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Camino del Norte

April - May 2024
An open-ended adventure by anna-on-the-camino Read more
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  • 19footprints
  • 2countries
  • 19days
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  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 1

    Biarritz: the adventure begins

    April 18 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I've arrived, but my luggage has not! So the adventure begins with nothing on my back, and the opportunity to do anything I like! I'm going to explore Bayonne for the day (next flight from Stansted arrives tonight) , which wasn't on the itinerary at all but is close to here and said to be really beautiful. 1 hour walking ahead. Hooray for the Camino!Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    11
    Day 1

    Bayonne

    April 18 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    A wander through a very beautiful and fashionable city, a baguette at the side of the river, encounter with my first Spanish pilgrims (I almost understood them!), a kindly welcome in a private pilgrims' hostel and my first pilgrimage stamp. A nap, and then the very welcome email confirmation that my rucsac had reached the airport. A galette de sarasin in the evening sun at the ocean, with a glass of Breton cider. Happy adventuring!

    Jürgen, retried orthopaedic doctor from Köln, camino frances. Veronique, my host ('le basque est stupide! Est-ce que on parle latin en Italie?!': a political tirade. My french is pretty good, it seems, to understand all that!). Tatiana and Serghei, not yet so lucky with their missing luggage from Canada/Moldova, camino frances. Camille, French pèlerine at the Refuge des Pèlerins, camino del norte.
    Carmelite nun, 'vous pouvez entrer l'eglise pour prier'.
    Silence, warmth, depth. I lie on the stone floor in tears, no clear reason why, except 'everything'; the sense of embrace, peace. I breathe ... Relief.

    I have such a 'story': it seems to be complex and wonderful and awful; but so does every single person I meet. And so does every tree, every flower! What a wonder.

    There's welcome for me from so many directions.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    11
    Day 2

    via St Jean de Luz to Irun

    April 19 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Catching up with my original itinerary by using the local bus, I was able to set out on foot from St Jean de Luz where I found my first yellow Camino waymarker. Fabulous feeling! A lot of asphalt walking, but I managed to find a path through the middle of the traffic-y roads in proper countryside, mountain views to the south and coast to the north (of course). Nothing to do but walk and breathe and laugh and sing, and think, and not think! I like the sense that the path is hemmed in by hills and sea. There's only one decision to make, and that's to go ahead. Simplicity.

    Someone opened her car window and shouted 'buen camino!', for my first time, and it made me sob, actually, that feeling of belonging to this something-special that I'm at last IN.

    And, as has often been the case at the start of my long treks, I notice the wonderful vibrancy of the flowers, trees and grasses in the verges. Some of the plants produce just one flower head, modest or glamorous, tiny or grand, others shoot out many stems or trunks with multiple flower heads or branches. I'm thinking about the personality of each, and about human personalities that possibly match. What does my sense of myself suggest I am like? Random thoughts, fun.
    The city is buzzing at dinner time, families and couples and groups of people of all ages, kids playing footy in the square, people sitting at outside tables - in coats, as it's pretty chilly, especially in the wind - and I am bemused at not finding somewhere to eat that isn't primarily a bar. But it's fun wandering around; I'm probably missing something key about Spanish food culture. Perhaps it's just too early.
    Trying to read the menu and order food in Spanish is hilarious, but I manage.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 3

    San Sebastian

    April 20 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Up and up and uuuup and down and up and down and across the water by ferry, and Heike! And up and down. Icy sea swim...ahhhh.

    Pintxos. Very delicious indeed.
    27km. Content.

    Michaela and Sophia at breakfast, Austria, Camino primitivo, alarm clock!2 brothers from Manchester. Silent man from Taiwan. Italians from Milan. George from California, Ines from Bayern. French man, hard core, millionth Camino (or something), Rome - Santiago. Chiara, Verona, walking almost asleep.Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 4

    Zarautz

    April 21 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Just walking.

    When did YOU last make a daisy chain?

    Happy.

    "Mr Cheese" / Kyesoo, Korea: " 'anna' means 'do you know' in Korean!"
    Hanna from Münich/Bordeaux.

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 5

    Day 5 Deba

    April 22 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Found an angel in my coffee this morning (the little one was given to me by a friend to carry with me) so obviously it was gonna be a good day!
    Plenty of variety in the landscape; we were mostly more inland, but with frequent views of the sea behind trees and hills. Wind very chill. Didn't swim on arrival although it's the last day at the coast for days ... far too cold.

    I spied penguins! Can you?

    And sang in a fabulously resonant church, took lunch in a field of newly mown hay, found a type of hellebore I've never seen before, and petted an extremely appreciative dog that was lying in the road at risk of being run over.

    Two Japanese brothers (with Google translate) who were impressed that I have walked the Kumano Kodo before. Adrian from Ireland, twice PhD, house husband, and an intriguing story of friendship with a Japanese-French couple. Drank beer and shared peanuts with Xavier from Bordeaux, walking (very slowly!) with a 20kg pack which includes a tent. Spanish pilgrim with guitar (I was angling for a music session). Dinner with Fiorella and Sergio.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    21
    Day 6

    Day 6 Markina-Xemein

    April 23 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 10 °C

    The cold and rain invited us to take a different and less challenging route than the Camino classic stage, along the coast to Ondarroa and then by bus up to Markina. I didn't expect these temperatures and may need to find an extra top layer if the weather continues like this.

    A most unusual church building at the Ermita de San Miguel de Arretxinaga - why these rocks?

    Heike had booked an Airbnb apartment with a kitchen, so for supper we ate in, Karaoke fish from the fishmonger in Mutriku, and scallops in the shell: I now have my pilgrims' symbol to carry!
    Uninspired to paint. Squeezed out some 'thunks' I've been sort of thinking instead.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 7

    Gernika-Lumo

    April 24 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Day 7
    What a beautiful day! Perfect walking temperature, neither hot nor cold, and constantly changing but always always always pleasant, awe-inspiring, delightful, superb landscape, up and down hills, along the river, through villages, beside churches, through forests, and in and out of cafes!
    Nearly 30km/19miles, no great effort. My favourite day so far.

    I had thought to not post today, apart from the footprint, but somehow I'm feeling brighter and more at ease today and I'm inclined to make at least these few comments.

    Perhaps this has to do with the conversations and friendships of the day. With Heike, in any case, thanks Heike, just doing these days together. And with Adrian, from Ireland/ France, with whom the conversation went unexpectedly deep as we discovered a shared worldview and mutual openness to explore what this means to us.
    Kyesoo called me his angel, after I helped him book accommodation for tonight when he thought there was nothing available for miles.
    Igor, Poland, and Luca from Belgium.
    Natalie, Belgium.
    George, again, and of course 'our' Italians, Fiorella and Sergio, who we seem to be leapfrogging every day. Great fun.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    Day 8

    Day 8 Lezama

    April 25 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Philosophical reflection warning!

    Wondering about joy.

    Perhaps joy is after all there for the seeking and the seeing, or the letting be, the receiving ... is there a choice to be made in my attitude? In openness to what is (around me, and inside me) (which may not be at all the same as what I wish it would be), or in readiness to accept who and what presents itself to my (rather little) field of attention?
    It becomes apparent that there probably is a choice.
    I have a lifelong tendency to melancholy. What if I were to not (/no longer) let this define me, but instead just let it be there, alongside, say, this joy I wonder about; both holding hands, even, and walking together along the way?
    I come back to two words - attention and intention - which have become important to me in my spiritual practice in recent years.
    It helped me today to stop occasionally in order to pay attention to something in particular - the silence, the birdsong, a fern, a stream, the mother pony with her twin foals, the local woman and man in conversation, a farmhouse, a fellow walker. And to let the loveliness of whatever it was touch me. There is in fact so much loveliness!
    A couple of days ago I wrote about not feeling anything much apart from frustration at not feeling much. In this period, then, let me hold this intention: to practice giving things a bit more of a chance to enter into my awareness, and in that way give joy some space to enter in as well.
    I wish for this, to be sure. Verdaderamente.

    Came across our first goodie table today, such as seen in the movies about the Camino! The lady was obviously looking out for passing trade, and hauled her laden table out to the front of her drive whenever someone approached. Such a delicious 'chocolate caliente', and a tiny pintxos of quince membrillo on top of local cheese with walnuts. It's fabulous when people chatter away unselfconsciously in Spanish and without regard to my understanding! Best way to learn.

    Some of the route goes through forests in, erm, active management; that is to say where there are men chainsawing branches and heavy machinery dragging bare trunks up the footpaths, creating ugly deep trenches of slippery mud. Just glad it wasn't raining heavily today.

    Belgian lads with 6 weeks of walking behind them already, and another 6 ahead, carrying tents and everything in huge packs.
    Martin from Lancashire with such a strong Hampshire accent I had to tune my ears in really carefully, and another British man from Sussex walking at great speed.
    Kyesoo limping now with blisters.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino del Norte
    1
    Day 9

    Day 9 Bilbao

    April 26 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Short walk, couple of hours. Bilbao is lovely on approach from the hills, and lovely still on arrival! We found a mass in process in the vastly ornate church dedicated to 'Our Lady of Begoñia' (who?!) on the hill into the city, and I really really wanted to participate, so I just did. I was really moved being able to understand the 'happening', despite not understanding the language, due to the familiar form of Catholic liturgy. I experienced it as a belonging, and a being-at-home. Best of all was the end as I was leaving, when a little old lady whose face was full of light and joy reached out to me and said 'Santiago?', and just kissed my hand. I suppose I represent something to her about loving and following God, and it gave me happy-poignant inexplicable tears.

    There is something about a small city set about a wide river that just feels good, right, homely and professional at the same time. A bit like Basel (where I lived for 6 years in the 90s). A great atmosphere throughout the day, even before the buzzing night life erupts; many locals of all ages contributing to the energy, as well as enough British hen parties to fill a barn.
    The cathedral is very special architecturally, an unusual shape, and with attractive stonework, but the guided tour made my brain cloud over like the sky this morning, so I skipped most of it before (so to speak) the rain could spoil anything. The market hall is fabulous (oh dear, I'm recycling all the same words to describe my positive experiences) with meat and fish and fruit stalls. Oh, and the cafes with their pastry/cake/pintxos on offer. Sweet and savoury art on a plate! The offer is far beyond your typical British produce, in both range and quality. Really impressive.
    Thai massage ... oh my goodness what a treat after over 150km of walking.

    Joy ... "beside me, on my left and on my right" ... I look aslant every now and then, to see what I can see. And pause to listen to what's singing in the trees (Eurasian wrens! Eurasian blackcaps! (I have a birdsong app!)). And let the friendship of Heike and the kindness of strangers touch my heart. That's good. That's really very good.    Read more

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