Karissa's Camino

Uh, I'm back

2009-08-15T01:20:00.001-07:00

I got lots of messages from Paul and my parents from people wondering if I'd broken my leg and quit the camino! Not at all... really, the best explanation is that I walked long days (too late to blog) or I was staying in small towns (no internet... sometimes not even a grocery store) and kind of just forgot about it. I had completely forgotten that I hadn't added more details after injuring my ankle, because seeing Spain was more interesting than finding a computer and holing away for an hour typing!!

So I had a wonderful end to my trip. My ankle... I won't say it's fine, because I will be going to the doctor as soon as I get home... It's still swollen like it was 2 weeks ago, and still tender if I stretch it the wrong way. But it's still fine to walk on, and I am unaware of anything being wrong with it 99 percent of the time. It felt fine the very next day, so I walked almost 30km. And then the next day I walked 35. I went up huge hills, saw beautiful vistas, met crazy and cool people, and got bitten up by bedbugs. And I'll have to fill in all the details on that later.

And on August 5th I made it to Santiago! It was so strange to have finished... there was a point a few days before the end where I felt ready to be done, but when I got to Santiago I mostly just couldn't believe it was done. I spent a day and a half there hanging out, seeing the cathedral and the crowds, and celebrating with my "camino buddies," and then took the train to Madrid overnight. It was REALLY HARD to leave the camino behind. It was partly having that purpose, that direction. It was also partly leaving behind the community of the camino, both the people I got to know and the people I would meet every day along the way, both pilgrims and small town locals who recognized you as a pilgrim, who would smile and encourage you, talk to you and share experiences. Leaving for Madrid, I began actually traveling ALONE as many people pictured when I told them I was going to Spain by myself, and it was quite different to be in a big city in a tourist/youth hostel alone than to be hiking. I didn't like being a tourist in the big city alone.

I spent two days and one night in Madrid, revisited museums and parks and cafes, saw a neighborhood procession with all the old people dressed up in traditional Madrid costumes, saw some flamenco, and got reacquainted with the city. Then I took a late flight to Prague.

Our old friend Jan met me at the airport. He was so hospitable and having someone meet me made me feel like I was home instead of a tourist. It was like visiting Minnesota or something, just a little bit! I spent one night there and then got settled in a little apartment before Paul flew in. The "apart hotel" we are in is a clean and simple Ikea-furnished room with kitchenette, quite comfortable and adequate. It's not RIGHT downtown but it's a 15 minute walk from the Charles Bridge or right on the metro and tram lines. I laughed when I got there because it was also within a block of two movie theaters, two bookstores, a mall, a grocery store, several restaurants, an Apple retailer, and even a TGI Fridays. Can you guess who chose the location? :)

It is hard to revisit a place as a tourist where we lived for 3 months before. We have seen almost everything before, but it was 6 years ago and in the winter, so we have done some of the touristy walking tours, etc. to reacquaint ourselves with the places and history. But we have also spent lots of time just walking around our old haunts and hanging around our apartment, just being on vacation and being back together. Traveling is a different kind of vacation...excitement instead of relaxation... so it was perfect to have several days in this relaxing, beautiful place before we embark on our adventures to the east.

The other night we randomly ended up going to a Madonna concert here in Prague. We were actually at the ticket office looking at tickets for Mozart - I kind of wanted to see the theater where Don Giovanni premiered back in the 1700s - but they were expensive touristy prices! $35 for a 70 minute concert with wind trio and soloist, "Best of Mozart's Arias"?? And there was the poster for Madonna's concert that very night, and the guys in front of us were getting tickets, only $50 for the cheap "standing" tickets. It was actually a choice between standing in a HUGE crowd or sitting on a grassy hillside, so we did a little of both. Great entertainment: dancers, moving video screens, lasers, lights, and enough of the 80s classics that it was really fun. Also a touching (Paul says) tribute to Michael Jackson, which the people went crazy for. They did not go so crazy for the Gypsy group that joined in for an acoustic interlude... that might go over great in Romania and in Western Europe, but the people around us were NOT excited. There is still so much racial prejudice against the Roma here. One other thing... we had to take the metro to the concert, and then walk about a kilometer to the concert, along with thousands and thousands of other people! We were ready to wait an hour for the metro to come back, since there were such crowds of people, but it was unbelievable - we just walked onto a train. They must have had them all lined up ready to go - I was very impressed with the organization.

Today we are going to Karlovy Vary (in German, Carlsbad) which we've never visited and just simply have to since I grew up in Carlsbad, CA. Kind of a silly reason but it has to be done! There are mineral spas and a cute downtown, apparently. We'll be back to Prague tonight and leave for Budapest tomorrow, then Romania on Tuesday! I don't know when we'll be back online but I thought I should at least update this much before we leave "Central Europe" toward Istanbul.

How ironic... Hospital de Orbigos

2009-07-26T04:11:00.000-07:00

Don´t read a guidebook and walk at the same time.

There was a funny crossroad at the outside of town where one set of yellow arrows was pointing to the left along a different path, but another set led into town... I decided to check my book but didn´t stop walking, and my right foot hit an uneven pavement edge where the asphalt dropped like an inch to the side, and down I went. After the initial shock I got up okay, and limped the 1km into town, where I sat at a cafe for an hour icing my ankle, watching it swell up and contemplating my options. Stay here, take a bus to Astorga and stay there, or keep walking the rest of the 15km or so and see what happens. It doesn´t hurt much anymore when I am walking on it, but what would three more hours of walking on it do? I don´t know. So as much as I want to press on, I´m staying here. But I´m already stir crazy. I was ready to really walk today.

Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon, Leon to Mazarife (?)

2009-07-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

I walked the 20km to Leon by 10:45, so it was a good morning for walking! I felt good, it was still nice and cool, and I was ready to be back in a city and see the sights, play tourist for a day. I stayed in the Benedictine Convent hostel near the center of town, which was not spacious but was just fine, and we got to attend evening Completas combined with pilgrim blessing at night. The bad part about the camino going through big cities is that around the cities we tend to go through industrial parks, with car factories, potato processing plants, you name it, but lots of ugly warehouses and factories. Not so fun. So the road into town yesterday was very pretty leaving Mansilla at sunrise by the sunflower fields, but not so pretty after sunup nearing Leon.

Leon cathedral has fabulous stained glass windows that reach up to the sky like you wouldn´t believe. But no pictures allowed inside. I took one and got yelled at... not sneaky enough.

The basilica of San Isodoro was cool because it housed the royal Pantheon, where kings and queens were buried, and had a painted ceiling that is supposedly one of the best preserved examples of Romanesque fresco. It was actually really neat. But they did charge admission, with no pilgrim discount. Oh well, viva la tourist.

I walked around and around the city looking at different things, and man! there are a lot of shops in that town! People must like to shop there! The city is full of twists and turns and lanes and alleys that connect together, but by the evening I had my bearings and felt pretty at home. I found the outdoor store and bought thicker socks. There was this one building that I took a picture of, thinking, "it looks like disneyland!" and later found out it was designed by Gaudi. Figures!!

I was in the dorm with some very nice people, from Ireland, Germany, Spain, Brazil, etc. And even a few Americans.

Bercianos to Mansilla de las Mulas

2009-07-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

WINDY again. I thought I´d have a funny crick in my neck or back from leaning to my left and forward against the wind all day. But I think the wind was so energizing! And this was the only day I left long sleeves on the whole time, because it was so nice and cool! Again, I thought about going farther, but my guidebook was unclear about the albergues closer to Leon, so I decided not to chance it.

Mansilla de las Mulas is just outside Leon, and has some nice old city walls and stuff, which I enjoyed wandering around in the afternoon. But the hostel was crowded and institutional in feel, not so welcoming. I thought about staying a day later because they were having a medieval fair in the middle of town the next day! But I don´t think I have tons of time to stop without having to take a bus or walk a lot farther in future days. As long as I´m healthy, I want to keep walking. So no medieval fair in the old city.

Ledigos to Bercianos del Real Camino

2009-07-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, it´s easy to get behind. I think it was about 25km from Ledigos to Bercianos, in a windstorm!!! I loved the wind so much more than the sun, though it occasionally threw dust in the air. I have been having mixed feelings about how far to go, because usually my feet are ready to stop but the rest of me could keep going, when it is not hot. I could go 32 or so instead... but for the sake of my feet I´ve been stopping around the 25km mark when I can.
Bercianos was another little dying town in the middle of nowhere. The two hospitaleros were volunteers from La Rioja who had walked the camino before, both men about 60 or so. They talked to us and made paella (free/donation) for dinner, which turned out to be just seasoned rice with a few chunks of beef. What exactly is the definition for paella? I am confused. But it was in about a 3 foot diameter paella pan and served 30 people, which was pretty impressive, and it was a good thing for getting to talk to people. I met a pro soccer player from Rome, several German girls, and some nice Spanish guys over dinner, and we sat and talked over the bad table wine quite a while afterward, fortunately in English!!

The second good thing about this hostel was that the hospitaleros had brought one of their dogs from home, a big dog with a big square head and I have no idea what kind it was but one of you will tell me when you see the pictures. His name was Attila and he was super sweet, and he kept following around this Hungarian girl (who got a kick out of his name... Attila the Hun, of course, being Hungarian) because she would let him come up on her lap and snuggle against her head. Me, not so much, at least not after I´d showered. But it gave the place such a homey feeling to have a dog. He kept picking up adobe bricks and rocks in his mouth and ignoring his rope toy. The third good thing was the communal prayer time/chapel service led by the local priest after dinner. He had different groups of people read different parts of the service in their own language, and then passed around a candle and had us each share a comment about our day or our camino, in our own language. And then we sang a Taize song while he went around and made a cross on each of our foreheads with water and blessed us. It was very sweet and meaningful. So I have concluded that every good hostel, in addition to clean facilities, plentiful showers, and few beds per room, should have a dog, communal dinner, and evening prayers.

I also investigated the little ermita that is the only church for the town now that the cathedral tower fell in on the church 10 years ago, due to lack of upkeep. So sad. There was a little old lady who was the attendant at the ermita, and she let me and three other people hide in there while it poured rain for about 10 minutes!!! First rain since the first day, and that was France, so first rain in Spain. It was wild. But the wind blew it past quickly, and that was the last of it. And if the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain, perhaps this will be the last rain I see.

So it was a little nothing town, but good community, which is exactly what I wanted.

Carrion de los Condes to Ledigos

2009-07-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

Terrain - Kansas
Road - straight and endless
Weather - hot and still in the morning, hot and windy in the afternoon
Highlights - stopping
Photos - maybe one or two all day.
Towns I went through - Calzadilla de la Cueza, pop 75 (but 80 beds in the hostel); Ledigos, pop 100
Albergue - Quiet, which is a relief after yesterday. Roomy, old building with adobe walls and old adobe oven in the kitchen. No one here I know, so I was talking to some Spanish walkers in the bar until the smoke got too bad.

Itero de la Vega to Carrion de las Condes

2009-07-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today was kind of a long, hard, crazy walk. To start out with, when I left Itero de la Vega just before dawn it took me a while to figure out which direction to start out. Had to backtrack to find a yellow arrow, and there were no hordes for me to follow today. It was really strange not to have people in crowds ahead of me and people passing me. I think I just hit a low spot by starting early and walking pretty fast.
My pace went from more than 5km an hour this morning, when it was cool out and I was fresh, to slooooowww this afternoon when my NEW blister was killing my left foot and it was hot. I was ready to stop at 28km but the hostel there was closed for the day for repairs, the (German) volunteer told me! I could have stayed in the private hotel there, but who knows the cost, so I went another 5km. I also wanted to keep going because this town has a pharmacy and a supermarket, which the last did not. I needed sunscreen and bandaids and snacks.
I´m in the albergue Santo Espiritu, which is run by a convent, as are two of the other albergues in town. The first one, Santa Clara, just didn´t have a good feel to it, and the guy was kind of rude. The second was full, but the helpful nun directed me here. It was only after I´d paid that I found the courtyard filled with kids, maybe 40 kids ages 9 to 15, who appear to be here for day camp. Except it´s overnight camp too. They were blasting Spanish pop music and playing ball in the yard, while I wanted to nap! But I do think it´s nice that they are doing something for the kids, so I´m trying not to be selfish. All I can say, though, is that it´s 9:45 and I can still hear the kids, they´re not in bed yet, and I will be very soon! So I´m hoping I get sleep tonight since I didn´t get a nap.
I went to the church service tonight and the room was, strangely, full! Usually I find about 10 to 50 people in church on a weeknight, pilgrims and old ladies, etc., but this was full of youth and there were 5 priests up front and guitars accompanying the songs. (usually it´s a capella. I haven´´t heard a piano or organ in a service yet.) I found out afterward the youth are missionaries from Madrid. Interesting. But they did a nice pilgrim blessing at the end, actually had us stay and sing and pray a little, just us, instead of just adding a benediction to the end of the service.
I was grateful today for the breeze that kicked up in the afternoon, and for the clouds that blocked the sun by the end of my walk. I felt like God was giving me help when I needed it most!
I was low on food so my lunch was bread with melted chocolate bar smeared on it. I´´m so tired of ham and cheese. Tortilla for late breakfast after 15km was perfect, though.

What is this dial up stuff?

2009-07-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

It´s been a couple days since I´ve had internet, and now I do but it´s the hospitalera´s computer and it´s slow! But it´s free!

I took a bus to visit the monastary Santo Domingo de Silos from Burgos, and it was pretty cool! I´m not sure the other two pilgrims who went with me were as into it, but I very much enjoyed hearing the ¨famous¨chanting monks (from the Chant recordings that were on the charts like 15 years ago). They wore long black robes with big jedi sleeves and looked very peaceful and monkish. What was most impressive, though, was the acoustics of the church in the monastary. Huge 16th century (?) church, but without all the gold and glitz and Mary ¨dolls¨that clutter up most Catholic churches here. Instead, just stone walls, with rounded domes in all the ceilings... so that when I was in there before the Completas end of the day service, I was alone and tried out the acoustics... and one voice, from the middle of the sanctuary, was perfectly amplified and had a full 4 seconds of reverb!!! I so wished for any of my singer friends (or family) to be there with me and play around with it more, but it was phenomonal. The Completas at night and the Laudes in the morning were very pretty, but not as perfect as the CDs. There were about 30 monks but room for at least 50... trouble recruiting? It was a peaceful mountain town but not much to see there besides the monks.

From Silos I came back to Burgos in the morning and thus got a late start walking. I got into Hornillos del Camino at about 3, with trepidation. A French woman with long braids (who, incidentally, has walked the same route I did but in about 9 days instead of 15 - how is 40km per day fun??) told me that the albergue there was full. I mentally geared up for a long haul, not getting into Hontanas until like 6. But at Hornillos the woman at the bar who was in charge of the hostal told me that there was no room in the hostal, but there were beds in the gym next door. There ended up being about 20 of us in the echoey gym, with walls covered with dirty round smudges from a ball being smacked against them. But it was fine. A roof and a mattress is fine. Some people walked on to a place 6km further, which was a house in the middle of nowhere with no electricity or running water. Interesting, and community building, but I wanted a nap and time to do laundry! And I got it!

From Hornillos to Itero de la Vega was my longest day (distancewise) yet, about 32km. I´m getting more blisters, and my knees did NOT like the steep downhill at about km 25, but otherwise it was really not so bad. It´s getting hotter again, though, so I may not be able to sustain the distances.

The plains are not as plain as I expected. Yes, there are lots of fields. But it´s not flat. It´s rolling hills and plateaus, with windmills in the distance. It does all look pretty dried out right now, with harvested wheat fields, but the sunflowers are always a nice change of scenery. They look thirsty, too, though.

Tosantos to Atapuerca

2009-07-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

Got a late start because no crowd was there to wake us up. Jose Luis was insistant that we not get up before 6, because it wakes the neighbors and it´s not enough rest anyway, and he´d kept us up late with dinner at 8:30 and then washing up and prayers, so we complied and slept in until almost 7. Fabulous coffee, and got Jose Luis to sing for us again. There are a couple of pilgrim songs, one in spanish and one in french, that I need to learn.
Delightful walk through pines, some uphill but not bad, and the breeze became wind. LOVE IT. I can walk longer with wind. Walked most of the way with the same 3 from my hostel, but I stopped after 26km in Atapuerca and they went on. I will probably meet up with them tomorrow in Burgos though. Ready for a rest!

Santo Domingo to Tosantos

2009-07-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Due to early-rising dormmates, got an early start in Santo Domingo, and walked about 28km to Tosantos by about 2pm.

Terrain: sunflower fields broke up the endless wheat fields at some points, making me very happy! no shade.
Weather: lovely cloudy skies in the morning, sun in the afternoon but not unbearably hot.
Feet: walked in Tevas with socks (felt very German) which was a nice break. By the end my socks rubbed, but in different places than normal, so it was fine.
Company: walked the majority alone, leapfrogging with others, like this group of 3 German ladies with matching green backpacks, and this kind of strange kid from New Orleans named David. Most of them stayed in Belorado and I went on another hour. I am finding that it is much better to stay past the bigger towns (the ones that the guidebooks set out as a day´s walk from each other) and go for the next small town. This avoids the crush of people in the hostel and in the morning getting started. The tiny towns can be restful, and the big ones usually have an old part of town that is good for walking around, but the middle-sized ones can sometimes be modern or run down and not very attractive.
At Tosantos, population 59, I found the albergue just off the road, and walked in to find Kelly from Montana, who I met first on my second day, in Roncesvalles. She always has a positive attitude and engages the Spanish people so much that she is great to be around. I had thought she´d passed me by, since she´s a stronger walker, but she had stayed with a friend in Najera a night and so I´d caught up! I was only the third person in the hostel, and it ended up being me, Kelly, a guy from Toronto named John, a Dutch girl named Kat who spoke perfect English, and a strange Belgian guy with a lot of tattoos, sun-darkened skin and the worst teeth you have ever seen. He spoke no English, just French and Spanish, and kept rolling cigarettes and making funny sucking-in noises through his bad teeth. Fortunately he kind of kept to himself, slept in a separate room downstairs, and left early in the morning. The other 4 of us had a fabulous time with the hostel to ourselves. The previous day there had been 20 there, and there was room for at least 30, but it was so restful with just a few!
This was a parochial albergue: donation only (no fee), we helped cook dinner, ate together and did the dishes, breakfast together, and even prayer time together up in the little chapel in the attic, which had candles and stained glass. The building was maybe 300 years old, with huge wood beams and white plastered walls, and it was just little vinyl mattresses on the floor, but with only a few of us we were able to double them up and be quite comfortable. The hospitalero, Jose Luis, made (with our chopping help) tortilla española and sopa de ajo, and ensalada. Let me just say - I don´t understand why they have to always put tuna in the salad here, but I am not a big fan. But the soup was very good, garlicky and thickened with day-old bread...and the tortilla was delightful. Best one I´ve had here (not surprising, since it was freshly made and not sitting in some bar)! I totally need to get the knack of it when I get home, despite the salt and carbs and like a cup of oil. :) And we had very good 2001 La Rioja local wine, and melon for dessert. At no cost!!! They also took us up to tour the "virgin in the cave," a little ermita (hermitage?) built into the rocky side of the hill. It was a nice little chapel, and the host lady took her tour very seriously, giving us dirty looks when we laughed at Kelly´s translations or commentary. She especially did not like when Kelly thought that St. Lucia was holding a plate of muffins when it was actually her EYES that had been plucked out of her head. Nice.
A delightful day overall.

Azofra to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

2009-07-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I didn´t walk that far today. Not as far as I´d planned. The weather was much better today, cloudy and breezy and in the 80s instead of 90s, but I struggled through the last 2 k here with an achy foot and it just seemed like a nice place, so I decided to stay. That´s the beautiful freedom of the road. I´ll figure out later if I´m going to have time to actually finish on foot or not. It´s just that the place I was going to stay, another 6km along, is a town of 350 people and the refugio is sleeping on matresses on the floor of the church, and it says capacity 20 in my book but someone else said they don´t turn anyone away. But I walked into this nice medieval old town (after passing some ugly factories) and thought, "Do I really want to spend all afternoon in another small town, with only a mattress on the floor?" I think you have to break up the small towns with some bigger ones, and this is the ultimate pilgrim stop... so I stopped.

The city was actually started because of the Camino. Santo Domingo was a priest from 900 years ago who dedicated his whole life to the pilgrims, and he decided that there needed to be a better road and stopping place between Logroño and Burgos. So he cleared trees, flattened roads, built bridges, and created pilgrim hospitals and hostels here. The hostel I´m staying in tonight is actually the longest-running refugio on the road, because Santo Domingo´s house is in the back of it and he used to host pilgrims there way back in the 1100s. However, the part that is open now is a new building, just opened this year, with nice facilities and a very sincere staff. During the orientation they go on about how some people are just in the hospitality business to make money off the pilgrims, but that´s not the right spirit, and so here it´s as it used to be - you pay what you can or what you wish. And if you can´t pay, you can still stay.

The whole city is having a ¨jubilee¨year because of the 900th year since Santo Domingo´s birth? death? so there are nice new signs everywhere in three languages explaining the old buildings and banners on all the buildings. (It also means you can get special indulgences from the pope if you go walk here and go to mass; you get a special jubilee certificate. Crazy.) I´m writing from the pilgrims´¨library¨where they have free internet for pilgrims! They also have some kind of touristy museum here where you put on a brown pilgrim cloak and "take a small taste of what it´s like to walk the pilgrim camino." It´s 3 euros so I´m trying to decide whether to satisfy my curiosity or stay away.

The cathedral in the center of town has a memorable story, too, the reason for people telling me it was the chicken church. Inside the front door, there´s a shrine with a window and two live chickens are kept inside. (Don´t worry, they swap them out every week or two, no animal cruelty.) So the story is, apparently, in the 15th century a German pilgrim was falsely accused of stealing, and was sentenced to be hanged. But Santo Domingo held the boy up on his shoulders and kept him from dying. When someone told this to the judge, who was eating dinner at the time, he said, "that boy is as dead as these chickens on my plate." At which point the chickens rose up with a crow. So that´s the miracle of the chickens, and so this town has chickens in the church, and Santo Domingo has chickens carved into his crypt, and one of the symbols of the town is the chicken... Good story, huh?

Today I feel like I´m on vacation, because I got here before 11, and have been relaxing and poking around town ever since. It´s nice. But I´ll be ready to move on tomorrow.

Navarrete to Azofra

2009-07-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

It´s hot. My feet hurt. But I´m still glad I´m here. I stopped in Najera and sent some stuff home and got some new blister bandages at the pharmacy. Should be good to go now. It was beastly hot again this afternoon, and the "late" start at 7 didn´t help, so earlier tomorrow should be good. I left my walking stick behind twice today, but discovered it before it was more than a 10 minute walk back. Did I mention it was hot? It´s supposed to rain possibly tomorrow, and it looks like it now, but when I stopped at 2 or so I´d gone as far as I could. This is a small town but the municipal hostel is a nice new building that holds about 60 people in little cubicle rooms with only 2 people in each. such a treat to not be in a bunkbed... cooked a nice hostel dinner, pasta with sauce and pork loin (at least I think that´s what lomo is).

Logroño to Navarrete

2009-07-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

There´s nothing to do, but that´s okay, because it´s too hot to do anything.

Last night I had fun going out for tapas on Calle Laurel in Logroño (apparently it´s a thing... they sell Tshirts saying "I went to Laurel Street" [in Spanish, of course]). There were some quite disgusting little shish kebob things that I managed to avoid. There were several weddings going on in town, and also several bachelorette parties all dressed in matching outfits going around being crazy. It seemed like a party town, for sure!

Today the three people closest to me in my dorm room got up and were out before 5. Yikes! I was not ready for that, but of course couldn't go back to sleep, so I got a slow start and was on the road by 7. It was a slow walk, but pretty, through a regional park, with a pond with ducks and fishermen, and nice paved asphalt trail.

Along the way there was this guy all set up with apples and plums and cookies, free for the pilgrims passing. His name was Marcelino and apparently he's a camino legend. He walked all the way from Jerusalem to Santiago with a burro and a dog, and he helped paint the yellow arrows all along the way. And he LOVED talking to pilgrims. Interesting guy.

There was also an interesting spot where the trail went by a chain link fence, on a ridge up parallel to the highway, and for about half a mile or so, until the end of the fence, pilgrims have woven sticks into the chain link to form crosses. Just thousands of them. Random but beautiful.

I came into Navarrete around 10:30, and if I'd psyched up for it earlier, I could have continued at least the next 4km to the next town. But I was ready for a break day. The problem is, it's Sunday, and it's a small town. NOTHING is open. I put down my bag, had a cafe con leche and una pincha de tortilla, then walked around, then went to the 1:00 mass (huge gold altarpiece covering the whole front of the church) then waited some more, talked to some new Americans that just started the camino today and are only going a few days, waited some more. Next time I might just keep going, because there's not much to do but walk when the hostel opens late.

So... I think I'm going to go make dinner in the hostel kitchen. The pilgrim menu served at the bars/restaurants is a good deal at 9-12 euros for salad, main course, dessert and wine, but it's still cheaper to cook some pasta in the kitchen for a few euros. It's too hot to eat, anyway.

Los Arcos to Logroño

2009-07-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

Distance: 28km
Terrain: mostly flat, some pine groves, some vineyards, dry rocky paths. I feel like I'm walking through Temecula during a dry, hot time of year.
Weather: Hot. Very nice this morning, even cold, and I wore long pants and long sleeves from 6 - about 8:30. (Started my earliest ever, at about 6am, because it seemed like EVERYONE was getting up at 5!)

Got to Viana at 10 or 10:30, and I had been planning on staying there, but it was too early. It felt like a cute little city, and I had thought I'd enjoy getting started early and finishing early, but the hostels don't open until like 2, so it didn't feel right! I left there at 11 and arrived here around 2:00, 3 hrs to go 8km, but it was hot and I stopped several times. I've discovered that one of the secrets is stopping and taking off my socks and shoes every hour or two. And when it's hot and I'm really tired, that becomes like every 45 minutes. And eating often along the way helps too.

So on to Logroño. Met my first other Californians, two students from Sacramento. Lots of familiar faces every day, some since day 1, but no one that I'm really walking with 100% of the time. It's more like I walk with some people for a while, or I pass them and then they pass me, as we take breaks at different places. But the familiarity is great, like a whole little village picking up and moving each day.

My new shoes and socks seem to be good, so I'm going to send the others along home.

I'm now in La Rioja, the region in Spain famous for its wine. Oh, and I think I forgot to mention, yesterday I passed by the WINE FOUNTAIN for pilgrims in the side of a winery in Itache, Navarre. There's a water spigot and there's a wine spigot. Help yourself. Not top quality, and not so appetizing at 9am, but it says it's good luck to fortify you to reach Santiago, so you gotta do it. :)

My legs are stiff and sore today, but my feet and knees feel slightly better. I feel like an old woman. Every day there's a different complaint. It's easiER now than it was a week ago, but when does it get EASY??? But every single day I find that it's worth it. Beautiful countryside that you wouldn't see any other way, neat towns, great people.

Estella to Los Arcos

2009-07-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

20 km or so
weather - hot
terrain - rolling hills, wheat fields and vineyards, olive trees, a little way through some trees, little shade overall
path - gravel path or road
sights - more romanesque churches and medieval bridges... a neat castle on top of a cone-shaped hill where one king´s remains are buried (Sancho - but I don´t remember what number)... tall stacks of hay (or is it straw?) 10 bales high that look like buildings from a distance
company - part way with a group of 4 germans, part way alone
health - good, new shoes feel good so far! blisters are not worse anyway, and no new ones, and I think these shoes make me feel less stones along the way. Yes! My knee was stiff this morning but better once I warmed up. If it´s still stiff tomorrow I´ll buy a knee brace.
state of mind - happy.

Obanos to Estella

2009-07-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

This was a long day. That´s all I can think about right now. The beginning was fine, with a town every hour or so, and each one had a similar-looking 12th century stone church. Then around 10:30 it started getting hot. And I probably should have stayed one town back. But Estella is really pretty, and it´s great to be in a bigger town, and I bought some supplies here. (Shoes. We´ll see. The selection was not huge.)

It´s after 9 so I need to get sleep now, even though it´s still light!

Larrasoaña to Pamplona

2009-07-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

It was an easy 15 km from Larrasoaña to Pamplona, so I got there by 11am. Along the way, in the towns before, all the people on the streets were dressed in white and red, ready to go to the festival. Approaching Pamplona, in the park by the river, people slept in sleeping bags, or tents, or just on the ground... I suppose if you´ve had enough to drink, you don´t need a sleeping bag?
Another pilgrim directed me to the small hostel that WAS open, since the big one was closed. Even though someone else had said that they were full and all the spots were reserved, I thought I´d check... pilgrim hostels aren´t supposed to take reservations, generally. A nice German woman named Inga let me put my backpack in the musty cellar and told me to be back in an hour to get a room! There were only about 10 other backpacks in the cellar, and 26 beds, so all looked good. I went briefly up to the city, where I wandered around and found myself walking along the top wall of the city, with yet again lots of people sleeping it off amidst piles and piles of plastic cups and broken bottles, and very strong smells. I went back down and got my room and went through the daily pilgrim ritual (spread out sleeping bag, shower, wash clothes, nap/journal) before going out to see the sights and find food.
So apparently Pamplona is normally around 200,000 and is more like a million during the Festival de San Fermin, which is a week long. And you should really go! You know, if you like to drink all day. Or maybe if you like watching animals be tortured and slaughtered for sport. Or if you like sleeping on a park bench or on the ground or even in a pile of garbage. (Yes, it was so.) So... it´s not my scene. But I walked around in the crowds for a while, followed some parades with bands and banners and people carrying coolers, got claustrophobic, went into a church (almost completely empty - quite the juxtaposition from the crowds outside, and what is that saying about the relevence of the church?) and there met some pilgrims I knew from Roncesvalles and Larrasoaña. I went with them to see if the cathedral was open, but it wasn´t, so they went to a bar and started in on 6 Euro (that´s like $10) drinks. Hmmm. Plus they were speaking French the whole time, because I was the only one who didn´t speak French, and they were two French and one other American who loved practicing her French and didn´t often stop to translate. I didn´t stay long. But it was fun to find friends in the crowd.

An overpriced bocadillo de tortilla and jugo for me, and I was done.

The next morning, Wednesday, I got up early and went through the morning routine (pack up bed, get dressed, brush teeth, pack backpack, breakfast) before 6:15. Tammy (Canadian) and I got up to the street around 6:30, and it was a madhouse already. Our hostel was near the Plaza de Toros, and the crowds only seemed to get worse from there, so since we didn´t know where to go, we stayed near there. There were two wood barriers, like fences, and the back one was full but the front one was not. We guessed wrong and took places at the front only to be cleared away by the police at 7. So instead of nice standing spots, I was crouching and Tammy was peering between the legs of some girls who were perched up on the top rungs. It was a tense hour of holding position as drunk guys tried to go through and cross the street and were stopped by police, the sanitation workers tried to rake up the big mess and had to avoid the guy sleeping in the trash heap, and pushy people tried to come take our spots.

At eight they ran... thousands of people, and about five bulls, from what I saw. It was not the huge crowd of bulls the movies always show! People would be in there and at first ran but then slowed to a walk, kind of looking behind them, wondering where the bulls were. Then one would come and everyone would run again. After it started, the police didn´t care if we got closer, or even got in the street... so I did. Get in the street, that is. There weren´t any bulls at the moment, but I ran with the bulls as much as some of those people did who meant to do it. I went about 20 yards and then got back behind the barrier. After all, I didn´t want to end up in the arena!

So that was Pamplona during los sanfermines. I´m glad I did it... so that I never have to do it again!

day 3, roncesvalles to larrasoana

2009-07-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

Today Iwalked and walked and walked some more, some 27 km, I think. I have my first blister, right where I thought I´d get it, where I could feel it rubbing before I left. But, stupidly, I didn´t get different shoes... they were expensive to start with, and had felt good in the store! Darn. I am considering whether I should buy new ones in Pamplona. I probably should. The blister isn´t bad now, and I have already seen some doozies, but I don´t want to risk it.

It was a beautiful morning, with forest and cool breezes, coming up onto ridgelines overlooking farmland. I´m grateful for the cool while we have it because I know it will be hot enough soon!

I walked today partly alone, and then part with a German girl named Melanie and then with another German girl named Felicitas. They´re both around 20, done with high school and in between apprenticeships/internships or something. Very nice. We discussed language, culture, health care, education, and, of course, the camino!

I passed through Zibiri and bought some bread and cheese and probably should have stopped for the night, but it was "only" 5.5km more to Larrasoana and that puts me closer to Pamplona tomorrow. It was about the longest 5.5km of my life. My legs hurt and my feet hurt. They had good hot showers here, and pretty window boxes with geraniums on just about every house, and a medieval bridge. But let me tell you, that´s ALL they have! The one bar-restaurant was closed! The one little shop had very few choices! The kitchen that used to be open to pilgrims is no longer! There is nowhere to go, nothing to do, nowhere even to buy a cafe con leche or a vaso de vino. It´s pretty stark. But a bed! I was not feeling so well when I got my backpack off today and someone was so nice as to give me a bottom bunk.

No idea what will happen tomorrow, Pamplona during the festival de San Fermin!

st jean pied de port to roncesvalles

2009-07-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

27 km, split over 2 days (stayed at Orisson overnight)

path - about half paved asphalt road, single lane, winding up through the hills, about half gravel path or mud path!
terrain - up, up and away - up and then back down 1450m or so. high pastures, with sheep and horses grazing. beech forest shrouded in mist (cloud). green, green, green!
weather - first day very wet, rained as i left st jean, none of the gorgeous views the path is famous for. was actually glad to stop after 3 hours of walking uphill in the rain, and my legs thanked me too. second day still thick pea soup cloud, but not as wet. it was a cool hike but pleasant. came out at the highest point above the cloud and had lunch with a crowd of pilgrims, then descended back into it all.

what a crowd at roncesvalles. am in a dorm, single room in 17th centure building, which sleeps 120. and has 2 showers for each gender. yikes.

this is fantastic!

Oh, and by the way

2009-07-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I got a new phone charger in Bayonne. :)

Ready to start! I think!

2009-07-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

St. Jean Pied-de-Port charms my socks off. Cobblestones? Check. Narrow winding streets? Check. Window boxes full of flowers? Check. 17th century fortress and cathedral? Check, check. It's actually a little touristy in the center of town, with lots of Basque country souvenier shops, etc., and tour groups panting up the steep hills. But it's sweet and humble enough that you forgive it. I came into town early (1pm) to be sure of getting a place since I wasn't able to reserve. I don't really know if it would have been a problem but I haven't had a decent night's sleep yet and wanted to be sure. There's not a lot to DO here, but I'm tired so I won't care much! There are some people who speak English among the pilgrims, but tomorrow may split us up because I'm only walking as far as Orisson, not all 27km to Roncesvalles. Tomorrow I should only have to walk 3 or 4 hours, but I've heard it's a nice way to start. I'm honestly just not prepared enough that 27km with a big elevation gain would be easy and pleasant. The hostel in Orisson is in the middle of nowhere but they provide half board (dinner and breakfast? I think?) so I just have to carry two days' worth of lunches with me. There's water along the way...
I met a French woman, Estelle, who is taking a taxi over to Roncesvalles and starting there. This is her fifth time doing this, so she knows what she's talking about.
I also met a woman who just finished 40 days of walking (alone) through the French part of the Camino and is done now. She looks to be about 60 and told me she was very proud of herself. I was proud of her too!
The guy sitting next to me now rode his bike here from Frankfurt and continues on to Santiago, about 40-45 days. He did it last year too!
And then there are people like me, who don't know what we're doing at all. I think it'll take a few days to get in the rhythm of these hostel afternoons/evenings... Right now I'm going to find a bite for dinner and then get some sleep. Breakfast is provided by the hostel - at 6am!!!

Roadblocks? Let's call them hurdles.

2009-07-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

It's 11:30pm in Bilbao, making this one LONG day of travel. Let's see, with the 9 hour time difference, that's about 28 hours... and it's going "fine" but I seem to keep having to jump one hurdle after another. And doing so alone on very little sleep is difficult! Would you like a sample?

1. flight from Santa Ana to Atlanta canceled due to flat tire on plane (they don't carry a spare in the trunk??); the replacement plane would miss my connection to Madrid
2. they shuttled me to LAX for a flight 6 hrs later, and though it went through Paris to Madrid, they would not let me cancel the second leg and just fly to Paris (which, at that point, would have saved me time - the TGV runs more often than the trains from Madrid) - I had to continue on to Madrid or they'd cancel my return flight in August!
3. Got to LAX and found out I did NOT have a ticket, I was on standby. Astounding gall. But I did get on at the last minute.
4. Got to Paris and asked again, they still would not let me cancel the one leg of my ticket.
5. Got to Madrid, got cash, got to the bus station, bought a cell phone, called a hostel and reserved for the night in Bilbao; bought a ticket to Bilbao. Yes!
6. Left new phone charger on bus; bus disappeared in the 5 minutes it took me to realize this; attendant said the bus was headed to the garage in a different part of the city and I could try back tomorrow but basically tough luck
7. Called to confirm room for next night in St. Jean Pied de Port and host said sorry, he gave it away because my email hadn't been clear enough that I DID want it and I hadn't called him back soon enough (I don't even know yet what my phone's ringer sounds like, but I sure didn't hear it)
8. During 6 and 7, info window closed where I was supposed to ask where to find bus stop for bus 18
9. Wandered around bus station, called hostel and got answering machine
10. It started raining
11. Wandered around in rain and found bus stop for bus 18, but realized I didn't know what direction to take it in
12. Went back to bus station and bought outgoing ticket for tomorrow morning early since hostel guy said I should get into town early if I don't have a reservation. This means I'm skipping the Guggenheim this time... but at this point I'm not in the mood for a museum!!!
13. Considered just waiting in the bus station, but changed mind and took taxi to hostel
14. Checked in! Yay! but found out I won't get free breakfast here because my bus leaves before that

Of course the upside of all this is that it's going fine. I'm safe, I'm getting where I want to go, I have a hot shower and clean sheets here. But it's not the ideal scripted version by any means! I guess I better get used to that again! Flexibility, adaptation, making the best of whatever happens. I can buy a new phone charger. I can stay somewhere else tomorrow. I can see the Guggenheim some other time - it's not on my lifelong priority list, really. But sometimes, in the rain, it takes a few minutes to realize all this.

Where

2009-06-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

During the month of July, I will be walking the Camino Frances, part of the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) pilgrimage route. The road ends in Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia (NW Spain) where the remains of James the Apostle are said to be buried. It has been one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage destinations for over a thousand years, behind only Rome and the Holy Land. The road begins... wherever you want it to! Authentically, one would start walking from home, but most pilgrims begin either within Spain or just beyond the French border.

Wednesday morning I leave from LAX for Madrid, from whence I'll make my way to St. Jean Pied de Port, France, just at the edge of the Pyranees. From there I'll be walking west, through villages and small towns as well as bigger cities like Leon and Burgos, following the trail. Although I'm going "alone," there will be hundreds of others along the same trail at the same time... based on last year's statistics, over ten thousand might be expected to arrive in Santiago during the month of August, though many will have started in other places.