Spain
Villatuerta

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    • Day 6

      Villatuerta/Estella

      April 20 in Spain

      Today has been by far the most fun day of my Camino. I walked with my German friends again, who were kind and helped me keep a slow pace with my hurting foot. They also gave me a strange cream to put on my feet and legs. No idea what’s in it but I’m using it! The walk today was much easier than yesterday but still had lots of gorgeous views. My albergue has been the best that I’ve stayed in so far. Super cute and quaint. I’m enjoying the smaller albergues where you can really get to know the other people you’re staying with. We had a fantastic dinner where I sat with some new friends, Steph (from England), Mikayla (from Germany), and Christian (from France). We ended up playing a large game of charades where Christian was the star of the show, acting out a pregnant woman. Gathering for large pilgrim dinners might be my favorite part of the Camino.Read more

    • Day 8

      Resümee nach einer Woche

      April 21 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      Wenn man lange unterwegs ist, hat man genug Zeit, über alles nachzudenken. Man fängt an zu grübeln, wägt Vor- und Nachteile ab, sieht was gut gelaufen ist, merkt was nicht so gut ist und vieles mehr.
      Für mich ist es nach einer Woche so:
      Ich habe viel Zeit für mich, viel Zeit zum lernen und viel Zeit zum nachdenken, ich kann tun und lassen, was und wie viel ich will…
      Die andere Seite ist, dass ich wenig Ansprache habe, noch nicht so viel Spanisch verstehe und noch nicht so viel ins Gespräch mit anderen Leuten gekommen bin. Auch macht sich ein bisschen Frust beim lernen breit, weil ich noch so viel lernen sollte und immer wieder, die ein oder andere Vokabeln vergesse 🫣
      Das ist aber noch nicht alles: Alles muss man selber machen 😱, die Abwechslung beim Essen ist nicht so groß weil ich selbst kein großer Koch bin😫 und abends fühl ich mich schon ein bisschen einsam.
      Aber alles in allem so, wie ich es erwartet habe. Ich hab ja noch ein paar Tage vor mir und mal schauen, was die zweite Woche bringt.
      Mein Resümee: Es läuft und kann nur besser werden…
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    • Day 13

      Villateurta (18km / 108.4km)

      April 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Our entire walk was through farmlands today. The numerous wild poppies reminding us that today is Anzac Day - honouring those who served Australia and New Zealand in battle.

      We passed through wheatfields, canola, olive groves, new and established vineyards, “mange-tout” snowpeas and other beans.

      An amazing combination to the farms were the ancient Roman roads, bridges and tunnels we passed through on our journey.

      Cirauqui was one of the towns we passed through, a medieval hilltop village made more famous in the movie “The Way”. A stunning backdrop as we approached.

      We spoilt ourselves with a private room and our own bathroom in Villateurta, ( Casa Magica), a restored medieval building and were treated to a home made Paella with other pilgrims and the now obligatory vino!

      A quiet evening turned on its head when a Group of about 15 Portuguese men arrived! They found some musical instruments and the concert began. They sang some traditional Portuguese revolution songs and ….? A lovely evening.
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    • Day 11

      On the Old Camino

      September 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Our Albegue host Jordi encouraged us to walk the Old Camino, through the hills above the valley. The route changed in the 1200,'s, when the Monastery on the hill complained to the King of Navette, too many Pilgrims we're walking to Santiago. The route was changed to the valley.

      This morning we hiked through the hills, past a boat load of sheep and great views.

      We took a short detour, half mile, Down to the valley route, tho visit the Irache Wine Fountain.

      It is 5 O'clock some where!

      Back up to the Old Camino, then on to our next stop. A short day today, only about 12 km I think, with the detour.
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    • Day 7

      Estella

      September 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Today was not an especially tough day but it did get hot and the last few kilometers I trudged along pretty slowly. One of the photos is of a tunnel under a highway that gave welcome shade for a rest stop.
      Celebrated finding beds in the municipal albergue, which has a much quieter vibe than the last couple did.
      I was super pleased with myself when I used my phone to navigate to a grocery and ATM, and then found my way back without my phone. Whoo hoo! Visited a gorgeous church and cloister, which purports to house a relic of St. Andrew. The really ornate photo is of where it’s housed.
      Get to sleep on a lower bunk tonight, such a treat!
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    • Day 10

      Puerta la Reina to Villatuerta

      September 27, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      I'm going to do this post backwards from where we are now to where we started this morning. We are in the coolest albergue tonight. Abergues are lodging that have large dorm-style rooms and also a few private rooms, often with shared bathrooms & showers. Kitchen and spaces to relax with others are also common.

      Albergues are fairly inexpensive & usually very basic. This albargue is lovely. Recently renovated & decorated very creatively. The owners shared their story with us. All of the furniture was left behind or purchased at used furniture places. Just feels welcoming, homey & comfortable after a tiring day.

      We met up with Jim & Sandy after lunch they walked with us our last 3 miles.

      Found out the berries we've been seeing along the road are actually the berries that Sambuca is made from. Also saw a huge field of asparagus!

      The soil through much of today's walk is very red and clay-like. There are lots of grapes going here. We're not into Rioja country yet though. Just as aside, the local wines are very good in this Navarre region. The are light & the alcohol content is much less than what we have when we buy red wines at home.

      Met Annabell formerly after we passed each other for the hundredth time over the past 3 days.

      We left before the sun was fully up at 8am this morning. Albergues tend to want their pilgrims out early so they can clean & prepare for the next wave of pilgrims that will be spending the night.
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    • Day 9

      Villatuerta

      September 13, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

      Today turned out to be a 'people day' with only 11 miles of hiking but lots of social time. The walk took us through wonderful narrow street villages with fun stops to visit with old Camino friends and meet new ones.

      We stopped 1.5 early for the stage in Villatuerta at a wonderful albergue with regular beds (no bunks)!! It really has turned out to be a retreat after many miles on our bodies. We spent the afternoon doing laundry with a washer/dryer rather than in a bucket, were provided tubs of warm water, Epsom Salts and vinegar to soak our feet (amazing), showered in showers without flow restrictions (like in the states), drank $5 bottles of wine and just chilled. Looking forward to paella for dinner tonight! This albergue, Casa Magica, is for sale. Hummmmm....
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    • Day 9

      Puente la Reina to Estella - part two

      March 31 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

      The rain started at 11, when I was having another lovely bit of potato tortilla. I can already tell I'm going to ruin pans and friendships going through an obsessive phase with this dish at home. It continued until I rolled, sodden, into Estella three hours later.

      I remain less than impressed with my raincoat which was not a rushed or inexpensive purchase. To avoid the double negative, I thought VERY hard about which coat to buy and paid lots when I did, so the fact that it's not living up to its 20k waterproof rating is frankly infuriating. Boo hiss.

      Probably did better than the Spanish family pushing on with their long weekend Camino though, pictured in their ponchos. The little one kept lagging behind literally kicking rocks, I liked her immensely.

      In Villafeurta, the penultimate town of the day, there was a cathedral on the hill and I stuck my head in, to see an entire congregation, standing, mid-hymn. Easter Sunday, you IDIOT. In a state of flight (it's never fight, often it's freeze) I scurried in and found room in a pew. I then cursed myself because how was I going to leave? Anyway the thing continued, still standing, all in Spanish but I could follow the gist - Padre this Padre that. It's not like it makes more sense to me in English.

      After a while everyone abruptly turned and started shaking hands with everyone in the vicinity, so I joined in, earnestly shaking the daylights out of pensioners and grinning. Is that normal? I don't spend much time in churches so I'm not sure, I did like it though. They jumped into another hymn that sounded exactly like the Saints Go Marching In, which I assume didn't start out in life as an AFL song but it is what it made me think of.

      When they all started lining up for communion I slipped out and trudged on to Estella, home for the night. This did involve yelling eSTELLAAaaaa, wetly, for my own amusement.
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    • Day 7

      Estella

      August 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      Es war gut, heute mit extra Polsterung an den Füßen zu laufen. Auf halbem Wege dann Julie&Delia wieder getroffen, die ich in Pamplona verloren habe. So ist das. I.d.R. trifft man sich wieder, da der Großteil der Leute ja dieselben Etappen läuft. So sind wir also um 14 Uhr im Refugio San Miguel eingelaufen, welches von Freiwilligen betreut wird und man nur auf Spendenbasis zahlt. Diese Sorte ist mir bisher entgangen und speziell dieses soll einfach irre nett sein. So fühlt es sich auch an, auch wenn alles etwas shabby ist, aber die Stimmung ist gut. Wurde auch schon zu Pasta eingeladen. Ich hätte heute sogar Lust gehabt, mit den anderen Ladies für alle zu kochen, aber wir haben uns dann doch auf Ausgehen geeinigt. Ansonsten kenne ich sowieso inzwischen 2/3 der Pilger im Hostel, zum Teil auch mit Namen. Estella ist eine tolle kleine Stadt mit viel Geschichte, die aber irgendwie in den Hang geschlagen ist, so dass man irgendwie dauernd steil bergauf laufen muss.....Read more

    • Day 8

      Ermirata de San Tirso

      April 21 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      Einsiedelei von San Tirso

      Das heutige navarrische Territorium, das Land der Basken, erlebte zwischen dem Jahrhundert Il v. Chr. und V n. Chr. eine intensive Romanisierung. In der Umgebung der heutigen Einsiedelei entwickelte sich ein kleiner bewohnter Kern, der mindestens bis zum vierzehnten Jahrhundert Bestand hatte, da ein Dokument von Iratxe aus dem Jahr 1331 von der Kirche und dem Palast von San Tirso spricht. Höchstwahrscheinlich hat die Schwarze Pest das Dorf beendet, von dem nur seine Kirche erhalten ist. Diese hat unserer Zeit mit dem Charakter einer Einsiedelei vererbt, die im neunzehnten Jahrhundert im populären Stil neu errichtet wurde.
      Zu ihr kommen zur Wallfahrt - derzeit am 1. Mai - die Nachbarn und Besucher von Oteiza, am wichtigsten Tag des ganzen Jahres im Stadtkalender.

      Soweit das kulturhistorische Wissen dazu.

      Für Sonntag bin ich doch schon recht früh aufgestanden, es war kurz vor neun. Die Nacht war recht laut, weil viele Autos und Motorradfahrer vorbei geheizt sind. Der Stellplatz liegt direkt neben der Straße, dafür hat er alles was man braucht: Ver- und Entsorgung, Mülleimer und kostenlosen Strom.
      Um 10:00 Uhr geht es Richtung Logroño aber nicht direkt, sondern mit einem Zwischenstopp an einer Eremita. Heute werde ich den ganzen Nachmittag meinen Ordner durcharbeiten und noch ein bisschen Vokabeln üben.
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