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Haley Camino 2018
  • Haley Camino 2018
  • Haley Camino 2018

Haley Camino 2018

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  • Trip start
    April 18, 2018
    Haley Camino 2018Haley Camino 2018Traveler

    Ready to Go!

    April 18, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Hello Friends and Family,

    We depart Monday, April 23, for Jean Pied de Port, France, to begin a 500 mile walk (we hope) on the Camino de Santiago.

    Pilgrims have walked the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela for more than a thousand years. There lie the reputed remains of Jesus’ apostle James the Elder. As they have for thousands of years, most modern pilgrims travel the Way on foot, though some travel by bicycle or other means. For many pilgrims, the Way remains a spiritual journey through Spain’s villages and countryside.

    We plan to arrive in Santiago on June 5, and we’re happy to have you along!

    Laurie and John    Read more

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    We made it!

    April 25, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After 26 hours of plane and bus travel, we arrived in Pamplona around 4:00 yesterday, 2 very tired peregrinos. A little cleanup, and we were ready to sample some tapas at Cafe Iruna, one of Hemingway’s favorite hangouts. No bulls running this week.
    I introduced John to Spanish tortilla and croquettes, and he says the Cokes are OK. We also did some laundry —
    After some needed sleep, we ran some errands and found Laurie some good hot chocolate.
    Off to St. Jean by bus this afternoon to meet up with Kathy Wallace from Pittsburgh. Tomorrow’s the big day — a 7-mike walk to Valcarlos, starting out slowly!    Read more

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    Over the Pyrenees

    April 27, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    To catch up:
    On Thursday we walked 7 miles from St. Jean, France, to Valcarlos, Spain. Easy walk, and we arrived in time for a 2-hour lunch. These things move slowly here—
    We stayed in a cozy guesthouse run by a Spanish couple, and we felt like old friends by the time we left next morning.
    Day 2, Friday, was a tough 11-mile climb, winding up and up through a valley in the Pyrenees. The first 7 miles took us 5 hours! Kudos to our friend Kathy, who’d suggested we send our packs ahead. We climbed much of the way with Ruth, an Anglican vicar from Wales (who WAS carrying her pack).
    We finally arrived in the village of Espinal, where John had his first taste of albergue life. He says he’s willing to try it again, but without the snoring from our fellow pilgrims next time!
    Only another 790 km to Santiago!    Read more

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    Day 3 to Zubiri

    April 28, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We walked 9 miles to Zubiri today, dodging sprinkles and trying not to lose our footing on some rocky and muddy paths. Lots of pilgrims today because of the May Day holiday, and tonight every bed in town is occupied.
    We walked from one small village to another, passing by green pastures and well kept homes. We had some difficult climbs but nothing like yesterday, and now we have some time to rest before we walk to Pamplona tomorrow.

    I don’t know which part of the cow that was that I had for dinner, but it was delicious!    Read more

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    12 Miles to Pamplona

    April 29, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    This was our first full 12-mile day, plenty of small hills and a few bigger ones that tested us. We were surprised by a street market and parade as we walked through the Pamplona suburbs — May 1 is a major holiday throughout Europe, so it’s been a 5-day holiday weekend and every town is packed.

    We’re staying at an albergue with these pod beds, complete with lockers, lights and electric outlets — quite luxurious by albergue standards. And a washer and dryer!

    Tomorrow we’ll climb Alto de Perdon, the Hill of Forgiveness, about 2500 feet. More tomorrow —    Read more

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    Alto de Perdon

    May 1, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Monday, 4/30: A big climb up out of Pamplona to Alto de Perdón, “where the path of the wind meets that of the stars.” The ridges here are lined with wind turbines. Today we made ourselves take several 30-minute breaks, which we haven’t been doing — we have to rest and get something to eat/drink, every 2-3 hours to keep our energy levels up. Papaw even drank a beer when we stopped in the afternoon!
    Spent the night at a beautiful rural house just short of Puente la Reina, where we shared a meal with about a dozen fellow pilgrims and the red wine flowed freely. The place is run by Alicia and her husband Carlos (who also cooked and served our dinner).
    Ah, 8 hours of sleep — priceless!    Read more

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    16 Mile Day

    May 1, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    We walked through Puente la Reina this morning and spent a few minutes admiring the 13th century bridge leading out of town. Then a BIG climb through chilly winds and intermittent sunshine — the temperature suddenly drops or goes up 10 degrees every few minutes.

    We meet the same folks over and over again — Bill and Treva from Orlando, sisters from MA and NC, “Jack” from Ireland and his wife, Kim from S. Korea... we always meet up at the next bar or Albergue.

    We are tired campers, but we’re very comfortable in an Albergue perched on the river in Estella. It’s a renovated tannery with the best shower on the Camino!    Read more

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    Cold and Windy Walk

    May 3, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    May 2 & 3, Estella to Los Arcos to Viana:

    John had discovered that the secret to Camino life is E-S-P: Just concentrate on Eat, Sleep, and Potty, and the walk is fine!
    Yesterday a Japanese doctor and his wife stopped their BMW as we were crossing a road and asked to take our picture! So I guess we look like real pilgrims. He gave us his card and said to give him a ring if we ever come to Hiroshima.
    We stopped at the wine fountain at Irache — yes, Jennifer, a fountain that dispenses wine instead of water! John had a taste with his pilgrim shell, just like they did 1000 years ago. Laurie finally found a good chocolate croissant. And we stayed in a dorm with 12 of our new best friends.

    Still no rain, but today was cold and windy all day long. We’re tucked up in a room above a local bar, where we were served a typical menu of the day — 2 courses plus dessert, bread and wine or water, all for €11.5 each (about $14).

    Rest day tomorrow — only 6 miles to Logroño.    Read more

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    Logrando, Najera and Santo Domingo

    May 6, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Tonight we’re staying with the Cistercian nuns in their spotless hostal on the edge of town. We’re hoping this is a quiet neighborhood, after listening to crazy screaming Spanish young folks half the night in Najera last night. We finally had beautiful sunshine all day today, temps around 70, shorts weather at last.

    We’ve been walking through vineyards and olive orchards, yellow fields of rape, and all kinds of vegetables — artichokes, arugula and peas. There are vast fields of wheat and barley. We fill our water bottles at the public fountains as we pass through villages. In Navarrete we visited the Church of the Ascension, perhaps the most beautiful I’ve seen in Spain.

    In Logroño we treated John to a Burger King chicken sandwich, fries and a Coke, but in the evening he had Spanish style pork ribs — a real hardship! We keep meeting up with the same people again and again, on the street or in the cafes.

    Only 3 more days to Burgos, and 2 nights in one place!    Read more

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    Burgos!

    May 10, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Lovely Burgos with its beautiful cathedral, and 2 nights in the same bed! The weather continues to change every few minutes as winds blow down from snowy mountains. We’ve left the vineyards and olive trees for fields of barley and walks alongside the roads.

    Since our last post, we’ve stayed in Belorado and San Juan de Ortega, and much of the walk has been the hot and then cold, just put your head down and go kind of walking. We passed a golf course in Ciruena but John decided he didn’t want to walk 18 holes. Many of the villages in this area are pretty deserted.

    This morning we spent about 2 hours in the 13th century Cathedral. I’ll try to post some pics in a separate post. It’s really indescribable — each time you turn a corner there’s a room or chapel more beautiful than the last. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

    Meanwhile, below:
    A sign at a hilltop food oasis, where you pay what you want for what you take. Note “fun” is on the menu.
    Typical Camino bar/cafe
    John with Two of our travel buddies from England
    Flowers along the way

    Out to the high plains tomorrow!    Read more

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    Back in touch

    May 14, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Since leaving Burgos, we’ve climbed the Meseta, the high plain that stretches from Burgos to Leon. Wide open spaces, remote old Camino towns, and very little communication available. The Meseta was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire, and we’ve passed miles of wheat and barley fields under a big blue sky.

    We met our first Spanish cowboy and spent a night in the romantic town of Castrojeriz. The wind beat us up for several days, and the temp was 32 degrees when we left Castrojeriz Sunday morning.

    We spent Sunday night in Laurie’s favorite albergue in Boadilla de Camino, sleeping up in the old barn loft!

    Looks like warmer weather coming, and still we’ve dodged the rain. On Wednesday we’ll pass the halfway point of the Camino from St. Jean to Santiago.

    A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms!    Read more

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    The Roman Road

    May 15, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    This was our view today, for 14 miles. Looks pretty monotonous, right? Until you realize ... we were walking part of the original Roman road through Spain, still intact after 2000 years (with just a new gravel covering). The Romans transported an estimated 100,000 tons of rock just to build the substrata of this road through what were wetlands at the time. And none of the rock was from local sources...

    Meanwhile, the wheat and barley fields we passed by have been farmed since the Romans’ time. Not such a boring walk after all (though we were happy to reach the little village of Calzadilla, and our hostal!).

    The snowy mountains to our north made us feel we were in Switzerland. But for the first time we walked in shorts and short sleeves.    Read more

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    Leon

    May 19, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Tonight and tomorrow we will stay in Leon, resting up for the last 200 miles. We’ll devote tomorrow to the magnificent Gothic Cathedral.

    The past few days have been easy walks with few climbs. We passed the halfway point at Sahagun, where we celebrated with KitKats!

    Each church steeple, and other high places, seems to have a resident stork. We can see the little ones in the nests and we often hear the parents clacking over their babies.

    We also passed a boot graveyard today, out in the middle of nowhere.

    We still see some of the same folks we’ve been walking with for several weeks, including a young photographer for the Miami Dolphins who’s here on special assignment.

    And we’ve eaten many of the French bread sandwiches, called bocadillos, a staple of the pilgrim diet, along with fried eggs and Spanish tortilla (a potato, egg and cheese pie).    Read more

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    How we navigate

    May 19, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    How do you find your way across 500 miles of Spain, through villages, fields and cities? You pay attention and look for these —

    (Or you look for other pilgrims who seem to know where they’re going).

  • Haley Camino 2018Haley Camino 2018Traveler

    Leon

    May 20, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We’re enjoying our rest day in Leon, and this siesta thing is pretty nice! Our hotel is just outside the Cathedral, across the street from a hospital (good location?!).

    Leon Cathedral is so different from Burgos Cathedral, but beautiful in its own way. Burgos had more intimate spaces, while Leon is vast, airy, and alive with what seem like acres of stained glass.

    It was built in the 13th century and by the 1850s it was falling apart; sections of the vaulted roof collapsed. Repair work took 50 years, and all of the stained glass windows had to be removed, stored in boxes, and then replaced.

    These pics really don’t do it justice, but hope you enjoy them.    Read more

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    Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross

    May 24, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today we climbed to the highest point on the Camino, Monte Irago, and the Iron Cross. The Cross was placed there in the 11 th century by a Catholic abbot to mark the way for pilgrims traveling to Santiago. Pilgrims often bring a stone or some remembrance to leave at the Cross, or to represent a burden they wish to leave behind.

    It was a tough climb up, but a tougher climb down (to be continued...)    Read more

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    Camino Flowers

    May 26, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Flowers everywhere — geraniums and roses in front of houses, fields of lavender, pink, yellow and white broom, red poppies — Spain is abloom everywhere we walk.

  • Haley Camino 2018Haley Camino 2018Traveler

    Drip Drip Drip...

    May 29, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Well, the weather odds finally caught up with us. We had sunshine walking up to O Cebreiro, but it’s been drizzly and chilly ever since. So here are a few pictures from my visit in 2016.

    We’re now in the NW part of Spain, in Galicia province, which looks a lot like Ireland — hilly, green and damp. O Cebreiro is a small village that was believed to have been settled by Celts before the Roman conquests. It’s been an important stop for pilgrims for centuries.

    The houses are made of stone, with straw or slate roofs. Houses here are often 2 stories, with farm animals and equipment on the first floor and living quarters above.

    The walk up to O Cebreiro was our last big climb, but we still have about 90 miles to go.    Read more

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    The Camino We Walk

    May 29, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    It’s the edge of an asphalt roadway... the crushed stone road built by Romans over 2000 years ago.

    It’s farm roads that run from village to village... and a road for sheep and cows (and cow pies).

    It’s narrow dirt paths... muddy trails through deep green forest... city streets and country lanes.

    It’s bordered by wildflowers and mossy stone walls...    Read more

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    Less than 20 Miles to go...

    June 3, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We have less than 20 miles to walk! Tuesday will be only 6 miles, so we can arrive early to visit the Pilgrims’ Office and pick up our Compostelas before it gets busy. Then we’ll retrieve the clothes we sent ahead. It’ll be so nice to wear our “real” clothes, instead of pilgrim garb!

    These past few days we’ve been walking damp paths through forests of fragrant eucalyptus. Drizzle in the mornings, a bit of sun shining through in the afternoons one, but on the cool side — great for walking, but not for sitting outside at the end of the day.

    We’ve opted for private rooms this last 100 kilometers — that’s the minimum distance one can walk and receive a Compostela in Santiago. Lots more pilgrims walking this stretch, so we’re also staying in some smaller villages. Nice accommodations, sometimes with chickens outside our window as a bonus!

    My socks are just about worn out... but I found some longhorns!    Read more

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