Better Late then Never

Hi everyone! So sorry that there has been a deafening silence, but technology has either let us down or we have been so remote there has been no technology.

We thought we´d tell you all a little about life as a modern-day pilgrim, if we can put it into words, but first a reminder of who we are:

This is us leaving Pamplona (ages ago!)

We are very slowly settling into this itinerant life. We quite like the communal albergues, but it is nice when you gat little "bays" or rooms for two, as we have today.  Sometimes you can chat to other pilgrims and hear of their experiences and you end up sharing loads with total strangers most of whom you never see again.  Sometimes, however, one nationality dominates and it can then be a little exclusive. Sometimes you meet pilgrims who you would think would be friendly (eg a bunch of Irish) who can be dismissively unpleasant.  On the whole the pilgrim community is friendly and mutually helpful.  When we step off The Way for a much needed rest, it is completely confusing.  We felt very alienated for our rest day in Logrono ( we would say cancel your planned holiday there; Pamplona is far nicer).  Just walking everyday, in quite cool weather that becomes sunnier as we move into the afternoon, is very leberating.  The only worries are: will we get a bed where we plan to stop, can we find a shop open to buy provisions, and where on earth is the next loo!

Charlotte:

On the theme of what it feels like to be a pilgrim, Katherine gave her Mum some sound advice which was to be prepared to feel quite strange for at least two weeks if not more, how true her words have proved to be for both of us. Today we walked from Ventosa to Azofra, the sky was blue, sun shining but a cool breeze blew. The soil is rose red and the landscape full of vines and cereal crops, apart from the occasional farm worker and mangy dog the only other people were pilgrims and few of them today. it was beautiful, bird song, flowers and the gentle but steady pace and the sound of our sticks. that is what we have come to feel as the true pilgrim day. it was a shock to me how Logrono knocked me off kilter. We needed the rest and it did us a huge amount  of good but we are already planning how to cope with the change walking the way to resting. Good learning experience and hard to convey as this is such a unique experience for me. As all who know me know i am not a ´believer´but special things do happen on this strange path, brief intense contacts, small favours offered and pleasure in swift friendships. yesterday, feeling out of sorts and a bit fragile i heard an english voice , Brian from Liverpool traveling with Thomas from Germany; we spoke for less than 15 minutes but it bouyed us up for the rest of the day. He was so kind and he himself described how Thomas had befriended him at a low point and were now travelling together.

 The Church was open here (!!!!!!) and Charlotte honoured her promise to Rod.

The endless re-packing ritual!

We shall be a little less serious next time. (Very soon actually as we are making the most of access to this computer)

PS really lovely reading your comments.  Mary, thank you so much for your moth identification -- largest European moth!!!! Matthew, I think the young Italian is running, running, running!

Crack of Dawn

Jane: Well we surprised even ourselves by getting up at 5.45am and starting today´s walk at 6.25.  It was a bit of a challenge getting out of the room we were sharing with a couple of Americans without starting an international incident.  Do you just go for it irrespective of noise and get those backpacks stuufed, or do you tippy-toe around trying to make as little noise as possible?  The compromise we ended up with meant we had to completely re-pack the bags outside the albergue as mine was so badly packed.  We also had to extract our boots from behind where two pilgrims were sleeping on matresses on the floor infront of the bootrack.  Apparently walking the Camino Way in May is "the new black" so albergues are getting filled up fairly early in the afternoon.  many people had to get buses or taxis to a point further along the route as the village we were in and the next one along were both full by 4.00pm.  Anyway we arrived here, Torres del Rio at 12.35 and we have a BOTTOM BUNK and there are 3 loos!! What more could you want?!

The morning´s walk was lovely, through spanish farmland and passing amazing hedgerow flowers - such variety and colour and scents.  It was fresh - which is nice for walking, but it was over 8 kilometres to our first coffee, so that was a bit of a streatch.  It was a cloudy day and we ended walking for hour and half in the rain; better tomorrow I believe.

In an earlier blog we mentioned "angels" we have met so far and we forgot to mention a whole host of "angels" we met in a bar called Cafe Sabina, in Roncevalles.  We had a coffee here and returned to our albergue. Two hours later we went to eat -- no beautiful purple jacket that Mark and Liz had given Charlotte! Panic!!!!!! Re-trace steps - toilet, shower, boot room, reception, bunkbed, bunkbed, bunkbed, backpack - Eventually we remembered the cafe and galloped (well hobbled) round there.  Low and behold, on a chair where it had been left by Charlotte was the jacket untouched by the many people who might have picked it up.  Thank goodness for "angels".

Charlotte. Everything Jane has described I could have written. I felt weary today but chuffed to be on our way so early, we got to hear the dawn chorus and the air was scented with perfume from the hedgerow plants, we came across tamarisk trees in full flower, pink all over with a pungent perfume which filled the air, I wish you could see the amazing variety of spring flowers growing wild that we have to buy from garden centres. I am still coughing but I do feel my chest is getting better. It is lovely to get to the albergue each day, shower and change and then rest before the evening meal, bedtime is getting earlier and earlier. Thankyou all of you for your comments they made us laugh and mean so much to us. We are going to raise a glass tonight to our first full week on the Camino. We are now in Rioja having walked through Navarre, many miles to go but we face each day as it comes.

First seven days in five words.
Charlotte´s:
Surprising, challenging, scented, extroidinary,and doable.
Jane´s:
Disconbobulating, sensual, challenging, sociable, foreign

We haven´t mentioned Spanish food mauch, but we are saving that for a later blog.

Now do you believe us! When we said huge, we meant huge!

Please keep this to yourselves, but I just keep Charlotte off the old vino; any opportunity she can get!

(This was the fuente del vino, a free red wine fountain at Bodegas Irache)

Whereas, in contrast I merely had water.

More soon folks!

The Big and The Little

Jane: Yesterday and today (Tuesday & Wednesday) we have been walking through pretty, rolling countryside; lots of hills, rivers, bridges, hilltop villages.  yes, OK there have been the occasional cement factory and vast brewery and the odd ugly town -- but mostly lovely.  We are both tired now and will rest up in Logrono for two nights to give ourselves a treat.

We have decided to count the "angels" we meet on the way.  Our first "angel" was a young French man we met at Biarritz who took pity on us patiently waiting for the bus into Bayonne and came and told us that as it was 1st may there were no buses.  He then gave us his place in the long taxi queue (only one taxi - someone was missing a business opportunity). Our second "angel" was a lovely American women who took pitty on Charlotte when she wanted to change her bunk be allocation from one bay (which happened to be full of a group of friends) to my bay, which was empty. She rescued Charlotte from a very severe Mrs Jobsworth and was later very solicitous of our wellbeing and remembered our names. Our third was a Korean cyclists who saw us in the distance, hailed us (appreciating we had missed the path) and pointe us in the right direction.

Amazing things we have seen recently:  an emerald green lizard as long and fat as a small kitten -- OK there is no picture to prove this, but enter the "spirit of the Camino" and believe me; the biggest, most spectacular moth we have ever seen outside of a zoo (please, Mary, if you can, tell us what it is) -- just tried to load picture but no can do this time.  Wait with baited breath as it is truly stunning and you wouldn´t want a couple of them batting around your lampshade.

Tilting at windmills: day Five.

Charlotte: we are showered and changed and feeling tired but we have had a lovely day walking in the sun. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Pamplona and were spoilt with our own bathroom. i am realising how important these things are to me. We started out at 7:45 out through the suburbs of Pamplona which is a beautiful city, very green with many mature trees and green spaces, all kept neat and tidy. It is always harder to walk on pavement but we soon headed along a track, steadily climbing to Alto del Perdon the highest point today and for many days to come. we stopped many times to rest and drink loads of water. Jane´s plan to take things gently at first is working well, though weary at the end of the day I am not exhausted. There was quite a throng of pilgrims on the route today if this is the quiet season it must be crazy come the summer. Now i must thank Mark my brother as i am now a convert, thankyou Mark for leaving behind some of your big hankies when you have stayed at my as I have snaffled them and they are totally useful, i will return them laundered of course when I return.
 i am missing my family and friends especially my darling boy Arlen. Do please keep me and jane in your thoughts and keep in touch, love to you all.

Jane:  It was like walking in a very warm British summer today.  You understand why there is a tradition of pilgrims getting out as early as they can as. One wants to avoid a lot of the heat and, of course you may have to walk much further on to find your bed for the night if you get in too late the village you´ve targeted.  Highlights of the day today were: beautiful aromas as we passed loads of spring flowes and bushes in full bloom, a lovely yellow-breasted bird singing its heart out on a low bush, the spendid (if hazey) view from on top of Alto de Perdon where a huge wind farm competes with a metal art installation of groups of pilgrims leaning into the wind. (Older people will understand the title of the blog now).

This is an old computer, so I´ll not try downloading pics until we´re somewhere else.

A bit of bull

Jane: Yesterday evening we explored Pamplona a little and found Plaza de Toros.  The attached photo explains the name of the square!

We sat at Ernest Hemingway´s favourite bar and caught the evening sun.  The world and his wife were out. Because it was mothers´day in Spain? Because it was Sunday? Because the Spanish do an Italian passagiatta? -- I have no idea, but everyone was very dressed up. Lots of little girls in long white, first holy communion type dresses and little boys in sailor suits.

Pamplona is a walled city and seems to be surrounded by mountains.

Got to go and pack that sack now.  Write when I can next find a computer.

Out of the mist and into the sun!

Jane: four days in and we´ve stayed in one hotel, one small mixed dorm (ON THE TOP BUNKS!!!!!), one huge hostel, but in bays of two bunks (we shared our beds with a young Brazilian man and an even younger Italian man -- to be honest, we felt like their grannies!), a pension (one loo for 9 people)  and now we are in a lovely hotel in Pamplona with our very own bath (I´m not sure I can get Charlotte out of it!).

We have done a lot of very varied walking, on roads, on tracks, up hills (very big ones), along rivers, over bridges.  Spain is a bit like a beautiful summer Lake District with a touch of winter thrown in at the beginning.

Our bods are staying OK at the monent and we are getting used to the packs (Sheelagh P and Angela M thanks so much for your contribution to getting me fit enough to do this.)

My language skills keep deserting me, but I,ve used French and a little Italian (thanks to Madeleine), Spanish is another question; thank goodness tha English is now the new lingua franca.

I´ll pass over to Charlotte now and we might try a photo, but we might run out of time. xx

Charlotte. We have had an adventurous time getting emotionally and physically into the Camino Way zone, so many things to think about at first but some our now becoming habits, we are better at packing our rucksacks and hiting the road (the fact we then stop to take off our, fleece, jacket, or shake out a boot again.) Henry is well used to our way of walking. Today Sunday we really did get into a good rythm and covered miles with some pace but not overstretching our bodies.
 We have enjoyed the spring flowers and the scent of pine resin and earth drying as the temperature rises and the sun shines. Butterflies emerging and swifts, swallows and housemartins swooping. Huge birds of prey migrating across the country.
There is a strong Camino camaraderie amongst us all and we are enjoying meeting up with fellow travellers we have met before.

Some of the many cows we keep meeting with huge bells round their necks.

Yesterday as the weather was improving.

This was a starter for one person - could have fed a family of four!!!

Setting off (yes, I know these are in the wrong order. next time I´ll get it right.

 

Hasta la Vista

The Route Napoleon - Hola

Hi Everyone!  This is just a short blog to let you all know we are alive and well (ish) - I (Jane) have caught a cold (I think it is a French one as I could feel it before we crossed the frontier!)

We are coping fine but are very discombobulated.  we constantly cannot find anything and keep losing bits (and finding them).  Today it was Charlottte´s wrist watch then later her (beautiful) jacket from Mark (left in a bar but still there when we retraced our steps).  I am sure we shall get into the swing of things, but sharing mixed dormitories with just a few loos is not within my comfort zone at the moment.

We have met, chatted to and dined with some nice people.  we are utterly exausted today having climbed over the Pyrenees in the mist and rain. It was very cold on the top and really you just had to trudge on as sitting and resting just made you very cold.

I am down to just a few minutes on the pay computer so I´ll quickly try and add a photo.  I f nothing appears it means I ran out of time before I could fathom how to do it. 

Until next time.  (I did work out the photos but it took nearly 15 minutes to partly load the photo so I gave up.  Everything is in Spanish here.  Who´d have thought that!)