Spain
Cirueña

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    • Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

      September 8, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

      Not a hard day but there were a couple of hills. Cristina likes motoring uphill and can really kick it into high gear when she needs a toilet. I don’t like going downhill much and have never walked faster to find a latrine. 😂 It’s a gender thing. 😉

      You see a church spire in the distance and think you are getting close. It’s an evil trick the Navarran and Riojan Lords of old play on pilgrims.

      Great company last night at dinner. Would not trade all the aches and pains and miss the Camino experience. When a local say’s, “Buen Camino,” to you, it really feels heartfelt and is appreciated!

      Yes, those are live chickens in a pen inside the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de La Calzada,
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    • Day 20

      Monastic Life

      October 1, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Before starting my journey today I had a walk through the Monastery of Santa Maria in Najera. While communal dinners and growing your own veges sounds idyllic, all these cathedrals and monasteries are dark cold places and I think the beauty of their architecture would wear off pretty quickly. Especially with the decorations of endless crypts, paintings of Jesus on the cross, etc, etc that make them extra cheery.

      The claim to fame of this mornings monestary was that it was built backing right into the cliff where an earlier statue of the Virgin Mary had been located so the statue remains in the cave which is now part of the cathedral.

      I then headed off along country roads, first through more vineyards, but then into the next valley where the countryside changed to harvested fields. There was no shade and it was about 25 degrees Celsius. A month ago it would have been 40 degrees here for pilgrims and 25 with no shade was bad enough.

      My body is taking it's time adjusting to walking every day and being three days since I had a rest day there was a fair bit of protesting going on. We (me, my body and mind) made it the 15km as planned but it was pretty slow going with lots of long rest stops required when some shade could be found. Given this is a Catholic Pilgrimage I should have been aware that significant suffering would be required.

      I have a pilgrim dinner at the hostel tonight with a completely different bunch of pilgrims and have planned a very short walk tomorrow.
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    • Day 9

      Logrono to Ciruēna

      May 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      41km - is baie tyd om vir jou liggaam te luister. Dag begin sterk en ek figure uit my voorste voete word seer omdat ek op my tone loop. Haak loop soos n normale mens laat my soos n masjien aan stoom die somers dag in. Eerste dag van shorts en T-shirt dra. Navarrete is die eerste café un croissant stop en die kerk is beeldskoon! Stoom aan verby die 200km merk. Dis lang, oop plaas pad met nie veel om te sien nie.

      Nájera se groen grasperk langs die rivier roep my vir n middag slapie maar ek ploeg aan. Enigste bekende gesiggie is Piko die eksentrieke pirate en hy dra vandag geel strepies inplaas van rooi. Niemand anders langs die pad praat engels nie en ek mis n klets sessie. Die laaste 15km was tough en daar is nie n persoon in sig nie. Ek speel musiek en sing klip hard en verskrik n paar koeie.

      Die hak loop is n vreemde konsep en ek kry offisieel 2 diep blase op my regterhak. Ek dra sandale vir die laaste 6km tot in Ciruena. Die vreemste dorp met council huisies maar ek kla nie, ek het weer n privaat kamer.
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    • Day 18

      Santo Domingo de la Calzada

      September 22, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Kolejny bardzo ciekawy dzień, choć dzisiaj pomału kończyły się winogrona i zaczęły ogromne i otwarte przestrzenie. Poruszaliśmy się głównie pustymi polnymi drogami przepełnionymi słońcem i refleksjami. Tak naprawdę nic się nie działo i wsłuchiwanie się w równomierny krok wydobywający z suchego piasku i kamieni odgłosy, które wypełniały wszystko, nadając rytm i jednocześnie organizując przyszłość. Oddani głównie własnym myślom, które co jakiś czas szukały towarzystwa dzieląc się jednym lub dwoma zdaniami. Tak naprawdę minęliśmy tylko dwie osady Azofra była pierwsza i tam napiliśmy się kawy i soku ze świeżych pomarańczy, który stał się naszym ulubionym przedpołudniowym napojem, a potem po dość ostrym podejściu wymarłe miasto Cirinuella. W końcu pokazała się wieża katedry w Santo Domingo, która pojawiała się i znikała w zależności od wysokości.
      A teraz czas na trochę ciekawostek. Sw. Dominik prowadził pustelnicze życie nieopodal i bardzo był zaangażowany w życie i potrzeby pielgrzymow. Budowla katedry zaczęła się w XII wieku i po zawaleniu części budowli została rozbudowana w XV i XVI wieku. Katedra ma wiele skarbów, ale chyba największym jest krypta i relikwie Sw. Dominika. Mnóstwo trudnych do opisania ołtarzy,obrazów i rzeźb, wiele w bardzo rozbudowanym stylu barokowym.
      Jest również legenda o nieszczęśliwym młodym pielgrzymie z Niemiec,który szedł do Santiago razem z rodzicami. Podczas pobytu w tym mieście próbowała skusić go na namiętna noc jedna z dam dworu i po odmowie młodzieńca oddanego swojej pielgrzymce oskarżyła go o kradzież srebrnych monet. Była szybka rozprawa i skazany on został na śmierć przez powieszenie. Wyrok szybko wykonano i rodzice pogrążeni w smutku ruszyli dalej. Wracając tą sama droga zobaczyli syna, który wisiał nadal, ale ku ich zaskoczeniu, wciąż żył. Udali się natychmiast do sędziego aby uwolnił ze sznura ich syna a on śmiejąc się powiedział że jest on tak samo żywy jak kury, które właśnie podano mu na obiad no i tu się stał, kolejny cud bo kury na talerzu ożyły, urosły im pióra poczym szybko poleciały dziobać trawę na polu. Młodzieńca uwolniono ze sznura i od tego czasu czyli od około XV wieku powyżej grobu Dominika w Katedrze jest kurnik w którym mieszka kogut i kury. Mniej więcej co miesiąc je wymieniają. Podobno są spokrewnione z kurami z powyższej legendy.
      Buźka
      Today was a tiering day... Long and hot and no shade. And the last 4 km felt like another 10... For the last 4 km we have seen the tower of the Cathedral in the verizon, but it wouldn't get closer to us for a long time...like it wasn't real... Actually it's very unique cathedral tower. It stands freely a little away from the maim building, almost like it doesn't belong together... While touring the Cathedral we were able to go on its roof and had a great view of that tower, also we climbed the high stairs of tower itself to see numerous bells and beautiful views. Pilgrims had s discount for touring the tower😜. I think we were the only pilgrims who claimed it lately... It was a killer climb. But very worth it additional effort 😁.

      .
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    • Day 14

      Day 11 - Azofra to Grañon

      May 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      At a glance:
      Cultural highlight: going to mass in a church, sleeping in a church, eating in a church, having a ceremony in a church with 40 others.
      Food highlights: Risotto cooked by Michael
      Kilometres walked: 21.72k
      # of steps: 28,756
      Elevation gain: 210m

      We have continued to have good walking weather--breezy ambient temperatures. Today was rolling hills of wheat and barley and no grape vines.
      We finished in Grañón in a church hospital for pilgrims.
      It is a donotavito albergue. Our donations feed tomorrow's pilgrims.
      As we register the hospitalio asks us if we can be the chief chef. We look horrified and suggest we are better being told what to do.
      Michael is here too. He volunteers to be the head chef.
      All 40 of us help. The team of 4 Italian bicyclists are experts with a knife. The 3 young women are born salad makers. Trudy chops tomatoes, carrots, peaches, potatoes, whatever came her way.
      I suddenly remember our 2nd night, at Roncesvalles waiting to be let into the dinning room. I had noticed 3 young women in front of us and when the door finally opened a young man quickly placed himself near them so he would be placed at a table with them (and us plus a few others). That young man was Michael and the 3 women were now making salad. There are 20 of us sleeping on mattresses on the floor. We have a private door from our sleeping room into the loft overlooking the pews, altar and gilt carvings. We just spent an hour each of us, one at a time holding a candle saying a few words on our Camino experience before passing the candle to the next person. Now we sleep. Ricardo introduces himself as we slip into our respective sleeping systems. He gives me permission to push him if he snores. It's nice to know who you are sleeping with.
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    • Day 20

      Camino Day 10: Nájera to Santo Domingo

      August 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      Total Distance: 23.7km
      Step Count: 33.4k
      Blisters to date: 2
      Tortillas to date: 11

      Today was one of the most beautiful days on the Camino, at least for me. I’d heard that many people skip the section between Burgos and Leon because the trail is mostly flat and one mostly traverses the plains but if I’d skipped this, I would’ve missed out on endless fields of sunflowers!

      🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

      I started walking before sunrise and got lost for 0.5km. Well, me and every other person that started walking in the dark. I was soon back on the road and enjoying brekkie an hour later. Jorge had caught up by then and we walked together for the rest of the day.

      We played with all the cats and dogs along the way and just as we came about the most beautiful fields, we started hearing a guy whistling to a random tune behind us. It’d come to be the most creepy encounter on the journey (hopefully to date).

      The guy came up to Jorge speaking in some foreign language messing with his backpack buckles and after one minute started doing the same with mine. We were about to lose our patience when the guy took a step back and we realised he was going to move on. We kept dabs on the guy the rest of the way to make sure we wouldn’t stay in the same place. I was so glad I wasn’t alone in this moment. We only ever saw him once more on the trail after and never again.

      In Santo Domingo de la Calzada, we spent the rest of the afternoon bar hopping and chatting with other Spanish pilgrims. It was a cute little town but the heat was unbearable so undercover was the only acceptable place to be.

      There’d been so many requests for wedding invites from everyone that had seen Jorge and I together up until that point that we ended up having a fake camino proposal/marriage at one of the bars to share with all. And having already met his dad, it seemed like the perfect next step that would ensure endless moments of laughter with everyone for days to come. 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻 💍🤣
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    • Day 11

      Logrono til Ventosa

      April 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      En rolig tur på ca. 18 km. Det tok en times tid å komme ut av byen og inn i en flott park. I parken var det en eldre herremann som solgte diverse pilegrims remedier, drikke, frukt og bananer. Jeg fikk et pilegrims-stempel i pilegrims-passet mitt og betalte 1 euro for en banan. Jeg passerte en større sjø, med et rikt fugleliv og folk som forsøkte fiskelykken. Høydepunktet i parken var noen tamme ekorn, som gjorde seg til i bytte mot mat. Det tok et par timer til jeg var ute av parken og ute i det åpne landskapet. Det er flott med et åpent landskap, men det er lite skygge og varmt ble det - nærmere 30 grader i solen.

      Det ble en lengre pause i Navarerete på et hyggelig torg foran kirken. Det er helt utrolig hvor utsmykket kirkene er, selv på mindre steder. Mye synd kanskje - hva vet jeg!

      Turen gikk greit til jeg hadde et par km igjen til Ventosa. Da begynte det venstre kneet å skape seg. Jeg kom meg fram til hospitset, fant min seng og kunne hvile både meg og kneet. Det er mange folk på veien - ikke at det bryr meg - der jeg går i min egen boble. Utfordringen ligger i å finne et sted å sove, ikke for nærme og ikke for langt unna.
      Jeg vasket både meg og tøyet og satte meg ned for å reservere en seng/rom fremover. Letter sagt enn gjort. Jeg ble sittende med dette i flere timer og har klart å få til et puslespill fram til torsdag. Noen av strekningene er i lengste laget, og for de må jeg nok ty til en kort busstur, for å korte ned til noe som er greit for meg - rundt 22 km.
      Vi var flere som samlet seg til middag; tyskere, amerikanere, hollendere, med flere - og jeg da. En hyggelig middag, med god Rioja vin. Så ble det kveld og dag 12 var i vente.
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    • Day 14

      Ventosa to Ciruena 25km 7hrs

      September 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Todd walked the entire way today. He started with Claire and Cecile. I took a taxi 10km to Najera to get my blisters looked at in a medical clinic. Of course, it was a holiday in that village and the clinic was closed. Seems like there is always a holiday in Spain. My feet were feeling better after a good nights sleep so I decided to attempt to walk the remaining 15km with Todd and the others. We met up in Najera and we kept on walking. Met a lovely mother and daughter from Vancouver and walked with them for some of the way.
      On our way to our albergue in Ciruena we walked through a golf course community which seemed quite deserted. Then we came across a little path to our very cute albergue, Virgin de Guadeloupe. Our host was a tad eccentric but good natured and fun and a great cook.
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    • Day 19

      Sunrise Peace, and a Dog

      June 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

      Somewhere in this, is a lesson.

      I woke to a colorful sky and jumped out of bed to get some sunrise stretchies in.

      I was glad for the puffy jacket, sunrise temps were very cool-feeling (maybe mid-50s?) with an Eastern breeze.

      As I walked up a small rise, in front of a ruined building, to catch a better vantage I thought... "Perfect! Quiet, cool." And I dropped my phone and water to begin sun salutations.

      That's when the enormous-sounding dog in the 'ruin' woke and told me in no uncertain terms that (s)he was not ok with me standing there.

      So I moved. Not far, sunrise waits for no man after all. But far enough to restore some tranquility.

      It's often very easy to make a small change to find tranquility.
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    • Day 61

      Spanische Begleitung

      October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Heute bin ich mit Roven gelaufen… Er ist aus Nordspanien… ich verstehe ihn nicht immer, doch er hilft mir etwas mit dem Spanisch und ich bin dafür so git ich kann seine Englisch Lehrerin… lange ist es ganz lustig… wir laufen auch gemeinsam in Santa Domingos ein… da esse ich mein leckeres Zmittag, was ich noch vom letzten Abend, dem Geminschaftsessem in der super Herberge mitnehmen konnte… danach wollen wir noch weiter laufen nach Grañon… plötzlich verhält sich Ruven ganz komisch… er antwortet irgendwie auch auf meine Fragen nicht mehr wirklich und scheint mich auch nicht mehr ganz zu erkennen… ich bin etwas ratlos… glücklicherweise sind gerade noch einige andere Pilgerer in der Nähe… sie meine er sei vermutlich dehydriert und er müsse trinken und der eine gibt ihm auch eine Zuckerkapsel… er kommt wieder langsam zu sinnen… hmm… er fragt mich dann auch, was denn passiert sei… nun… wir laufen weiter, doch ich merke ich bin etwas verunsichert und bin froh, wenn ich ihn einfach heil nach Grañon begleite… mir ist wieder klar geworden, wie die Sprachbarriere gerade für solche Situationen schwierig ist… ich konnte mich nicht gut genug mit ihm
      Über den Vorfall austauschen… und bin mir bis jetzt nicht sicher, wie es ihm wirklich ging und wie er das erlebt hat… ich gehe automatisch auch etwas auf Distanz…
      Später am Abend sehe ich dann auch, dass er grosse Narben am Kopf hat… ob es also wirklich Dehydration war oder ob er evt. Sonst ab und zu Probleme auf Grund einer Kopfoperation hat, bleibt ein Rätsel…
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Cirueña, Ciruena

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