Linda
Hola from beautiful Burgos. We arrived here yesterday around noon. An elderly Spanish fellow led us into town via pathways through a large green space, saving us from dealing with busy streets. We were a bit nervous about being off the official Camino trail (have become very dependent on the yellow arrows!) but one of our friends was monitoring our progress on his IPhone and knew we were headed in the right direction. The locals have been very kind everywhere.
Bad news is that Russ has a sore swollen ankle, so we may be here for several days. He is keeping it elevated and we purchased a coldpack for it. I am not bad other than a cold and one blister. Our hotel is very nice and is situated next to the famous Cathedral. We plan to take in a 45 min tour this afternoon on a little red train that departs nearby, and requires no walking! Also plan to tour the Cathedral once Russ is more mobile.
Although this is a temporary setback, we think we will still have enough time to complete the Camino.
Adios for now!
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Ages, Spain
Linda
Russ wanted me to pass on the news that he IS crippled now, but is learning how to walk with the pain! His shins are sore, and also one ankle. I have my first blister, but it's a small one on the side of my heel so was able to walk today without much discomfort.
Yesterday we had our most unpleasant day yet, from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado. We were expecting a relatively easy and short (23km) walk, but the wind was very strong and right in our faces the whole time. To make it worse it was also very cold!! I was not happy the last hour of walking, as there were no bathrooms to use, and no trees or bushes as we were on a trail beside a busy highway! The guys have it made in that respect! It was our friend Margit's birthday, so we checked into hotel rooms that night rather than the cheaper alburgue, and felt somewhat better after being pampered.
This morning we were on the trail by 7am and although a bit chilly, no wind. Turned out to be a glorious morning and the trail was winding through golden fields of hay that had been harvested. No more vineyards and olive trees - just brown fields everywhere. The destination recommended in our guide was St. Juan de Ortega, however the only alburgue in that town has a bad reputation, so we opted to walk 4 kms further, to Ages. (total of 27.9 km)
We were the first ones to arrive at the municipal alburgue, and were ecstatic to score a room for four, so we are not sleeping with the rest of the pilgrims in the main room! We are feeling very smug.
Tomorrow we walk to Burgos, where we will spend two nights. We are both looking forward to a day off. We will see the famous cathedral there, and may also take a taxi to the archeological ruins at Atapuerca, which is close to the Camino, however we will pass it very early in the morning.
More later from Burgos.....
Sent from my iPod
Russ wanted me to pass on the news that he IS crippled now, but is learning how to walk with the pain! His shins are sore, and also one ankle. I have my first blister, but it's a small one on the side of my heel so was able to walk today without much discomfort.
Yesterday we had our most unpleasant day yet, from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado. We were expecting a relatively easy and short (23km) walk, but the wind was very strong and right in our faces the whole time. To make it worse it was also very cold!! I was not happy the last hour of walking, as there were no bathrooms to use, and no trees or bushes as we were on a trail beside a busy highway! The guys have it made in that respect! It was our friend Margit's birthday, so we checked into hotel rooms that night rather than the cheaper alburgue, and felt somewhat better after being pampered.
This morning we were on the trail by 7am and although a bit chilly, no wind. Turned out to be a glorious morning and the trail was winding through golden fields of hay that had been harvested. No more vineyards and olive trees - just brown fields everywhere. The destination recommended in our guide was St. Juan de Ortega, however the only alburgue in that town has a bad reputation, so we opted to walk 4 kms further, to Ages. (total of 27.9 km)
We were the first ones to arrive at the municipal alburgue, and were ecstatic to score a room for four, so we are not sleeping with the rest of the pilgrims in the main room! We are feeling very smug.
Tomorrow we walk to Burgos, where we will spend two nights. We are both looking forward to a day off. We will see the famous cathedral there, and may also take a taxi to the archeological ruins at Atapuerca, which is close to the Camino, however we will pass it very early in the morning.
More later from Burgos.....
Sent from my iPod
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
New record
Russ
As we said in our last update, we had a short 20 km walk yesterday and rested up in Ventosa, staying in a lovely hotel last night. It was a grand Spanish mansion that had been converted to a hotel. Lots of modern conveniences mixed with a beautiful old house with 19th century furnishings. Lots of marble and old wood. Dinner was quite nice in the only restaurant in the small town and of course the Rioja wine was excellent.
In spite of the nice accommodation and food I was feeling depressed that we'd dropped back and were no longer traveling with our friends.
This morning after a good rest we struck out for Azofra, about 15 km away. We felt pretty good so we decided to carry on to the next town, Ciruena. Turns out the place is a virtual ghost town. There's a big golf course and a bunch of condo developments that are essentially uninhabited. It seems the development got caught in the 2008 downturn and hasn't recovered. Well, that left us no choice but to press on to Santo Domingo de Calzada, coincidentally bringing us back onto our previous pace. The good news is that we found our Danish friends Eric and Margit. The bad news is that I hobbled the last 10 km or so.
We walked 31 km today!!!!!
We will see tomorrow whether I'm a cripple or not.
Sent from my iPod
As we said in our last update, we had a short 20 km walk yesterday and rested up in Ventosa, staying in a lovely hotel last night. It was a grand Spanish mansion that had been converted to a hotel. Lots of modern conveniences mixed with a beautiful old house with 19th century furnishings. Lots of marble and old wood. Dinner was quite nice in the only restaurant in the small town and of course the Rioja wine was excellent.
In spite of the nice accommodation and food I was feeling depressed that we'd dropped back and were no longer traveling with our friends.
This morning after a good rest we struck out for Azofra, about 15 km away. We felt pretty good so we decided to carry on to the next town, Ciruena. Turns out the place is a virtual ghost town. There's a big golf course and a bunch of condo developments that are essentially uninhabited. It seems the development got caught in the 2008 downturn and hasn't recovered. Well, that left us no choice but to press on to Santo Domingo de Calzada, coincidentally bringing us back onto our previous pace. The good news is that we found our Danish friends Eric and Margit. The bad news is that I hobbled the last 10 km or so.
We walked 31 km today!!!!!
We will see tomorrow whether I'm a cripple or not.
Sent from my iPod
Monday, September 24, 2012
Resting in Ventosa
Linda
Yesterday we walked 28.6 km, from Los Arcos to Lograno! Since we were with our Danish friends it made the distance seem much shorter. We stayed in a large alburgue run by some very strict and somewhat cranky old men! Once showers and laundry were done we wandered to the center of the city (pop 145,000) and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon festivities while sitting at a sidewalk cafe having beer and tapas. Lots of families and some beautiful traditional Spanish clothing.
Later on while relaxing on our bunk beds a short storm blew through and when we checked on our laundry(hanging outside on racks) the volunteers were busy moving all the racks inside! They are well organized. Forgot to mention previously that we have had perfect weather since we started the Camino. Rain on two different occasions but we were in the alburgues each time. We marvel at how lucky we have been.
Although Russ slept ok there I did not-way too much noise out on the street with people yelling and having a good time til all hours of the morning.
Got up at 5:30 and the four of us started out in the dark. With the help of our flashlights we found the yellow arrows to guide us out of the city, but unfortunately no cafes were open that early so no coffee or breakfast until Navarette which was about 12km along. Our feet were quite sore from the long walk yesterday and Russ had one foot giving him trouble from tying his laces too tight. We decided to stop in Ventosa, a small village 10km short of the recommended walk for the day. Neither of us felt like we could do 30km! We said goodbye to our friends and they continued on...hopefully we will connect later, but can keep in touch by email. We booked into a very small hotel so are keeping our feet up and will only venture out to eat. We are now in the Rioja wine district and passed several large wineries today on our walk.
Commented that if we had the energy it would have been fun to do some wine tasting. This village is so small that they do not even have a grocery store. This afternoon we watched a truck roll into town with loud speakers blaring, listing the fruit & veggies available. The back door of the truck popped open and there was a portable store! We bought some bananas and I got a bit of video footage before the vendor told me "no photos"! Apparently he shows up anytime between 11 and 4 daily.
Tomorrow we hope to get an early start and walk 15km to Azofra. We'll see how we feel. No blisters yet which is good, but we've seen people with tendonitis, shin splints etc so are being cautious.
Bye for now!
Sent from my iPod
Yesterday we walked 28.6 km, from Los Arcos to Lograno! Since we were with our Danish friends it made the distance seem much shorter. We stayed in a large alburgue run by some very strict and somewhat cranky old men! Once showers and laundry were done we wandered to the center of the city (pop 145,000) and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon festivities while sitting at a sidewalk cafe having beer and tapas. Lots of families and some beautiful traditional Spanish clothing.
Later on while relaxing on our bunk beds a short storm blew through and when we checked on our laundry(hanging outside on racks) the volunteers were busy moving all the racks inside! They are well organized. Forgot to mention previously that we have had perfect weather since we started the Camino. Rain on two different occasions but we were in the alburgues each time. We marvel at how lucky we have been.
Although Russ slept ok there I did not-way too much noise out on the street with people yelling and having a good time til all hours of the morning.
Got up at 5:30 and the four of us started out in the dark. With the help of our flashlights we found the yellow arrows to guide us out of the city, but unfortunately no cafes were open that early so no coffee or breakfast until Navarette which was about 12km along. Our feet were quite sore from the long walk yesterday and Russ had one foot giving him trouble from tying his laces too tight. We decided to stop in Ventosa, a small village 10km short of the recommended walk for the day. Neither of us felt like we could do 30km! We said goodbye to our friends and they continued on...hopefully we will connect later, but can keep in touch by email. We booked into a very small hotel so are keeping our feet up and will only venture out to eat. We are now in the Rioja wine district and passed several large wineries today on our walk.
Commented that if we had the energy it would have been fun to do some wine tasting. This village is so small that they do not even have a grocery store. This afternoon we watched a truck roll into town with loud speakers blaring, listing the fruit & veggies available. The back door of the truck popped open and there was a portable store! We bought some bananas and I got a bit of video footage before the vendor told me "no photos"! Apparently he shows up anytime between 11 and 4 daily.
Tomorrow we hope to get an early start and walk 15km to Azofra. We'll see how we feel. No blisters yet which is good, but we've seen people with tendonitis, shin splints etc so are being cautious.
Bye for now!
Sent from my iPod
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Update from Los Arcos
Linda
We just finished Day 6 and are now 654 km from our destination, Santiago de Compostela. We are definitely feeling it in our legs and feet. We have been averaging 21 km per day, starting at 7am and finishing around 1pm. That enables us to relax in the afternoons (after showering and doing laundry) and more importantly, avoiding the intense heat in the afternoon. It was 30 degrees today and is forecast to be 34 tomorrow. The scenery has been gorgeous the last few days. Highlights included walking through the centre of Pamplona, climbing Alto del Perdon (Hill of Forgiveness) in absolutely perfect weather, walking on ancient Roman roads and bridges near Cirauqui, filling up an empty water bottle with wine from the Fuentes del Vino (wine fountain) outside Estella at 7:00 am this morning (no we didn't drink it then!!), attending a mass for pilgrims at the cathedral of San Miguel in Estella where the priest gave us a blessing and spoke to each of us in our own language, and just taking in the lovely scenery between villages. Many beautiful grape vines and olive trees, as well as fennel plants both wild and cultivated. The Camino takes us past gardens full of ripe tomatoes, huge artichoke plants and pepper plants loaded with ripe red peppers. Makes our mouths water!
Since we have been staying in alburgues for the past few nights, we treated ourselves to a private room WITH BATHROOM, in a private alburgue, for tonight. 45 euros and we sure needed the break!
Since we seem to be among the first pilgrims to complete each day's walk, it's great to sit in the local squares and reconnect with friends we have made on the Camino. Today we saw a friend from Nanaimo who we hadn't seen for six days. Some people are having problems, so are slowing down, using transportation or taking days off. It's really a unique bond that we all have though, and the first question is always "how are your feet"? We have been enjoying the company of a Danish couple and since we walk about the same speed, usually end up connecting on the trail each day and then eating our "pilgrim meal" together in the evening (10 euros for complete meal incl wine).
That's it for now - heading for Logrono tomorrow but may not make it all the way.
Adios!
Sent from my iPod
We just finished Day 6 and are now 654 km from our destination, Santiago de Compostela. We are definitely feeling it in our legs and feet. We have been averaging 21 km per day, starting at 7am and finishing around 1pm. That enables us to relax in the afternoons (after showering and doing laundry) and more importantly, avoiding the intense heat in the afternoon. It was 30 degrees today and is forecast to be 34 tomorrow. The scenery has been gorgeous the last few days. Highlights included walking through the centre of Pamplona, climbing Alto del Perdon (Hill of Forgiveness) in absolutely perfect weather, walking on ancient Roman roads and bridges near Cirauqui, filling up an empty water bottle with wine from the Fuentes del Vino (wine fountain) outside Estella at 7:00 am this morning (no we didn't drink it then!!), attending a mass for pilgrims at the cathedral of San Miguel in Estella where the priest gave us a blessing and spoke to each of us in our own language, and just taking in the lovely scenery between villages. Many beautiful grape vines and olive trees, as well as fennel plants both wild and cultivated. The Camino takes us past gardens full of ripe tomatoes, huge artichoke plants and pepper plants loaded with ripe red peppers. Makes our mouths water!
Since we have been staying in alburgues for the past few nights, we treated ourselves to a private room WITH BATHROOM, in a private alburgue, for tonight. 45 euros and we sure needed the break!
Since we seem to be among the first pilgrims to complete each day's walk, it's great to sit in the local squares and reconnect with friends we have made on the Camino. Today we saw a friend from Nanaimo who we hadn't seen for six days. Some people are having problems, so are slowing down, using transportation or taking days off. It's really a unique bond that we all have though, and the first question is always "how are your feet"? We have been enjoying the company of a Danish couple and since we walk about the same speed, usually end up connecting on the trail each day and then eating our "pilgrim meal" together in the evening (10 euros for complete meal incl wine).
That's it for now - heading for Logrono tomorrow but may not make it all the way.
Adios!
Sent from my iPod
Friday, September 21, 2012
Espana
Russ
Sept 20
First things first. We are alive, well, and healthy. Except for a slight weariness and slightly sore feet (but no blisters) we are perfectly well. We are in Puenta La Reina, a mere 697 km from our destination Santiago de Compostela. We have walked about 100 km over the last five days.
Sent from my iPod
Sept 20
First things first. We are alive, well, and healthy. Except for a slight weariness and slightly sore feet (but no blisters) we are perfectly well. We are in Puenta La Reina, a mere 697 km from our destination Santiago de Compostela. We have walked about 100 km over the last five days.
Sent from my iPod
Monday, September 17, 2012
St Jean Pied de Port
Russ
Sept. 15 - We arrived safely in SJPDP this afternoon. This is the main starting point for the Camino Frances. The train from Paris to Bayonne in the south of France was a high speed electric train - we left at the minute it was scheduled and we arrived a bit early. The French train system is very good. Our passage to SJPDP from Bayonne was in a smaller and slower diesel train. We met a nice couple from New Zealand that we talked with during the shorter second train journey.
Our first glimpse of SJPDP was like seeing a Swiss village. We no sooner arrived at the albergue when a great procession of costumed musicians and dancers paraded up the street. Evidently it is a once a year celebration of the designation of the Camino Frances as a World Heritage Site.
We met several people at our albergue (like a hostel - bunk beds in dorm rooms with shared washroom facilities). We had a welcoming apertif and introduced ourselves before the dinner. Two other Canadians including one from Nanaimo were in the group.
We had a nice evening sharing stories about what led us to the Camino. Lights out at 10 and an exciting first day of walking to look forward to.
Sept 16 -
By the way, since we don't have regular Internet access we will post our blog updates when we can. Also, we will be checking emails from time to time so you should be able to reach us by the usual email addresses if you like.
After a good breakfast Linda and I left and took our first true pilgrim steps. We are now at today's destination, Orisson, eight kilometers straight up the Pyrenees mountains. Our training has paid off handsomely. We had no trouble and found our pace was faster than most other pilgrims. Forget about looking up Orisson on a map - it's nothing more than an albergue, still on the French side of the Pyrenees.
So, we're sitting at a table shortly after arriving at Orisson and talking with that NewZealand couple we met yesterday and a big bang goes off. A huge boar goes racing up the slope right beside the albergue with two hunters and a bunch of dogs giving chase. They were not successful. I would guess the boar stood about three feet at the shoulder and at least 200 lbs. A little excitement for our morning.
Today's walk only took us two hours so we were feeling like we could go on farther. However, since we had already booked this place we are staying here tonight. It will make tomorrow's walk to Roncesvalles that much easier.
The scenery on this morning's walk was spectacular and the weather perfect. A morning fog when we started off and we quickly walked above it. The pictures we took show a beautiful fog in the low lying areas.
We are so happy to be on our journey at last and are feeling very blessed.
We had quite a bit of leisure time before dinner and we got to know a couple of fellow pilgrims a bit better - Caroline from Quebec city and Brenda from South Africa. We spent a very funny and enjoyable hour helping a woman from Colorado get rid of about 10 lbs of the 27 lb pack she had carried up the mountain that morning. Great fun - we are of course experts now on the strength of the last day of Camino walking. A young man from Chicago also entertained us with his guitar and we sang a bunch of John Denver and James Taylor songs ( yes, I did sing along albeit quietly). All in all the afternoon was quite wonderful.
The Orrison dinner was superior to the previous night's. We retired shortly after nine.
Sept 17 -
We set out for Roncesvalles this morning at 7:30, just light enough to see our path. As we climbed, the most beautiful sunrise greeted us. I hope we can post a picture. Our weather today has again been perfect - mainly sunny but not too hot. We could easily have had poor weather going over the pass (it's called the Route Napoleon because Napoleon used it in his conquest of the Iberian Penninsula). At this time of year we could easily have had stormy weather and been forced to go back to SJPDP and on to Roncesvalles through a lower pass, along a busy highway. Today we made good time also and reached Roncesvalles at 12:30. The last part was steeply downhill and that was NOT FUN. We both found the downhill walk very hard on the knees. Give me a hill to climb any day rather than downhill.
Because we'd made good time and were feeling still fresh we decided not to stay at Roncesvalles and walked on another 3 1/2 km, making the total day's walk about 20 km. We are staying in a modest but clean pension (also known as a casa rural) and will go down to the church tonight for the pilgrim meal. By carrying on past Roncesvalles we will miss reuniting with our new friends, which we regret. However, we do travel quite a bit faster than they do so it was inevitable we would leave them behind at some point. We hadn't foreseen this and we had not yet exchanged contact information with them. We will miss them if we don't see them again.
Russ
Sent from my iPod
Sept. 15 - We arrived safely in SJPDP this afternoon. This is the main starting point for the Camino Frances. The train from Paris to Bayonne in the south of France was a high speed electric train - we left at the minute it was scheduled and we arrived a bit early. The French train system is very good. Our passage to SJPDP from Bayonne was in a smaller and slower diesel train. We met a nice couple from New Zealand that we talked with during the shorter second train journey.
Our first glimpse of SJPDP was like seeing a Swiss village. We no sooner arrived at the albergue when a great procession of costumed musicians and dancers paraded up the street. Evidently it is a once a year celebration of the designation of the Camino Frances as a World Heritage Site.
We met several people at our albergue (like a hostel - bunk beds in dorm rooms with shared washroom facilities). We had a welcoming apertif and introduced ourselves before the dinner. Two other Canadians including one from Nanaimo were in the group.
We had a nice evening sharing stories about what led us to the Camino. Lights out at 10 and an exciting first day of walking to look forward to.
Sept 16 -
By the way, since we don't have regular Internet access we will post our blog updates when we can. Also, we will be checking emails from time to time so you should be able to reach us by the usual email addresses if you like.
After a good breakfast Linda and I left and took our first true pilgrim steps. We are now at today's destination, Orisson, eight kilometers straight up the Pyrenees mountains. Our training has paid off handsomely. We had no trouble and found our pace was faster than most other pilgrims. Forget about looking up Orisson on a map - it's nothing more than an albergue, still on the French side of the Pyrenees.
So, we're sitting at a table shortly after arriving at Orisson and talking with that NewZealand couple we met yesterday and a big bang goes off. A huge boar goes racing up the slope right beside the albergue with two hunters and a bunch of dogs giving chase. They were not successful. I would guess the boar stood about three feet at the shoulder and at least 200 lbs. A little excitement for our morning.
Today's walk only took us two hours so we were feeling like we could go on farther. However, since we had already booked this place we are staying here tonight. It will make tomorrow's walk to Roncesvalles that much easier.
The scenery on this morning's walk was spectacular and the weather perfect. A morning fog when we started off and we quickly walked above it. The pictures we took show a beautiful fog in the low lying areas.
We are so happy to be on our journey at last and are feeling very blessed.
We had quite a bit of leisure time before dinner and we got to know a couple of fellow pilgrims a bit better - Caroline from Quebec city and Brenda from South Africa. We spent a very funny and enjoyable hour helping a woman from Colorado get rid of about 10 lbs of the 27 lb pack she had carried up the mountain that morning. Great fun - we are of course experts now on the strength of the last day of Camino walking. A young man from Chicago also entertained us with his guitar and we sang a bunch of John Denver and James Taylor songs ( yes, I did sing along albeit quietly). All in all the afternoon was quite wonderful.
The Orrison dinner was superior to the previous night's. We retired shortly after nine.
Sept 17 -
We set out for Roncesvalles this morning at 7:30, just light enough to see our path. As we climbed, the most beautiful sunrise greeted us. I hope we can post a picture. Our weather today has again been perfect - mainly sunny but not too hot. We could easily have had poor weather going over the pass (it's called the Route Napoleon because Napoleon used it in his conquest of the Iberian Penninsula). At this time of year we could easily have had stormy weather and been forced to go back to SJPDP and on to Roncesvalles through a lower pass, along a busy highway. Today we made good time also and reached Roncesvalles at 12:30. The last part was steeply downhill and that was NOT FUN. We both found the downhill walk very hard on the knees. Give me a hill to climb any day rather than downhill.
Because we'd made good time and were feeling still fresh we decided not to stay at Roncesvalles and walked on another 3 1/2 km, making the total day's walk about 20 km. We are staying in a modest but clean pension (also known as a casa rural) and will go down to the church tonight for the pilgrim meal. By carrying on past Roncesvalles we will miss reuniting with our new friends, which we regret. However, we do travel quite a bit faster than they do so it was inevitable we would leave them behind at some point. We hadn't foreseen this and we had not yet exchanged contact information with them. We will miss them if we don't see them again.
Russ
Sent from my iPod
St Jean Pied de Port
Russ
Sept. 15 - We arrived safely in SJPDP this afternoon. This is the main starting point for the Camino Frances. The train from Paris to Bayonne in the south of France was a high speed electric train - we left at the minute it was scheduled and we arrived a bit early. The French train system is very good. Our passage to SJPDP from Bayonne was in a smaller and slower diesel train. We met a nice couple from New Zealand that we talked with during the shorter second train journey.
Our first glimpse of SJPDP was like seeing a Swiss village. We no sooner arrived at the albergue when a great procession of costumed musicians and dancers paraded up the street. Evidently it is a once a year celebration of the designation of the Camino Frances as a World Heritage Site.
We met several people at our albergue (like a hostel - bunk beds in dorm rooms with shared washroom facilities). We had a welcoming apertif and introduced ourselves before the dinner. Two other Canadians including one from Nanaimo were in the group.
We had a nice evening sharing stories about what led us to the Camino. Lights out at 10 and an exciting first day of walking to look forward to.
Sept 16 -
By the way, since we don't have regular Internet access we will post our blog updates when we can. Also, we will be checking emails from time to time so you should be able to reach us by the usual email addresses if you like.
After a good breakfast Linda and I left and took our first true pilgrim steps. We are now at today's destination, Orisson, eight kilometers straight up the Pyrenees mountains. Our training has paid off handsomely. We had no trouble and found our pace was faster than most other pilgrims. Forget about looking up Orisson on a map - it's nothing more than an albergue, still on the French side of the Pyrenees.
So, we're sitting at a table shortly after arriving at Orisson and talking with that NewZealand couple we met yesterday and a big bang goes off. A huge boar goes racing up the slope right beside the albergue with two hunters and a bunch of dogs giving chase. They were not successful. I would guess the boar stood about three feet at the shoulder and at least 200 lbs. A little excitement for our morning.
Today's walk only took us two hours so we were feeling like we could go on farther. However, since we had already booked this place we are staying here tonight. It will make tomorrow's walk to Roncesvalles that much easier.
The scenery on this morning's walk was spectacular and the weather perfect. A morning fog when we started off and we quickly walked above it. The pictures we took show a beautiful fog in the low lying areas.
We are so happy to be on our journey at last and are feeling very blessed.
We had quite a bit of leisure time before dinner and we got to know a couple of fellow pilgrims a bit better - Caroline from Quebec city and Brenda from South Africa. We spent a very funny and enjoyable hour helping a woman from Colorado get rid of about 10 lbs of the 27 lb pack she had carried up the mountain that morning. Great fun - we are of course experts now on the strength of the last day of Camino walking. A young man from Chicago also entertained us with his guitar and we sang a bunch of John Denver and James Taylor songs ( yes, I did sing along albeit quietly). All in all the afternoon was quite wonderful.
The Orrison dinner was superior to the previous night's. We retired shortly after nine.
Sept 17 -
We set out for Roncesvalles this morning at 7:30, just light enough to see our path. As we climbed, the most beautiful sunrise greeted us. I hope we can post a picture. Our weather today has again been perfect - mainly sunny but not too hot. We could easily have had poor weather going over the pass (it's called the Route Napoleon because Napoleon used it in his conquest of the Iberian Penninsula). At this time of year we could easily have had stormy weather and been forced to go back to SJPDP and on to Roncesvalles through a lower pass, along a busy highway. Today we made good time also and reached Roncesvalles at 12:30. The last part was steeply downhill and that was NOT FUN. We both found the downhill walk very hard on the knees. Give me a hill to climb any day rather than downhill.
Because we'd made good time and were feeling still fresh we decided not to stay at Roncesvalles and walk on another 3 1/2 km, making the total day's walk about 20 km. we are staying in a modest but clean pension (also known as a casa rural) and will go down to the church tonight for the pilgrim meal. By carrying on past Roncesvalles we will miss reuniting with our new friends, which we regret. However, we do travel quite a bit faster than they do so it was inevitable we would leave them behind at some point. We hadn't foreseen this and we had not yet exchanged contact information with them. We will miss them if we don't see them again.
Russ
Sent from my iPod
Sept. 15 - We arrived safely in SJPDP this afternoon. This is the main starting point for the Camino Frances. The train from Paris to Bayonne in the south of France was a high speed electric train - we left at the minute it was scheduled and we arrived a bit early. The French train system is very good. Our passage to SJPDP from Bayonne was in a smaller and slower diesel train. We met a nice couple from New Zealand that we talked with during the shorter second train journey.
Our first glimpse of SJPDP was like seeing a Swiss village. We no sooner arrived at the albergue when a great procession of costumed musicians and dancers paraded up the street. Evidently it is a once a year celebration of the designation of the Camino Frances as a World Heritage Site.
We met several people at our albergue (like a hostel - bunk beds in dorm rooms with shared washroom facilities). We had a welcoming apertif and introduced ourselves before the dinner. Two other Canadians including one from Nanaimo were in the group.
We had a nice evening sharing stories about what led us to the Camino. Lights out at 10 and an exciting first day of walking to look forward to.
Sept 16 -
By the way, since we don't have regular Internet access we will post our blog updates when we can. Also, we will be checking emails from time to time so you should be able to reach us by the usual email addresses if you like.
After a good breakfast Linda and I left and took our first true pilgrim steps. We are now at today's destination, Orisson, eight kilometers straight up the Pyrenees mountains. Our training has paid off handsomely. We had no trouble and found our pace was faster than most other pilgrims. Forget about looking up Orisson on a map - it's nothing more than an albergue, still on the French side of the Pyrenees.
So, we're sitting at a table shortly after arriving at Orisson and talking with that NewZealand couple we met yesterday and a big bang goes off. A huge boar goes racing up the slope right beside the albergue with two hunters and a bunch of dogs giving chase. They were not successful. I would guess the boar stood about three feet at the shoulder and at least 200 lbs. A little excitement for our morning.
Today's walk only took us two hours so we were feeling like we could go on farther. However, since we had already booked this place we are staying here tonight. It will make tomorrow's walk to Roncesvalles that much easier.
The scenery on this morning's walk was spectacular and the weather perfect. A morning fog when we started off and we quickly walked above it. The pictures we took show a beautiful fog in the low lying areas.
We are so happy to be on our journey at last and are feeling very blessed.
We had quite a bit of leisure time before dinner and we got to know a couple of fellow pilgrims a bit better - Caroline from Quebec city and Brenda from South Africa. We spent a very funny and enjoyable hour helping a woman from Colorado get rid of about 10 lbs of the 27 lb pack she had carried up the mountain that morning. Great fun - we are of course experts now on the strength of the last day of Camino walking. A young man from Chicago also entertained us with his guitar and we sang a bunch of John Denver and James Taylor songs ( yes, I did sing along albeit quietly). All in all the afternoon was quite wonderful.
The Orrison dinner was superior to the previous night's. We retired shortly after nine.
Sept 17 -
We set out for Roncesvalles this morning at 7:30, just light enough to see our path. As we climbed, the most beautiful sunrise greeted us. I hope we can post a picture. Our weather today has again been perfect - mainly sunny but not too hot. We could easily have had poor weather going over the pass (it's called the Route Napoleon because Napoleon used it in his conquest of the Iberian Penninsula). At this time of year we could easily have had stormy weather and been forced to go back to SJPDP and on to Roncesvalles through a lower pass, along a busy highway. Today we made good time also and reached Roncesvalles at 12:30. The last part was steeply downhill and that was NOT FUN. We both found the downhill walk very hard on the knees. Give me a hill to climb any day rather than downhill.
Because we'd made good time and were feeling still fresh we decided not to stay at Roncesvalles and walk on another 3 1/2 km, making the total day's walk about 20 km. we are staying in a modest but clean pension (also known as a casa rural) and will go down to the church tonight for the pilgrim meal. By carrying on past Roncesvalles we will miss reuniting with our new friends, which we regret. However, we do travel quite a bit faster than they do so it was inevitable we would leave them behind at some point. We hadn't foreseen this and we had not yet exchanged contact information with them. We will miss them if we don't see them again.
Russ
Sent from my iPod
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Paris
Linda
It's Friday morning and our last day here. Yesterday we spent about four hours at The Louvre and the highlight for me was Mona Lisa. It was a bit overwhelming to finally see the original! What an amazing place - it deserves much more time than we had this trip. Had lunch at a sidewalk cafe on the Champs Élysées and enjoyed the people watching.
Today we will visit Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, then pack our backpacks for the train trip south tomorrow morning.
I am a bit apprehensive about the walk at this point, as my little toe is still sore and the nail is black (managed to hurt it during our last long training walk!). It is fine when I wear sandals so I may be starting out that way!!
Au revoir for now.
Sent from my iPod
It's Friday morning and our last day here. Yesterday we spent about four hours at The Louvre and the highlight for me was Mona Lisa. It was a bit overwhelming to finally see the original! What an amazing place - it deserves much more time than we had this trip. Had lunch at a sidewalk cafe on the Champs Élysées and enjoyed the people watching.
Today we will visit Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, then pack our backpacks for the train trip south tomorrow morning.
I am a bit apprehensive about the walk at this point, as my little toe is still sore and the nail is black (managed to hurt it during our last long training walk!). It is fine when I wear sandals so I may be starting out that way!!
Au revoir for now.
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
In Paris
Russ
It's early Thursday morning here in Paris. Our hotel is a modest place in the Latin Quarter - quiet but tiny. We're trying to convince our bodies that it is morning - somewhat successfully.
Our flights went well and we are happy with KLM, our first trip with them. We flew over St Andrews Scotland in transit to Amsterdam. I saw dozens of links courses, one of which had to be the famous birthplace of golf. We also saw a wind farm in the North Sea just offshore of Netherlands.
We had a nice dinner last night at a sidewalk cafe and went for a walk along the Seine afterward. I don't know if it was the exhaustion of the flights or the half bottle of Bordeaux but when we saw Notre Dame for the first time we looked at each other with tears running down our cheeks and couldn't speak for a few minutes. I think I understand why people call Paris the world's most romantic city.
Today we plan to go to the Louvre as a top priority and finish getting over the jet lag.
Sent from my iPod
It's early Thursday morning here in Paris. Our hotel is a modest place in the Latin Quarter - quiet but tiny. We're trying to convince our bodies that it is morning - somewhat successfully.
Our flights went well and we are happy with KLM, our first trip with them. We flew over St Andrews Scotland in transit to Amsterdam. I saw dozens of links courses, one of which had to be the famous birthplace of golf. We also saw a wind farm in the North Sea just offshore of Netherlands.
We had a nice dinner last night at a sidewalk cafe and went for a walk along the Seine afterward. I don't know if it was the exhaustion of the flights or the half bottle of Bordeaux but when we saw Notre Dame for the first time we looked at each other with tears running down our cheeks and couldn't speak for a few minutes. I think I understand why people call Paris the world's most romantic city.
Today we plan to go to the Louvre as a top priority and finish getting over the jet lag.
Sent from my iPod
Saturday, September 08, 2012
Russ -
Hi everyone,
We leave in a couple of days and we've done pretty well all of the prep work. We have walked the last four days in a row, yesterday being the longest walk of 24 km. Linda had a scare yesterday about her little toe getting pinched so we will be keeping a close eye on that. Endurance-wise we're quite ready so it kind of boils down to the feet ... avoiding blisters, etc.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to our comfy bed, nice shower, comfy furniture, etc. Eight weeks away. I'd remind myself about why I'm doing this, except I haven't quite figured that out yet. I'm hoping for insight into that as we go along.
I think most of our updates are going to be text, without the benefit of photos. This is because we can't get photos onto the Ipod while we travel. We hope to be able to use internet cafes once in a while and perhaps upload a few photos on those occasions.
Wish us luck!
Hi everyone,
We leave in a couple of days and we've done pretty well all of the prep work. We have walked the last four days in a row, yesterday being the longest walk of 24 km. Linda had a scare yesterday about her little toe getting pinched so we will be keeping a close eye on that. Endurance-wise we're quite ready so it kind of boils down to the feet ... avoiding blisters, etc.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to our comfy bed, nice shower, comfy furniture, etc. Eight weeks away. I'd remind myself about why I'm doing this, except I haven't quite figured that out yet. I'm hoping for insight into that as we go along.
I think most of our updates are going to be text, without the benefit of photos. This is because we can't get photos onto the Ipod while we travel. We hope to be able to use internet cafes once in a while and perhaps upload a few photos on those occasions.
Wish us luck!
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Test blog entry
Sept 5 - Russ
We are just a few days from departure and now very impatient to get going. All our stuff is packed and repacked and we are getting out every day for a two to three hour walk.
I'm sending this as a test message via email from the ipod as we hope to use this means as our primary update of the blog.
Sent from my iPod
We are just a few days from departure and now very impatient to get going. All our stuff is packed and repacked and we are getting out every day for a two to three hour walk.
I'm sending this as a test message via email from the ipod as we hope to use this means as our primary update of the blog.
Sent from my iPod
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