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Barb and Alan
Barb and Alan

Barb and Alan

traveled in 8 countries Read more🇺🇸United States
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  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    3
    Albergue for the Night1Tapas and BeerRunning of the Bulls StatueOctopus12Yum!!!Entering Pamplona

    Pamplona

    June 24, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Pamplona...WOW! We arrived into the old city around noon today just as our albergue was opening. We are staying at de Jesús y María, and I’m residing on the top bunk again (I think I am getting better at it 🙂). Our albergue is in the old town, so it was easy to spend the afternoon/evening exploring the streets and plazas. I think a person could spend days winding around the narrow streets, nooks and crannies of this city.

    What was amazing to us was how many people we ran into that we had already met earlier on this journey...Noel, David, Helene, Ariel, Nadia and her husband, etc. Our Camino family seems to be forming.

    Alan couldn’t get enough of the octopus tapas here, whereas I was thrilled to find out that KitKats here are just like the ones in Canada...WAY better chocolate 🍫!

    We have found the local people to be so kind everywhere, and two times today we had people show us the way to go when they saw us struggling.

    Tomorrow, we head to Puenta la Reina...about 14 miles. No blisters, yet, knock on wood...just tired legs and shoulders.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    Beautiful roses on many housesMan selling fresh bread from his carNeighborhood catsOn bridge going into Larrasoana1We are in Basque country nowBreakfastPaella makes Alan happy

    Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña

    June 23, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    We hiked from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña today - around 17 miles. We were a tad bit tuckered this afternoon at the end because we definitely did not eat enough along the way, and plan to do better tomorrow.

    We are staying at the Albergue San Nicolas which has been very nice! I have a top bunk again- maybe, by the time this journey ends, I will master the getting up and getting down. As it is now, I’m sure there are people on the Camino who will tell stories of the woman from WA USA who cannot seem to do it gracefully 😂

    Our hosts served a scrumptious meal for dinner tonight - minestrone soup, pasta salad, pork, and red peppers with garlic and olive oil. Plenty of red wine 🍷 and cheesecake for dessert. Earlier, for lunch, Alan and I shared some paella 🥘. Alan was in heaven! The owner of the bar gave us samples of his friend’s wine and refused to let us pay for it. Very relaxing place with Nora Jones music 🎶 playing in the background. Tomorrow, we go to Pamplona.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    1Bliss 🙂
    Monastery in RoncesvallesFood Van 🙂Our bunks1Iglesio de SantiagoCrossing into Spain1

    Roncesvalles

    June 23, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 52 °F

    Note: My posts are late because of WiFi issues, so it will be probably hard to stay on top of each day. I will do my best. Maybe when we get to Pamplona, it will be better.

    We had a foggy, mystical trek over the Pyrenees on our way to Roncesvalles. No views because of the fog, but it gave the hike a mysterious feeling...we never really knew what was coming next until we were close to it.

    My favorite parts were hearing the bells of the sheep 🐑 and the horses well before we would actually see them. Another, was coming across a van selling bananas, hot chocolate and homemade cheese after we had been climbing for awhile.

    The crossing into Spain was SO not like coming into the USA from another country. No border guards peppering is with questions...we just crossed over a cattle guard on the trail and we went from France to Spain 🙂

    Towards the end of our hike, we descended a steep path (that was a bit brutal on my knees) and were met with the view of Roncesvalles. Wow! The monastery was a beautiful place to stay. We had a pilgrim’s meal at a restaurant nearby, and then we survived our first bunk beds, as we shared a cubicle with a couple who were from Sweden and Iran,

    Tomorrow we hope to go 16 miles to Larrasoaña. We are leaving early so we can stop a few times along the way.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    Wine kept getting refilled 🙂11Wonderful dinner!We lucked out with a room for just us2Post hike lunch

    Orisson

    June 21, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    We began our hike out of Saint Jean this morning and immediately began to climb steeply up a narrow road. It was very foggy as we climbed, AND SO MUGGY!! I probably could have filled my water bottle with how much sweat rolled off my face and body 😂.

    Orisson is a lovely place with gracious hosts. Bonus for us when we were given a room with just two beds, so still haven’t had to experience the bunk beds with numerous people, yet. That will be tomorrow in Roncesvalles.

    We walked a bit with some German women, and I was able to use a tiny bit of German that was somewhere tucked in the back of my brain. 😂 Then we caught up to Richard (who we met on our shuttle ride the other day). He is from California. In the common eating room there were so many people from different countries... German, Swiss, Dutch, Astonian, Italian, Russian, Brazilian, French, Canadian, and American...all with different and moving reasons for doing the Camino.

    I will try and put a video on Facebook with some footage I took today.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan

    Exploring Saint Jean Pied de Port

    June 20, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    We had a rest day as we explored Saint Jean and learned some of it’s history. We climbed up to the Citadel to take in views of the town below, walked long the fortified walls, and weaved our way along the narrow streets of this medieval town. At one point we found ourselves in a shop just full of spices...bags and bags! We are in awe with how old everything is!

    It was a hot day today, getting up to a very humid 88 degrees. Tomorrow is supposed to be a tad bit cooler as we head out to begin our hike...thank goodness!

    We have already met some of the nicest people. A couple from Australia spent some time with us after they had just finished the le Puy Route through France, and a couple from Virginia is going to join us at the Pilgrims’ Mass tonight in the 13th century church, Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont. We spent some quiet time sitting in there earlier today.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    1
    11

    Finally to Saint Jean Pied de Port

    June 19, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Today, we traveled from Paris to Biarritz France where we caught a shuttle (with 6 other pilgrims) to Saint Jean. All of the other pilgrims were from the US except one from Ireland...very nice people, who I’m sure we will see again. One girl had a water bottle with the word Elma on it - haha!

    It was surreal to finally be in this town that I have read about and seen pictures/video of. It is truly real, now, that we will begin this journey. I am grateful we decided to have a rest day tomorrow so we can get caught up on sleep and recover from our jet lag. We plan on doing some exploring of the town, getting our pilgrim passports stamped, and definitely eating some sorbet down the street. The weather is warm and muggy, but very pleasant. I might not like it so much as I start hiking up the Pyrenees 😂 I will be sweat ball!!!

    I put a few pics and short video snippets from today on here, and I have a longer video I will put on Facebook. Time for some sleep...Alan is already zonked.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan
    11

    Day #1 Seattle to Paris

    June 18, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 68 °F

    We have had a VERY long day traveling from Seattle to Paris. Staying tonight at a Citizen M hotel next to CDG airport...very cool hotel! We had a very short layover in Iceland, and Alan was tempted to snag some beer there, but refrained until we return there at the end of July. I will try and do some video on this trip...added a short one here, but will post a longer video to my Facebook also. It was too long for this app. We fly to Biarritz/Bayonne tomorrow and then a shuttle to Saint Jean Pied de Port. Time to sleep 💤 now 🛏🙂Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan

    Almost Ready

    June 10, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    I think, after way too much thinking, I have my Camino stuff ready to pack...If I forgot or need something, I can just buy it when we get there. My pack only weighs 9 pounds with everything in it, and that makes me happy, happy, happy! 😀 Countdown is really on now.Read more

  • Barb and AlanCamino de SantiagoBarb and Alan

    Our Camino de Santiago Plan

    March 26, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 46 °F

    Right now, we haven't left home, but in a couple of months my dream of someday doing the Camino de Santiago will come true. On June 17th, Alan and I will fly to Paris, catch a flight to Biarritz, France, and then make our way to Saint Jean Pied de Port, France by train to begin our trek.

    We are hiking the Camino Frances, which is one of the many ancient Camino de Sanitago pilgrim routes that stretch across Europe ending at the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain - 500 miles.

    I have been obsessing over this trip, which is crazy, because I shouldn't be. I am used to planning a trip's every detail, but for this I'm suppose to just let it go, walk until we are tired, find an albergue, eat, sleep, and do it all again...kind of resetting life back to the basics. I'm willing to do it, though. I crave simple.

    This map shows our route and some of the villages, towns, and cities we will walk through.    Read more

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