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Cress on the Camino Francés 24
  • Cressida Borrett
  • Cressida Borrett

Cress on the Camino Francés 24

I'm taking time out to do something I have always wanted to do as part of celebrating turning 60. Leggi altro
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  • Inizio del viaggio
    22 maggio 2024
    Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    Countdown has begun

    6 maggio 2024, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Only two weeks and two days to go...getting excited!

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    We're off

    22 maggio 2024, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    On the Eurostar, waiting to go... very exciting!

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    St Jean pied de Port

    23 maggio 2024, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    First night of dormitory life, in a lovely little hostel, where we arrived in a downpour. St Jean is a lovely little town, possibly a holiday resort back in the early 20th C. judging by the number of big houses.
    We had dinner at the hostel, and met our first fellow pilgrims, from Cayman and the Netherlands. The meal was delicious and reminded me of childhood food, basque chicken and tarta vasca. Unfortunately it's unlikely to be repeated too often.
    The dorm was quirky, but comfortable but it's going to take getting get used to living out of a rucksack with more pockets than I have things.
    The ear plugs with ribbons on so I don't loose them worked really well Sue Preston, if you are reading this.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Having a beer in Orrison

    23 maggio 2024, Francia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We have just arrived in Orrison, only 8km from the start, but all up. Think 3 hours on the cross trainer at the gym. Luckily I have been doing a lot of that but I still struggled. Now trying a basque beer before hopefully spending the afternoon on the terrace drawing. It is beautiful here.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Over the pass Napoleon took to escape

    24 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Today was the second big walk up over the pyrenees and down to Roncesvalles where we are staying in the monastery which has been updated and is lovely. Last night was a bit challenging. Bunks too flimsy for adults and a really stuffy room. Luke warm showers and not warm enough to spend the afternoon outside. Today by contrast is all blue skies and much nicer hostel.
    Saw eagles ( I have decided they were golden) and all sorts of wild flowers and had lunch on a rock in the middle of nowhere. Most people are slower or taking the shorter route so we had the path to ourselves.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Zubirri

    25 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today was the day my knees were worrying about, but they were fine and I made it down the mountain. This area is so beautiful, green, lush and with too many wildflower types to count. I woke up a bit stiff, but still enjoyed the 23km up and down the rolling hills. Any pictures with me squinting or looking less than happy are because my glasses are upstairs, which is another hill.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Hedgerows and biodiversity day

    26 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    After a lovely sleep, today was a long walk over a few hills and along the side of a fast flowing river into Pamplona. We are off to explore shortly. I am feeling a bit stiff, but otherwise, the walk is really enjoyable. There is so much biodiversity here. The hedgerows have about 20 different plants per square meter, and are really beautiful. The section before Pamplona was all honeysuckle and dog roses and smelt lovely.
    We are starting to recognise people, and have met people from all over the world. Lots of Americans, flip flop man fom nz who has walked it 7 times in flip flops, lots of taiwanese and a Peruvian from Cuzco in her local dress including sandals made from rubber tyres. I am going to try to meet someone from all 51 US states and all European countries. We have also made friends with an Australian from Richmond, but there aren't too many English people which suits me.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    Following Fiona

    27 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Just arrived in Puente de la Reina, a lovely medieval town. Today my feet protested for the first time but managed 25km so far, so not too bad. Walking out of Pamplona the landscape has changed from mountains to hills, lots of wheat fields with poppies.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Estella

    28 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Another very hot day walking up a steep hill, and then through ondulating coun tryside to this lovely medieval town.
    I have managed to hurt my quad on right leg, so fell far behind making it a long painful day. The hostel has ice packs amd we met a nurse and an athletics trainer so loads of advice on what to do. Got good pain killers, but am going to rest tomorrow. There is plenty to do here.
    The good thing about walking slowly is I noticed lots of things and too some nice pictures.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    Tourist Day

    29 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a muscle hurting in my leg yesterday I did the sensible thing and stayed in Estella this morning while Fiona walked on. After a lie in I spent a couple of hours in the lovely hostel dinning room drawing, and then went to the palace which is now a gallery. Lovely paintings in a lovely building. I also checked out the pottery, and shops before catching the bus to our next stop. Lovely hostal with a pool, in a sleepy village.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    There's a guy behind those trees playing

    30 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    After a lot of stretching I decided to walk today, much slower than the others. The first 10km were ondulating countryside with Viana as the breakfast stop.
    I came across a man with an amp sitting behind a tree playing guitar shyly, so after a conversation he let me take a photo. That's today's drawing subject sorted. By the end of the 21Km my leg was hurting again, so am doing more stretching as that seems to help. On a positive my toes have stopped feeling bruised, so feet not hurting at all. Today I added Korea and Norway to my tally of nationalities. And French Canadians who are changing their socks three times a day.Leggi altro

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    More photos from today

    30 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    I got a bit carried away, as I was walking so much slower, some interesting manhole covers and artistically arranged eu funded irrigation pipes. Tadpoles in a puddle and cool bugs

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    30km day from Logroño to Nájera

    31 maggio 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Iam very pl3eaed tht I managed the 30km today without any pain other than my knee in its glamorous pressure bandage. The weather has been dark grey clouds and a bit of aun, making it much cooler to walk. Suprising as the southern half of the country has a heatwave of 40+.
    The landscape wasn't particularly beautiful, urban, roads, grape vines, so I didn't take as many pictures. I met some parisians and four lovely ladies from Cheshire. Navarette where we had breakfast is a pottery town so I had,a nose at a factory, properly industrial, trolley kilns etc.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Jesus for sale

    1 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    A lovely short 20km walk today through ondulating countryside to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a town founded by the saint of the same name who spent his life helping pilgrims and performing miracles with chickens and dead people. The cathedral is beautiful and features some live chickens and cockrells in a box, as well as Jesus for sale. See picture. We wa dered around, had some nice wine, less nice wine, chips and met up with people including one of Fiona's friends from last year.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    Belorado

    2 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today we crossed over into Castilla León, still rolling wheat fields but no more Rioja grapes. We are staying in another pretty medieval town where there's a festival going on. There's a veggie menu on offer so Fiona is excited at the prospect of real food.Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Beautiful 31km walk

    3 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today was one of the prettiest so far. We left Belorado before dawn and walked up through the forest stopping at a place called Espinosa for coffee, fresh juice and some cake to take away. It was a lovely place, where they tried to serve something other than the usual. I will stay there next time.
    At the top of the hill there was a monument to 300 people killed by Franco at the begining of the civil war, and a man with mental health issues painting shells very badly and telling everyone his problems. Nobody was buying his shells.
    After more coffee and food stops with our Irish Canadian friends and two of Fiona's friends from last year who we bumped in to, we walked through the most amazing wild flower meadows to Atapuerca where we are staying tonight. The hostel is newly opened in a beautiful old house, and we are in a dorm with a girl I nicknamed The Cool Korean, back when we started, because she dresses very cooly, in coolie style hat and colour coordinated everything with gloves and face cover for the sun. Turns out she is Japanese not Korean so I need a nickname to rhyme with that....
    Quite a few people are getting secret nicknames.
    Flowers in the pictures are for Portia to identify please    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    Burgos

    4 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We are in Burgos, 12 days and about 250km walked. Today's walk from the lovely village of Atapuerca, one of many being revived by camino tourism, was 20km. Over a misty hill and down as the sun burnt off the mist, for a lovely breakfast stop. The walk from there to Burgos along a river seemed interminable as my head had already arrived. Fiona knew of a spectacular approach through the arch to the cathedral square which is very beautiful. We had a properly veggie lunch at last, and found some supplies for my 5 a day attempts. It is nice being able to eat loads of food without thinking about calories as we burn so much e nergy walking. We are staying in a 1903 hotel, faded grandeur, still beautiful with a lobby that looks frozen in time.
    I have been relaxing this afternoon, and we met up with Bernie, Linda and David for supper as they are going on tomorrow so we may not see them again. It's sad saying goodbye to lovely people.    Leggi altro

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    Not walking day

    5 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Rest day in Burgos, and a lie in.
    Then a lovely veggie cafe breakfast. We spent the morning in the cathedral and I'm off to the musuem shortly, via the ice cream shop.
    There are plenty of pictures of Burgos cathedral out there as its a spectaculrly oppulent gothic pile, monument to rich families as much as a place of worship.
    Here are a few of the patterns I noticed.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    First day on the meseta

    6 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Which for those of you who don't know, is the enormous plateau that covers most of central Spain, from La Mancha south of Madrid to the mountains just north of us here. In my experience it is either baking hot like today or very cold in Winter.
    As there has been so much rain the poppies, thistles and other wild flowers are stunning.
    We are staying in a hostel Fiona knows from last year in a sleepy village that has the good fortune to sit on the path to Santiago, and is making the most of it by catering to pilgrims. There's a man in a small shop across the road selling tiny shampoos, suncreams, blister stuff, and food in small packets as well as making nice sandwiches.    Leggi altro

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    Yet more poppies and big skies

    7 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    After the heat yesterday we got up really early and walked 19km to the first cup of coffee through beautiful fields of wheat and poppies. We found a place with carrot cake for breakfast and kept on walking down to a ruined abbey that Fiona wanted to stay the night in. Except that we saw a sign in the middle of nowhere for a veggie, alternative lifestyle place in Castrojeriz so here I am sitting in a beautiful peaceful garden under a tree. There are only four beds, which are in a huge yoga studio, and only three of us staying so far. It's a very lovely place which promises some variation on the pilgrim diet, which being meat heavy is not really my thing.
    Walked past a poppy and purple flower field. The attached photo doesn't do it justice.    Leggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore
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    5 Goat Town

    8 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Last night was very different. Only three of us staying, us and a guy from Barcelona. The host, a very intense alternative-lifestyle-with-money woman had done amazing things with the derelict house. It was very peaceful and relaxing, and the dinner was really good. Lentil and tomato salad with dill, and veggie couscous. I managed to sleep through a big thunderstorm. Today started with a hill, and then more rolling countryside for 20km to Bobadilla, a mostly abandoned town where the most interesting thing is a lovely church, with a bad smell of pee, and 6 storks nests on top. There are 5 goats grazing and 2 hostels, one of which we are staying in. The people who run it are Dutch, and serve pancakes and Thai curry among other things. Very quiet and about to rain by the look of the skyLeggi altro

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  • Cressida BorrettCress on the Camino Francés 24Viaggiatore

    Carrion de los condes

    9 giugno 2024, Spagna ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We started later (7am) today as it was grey skies and about 10c cooler which suits me fine. Fiona's hands turned white though and she has spent most of the day cold.
    The walk was flat and took us along an ancient canal with lots of birdsong, which you can identify with an app called Merlin. Then across more wheat fields through a couple of dead villages, one with an amazing church with knights templar tombs and 15th century carvings.
    My feet and knees decided that today they would ache and the last few kilometers were hard. The changing insole trick didn't fool them. However, most people are far worse off and a couple of our camino 'friends' are giving up or taking rest days because of blisters. Thank you Hoka trainers, and Michael my nhs podiatrist!
    Carrion is a nice town and we have a private room tonight which means sheets, towels and a bathroom instead of a hostel bed. We had a nice lunch in the busiest restaurant, and then at 6 went to see the singing nuns. A thing where people share where they are from, why they are walking and sing non religious songs with nuns. It reminded me of school in Cádiz, as the nuns were just as lovely. Anyway, a bit special and hard to explain. I went for a walk afterwards on my own and ended up having beers with a bunch of people we have met over the last few days.
    The photo of the man on the bike with an umbrella is my picture for my drawing project today. Day 370 of daily drawing.    Leggi altro

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