1000!

We passed our 1000 kilometer mark today, still about 522 to go to Santiago. Weather continues to be cool (for which we´re very glad) and rainy (for which we are NOT glad). We head to Burgos tomorrow, having done 30k today, which is more than we like to do in a day but will make the trip to Burgos a shorter day, plus taking Monday there. We plan to stay in a pension instead of an alburgue--a room for 4 with our Norwegian friend Annbeirt (and I´m sure I´ve misspelled her name).

We´re having paella for dinner tonight here at the alburgue as the town is too small to have a restaurant!
Buen camino!

586K to go

We´re in Santo Domingo and will be in Burgos for a rest day early next week. We´re walking through lots of farm fields: wheat, barley, fava beans, hops, potatoes, vineyards. The weather has been wet and yesterday we slogged into town to find that a school group of 60 kids were in the municipal alburgue that holds 90. Everywhere was full and they were starting to put people on the floor of the locker rooms in the stadium because it was the end of a 31k day and no one wanted to walk on the next 12k to reach the next place, plus it was raining. Fortunately we lucked into a 2 bedroom apartment for only 70 euros so we spent a peaceful night and passed the school group today so hopefully that won´t be a problem again.

Here´s what a typical day looks like: People start stirring around 5 am, lights come on in the alburges at 6. We pack up and forage for breakfast--cafe con leche, a huge croissant, zumo ( fresh squeezed orange juice!--for 3 eureos).  Then we walk a couple hours and stop for a snack. Usually we´ve stopped at a shop and bought bread, cheese, yogurt, fruit, cookies, chocolate, maybe some pate or sardines. If it´s a day of 20k or less, we´re usually in town by noon. When we reach the alburge, we get our credential stamped, pay (5 to 10 euros each), shower and wash clothes, nap, explore the city, dirink beer, eat a pilgrim´s meal for 10 euros or so that is 3 courses and wine, then to bed to do it all over tomorrow.

We rarely walk together for very long. Cindy usually leaves early, Tom and I will start together for an hour or so, then I walk on.

Cindy is ready to go explore so I´ll close. Sorry for the mistakes--there is no backspace key (it´s missing) on this keyboard.
Buen camino!

Logroño

Logroño--you can see it on the map above!  After Pamplona it rained and rained off and on. We walked to Puente la Reina and on the way (it was Sunday I think) we encountered a procession of huge statues called the Gigantes. Each village sponsored one and the men wore costumes and danced during the parade. Cindy is the only one who got to see the actual procession--I´d taken a detour to see an old church and I don´t know where Tom was. Anyway, it was quite the fiesta.

Then, in Reina, we stayed in an alburgue where I had a great view of a big stork nest built on the bell tower of an old church. The pair of storks stood out in the rain--they apparently don´t have any eggs in the nest yet. Have seen several more nests since then.

There is definitely a big difference between France and Spain. Our travel through France was much quieter and less chaotic due to fewer people. Now we almost always walk within sight of others. In France we usually got breakfast for the price of the bed, and sometimes dinner for a little more. In Spain we have to forage, but there are a lot of great options. Last night we had dinner plate sized salads, then grilled trout, and flan for dessert. Spain is a lot less expensive than France. There are also a lot more Americans.

We walked 28k today and are facing 31k tomorrow unless we decide to stop much earlier. Cindy continues to improve, but long days back-to-back aren´t much fun for any of us.

Buen camino!

Pamplona

So much for a forecast for good weather...It has rained the last 2 days--we were sodden bits of trail trash by 11 this morning, but the sun finally came out and by the time we walked into the city things looked much brighter. The alburgue in Pamplona is near the old cathedral in the old walled city. The streets are all cobblestone and are lined with builidings three or four stories high--no spaces between them so it´s like walking down a long hallway. We´re off to have a cerveza and contemplate Hemingway and the bulls.

Over 300 pilgrims crossed the Pyrenees on Tuesday, though not all of them over the high pass. It does mean we have to be aware of how many are ahead of us and how many are behind us in order to get a bed, but I suspect leftover soreness from the Pyrenees and the bad weather will sort a lot of them out today.

Walking in Spain is very different from walking in France. France was much calmer and quieter. Here, because there are many  more people, it´s chaotic and sometimes almost frantic.

Buen camino!

O.M.G.....Spain!

We had every kind of weather you can imagine coming over the pass today. It´s 27 kilometers with an elevation gain of 1400 meters. We started off in cloudy weather after an early morning (before we got up) thunderstorm. By the time we were a quarter of the way ( and we all walked separately) we´d been drenched by hard rain. Then the rain stopped and the wind started. There were a couple times I was blown all the way across the road and thought I was going to have to hit the dirt to keep from being tossed down the valley! At the top, crossing into Spain, it was completely calm...for 300 yards. Then the wind and sleet started and didn´t abate until we were nearly down. There was a big thunderstorm in the valley to the right rumbling thunder and flashing lightning.

We did the whole thing in about 7 hours, which was without stopping because it was just too dangerous. I don´t think there were any casualties and we´re all headed out to dinner. Cindy is much better. Tomorrow we´ll do 20k through relatively flat, I think. The views, when we had them, were spectacular. Cindy pulled her camera out but I was too driven to just get the hell down the hill. It´s green green green, and wet wet wet, but the weather forecast for the next week is more beautiful blue skies. We´ll be thinking of buying shorts by Pamplona.

Spanish keyboards are like American keyboards and I can type a whole lot faster!

Buen camino!

St. Jean 2

Pouring down rain this morning--we were glad we had decided on a rest day! Tomorrow's weather doesn't look a whole lot better, but we've exhausted all rest and entertainment possibilities here and are ready to move on. Cindy is walking better and with less pain, thanks to the ministrations of the magic oriental accu-pressure guy who worked on her last night.

We have entered Basque country so the names of the towns have a whole lot more Xs, Zs, and Ks in them. We'll be in Spain by this time tomorrow and I will be able to understand (hopefully) more than 15% of a conversation, I can quit saying BONJOUR, shops will be open on Mondays and....well, Cindy told me to use some restraint in my rant so I'll stop there. Mostly I'm just tired to the bone and now that it's 3:00 we should be able to get back into the gite to nap.

My sister had successful hip replacement surgery yesterday and should go home today or tomorrow. I dedicate our crossing of the Pyrenees tomorrow to her swift recovery.

Buen camino!

St. Jean Pied de Port!

St. Jean marks the end of the French part and the beginning of the Spanish part of the trip, even though we are still in France. We've walked 450 miles since April 12--490 to go! We'll rest here a day and go over the Pyrenees Wednesday. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and be nice the rest of the week. For those pilgrims heading out tomorrow they are recommending the low road to avoid fog, rain, maybe snow....

Since Moissac we have had only 2 days of rain. We walked through rolling hills with fields of barley and wheat that will start to ripen in the next couple weeks. Then we walked through vineyards for a few days, and lately, pastures of cattle and sheep. The wildflowers have peaked and the iris in the yards are of every color and waist high.

Cindy is having some work done on her feet and as soon as she is finished we'll find some wine and dinner. I'll write more tomorrow;

Got bread?

Navarranx

Sorry for the long delay. We are a few days out of St Jean Pied de Port where we will take a rest day and I will update with a long entry. For now, Tom and I are well. Cindy is still struggling with Achilles problems but is persevering. Weather is magnificent and we are walking in the shadow of the rugged, snow-covered Pyrenees.  I constantly marvel at the miracle of being able to do this!

Photos

Sorry about the photos--pasting doesn't work. Will try again next rest day. Are heading for Condom (pronounced cone-dough) today;

Lost continued....and Moissac

So... I told the man we were lost and asked where the chapel was that we were supposed to be headed toward. He saw the looks on our faces when he said it was 5k up the hill and then he said, "Give me 5 minutes and I will take you in the car. Please come in and sit down. Would you like some coffee?"  Got to love the French!

We were reunited and had a good walk. But yesterday...

Yesterday was the hardest day yet. Cindy had elected to ride with the baggage transport so that her feet would have two days of rest. Tom and I walked 17 MILES in slippery mud that was closer to a controlled slide, both up and down, in nine and a half hours. We had reservations at this lovely gite (pronounced zheet) run by an Irish couple here in Moissac. Cindy had arrived some time before and was off to a relexology appointment. We ate well, rested well and are still resting today--and cleaning mud off things. We'll walk again tomorrow.

A few things we've learned:
--In France, the length of a kilometer appears to vary from day to day.
--To determine the mileage for the day, look at the four resources we have, none of which will agree, take the longest distance and add 5k and the result will be closer to reality.
--The last three kilometers of the day are always the hardest of the whole trip.

Bread: it's what's for dinner.

Buen camino!

Lauzert...and lost!

We've had two days without rain, but the trails are still muddy. An email from our friend Jacques, who is a day ahead of us, warned us to get reservations in Lascaban because they were turning people away when he was there. So our host in Cahors called for a reservation on an alternate route (Lascaban was already full!) and we spent a lovely evening with ten others at a communal meal.

This morning Cindy and I made a wrong turn and ended up 3k DOWNHILL from where we were supposed to be--yikes! So I (bravely, with bad French) knocked on a door which was answered by a man in a bathrobe.

Others are waiting for the computer--to be continued...