Month: August 2022

Walked Today: 6.2mi/Camino 2022: 66.2mi

Shortly after the Wine Fountain we began walking with Tim from Washington, DC. We walked together until we reached Villamayor de Monjardin, and he continued on toward Los Arcos.

Tim recently retired from diplomatic service and shared some extraordinary experiences he had during his career. He recently attended his daughter’s graduation from college in Barcelona then traveled to several European locations, before deciding to walk the Camino on rather short notice. We shared some of our Camino experiences and answered questions he had about the days ahead. We really enjoyed chatting with him, so much so, that the today’s walk, which has a lot of uphill sections, seem to be much easier and we were surprised how soon we reached our destination.

We arrived at our destination at 11:00 and were given immediate access to Markiola by the owner, who also operates the small market next door. We were the only occupants for the day, giving us sole access to all the facilities.

We had lunch (turkey sandwiches, wine), dinner ( spaghetti with tomato sauce, wine and bread) and prepared a “backup” lunch (ham, egg and cheese baguette) for tomorrow all from the Markiola “ kitchen”!

Today was full of nice surprises, our stamina is building and it’s great to be back on the Camino Frances.

Walked Today: 6.0mi/Camino 2022: 60mi

Today was fairly easy and uneventful. We had walked about 2.5 miles when we stopped for breakfast at Villatuerte at 8:00.

We arrived at Estella around 9:30 and found the Plaza de Iglesia del San Juan Bautista completely occupied with a market. We walked among the shoppers and were awed by the variety and colors of goods offered.

Jim took a chance and knocked on the door of Hotel Cristina at 10:00 and was not only admitted but presented with the keys to our room!

After attending to our chores, we found a small American style diner, which at 12:30 was the only eatery offering food, other than pintxos, until after 7 p.m. tonight.

While we ate we observed the plaza as the market vendors began disassembling there displays and packing up their products. Our tummies filled with fried eggs, fries and chicken, we retired to our room and napped, read and blogged until about 5:30, when we ventured out again hoping to find some pintxos to serve as dinner. The plaza was completely cleared, with no evidence of the morning market. “Church of Saint John the Baptist” in the background.

We again had no luck finding a restaurant or bar offering any kind of food, so we had to settle for some prepared sandwiches offered by a small grocery store. We retired to our room, ate and called it a day.

Walked Today: 5.5mi/Camino 2022: 54mi

We arrived very early (9:45) at Bodega del Camino and ordered a late breakfast. After we finished, Jim asked if we could check-in early and we were pleasantly surprised to hear “Si”. Michael, the albergue manager, is from southern Germany. His boss recently acquired the albergue, which had been closed for 2 years during the pandemic. Michael’s staff is a family (father, mother & daughter) who escaped from Mariupol, Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion. They made their way to Georgia, then Austria and ultimately to Spain and Lorca.

We have stayed at the Bodega del Camino previously in 2014, 2017, 2019 and now 2022. We are glad it has reopened. It among our top favorite albergues on the Camino Frances.

We took advantage of the common areas including a wash basin and clothes drying lines… with clothes pins!!! We got showers, examined our feet for any issues needing treatment and chilled in our comfortable room with twin beds and ensuite bathroom (59€). Shortly after noon we had a tasty lunch in the bar.

We also placed our orders to have the pilgrim dinner tonight at 7 in the albergue bar.

Our pilgrim dinner was with a gentleman from Germany who enjoys walking long distances. He walked here from SJPDP in three days… 64 miles. Two french ladies were walking together. A young man also from France was walking for a week, taking some time off from his job.

We were served a ensalada mixta, baked chicken in a brown sauce, rice and roasted vegetables and chocolate cake and ice cream with a cherry sauce.

A delicious meal, interesting, multilingual conversation and gracious hosts provided a nice conclusion to another day on the Camino Frances.

Walked- Today:3.00 mi Camino 2022: 48.5 mi

We walked through Puente la Reina this morning on our way to Mańeru.

We’ve never stayed in Mańeru before but have passed by the El Cantero albergue three times. Staying here tonight cuts what would be a long 8 miles into two easy days… consistent with our Camino 2022 plan.

Most albergues will not open to guests before 1:00. Today, El Cantero was no exception. We arrived at 11:16 a.m. and had to wait until 1:00 p.m. to check-in and have access to our reserved room.

Jim approached the “time keeper” and pointed to his watch that it was 1 o’clock. The guy looked around, frantically and said 10 more minutes. Jim came back at 1:10 and with the apparent owner and the lady who confirmed our reservation via telephone yesterday, present, the check-in process began. Our double room with private bath is 45€.

Tonight we skipped a pilgrim dinner offered by El Cantero, opting instead for our late-lunch bogadilla leftovers and assorted fruit drinks and cookies purchased at a local market.

Walked: Today 6.9 mi /Camino 2022: 45.8 mi

We took a taxi to Zaraguiqui, where we finished our walk from Pamplona on August 14. Our walk began at first light (7:01) and the clouds were covering the top of the Alto de Perdon. As we climbed up the steep grade, we snapped photos looking back at Pamplona… it seemed like the higher we climbed the more the clouds lifted, giving us clear views of where we had been.

We reached the top, took photos, (with the help of a lone bicycling pilgrim), recharged our bodies with a pain au chocolat, then began the difficult journey down the other side of the mountain.

Elena, the owner of Casa Raichu and our delightful hostess, created a wonderful Camino memory for us today.

We arrived early (11:40), but when Jim rang the doorbell, she answered the intercom promptly and when he told her his name, the door opened and she welcomed us inside. She gave us a choice of rooms, checked us in and asked if we would like something to drink. A few minutes later, she returned with a tray of chips, a glass of chilled green tea and beer. She asked if we had clothes to wash and left us a sack for dirty clothes to leave outside our door to wash, dry and fold later in the afternoon, (8€).

Later in the afternoon Elena knocked on our door with two slices of a spinach tarta she had just taken out of the oven… which became our lunch.

She prepared and served us a delicious dinner at 6:30 (not waiting until the standard 7:00)… of mixed vegetable salad, a scrumptious pasta dish and simple pineapple/peach dessert. Wine and water were also included. (14€ each).

Walked: Today 3.1mi /Camino 2022: 38.9 mi

As planned, today was an easy walk, mostly flat, all sidewalks, thru several Pamplona suburbs to the Maisonave Hotel, our base six days ago.

We have been building up our stamina and strength the past week as we successfully took on the challenges of the first three stages of the Camino Frances, sans backpacks, as part of our paced approach. Today, we both carried our full backpacks for the short walk to provide a little extra body building push.

In 2019, Linda transported her backpack (18lbs) most every day, while carrying “essential” items and water in a Camelback daypack. Jim felt more secure continuing to walk with his full backpack (26lbs including 4 lbs H2O). In 2022, until today, we both have been transporting our packs and wearing only the camelback day/hydration packs during our walks. Our plan in 2022 will be to transport Linda’s backpack daily and Jim’s also daily, for now. The additional cost is 5€ per pack/per day… but well worth it.

We walked over the 12th century Magdalena Bridge, circled the huge walls of the fortress, crossed the drawbridge and entered the city gate into the old city, stopping at the Santa Maria de las Asunción Cathedral to get our pilgrim credential stamped.

We then walked another 500 meters to the Hotel Maisonave , our home for the night.

Tonight’s our last night in Pamplona for Camino 2022. We’ve spent a lot of time here since 2012. It has added so many positive experiences to our Camino’s and has become a place in which we feel very comfortable. Hopefully, we’ll find our way back here again.