Day 14. Fromista

I walked about 16 miles today to get to Fromista. 272 miles to go.

As I arrived in Fromista the church bells began to ring persistently. There was a fancy pathway laid out in what I think was sand and colored sawdust.

I rushed to check into the Albergue and got back out just in time to see the tail end of the procession

Little girls and a few little boys all dressed up went ahead of the priest who was walking under the canopy carrying a very fancy silver box which displayed a consecrated host. I'm told that the children had probably just had their first communion.   As they reached the last building on their route the priest performed a little ceremony of blessing. My guess is that they did this many times on the route but I only saw the end. Townspeople followed along behind singing. Then we processed to the church where a few more prayers were said, the priest removed the host from its traveling box and put it back behind the altar. Then things broke up, pictures of children were taken, and I wandered around the church admiring their artwork. 

Day 13. Walk to Castrojeriz

At the end of today 288 miles to go.

Because rain was thratened later in the day, I got on the road by 6 am, a little before dawn. It was almost an hour before people started passing me and it was lovely.

I was able to see a beautiful sunrise and just to spend some time alone with God and my thoughts.

It did rain some, but not before I arrived at my target town of Castrojeriz. The town is built along a hillside and far overhead are the ruins of a castle. 

One thing I did not do was to climb up and explore. But I did take the time to slowly explore a lovely church: museum on the outskirts of town. 

Here is one of the saints that I have been seeing on many local churches. I am still not quite sure what that big arrow is. It is either a plow or a shovel because it turns out that this is San Isidro, patron saint of the countryside and farm workers in general. He's decorated with some fresh grain and I think this is because his feast day was May 

Day 12 Leaving Lindsay and Burgos

I have grown increasingly frustrated with an app that keeps telling me an error occurred in the upload process. So today I'm trying something different.

Today Lindsay and I went our separate ways. We'd spent a day and a half together in Burgos. She will take the bus to Bilbao and then fly home to husband and work. I am continuing on, with hopes of making it all the way to Santiago. So early in the morning I bid farewell to Lindsay and to Burgos and its ornate cathedral. (I have thoughts about the cathedral, but let's get you up to date first.)

As I walked on into the country I came to a farm with lambs and sheep in a yard next to the Camino  

Shortly after I took this picture, the farmer came and started bringing all of the sheep out onto the road with the aid of a couple of dogs. I skedaddled along because it looked like it was going to be a mob scene that did not need me in the middle of it. But it was a delight to see so many lambs.

Then the path moved into the meseta. The meseta is not flat, but gently rolling. There are almost no trees. It's big sky country.

To get the full impact of this you have to imagine 360 degrees of it with only the road in front and behind. I am told we have a number of days of this, with fewer and smaller villages along the way. We'll see. Tomorrow rain is forecast which should break the monotony should that seem overwhelming. 

I began this journey 453 miles from Santiago. Today at Hornillos de la Camino, only 301 miles remain. 

Day nine. A Long Walk

We walked today for 17 miles and ended in the small village of Ages. This was because we chose to go beyond the guidebook's stopping point for the day when we heard that it was run by nuns with a reputation for stinginess with hot water. So we would try to go 2 miles further for a nicer place to stay. And we're grateful for it.  Here's Lindsay resting by a road sign, waiting for me to catch up. 

I have thought today about the old cliche that it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive. And the equally old response that if that were true, no one could travel hopefully. All I can say is that today I was so grateful to arrive. 

Day 8. Belorado

We walked 24 k to get here. We were on the road by 6:40 and got here by about 1:15. We had reserved a spot in a private Alburgue with very aggressive marketing. We were actually able to make the reservation online which was lovely. They offer a range of add on services. The one I adored was that they would wash and dry a small load of clothes for 7 euros. This was wonderful luxury. My thick woolen outer socks do not begin to dry overnight if hand washed and line dried. Even a day on the outside of the pack in brilliant sun barely managed it. So a dryer is very nice otherwise I am letting them go with air drying the sweat between wearings. 

The church in this little town has four huge stork nests. 

 

Day seven Sightseeing

We were at Santo Domingo a la Calzado, which is apparently where St Dominic who founded the Dominicans got his start.  This is his tomb in the cathedral. The massive edifice actually goes down an additional story inside the iron fence. 

This is also the church where they keep live chickens to commemorate a miracle. A young man on the Camino had virtuously resisted the advances of an innkeeper's daughter. Annoyed at being rebuffed she hid a silver goblet in his bags (sound familiar? Biblical, even?). He was arrested and hanged and his sad parents prepared to leave the city. However as they were leaving one had a vision in which he saw his son saying that he was not dead as St Dominic was lifting up his feet. They raced to the magistrate who scoffed that their son was no more alive than the roast chickens he was

eating. Whereupon the cooked birds came back to life and flew about the room. The boy was rescued and ever since they've kept chickens in the cathedral. 

On posting and pictures

Sometimes we have internet. Sometimes a place will have Internet that conks out after a few minutes or that only lets a few people on at a time. And it seems like this app has trouble uploading more than one photo at a time. So that's why the posting gets a bit sporadic. 

Walking in the Rain

With a bad weather forecast we got up and on the road by 6:10. We dithered back and forth with rain gear. It would look fine and then there would be a brief shower. The rain cooled things down and by 12:15 we are safely ensconced in the rooms we reserved last night. A little more expensive tonight than a regular Alburgue but being able to check in 45 minutes early makes a difference when you are walking in the rain. 

We are in Santo Domingo del Calzado, named after St Dominic who was born somewhere near here. Apparently he got his start working on the Camino trail to improve it for pilgrims. 

Day 5 Rest in a Church

On day 5 we walked from Viana to Logrono and then on to Navarrette. Something we had seen showed the walk to Logrono to be about equivalent to the walk from Logrono to Navarette. So when we reached the big city of Logrono just about 9 as the shops were opening up we relaxed for a while. Took our time over breakfast, walked back to the tourist info place, sat by the river to repack my pack (I'd misplaced my sleeping bag stuff sack. We had to unpack quite a lot to find it.)

Logrono is a big city. I don't know where in these cities the mileage calculators are meant to measure from. All I know is that we walked and walked and walked through the city. Then we hit a path through a city park that seemed to go on forever. At one point we were joined by about 50 third and fourth graders from Navarette who were on a school field trip to the Camino. The were all wearing paper scallop shell necklace name tags, and were happily practicing saying "Buen Camino!"

Eventually they turned off.  Pilgrims behind us reported that they were doing some sort of Camino based scavenger hunt later in the day. 

The day grew hot. Eventually we got out of the busy park and the trail began to climb. And kept going on and on. "Wait," we thought. We thought we were halfway through after about 2 hours of walking. When is this going to end?"  As it happened we finally pulled in to our destination city around 4 and had to drag ourselves uphill through the town to find our Albergue with which we had a reservation. I was really played out. 

Then we passed a big church and there was music coming through the door, voices singing. I called ahead to Lindsay that I was going in. It was beautifully cool in the church. The singing turned out to be a recording but it was still wonderful to sit for a few moments in this huge church. Many of the churches we have seen have not been open so it was a treat to be able to go into this one. It was the kind with a very elaborate gold wall up at the front with all manner of figures tucked into it.  As my eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light I wondered what it would be like to worship all of your life in a church more than 500 years old with such a massive gold wall. Would it turn your thoughts toward heaven? All I knew was that I was so grateful for the peace and coolness of the place.

I might eventually have snapped a picture but then my phone rang. It was the folks on the Alburgue where we'd reserved a room. Did we want to cancel?  No no no!  We'll be there, we're coming  

I didn't get a picture of the church but here's a stork on its nest on the way in to Logrono. There's a baby in the nest. Every now and then   it would stretch its neck up to Mama but I wasn't patient or lucky enough to catch that. 

 

Day 6 A Short Day

The Guidebook we are following prescribed a short walk today. After yesterday were cautious. We were on the road by seven, that late only because we waited for Linsay to be able to get coffee. Then we arrived at our destination by eleven. Do we cancel our reservation and make the next 6 k walk?  We called ahead to the private place which was already full. Ok. A short day for us sitting around in the lovely town of Najara. We are in the old town which is modernized and full of little shops. Lots of life, non Camino folks showing off their babies, people shopping and eating at cafes.

Something joyful was happening at night. After we'd gotten into pajamas a band showed up at the local square playing some sort of raucous celebratory music for about 15 to 20 minutes. We were just enough off the square not to be able to see. I speculate that it was  news of a win at some sort of sporting event since during the day there was a group of teenagers who would periodically sing some sort of chant and wave a flag around vigorously. Maybe one of our fellow peregrinos (pilgrims) will have figured it out. We'll ask tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we may face rain for the first time. 

A Mishap in the Night Time

It was after midnight and I was in the top bunk and desperately thirsty. I was in a room with 7 other people all sound asleep. When your feet are sore it is nearly impossible to climb a bunk ladder withou slipping on your sandals. Ok. I stealthily crept down the ladder but could not locate my bottle of water. This was ok I had a camelback water bladder in my backpack that I needed to refill for the next day anyway.

Carefully I carried my backpack out of the darkened room, making as little noise as possible. In the bathroom I dug the bladder out of the pack and refilled it, noticing that there was a little bit of water on the outside where I'd spilled as I refilled. No problem. I carefully carried the backpack with the water bladder in the other hand back through the darkened room. Put the backpack against the wall and put the bladder up on the bed so I could heave myself as silently as possible up the ladder and onto the bunk.

Uh-oh. There must have been more water on the outside than I realized. Well, no. I hadn't gotten the seal seated right and spilled about a cup of water. By the time I figured this out my sleeping bag was damp, my pajamas were wet and I'd scooped my cellphone out of the puddle  

Quietly figuring out what I could possibly do with what I had on hand was a nightmare. When finished I was only moderately damp and very grateful that the room was too hot lest I freeze. 

Since I could finally get online I decided to write a post. Then my phone began acting funny. When I tried to fix this by rebooting it refused to acknowledge my touch on the screen. I could not even enter my password.

We were near a big city that might have an Apple Store. But how much time would that take?  Would they have a place or would I have to wait for Burgos where Lindsay will leave me?  The thought of doing the Camino without a smartphone is terrifying.

Ultimately the morning showed that the problem was a film of water on the touchscreen. Disassembling the protective case and wiping it off solved the problem but not before significant angst had gone into locating a store and trying to replan out day with the new goal in mind. 

With so many beautiful wildflowers along the path I'm always thinking of Jesus saying "Consider the flowers of the field. They don't work and they don't spin but Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as well as them."  Still need to learn the lesson not just to cherish the wildflowers but to stop worrying. 

Day 4. A Rainbow

We had incredible weather, cool but not cold, and overcast most of the day. It was a hard slog up and over some steep hills but we made it to Viana. Where the Internet access was sketchy so I didn't manage to post this. 

No rain but a beautiful rainbow. 

  

Day 3

 No stained glass but translucent stone in the windows, though you can't see it in this picture. This same monastery is famous for having a public fountain that dispenses wine as well as water. They urge pilgrims to have a drink "in moderation" and to drink a toast to happiness if they want to arrive in Santiago full of strength. We both had a sip.

This has been our longest day yet, 16 miles due to the fact that a 7 1/2 mile stretch was at the end of the day with no place to stay until the end. I collapsed when we got here, sore all over. Lindsay went out after dinner to stroll the town. I am in awe of such energy but do not yet have the energy to emulate it.

Today I have been thinking about Psalm 84:5. "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage."

Education is everywhere

A panoramic vista shot for JT. And someone was having an awful lot of fun with a hillside.P

Second Day

Yesterday we got to a little village called Obana which was about 21.5 k (13.3 mi) from where we started.  Today we had hoped to do a bit better but landed footsore and weary in Villafuerte after 20.7 k (12.86 mi). There were a lot of smaller hills today. We also walked on an old Roman Road and crossed several old Roman bridges. The bridges are cool. The road is cool as a concept but is essentially cobblestone between flat curbs. The curbs are nice but the cobblestones make for very poor footing after more than 1,000 years of erosion.

The wildflowers are phenomenal. This one is basically green but has all sorts of whorls and cups. Quite intricate. 

 

Alto de Perdon

Cutouts at the top of the hill   

Let's see if I can post just one picture. 

The first day

We started at 7:20 and met many people on the road.   Our first day took us up the Alto de Perdon which is a high hill. Steep  Beautiful vistas and wildflowers.  I'm pretty sure the purple is wild thyme

 On the way down people had set up huge numbers of little stone towers

Some wonders

We flew in to Charles de Gaulles airport and transferred to a smaller plane bound for Bilbao in Spain.  Joining us on the plane was an incredibly lively (not to say rowdy) troupe of girls part of some sort of modern dance group.   I think their shirts said Fusion's Sound though I might be misremembering. Many of them had their hair rucked up into something that looked somewhat like a Mohawk with loose hairs flying out of a tight four inch high bun that ran down the middle of their head. It was elaborate and looked a little painful. I wondered whether it was meant just to be bizarre or was it part of a horse dance?  Alas no pictures of this to show you as the charger was stuck in checked luggage. 

On the bus ride in to Bilbao we went by an amazing building that turned out to be the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Time permitting I'd love to see if I can check this out on the trip home.   That picture didn't work. Look it up on Wikipedia. A totally amazing building

In Pamplona we are in a nice quiet hotel an easy walk from the bus stop. 

 
This tree seen through a wrought iron fence at what might be a Jesuit something (school?) was amazing. I think it's a redwood. The trunk must have a diameter of 10 feet or more. I wonder who brought a seedling back from a redwood forest perhaps 500 years ago?  There was a plaque but too far away for me to read

 

 Finally, a great sculpture of the running of the bulls, a tradition here in Pamplona. Tomorrow we start our walk. 

Flying to Europe

Lindsay and I met at JFK yesterday. No problems meeting up. We ended up having to. "Getting to" check our backpacks. There are pros and cons. I'd like my brush and carving cords. But I'm not sad not to be lugging this through the Paris airport. We're both tired. It's 7:36 here but 1:36 am back home. We slept on the plane but not enough.  

The Lost is Found

Coming down the home stretch on preparations.  For the last two or three days I have been worried because I could not find our Credencials del Peregrino, our Pilgrim's Passports that have to get stamped at each place where we stay, and which give us the right to stay at the albergues, the special hostels for pilgrims.

I had ordered them in advance, and when they got here, I put them in a safe place (I thought).  Those who know me know that organized paperwork is not my strong suit.  I was not completely panicked, because it is possible to obtain these when you arrive, but I had deliberately ordered them in advance and was bothered that I couldn't find them.

A lot of cleaning and organization has happened that probably would not have happened if I had been able to locate these immediately.  So God is good.  And I am grateful that they have surfaced.  

Posting from the I phone

Grace and I are walking at Bald Pate Mountain today.   I'm experimenting with ways to do this blog when the cell phone is my only computer   

Getting Ready to Go

Well, I'm not very good at selfies, but here I am (Becky), hiking up and down hills getting ready for the trip.  We leave on Saturday afternoon, and will fly in to Bilbao, in Northern Spain.  We'll get there Sunday morning.  We then take a bus to Pamplona, stay overnight in a real hotel, before setting out on the trail Monday morning.  

There is a lot to be done before we leave.  Most of the gear is ready, but there are things I've promised to accomplish before we go.  I imagine Lindsay has similar issues.   And I HAVE to keep walking, especially on the hills.  Too much of my training has been done on the flat.

Here's a picture of Lindsay training for the walk.  She walks up and down hills as part of her daily routine, but this is a picture of her second 3 hour training walk.