Author: Mark Dowty

Another 19+ miles today and. Believe it or not we have pressed forward to the point that we have “made up” the day we rested in Puenta de la Reina.

We’ve crossed the border from La Rioja into Castille y Leon and are staying in the town of Belorado with its famous ruins.

Another night in a private too and we are getting spoiled.

We’ve met so many people on this trip. The spirit on the Camino is one of generosity and friendliness. Everyone seems to be in the adventure for all of its worth and the good is tolerated with the bad and mostly with a smile.

What makes this so? Certainly it isn’t the fact that most are on vacation for most vacation spots aren’t like this. Much credit has to be given to the Spanish people in the area for in most all places you are greeted with a “Buen Camino” and a smile despite the fact that hundreds of pilgrims pass each day.

The closest I’ve come to this experience is tent camping in the mountains. Life would be very much better if we all were able to live this life of generosity.

I had to share in her pain. I have my first blisters.

Today was another long walk covering 30.7km. (19.1 mi). We also stopped at Najera and visited a history museum. Najera is a site recently in the news because the digs here have turned the scientific world upside down because they’ve found prehistoric remains of a race with both Neanderthal and Homosapien genes. Previously “indisputable scientific fact” was that the Neanderthals were a unique species that died out. Just goes to show ya…

Anyway the museum had a cool history being previously a hospital and a prison.

Other than that, today was misty and presented a long walk over compacted clay filled with stones that made concrete feel like comfort foam.

Long walk today. Over 21 miles mostly on pavement. Beautiful sunrise and some other neat sights. Pictures to follow.

A lot of walking on hard track today but the countryside was beautiful. For those tracking is we will go through Logorno tomorrow.

Woke to find Allison’s feet feeling much better. We decided we’d try walking again and were pleased to find she was able to walk without too much discomfort. We took it more slowly at times but also kept a good pace other times.

Since today was Allison’s birthday. She got breakfast in bed (a tradition in our family) – a pastry at her bunk at the albergue – and a present if picked up for her in Pamplona. Her last gift though was her absolute favorite I think, a night in a hotel!!

Today was filled with medieval villages and original Roman roads and bridges.

We’ve ended the day about 5km west of Estella. We’ve entered wine country. Life is good.

Pictures to follow.

Well OK this isn’t our seventh day but it is Saturday and we “rested” today. We walked just to the opposite end of the village Puerta de la Reina and stopped to check into the next available albergue.

“Why even walk?” you may ask. Well there is a rule at almost all albergues that allow only one nights stay.

So today we will allow Allison’s feet to mend a bit. We’d love to see a miracle and have them heal overnight but the trials are part of the Camino I think. Several other people have small injuries, sprains, joint problems, etc at this stage.

There will only be a few pictures today.
Happy Birthday to my sister Nadine!

Relatively easy walk today that included a 1 mi detour to see an architectural curiosity. Allison’s feet have deteriorated a bit so we are going to use one or two of our off days to allow her to recover.

We are staying at a monastery along with100 others walking the Camino. It is so fun to meet and talk with people from so many places.

I took the time to spoil Allison and a South African friend of ours that is also injured and went shopping at the super mercado and cooked up a dinner. I think the gesture and maybe even the food was appreciated.

One highlight if the day was passing the windturbine farm and the now famous statues of the pilgrims bracing against the west winds.

On a Spiritual note I felt good today helping and caring for Allison and spreading some Love around to son others. What does it say about us when we strive for ourselves and remain unhappy but giving to others brings inner joy? What about us clings to the former despite the reinforcing evidence supporting the latter?

As always, pictures to follow.

Walking at a much slower pace today to allow Allison to continue with sore feet. That is OK. We had a wonderful nights sleep, the first that we hadn’t been cold at night. They had BLANKETS. Wonderful.
Passed the battlefield where Charlemagne defeated the Moor’s and halted the advance of Islam into Europe. Can’t imagine a more peaceful place today. Pictures to follow.

We travelled 20+ miles today and saw son beautiful sights including several medieval bridges and beautiful churches. We finished the day just west of Pamplona.
Pamplona is not what I expected at all I had in my mind a bigger city and a dirtier one. It was quaint and clean and full of beautiful architecture. I can see why Hemingway fell in love with the place.
Unfortunately on the way out Allison had to slow down and then after pulling off her boots found several blisters had formed. Bad news for us as we will have to really slow down for awhile while they heal.
Pictures to follow.

Well today it rained. Not hard,…at first.
But we had fun laughing together about the wet puppy look we both took on.

Not much more to say other than beggars can’t be choosers. We were tired of the rain after 17mi and decided to stop in the town of Larrasona. The municipal albergue is sparse, but a good deal at 6E a night. We did get a bit concerned when we were escorted into a spare out building.

All is well however and I’m sure we will sleep well. Pictures to follow.

We slept in late and then decided to tour SJPP but the weather glorious and we asked the local guide if it was tool ate to start for day. “Hmm” he said, it is an easy 8hr walk but the weather is good enough I’d go ahead and start”. So we did.

Seven hours later we arrived and both remarked that this “hardest leg of the Camino” just wasn’t that bad.

The sights were awesome and the pilgrims dinner at the end was superb (pasta with sausage, fresh bread, a whole trout and a yogurt desert and a glass of wine for 9euro each. Very satisfying.

We attended a special pilgrims service and have headed up to our Refugio to bed after a long it satisfying day. Pictures to follow.

After negotiating 5 airport connections and a taxi ride we arrived too late for the last train into St Jean Pied de Port (SJPP). So we took the only other option a 2hr bus ride.
Arriving in SJPP too late for the last service and too late to get into the albuerge we decided to not start at 6am tomorrow and instead to make tomorrow a leisurely recovery day. It will make the start of our pilgrimage much less stressful and will give us a chance to explore this quaint little mountain village in the morning.
So for all of our friends, you will have to wait another day along with us. For now, know that we’ve arrived safely and in good spirits albeit jet lagged.

So here we go. I asked Allison today, “When does/did/will the Pilgrimage begin?”
Is it when we left the house this morning? When we walked out of church this morning with our backpacks? When we get off our last flight? Maybe when we take our first step out the door if the Albuerge in St Jean Pied de Port. Or maybe it was last April when we began to prepare. Or possibly 7 years ago when I first said “on our 25th anniversary we should walk the Camino “

It is really tough to say. All I know is that I’m pretty happy about it. It will be an adventure and from all accounts the start of something new.