Author: 2cdssrs

• Distance today:                      4.8 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:        91.3mi

We decided to take advantage of an open-at-6:30-bar just a few steps from our room and have a light breakfast before we walked, changing our routine. By the time we got back to our room, packed up and left, it was 7:30.

It’s 49 degrees but the sun is up and should warm the delightfully refreshing morning air pretty quickly.

Our walk today was pretty easy, just under 5 miles. We walked mostly through wheat fields and several vineyards and small olive orchards. The first village we passed was Sansol. It offered a picturesque setting, perched on a hill overlooking the surrounding farms. We stopped for a glass of orange juice after about 3 miles.

The next village, less than a mile away, was Torres del Rio, our destination for today. We’re giving ourselves an easy day today because tomorrow’s walk will be twice as long. We’re still babying our bodies a bit, while we tone our leg muscles, let our packs morph into our bodies and develop a good walking rhythm that’s knee and feet friendly.

We were able to check into our room at albergue Pata del Oca (50€) shortly after we arrived at around 10:30. Our room was apparently the only one not occupied last night but the albergue is “completo”, fully booked tonight.

The albergue’s exterior and interior is medieval in decor and construction but very clean and well maintained whether you are in a dorm/bunk bed type room (10€) or a double room with bathroom like ours. There is little to do or see in this small village (pop. 156), but we’ll be very comfortable just chillin’ in the albergue courtyard, checking out the Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro, or resting in our “habitacion “.

We made a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (1€) and found it to be interesting and mysterious.

The church was built in the 12th century and the Crucifix at the altar is from the 13th century. The master builder who designed it and the sculptors who adorned it were Mudejar working in the service of Christian employers. It’s construction and use are assumed, but not confirmed, to be Templar, because it does not have a typical floor. It is the only church that has a done over a single octagonal floor.

We skipped the pilgrim dinner and had a light snack then retired for the evening.  Today we passed the 100 mile mark… only 400 to go!

 

• Distance today: 8.5 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 86.5mi

To begin our day, we needed to take a taxi from Estella to Villamayor de Monjardin to rejoin the Camino where we finished yesterday. However, at 7:15 a.m. there were no taxi’s to be found in the city of Estella!

We started out by walking to the bus station (estacion), where no one was to be found. We finally found a bus ticket clerk, who essentially said she didn’t do taxi’s, so it was apparent she wouldn’t help us. So we began walking, picking up the Camino through town, hoping to find some help. When we were on the edge of town, Linda stopped a lady and asked how we could get a taxi. The lady mentioned the bus station but Jim said there was nothing there. She then took out her cellphone and did searches and made at least 8 phone calls with no answers!! Finally she asked if we would walk with her and we said sure and Jim thanked her for being so nice.

We ended up walking back into town to a police station where the lady approached an officer at the desk and apparently complained about there being no taxi service for these poor pilgrims (Jim tried to look as helpless as possible to give credibility to our rescuer.) When the officer seemed clueless she confronted him again and apparently was given a number to call. We followed her out to the street as she made another call, hung up and then explained to us (very clearly, I’m sure, if we only knew more Spanish) that someone would be here to take us wherever we wanted. We thanked her and she wished us “buen Camino” as she walked away.

In less than 2 minutes a white van with some type of municipal logo on it pulled up to us on the curb, a driver got out, helped us put our packs into the vehicle and after we were in the van, asked if the charge of 13€ to Villamayor was ok. Jim enthusiastically said “si”, since our taxi drive from Villamayor to Estella yesterday was 25€!

Ten minutes later at 7:50 a.m., we were back on the Camino walking out of Villamayor de Monjardin.

The weather was kind to us again today. Even though we started an hour later with the sun already rising overhead, the heat was not a factor with a slight breeze in 60’s.

The Camino today was all dirt path, mostly flat with only a few gradual elevation changes.

We walked almost entirely along grain fields and vineyards. We’re a bit early for grape harvests and the blackberries are still bitter, so free morning fruit snacks are yet to come.

There were no bars or services between Villamayor and Los Arcos, so we ate a sandwich (purchased last night) for breakfast, as we walked. By 10:45 a.m., our legs and feet were letting us know that it was about time to stop for the day, as we entered the small town of Los Arcos (pop.1244) after walking 8 miles without a break.

 

Los Arcos occupies an ideal location by the Río Odrón and at the crossroads of two ancient trade routes, and was once a Roman city (Curnonium). The current name comes from a battle in 914 when three Sanchos (the kings of Navarra, Castilla and Aragon) fought over the town. The Navarran army won with the help of their excellent archers, therefore the coat of arms of the city contains bows (arcos) and arrows. In medieval times, the city was a place for toll collection and changing money. Los Arcos flourished as a market town, becoming quite wealthy with all this pilgrim commerce.

We found a table in the town Plaza next to the Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción and had a belated cafe con leche and tostadas for breakfast while we waited for the albergue to open after 12:30.

Jim located our targeted albergue and it looked a bit too shabby, especially for 46€ with a shared showers and 🚽 and it was also located just outside the town and away from the Plaza, where all the “action” and services were. So he walked around the Plaza looking for an alternative and found Pencion Mavi only 20 steps from the Plaza, with a private bathroom for 50€… so we moved in at 12:10.

(“Reserving” a place in most accommodations along the Camino is not guaranteed by either party. Only a name is given and if the room is not claimed by noon or in some cases by 2 pm, it’s first come first served. So it is not necessary to cancel a “reservation” if plans change, consequently, no one will be deprived of a room if we don’t show)

We washed all our dirty clothes today and hopefully they will be dry in the morning, in spite of the lower temperature, less wind and limited direct sunshine on our room balcony.

At a little passed 5 pm and just prior to an evening service, we visited St Mary’s Church.  We gasped as we entered one of the largest and most beautiful churches on the Camino Frances. The wooden floors and multitude of wooden carvings created a warm and inviting ambiance in the midst of such extraordinary artwork.

Photos cannot begin to transmit what we saw, but here is an attempt at sharing it with you.

Clothing clean and dry, tummies full from tasty pilgrim’s dinner in the Plaza in the warm afternoon sun,

we retired to our room to conclude another wonderful day on the Camino Frances.

 

• Distance today:                  6.5 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:  78.0 mi

Today was perfect for walking: cool, with manageable ups and downs and varied walking surfaces and in the 6-7 mile range, but with one hitch: when we got to our destination, there was “no room in the inn”.

Yesterday, we called the 2 places with double rooms in Villamayor de Monjardin to reserve a place to stay tonight and found that everything was booked. We ruled out walking further, as the next village was an additional 7 miles… more than we were willing to take on. So yesterday we reserved our room in Estella for a second night.

Here is a pictorial account of our walk today:

After walking to Villamayor this morning and enjoying breakfast at the Bar Ilarria, we called a taxi to take us back to Estella.

One method for calling a taxi if you don’t speak Spanish is fairly easy. At most bars or any public place you can find a posting of local taxi numbers. If not you can ask a bartender for a taxi. This morning I told the bar tender I wanted a taxi to Estella. He pointed me to the taxi number, which I dialed on my cell phone. When the person on the other end said something, I said, ” Hola, uno momento por favor” and handed my phone to the bartender, who then the told taxi dispatcher what we wanted. The bartender hung up, handed me my phone and using fingers and Spanish indicated the taxi would be here in 5 minutes. 5 minutes later we had our taxi and were on our way back to our hotel in Estella. This morning’s taxi ride was 25€ for about a 10 mile/10 minute drive.

Since we were already installed in our room and had left many of the heavier items in the room (why carry any more than you need, when you get a chance to lighten your pack?), when we returned we got back into some non-routine items.

First, with the manager of the Cristina Hotel’s help, especially her phone and her Spanish, we reserved places to stay for the next three days, to prevent another potential double night stay and taxi fees.

Second, we tried to enjoy more of the Estella festival.

This included a procession and a later dance performance in the nearby square (Plaza de Los Fueros) of Spanish gigantes (giants).

We were also rewarded with more “bull running” in the street overlooked by our room balcony.

All in all, our slight adjustment in where we spent the night was a fortune rather than mis-fortune. The festival was unplanned and a unique experience. We continued our progress by walking 6.5 more miles and had what seemed to be a day off!

 

 

• Distance today: 5.9mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 71.5 mi

The walk this morning, starting at 6:45, was very pleasant… cool, partly cloudy, slight breeze… and it’s mid-August in Spain!!!

 

After 3 miles we stopped for cafe con leche and sweet rolls in Villatuerta (pop. 1122). A group of pilgrims from Italy also stopped for coffee. We chatted with a guy from the group, probably in his early 50’s and discovered that this was his 12th Camino! He said it gave him energy for life and it was a way to spiritually give thanks for his happy life. His wife was walking with him but it wasn’t clear if she had walked with him on all 12. He had also visited the USA in 2010 to run the New York marathon.

 

Continuing on, we walked across another Roman bridge in the town, passed the Iglesia de la Asunción then left the paved streets and rejoined the dirt path of the Camino. A few hundred yards out of town, we passed Ermita de San Miguel, took some photos and moved on.

 

About a mile from Estella, we passed a small farm and a cute pony came over to the fence to greet us so we returned the favor with a photo for all you horse 🐴 lovers.

A short while later we began sharing the Camino with some other pilgrims and some local dog walkers, not unlike our morning walks back in South Carolina.

As we walked into old Estella we stopped at the Iglesia de Santiago Sepulcro for photos, then crossed the bridge known in the Middle Ages as “Berçes Bridge” into the burgh of San Miguel.

 

A Spanish lady asked Jim if he was lost (he was wandering aimlessly, waiting for Linda to catch up) and he assured her in his best Spanish that he was merely waiting for “mi esposa”. She asked where we were from and when Jim said USA, she immediately began speaking good English, explaining that this week was the big annual festival celebration in Estella.

This festiveness was confirmed as we walked further and noticed that most of the people we saw of all ages were in costume consisting of white top, white pants, red bandana and an occasional red sash tied around the waist and hanging down one leg.

We stopped for a quick photo of Iglesia de San Miguel, a fortress-like 12th century church with a spectacular north portal.

On we walked to Pencion Cristina, located on Iglesia San Juan Bautista Square, which just happened to be the center of the festival activities!

Our room wasn’t ready until 11:00 so we killed an hour, pilgrim style by stopping at the nearby sweets shop and bought some sweets and got chocolate to break the chill in the air.

The rest of the day was spent with chores, mixing with the Estellians as they enjoyed the festivities, eating and still finding time for a short nap.

 

We also observed the Estella “running of the bulls” from our room balcony.

Nothing short of an incredible day on the Camino.

• Distance today: 8.2 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 65.6 mi

We prepared our own breakfast in the albergue before leaving at 6:45 a.m.

We crossed the Rio Arga via the Puente la Reina, without fear of expensive ferrymen or treacherous boat rides (thanks, Queen).

The level, dirt path leaving town eased alongside the river for about 2 miles before taking a sharp turn up the side of a small mountain.

The footing was secure so we just took our time and a km (0.62 miles) later we were at the top.  Two 20 something pilgrims passed us on the way up the mountain. Jim recognized the lady’s hat as identical to his favorite, “Drover” hat he purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2014.  The young couple stopped to adjust their packs and as we caught them, Jim said “where are you from?”. The young man said, “Italia” and the young lady, “Australia”.  Jim then said, “Are you from Sydney?” and when she said yes, he said I have the same hat as you, I bought it in Sydney!  She laughed and agreed when seeing Jim’s hat attached to his pack.  Another great Camino memory!

Shortly after cresting the mountain, we entered the village of Mañeru, well placed for a brief rest stop.

Just a few minutes past Mañeru, we got our first view of Cirauqui, a medieval village, pop. 505, whose Basque name means “nest of vipers”. What impressed us the most was the constant, enlarging view of the village, located on the crest of a large hill and the colorful vineyards and olive trees as we wound through in the approaching valley.

The Camino passed straight through the village which meant we went steeply up and then steeply down on the narrow paved village streets/steps.

We exited Cirauqui on the remains of a surprisingly well defined Roman road which led to an also surviving Roman bridge. Shortly past the bridge we crossed the A-12 expressway and it was ironic to view a 2000 year old Roman road still existing beside a less than 50 year old highway that would probably not survive the next 50.

We walked parallel to A-12 on and off the Roman road for the next mile or two, passing another well preserved small Roman bridge, passing under A-12 and beginning our climb up to the 12th century village of Lorca, our destination for today.

Our double room with ensuite bathroom (40€) was ready about 30 minutes after we checked-in at La Bodega del Camino. By 5:30 some of our clothes are still damp due to the party cloudy, low 60 degree weather today: great for walking, not so good for drying clothes.

We stayed off our feet most of the afternoon, reading and blogging.

We had a pilgrim dinner tonight in the albergue dining area. We ate with a young man from Italia, a construction worker, a young lady who taught school in Los Angeles, and another young man from Cambridge, England, who worked as a supervisor in a Titlelist golf ball warehouse. They were all in their 20’s.

Today was one of our longer walks so far, but not too difficult, the weather being a big factor. We might actually be adapting and/or already getting stronger.

• 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.