Saturday, Oct 16
Hola from the city that Hemingway made famous!
We trudged into Pamplona bout 4:00 pm today after a day that was more arduous than we had anticipated. It was supposed to be 15 miles - about the same as the day before -- but the way was not marked well. We got lost and ended up adding at least of hour of walking onto the route. Normally you always can find an "flecha amarilla" - a yellow arrow -- or a scallop shell pointing the way. Sometimes the arrow or scallop shell is painted on the road, curb, a house, or there is a special marker with tile. All of the sudden the arrows starting pointing in different directions, for a time there were no arrows, and the route guide we had was confusing. We ran into two men we had seen earlier and they pointed a way to go.
That was our mistake -- we should have sat down and re-read both route guides and then we would have stayed on the camino. So we wandered or rather meandered for along time by the side of a river -- we entered a town still looking for yellow arrows. We stopped to ask directions and were sent to the local albergue -- pilgrim lodging -- but it was closed for the season. So off we went again and found another nice person to ask and finally we started seeing yellow arrows and were back on the camino.
I can´t find the parentheses on this keyboard-- European keyboards are setup differently -- but this is a parenthetical -- As I try to type, our elderly concierge at the hotel has the TV blaring and switches between a soccer game and a reality show that looks and sounds like a Spanish Jerry Springer. It is driving me nuts, and I may not be very coherent.
When we walked in this afternoon through the ancient gate that still has the original chains and mechanism from the 16th century drawbridge there was no one in the streets. It was like a ghost town -- it was the time that all the shops are closed. By 5:00 pm the plazas and street were teeming with people, and we literally were having to push our way through crowds as we looked for a place to recharge John´s camera battery and have a bite to eat. We were not forceful enough to make any real headway until one Spanish couple in front of us just charged throug, and John said, "Follow them!"
The chill wind is in Pamplona -- not Ava Gardner or Tony Quinn -- but we did walk into the Hemingway Pizza and Kebob Restaurant. Rather a forlorn place so we wandered back out. Pamplona is a big city -- the casco antiguo -- old part of the city -- is wonderful with six-story homes refurbished in the 1700 and 1800´s. There are several churches, and we went to San Saturnino to have our credencial stamped. Por desgracia, no stamp person there, but we did sit through part of the rosary, and I noted the wonderful statues of St. Catherine of Alexandria with her spiked wheel and St. Barbar with the 3-windowed tower.
It is late and I must get to bed. But I wanted to thank everyone for their comments -- I am thrilled that you take the time to read my postings and even more thrilled that some of you feel prompted to post a comment! ¡Muchisimas gracias - Ustedes son muy amables!
Tomorrow we are off to Puente La Reina -- who knows about the internet?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Roncesvalles to Zubiri
Saturday, October 16
¡Saludos!
To return to where I left off -- posting this from Pamplona
October 14 -- after crossing the Pyrenees we stayed the night in Roncesvalles at a delighful inn called La Posada. The steam heat in the room was great for drying some laundry! For dinner, The management sat all the pilgrims at the same table and about eight of us chatted -- English being the lingua franca most of the time, but we also lapsed into Spanish periodically. Our table included a French airline dispatcher in his early 40´s from Paris who had done the camino before, a Dutchman from The Hague - about the same age -- who was on a bicycle and camping in Roncevalles, an Australian mechanical engineer in his 30´s who was on an extended holiday due to his firm being bought out, and two middle-aged couples from Navarra, Spain.
I mention the ages because John and I were both amazed at how tired the younger guys were, how much they talked about the difficulty of the ascent and descent, and how all of them were aching. John and I both felt pretty good, and neither of us was had an aches. But we also had very light and comfortable packs -- mine being even lighter because John very graciously was carrying some of my stuff. John, of course, has great strength and stamina, but I can only be grateful that I trained by hiking toward Peak 2 and 3 several times a week, hiked out to Hidden Lake twice -- always with a pack-- and did Wolverine to the top, my first time to summit. Previously I had made it as far as the cairn. After doing Wolverine with a pack, the Pyrenees were not nearly as daunting as I had imagined. The younger fellows were all carrying packs that were heavy to begin with -- and lots of stuff. While in St. Jean, we had watched at the Pilgrims´Office as one of the staff had helped one young man empty his pack and started suggesting to him what stuff he should send home by mail and send poste restante to Santiago. The woman helping us also weighed our packs and was pleased -- they actually hand out information about pack weight, gear, etc. Gettin caught in the pass because of snow or fog happens -- and there was one part of the route that you could easily miss in bad weather and end up going over the wrong pass.
The next morning we took a few moments to see the ossuary that supposedly holds Roland´s bones and those of his fallen comrades. It also holds the bones of pilgrims who died at Roncesvalles.
October 15 -- Roncevalles to Zubiri -- we were mostly descending and did about 14 miles that day. Those of us who had left St. Jean the same day ran into each other on the street. And we saw our friends on horseback again. A couple crossed the Pyrenees riding beautiful horses -- truly a marvelous spectacle to see them galloping across the grassy pastures and up the pass. They are from Cognac, France --yes, like the drink -- and had started in Cognac.
Zubiri is a tiny town and we happened on an unprepossessing looking hotel. Inside was warm and delightful -- very rustic with lots of antiques and a very reasonable price! The room had a steam radiator and it was on! Did I mention it´s been colder than last year and colder than we had anticipated? Luckily we have layers and when we are walking it is not as noticeable. But I have worn cap and gloves a lot! Bright overcast, some sun, and no rain! So we are not complaining. I am running out of 1 euro coins for the machine -- so I have to stop shortly!
¡Saludos!
To return to where I left off -- posting this from Pamplona
October 14 -- after crossing the Pyrenees we stayed the night in Roncesvalles at a delighful inn called La Posada. The steam heat in the room was great for drying some laundry! For dinner, The management sat all the pilgrims at the same table and about eight of us chatted -- English being the lingua franca most of the time, but we also lapsed into Spanish periodically. Our table included a French airline dispatcher in his early 40´s from Paris who had done the camino before, a Dutchman from The Hague - about the same age -- who was on a bicycle and camping in Roncevalles, an Australian mechanical engineer in his 30´s who was on an extended holiday due to his firm being bought out, and two middle-aged couples from Navarra, Spain.
I mention the ages because John and I were both amazed at how tired the younger guys were, how much they talked about the difficulty of the ascent and descent, and how all of them were aching. John and I both felt pretty good, and neither of us was had an aches. But we also had very light and comfortable packs -- mine being even lighter because John very graciously was carrying some of my stuff. John, of course, has great strength and stamina, but I can only be grateful that I trained by hiking toward Peak 2 and 3 several times a week, hiked out to Hidden Lake twice -- always with a pack-- and did Wolverine to the top, my first time to summit. Previously I had made it as far as the cairn. After doing Wolverine with a pack, the Pyrenees were not nearly as daunting as I had imagined. The younger fellows were all carrying packs that were heavy to begin with -- and lots of stuff. While in St. Jean, we had watched at the Pilgrims´Office as one of the staff had helped one young man empty his pack and started suggesting to him what stuff he should send home by mail and send poste restante to Santiago. The woman helping us also weighed our packs and was pleased -- they actually hand out information about pack weight, gear, etc. Gettin caught in the pass because of snow or fog happens -- and there was one part of the route that you could easily miss in bad weather and end up going over the wrong pass.
The next morning we took a few moments to see the ossuary that supposedly holds Roland´s bones and those of his fallen comrades. It also holds the bones of pilgrims who died at Roncesvalles.
October 15 -- Roncevalles to Zubiri -- we were mostly descending and did about 14 miles that day. Those of us who had left St. Jean the same day ran into each other on the street. And we saw our friends on horseback again. A couple crossed the Pyrenees riding beautiful horses -- truly a marvelous spectacle to see them galloping across the grassy pastures and up the pass. They are from Cognac, France --yes, like the drink -- and had started in Cognac.
Zubiri is a tiny town and we happened on an unprepossessing looking hotel. Inside was warm and delightful -- very rustic with lots of antiques and a very reasonable price! The room had a steam radiator and it was on! Did I mention it´s been colder than last year and colder than we had anticipated? Luckily we have layers and when we are walking it is not as noticeable. But I have worn cap and gloves a lot! Bright overcast, some sun, and no rain! So we are not complaining. I am running out of 1 euro coins for the machine -- so I have to stop shortly!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
We crossed the Pyrenees!
Hola gentle readers!
Well, I made it! We crossed they Pyrenees from St. Pied de Port in France over the high Napoleon route and into Roncesvalles where Roland met his fate. St. Jean was delightful. We arrived about 7:oo pm after getting a bus from Bayonne. We flew London to Biarritz, all the time wondering if the trains would be running due to the ongoing French strike. It was wonderful to find out in Biarritz we could still get a bus to the Bayonne train station and there we would find out. Et voila they had put on a bus to take us from Bayonne to St. Jean.
It was darkish when we arrived, but we still walked a bit around the old town and the wonderful ancient gates. In the morning we went to the Pilgrim office for our credencial and the delightful woman there gave us all kinds of information about the route encouraging us to take the high pass because it was so beautiful. The weather was truly fine, my foot felt good, so I told John we should go for it. And it was a terrific hike with an elevation gain of 4,500 feet over 16 miles of sheep and horses and high mountains and beech trees and rock outcroppings.
We descend today and John is telling me we have to go. It will be long day.
Hopefully there will be an internet connection in our town tonight. It was impossible to find one even in London, hence no posts from there. Everyone has iPhones! Hasta luego!
Well, I made it! We crossed they Pyrenees from St. Pied de Port in France over the high Napoleon route and into Roncesvalles where Roland met his fate. St. Jean was delightful. We arrived about 7:oo pm after getting a bus from Bayonne. We flew London to Biarritz, all the time wondering if the trains would be running due to the ongoing French strike. It was wonderful to find out in Biarritz we could still get a bus to the Bayonne train station and there we would find out. Et voila they had put on a bus to take us from Bayonne to St. Jean.
It was darkish when we arrived, but we still walked a bit around the old town and the wonderful ancient gates. In the morning we went to the Pilgrim office for our credencial and the delightful woman there gave us all kinds of information about the route encouraging us to take the high pass because it was so beautiful. The weather was truly fine, my foot felt good, so I told John we should go for it. And it was a terrific hike with an elevation gain of 4,500 feet over 16 miles of sheep and horses and high mountains and beech trees and rock outcroppings.
We descend today and John is telling me we have to go. It will be long day.
Hopefully there will be an internet connection in our town tonight. It was impossible to find one even in London, hence no posts from there. Everyone has iPhones! Hasta luego!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Our route on the Camino - el mapa
Hola!
Behold the map! (I regret it is not the most elegant copy - scanning can be tricky. If you click on the map, it should open up in a new window and be a little bigger and more readable.) In Spanish, el mapa -- ah, you say, those of you familiar with Spanish, why is there a masculine article "el" in front of this word? Most words ending in "a" in Spanish are considered feminine and take the feminine article "la." Because, gentle readers,"mapa" comes from the Greek, and in Greek the word is masculine and his gender transferred to the Spanish. I remember learning this in one of my high school Spanish classes and being uttering fascinated. Basta.
This bit of cartography shows eastern Spain and the border with France. We start in France at St. Jean Pied de Port and climb up over a col or pass in the Pyrenees, then descend into Roncesvalles, Spain. I hope this map helps orient people. We would like to get as far as Santo Domingo, but we shall see what the road brings us.
(And thanks to Rick Steves for giving me permission to use the map from his book, "Rick Steves' Spain 2010" - what a guy!)
Friday morning, October 8, we leave for London and will see Shakespeare's "Henry the IV, Part 2," which I am dutifully re-reading. Hasta luego!
Finding one's way on the Camino
There are several good guidebooks for walking the Camino - Lonely Planet's "Walking in Spain," for example, and there is a wonderful map of each stage of the walk that has been published by John Brierley, "Camino Pilgrim Guides." Our friends Alberto and Carmen, whom we met on the Camino last year, had his great map, and we were able to find one in Sarria. It shows the elevation gains and location of refugios and hotels, bars. It's nice to know how far you have to walk to find a place to sleep or get a cup of coffee and a meal.The other way you know you are going in the right direction is to look for markers with either a yellow arrow or a scallop shell - the shell is a symbol of St. James.
Pictured is an arrow made of yellow scallop shells that has been embedded in the wall of a house.
I just got permission from Rick Steves' office to use a copy of the map of the Camino from his book on Spain. I like the drawing. So I will be scanning that tomorrow and uploading it!
Hasta manana! (imagine a tilda - can't make it take!)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Credenciales and trekking poles
Here is a photo of John's credencial showing the first of the rubber stamps we got in each town. Some are quite ornate and large. Each bar, hotel, and church has a stamp available. You must get a stamp from each village or city as proof that you passed through there on your way to Santiago.
We requested our credenciales - or Pilgrim Passports - in advance from the group, American Pilgrims on the Camino. Their website is a great resource. No charge - but they did ask for a donation if we felt inclined. We did.
At one point, we were afraid we might not have room for all the stamps we needed, but it worked out just fine. We presented our credenciales at the special office in Santiago - they passed muster - and we each got our special document with our name written in Latin attesting to our having completed the pilgrimage to Santiago by walking at least the last 100 km.
"An Actor Prepares" is the famous book by Stanislavsky on learning the craft of acting. Well, "a pilgrim prepares," too. Many things to learn and decide - including type of shoes, trekking poles or not trekking poles, and so on. For this year's walk I purchased trekking poles -- short enough to fit into my pack. Lightweight carbon -- thank goodness I had a 15% discount card for REI. We tried them out tonight as John, Holly the dog, and I walked a bit at the end of the road. They do seem to help with my ankle issue, but I am concerned that they are not tall enough for me to grasp at the right height. We shall experiment. Worst case, I buy a tall pilgrim staff when we get to France and use it instead. More on the ankle later. This is called blatant foreshadowing.
We leave on Friday -- the days are flying by!
2010 Camino - The First Third
iHola amigos!
Last time I posted was in October 2009 - we had reached Santiago de Compostella after hiking about 150-160 miles over the last third of the Camino. Now in October 2010, a designated Holy Year because the feast of Santiago (St. James the Apostle) fell on a Sunday, we are going to hike as much of the first third of the Camino as we can.
We will begin at St. Jean Pied de Port in France at the base of the Pyrenees and go up over a col, then down into Roncevalles -- the place of the noble Roland's death - Charlemagne's trusted knight immortalized in the medieval "Song of Roland." He and his comrades were ambushed by Basques. We will be traveling in Basque country for several days -- the Basque language is still a puzzle - it is called "Euskara" in the Basque. Some say the Basques are the lost people of Atlantis and that is why their language is so different from any other known tongue.
Because we walked at least 100km to Santiago, John and I received our pilgrim certificates last year. We had to show our pilgrim passport with stamps for each city we visited. I will be posting photos from last year.
We leave Friday, October 8 and will be stopping to London, en route to Biarritz and then a bus to St. Jean Pied de Port. The walk will actually begin around October 13 or 14.
More to come. Thanks for reading. iBuen Camino!
Last time I posted was in October 2009 - we had reached Santiago de Compostella after hiking about 150-160 miles over the last third of the Camino. Now in October 2010, a designated Holy Year because the feast of Santiago (St. James the Apostle) fell on a Sunday, we are going to hike as much of the first third of the Camino as we can.
We will begin at St. Jean Pied de Port in France at the base of the Pyrenees and go up over a col, then down into Roncevalles -- the place of the noble Roland's death - Charlemagne's trusted knight immortalized in the medieval "Song of Roland." He and his comrades were ambushed by Basques. We will be traveling in Basque country for several days -- the Basque language is still a puzzle - it is called "Euskara" in the Basque. Some say the Basques are the lost people of Atlantis and that is why their language is so different from any other known tongue.
Because we walked at least 100km to Santiago, John and I received our pilgrim certificates last year. We had to show our pilgrim passport with stamps for each city we visited. I will be posting photos from last year.
We leave Friday, October 8 and will be stopping to London, en route to Biarritz and then a bus to St. Jean Pied de Port. The walk will actually begin around October 13 or 14.
More to come. Thanks for reading. iBuen Camino!
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