“7 High”
Recollections of a Combat Defense Squadron “Ramp Rat”
Chapter 9.7
“Peregrino”
Peregrino NOT Pellegrino
January 14, 2013, Fifty years ago, the Tiger and I were setting up housekeeping in Zaragoza. Suddenly, for the first time since then, I have no responsibilities to keep me home. Now would be the time to return to Spain, and find a conclusion to this story.
The past year has been a tough one, and it feels right to cast off some of the grief with a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. I’ve watched “The Way”, several times, plus many hours of youtube pilgrims finding their way on the Camino. All the pilgrimages I’ve watched and read about were different, all interesting and some captivating. But, as different as they were, I’ve yet to see one doing it “My Way”.
“My Way”, as of this planning, is to fly to Barcelona, shrug off the jet lag on the lag on the Ramblas, for a few days, then Renefe to Zaragoza. I am really looking forward to walking the friendly streets of Zaragoza for the first time in 50 years. I’ve done plenty of You Tube and Google Maps touring and know that it a still a clean, modern, city with a new tramvia system and little of the urban decay so prevalent in American cities.
After a few days of tapas (Will those callamari taste as good as I remember?) and San Miguel on the streets of Zaragoza, I plan to bus to Pamplona to see if I can make reservations for the festival San Fermin in July. Along the way, I hope to obtain a well used bicycle to be my burro for the journey from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and if it is still fun, Fisterra, the end of the earth. We’ll see how it goes from there.
So there is my New Year’s plan for 2013 so far. I’ll try to keep this updated. I hope to use e-mail as primary communication. Comments, criticisms, suggestions always welcome.
***Links
Google Maps route Camino de Santiago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_santiago#Routes
Rick Steves’ Camino de Santiago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_2sGATllOM
A couple other interesting pilgrimages:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iABrMWeGxPA
http://www.youtube.com/user/shfiekhfce?feature=watch
There is so much good footage of the Camino on You Tube; you really need to search it a few times for yourself…
Martin Sheen film “The Way”, 2012.
Guidebooks
http://www.amazon.com/Pilgrims-Guide-Camino-Santiago
http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Spain
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January 27, 2013 the plan is coming together. We had a family lunch in Portland to discuss the trip. Doug is getting his passport and making plans to join me in Spain.
I have been reading “The Best Way”, by Bill Walker. He has me thinking twice about staying in hostels. He notes crowding, snoring and bed bugs. Bill suggests having a tent available is a good thing.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Way-Camino-Santiago
This pilgrim is studying Spanish and working to get into shape.
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January 29, 2013 Ordered the Rick Steves Spain guidebook on “Kindle for PC”. The text was fine but there was no way to display the maps so that you could read them. Not very helpful for a guidebook.
So, I started playing with Google Maps again. Had to break the route into three segments, due to software limitations. This turned into an awful chore. I used the stages described in ‘A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino de Santiago”, usually in the 20-30 km range, designed for the walking pilgrim.
Camino de Santiago - Part 1 - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Burgos
Camino de Santiago - Part 2 - Burgos to Leon
Camino de Santiago - Part 3 - Leon to Finistierre
I’m using the maps to keep track of the route and explore while following this great set of photos by a bicycle pilgrim in 2003, and “The Best Way”. Armchair Pilgrim!
http://www.interam.com/camino/indexeng.htm
Hasta luego.
**********
***
February 18, 2013, Hola Amigos.
Airline reservations are completed. Charges have been made. Cash will be spent. There is no turning back now. I’m stoked.
Doug has photos and passport application ready to be submitted. A cash infusion should get that going right away. They have been raising the price of a passport quite a bit. We will be getting together to plan his travel this week.
I “ordered” a few euros. It turns out you can’t just go to the bank and exchange currency anymore. You must have an account, and the currency must be ordered, taking a “few” days. “We will call you”. It will be a week Monday and nothing yet.
The helpful folks at the bank suggested that they now have a micro chipped credit card for travel abroad and I might want one of those. The first year is “free”. Having read some remarks that the card with a chip might be a good idea, I bit the bullet and signed up. Supposedly no transaction fees for over seas. We’ll see. The exchange rate for the euros was not good at all. That might just be how they make their fee. I’m not going to mention the bank, but I will be ashamed if I have to use that card.
After I had returned the Kindle edition of the Rick Steves guidebook for Spain, which I have several printed copies of… I still had the Kindle program on my net book, so I thought I would try something without maps.
(As to the Kindle program, I refuse to call these things “apps”. An “application” is a system consisting of many programs and processes. Widget would be a more descriptive name.)
So, with the Kindle widget, I’m about halfway through “Camino de Santiago in 20 days”, by Randal St. Germain, “His way on the way of St. James”. He was walking, fast as hell, not riding. The book is Interesting reading. It is a personal account. He even discusses his dick.
http://www.amazon.com/Camino-Santiago-20-Days
Extended reading on the net book is not easy on the eyes. The widget is lacking in features, and has a tendency to hang after the machine has been in stand-by. It could be some interaction with my hardware. It would be more convenient if there was a Kindle version of the file that I could read on my phone.
If it was a common file type, like the Gutenberg project, a widget wouldn’t even be necessary. I notice that the Kindle widget found the books on my laptop that I had previously downloaded from the Gutenberg site and displayed them as its own. At least the Kindle way is cheaper than the dead tree version.
This young couple is walking the French route right now, in winter, carrying their six month old baby. There are commercials to skip and the “new” youtube interface doesn’t put the episodes in order. But it is worth a little cursor thrashing to see this. We are beginning to worry. They haven’t made a post for a week now.
http://www.youtube.com/watchHealth&HumanPotential
By now, I have watched so many videos I feel I have traveled the French Way Camino. I now recognize the popular resting spots in the pictures. Maybe I should choose a way not so popular? The northern route looks much more scenic, and difficult.
The Via de la Plata “Silver” route from Seville to Santiago de la Campostela looks like a real nice ride. It is the way less traveled. With a few obstacles and livestock, the trail reminds me of our “John Wayne Trail”, across Washington State.
http://www.godesalco.com/camino/plata
I’ve been riding the bike, and studying Spanish using podcasts as I go. I have discovered that my poor accent is Sevillano, described as lazy, dropping off the end of words. Hopefully I am making some progress.
Until next time…
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The traditional pilgrim costume for the fiesta de San Fermin, running of the bulls, is white with red kerchief and belt. A rolled newspaper may be carried to direct fellow travelers or running bulls along the way.
March 1, 2013, I’m more worried about the prices than the bulls. Check out SanFermin.com, there is a lot of good stuff on that site. But, they want 22.50 € for a T-shirt? About $33, that’s outrageous. I’ve seen them at 3 for $10, in California, even. The last time I was in Spain the dollar was strong, making local prices low. Not anymore.
Doug and I held a multi-day planning session. It’s coming together. His passport application was finally accepted and they say four to six weeks. It is a good thing the Tiger still had her old passport, as that finally swung the deal. Doug will continue to live if she gets it back.
Hopefully, the Spanish lessons are helping. My friends at “El Salape”, our neighborhood Mexican restaurant/cantina, are helping me with vocabulary too. Now, I can shock the bus boy with my language. They don’t expect that from the old gringos.
The bicycle legs are improving. I’ve been thinking, since two checked bags are permitted on my flight, it would be easy to zip tie my panniers together and toss in some basic bicycle equipment and even a saddle I like. Something else to carry, though, will need to think on that.
My everyday boots are looking a bit disreputable so I’m starting the pain of breaking in a new pair. Each morning I must force myself to use the new boots instead of my comfortable old friends.
The Novella continues on the Camino de Santiago. This pilgrimage is happening right now. It takes a bit of bother to follow from the beginning, but is worth it. I look forward to each new episode. Our pilgrims are suffering bad weather and muddy trails.
http://www.youtube.com/watchHealth&HumanPotential
Finally, here is a link to some great old Zaragoza photographs sent by a friend.
http://www.rafaelcastillejo.com/zaraindex.htm
For now; Adios y Buen Camino.
*****
April 5, 2013 I’m pretty sure my Camino has all ready begun. There are blisters from the new boots, the airplane tickets have been paid for. I even purchased four pair of trousers, so you know it’s serious; I haven’t been seen in trousers for twenty years or more.
Doug’s passport made it through the system somehow. His reservations have been confirmed. He won’t know what hit him when that bull runs over his ass.
I have been duly warned about pocket picking thievery in Barcelona. But on the bright side, I took a drive down La Rambla via google maps street view. While there are now McDonalds, Burger King and Subway shops, in some ways little has changed. The Pan Am Club is still there fifty years later, advertising “Show Girls”, downstairs. Take a look for yourself. I’ll let you know what the prices are these days.
Because there was a cover charge for the chicas downstairs, we were drinking “upstairs” at Pan Ams, while President Kennedy getting ready for his trip to Dallas, on November 21, 1963. If you haven’t heard this story before, you can view "7 High" here.
Time is flying by. Seems like a small mountain of things left to do before leaving home. Trial packing and baggage testing is next on the agenda. I have been avoiding air travel since you know what happened after…
I’ve never flown on an Airbus before, and never on this large an aircraft. Lufthansa has a daily non-stop between Seattle-Tacoma and Frankfurt using the A330-300. (This aircraft was nearly the KC-45.) It can carry 335 passengers.
LH491 landing in Frankfurt.
Compare that to the big deal back in the day, the Boeing 707, the early version that we loved so much carried only 150 souls. It seemed huge back then.
In other news, the famous pilgrim family has arrived in Santiago de Compostela.
It is a wet spring on the Camino, Spain received three times average rainfall in March.
It is only 90 days until San Fermin.
Ya falta menos…
Not long now…
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May 1, 2013, The flight to Frankfurt was great. Boarding a bus to get from the airport to a terminal miles away, going though security again, running to the other end of a huge building to catch a flight that I would surely have missed, had it been on time. Worked up a sweat and rammed a can of beer from a vendor before getting on the second flight, which took forever. Jet and security lagged, I arrived in Barcelona about noon. Another big airport, as we were landing I could see cyclists on the new paths built in the bay. La Ramblas de la mar.
FOD warning on the container in the foreground at Frankfurt.
Barcelona, the Ramblas, it was almost like back in the day; except for the McDonalds, Burger King and Subway, and KFC. Oh, and a Starbucks, in the land of good coffee. I would have thought they were going broke, until I saw the group of Japanese tourists run through traffic to take pictures of the Starbucks store. I passed.
PamAms is still there, but there is a renovation going on.
I hope the Pan Am will be open in July when I return.
And here is what you have all been waiting for, I know I was.
There are an awful lot of tapas in Barcelona. If you look close enough you can see the author off in there somewhere.
Here is something we never see anymore; Cigarette machines, and modern versions selling all the old brands like Lucky Strike and Camels.
Did I mention you can find San Miguel on tap? Something unheard of when we were here.
This was the front page of the local paper. The Spanish are more active in street politics than we see in the US. The “Greeners” try, but what can you say? Nothing like this.
And this was the classified.
You might guess what some of the advertising was about.
This was my favorite place in Barcelona so far.
They have some great stuff in there. Jailhouse photos of Elvis.
This was the night that FC Barcelona was eliminated. The place was jumping with fans waiting to celebrate. But it was the Germans that were singing and chanting in the streets late into the night.
And how about this machine?
Tienes Fuego? Tienes Papel? Tienes Letche?
Here is a link to a quick clip of a couple of the Spanish slot machines that are in every bar. http://www.youtube.com/slots
Suddenly it was time to take the train to Zaragoza.
Ave might mean bird, but it really means fast. The information screen at the front of the car shows the speed. The fastest I saw was 299 km per hour. That is singing right along, way faster than anything we have in the EE.UU.
One hour and twenty three minutes from Barcelona, and we departed and arrived on the dot. The ride was very smooth, a very few switches were rough enough to even be noticed. Rolling along at about 190 miles per hour, I never saw any other trains, except in the station. Since all the cheap seats were taken, I had to go first class. They served wine and aperitif and newspaper in any language you preferred.
This used be an all day drive back in the day. Even now, the regular train takes five and a half hours.
Here is my clip of the AVE from Barcelona arriving at Zaragoza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AztSm1Gtyh4
Here is more than you ever wanted to know about AVE, but there are pictures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE
Hola Zaragoza. Let’s see if I can get this into the cloud!
Adios, Hasta luego.
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Gonzalo and I at Zaragoza Air Base.
May 6, 2013 The AVE arrived in Zaragoza exactly on time. After receiving the royal treatment on the train, I stepped to the platform, and my expensive pacsafe bag failed. The fail safe metal clip broke, the strap let go and the bag with all my electronic toys was bounced off the concrete platform. Pacsafe people, you suck. This will not be the last time I wish for my ugly green Forest Service pack.
Gonzalo was waiting for me at the station, and refused to let me pay for the cab to Hotel Don Diego de Velázquez. The name of this place changes rather frequently, the key and wi-fi connection both indicate Hotel Central. It is at Calle San Miguel, 28. San Miguel is pedestrian only part of its length. There is traffic in front of the hotel, but we would have considered it part of the tubos back in the day, so it is a very narrow street with one way traffic and a lot of pedestrian conflict. So, like in Barcelona, taxi drivers don’t like to go down there, they can get stuck in traffic with no fare.
We went for a walk through the familiar streets of Zaragoza.
Juan Pablo Bonnet, 25.
With no Portero hanging out, a marble front and fancy door, our address looks like a swank hotel now. But above it looks the same.
There is a crosswalk
with traffic signals where we used to park, in front of the door. Our
apartment was “primero centro”, those windows just above the door were ours.
Juan Pablo Bonnet is a busy street. There are shops below now.
Our kitchen window was forth from the right; it had a wide ledge where we kept milk, etc. until we could afford a refrigerator. The landlady’s apartment had the other three end windows.
When we lived there the lower floor was used for storage. Bags of coal and potatoes are two things I remember. Both dirty. The waterway has been cleaned up and there is a pedestrian walkway along the banks now. Here is the view from left to right as if looking out of our windows.
Remember, there used to be a motorcycle and car repair business in the center?
The gas station in Plaza de San Francisco is still there, and now has two pumps.
Repsol instead of Campsa.
Gonzalo and I walked to the Central Market, which was remodeled in 1991.
We walked to the Cathedral Nuestra Señora de Pilar.
This stone bridge was the only way across the Rio Ebro. Now there are others above and below this one.
We walked to the Moorish Castle, Aljaferia, where we got in free because we are senior citizens.
Aljaferia, Moorish Castle
We walked to the Roman baths, and viewed a multi media presentation that was also free for geezers. We walked to… All stuff they have dug up since we were here. It seems like everywhere they try to build something new, they dig up something old, this is how they found this Roman Theater right in the middle of modern Zaragoza.
Roman Theater
We took a bus to a big new, mostly empty mall at least as far out of town as the base. Bus drivers here are all aspiring racing drivers. At this mall, where of course there is a Corte Ingles store and a lot of other expensive shops, all without customers. Because there was another mall just up the road named Puerto Venecia, I took to calling this one Puerto Muerto.
The shops at the Palafox downtown are all closed, having moved to the malls. This is discouraging to see this happening here.
The closest thing I’ve seen yet to a Mexican restaurant, in Spain. We had just eaten. “SoCa”! What a concept. They had an amusing signpost with an arrow to San Onofre. San Onofre is best known at home for it's leaking nuclear reactor.
SoCa restaurant at Puerto Muerto.
Gonzalo’s brother, Francis, drove us to a bodega, owned by friends, about 40km SW of Zaragoza.
Bodegas Solar de Urbezo, Francis and I at the old wine press, and the first glass.
I have so many photos here it is hard to choose; here my short clip of the owner, Santiago Gracia Ysiegas, leading us in song at the end of the tour.
http://www.youtube.com/Bodega visit
Here is a link to a video of the tour, in English, thoughtfully provided by the fine people at Solar de Urbezo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcXuep...
www.solardeurbezo.es
info@solardeurbezo.es
Wine is good. But you can drink more beer. The local brew is AMBAR, what do you think that stands for? Not bad, it reminds me of Pacifico.
American Bad Ass Redman?
My hotel is right in the heart of the city, between the Independencia and Calle Coso, both busy streets with the Plaza España at the intersection of the two. While Coso north has been left to the tramvia, Coso south has a lot of traffic.
Here is a little clip of the intersection crossing. Notice; how the little green guy in the traffic signal runs faster as time runs out.
http://www.youtube.com/Crossing Calle Coso
They don't mind taking their politics to the streets in Spain. See the Police showing off their snappy Mercedes vans, escorting a demonstration on the Calle de Alfonso I.
Police escort for demonstrators.
Demonstrations are frequent and noisy. I went for a walk this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pC2su2izio
The noise makers do get to you after a while, don't they? Ingenious, fiendish little devices. The horn is like you would see on air horn can, but instead with a short pump handle conveniently shaped to push against the leg.
I stopped in a bar for a cafe con leche. Another patron entered and the bartender asked him how the demonstration was going. The response was that there were more cops than demonstrators.
Fell into a comfortable routine in Zaragoza. Waking to the church bells, cafe con leche and churos in the Chocolateria on Calle San Miguel, pick up water and snack at one of the yellow El Rincon stores(Escoge Lo Bueno), and off on the day's adventure.
One of the adventures was to walk back to the train station to purchase bus tickets for the recon mission to Pamplona. Quite a hike from downtown, would be the only disadvantage. The Estación Delicias is magnificent. Built as one of the improvements for Expo 2008, it is also the Bus station, it has a hotel, store, restaurant, bar, auto rentals, and more taxis than you would believe.
This place has everything. Here is the bridge to nowhere.
In addition to a ticket to Pamplona, I purchased advance tickets to return to Barcelona to meet Doug, and for our return to Zaragoza.
Until I next get it together… Adios.
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***missing photo(s)
May 13, 2013 The bus from Zaragoza, left exactly on time and arrived exactly on time. The busses are modern, quiet and smooth. Seating is assigned when you buy your ticket. Odd numbers get windows. The bus advertised Wi-Fi, but it didn’t really connect to the outside world.
The highway to Pamplona is a four lane, divided toll road, with four toll stations where we made rolling stops. It was a two hour ride to Pamplona.
The new underground bus station in Pamplona is a unique design. Busses park in a cog wheel design. It seems to require quite a lot of tricky backing. The taxi entrance is likewise designed so that the taxi can’t make the turn without backing up.
They also have the hardest ridged aluminum benches that are designed to suck the life right out of you.
There are lockers that permit storage up to 15 days. Different sizes have different rates. I ended up renting a medium size; it was 4 Euros per day, which adds up. There were only 40 lockers, so don’t plan on using this facility during busy times like San Fermin.
Leaving everything in the locker, except the bare minimum. I was in travel mode, and it didn’t occur to me to take photos. I did take a few after I checked into the Hotel Europa. Lucked into a second floor room with a balcony above Calle Estafeta, where the bulls run. No bulls today; 52 days and counting.
Here is the famous City Hall.
San Fermin begins and ends here.
And the count down clock at Kukuxumusu, one of the many sellers of all things San Fermin.
Kukuxumusu might mean; bite of the flea, in Basque.
Enjoyed the Hotel Europa, the hotel provided laundry service was a little expensive, but excellent. The free breakfast was also excellent, not just coffee and a roll like you might expect; but scrambled eggs and bacon, all kinds of pastries and cereal and juice, stuff to make little sandwiches, pan, hamon y queso, totally fine business.
Walked back downtown and shopped for a new set of boots. I finally found some hiking boots that are just a little too big, but with two pair of socks I can make it work.
Since it was raining and my feet were in no shape, I spent the afternoon people watching at the bus station. You could pick out the pilgrims, with their aluminum walking sticks, easy. And, the bicycle folks arriving with bikes wrapped in plastic. The locals just fetch their bike out of the belly of the beast and ride off on the platform. My “Mule” would handle that just fine.
Lots of empty shop spaces at the bus station, there is a KFC buried back in the dungeon, I didn’t go there, and it looked like no one else did either. It cost 4 Euros to open the locker and put my old boots in. I bought a newspaper and they charged me so much I couldn’t make myself throw it away when I was finished.
Through the Camino forum I had made arrangements with an inn that would pick me up in Pamplona, and then deliver the next day to St Jean Pied du Port in France.
Istvan met myself and another Pilgrim, Paul, from Mountain View, California, at the bus station and drove us Corazon Puro, in Basque village near the French border. The village has three names; one in Basque; one in Spanish, and the other; nobody knows.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizkarreta-Gerendiain
The center of town is Juan’s Bar and they have the only sign on the highway.
It is just beginning to snow; the only sign on the highway; the bar is up the hill.
The albergue Corazon Puro is a new establishment, not yet in the guidebooks. In America this might be called a “bed and breakfast”, but here it is an albergue or pension. Barbara was the other half of the team running this inn, she is Ulla's doppelganger.
We had an interesting group for a delicious supper. Paul was my room mate. There were the California girls, two other girls from Hungary, and a Dutch IT manager lady.
There was the guy from Texas with his ex from Palm Springs, we were the same age and his name was Stephen, Steve for short. Steve, being from dry old Texas and not really understanding about perspiration not being able to get out if rain can't get in, was upset that his expensive rain gear didn’t keep him dry when hiking.
People “between jobs” and “finding themselves” is going to a common refrain on the Camino.
“The next morning Istvan got up early and drove the California girls to San Jean, then came back and drove Paul and I. Istvan knows that road like his palm, but it must be hard on tires, with switchbacks and many tight turns. It was sprinkling rain and I was horrified to see pilgrims walking on the two lane, no shoulder, road with lots of heavy traffic.
Dodging pilgrims on the highway; new boots; Istavan taking our picture in St Jean Pied du Port.
This photo is in St Jean, where there are sidewalks, on the highway there are only guardrails.
We obtained our pilgrim credentials, and checked the pass reports.
Paul had made reservations at Orison, and although the Pilgrim Office told us the Napoleon route was closed, he was going to hike there and see what will happen. I refused to walk the road and went back with Istvan as far as Roncesvalles, where the secondary Camino diverges from the highway.
There were multiple tour busses parked in Roncesvalles, but the single bartender at La Posada kept disappearing. I was lucky to get my café con leche.
I had my credential stamped at the tourist office, and wandered down to the Chapel, where there were large signs; “Pilgrims only, No Tourists! “ When I entered the office there were two bicyclists filling out forms under the watchful and surly eyes of the clerk. She took one look at me and then ignored me completely.
Even after the cyclists left and I was the only other person in the room she continued to ignore me. I was obviously too clean and dry to be a pilgrim, must be one of those tourists off the bus trying to pull a fast one.
Since the ink on my credential from St Jean wasn’t yet dry, I decided to leave rather than risk the Spanish tongue lashing I obviously deserved for impersonating a pilgrim.
Here is my obligatory starting photo. I could have stood around in the rain and had someone take my photo, but it didn’t seem worth it. I just started walking on the road in the rain. It wasn’t far before the trail leaves the highway, and it is mostly downhill.
With black clouds, that is hard to read; it says, “Santiago de Compostela 790 Km”.
The busloads of tourists, watching you trudging in the rain and mud made it seem real. We're part of the scenery now.
Google maps says it is 12.3 km and should only take you two hours or so from Roncesvalles to Bizkarreta, it took me more than twice that long. The straps on the backpack that had seemed so soft weren't.
Stopped somewhere on a little bench beside a primitive fountain and ate my Hotel Europa bogadillos with a Coke that I had been packing for days. I refilled my water bottle from the water spigot with great apprehension.
This type of bridge structure is common on the Camino. Not ideal for cyclists. This one is in excellent condition. Some of the older ones give you pause even when walking.
I proceeded to get lost in Espinal, the sign was too big and I missed it, and while I was pondering an old guy opened his window across the street and hollered, “Camino?” I responded Si, and he told me to go back and then to the left. He probably provides this service a hundred times a day. Gracias, Senor!
They were anxious about me taking so long, but I did manage to arrive in Biskarret in time for a good hot shower before supper. The temperature has fallen and they have no heat. They have a beautiful fireplace, but nothing to burn. It wouldn’t be long before someone suggested breaking up the furniture.
Pilgrims are supposed to be grateful for anything they get; tourists expect and demand what they want. There were tourists for supper tonight. I was disappointed they were high fiving Americans.
While our hosts were most gracious I could see the shock of realization that there was going to be more of this. They have just opened and are still fresh and pure. Not yet jaded by the tourists.
After dinner, to everyone’s surprise, there was one of us, an Australian lady, who had not yet seen “The Way”. Everyone agreed we should watch it again, and requested that Istevan put it on, but he refused; saying “It is a good story, but it has nothing to do with the Camino”. “Pilgrims shouldn’t watch this.”
I was surprised at his reaction at first, now; I totally agree with Istvan that this movie has nothing to do with the Camino, except for the background scenery.
The next day I decided to try out my new boots again by walking to the ruins at Venta del Puerto and back again to Biskarret.
Started out in the sunshine with a lovely tortilla bogadillo in my backpack, and little else. After the full pack yesterday, this was a real treat, I could let it dangle off one shoulder. It was rain then not. Rain gear on, rain gear off. Muddy trail for the most part. The hillside trails where erosion must be a problem has been paved with stones that become slippery when wet, so folks walk to the sides, defeating the purpose.
After walking to the ruins and having lunch in the rain, there is nothing like walking against the flow of Pilgrims to give you a real idea of the humanity. Most guys tried to ignore you, women would stop and puzzle and some would ask if they were going the wrong way.
It was nice, having the time to explore side trails. Found lots of nice camping sites; sloppy trail runs right alongside paved country road with no traffic for several miles.
I couldn’t help but notice the trash that pilgrims have left along the Camino. Garbage, cans, and plastic trash, and of course “White Paper Daisies”, they are called at home. Where tourists defecate in plain view and leave their wiping paper. I am now pretty sure pilgrim is just another word for tourist.
Along the way there are many monuments to pilgrims that have died on the Camino. This one was at a particularly dangerous road/Camino crossing on a turn on a hill with poor sight distance. It looks tranquil, but I risked my life to take this photo.
Next morning, it was cold, there was no heat in the albergue. It was snowing, but decided to stick to the plan and walk to Ronscevalles and back. This was a fine example of poor thinking.
The quaint bridge was now an slippery trap over a torrent.
Walking backwards on the Camino turned out to be more difficult than I had imagined with the snow covering many of the yellow arrows.
Soon becoming lost, I chased a heard of cows down a lonely trail for a long way before it dawned on me that it had been a long time since I had seen a footprint.
I was soaking wet and cold by the time I found my way back to Corazon Puro. It was cold, spent much of the evening in bed staying warm, listening to podcasts on my signal less phone.
By morning, the snow had melted. I decided to walk west. It was a muddy trail to Zibiri. That is where there was a trail. There were still dangerous spots where it was necessary to walk on a highway with no shoulders, just guardrail.
Because my feet were hurting I decided to look for a room in Zibiri. It was only noon, but seemed everything was all ready full. Pilgrims either book ahead these days, or get up before the sun to race to the next stopping town.
Walking back to a truck stop on the far edge of town, the Gau-Txori Hosteleria, and Restaurant. I was extremely lucky to get the last room.
They turned down a Canadian fellow five minutes later. He claimed he had a reservation but couldn’t prove it. He didn’t even try to speak Spanish. I might have shared my space, but he didn’t want to talk, just stormed out.
Next day, I walked further than I thought, all the way to Pamplona. After noon I never saw another pilgrim, thought I was lost…
The Camino entrance to the old city of Pamplona is magnificent. Especially for the foot sore peregrino.
It was four o'clock by now, and all the albergues in Pamplona indicated complete. I pulled out my credit card and checked into La Perla.
Lucky again, I was assigned a spacious second floor room with a balcony on Estafeta street. The shower alone was bigger than my entire room in Zaragoza.
Bubble people delight the kids on the Plaza Castillo just outside La Perla. Thinking Hemingway tilted a few right here himself.
This is my Pilgrim Passport.
Each stamp is a story. This is my result from St Jean Pied du Port to Pamplona.
What to do now? After careful deliberation I decided this would be a good time to quit traveling for a while, hang out in Zaragoza, relax a bit and let my feet heal.