Month: August 2017

• Distance today: 6.5 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 57.4 mi

We decided to go easy on our knees and feet today allowing extra recovery time following our trek up and down the Alto de Perdon yesterday. The terrain today was relatively flat with equal amounts of dirt path and pavement. The temperature stayed in low 60’s with cloudy sky’s.

We walked through Muruzabal and Obanos on the way to our destination, Puente la Reina.

Muruzabal (pop.250) is mostly a residential village surrounding an old church, Iglesia de San Esteban, which was locked when we passed.

Obanos (pop. 900) is an historic Camino town known for a murderous 14th century pilgrim legend. Duke William (Guillermo) of Aquitane and his sister Felicia undertook the Camino de Santiago. On the return journey, Felicia was overwhelmed with piety and went to become a hermit in Amocain rather than returning to her life of luxury. Her brother tracked her down and tried to convince her to return to her court duties. When she refused, he became enraged and stabbed her to death. He was then overcome by remorse and walked to Santiago again and returned to Óbanos to mourn his sister for the rest of his life. He built a hermitage on Arnotegui (a southern hilltop) to serve pilgrims and the poor. Guillermo’s silver-covered skull is kept in Iglesia San Juan Bautista.”

We stopped in Òbanos to share an orange and check on a blister. We sat on a wall in the town square facing the imposing Iglesia San Juan Bautista (Church of Saint John the Baptist), but didn’t go inside because the doors were locked. Leaving the square we walked through the town gates and past a large pelota court (pelota is a Basque version of Jai alai which is like our “hand ball” on steroids!)

We continued on to Puente la Reina. On the outskirts of town, we stopped for cafe con leche and tostadas and took a longer than usual time for breakfast, as our albergue won’t open until noon.

The first indication we were nearing the old town was the 12th century Iglesia del Crucifijo which was adjacent to a seminary. A few steps later we crossed a modern street, then began our walk through the old town.

We spotted a large gothic church belfry ahead to our right and when we got to it, entered the Iglesia de Santiago. It was beautiful but not overwhelming, actually comforting. It had a massive Romanesque doorway and inside, a Baroque retablo depicting scenes in the life of Santiago (St James), also a famous gothic statue of the “beltza Santiago” ( Basque for “black Santiago”) dressed as a pilgrim. A pilgrim’s prayer was posted in several different languages to assist prayerful pilgrims.

We then left the church and continued straight ahead until we reached the “Queen’s Bridge” and took some photos. Then, Linda guarded the bridge and our packs as Jim set off to locate our albergue.

Puente la Reina (the Queen’s Bridge) got it’s name when, in the 11th century, Sancho el Fuerte’s wife (or perhaps his successor’s wife) financed a beautiful 6-arched Romanesque bridge over the Río Arga, so pilgrims and other travelers on the Roman route could avoid expensive ferrymen and treacherous boat rides. The town of Puente la Reina grew up around the queen’s bridge, providing services and commerce for the pilgrims.

A few minutes later Jim returned, having found our albergue, and we gathered our stuff and walked to a bar a few steps from Albergue Puente and camped out until noon, checked in, got our credentials stamped and proceeded to our habitacion doble (34€).

This is one of the nicest and best organized albergue’s we have stayed in and at a very good price.

After completing our routine activities we had a snack lunch and a snack dinner (sandwiches) and read & blogged in between.

• Distance today:                     3.6 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:     51.9 mi

Shortly after leaving our hotel we arrived at Zariquiguie as the wind picked up considerably. The temperature was 55 degrees making it quite chilly as dark clouds partially blocked the sun. We took some quick photos of the church featured in the film “The Way” mentioned earlier.

The Camino today took us up the steep incline to the Alto del Perdon and then back down.

The walk up was slow, giving us multiple excuses to stop and look back at the beautiful fields and small villages between us and Pamplona and look forward at the ridge above us, lined with windmills.

The winds of 30-40 mph, fortunately at our backs, continued to increase as we climbed upward. When we reached the top the near gale force winds forced us to struggle to maintain our footing. Our Backpacks acted as sails, making matters even worse.

We took some quick photos of the metal silhouettes of medieval pilgrims, an icon of the Camino Frances, then got some welcome relief from the gale as we began our descent.

The descent was also a struggle, even as the wind subsided a bit, due to the steepness and the fist size, loose pebbles filling the path which was more like a wash. This was a real knee killer… an accident waiting to happen. We finally made it down the slope as the path became more manageable and we walked the final distance to Uterga, our destination for the day.

Our albergue for the night was easy to find, right on the Camino path through the small village (pop. 205).

 

Directly across the street was a nice bar where we had breakfast, lunch and dinner, and drinks during the day if not doing our routine chores in our room. Wifi was stronger in the bar so we did our internet activity and blogging there.

• Distance today:                   8.4 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:    48.3mi

We left Villava at 7:45 a.m. and rejoined the Camino in about 5 minutes and walked through the city streets until stopping at a small bar to have cafe con leche.  A few minutes later we continued on into Pamplona, toward the old city.

Pamplona had been a fortress for centuries, providing a base and protection for Navarre against both foreign and domestic foes. The old city inside the fortress is interesting, easy to get around and inviting and one of Jim’s most favorite places on the planet.

This being our third 3rd and perhaps last visit, we were a bit nostalgic as we walked through the familiar streets in our old “neighborhood” between the Hotel Catedral, also called the “Hotel Puerto del Camino” and the Plaza Castile.

We stopped in the Castile Plaza and Linda kept watch over our packs on a comfortable bench, while Jim took several “surplus” items from our packs to the post office only a block away from the Plaza.  We sent these items to our reserved hotel in Leon along with items sent as we passed through Pamplona a week ago on our way to SJPDP. This will reduce our pack weights an additional collective 4-5 lbs, which be much appreciated during our month of walking from Pamplona to Leon (270 miles).

Jim returned shortly, we donned our packs and began the walk through the old city, then out past the Citadel, modern residential areas, Navarre University and out into the countryside, continuing our Camino.

After a gradual climb, we struggled somewhat as the hot morning sun beat down, even though the temperature was only in the mid 70’s, quickly rising from the low 50’s when we left Villava only 3 hours earlier.

We checked in to Casa Ancona just before noon.  After a brief rest we did our routine chores then had “dinner” at 4:00 and chilled in our room until bedtime reading, resting and working on the blog.

• Distance today: 7.6 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 39.9mi

It was still dark when we left Akerreta at 6:05 a.m., with Linda and her headlamp leading the way. A half-hour later it was light enough to see as we began walking along the Rio Arre (Arre river).

For the rest of the morning we walked on both sides of the Arre, crossing over a number of different bridges: some new, some old, some very old.

The walking surfaces and undulations were typical of recent days but the duration of the difficult sections was manageable.

Not until 8:00 did the sun appear as it rose above the mountains. We’ve only got a couple or three more hours before it gets miserably hot for walking in the open. And there are no bars until we reach the suburbs of Pamplona.

We crossed over the Romanesque Trinidad del Arre bridge and began looking for the Hotel Pamplona-Villava. The Booking.com app directions took us over a mile away from the bridge which we knew could not be correct. After several misdirections of our own, trying to figure out the app (it seemed to be giving us driving rather than walking directions) and three well-meaning but clueless Pamplonians, we finally arrived at our hotel at 10:45 a.m. and thankfully, our room (62€) was ready for us and were allowed to check in very early (normal check-in is 2 pm).

After a brief rest and completing our routine “chores” we selected additional items we feel we won’t need until we get to Leon a month from now, based on our experience this first week. We’ll drop them off at the Pamplona post office, Correos, as we walk through tomorrow morning. Now is the time to lighten our packs as much as we can for the next few weeks.

Linda got her first significant blister today. So guided by Linda’s close scrutiny, Jim administered the treatment procedure we learned in 2014 to hopefully minimize any pain and accelerate the healing process.

We’re in for the evening at 5:30 after a late lunch/early dinner at the hotel restaurant. The hours for the restaurant were 1:30-4:00 for lunch and 8:00-11:00 for dinner!

• Distance today: 3.6 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 32.3 mi

We didn’t set an alarm today but were up by 6:30, got gear together, Jim paid for our room (38€) and we had breakfast at our lunch, dinner and now breakfast bar. The staff seems to know us by now but our side of the communication is limited to scattered Spanish nouns and verbs and we wish we had a better clue to what they were saying to us!  That will improve, hopefully, as we assimilate over the next two months.

Breakfast completed, we left Zubiri and rejoined the Camino around 7:45.

Today is a short walk by design. We will be spending tonight in the hamlet of Akerreta and staying in the hotel by the same name which is located in a restored 1723 Basque farm house. It’s only 3.6 miles from Zubiri. Several of the scenes in the 2010 film, “The Way”, starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, which tells a story centered around the Camino Frances, were filmed at the Hotel Akerreta. It’s a little pricey (82€), but having stopped here in 2013 for a break, we decided to include it as a stopover during Camino 2017.

Shortly after leaving Zubiri, we skirted a large Magna magnesium quarry and ore processing facility. We followed the paved road incline and afterward some steep steps down in order to go around the facility. Northern Spain seems to have a reasonable amount of heavy and light industry, but normally it is not visible from the Camino. The Magna organization apparently appreciates this, as the fence along the road where pilgrims pass was covered with an artificial dark green grass that was more pleasing to the eye and buffered much of the machine and equipment noise in the facility. Jim was also impressed with the Magna truck drivers moving the magnesium ore into and out of the complex. They were cautiously aware of passing pilgrims and slowed down, giving us the right-of-way.

Another mile or so along the way we entered the hamlet of Ilarratz. Attached to one of the several beautiful homes was a public outdoor drinking-water spigot, sheltered from the sun and with generous seating.

We stopped for a brief rest and chatted with two bicycles pilgrims, Willie & James. James is originally from Korea and now lives in Toronto, Canada. Willie is originally from El Salvador, then Toronto and currently lives with his wife, whose family is Basque, in the Basque Autonomous Community capital of Vitoria/Gasteiz in Northern Spain. James and Willie met while attending the same church in Toronto.

We arrived at Akerreta about 10:30 as the last of the previous night’s guests was checking out. Our room will not be ready until around 1:00. The proprietor said they normally close the hotel until that time to allow for cleaning and because they don’t offer lunch or non-guest services, they keep the front door locked. Ironically they don’t cater to pilgrims, because as an upscale B&B they are too expensive for 90+% of pilgrims.

But, the proprietor apologized and gave us the door code and said we were welcome to sit inside or outside to wait and were free to use the restrooms. We opted to sit outside and shortly one of the housekeepers brought us two cafe con leches and gave us the wifi password. We were pleased with their willingness to cater to our basic needs prior to checking in. And it kept us busy until our room was ready.

At 1:05 we were ushered to our very nice room and began our arrival/afternoon routine.

Because the hotel has no lunch option for us and the hamlet has no bars or other services, we haven’t decided, if anything, what we will do for lunch. Dinner is at 8:00!

Our growling stomachs compelled us to get lunch. The miracle of wifi pointed us to Larrasoaña, just a half mile from Akerreta. So Jim ventured out into the 91 degree heat, a took a relatively short walk, secured some items from a small market and returned with lunch for today and breakfast items for tomorrow morning.

Our hotel has a nice breakfast served between 8:00-10:00, which is not an option as we would like to be up and walking by 6:30. The room rate is 82€ including breakfast, but we will likely end up paying for it and not getting breakfast, as we would rather get an earlier start to avoid walking several extra hours in the mid-day August heat. Such is the Camino, Our Way 2017.

Our dinner tonight (28€) was a dining experience. Everything was fresh, organic and beautiful prepared. The tomatoes were full of flavor, locally grow from seeds of fruit from the previous season. The beef melted in your mouth and the sauce was so good Jim requested extra bread to make sure none made it back to the kitchen. Linda consulted with the proprietor on preparation techniques and we’ll definite try to duplicate it when we return home! The Navarre wine perfectly complemented the meal  which concluded with a delicious homemade mango ice cream.

 

Sated beyond our wildest expectations, we retired to our room to conclude another extraordinary day on the Camino Frances.

 

• Distance today: 6.1 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 28.7 mi

We are both still recovering from jet lag and the associated adverse impacts on sleeping until we acclimate to the local time zone (6 hours ahead of home). Parallel to that were the physical demands of crossing the Pyrenees Mountains for our initial 2 days on the Camino and the subsequent muscle soreness and overall fatigue.

The sun was shinning down from a clear blue sky as we left Bizkarreta this morning at 8:00 a.m. We played hopscotch with Elena for the first hour or so. Linda loaned her poles for a short while, as Elena doesn’t have her own but is thinking about buying some along the way. She had disc surgery over a year ago and is still recovering. Elena returned Linda’s poles and we separated shortly thereafter, as our walking paces are different.

Today we are conducting a test with the baggage transport service that follows the Camino. Linda suggested we try it with just one pack. She put water, a poncho and other minor essentials into a 2 oz Altus day pack to carry and Jim offloaded as many heavier non-critical items from his pack that would fit into the transported pack. Our hotel proprietor called last night to arrange this morning’s pick-up at AmatxiElsa. We placed 7€ in a small envelope with our name and today’s destination hotel in Zubiri and attached it to the backpack and left in the AmatxiElsa lobby, when we left this morning. We’ve heard about this service in the past but hadn’t used it. We wanted to see how it worked and how reliable is was so we might use it along the way, if needed.

The Camino physically tested us again today, but didn’t overwhelm us. The first couple of miles or so was a fairly flat with some paved, but mostly unpaved surface. But, exiting the village of Linzoain in the open sun, the Camino climbed almost vertical, it seemed, on a concrete & gravel walk (an obvious gift from the locals to improve what would naturally be an impassable wash) straight up the hillside (no switchbacks here, just straight up)! We could see the apparent end of this killer of a path, so we just tucked our heads, leaned forward and undaunted, took it a step at a time. The “apparent top” unfortunately was only a short pause and the path took off again a similar distance and just as steep, before leveling as we and fellow Peregrinos breathed a sigh of relief.

The path became tamer, not only leveling considerably but also winding through a cool, shaded forest and level (yes, level!) dirt surfaces. Thru the trees we saw evidence of some commercial logging areas, confirmed by the signage on several trees, but no logging activities were visible this morning. After a few insignificant ups and downs, we reached what appeared to be a makeshift truck stop with a temporary van offering refreshment as we crossed the highway. We opted not to stop.

A few yards beyond the highway edge the Camino turned back into the forest and after a half mile or so, began to re-test us with a moderate down slope dominated by solid rock with loose pebbles and knifelike fixed jagged strips of stone that were difficult to navigate at a normal pace without peril. Every other step or two presented an opportunity for a torqued knee, twisted ankle or Camino delaying or ending fall.

For the most part the final mile of the Camino into Zubiri was characterized by the above terrain and as we reached the base of the trail just entering Zubiri it was like the sigh of relief one feels at the end of an extreme rollercoaster ride.

Interestingly enough, Linda’s experience with the final mile was much better today than in 2013, when totally exhausted and with multi-blistered feet, she wondered if she would ever make it across the Rio Arga into Zubiri over the medieval Puente de la Rabia arched bridge. But today, she effortlessly walked into Zubiri, blister free and feeling the strongest of any finish so far for Camino 2017.

We arrived in Zubiri at 11:30 a.m and the “pencion Usoa” door was locked and when no one responded to the doorbell, we walked about 50 steps to a bar and relaxed and had lunch. It was nice to just get off our feet, chill and enjoy our tortillas and drinks at the bar’s outdoor shaded table in the cool breeze.

We checked again at Pencion Usoa at 1:00 p.m. as the proprietor (who lived across the street) was opening the door. As we stepped inside, Linda’s backpack was miraculously sitting in the corner, wondering where we had been.

We were given a brief tour of our room and washing machine/clothesline area. He also told us about the pilgrim’s breakfast at 6:30 in the morning, the location of the Pilgrim Dinner tonight and gave us the wifi password. Our room is a comfortable “habitacion doble con baño”, (private double room with ensuite bathroom)

The proprietor handed us the keys, excused himself and we immediately resumed our routine: wash us-wash clothes-hangout clothes and relaxed the rest of the afternoon doing the usual. Jim also took a brief walk out to the medieval bridge to stretch his beginning-to-stiffen-muscles and take some photos.

Puente de la Rabia (Rabies Bridge), was named because of a tradition that if animals are led three times across the bridge, they will be protected from rabies. The tradition comes from a legend that the builders of the bridge in the 15th century dug into the rock to place the central pillar and found an embalmed body. The body turned out to be Santa Quiteria, patron saint against rabies. When she was being transported to Pamplona to be buried, her body miraculously refused to budge from this spot, so her processional assumed it was a sign that she wished to be buried along the pilgrim road.

Tonight we had pizza at the same bar where we had lunch. Both the pepperoni and margarita were tasty and were complemented perfectly with a glass of Navarre wine 🍷 .