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The Camino Revisited 2018The Camino Revisited 2018
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The Camino Revisited 2018

August - November 2018
We are off to walk the Camino in Spain again, this time starting in Pamplona and finishing in Finisterre, 42 days of walking, with some rest days interspersed. Week first in San Diego visiting Michael’s family, and 6 days in San Francisco on return. Read more
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  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 1

    Setting off today

    August 23, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    We are in the early ferry, heading for the airport... well, Circular Quay, then the train...very excited! I think I have started this new trip on the blog, and will send link to all who want when I finish today.

    We are so excited about this redoing the Camino - I think it will be a different experience in many ways, though much of it the same path...but we now know it and will not need to rush to find our destination, but can explore a little more en route, smell more roses, and feel calm that we can achieve this. And there are some real differences - not all the hotels we stay at are the same ones (the bedbug place is not on the list!!), and a couple of times we stay in different towns, and of course the 5 days walking to the Coast after Santiago will be completely new.

    So today we fly to Los Angeles and take the train down to San Diego and visit Michael, Lisi, Camille and James. They are just back from a big trip themselves, and immediately the kids are back to school this week, so we may all be a bit fuzzy together at first! This will be good as it is a year since we saw them in Fiji. Then on August we fly to Madrid, and start the Spanish adventure.    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 1

    Settling into La Jolla

    August 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Thank you people for answering my email link and sending messages! I wasn’t sure that I would write again just yet, but am inspired to communicate, even though feeling quite jet lagged for once. The problem was that the flight left early morning Sydney time, so we flew all day and landed at LAX at 11.30 pm Sydney time, but 6.30 am California time...so we really didn’t get a proper sleep on the plane, but are a bit wiped out now...we’ll cope. Also, I have to put in one funny (now) thing...I think it’s funny, but it was frustrating then, and Amr probably doesn’t think it’s funny at all...but when we checked into the flight yesterday Amr had a problem (he’d had the problem trying to checkin online too)...but it turned out that his ESTA visa waiver had expired...he hadn’t checked, and was SURE it was still valid....so it can be done at the airport thank goodness, and all was well...just a hassle! Just so glad it wasn’t me that was the flake!

    Anyway, here we are. We got the bus from airport to Union Station, and got an Amtrak train down to Solana Beach where Lisi picks us up, but poor thing she was delayed by an accident on the I-5 ....caused total stoppage of the freeway....at first we thought it was a Panamanian time situation, but no....a real situation! Happy that Nico their sweet but fiercely noisy and protective dog has again remembered us, sniffed and was totally docile on our arrival, and is now sitting beside me on a chair just like the old days.

    So we have unpacked a bit, Lisi had to rush to the school for some event, and will reappear with James at about 3.30, Cami will be at tennis till later, Michael is in Carlsbad till tomorrow for a sales meeting week, and Amr has gone for a walk down to the town to have a haircut at his favourite Vietnamese barber here, and to have a swim!! I think that is very heroic...I am happy just keeping awake and sitting writing this with Nico.

    This is a very mundane entry, and may not write every day while here, but you never know....but just recording our arrival. While at the station we bought the return tickets back to LA for next Thursday when we fly out to Madrid!! Will take a photo of Nico as he looks very cute and clean and groomed (Wednesday is his day!), but no one else here to take photos of. This will come.    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 2

    First Full Day

    August 24, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After having rolling eyes and fighting sleep all day yesterday, went to bed around 10 pm. Lisi had prepared dinner the day before which was lovely, Michael was still at the meeting, Cami and James had appeared but were deep into homework etc...I actually had a good sleep, didn’t even wake when apparently a smoke alarm upstairs in Cami’s old bedroom went off with great noise....Amr went up and saved the day by pressing the off button with James’ toothbrush (only way he could reach up to it!) but thank god I was oblivious...

    Kids had left for school by the time I got up, and Amr was having coffee and breakfast. He hurt his wrist yesterday slipping on some deceptively slimy road...has bought a wrist brace at the pharmacy to immobilise it...luckily not his stick -holding hand, nor his walking legs! So soon Amr left to have his haircut, which was successful this time, and had his annual chat with him. Lisi had to do some meeting at the school, so all peaceful. Then they all returned, and Michael too!! Finally we see him! His work was finished and he had the afternoon to be with us...excellent, so we all 4 went down to a favourite watering hole and had a drink, mini meal (we’d already had a sandwich for lunch) and a lovely relaxing proper catch up. Now back and kids about to arrive. M and L out tonight - already had tickets from long ago for Phantom, and our friends, their neighbours, Anita and Brian are coming over for dinner and games. All good.    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 4

    Saturday in La Jolla

    August 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    It’s now Sunday morning, but will write up Saturday - we had a very good day. This household wakes at about noon on weekends, but of course Amr and I woke earlier, and set off at about 9 for our walks...he down to the pool at the high school where he has a swim, and I headed up for my usual walk to Mt Soledad. Very glad we went early as already it was hot and humid - had forgotten how humid La Jolla can be....then on arrival back, everyone had emerged, and I took Nico for his morning walk - our tradition!

    So we all relaxed quietly for a while. The day plans were a party at the Beach Club for the son of friends who was leaving to go to boarding school. We were invited, as we knew them and in fact we visited with them in Sydney and took them to Tapa Vino! It turned out that Moo and Lisi couldn’t go as they had double booked accidentally and were committed to a special fundraising event, but we went with Cami and James and had a great rime.

    Lisi had to go to the mall to get a present for the party that afternoon, so Cami and Amr took up the mall opportunity and Michael and I stayed home and had a good bonding session....M and L dropped us at the Beach Club on the way to their event, and collected us after...worked well. The party was actually lots of fun...we knew quite a few people, and it wasn’t huge - probably about 20 or less adults, and the kids (mostly teenagers now)....and the beach is always a beautiful spot for a party. Amr only got one photo of James before it got too dark, and when we got home at about 11, he and Michael had a bonding cigar and i caught that moment. Soon I will get some more family photos....    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 5

    Cruising in San Diego

    August 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Another catchup of what is happening here. I think I last wrote yesterday morning - now Monday afternoon. I haven’t mentioned that on Saturday Michael and Lisi found that 2 of their cars were out of action!! M went to drive his Ferrari for the first time since being away...about 4 weeks, and it was dead. Actually the man is here now and is charging the battery, think that is all it needs, but of course being so dead the key would not unlock anything so it was hard to get to it! A first world problem. Then the car washer found that there was a nail in a tire of the Range Rover! So the Audi was IT for the weekend...but today M drove the Audi to work, and Lisi has used the Range Rover, which seems so far to be coping with its nail and not losing air, for essential driving - school pickup etc...it is booked in for Thursday I think!

    So yesterday was a relaxed time after walking....very pleasant...and then last night Michael took us to a lovely restaurant- in San Diego! In Little Italy. We realised that in all the years we have come here, we haven’t actually eaten out in the city itself...often in La Jolla and nearby. So that was fun and different, and an absolutely gorgeous meal, and of course amazing wines. Kids now old enough to stay home alone...

    Today we walked - have to keep in practice - Amr went via the pool as usual, and I did a circuit aimed to meet together, and with Lisi, at the cinema in LJ, and we watched Papillon. Excellent...and at 11 am on a Monday we were the only people in the cinema, sitting in super comfy chairs!! Then after we went to a taco joint and had delicious lunch...that will be my meal for the day. Both M and L are out tonight, so we will have toast or leftovers....perfect. Will put a few photos, and hope I haven’t missed anything vital!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 7

    Last Entry from San Diego

    August 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    This will be the last posting from La Jolla. It is Wednesday afternoon, and tomorrow morning we are picked up at 7.30 am (by the famous Andrew) to be driven to Solana Beach station, to get the train to Los Angeles, then the bus to LAX and our flight to Madrid!!! We have already got emails from Lufthansa to check in on line, so it is becoming a reality!

    I last wrote on Monday after our amazing dinner on Sunday evening. Tuesday - yesterday - after the morning walking etc, we had a very nice lunch with Anita and Brian, who took us to a restaurant at Del Mar, lovely coastal town between here and Solana Beach. Had light and delicious crab cakes, as last night we went again out for a great dinner with Michael and Lisi - at Bistro du Marché in La Jolla - yum French food. So nice. Kids did not come as homework time was needed - this term Cami does tennis 4 afternoons - so that is late for starting homework, of which there seems to be a lot. So we had another really good time with M and L...this has been a very good week for us all getting together in a relaxed state - or relaxed for us - Michael has work things, and Lisi does her usual chauffeuring of Cami and James, but this is their normal life.

    So this morning after kid drop off at school, Lisi took Nico to his groomers and the car to the car place to see about the nail in the tire, and Amr went for his usual walk and swim. I had earlier walked Nico (our last walk - Nico is very fond of his granny!), then walked down to the village in time to meet Amr, Lisi and Peter Farrell who had flown in from Houston for a dinner tonight! He goes back tomorrow.....anyway, the 4 of us had a great Mexican lunch and a nice chat.

    Then Amr and I went to see another movie!! This time Operation Finale - about the capture of Eichmann in Argentina- very well done, with Ben Kingsley...excellent...then we walked up back home in the hot sun..good walking practice....and now cooling off, doing our last proper wash of all our clothes. The weather app is frightening me with predicted temperatures in Madrid and Pamplona of over 30° for the next week or so...but when I think of it, the main heat is in the later afternoon when we have finished walking, and the mornings when we start are much more moderate. It is probably not unlike last time we did it, as it is almost exactly the same dates, but then we just didn’t look the weather up on the iPad! So here’s hoping. Next post will be from Madrid!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 9

    Now in Madrid

    August 31, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    We had a good journey, even though it took just over 24 hours to get from La Jolla to our hotel in Madrid. It’s 9 pm Friday here, and we are about to go to bed soon, but we’ve done very well I think. The flights were excellent, as economy flights go - I really like Lufthansa- and we slept for about 5 hours which was quite good. Managed to navigate to our new gate in Frankfurt airport, and arrived in Madrid about 3.45, then negotiated the Metro from the airport to our hotel. We stayed here last time, very nice, very central, air conditioning works - all good.

    We met Omnia who is here for the weekend at about 6.30 and we set off for a walk and to find first an orange juice place (somehow they taste extra amazing here!) and then we wandered to the Plaza Mayor and had a drink and 3 tapas, or raciones....delicious, and all we needed. With our weird time change we had a late breakfast, and a late lunch. On the 2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Madrid Lufthansa served a meal, alcohol...and that’s just an intra Europe journey! So we walked Omnia back to her hotel, just beyond Santa Ana, along the beautiful narrow streets, with their beautiful buildings. Had our first little taste of the city, and will try and jump into this time zone tonight. Buenas noches.    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    1
    Day 10

    A Lovely (hot) Madrid Day

    September 1, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We both had quite a reasonable sleep last night...I took a pill as by actual bedtime I felt quite perky (as you do with a 9 hour time change) and Amr had a phenergan as he is still coughing and it seems to help, and also induces sleepiness. So we set off, had our favourite breakfast - me a fresh OJ, pastry and coffee, he the OJ, coffee and churros. We go to a nearby special churros cafe, where you see them being made freshly, and they are so fresh they are too hot to eat at first....yum for Amr, I just have a nibble!

    I was too spaced last night to comment on the ambience of Madrid. We haven’t been here before quite as into summer (though it is September 1 today, and I hope it settles into autumn soon!)...and it is HOT. The app said it would reach 35° today, and it probably did. It was 33° when we were having dinner around 8.30pm! But it is dry heat, and almost bearable in the shade, if you are not exerting yourself! But apart from the heat, there is still a summer vibe - people relaxed everywhere, not looking dressed to kill, just having fun. Today is Saturday, so probably even more relaxed. Anyway, it is a Madrid we haven’t seen before. And it also is lovely to feel familiar with the central maze of streets...the buildings are so beautiful...only rarely is there a 50s monstrosity!

    Anyway we met Omnia at 10 having breakfasted, and solved the heat by going to the Prado. (Actually in the morning the temperature is quite moderate, only hot by mid to late afternoon)....So we had a lovely time there, finding the works of Goya, Velasquez, El Greco and all the wonderful things....they said Caravaggio but we found only one small one...likewise Rembrandt!!! But who can complain about the Prado!!

    After that we had a little break, and regrouped at 4.30 and Amr introduced Omnia to his churroseria as she hadn’t experienced them - another pleasant air-conditioned break. Then we had a wander, in the heat but keeping in the shade as much as possible, down the Gran Via, to the Jardines de Sabatini and past the Royal Palace where we may (Amr and I) go tomorrow afternoon for a visit inside. Omnia leaves about midday to get a plane back home, and she has already “done” the Palace.

    By this time it was almost ok for dinner time! Restaurants don’t serve dinner before 8 pm, but tapas is all day....it was about 7.30 and we knew a place in Plaza Angel (diagonally adjacent to Plaza Santa Ana) where we wanted to go. Omnia said she didn’t want to come to Spain and not have paella, and we knew it was on their list. It was a perfect place, and a perfect time. We could people watch the constant parade, but not excessively crowded, the sun was finally thinking of setting (Spain is on main European time, but should really geographically be with the UK...consequently the sun rises later and sets later here). So we sat and drank lots trying to rehydrate, and had our favourite tapas of pimientos padron, baby squid a la plancha, and calamari, while waiting for the seafood paella....yum...

    Now back in our room, and hoping our bodies know it is nighttime! (I may take half a pill to make sure!).    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 11

    Hot Sunday, and last day in Madrid

    September 2, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Again we had a reasonable sleep, woke and breakfasted....in the morning at 8.30am it is almost a pleasant temperature....but we still feel a bit fuzzy in the head during the day, so annoying...I think tomorrow it will be over. The intense heat doesn’t help of course, but we dealt with that quite well today. We met Omnia at 9.45 and went to the Thyssen museum, which is also nearby. We had visited it last time in Madrid, really good..large building, but easy to find your way - the numbers of the rooms actually follow on, and a huge range of art - from madonnas and bambini to modern, and good examples. The also was a special exhibition of Monet and Boudin. Excellent, and as always with special exhibits you see works from all over the world that you have never seen, and would never have seen. Have to confess that I don’t remember hearing of or seeing the works of Eugene Boudin, but he was 15 years older than Monet and a sort of mentor...they influenced each other, but he largely got Monet going...the comparison was very interesting. So all that kept us cool for the morning. Around 12 we went to the cafe and had a light lunch and then Omnia had to hop on the airport bus which stopped nearby to catch a plane back to the UK. So after saying our goodbyes we continued on in the cool and explored the floors we had not yet seen.

    Finally, around 3 pm we ventured out and had a beer at a basque cafe we had noticed in the same plaza where we had dinner last night. It was a trial run for tonight and we liked what we saw and indeed did come back there for dinner today. But first we walked back and had a short break in the a/c and wifi of our room. While there we booked online tickets to visit the Royal Palace...so much better than standing in the heat in a queue - Omnia had recommended this and it worked. We sailed past the queue - not a long line, but even 10 minutes in the heat would be unpleasant- and had the tickets zapped on my phone! The palace is quite near our hotel, just behind the opera where we are.

    So it was a good visit, with all the splendour of Royal palaces, and the armour, glassware and porcelain, sumptuous rooms, gala banquet table set for 50....lots of fun. Couldn’t take photos in the special rooms. We called into the cathedral that is beside the palace and which was open...I’ll have to read up about it, but it is quite modern and light in comparison with the cathedrals we know are coming on the Camino. Lovely but modern looking stained glass, though enormously tall column and arches.

    Then we went straight back to our chosen place to eat and drink - Golfo de Bizkaia. Drank copious fizzy water and wind and the best food....my favourite baby squid grilled being my highlight. Too tired to add more detail. I think it is cooling a little tomorrow and anyway I think Pamplona is a little cooler than here. The max today was about 35° supposedly which is high, but not super high, but sure feels hot when you are out in it.

    Tomorrow we pack up and get the train at 11.30, arrive Pamplona about 2.30...a new adventure and the beginning of the Camino! A day to see Pamplona and we walk on Wednesday!    Read more

  • TravelerThe Camino Revisited 2018
    Day 12

    En route to Pamplona

    September 3, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We are in the train on the way to Pamplona. A 3 hour journey in a TGV equivalent, very smooth. So our adventure is sort of starting now. I think the entries so far have been pretty mundane..partly from jet lag and heat. We really enjoy Madrid, and have done our dose of culture there - and also the best way to escape the heat of the day. Despite all, our apps tell us that we walked quite a lot each day - 13 kms yesterday !! And there can’t be all that many kms in the galleries! We will return to our hostal in Madrid at the end of October for the last 4 days before we fly back to the US. Our plans for those days are day trips to Toledo and Segovia, but using Madrid as a base.

    I feel obsessed with the weather and unfortunately checked Pamplona for the next few days - it is a little cooler, but on Wednesday, the day we set off walking, there is 100% chance of heavy rain, and thunderstorms !!! No point agonising, but looks like we start off wet!

    Meanwhile we are heading north on the train, passing through the countryside, seeing fields of corn, sunflowers, small towns and craggy rocky hills. Very peaceful. We are staying at the same hotel in Pamplona as we did 5 years ago. Very nice, and just off the Plaza de Castillo. Will continue when we get there.

    ....we arrived just before 3 pm and are in heaven! Everything feels just right. Arrived at the station which we had never seen before as we had walked in and out of this town...got a bus and helpful people (and the bus driver) showed us where to get off for the Plaza del Castillo- and it all fell into place...we easily found the hotel, and remembered all the quirks - in fact I think we have the same room, except maybe on a different floor. This place has a one ⭐️ Michelin restaurant....(don’t think it had the star 5 years ago, but we did eat there one night), but the prices are ridiculously high, and we think we will enjoy the many other eateries which all seem to have a consistently high standard.

    After unpacking when we got to the room, we had a great walk, discovering areas we hadn’t noticed before and just wandering. We walked in last time and didn’t look back - this afternoon we walked around the walls of the old city and had a wonderful view back to the Pyrenees, across the river and the outer areas of the city. Glad we are not walking across them this time! Anyway we had a fun afternoon, came back and did washing and showering, and set out fashionably late enough to eat...Amr amazingly found the place we remembered and loved last time and we had a great meal there - the highlight being one of the magnificent salads they do here, plus some tapas. Tomorrow we will do more exploring, but no culture and lots of downtime. Also have to add that it is very pleasant temperature here!! A change from complaining. It was hottish but with a breeze in the afternoon, and coming back from dinner I almost felt COOL, something we haven’t experienced for days! From now on - for the next 48 days or so - our bags will be moved for us, our hotels organised...all is good.    Read more

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