Cardenuela to Burgos - 8/22

(Distance: 13kms  Time: 3 hours)
The Day: We started out ok this morning ... a bit late around 7:15, and headed to Burgos without any definitive plans on whether to stay in Burgos or move on. It didn't matter because for the second day in a row we took a wrong turn. Somehow we ended up on an alternative route and when we tried to correct it, we got lost. Finally we found our way and made it to the Cathedral but by that time we just decided to stay for the night. Frustrating but again it was God's plan because we ran into some of our new friends again including Anna & Cyrille whom we had not seen for a couple of days. We spent the rest of day exploring Burgos and we toured the Cathedral.

The People: Unfortunately (Anna and Cyrille included) many of the people we have met are leaving for home from Burgos and they will pick up their camino from here next year. It is sad knowing we will probably never see them again but very glad we were able to share some time with them and get to call them friends. It is part of the Camino experience.

the road out of town

looking back at the sun rise

the Cathedral in Burgos

Villafranca to Cardenuela - 8/21

(Distance 25 kms  Time 7 hours)
The Day: Today was a good day. I made a strategic decision to walk in my hiking sandals vs my boots and it gave my little toe a break and my Achelle's heel only hurt a little. So we not only made good time but we were both finally able to really enjoy our surroundings. Early in the morning we met Mike from Canada and walked a bit with him. His pace however is much faster then ours and he moved ahead. We did however make our first mistake in directions. There were multiple options on ways to go and we had decided on one of the more traditional trails. God had a different plan. We thought we were following the right markers but somehow we ended up on an alternate route which took us to the town of Cardenuela. Upon arriving at an albergue we were surprised to find Mike and many of our new friends including a group of Italians that we have been "with" the past few days. We met some new friends too, Dami So from Liverpool England and Claudia from Germany. The albergue is not only nice but very reasonably priced as we got a private room with our own bath for just 18 Euro ... that is luxury on the Camino!

our path in the morning ... the moon in front of us and the sun behind

cross at the top of the mountain

sun flower fields as far as you can see

laundry lines at the albergue

The People: I've mentioned our new friends. Dami So and Claudia who are college students and Mike works in a mental health hospital in British Columbia. The mix of people is interesting with many of the people we meet being younger than our kids. Age however  is not a barrier on the Camino ... the path and challenges are the same for everyone and there is almost a family feeling with all. In a special way, there are the Italians. They are all friendly and all very loud & animated ... but in a fun way. Tonight before a communal dinner and after a few pitchers of sangria, everyone took turns singing there national anthem ... we had Italy of course, France, Mexico, Germany, England and Betsy's attempt at USA which the Italians goaded her into singing by starting the tune (just like in the movie where they greeted Martin Sheen). Kind if cool and a lot of fun.

the Italians!

Dami So, Mike, Jee Young, Claudia and Betsy

Redecilla to Villafranca - 8/20

(Distance: 23.7 kms   Time: 6.5 hours)
The Day: Today was a hard day for me and an easy one for Betsy. My aches alternated between the blister on the little toe on my right foot and my Achilles tendon on my left foot. They took turns making my walking difficult and that took away some of the beauty on the country side around us but non the less we made our goal for the day. The sun flower fields were once again amazing and I couldn't resist taking another picture of a "happy faced sun flower". In the morning we are faced with a couple of steep climbs so I am praying that my feet hold up ... it is hard to believe we have been averaging 15 miles a day for the past 11 days.

today's way

a town we passed through

another happy sun flower

Betsy by the stream

our room for the night

The People: once again for the most part we walked by ourselves today except at the very end a new friend from Korea, Jee Young, who caught up with us as we rested near a stream. Having a cold coke before dinner, we met a couple from Canada,  John & Sandra, and while we sat there enjoying a new friendship our "old" friend George from Oregon came in. We had a great conversation and were once again blessed by our new friendship.

John and Sandra

Azofra to Redecilla - 8/19

(Distance: 26.3 kms   Time: 7.5 hours)
The Day: We left really early this morning (6:15) but for some reason I was having an off day and kept us at a snail's pace. It was dark when we left and we had to search for the "yellow arrow" markers very carefully with a head lamp. The terrain started out pretty much the same but turned more interesting as the day wore on. The first town we got to was a golf course community and unlike anything we have seen thus far. We stopped in the club house to get a drink and I ended up paying almost $6 for a glass of orange juice. At first I felt bad about entering the bar area all sweaty and smelly with a backpack on but after the $6 for the orange juice I got over it quickly. A little further on 2 pilgrims ahead of us missed the marker for a turn and by the time we reached the turn we realized they went the wrong way. We could still see them way down the wrong path and with the help of another pilgrim we screamed, shouted and whistled and finally got their attention and they turned around. That is how it is on the camino, everyone looks out for each other. Later, we passed the Italians that we had given our bottle of wine to the night before and they greeted us warmly telling us they had toasted us after we left. We reached the town we had targeted and decided to push on to the next town. (Nothing like getting ahead of a project plan :-) ... Espy, pay attention!) So today's walk ended up a little over 16 miles. That puts about 150 miles behind us so far with a mere 350 miles to go ... sigh.

The People: The town we are in has about150

 people that live here. We really haven't met anyone new today as we pretty much spent a quiet day today.

on the road at sunrise ... again

only 571 kms to go

fields of sunflowers as far as you can see

Navarette to Azofra - 8/18

(Distance: 23.2 kms  Time: 5 hours)
The Day: The town festival was still going strong in the morning. We got a late start (yea ... more sleep) but overall made good time. We had to leave Navarette without any breakfast so we struggled on the first section. It seems we do actually need that cup of coffee first thing. So we stopped and got coffee & pastries which gave us both a boost. Our original goal was Najera but getting there early gave us the opportunity to push on to Azofra. That turned out to be a good decision because the albergue in Azofra was fairly new and had great accommodations ... washing machines, a shallow pool with cool water that felt great on tired feet and individual rooms with 2 beds each. We were able to relax some (I took a nap) soak our feet and trade conversation with some other pilgrims we hadn't met before. The road seems monotonous at times and reflective at others. Santiago feels like it is a long ways away even though we have already walked over 100 miles.

The People: Our path crossed again with Cherry from NYC and shared some good faith based conversation. We continue to run into Patrick and seem to be on a parallel course with a bunch of Italians. We ate dinner by ourselves but did not finish the bottle of wine that comes with a pilgrim's meal. As we were leaving the restaurant the Italians 

came in and we gave them the rest of the bottle ... I think we made some good friends!

leaving Navarette

the walk later in the day

pool that we cooled our feet in at the albergue

our room for the night

Viana to Navarette - 8/17

(Distance: 22kms  Time: 5.25 hours)
The Day: We took another easier day today having split the 2 suggested days into 3 shorter ones. I needed the short distance today. Father David P mentions in his book about feeling like your feet have been beaten with a meat mallet ... he was very accurate. He also talks about having " back pack envy" feeling envious of other people's back packs that looked lighter than his. I have developed a different envy ... mine is being envious of all these people who have long legs with a long stride ... I almost have to run to keep their pace. They look like they are just strolling along while I feel like I'm stumbling. The country side remains beautiful and the path is mostly natural so far. The guide book has warnings the the next day will be on the side of roads which means pavement. Once again the town we are in for the night is having a big festival tonight and we have been warned that it will be noisey.

leaving Vianna

crosses left in a chain linked fence by pilgrims

entering Navarette

Mass Saturday night ... the Priest gave us a Pilgrim blessing at the end

The People: We walked most of the day today with Patrick. However we did meet a couple from Paris today ... Anna and Cyrille. They have been walking for 10 days and will end next Thursday. Each year they do about 2 weeks of the camino.

Anna and Cyrille from Paris

Los Arcos to Viana - 8/16

(Distance: 18.6 kms   Time: 4.5 hours)
We took a short day today. The camino book had 2 days covering 58 kms and we decided to split it up into 3 easier days. The walk was over easier ground and we had cloud cover so it wasn't too hot. We spent the afternoon being lazy and resting a bit.

sunrise after an early start

passing through a small village

Estella to Los Arcos - 8/15

(Distance: 21.1 kms  Time: 6.5 hours)
Last night we had a pilgrim meal with some of our friends along with about 20 other pilgrims. The wine served with the meal got the party going and we all had a great time ... almost too good. The albergues close their doors and have lights out at 10pm. We (all 25 of us) arrived at our albergue at 10:20 ... oops! After a few mins of banging on the door and making noise they let us in ... probably a better alternative than us waking up the whole town.

our "dinner party"

The Day: This week appears to be a special festival time in Spain. At 6am (yes I was up and moving) a group of musicians were at the door of the albergue singing to the pilgrims celebrating a feast day of the Virgin Mary called the "Festival of Grace". We actually left at 6:30 but stopped just down the road at a "mini mart / gas station" and had our morning coffee and pastry. Then off to go walk "a few" miles. Maybe it was the dinner the night before, but neither one of us could find our rhythm all day and we struggled. The terrain for the most part was open farm land and it was hot. Having heard that their was a special event happening in Los Arcos today, we called ahead and made a reservation in a recommended albergue ... and good thing we did because many pilgrims ended up sleeping outdoors. The special event was their annual town festival and the "running with the bulls". Mass  was even cancelled that evening so that the Priest could participate. It was all fun to watch but ended up mostly a town party. 

headed out of town

on the walk for the day

running with the bulls

bulls back in the main arena

The People: We had a drink in the town square in the afternoon with new friends ... Ruth, Claire and Alice from Ireland, and Cherry from NYC. Today was the last day on the camino for Ruth, Claire and Alice but Cherry hopes to make it to Santiago by Sep 14. Patrick and our path continue to cross and he is becoming a really good friend. We had dinner with Aaron from Arizona and Arc from Brazil ... to my surprise he had also worked for IBM but was recently "RA'd" (for my non IBM readers that means they were let go)

Patrick, Claire, Cherry, Alice, Ruth and Betsy

Puente la Reina to Estella - 8/14

(Distance: 21.9 kms  Time: 6 3/4 hours)
The Day: We were on the road again at 6:45 and not only did I see the sun rise again, but the roosters were crowing. It was a very pleasant morning and very comfortable temperature wise so we were making good time. Then, Betsy realized she had dropped her shirt off her backpack. Asking people that came by they told her they had seen the shirt a ways back. So she left her pack with me and back she went. I continued on carrying both my pack and hers, and even got some help going up a hill from a pilgrim passing by. Betsy found the shirt and caught back up with me in about 20 minutes. It turns out that 20 minute delay caused us to reunite with some of the friends we had made in he first few days! Have I said recently that God is good? We spent the rest of the day walking with friends which was nice. One small town we went through around noon was having their yearly Village Fiesta with bands playing and firecrackers going off. Most of the towns we pass through seem pretty deserted so his was a nice change.

leaving in the morning

early morning path ... with our shadow to prove how early it is :-)

approaching a town

a few challenges to overcome

classic pilgrim picture of shadows

Estella

Time for a few observations over the first 5 days:
1. There are more Italians on the camino this time of year than any other nationality
2. The most popular name is Christina
3. Bikers on the camino are as annoying as snow boarders are on the ski slope ... always out of control and never let you know when they are approaching
4. The repetitiveness of walking miles every day works well with the repetitiveness of the rosary
5. Shared trials help people to open up and share their story

The People: I mentioned we met up with some "old" friends today ... specifically Tina from SJPP and Patrick from England. We met an older gentleman George from Oregon, a young English man Jullian and a woman who grew up in NJ but now lives in Paris named Jane. Each has their own story & reason for doing the camino ... and it is amazing how many people were inspired by the movie "The Way".

Cizor Menor to Puente la Reina - 8/13

(Distance: 19 kms  Time: 7 hours)
Before we post anything about our journey today, Betsy and I would like to wish Dad a very happy 93rd birthday. Our journey pales in comparison to yours.

The Day: Today we got our earliest start yet. I'm not sure how she did it but Betsy got me up and actually walking by 6:45. It rained hard last night but the skies were clearing by morning. It made for some slippery trails at times but at least the rain had moved on. So today with the early start and a shorter distance as our goal we took our time. We stopped for breakfast after a couple of hours and re-energized, then moved on. The main challenge for today was the "Hill of Forgiveness" or Alto del Perdon which is a bit more than a hill rising over 300 m over a distance of 4 kms. At the top there are a lot of wind mills and the wrought iron representation of medieval pilgrims with heads bent to the west wind (see picture below). The weather was in the low 70's with lots of wind. We made it to Puente la Reina by mid afternoon and then went through our routine of washing clothes and showering. Our feet hurt but no major injuries thus far... God is good!

the sun rise ... I actually saw it :-)

path as we head toward the "hill"

midieval pilgrims (see explanation below)

town of Obanos

church in Obanos

our room for the night

The People: We really did not meet any new friends today ... lots of people helping us order things in Spanish, etc and many familiar faces. Our albergue for the night has 2 rooms with10 bunk beds each, pairing 2 bunks in kind of cubicles. Our "room mates for the night is a young Spanish couple Jorge & Maite.