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Spain 2023

August - October 2023
A 62-day adventure by Barb and Alan Read more
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  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 12

    To Navarette

    September 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    We found out today from a woman that the group of people she has been walking with call Alan the “Smiling Man” 😂😂 Plus, another man came up to him the day before yesterday and commented on his smile and good energy. Is this the same man I’m walking with??😂😂

    We have entered the Rioja region of Northern Spain, which is best known for barrel-aged red wines made from Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes. 🍇 We have been walking by many fields of grapes and it looks like they are very close to harvest time!

    Instead of staying in the big city of Logroño, we are in Navarette. Tomorrow, we will only walk 10 miles to Najera 🙂 That will give our feet a bit of a rest.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    2
    Day 13

    To Nájera

    September 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    With walking so many miles each day, our muscles and joints tend to get sore or irritated. So, a big part of this journey is visiting the pharmacy (farmacia) for items to ease the discomfort. Earlier in our trip we needed some blister supplies and this time we asked the sweetest pharmacist for ibuprofen cream, hydrocortisone cream (for heat rash), and Fisiocream (natural arnica cream for sore muscles). She joked with us about us needing all the creams 😂

    In the USA, we can go in and get things like this right off the shelf, but in Spain you have to talk to a pharmacist who will then bring you the item(s).

    Today, we left Navarette before daylight, not because we had a huge day of walking, but because of the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon (which thankfully didn’t happen).

    We then spent the whole morning walking by rolling fields of grapes and climbing up in elevation before descending to the town of Nájera. SO many grapes!!!🍇 It was a cooler day and it felt nice to arrive in a town and not be so tired and drenched in sweat. My heat rash took a break today - hooray!

    Before checking in to our room, we sat under the umbrellas near the river visiting with Katrina from New Zealand (until she went on a search for a good food place), Hermione from Berlin, and 5 Americans. Then we just relaxed in our room figuring out some places we want to stop later on our walk.

    A little Nájera history: An impressive complex of caves are located on the cliffs of the mountains above Nájera.  These caves were actually man-made even before the Roman colonial period, over three thousand years ago 😳 when Celtic invasions created much instability and insecurity.

    Tomorrow, we walk to Santo Domingo de la Calzada.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 14

    To Santo Domingo de la Calzada

    September 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    We had an uneventful walk today with not a lot of interesting scenery, but we love Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It’s old town is very medieval and has quite the history.

    The town takes its name after Saint Dominic (the name literally means Saint Dominic of the road) who dedicated his life to improving the conditions of pilgrims en route to Santiago in the Middle Ages, building pilgrim hospitals, roads, and bridges along The Way.

    Santo Domingo de la Calzada is also famous for the so-called ‘miracle of the hen’, considered to be the most famous of the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago.

    According to the legend, a German young man and his family were traveling as pilgrims to Santiago. On the way, they stopped in Santo Domingo de la Calzada for the night, where he rejected the advances of the inn keeper’s daughter. Upset with the rejection, the young woman hid a silver cup in the pilgrim’s bag, who would be later accused of theft and condemned to death.

    On their return from Santiago de Compostela, his parents went back to Santo Domingo de la Calzada to give the final farewell to their son and found him still alive, thanks to the intervention of Saint Dominic who knew of the young man’s innocence.

    Surprised by such a miracle, the parents went to the authorities to let them know. The Corregidor (sheriff) of Santo Domingo being skeptical replied that their son would be as alive as the roasted cockerel and hen he was going to eat that very moment. As he pronounced these words, the rooster and hen instantly got up on the plate, their white feathers grew back and they started to sing.

    And ever since, it is said about the town: ‘Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where the hen sang after being roasted.”

    In memory of this miracle, a rooster and chicken, with white feathers, are kept alive at the cathedral all year round. 🐓🙂

    We had a great evening visiting with other pilgrims in one of the squares. 🙂    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 15

    To Belorado

    September 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    The miles flew by today! The early morning cool air helped as did the overcast skies for most of our walking.

    We had a nice break for breakfast after the first 4 miles. My new favorite is a nice big slice of toast with olive oil topped with a fresh tomato spread - yum!! We then ran into Sharon and Chuck (from Bellevue) and walked with them. The four of us kept going through tiny little towns, but none of them had anything remotely open for us to stop and rest our feet 😕. Finally, at mile 11, there was an open bar with bocadillos and napolitanas ( chocolate croissants) - WOoHOO! Also, sweet, young Hermione (from Berlin) was there, so we caught up on how she was doing. All of our bodies needed the little rest.

    After our break, we walked the final three miles into Belorado. Time really flew by chatting with Sharon, and Alan and Chuck talked about coffee ☕️ for miles today.😂

    I really love all of the murals in this town! Plus, Belorado also has bronze tiles throughout the old town streets that contain the handprints, footprints and signatures of people who have supported the Camino in some way and of people who are great examples for children. Alan was so excited to see the tiles for two famous Spanish cyclists (Miguel Indurain and Alberto Contador) and I hunted down the ones for Martin Sheen and Emelio Estevez (both starred in the movie, The Way, which is about the Camino.)

    Our hostel is very nice and it included a communal meal with the other pilgrims. As we were sitting down at the long table for dinner, we realized Tom (Ireland), who we had not seen since our 2nd day, was sitting across from us! Tonight’s dinner was amazing! The husband and wife served us three courses of delicious food! - I think I have hiker hunger now because I didn’t have any trouble eating it all. 😂 🍽️ 🥩 🍝

    Special Moment: The owner of the hostel hand drew his stamp in our pilgrim passports.

    Tomorrow is a huge day to Agés. We are hoping we can do it by leaving very early and pacing ourselves.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    Day 16

    To Agés

    September 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    We did it! 17.6 miles from Belorado to charming little Agés. We paced ourselves and we were lucky to have Heinrich (Denmark) and Molly and Gordon (USA) walk and chat with us to help pass the time through the hard sections.

    The countryside is changing now. We climbed steeply up and through an oak forest after going through an area that reminded me of the Palouse.

    Best Parts of Today:

     1. Being distracted from my aching feet by talking with others
    2. The bar in San Juan de Ortega that served a crisp marguerita pizza
    3. The homemade three course dinner from the adorable little corner restaurant.
    4. The foot rub from Alan after finishing our hike
    5. Visiting with Tom (Ireland) aka Satchel Man and/or Kerry Gold 😂 and Erika (Germany)

    We have walked 163 miles so far. Tomorrow, we walk to Burgos.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 17

    To Burgos

    September 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We had a beautiful hike during sunrise up an over the Atapuerca Mountains and then worked our way down through a few small communities ending up in Burgos.

    The old city part of Burgos is just stunning and the Cathedral can take your breath away.

    The best part of today was sitting in a plaza in the shadow of the cathedral visiting with Joe (England), John (Port Angeles) and Beth (England). Beth shared that she, her dad and Will (actress from Netherlands who we had walked with earlier in our trip) have been discussing writing a murder mystery which takes place on the Camino. Will would play the murderer and the detective would be based on Alan with me as his sidekick. 😂 Crazy and funny the ideas that come to mind as people are walking all day.

    We did around 16 miles today after all of the walking around the city, but tomorrow we are only walking 8 miles…kind of a rest day. I’m excited to enjoy our hotel room and sleep in a bit - if I get any sleep. It’s Saturday night and we can hear people singing and having a great time outside our window. The Spanish like to start their evenings late and party until morning.

    Tomorrow, after I try to find a better way to deal with an annoying blister, we enter the Meseta area of Spain to continue on to Rabe de las Calzadas.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    Day 18

    To Rabé de las Calzadas

    September 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    Today was planned as a partial rest day where we would sleep in, leave about 10:00, and then only walk 8 miles to Rabé de las Calzadas. The weather report showed a chance of rain with some wind, so we left a bit earlier than our plan to try and beat the weather. We failed. 😂😂 🌬️ 🌧️

    The rain 🌧️ (and some wind) started almost right away and never really gave us a break. The umbrellas ☔️ helped a bit, but it was a WET day! At least it wasn’t a really long day, and I found I can eat breakfast at an outdoor table holding an umbrella over my head. 🙂

    We have the fan going in our room to help dry things out so we can be ready to do 11.5 miles tomorrow to Hontanas. We’re hoping for better weather.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 19

    To Hontanas

    September 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    September 18

    We met a man from Belgium today who looks to be in his mid eighties! 😳 He is here walking the Camino, carrying a HUGE pack, taking his time (step by step) and he started way up in Le Puy, France!!

    Then during dinner, we met Heddy, from Florida, who is on her fourth day walking. She decided only a few weeks ago to do as much of the Camino as she could. She has a brain injury which affects her short term memory, but she was brave enough to get herself here and start walking. We got to hear her story while sharing a pilgrim dinner.

    Our other dinner table mate was Sandra, originally from Alaska but now lives in Stevenson, WA. It was a huge coincidence that she also suffers from a traumatic brain injury. In a room with 30 plus pilgrims separated at different tables, I guess it was meant to be for Heddy and Sandra to sit together, and for Alan and I to hear their stories. 💕🙂

    It was a great day on the Meseta. Tomorrow, we have a long walk to Boadillo.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    1
    12
    Day 20

    To Boadilla del Camino

    September 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    September 19

    Our walk from Hontanas to Boadilla del Camino tired us out! 18.5 miles and the last two miles were an eternity!!

    We had early morning dark walking, foggy walking, big climbing over Alto de Mostelares, and never ending gravel road walking.

    We arrived too late for lunch, and had to wait until 7:00 for dinner…we were so hungry!! I did eat a melted KitKat around 4:30 to take the edge off. 😂

    Dinner was wonderful with around 50 pilgrims at different large tables. While we ate we had a chance to visit with Zabina and Gertrude (Germany), Chris (New Zealand) and Megumi (Japan).

    Tomorrow, we are walking to Carrión de los Condes.    Read more

  • Barb and AlanSpain 2023
    Day 21

    To Carrión de los Condes

    September 20, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    September 20

    Huge happy moment today!!! Paul and Mirabelle, who we met and walked with on the Camino five years ago, surprised us by driving down from the Netherlands to walk with us for two days. ❤️🙂 We were sitting in the plaza and could not believe it when they walked up!!

    What is even more amazing is Alan and I spent a lot of time talking about them today, and we reminisced about what we had experienced with them in this town five years ago. When you think you might not see people ever again, and then you do…it is beyond special. It will be a magical Camino memory forever in our hearts.❤️❤️

    We are looking forward to the next two days! Tomorrow, we walk to Moratinos then to Sahagún on Friday.    Read more

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