to the albergue.  I think he was flirting a bit but it was really fun to get the personal tour!  Tom was jealous.  We also enjoyed a fabulous community meal with friends from Canada, France & Germany.

From Santo Domingo we headed to Belorado.  It was a spectacular, warm day and we had a great walk.  Tom was starting to return to himself also.  In Belorado, we stayed in a small private albergue run by a very friendly guy from Brazil, Fernando, who was almost certainly gay.  He was funny and warm.  We ate dinner at the restaurant at the albergue with folks from South Africa.  We also go the best night of sleep we have had. 

The next day also dawned sunny and warm.  We walked to San Juan de Ortega, where we stayed in an albergue that was part of a monestery.  The town had a population of about 20 and was out in the middle of nowhere.  It has had an albergue for hundreds of years.  Again we had a community meal, this time with friends from France and Germany.  We tried a new food too -- mocilla -- blood sausage.  Yum!  Who knew?

Today we walked to Burgos where we have visited the cathedral and are getting ready to go to dinner.

Tom commented this morning that he felt like he did when we were first married -- no worries, no responsibilities.  We just get up in the morning and walk.  We eat when we want, and stop when we are tired.  It is so relaxing and freeing.  We also have been so lucky that we have not suffered from blisters or other foot problems so we are not sore or overly tired.

Also there is something incredibly communal and levelling about the Camino.  All we have is on our back.  Everyone is in the same boat.  We don´t walk with any of the trappings of status or jobs.  And everyday we meet and talk to new people. 

We will write again when we can and we will add pictures to this post as soon as possible.

Buen Camino,

Liz

Holy Camino! Snow in April in Spain

Hi all,

We are having a great time and have already had many adventures. I cannot upload pictures this time but will try to add them as soon as we have a better internet connection.

We had a wonderful day visiting Pamplona.  We went to the cathedral which has portions from the 12th century and also has excavations of Roman foundations from the 1st century BC.  We walked all over the city, ate at Cafe Iruña, took in a couple of Basque pinxto bars and visited the Museum of Navarre.  The day was cold and rainy and we were congratulating ourselves on having the sense to take it off from walking!

Our smug bubble was burst the next morning as we awoke to huge snowflakes falling over Pamplona!  We walked off into the snow which was starting to accumulate as slush on the streets by the time we were leaving the city.  Instead of letting up, the snow continued to get worse.  We stopped at a small place called Cizur Menor for breakfast -- we were covered in snow and were now walking through a couple of inches of the stuff.  Our walk for the day took us over a pretty big ridge -- Alto de Pedron -- a rise of about 750 meters.  We slogged through the snow which was getting worse and deeper with every step.  By the time we got to the summit we were in blizzard conditions and walked through drifts of snow up to 15 inches deep!  The top of this ridge is one of the iconic Camino places -- the view is supposed to be fabulous back to Pamplona and forward to Puente de Reina.  There is a huge wind turbine farm at the top and a Camino sculpture.  Needless to say we could not see a thing.  We could hear the wind turbines but even though we were right under them, we couldn´t see them.

I was pretty nervous that we were in over our heads as the guide books had warned that the climb down hill was rocky and treacherous   Fortunately, it was rocky and uneven but not as steep as I imagined.  By the time we reached the bottom, soaked and cold, the sun had come out and looking back we could see the summit clearly!

We got to our destination and set about drying our shoes and all of our clothes.  We stayed in an albergue run by a local monestary and ate at a terriffic restaurant with a fun group of people -- Ruby from Lewisburg PA, Cathy from San Francisco, Arre from South Korea, and Pippa from the UK.

The next morning, dry and rejuvenated  we set out for Estella.  It was a fabulous day -- Sunny and up to 60 degrees.  It was hard to believe that we had walked through snow the day before.  The walk was beautiful, through hilly farm country that reminded us of Idaho.    One of the highlights was a tiny church built in 970.  Yes, you read that correctly.  People have been worshiping at this tiny church of St. Miguel for over 1000 years.  It was an incredibly place filled with prayers and mementos left by the hundreds of peregriños, who, like us, stopped and experienced the emotional  impact of the place.  In Estella we attended mass at the local church and sat around and ate pinxto for dinner with Cathy from San Francisco.

This morning we set out at 7 am for Los Arcos.  It was a chilly and very windy day but no rain.  The walk was spectacular, through wheat fields and vineyards.  We stopped and visited a spectacular 11th century church in a hill top wine town, Villamayor de Majarin.  I lit a candle for Emmanuel Church while we are there -- we have been thinking a lot of you Emmanuelites while we have been walking.

We are walking through Western Navarre and La Rioja now which are Spain´s main wine regions.  So of course, we bough a 1-2 liter of wine for lunch. Unfortunately, Tom pulled a muscle in his back trying to get the cork out.  We deiced to just power to Los Arcos so he could rest.  He is horizontal now and we are hoping he feels better tomorrow.  If not we will take it slow and enjoy the wine (screw tops please) and food tomorrow before pushing on.

I am almost out of my 30 minutes so I will simply close with the greeting that almost everyone we meet gives us,

Buen Camino,

Liz

Tom´s pictures from the Camino 4-6 through 4-9.
Liz´s pictures from 4-6 through 4-9

First Three Days of our Camino

Hi All,

I am writing from Pamplona where we are staying.  We started our Camino on Monday with our travels to St. Jean Pied de Port France.  We flew down on Ryan Air which was an adventure (no time for details here!) and arrived without problems only to find that the Monday after Easter is a holiday and the train schedule was different.  We lucked out and found three other starting pilgrims and the five of us shared a taxi to St. Jean.  We stayed that night in a lovely B & B and got organized.  At eight on Tuesday morning we started walking. 

The walk Tuesday over the Pyrenees was beautiful but very difficult.  We could not take the high route as there was still too much snow in the mountains.  Earlier in the week there was a fatal accident on the trail as a pilgrim became disoriented in the snow and fog and fell off a cliff.  We opted for safe and took a slightly lower route.  The day was mixed sun and periods of drizzle with temperatures in the low 50´s.  It was beautiful but grueling at the end as we climbed about 750 meters in elevation. 

We arrived at 4 at a lovely albergue in Roncevalles, Spain.  Along the way we met pilgrims from the UK, Ireland, Canada, the US, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia.  That evening we enjoyed a pilgrim dinner) basically a preset meal for pilgrims -- three courses plus (very important) wine.  We ended the day by going to a mass in celebration of the pilgrims at an 11th century monastery church.  It was incredible and emotional. 

Yesterday we got up bright and early at 6 and and started walking at 6:50 in the dark!  We stopped for breakfast after an hour at a small cafe.  It was close to freezing when we started, but the sun rose bright and warm -- we walked most of the day in sunshine and temps in the high 50´s or low 60´s.  It was a spectacular walk through the mountains to a small industrail town called Zubiri.  We stayed in another albergue and enjoyed another great pilgrim meal with fellow walkes from Finland, Germany, and other places.

This morning dawned cooler and drizzly.  We had a pretty rude guy in our albergue last night who woke us all up at 6 (we had decided to try to sleep a little later), so again we were off at 7.  We thought we would eat breakfast after an hour but found nothing open.  The first food we came across was not until 10 -- we were dying!  We arrived in Pamplona at 3.  Tom and I are staying in a small pension  for two nights and we plan to stay and see the city tomorrow.  We will begin walking again on Saturday. 

I can´t even express how challenging and rewarding we have found our experiences so far.  We have met some incredible people and are doing just fine with our walking.

We are trying to upload photos and will post them if we are successful --  Here are links to our two photo albums -- one from Tom´s camera and one from mine (with some of our last London shots mixed in.  The order is a bit mixed up as we had to get used to the spanish keyboard and public internet, but you will ge the idea: Tom´s photos from the first 3 days of our camino and Liz´s photos from the first 3 days of the Camino.

In the meantime,

Adios,

Liz