Life's a Stitch

I mentioned we stayed in a boutique hostel. C was entertained by the bathroom's square toilet, complete with square hole, and the shower with six sprays. I know what we went through trying to find a replacement seat for a grey toilet, I can only imagine when it comes time to replace square toilet seats.

We spent the afternoon at the Museum of Human Evolution where we could view the actual 900,000 year old remains of Homo Predecessor found at Atapuerca. We were pleased that admission was free for us seniors.

We walked back toward our hostel, through one of the city's gates, admiring the expensive children's clothes in the shops. Oh to be a rich abuela in Spain.

Picked up some crochet tips from a local:

Had a nice dinner of real paella, vs the pre packaged kind sold at some places, and a veal steak. Walked back past the cathedral to the hostel at dusk.

This time it was a planned day of "rest," not weather induced. I put the word rest in quotes as we spent most of the day on our feet. We started with mass at the Cathedral de Santa Maria, a UNESCO world heritage site.

It was supposed to be a mass cantada (with singing), instead there was no music, it was held in a small side chapel, with only 14 people in attendance. I was hoping for the cathedral experience, but it wasn't meant to be. We spent three hours touring the magnificent complex.

Most cities have a dog catcher. Well Burgos has a municipal pigeon catcher. When he spies a group of pigeons milling about the plaza he sends out a huge net fired from a small canon, trapping the birdies underneath. You're loving this story, aren't you Lynn? She's my friend who has a loathing for pigeons since a bad experience in London as a little girl.

The catcher then fetches the birds by hand and stuffs them into cages in the back of his van. Who knows where they go, maybe they become meals for pilgrims. I'd better look up the word for pigeon in Spanish.

We had tapas for lunch. Each of these yummy morsels costs 2.10e. There's a mini veal burger with carmelized onion and arugula, salmon over mixed seafood and zucchini wrapped around cheese and peaches.

Burgos, part 2 tomorrow.

During a break in the storm yesterday we hiked over to the Atapuerca Museum where, in the high winds, I gave my best Homo Antecessor impression:

The weather broke last night leaving us with a good example of post storm clouds.

Today was a replay of windy hiking, heavily clouded over with thankfully only a few sprinkles of rain, but the morning temperature was 8c (46f). It was a steep cold climb up a rocky path to the summit if the Sierra Atapuerca.

Prior to this point there was a semblance of an old rocky road that looked as if no vehicles had travelled over it for years. Alas, along came a car. Eventually it stops and the driver emerges in his plaid boxers and a jacket to pick acorns off one of the oak trees that looks like a holly with acorns. These trees cover the region and we wondered why he would bother to drive up that treacherous road. This photo of the Holm Oak with edible acorns was taken on one of those hot days long past:

The descent was not as steep and we could see our destination, Burgos, in the distance.

We went 700 meters off the path to view a burial mound from between the 4th and 3rd century BC. It's staggering to think way before the centuries of pilgrims there were hunters and gatherers roaming these plains.

To give you a sense of size, that's C on the right of the mound.

Our lunch break, 3.5 hours in and 2 to go shows one tired Pilgrim with a lemon beer:

Most of the hike into the city was in a park which was hit hard by yesterday's storm, trees and branches down intermittently throughout. We arrived at our "boutique hostel" in Burgos where we will spend two nights. Smaller than a cruise ship cabin, not bad though for $47e per night.

The storm continues at full force and we are glad to have cabbed to our next stop at Atapuerca, home to the prehistoric caves where the earliest human remains ever were discovered in Europe and dated back to over 900,000 years. If the storm lifts we hope to get to the Unesco site. As we left Villafranca we saw a crowd of pilgrims huddled together at the bus stop, a rainbow of ponchos.

We are hanging out unofficially in a cottage that's part of the alburgue where we have reservations for tonight. A departing pilgrim let us in and we've gotten comfy in the common room with a cup of tea. It feels a bit weird to be squatters.

C's been working on his journal while I've finally taken out my art supplies.

Thought this would be a good time to talk about some of the people we've met along the Way. Someone reported that there were people from 58 countries registered on one day at the Pilgrim's Office.

I liked the message this French pilgrim was carrying:

We met a man, about age 70, who is doing the entire Camino in 20 days. Unrealistic? This is his third time. He's carrying a pack of 9.6 lbs as opposed to our fully loaded packs of 22 and 27 lbs. He's drilled holes in his toothbrush handle rather than cut it off in the style of ultralight hikers.

"Oklahoma" is a young woman with whom we've hiked, doing her doctoral dissertation on how modern forms of communication have changed the Camino experience. Her funding for the trip came through at an unfortunate time, she was married just three months ago.

We sat at dinner the other night with an 18 year old Korean boy, doing the Camino on his own.

We've encountered two Scottsmen hiking in their kilts. That could be chilly 😉

There's the husband of a couple from Michigan, who makes beautiful hand made kites from rip stop nylon, and each day on the Camino, flies one bearing the cross of St. James. They are celebrating their 68th and 70th birthdays while on the Way.

Well I think we'd better find out how to make this stay official lest I post from jail tomorrow.

Two weeks on the Camino, if this had been one of the first I'd have had serious questions about the rest. But we are encouraged because we already know not every day is like this.

Back to last night at the truck stop. The name El Choclatero is related to a Spanish song, not that they were offering chocolate at the bar or restaurant. The only thing on the menu made of chocolate was their very average chocolate con churros.

Watching truck stop culture was interesting. The drivers, all men, hung out in the bar watching TV. At 9:00 they filed into the dining room, each sitting at separate tables to eat dinner and watch more TV.

Overall the room and food were good, but there was one item out of place. A beautiful example of stained slab glass, presumably based on the El Choclatero song, particularly appreciated by C, who used to be in the business.

Today the weather looked threatening right from the start. Once again we battled a strong headwind which was like pushing against a wall with each step.

We stopped in the wind to take a picture of the hermitage of Our Lady of the Rock, built into the side of a cliff. I wasn't sure I could get a picture as the wind was blowing.

In the last couple of miles cold driving rain felt like little needles prickling our faces. Twice I felt like I could have been blown off the trail. Not to worry, it was about a 12 inch drop onto wheat stubble. I am using a backpacking poncho for rain gear and C is content with his rain jacket, waterproof backpack and shorts. After today, I plan on buying rain pants when we hit the next big city.

We arrived at our hostel soaked and cold and are now curled up in blankets for warmth. Tomorrow involves a 4k steep climb and I am encouraging discussion as to the wisdom of such activity in the rain and wind. Even pilgrims of old would have had second thoughts and alternative plans on a day like today.

Update: apparently northern Spain is experiencing an unusual weather event, aka a "weather bomb."

I guess that's our answer, no mountain for us today. Disappointing but sensible I think. These pilgrims have arranged a cab to the next stop.

The pain of pilgrimage presented itself in the form of strong, cool headwinds, taking us five hours to walk 11 miles (18k). The clouds hung low:

We had a brief stop in Santo Domingo to stop in at a beautiful, more simple church than what we've been seeing:

Had our first try of pulpo, slices of delicious octopus served in oil with paprika:

Stopped for a photo with an ancient pilgrim:

After five fours we dragged our bedraggled selves into the Hostel Chocolatero. Really a truck stop with clean reasonable rooms, it sounds like the kind of place kids might beg to stay on a road trip. Please, please, please can we stay at the Chocolate Maker's Motel?

Thank you to all who have sent positive wishes and encouragement. It really makes a difference.

Four hours of hiking with two steep segments on each end. The only issue was taking no break, trying to outwalk a threatening looking rain storm.

C checked out a crop of some sort of root vegetables and met a spider guarding the crops from marauding peregrinos (pilgrims).

Walked through a ghost town of new golf course condos that never sold, out in the middle of nowhere.

Still dry, we arrived at our Pension Casa Victoria to be told they were completo (full) and we were booked at the alburgue. Uh oh. After a few tense minutes we arrived here:

You just never know what you are going to get. Two lovely women provided a home cooked meal to 14 hungry, tired pilgrims from seven countries. Between dinner and dessert I ran out to get this picture as the sky was clearing;

It's been difficult for me without a camera, but the iPhone is doing a fine job.

Long day, long post. We passed the ruins of a Pilgrim Alburgue and hospital built in 1185. That gives you a feel for the numbers who have made the pilgrimage over the centuries.

The primary affliction of those on the Camino has to do with feet. There are worse things. We have passed several memorials dedicated to those who have died on the path, usually at the top of a steep segment. I imagine someone who trudged to the top and stopped to catch his breath when that artery finally gave out.

Back to the feet. We saw a young man wearing one boot and one flip flop due to severe blisters on one foot. A man from Vancouver WA needed to see a doctor for bruises on the bottom of his feet. This woman from Sweden was treated at lunch by two Camino Angels, who roam the Way by car seeking pilgrims in need of footcare.

Footwise we're doing pretty well. I learned an important lesson in making sure your socks are on straight. We're using toe sock liners and one crookedly lined toe resulted in a large blister. C told himself he won't get blisters, but he's having issues with pain in his little toe so he's had a day walking in his soft shoes.

We've walked through many vineyards sampling the grapes along the path. Reds:

And whites:

In the vineyards we've come across many interesting stone buildings designed for storage and shelter.

Inside that one there was a variety of artwork left by pilgrims.

Tomorrow will be a shorter day, 9 or 10 miles, with two stretches of up.

The walking conditions were perfect and perhaps we pushed it – 18.7 miles. Not kilometres, you're reading that correctly. We went beyond our comfort zone and completed 30.1k in about eight hours, not counting two breaks. This is big for us, but many people following the Brierley guide complete similar stages daily. 

We started from Logrono at 7:30a.m. Feeling the last sprinkles of rain we walked in cloudy conditions for two thirds of the day. The conditions today were good, 75% of the terrain was flat or gently rolling hills. Now that remaining 25%…

Our first stop was in the town of Navarette in the wine country of La Rioja.

After second brekkie, a Camino tradition, we visited the church, which looked plain enough from the outside. It was breathtakingly beautiful with a recording of soft chanting in the background.

Stopping for lunch in Ventosa at 1:30, C plied me with a glass of vino tinto and I succumbed to the additional 11k. 

Now we're in our room in a pension in Najera, situated between a beautiful river a steep red cliffs. 

I'll be posting more about today tomorrow. For now we're paying attention to comforting our tender toes. I introduced C to ice water dips for his feet and I can only imagine what the hotel manager thought if he heard C's yelps of pain. Me? I find ice water dips hurt so good.

We are now a quarter of the way through our Camino. Despite our slower days we are on schedule.

Leaving Viana, we found a greeting from a local graffiti artist.

It was a very hot but short 2.5 hour walk through more vinyards into the lively city of Logrono.

Today it's about the food. Most restaurants offer a menu del dia, three courses with wine, ranging from 8-13e. The quality is definitely better toward the higher end.

Some towns only have one bar and the meals consist of a green salad with tuna and hard boiled egg or pasta for a starter, a choice of a baked chicken leg/thigh, pan fried pork or deep fried fish for a main.The side is always fries. Dessert is a commercial ice cream cone, yogurt or grocery store flan. A few days of that can get old so we've stepped up to 12e for dinner, if available, and have had wonderful fish, risotto, and Spain's huge white asparagus. Last night every table, whether one or two were seated, got an entire bottle of wine. It's a good thing we're walking all these miles.

We generally split one of our meals. Today's lunch was a hamburger with cheese, bacon and an egg. A half was plenty.

And this afternoon we shared something I've been anticipating, a regional favourite: chocolate with fresh made churro. The chocolate is thick like pudding. It was so rich we shared with another pilgrim sitting next to us.

We have to pick up our walking pace and have three long days ahead of us. We're also finding that on the weekends rooms are hard to get and we may face cabbing to the next village for a vacancy and cabbing back again in the morning to pick up where we left off.