Walking

A Day #6: Puenta de Reina to Estella, 13 miles

Day #7: Estella to Sansol, 18 miles

"The sum of the whole is this: Walk and be happy, walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen our days is to walk steadily."-Charles Dickens

Friday, August 29

I am not a morning person, but I decided that it was worth it to beat the Spanish heat and sun. Up at 6 and on the road before daylight. The reward was gorgeous Spanish early morning light. We walked all day with some new German friends and had dinner with them in the charming old city of Estella. 

Ciriacqui

One of our friends from Germany

Cathedral in Estella

There are many, many fountains, but this is my favorite so far. It says: good bread, excellent water and wine, meat and fish, always make for happiness. 

Saturday, August 30

Long, hot day, but we are staying in an amazing place with a foot soak tub. 

This one is for Merilyn: the fountain of wine in Irache. You can fill your pilgrim's shell with as much free wine as you want. It was 7:30 a.m. though and 17 miles more to go! 

Foot soak after a long hard day. 

Moving On

Day 3: Roncevalles to Zubiri, 10 miles

Day 4: Zubiri to Pamplona, 13 miles

Day 5: Pamplona to Puente la Reina, 14 miles

Tuesday, 8/26

We were awoken at 6 a.m. by soothing Gregorian chants (recorded)  for a few minutes, immediately followed by bright light letting us know it was time to be up and on our way. I have never before hiked  in the morning with headlamps!

We hiked through a lot of really nice Basque villages on the way down out of the Pyrenees. Our albergue (hostel) was gorgeous-right on the River Arga. 

Only 790 kilometers to go? No wonder we have to start at the crack of dawn!

Basque architecture- stone and stucco, red tile roofs, lots of balconies and window boxes. 

Dinner on our balcony in Zubiri. The bridge in the background is the Puente de la Rabia. Ancient lore said that if you took an animal with rabies under it, it would be cured. 

Wednesday 8/27

Long hike into Pamplona today. What a great city! We stayed in a very old church that was turned into an albergue. 

The streets of Pamplona near our albergue with the cathedral in the background. 

This one is for you Buc- Gracie in Cafe Iruna, Hemingway's hangout. 

Pamplona City Hall. The bulls run right by here. 

Thursday, 8/28

Our hardest day so far! We are out of the Pyrenees and it is very hot and dry. 

Leaving Pamplona

Looking back at the Pyrenees. 

The Pyrenees

Day #2 of the Pyrenees climb. It was a gorgeous morning with more spectacular scenery. By noon we had crossed the French/Spain border and shortly afterwards started the long downhill to Roncevalles, where we are staying in an old monastery. This will potentially be the hardest day of the whole Camino. 

Looking down into Spain from Roncevalles Pass. 

Tonight we attended a pilgrim mass in the ancient church here. Although I am not Catholic and don't understand Spanish, it was very moving, following the same rituals used to bless pilgrims for over 1000 years.  

On The Way

(Posted Monday)

After the trials (and there were many) of the last few days we are finally on The Way. Gracie is much, much better and we spent Saturday traveling by train and bus to St. Jean Pied du Port ("foot of the pass") in France via Pamplona. St. Jean was an utterly charming medieval town. We arrived late but had time for some crepes and wine in a little cafe along the river before turning in at our hostel.

St. Jean Pied du Port

 

For today's first trek, we chose to hike only five miles (at this rate we won't get to Santiago until Christmas), but it was very difficult and absolutely breathtaking. We are at a small hostel with an incredible view of the Pyrennees. Enjoyed a communal meal with our fellow pilgrims-since we are in the Basque region of southwest France and northern Spain it was a traditional Basque meal. 

We're off!

View from our hostel in the Pyrenees

Dinner with our new friends from around the world. Sitting around us were fellow pilgrims from Denmark, Germany, Scotland and more. 

Un Comienzo Dificil

If adventure is at all synonymous with challenge, then I have already found what I was looking for! Gracie began to feel sick as we were waiting for our flight last night at JFK. By the time we arrived in Barcelona this morning her headache and vomiting were so bad that she had to be escorted off the plane in a wheelchair. 

This left me alone to collect and carry both our backpacks and use my very-limited Spanish to figure out Plan B for the day. (Plan A had been to immediately catch a train for Pamplona, where we had reservations for the night.) The airline and airport staff were tremendously kind and helpful and forgiving of my botched Spanish. 

We got a room in a decent hotel in a Barcelona suburb, where we both promptly fell into a deep sleep. (On top of everything, I got almost no airplane sleep and had some serious jetlag.)

Late in the afternoon, when Gracie was well enough for me to leave, I ventured out. I explored the area a bit, picked up some food at a little supermercado, and found a nice sidewalk cafe where I enjoyed TWO cafe con leches. In my opinion, there isn't much that good coffee can't fix, or at least improve. Things are looking up. 

Ready, Set...

Tomorrow is the day! Gracie and I take off around noon for Spain, where we will walk the Camino de Santiago. This ancient pilgrimage route is also known as the Way of St. James. There are actually several hiking routes that all lead to the town of Santiago de Compestela in northwestern Spain. We have chosen to walk the most popular route, the Camino Frances, starting at the French border and traveling almost 500 miles through the Navarre, Leon-Castile, and Galician regions of Spain. If we are still standing when we get to Santiago, we will continue another sixty miles to Finisterre, the ancient end-of-the-earth.

It is thought that the remains of the apostle St. James are buried in Santiago. For over 1200 years, pilgrims have been traveling the Camino, seeking the forgiveness or petitioning St. James. Among those who have traveled it are Charlemagne, St. Frances, Shirley Maclaine, and Chaucer's fictional Wife of Bath. While traditionally a religious pilgrimage, most modern pilgrims such as me are looking for an adventurous mix of spiritual and cultural experience.

Packing for the journey was quite an adventure in itself. Trying to plan for everything you might need for five or more weeks isn't easy and my pack is probably way too heavy. I'll  describe its contents in a later post--when I decide to start pitching stuff?

23 pounds and counting. Thanks to Ray for the shell, a traditional symbol on the Camino.

If you are interested in learning more, check out this website: http://www.americanpilgrims.com or watch this brief, cool video: http://vimeo.com/65678090

I hope to post a few pictures every day or two (depending on where there is wifi) and write a bit (not too much, because after this I will be posting from my cell phone). I hope you will follow along. I'll enjoy your comments!  Chris