Spain
Los Arcos

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    • Day 87

      gut begonnen

      October 18, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      nach einem ausgiebigen frühstück waren die ersten höhenmeter schon wieder in den beinen. navarra ist ein unglaublicher traum; die weiten mit den bergen, den dörfern könnten nicht schöner gemalt sein. nach etwas über 40 kilometern sind wir in los arcos angekommen, welche eine gotische kathedrale hat. das albergo, welches wir vorreserviert haben und auch das einzige ist, welches hunde erlaubt, ist eine völlige bruchbude. aber da es ja am pilgerweg liegt, kann man auch für das geld verlangen. wir sind dann direkt wieder an die planung der nächsten unterkunft gegangen und haben nach 4 stunden suchen und telefonieren aufgegeben. zuerst einmal etwas warmes essen und dann weiterschauen. wir haben nun 2 optionen, welche aber noch offen sind. morgen werden wir weitersehen. es wird immer wie schwieriger, mit 4 kindern und vor allem mit dem hund etwas zu finden. und auch das wochenende - es gibt sogar wochenend-pilgerer - gibt es vermehrt schwierigkeiten, etwas zu finden. wir sind positiv gestimmt und schauen weiter.Read more

    • Day 8

      Estella til Los Arcos

      April 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      I dag fikk jeg sendt sekken til dagens destinasjon, Pension Mavi i Los Arcos, en tur på 22 km. En lett sekk viste seg helt nødvendig, for etter noen km begynte det venstre kneet å vise seg fra en verre side. Senere skulle det vise seg at det ikke var den verste siden, den kom senere. Leden tok oss ut av Los Arcos og snart til en vingård som serverte vin og vann fra tappekraner i veggen. På en informasjonsplakat var det skrevet at de leverte 100 liter pr dag i snitt til pilegrimer. Etter vingården passerte vi en smed som lagde alt mulig av pilegrims-artikler av skrapjern. Mye fint som jeg kunne tenke meg å kjøpe, men ikke å bære. Resten av turen gikk stort sett gjennom det åpne landskap, vin og jordbrukslandskap. Vi passerte et par mindre byer - på noen høyder - bakke opp og bakke ned. I bakke ned ble det venstre kneet rimelig surt - ingen Paracet å oppdrive - så det kneet måte jeg slite med helt fram til Los Arcos. Ironien pr nå er at det er det høyre kneet som normalt er ugreit, men det har bestemt seg for å spile med - med støttestrømpe.
      I dag har jeg kjøpt Cinfadol ibuprofen krem, og Paracet. Klar for morgendagen, som er en strekning på 28,5 km, en lang dag. Jeg traff den koreanske familien igjen og de inviterte meg på middag i Logrono, som er morgendagens endemål. I Logrono blir jeg i to dager, hviledager, og på dag to skal jeg treff den koreanske familien til middag. Om det venstre kneet ikke bedrer seg, har Jeanette funnet en klinikk i Logrono som kan setter en kortison injeksjon.

      Den koreanske familien foreslo buss eller taxi de siste 5 km. Vi får se hva morgendagen bringer. Kvelden ble avsluttet med et amerikansk ektepar, hyggelig selskap og ikke så høylytt som amerikanere kan være. Nå er det kvelden og i dag har jeg enerom - heldig som jeg er.
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    • Day 23

      A calm walk to Los Arcos

      April 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Yet another beautiful day…and this time not many ups and downs, just one out of Estella, and one up to Villamayor de Monjardín, otherwise just even walks through these never ending green fields that we have been so wanting to see! Again it was cold, about 6° when we left, and took longer to shed another layer as there were many shaded areas, and also a lovely breeze. But it did get hot by the end, and I realise I have totally misjudged the strength of the sun…I had thought it is early spring, and it is even snowing a bit…but of course the longest day is June, and I have got sunburnt hands and legs, and even lips…I keep using lip balm but it doesn’t have sunscreen in it…I will have a visit to a Farmacia in Logroño and get some strong (and up to date!) sunscreen…

      So today was 22 kms according to Amr’s watch…mine was a bit less (21)…but less demanding, and through such gorgeous countryside…it is the day when leaving Estella we pass the Fuente del Vino where you can get vino (and agua) from the fountain at a monastery winery…not maybe the thing at 8.30am, but you have a sip to set you on your way! Even taking it fairly leisurely we arrived at Los Arcos at about 3 o’clock…so much quicker without hills. Found our hotel (we stayed here last time) and the bags were even in our room! Luxury! Then went to the plaza to have a beer, and found many others there and had a lovely unwind.

      Back to the hotel for downtime before dinner. Our hotel’s restaurant is closed at the moment, and he had directed us to a restaurant across the road. When we investigated at 3.30 it was all very quiet, except the bar, and I wondered if people would be out for dinner, as in the plaza everyone was snacking…so when we wandered over to the restaurant at 7.15 I wondered if we would be dining there alone…well we got there and it was full! We were told to wait, but a lone American saw our predicament and invited us to his table, so we got in…so much for dining alone!! The American was Eddie from San Francisco and was good company…he was the person who took our photo together at the Fuente de Vino in the morning, and we had a good dinner together. (Again €14 for 3 courses, wine and bread). I wanted to have the rabbit, but it had finished sadly…but had a delicious veal stew, starting with the bean soup…Amr had a trout. And we both ended with arroz con leche …yum…

      It is very good..the camaraderie is still there…we are getting to know people, and we all greet each other very comfortably..from many countries. We will lose Eddie probably as he is going straight on from Logroño where we arrive on Friday. There is an Austrian who we meet and greet..he always knows us and calls us Australia and Egypt, and we call him Austria…one day we will find out his name! I am glad the Camino warmth and support continues.
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    • Day 19

      Prélude à la Mesata

      May 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      La Mesata est la portion désertique du chemin réputé pour une étape pour travailler sur son mental, un chemin de même décor avec la sensation constante de revoir la même image pendant
      200 Km.

      Ce matin nous avons eu un avant goût, vignoble de la région du Botegas et des champs de blé d'une distance de 12 km, la température était idéale et le chemin bien balisé,

      Arrivé à Los Arcos nous avons fait notre pause diner espanada repos avant d'entreprendre le dernier
      8 km et atteindre le 30 km de marche pour la journée, arrivée à l'auberge 3h15 marche de 6h14, température idéale, de 11 c à 21 ensoleillé avec une bride constante pour refroidir les ardeurs
      de certaine montée.

      Belle journée

      Demain logrono capital de la région du Rioja
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    • Day 9

      Day 10. Los Arcos

      May 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      A pleasant, short 21 km walk today on natural paths. I had only walked 5 km when I came across a place offering pilgrims as much free wine as they wanted from an outdoor spout. We’re in wine country wine country surrounded by by vineyards and olive groves. It was just 9:00 am , so I only took a sip with a little water - very dry. Shortly after the 5 km point, a fork in the road gave us the option of taking a longer, level route or a shorter, steeper one. We opted for the latter. The two routes came together about 5 kms from Los Arcos, today’s destination. I walked the whole 21 kms accompanied by Thomas, from Germany, who did an excellent job maintaining the conversation in English. He is recently retired, and set a healthy pace. He knew a lot about botany, identifying all the plants and birds as we progressed. The only issue was that he identified the German name for each tree type, so I didn’t learn much. We did spot a few cherry trees along with the sound of a cuckoo bird. I did recognize the many oak and pine trees.
      Thomas and I parted in Los Arcos as he went to a town 5 kms further. I later connected with a group of fellow pilgrims a few hours later in the town square. The first thing I enjoy after a long walking trek is a shower, then the next step is having a beer- just one seems to do the trick. Tonight, I connected with a few Americans, two Danes, an Aussie, and a Kiwi. One American, from Michigan, named Tony, was a real treat. He suddenly decided to do this trip two weeks ago, and when his work refused to give him the time off, he quit, much to his wife’s chagrin, they’re still on speaking terms. According to him , the most important job he does is shop for his wife, and three daughter’s clothes . He had us in stitches with one story after the other. His most endearing quality was his ability to laugh at himself.
      Today was easy, but tomorrow is another story. Many people have foot issues and tomorrow’s distance is 50% longer than today, so I’m hoping for an early start.
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    • Day 11

      Day 8 - Los Arcos to Viana

      May 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      At a glance:
      Cultural highlight: ancient paintings on the roof of a church that was a ruin yet the paintings have survived amongst the rubble.
      Food highlights: red peppers stuffed with spinach and walnuts in a tomato sauce. And lentil and chorizo soup. Oh, and white asparagus on our lunch picnic boccadilla.
      Kilometres walked: 18.34k
      # of steps: 28,842
      Elevation gain: 150m but some of it was lost and regained.
      Our choice was to walk 28k or 18k. We chose (wisely I think) 18k. Trudy, however, felt she could walk the 28k. I replied that I could too but it wouldn't be fun.
      Trudy woke from a dream that she and Peter and others were at Barry Lortons who with Elvane who were hosting a potluck and neighbours and friends were bring food. Later today you got an email from Elvane that Barry had died. He had suffered from bladder cancer. Barry was one of those characters that make the world more interesting. Sad to not have him here.
      We have become immersed in the social life of the Camino constantly running into the same people. Today we had coffee with four Aussies, whom we met at Orison, on our first day. This evening we had dinner next to them. One of them Viv, originally from England, worked as a hairdresser on the Alaska cruise ships back on 1975. She worked for a hair salon that had salons around the world and ended up in Australia.
      Tristan, with whom we shared a room, is having foot issues but still walking.
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    • Day 35

      Los Arcos

      May 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      I left Villamaria at 8.10 a m. And walked through the beautiful fields for the next 13 kms to arrive here in Los Arcos. I tried to get a sense of the very old albergue I stayed in last night with a couple of pics, but they're a bit blurred.
      The rest of the photos today are of the beautiful surroundings as we walked. Jessie I met on the trail, from Colorado, was very kind and shared some time and resources with me. After she walked on she came back to me and put some flowers in my hair, "heart's desire" she said, and she was off again. This is as it happens on the Camino. We are all fleeting companions.
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    • Day 14

      Day 10: Los Arcos to Viana

      May 27, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

      Mileage: 13 miles? Guidebook says about 12, Garmin says 14
      Elevation gain: 1,401
      Elevation loss: 1,230
      Total mileage: 96.5

      I wasn’t sure that my feet would ever function again at the end of yesterday’s walk, but somehow they felt pretty good this morning. A beautiful sunny, cool morning turned into a warm sunny afternoon as we continued to walk up and down the hills. The scenery continues to amaze. We’re starting to recognize quite a few fellow pilgrims who seem to be on the same schedule as us. Tonight we’re in an albergue (hostel) with many people. I think the earplugs will come in handy again!

      1. Iglesia de Santa Maria in Los Arcos
      2. Yes, more
      3. Lots of impressive mountains in the distance.
      4. The village of Torres del Rio
      5. Many of the steeper slopes, especially near towns, are paved like this. You see the paving stones and know it’s about to get steep!
      6. I like the post horn symbol the national mail service uses
      7. Lots of vineyards today. This one reminded me of a Van Gogh painting with all of the crooked trunks. (Vines? Roots?)
      8. We passed several wild cherry trees with ripe fruit today. My family knows how very happy this made me!
      9. The weather was nice but there were So! Many! Gnats! today. They really loved Angela!
      10. Ruins of la Iglesia de San Pedro in Viana. We had cheap but delicious beers and snacks at a table quite near here in perfect weather. Great ending to the day.
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    • Day 10 - Estella to Los Arcos - 23km

      September 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      My feet are so tired! I am in Los Arcos after almost 24km.

      I started out this morning around 7am and it was still dark. That was ok as we were walking through the city first. It was very hard leaving the albergue in Estella. I kept touching the walls to feel Jörg. I had a very strong urge to hug the building but I didn’t.

      Just outside of Estella is the famous fountain that dispenses wine. Even though it was only 8 in the morning, I still filled up my shell and drank from it. The shell I am carrying this trip is actually Jörg’s shell from 2009.

      The first 10km went pretty quickly. It was variable terrain and lots of shade so it was pretty good. I stopped at Villamayor de Monjardin. It was a place where Jörg and I stayed overnight in 2009. I visited the albergue and stopped and had lunch there.

      After that, the next 12 km was mostly gravel road and very little shade. I decided to put on my headset and listen to some music to get through it. At one point, the song “Country Roads” came on and I started to cry. It was the words “Country roads, take me home, to a place, where I belong ...” that hit me. I was crying because I feel like don’t have a home. Jörg was my home. Jörg was the place where I belonged. There is nowhere for those country roads to take me, but to just wander.

      At about the 16km mark there was a food truck tucked in some trees. They were offering food including Hagen daze ice cream, what a treat. When I approached to order, they asked me if I was Canadian. I said yes, and they gave me a Canadian flag pin. It turns out the owner is a Canadian from the Vancouver Area. Just when I was feeling like I didn’t have a home, and felling a little lost in this foreign country where I don’t speak the language, I was suddenly special because I was Canadian. Perfect timing.

      About 3km from the end, there was some more shade and some benches so I took the opportunity to rest again. My feet are tired and there are some blisters on my toes. The blisters aren’t too bad, just the tired feet.

      I have been reading my old journal from 2009 and it almost always starts with “I am in pain, back, ankle, calf ...”. I am really surprised that I only have tired muscles, no real pain. I was getting a type of burning in my left quad, but one night I did some major rolling on the area and it is no longer bothering me for now. I think the slow start was the best thing for me.

      I am in Los Arcos and the albergue is full. It was full when I arrived, but I had called yesterday to reserve. It really is crazy these days about the reserving. Tomorrow I plan to stop before Logroño, so it may not be so bad, but I have a reservation for Viana anyway. She says it is reserved until 2pm. Often people reserve a couple spots and then just cancel if they get something else, and just take the loss. The problem is, someone else who wanted that spot was told it was full and walked away. There’s got to be a better system.

      I am thinking about food now, but my feet are so tired, and it is about 2 blocks away ... I guess I better go.

      TTYL
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    • Day 11

      Ain’t No Mountain High Enough…

      September 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      Estella to Los Arcos
      Day 8 - 21km

      We had another early start this morning with our first stop just a couple of kms out of town at the famous wine fountain. Unfortunately we were too early as it doesn’t start gushing wine till 8 😧. We pushed on regardless and had a lovely walk up the mountain. The views, again, were incredible and we had a nice breeze to keep us refreshed. We passed a lovely Spanish lady serenading us with a piano accordion along the path which was a treat to see in the middle of nowhere 😍 We were walking through wine country with lots of Vineyards and Olive trees. After a couple of coffee/lunch stops we arrived around 1pm at Los Arcos which is another quaint little town with lots of interesting streets. We were happy to relieve ourselves of our backpacks at our accommodation and after a freshen up we headed for the town square and had a well deserved jug of Sangria with a few other pilgrims. Early night tonight as we have a big walk tomorrow. 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️Read more

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    Los Arcos, 31210

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