Day 9 Logrono to Najera 30km

Another big day walking today and it was good to get back to some nice countryside. Weather was good today, nice and cool around 15 and overcast with occasional shower. 

Leaving Logrono we walked through some really nice parkland and then into a national park. Very popular place for the local running and walking fraternity. A lot of the locals say Buen Camino to you as they go buy and it lifts the spirits immediately and even make you feel a bit special.

Shaz setting the pace early on.

We got to see two red Squirrels, cute little buggers running amuck around the place with an old bloke trying to feed them and whistle them up. 

We then came to a reservoir and walked along the wall. Couple of guys fishing with one bloke catching a stonker of a carp while we were there, bloody things are everywhere.

We passed through some beautiful little towns today all with massive old churches. Always amazed at the grandeur of these churches.

The towns all provide for the pilgrim, we stopped for morning tea and had two coffees and these two great little vegetable dishes for only 5euro, about $7.50oz. Next stop for late lunch we had coffees and Tortilla, again only 5euro, great value and the tortilla seems to becoming a habit, were loving it.

All seems pretty simple good food but it's bloody lovely, also helps when you don't have to cook it or clean up :). 

Yummy tomatoes with cheese and prosciutto and slices of zucchini with cheese and ham.

Tortilla anyone?

3 wise shadows

The pilgrim dinners seem to vary between 10 and 15euro and for the dearer ones the meals are great, massive 3 course meals and a bottle of vino tinto.

We are learning that anything under 12euro is pretty ordinary but edible.

Not all the Camino is spectacular, road crossings are common.

We are getting into the swing of things walk wise. Today was 30km but it seemed to go pretty quick and not very hard. Mind you I got my first blister today. How that happens on day 9 I don't know?

Each day seems to bring new pain in a different places, heals, toes, calf muscles, hips and hammies. One spot gets better then something else hurts. Everyone is in the same boat and effected in different ways. There is always someone sitting down on the side of the track mending blisters.

Tomorrow is easier day only 21km so we will have a bit of a sleep in.

Buen Camino.

Local artistry at work in an underpass

  Big bulls around here

Pilgrim crosses on a freeway fence, they stretched for about 1 km

Typical small town street

Day 8 Los Arcos to Logrono 28.5km

Hello all, lost track of where I'm up to as we have had big days. First some shots of the magic country we have passed through the last couple of days.

Red wine fountain, very good hic!

There is the remains of a castle on top of that hill

Sandstone cliffs

The ruins of St Stephens Castle

The 13th century Fuentes de Los Mores or Fountain of the Moors. Through the arches you go down about a dozen steps and it's like a big spa bath.

Shaz and Anne setting the pace

And behind us pilgrims of all shapes, sizes and nationalities, one thing in common, sore feet and blisters.

More great scenery, today was really spectacular.

Today we had a mix of scenery. Most of the day was nice as usual but the last 5 km of the walk as we entered into Logrono which is a big town, population of 200000, was a bit plain. We entered the town area through an industrial area, something we haven't seen yet. But once we entered the old town it was really nice as usual. Today was our last day with Anne so we planed to have big dinner and champaign, problem being we went for tea at 7pm but the restaurants don't open till 830pm. We couldn't wait that long as we were pretty buggered so we settled for so small cafe style place and had the usual pilgrims menu. Unfortunately they didn't have any reasonable champaign so we settled for the usual vino tinto, again. Dinner wasn't to flash,pretty average, probably our first bad meal, we ate it anyway, well I did as well as the girls meals. 

We said our goodbyes to Anne, she's off to Milan, We will miss her heaps, especially Shaz as the two of them yacked all day as they walked, now Shaz will have to put up with me, ha ha. Good luck Anne enjoy the rest of you trip.

Enjoying a G&T at days end

Day 7 Estella to Los Arcos 21km

Well, today I had to pinch myself, I couldn't believe the scenery and the walking could get any better, but it did. Today was the most scenic days walking we've had. First we walked through an Oak forest which opened up to the most scenic country side I've ever seen. Oats on one side of the track, wheat on the other, I think anyway. Native Pine forest on one side and magnificent sandstone cliffs on the other, throw in the odd ancient castle and church and wow, this is amazing. What a great days walking. We even had a rain free day and perfect walking temperatures, around 21 degrees I'm guessing and partly cloudy.

 Met some more Aussies, walked for a while with a Scottish chap Alan, who also works in natural resource management in Scotland and a crew of six Canadians who seem nice people. One Aussie we met spends summer in Sydney then six months a year doing different pilgrimages around Europe. What a life. We saw a 13th century fountain that was made by the Moors and still working fine, just needed a bit of a clean up. Another highlight was we came across our first red wine fountain that you can help yourself too. It's got a slow tap though so you can only get a small amount unless you have a while to hang around, tasted nice, we haven't had a bad red wine yet.  Finished the day off with a couple of beers for me and Gin and Tonic for Shaz in the city square with Anne and about 50 other pilgrims with the church bells ringing every half hour.  All that's left is to have our pilgrims dinner and another great day will be complete.  Shaz went in the church and had a chat with the local guy who was oiling up the mechanisms that run the church bells which was pretty special. We met this one guy, bit of a crazy Frenchman, who is like the French version of the bush tucker man. He showed us a lot of the local flowers and bulbs that you can eat along the track. Shaz tried one flower, I was a bit more careful as the French guy seemed a bit spacey to say the least, hell of a nice and friendly guy though. 

Internet very slow here so I can't download photos today, bugger because the scenery was spectacular. Hopefully tomorrow it will be better as we will be staying in a larger town.

Adios for now

Day 6 Puente La Reina to Estella 22km

Brother Stu has asked about a bit of history so I will start this blog off with a quick history lesson about what I understand of the Camino de Santiago, The Way Of St James.

Early Christian Period 40 A D.

Some years after Christ's crucifixion St James sailed to Galicia in Spain and commenced his ministry amongst the pagan population there. St James mission met with only limited success and he returned to Jerusalem where he was beheaded in 42 A D. Following his martyrdom, St James disciples brought his body back in order to be buried at Worlds End. Queen Lupa conspired with the Romans to destroy St James body and that of his disciples. The disciples managed to escape over the river Tambre with the bridge collapsing just after they had passed over. Santiago was not far away and it was here they finally laid St James body to rest. 

Over time these remarkable events were forgotten. 

476 A D saw the fall of the Roman Empire in Spain to the Visigoths from Gaul then in 632 the Moors took over. The Moors allowed freedom of religion.

In 813 the Bishop of Iria Flavia confirmed the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle and so the story of St James was resurrected. This was perfect timing to spearhead the re-conquest of Spain for Christianity with major battles in 844 and 1212, and in each battle St James appeared at the crucial moment astride a white horse decapitating the Moors to turn the tide of the battle and become known as Moor slayer. On the strength of these successes, St James became the patron saint of Spain, a position that he enjoys to this day.

The first written record of pilgrimage to Santiago was when bishop Gotescalco journeyed there in 950 A D. For the next 5 centuries it became the most popular pilgrimage eclipsing even Rome and Jerusalem. Tens of thousands pilgrims chose to take this hazardous route every year during the Middle Ages to pay homage to St James at his burial site. This increasing activity gave rise to many religious and chivalrous orders dedicated to the protection of the pilgrim. Our route follows the French way. Where we started our walk at St Jean Pied De Port is the town where passage through to Spain was best through the Pyrenees from France. 

In 2010, the numbers of pilgrims completing the Camino reached over 250000 and averaging 200000 a year since consisting of pilgrims from 138 nationalities, with less than 10% doing it for religious reasons. Most do it for spiritual or cultural reasons today.

I hope that is understandable, probly clear as mud and made it even more confusing for you. If you are confused please google St James and you might get a better understanding. 

Today's walk was in light rain all day, which was nice after a day in the sun yesterday. I only have a few pictures today as I have limited wifi. I will post the highlights on tomorrow's blog. Again we passed through great countryside and villages and met more great people. Today we had Tortilla for lunch, yum yum and pilgrims meal for dinner, 12euro for soup, great pork cheek for main and custard for dessert and a bottle of vino tinto. Great value and very tasty and we nearly understood the menu tonight. 

This walk really is turning into something special (thanks Bruce) as there is a certain "spirit"  among the pilgrims. Everyone talks, smiles, gives best wishes to each other and offers help if needed. Each day you pass or get passed or walk beside hundreds of other pilgrims, if you get to town early you can watch as others make it to town. At each days end it brings satisfaction of being one day closer, to what  I don't know. One thing I do know is that I'm very relaxed, my mind is at ease, not a care in the world except for those of you back home, and the aches in my legs which seem to change to a different place every day. 

Shaz is charging along often leaving me in her wake with only small complaint about sore hips and Anne, after a change of boots also charged through the day. Tonight our stay is right next door to massive church, Church of Saint Michael, dating back to 1600's. Have a look at the footings. These photos were taken from our rooms balcony. The church towers over us.

Adios, till tomorrow.

Day 5 Pamplona to Puente La Reina 24km Total walked

We spent our rest day just strolling around Pamplona looking at the sights then met up with our regular crew for lunch, then did more exploring around town. We decided to go for dinner back to the same place as last night but something was astray. The rude bastards wouldn't serve us, we sat down, had to get our own drinks, our own menus and when they just totally ignored us as if we weren't even there we decided it was time to leave. Shaz and Peter got straight on to Tripadvisor and stuck it right up um.

So anyway we found another great place that welcomed us, more fun ordering dinner, or lucky dip you could call it. Sometimes we have no idea what were ordering, you just trust the waiters.

Early night, or you think it is, doesn't get dark till after 10pm so we seem to be having fairly late nights most of the time. Up early to greet some sunshine for a change, turned into a great day, top of 24. Even got the shorts out for some sun on the white legs.

Waiting to cross road on our way out of Pamplona. The Camino is not just lovely country side.

 We walked through Pamplona and started uphill for the next couple of hours till we reached the top of a hill and the  Alto del Perdon, a wrought iron representation of medieval pilgrims, heads bent into the wind. We were lucky only a slight cooling breeze to meet us. Everyone taking pictures till some jerk on a pushbike rides up and decides to lean his bike up against the murals, unpack his gear, have a drink and bite to eat then casually go on his way none the wiser. Wanker!

The countryside still amazes us everyday, so lush and neat. We passed through a few little villages and they are all welcoming and provide whatever is needed unless, you pass through at siesta time. It's amazing how whole towns just shut down, it's like walking through ghost towns. 

The track heading down of the hill

The wild flowers or weeds, I don't know which, are everywhere, my favourite being the red poppies, love em. Sometimes it's like being back at work on the rivers, thistles, hawthorn bushes, blackberries, hemlock the list goes on.

More lovely country side, never get sick of looking at this

Every village has something special, church, arches, the bells on the churches are unreal and I know when I get back to Oz I'm going to miss the bells chiming every half hour, just sounds great. Sometimes I'm not sure why, but they play a tune, not just the normal ding dong, ah there it goes right now, fantastic.

Bells everywhere

Archways leading in and out of towns 

One of the many drinking fountains that are in the towns, we haven't found the red wine one yet but were looking

More churches, the stonework is just incredible, even more spectacular on the inside.

Today is our last day walking with the English Chaps as they are pushing on because they couldn't get accommodation in the next spot were staying in so we are catching up tonight for drinks and dinner. It's been great walking with these guys and we hopefully will catch up, next time were in Europe for sure. Anne did it a bit tough today but marched on admirably, blisters are giving her trouble, but after coming down the hill  today she did the final 6km in her thongs, showing the rest of the walkers how tough we Aussies are. 

Anne doing running repairs to her blisters with nurse Shaz watching on

Some mural thing not sure of its meaning, but I think it if you pass through it grants eternal life :)

Still meeting lots of people everyday, today we met kiwis, Aussies, Italians, Americans, Japanese and a couple doing it with their two dogs, not sure of their nationality.

Peter is still keeping us amused, at a rest point we were comparing scars when he dropped his dacks to show his, but we ended up getting more than an eye full of something else which made the girls laugh for a while, with lots of banter coming afterwards. 

A great days walking again, we are loving it and starting to get into the swing of it. I think we even passed the one hundred km mark today, will have to check but I think we're close, only seven hundred to go :) hope it don't go to quick. The little blue signs with the yellow scallop shell marks the pathway of the Camino. It is marked very well all the way, so far, we are yet to loose the path.

Shaz in her new afternoon ritual while I blog away

Bien Camino, which means good or fine Camino, something all walkers say to each other as you pass.

Bein Camino 

Day 3 and 4 Larrsoaana to Pamplona 15km

Day 3 and it brings more surprises. After breaky we headed off into more rain. It absolutely belted down during the night I was told as I slept through it, thunder and all. It was evident that we had a fair bit of rain by the level and roar of the river close by. 

After a couple hours walking and the rain coming and going we came across a great little bar and decided to stop for coffee and our first taste of Spanish Chorizos, I had been waiting for this moment for a while.

Shaz and Peter ordering our drinks

At last, Chorizos, cooked in wood fire pizza oven,  and they were well worth the wait

We were again walking with our new found companions and Peter continues to keep us well amused along the way. He has been at me because I haven't updated the scores for the  ashes on the blog. Day 1 went to the poms but we have fought back well and currently we are heading for a draw. Although Peter will probly tell you different. 

Those little chorizos and coffee lifted our spirits from the dampness of the morning and off we went again. The country side and old buildings we are passing continue to amaze us.

Old church bell, remnants of an old church.

After more walking in the rain we trudged on and made it to the outskirts of Pamplona. Walking through one part of the outskirts of town was a bit daunting but we made it through to the walls of the city and in through the drawbridge and beyond the walls.

The drawbridge

The massive walls that surround the town once used as protection from the enemies.

Once inside the streets are amazing

Still doesn't feel like we are in Spain, it's nothing like I had imagined. We walked around for a while, checked out where the running of the bulls happens, came across this little ripper of a statue.

This poor bugger is in deep shit

Because we have a rest day tomorrow we decided to play up and found a great  restaurant and some nice champagne to celebrate our walk so far. It didn't take long for us to relegated to the back room as I think we might have been running a muck a bit too much. We had a great waiter who looked after us and fed us some great food as none of us can read the menu. It's a real mystery eating you don't know what the hell you've ordered until it turns up. Peter tried to use his translater and it's reply was "that's shit" so lucky he didn't order that.

Cheers from Pamplona.

The girls promised only one bottle, bollocks. That didn't happen.

Shaz and Anne celebrating

Peter and Jeremy totally out of control, poms can't hold their liquor very well.

After a good night out and quiet following day just exploring Pamplona, we are getting ready for another 25 k's tomorrow. 

Exploring the streets at siesta time, nice and quiet.

Part of the cathedral walls, spectacular

Day 2 Roncesvalles to Larrasoana 28.4km

Day 2, what a different day from yesterday.

Just a quick relapse back to yesterday, our mate Pommie Peter took some photos yesterday and sent us one of the conditions, have a looksie. Bloody cold and wet and a bit scary, but looking back now it was a great experience to get through.

 Patches of sunshine and a much easier walk grade wise today. Only slight up and downs. Today we walked with our Pommie mates Peter and Geremy, and Anne who is from Canberra. Great people and full of laughs. What a great day. This is what we imagined the Camino to be like, great scenery and meeting people from all over the world. Last night for tea we sat with Franco and Anntoinetta from Italy, Hector from California and Steve from Liverpool. After dinner we had drinks with our pommie friends and Anne, great fun. Started the day of walking through farmland. 

So clean and neat it's unreal. Came across some horses all wearing bells, sounded like a musical, just great. I tried to download a video onto the blog of the horses but couldn't get it to work, sorry.

Walking through the forest.

We went through some small villages, all clean and neat as usual. Most of the houses have the date they were made above the door so it makes for interesting walking. At one stage old mate pommie Peter went ahead of us. Next town we came into here he was sitting out front of a bar with 5 pots sitting on the table, only 11am in the morning mind you with 20 odd k's to go. That was ok though the beer actually went down real well, thanks Peter. 

We set of again and went through some amazing forest country and had an amazing experience. At a clearing out of nowhere came all these Griffon Vulchers, massive birds flying not to far above us. Must have been well over a hundred of them, again unreal. This area has the biggest population of these Vulchers in the world, about 1800 apperantly, and we just stumbled across a flock, bloody great. 

Next we came to another little town called Zubiri, another couple of beers and then our way for the last leg of the day. Just when we were getting comfy, down come the rain again for the rest of the day, the last hour or so. All up great days walking with some great people.

The place we are staying in tonight is over 300 years old all with original timber, great place with our host joking that it's older than Australia.  Looking forward to dinner as it has been a very long day, shorter day tomorrow 20ks then a rest day. Looking forward to that.

Home for the night.