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Camino Frances

August - September 2023
A 25-day adventure by Uncle Woully Read more
  • 27footprints
  • 2countries
  • 25days
  • 110photos
  • 36videos
  • 818kilometers
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  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 1

    Bayonne to Roncesvalles

    August 30, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Got up early, and ran to the station in the rain. Jumped on the St Jean train but it went to Bordeaux instead. By the time I back tracked I ended up on the 8:52 and met another 'age appropriate' guy and had a great conversational train ride with Eric. We walked to the peregrino office and he gave me his extra credencial. I was meant to take this train. Then he escorted me out of town and I set of into the clouds and the drizzling rain. With oxygen infused blood from the high Rocky Mountains I busted up the hills like a bird on a thermal. Fantastic I'm free!

    At the dinner table I got Sebastian and Mike together since they share Australian experiences even though neither are Australian. The three of us said at the table and we are joined by a very petite and very energetic Italian girl named Virginia, she lights up the conversation and we have a fantastic evening.

    Mike is my bunk mate and he ended up getting a second bottle of wine and talk some more to Virginia as a result he was tossing and turning and snoring and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night but that would end up being just how it would go.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 2

    Roncesvalles to Zabaldika

    August 31, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Feeling very very good. Enormous full moon setting over the trees as I walk out in the fresh morning air. Gorgeous morning sun light on the fields and the grazing cows. The Santiago sign says 790km, wowza! The track goes slightly up and down, I'm looking forward to the Zubiri descent, dancing down the hill. Ran into Esteh and later Sebastian. I'm flying and feeling so good. But I know I'll will eventually find my true Camino rhythm. Bought an orange from a vendor, best one ever. I found the albergue parochial that Ricky told me about on YouTube. Met Stefan, Matt, Sarah and others for a fabulous dinner.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 3

    Zabaldika to Puente la Reina

    September 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Matt teamed up with me and we launched down the hill to Pamplona. In town we had a quick stop as we devoured a fantastic sour dough baguette and some pastries.

    We set of to the pass del Perdon in the full sun. Wind turbines overhead milling at speed looking for Don Quixote to poke them in his fancies.

     In Obanos folks were wearing their traditional Basque white with red bandanas for the week long fiesta. Tonight is the bull run and we choose to stay in Puenta la Reina and missed a fabulous albergue, next time I'll use the Gronze app! Had to the hike back 3k for the fiesta in flip flops, we got pinned down in Obanos by rain and then a hail storm, but escaped in the only 15 minute clearing.

    I stressed the front of my shins just above the ankle in the process though and that would become the start of my "Camino adjustment".    Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 4

    Puente la Reina to Estella

    September 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Rain. Lots of rain. So much rain that the trail and the tunnels flooded. It was great fun to splash along the trail and stand in knee deep water rushing through my legs. We're soaked. It would have been a much longer day if not for the conditions. The stressed shin is also dragging me back and it is manifesting serious pain. It's the fourth day and by now the pace is causing some fatigue, I take a nap for lunch. We make too much dinner in the kitchen with the other Italians.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 5

    Estella to Los Arcos

    September 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The shin is inflamed it hurts and I am going to try to slowly move forward to keep the momentum going. I stumble to Los Arcos, where I find an albergue full of Camino friends. Stefan, Sarah, Eric, the airplane Bayern, Diane, the Indian girl all of them on the plaza having dinner and drinking beers and wine. An impromptu gathering, very fun.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 6

    Los Arcos to Viana

    September 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    The 'regular' section is to Logrono. But my shin is feeling terrible, swollen, red and aching I know that it needs rest, ice, elevation and compression. The way is much too far, it's better to heal up and then set off again able to enjoy a peppy walk versus dragging along. So I stopped in Viana. I found the gardens of Serratt by the old church and spent the afternoon reading a book that was left in the albergue. It was fate once again, just the text I needed to read at this stage of my Camino. The Inner Work. Had an unplanned dinner at the Oasis, where the wonderful Canadian owner presented me with a cooling compress for my shin. Then ran into Virginia again, surprise! Marco from Sweden and an Asian guy whose name I didn't catch. Wonderful time.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 7

    Viana to Navarette

    September 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    A late start. I'm sitting in the entrance of the albergue, nobody is present, a woman walks in and is looking for the manager. She found a Tennessee drivers license. I tell her that I might be able to find this person online and at worst send the license back to the address, but I would probably find her on the Camino. She entrusts the card to me and says she is happy it will find it's way back. I run into Sebastian from Sweden and talk to him, he needs poles and I need a sleeping bag. But instead of turning left to the store, I turn a quick right to grab a baguette. There at the Oasis cafe I recognize the owner of the drivers license! Hello, your middle name is Marie. She frowns. How do you know that? Astonished even more as I hand her the lost drivers license, she exclaims, "How? I mean I didn't even know I lost it. This is amazing." She is a wonderful being, I know because I had already left a message on her Instagram and saw how she lives her life. She is a saint. I'm glad my small gesture can make her life better. She blesses me with a prayer, it was wonderful. The Camino is at work. So many fortuitous events cannot happen in such a short time without spiritual intervention. It is all meant to be. I read some more of my book 'The Inner Work' as I board a bus to save my shin. I'll walk again. This is my mulligan, just one well chosen bye, I'll miss walking the industrial zona of Logrono. The only other assist I might choose is a lighter load tomorrow to let my shin get back into the groove of walking. In Navarette I run into the Indian girl and then Matt who teamed up with a Hongarian woman named Suzie. We have a great conversation on the terrace in the sun and catch up. So great to reconnect quickly.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 8

    Navarette to Najera

    September 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Left nice and early with the hope that the shin is going to hold up. But with 4km left to go to Najera the pain started shooting and I hobbled into the outskirts which were uninspiring and I was thinking I'll take a bus elsewhere, but then by the river and the old town a beautiful spot appears. I am going to spend some time here watching pilgrims walk by. The plane will have to be delayed and I need probably 4 or 5 days to let it heal properly. Not a bad spot at all to hang out!Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 9

    Najera healing sojourn

    September 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I have two nights in the current Albergue. At breakfast I met Carla and we had a very nice conversation over coffee until I went to the pool for a fantastic swim in a 50 m basin. It's a beautiful summer day and Eric, whom I met on the train to St Jean, joined us for dinner over a wine fueled, spirited spiritual conversation. So far the Camino is a compressed microcosm of life, presenting fortuitous serendipity in rapid succession. I'm letting it unfold and come to me. I'm here, I'm pleasantly relaxed, unfettered by my injury. My walking Camino has been altered into a purely spiritual Camino, reading The Inner Work and doing this work is already paying off dividends in self love and peace. A slower pace which was something identified during days 1 and 2 when I was flying across the path as an excited, competitive, impatient even, goal driven pilgrim, completely unaware of the real gift this Camino can bestow. Looking back it seems silly and I know there is so much more transformation ahead. Can I transcend? It would have been my mother's 97th birthday and she was fond of saying, "The sun always shines on my birthday".Read more

  • TravelerCamino Frances
    Day 10

    Healing is not happening

    September 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    My second day hanging out at the 50 meter pool. It's a beautiful day for it. I'm relaxed. I realize that I could be here until Monday and the inflammation might still be flaring up. Walking might not be the best way to proceed to Santiago. Bus is out of the question. So the idea struck me the buy a bicycle. Decathlon in Logrono has a decent bike for just 265 euros. I call and the right size is in stock. Decision made. No accommodations in Najera available so I camp by the river tonight. There is a band playing until midnight and I luck out - I'm not subject to the 22:00 curfew. 5 encores! The crowd would not let them stop.Read more

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