Camino Day Three

Friday, May 25, 2012

Larrasoana to Pamplona

20.9 km (13.0 miles)

Morning photo

John, Rachel, Adam

We saw a ton of snails and slugs on the trail when we first started. There's a little snail friend in this picture, can you see it?

These guys sold pastries, toast, fruit, coffee, juice, etc. out of their garage. And they had their own stamp too (for our pilgrim's passports), which is fun and a big deal for those just starting out on the camino. At the lower left corner of the house, you can see Adam and John. 

Cafe con leche and cafe americano, Adam's and my regular, respectively

An Oktoberfest event. In May. At a bullring in Spain. And when we walked in, the Spanish lady was singing a pop song by an American performer.

St. Francis of Assisi 

St. James

The albergue was not yet open when we got to Pamplona, so I waited there to hold our spot while the guys got lunch. It turned out to be completely unnecessary for me to wait, but I still felt the sting from paying 15 euros per person the previous night and wanted to ensure a spot in this municipal albergue. From my journal: While sitting there, I answered the same questionnaire 3x for different groups of school children. One kid asked me where I'm from, and I told his teacher I'm from Tennessee, which is where Elvis Presley is from. The boy then said something about Hannah Montana, which is the second time a pre-teen has mentioned her.

Later: We saw Dana (Canadian) and Michael (English), who invited us for beer. We had a great time chatting with them. Before that we had seen Anna and Tuna, two Norwegian girls, very friendly, who started the camino in LePuy and will walk for a total of 10 weeks.

Camino Day Two

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Walked from Roncesvalles (now in Spain for good) to Larrasoana. 

Covered 27.4 km (17.0 miles)

Morning picture! John, Adam, Rachel

Only 790 km to Santiago (no big deal).

Mid-morning in Spain, coffee and budgeting (no big deal).

John and Adam

We still walked up hills, but no mountains like the first day.

From my journal: A highlight: stopping to put our feet (and take a dip, for the guys) in a river--freezing cold

Adam completely submerged

John

You can see some markings on the corner of this building that indicate which direction the camino goes.

From my journal: When we got to Larrasoana, where we planned on spending the night, the municipal albergue was full, as well as the overflow space. Ended up at a pension. Got a hot shower, laundered our own clothes, took a nice long nap, then reserved a place for dinner, which was the pilgrim's meal at the only bar/restaurant in town. 

Camino Day One

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Our first day we hiked from St. Jean Pied-de-Port in France to Roncesvalles in Spain. We covered 25.1 km (15.6 miles) and crossed over the Pyrenees. 

John, Adam, and Rachel outside the albergue

The walk started in town. Uphill right away. 

We got used to seeing the conch shell.

Wild ponies grazing in the fog

It was a a cold and foggy day, but we still had some amazing views. I began to doubt my choice of clothing, as I, ahem, have an allergy to cold.
From my journal: The landscapes were beautiful. Green hills (mountains), small farms, shrouded in mist. We walked mostly on the road today, and when we didn't it was pretty steep downhill or muddy. Also: It was very gratifying to get some views despite the mist. 

The water fountain outside an albergue where we had sandwiches and coffee. It was a nice break to get some food and warm up inside the building.

The sun came out as we were walking (still uphill) with Hiko, a Japanese man who gave us each an umeboshi (pickled Japanese plums) and a coin, along with a typed explanation of the significance of the coin. I kept the coin tied to the cord that held the conch shell to my backpack.

From my journal: It was amazing. I am so glad we are doing this!

Even though the day got warmer, we could see lots of snow on the mountains in the distance.

The municipal albergue where we stayed in Roncesvalles. We slept in a sort of cubicle with two bunkbeds. There were almost 200 beds in this place, along with separate bathrooms for men and women, a kitchen, vending machines, and a computer room.

Tapas, beer, and wine before dinner. Carbo-loading for our next day on the camino!

Trail Magic

Sunday we had a long walk (31.2 km/19.2 miles) into Astorga. It was a bit windy, so we were getting dust in our eyes, and we had some small climbs up, as well as descents down, rocky roads. We were on a flat stretch about 6 km from the city when we saw a sign for La Casa de los Dioses. As we cruised up to the building, we were greeted by some other peregrinos and a Spanish man who called out,"Self service!"  And did he have a spread from which to serve ourselves!

There was potable water, a dozen types of tea, a dozen more kinds of fruit juice, almond milk, rice milk, cherries, chestnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, figs, and some crunchy cookie bar things. Then his friend came out with some hot curry (vegetarian, of course!) and a green salad with veggies and chickpeas. It was amazing, the sort of food I'd love to have around my own home all the time--fresh and nourishing. And after a long day of walking in the sun and wind, it was perfect. Not only was there food for our bodies, there were some comfy couches and a hammock to give our minds a break. He also had a labyrinth near his building. AND there was a huge compost bin which, if you know me at all, was also hugely satisfying to see. 

 We have not encountered anything else like this on the camino. I understand why not--thousands upon thousands of peregrinos walk the way each year. It would be very difficult to sustain such an operation (sidenote: we got trail magic on the AT from a couple who watched me with eagle eyes when I poured more of their milk over the cereal I had carried with me). That is why it is so beautiful and was much appreciated by those who stopped to enjoy such generosity in a peaceful environment. In the midst of our now-daily grind of eating cold ham and cheese sandwiches and walking many miles in the relentless elements, we were unconditionally offered respite.

Who's Who (Part 4) or "The Group"

After taking a bus from Burgos to Carrión earlier this week, we didn't know anyone who was walking around us. It was hard for me, the feeling of apprehension. I never was the new kid at school, but I have a vague idea what it feels like now. In Carrión we met a Portuguese guy named Jose who is walking about 50 km per day. That's 30 miles. After reaching Santiago, he will walk to his home in Portugal--another 300 km.

The next day we met two guys who will be seniors at Kenyon (a university near where I grew up) this fall. They seperately indicated that they are traveling in a group that just sort of fell together. This sounded  exclusive to us, but we have since met "the group," and of course it is made up of some wonderful people:

Andrew, one of the Kenyon students, who is self-deprecating and witty and feels kindof like a little cousin to me.

 Mitchell, the other student, seems more reserved. He likes soccer, so Adam has watched some with him an a dozen other people the last couple of nights.

 Amber, who will go to Greece for a couple of weeks after reaching Santiago, then begin law school this fall.

 Colleen, a delightful Aussie who is a nurse in England.

 Lee from Austin, TX, who looks at least a decade younger than his forty years.

Jeff, a New Zealander who could walk 50 km a day, but resists in order to enjoy spending time with his new friends.

Steve, was born and raised in Maryland, has four kids, and will spend a week in France with his wife upon finishing the camino.

Liz, who lives in Chicago, lived various places in Ohio after attending Xavier, and will move to Michigan next year when she marries a man with an apple orchard and maple syrup business.

Jody from England who is bubbly and quick witted.

Miguel, a Spaniard who joined the group a couple of days before we met them. He doesn't speak much English, so Jody carries on conversations with him in the best Spanish she can remember. was kicked out of the group because he apparently got "annoying." (I later found out that that meant...and agreed.)

Angela, another English woman who has been walking with Jody and Liz since almost the beginning, I think.

 So, there you have it. The Group, of which we have grown fond. As I started typing this post, I wondered why I keep describing the other pilgrims we meet. And I realized it's because the people make this trip just as special as the walking, the quaint villages and historic cities, the views, and the fact that we're experiencing it all in Spain.

Heaven?

We just bought our tickets from Santiago back to Madrid, so I have exactly 2 minutes left on a computer (instead of our iPod) to give you a little update. We walked out of Leon today, and according to past pilgrims, we are in the portion of the camino that is heaven. From Saint Jean to Burgos was hell (for the body), Burgos to Leon was purgatory (for the mind), and from Leon to Santiago should be like heaven. I will let you know about that once we have walked it...

We are doing well, feeling well, getting along, all that jazz!

Who's Who (Part 3)

Adam from England, who talks in his sleep. In fact, on his first night in the albergue, he had a nightmare about a tsunami and screamed out loud,"You're all going to die tomorrow!"

 Daniel, a recent graduate from New Jersey who wants to move to South Carolina as soon as he's able. Daniel will probably get an entire post of his own.

 Dana, a flight attendant from Canada, who had to go back home from Pamplona due to family illness. Dana was walking with Michael, an Englishman who she met in a youth hostel in Wales and walked the way with his two daughters several years ago.

 The Brazilian couples--there are two couples walking together. The women are Asian (one is third generation Brazilian). One of the men gets ahead of the group and blows a whistle to let his wife know he's okay. They have Brazilian flag patches on just about every article of their clothing and gear.

 Judith (pronounced YOU-dit), a German singer who we saw busking in Burgos.

 Ernesto, who is called Ernie by everyone in his hometown. Ernie's son has a phobia of people and declined ernie's request to walk the camino with him.

 These are all peregrinos we met before we took the bus from Burgos to Carrión. A whole new group awaits us to the west.