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Camino Mozarabe April 2018Camino Mozarabe April 2018
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A 53-day adventure by Laurie Read more
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  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018

    Getting ready to go

    April 7, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    Well, it’s four days till departure, and I thought I should get my penguins website going. This year, I will be starting in Almería, mediterranean coastal city in the south and east of Málaga. I had originally planned to meet up with three or four other people, since it is a very solitary route. We don’t know each other in the face to face sense, but have friends in common and have been in contact through the internet. Well, one thing led to another, and we are now a merry band of 13 or 14! We will all meet up on Friday the 13th, in the Bar Entremares in Almería, get to know each other a bit, and then set out the next day. We will probably spread out in the first couple of days since the albergues are small (usually around 8 beds), but it will be fun to start out at the same place.

    This branch of the Camino Mozárabe starts in Almería, goes through Granada and Córdoba, and joins up with the Via de la Plata in Mérida. Those are all great cities to visit, so I will have some touring time as well.

    I am not going to be able to walk into Santiago this year, unfortunately. It's 1400 km from Almería and I only have a month to walk, so I will have to stop somewhere in the middle. Not sure I like that, but oh well.

    My pre-Camino jitters have started and I have finally found my backpack and started going through my stuff, tossing out expired betadine, mangled gaiters, and hoping to find my favorite FITS socks, which have mysteriously disappeared!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 4

    Chicago O'Hare

    April 11, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    So far so good. My flight from Champaign was even early, so I was able to hop on my last preemption conference call for a while. Very good stuff going on, specifically a lawsuit challenging Florida’s punitive laws against local gun regulation. Leaving that world behind now for a while. In their never-ending quest to separate the elite, AA now has two lounges—the regular Admirals Club, and a fancy flagship lounge with food and drinks galore. I got put in the fancy place, not sure why.

    I have always thought it would be a good idea to get up really early on the day of a transatlantic flight. Today I was awake at 2:20 am, and by 2:45 decided I wasn't going back to sleep. In an effort to not wake Joe, I went in the dark into the bedroom where my pack was waiting for me, only to trip over some of the bathroom fixtures that the construction guys have left there. So I now have a 3” gash and a growing bulbous bruise, which will be hugely black and blue in no time. I wasn't expecting to use my first aid kit so early in the trip.

    My next activity was to go to the gym at opening time, 6 am. I am glad I rode my bike, because as I pulled the bike lock out of the bag, I saw my GPS sitting there. I had taken it to the office yesterday so that my tech genius friend John could corroborate that he had in fact saved me from GPS failure with the instructions he gave me on the phone. My delight and relief at realizing how close I had come to leaving the GPS behind made the bruise seem trivial.

    So off I go, with an 18 year old fleece and a totally new approach with shoes. In an effort to avoid the tremendously painful corns I always get between my toes, I bought some recommended Altras-widest toe box in the universe. We’ll see what my feet think in a few days. Iberia, here I come.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 5

    In Almeria

    April 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    The flights were all fine but i didn’t sleep. So I’m really glad I could get a few hours shuteye in the Madrid airport in the Iberia lounge’s sleeping room. A row of comfortable partitioned beds, very comfy. Much appreciated, maybe even more than the excellent coffee!

    I met another peregrino on the flight to Almeria. When we got to town we headed straight for the cathedral where we got our first stamp. And then Joe found the first arrow and hit the road. He’s walking 15 k to Rioja. I was tempted but there are people coming in for a get together tomorrow and I don’t want to miss it.

    So I climbed up and around the 9-10 C moorish castle, explored the old town a bit and at 6 pm met up with Clare. We spent more than an hour getting cards for our phones. It was complicated, but I now have a Spanish phone number. By then i was starting to fade, so I headed back to my little basic pension and picked up a takeout salad that looks pretty good. And as soon as I eat it, I will hit the hay. Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, except that I know that I will be joining with about 6 others who are arriving to walk. We are going to have a tour of some underground shelters built here during the Spanish Civil War.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 6

    Warm-up day to Rioja

    April 13, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After an interrupted 11hours of sound sleep, and upon some sensible reflection, I decided it would be really silly to walk 38 km on my first day. I enjoy those distances, but probably not on the first day. So I decided to walk 15 km out to a little town on the Camino and take a bus back to Almeria. Then tomorrow, it will only be 23 km to the albergue in Alboloduy.

    So at a little after 9, I went down to the cathedral to start walking. There I met Nina, another peregrina, from Denmark. She will start tomorrow. On the way out of town, I met Veronica, a member of the local association, with whom I have corresponded. She was waiting at a bus stop to take her daughter to the doctor. Magical encounters like this abound on the camino.

    The walk today was a typical first day walk out of a city. Lots of asphalt, through commercial areas, until about halfway. Then the arrows (which are excellent by the way) then took me to a stony dry riverbed. Not exactly a scenic highlight but it took me to Rioja and the bus stop. Santiago must have been looking out for me because a bus back to Almeria arrived exactly four minutes later.

    After another visit to the castle with my Norte pals, we Took a tour of the Civil War shelters. That was really something. In a span of 14 months,500 Almeria citizens built 4 km of tunnels,where more than 30,000 people could go to escape the Nazi and Franco army bombings. Almería was the last province to surrender to Franco, and today it is certainly a badge of honor.

    Then a great meet up with the Mozárabe folks anda bunch of wonderful folks I had never met in person, a few wines in a bar, and we are ready to go tomorrow!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 7

    Civil War Shelters

    April 14, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    The Spanish Civil War is one of those wars that is wrapped in mystique — it is still the subject of public debate, and a lot of its wounds are still close to the surface. As the last city in Spain to surrender (two days before the end of the Civil War), Almeria has monuments to the resistance in several places.

    Almería has a 4 km web of bomb shelters built after the Germans bombed Almeria in 1937 in retaliation for the Republicans attack on a German warship that was on the mediterranean coast. The town mobilized and built these underground shelters (500 workers and thousands of local volunteers over 14 months). They had been closed off until a few years ago. The regional government has opened them for visits.

    A member of our Mozárabe group who lives in Spain was kind enough to buy us tickets ahead of time. These tours routinely sell out, and now that I’ve been through I understand why.

    It was fascinating —a video explaining the history and with interviews of survivors, followed by a tour through the underground tunnels. More than 30,000 routinely took shelter there, and as you might imagine the memories of the survivors were still vivid. The hospital room was still in tact, and the guide told us that fortunately that room’s primary function turned out to be to deliver babies of the many women who went into labor during the bombings. Graffiti on the walls is preserved, and the entrances to the shelters remain hidden in kiosks up and down one of the main avenues.

    Enough history for now, I’m off to walk!!!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 7

    Walk to Alboloduy

    April 14, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Only 24 km today but it was a long day. Not sure what made it so hard, but there were a couple of killer descents. And the landscape is pretty punishing.

    We arrived at our destination in time for a menu del dia in a decent restaurant. Then after shower and washing clothes we walked above the town to see the whitewashed church (which must have been a mosque originally, given its dome) and take in the views.

    No dinner for this pilgrim, I am headed to bed.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 8

    To Abla

    April 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    This was a 29 km walk but it was a LONG 29 km walk. We left at 8 after a leisurely breakfast and then after 3 km had a very steep but very invigorating ascent. Of course that was followed by a very long steep descent but that wasn’t the worst of it. We then had km after km walking on rocks in a dry river bed.

    We were lucky when we got to Abla that the restaurant owner would serve us a meal, too late for lunch and too early for dinner.

    All in all a great day.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 9

    35 km to La Calahorra

    April 16, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Yesterday in Abla, my two buddies and I decided that a 20 km walk was likely too short. So we planned an alternative. If we felt good after 20 km we would continue on another 15 km to this little town with a privately owned castle.

    The walk was beautiful and with lots of bar stops. For me it’s the perfect day. A challenge but not so hard as to leave you wiped out.

    We have showered and washed clothes, eaten a good menu del dia, and are ready to go climb around the town.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 10

    In Guadix

    April 17, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today’s walk was very nice. 28 km, a few ups and downs but nothing really strenuous. The landscape has become much less desert-like, with green fields and almond groves.

    But it was overall one of those flat camino days. I My pal Percy is cutting his camino short because of a family medical emergency in China. I am very sad to see him leave but of course understand. It just made for a down day.

    Because we have collapsed three standard stages into two, we have jumped ahead and find ourselves in a bubble of 12 people. The next Albergue has only 8 beds, and usually it is not a problem. For some reason there has been a burst of popularity on this branch of the Mozárabe. Luckily I have found a casa rural and we have reserved two rooms there.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino Mozarabe April 2018
    Day 11

    Short day to La Peza

    April 18, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This was one of those perfect camino days, except for the 3 km slog on asphalt at the end and getting lost for a half hour or so. Almost all off road, trails up and down through pine forests, cloudless blue skies, nice small towns, views of snow covered mountains, and fewer than 25 km. Lots of homes, hotels, and businesses built into the caves that’ll expand this path.

    I lost my hat, grrr, but was able to buy a 2€ straw hat lookalike, which is undoubtedly plastic. It will get me to Granada, where I will buy another one.

    Tomorrow’s walk is long, about 30 km but with no services. So we will make sandwiches and stock up on water. Two days to Granada where companion number two will probably exit, and I will be on my own again. There are others walking this route, though so I won’t be alone.    Read more

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