Tag: mna

Managed the climb to the highest point on Camino in the heat and sunshine. It was hard and beautiful and hot and lovely.

We are spending the night at O’Cebriero at the peak in order to see the sunrise.

What a difference the day makes. Last Camino, O’Cebriero was socked in with fog. Today it is glorious.

-Mark

Well that was exciting. Went 20.3mi today and didn’t feel it. Was too focused on dodging the hail and lightening bolts. Seriously, it was a pretty spectacular storm here in the mountains before O’Cebriero.

Got totally soaked and laughed at the insanity of hiking in this weather like it was something quite normal.

Had a great day overall.

-Mark

An iron cross at the top of Mt Irago has stood since before the year 1100. Traditionally modern pilgrims carry a stone along their journey that represents a burden they bear. At the foot of the cross they leave their burden and continue on their journey.
Allison and I were privileged once again to participate in this tradition.
-Mark

I was a little nervous that after 2 days off in Astorga the walking would be tough today. It did indeed start out that way but after about an hour we got in a groove and flew up the mountain to Foncebadon before noon. That’s about 26km (16mi) in about 6hrs.
It was hot but the air up here is nice and the village peaceful.
Last Camino there was one Albergue here. The growth in Camino and the opportunity it has provided have obviously been a boon to the town. There are now 6 Albergues and several restaurants.
-Mark

We had a really cool Albergue last night. Hammocks, Foot spas, a sand walk to ease the bare feet, etc etc.
Today however we had more road work and honestly although it was only 24km (14.8mi) it was hot and tiring.
Spent some time in thought today with little else to do. Got an answer to wait (the least helpful and most frustrating answer possible for me to hear).

Oh well, wait I will.

-Mark

Well today was kind of a bust. We walked a lot and made great progress on Camino but it was largely industrial and not nice at all. The problem was we did both sides of Leon (in and out) through the suburbs at both ends. I don’t recommend this route.

Oh well, it’s behind us now and tomorrow we’ll be back in the countryside. On a happy note we’re staying at a cool Albergue in Valverde de la Virgen with hammocks, a foot shower, and a great meal coming.

-Mark

During our long walk today I got some of my audiobook read and listened to a lot of music.
I started with a shot of Crowder. Boy did I need that. “He is jealous for me” kept echoing through my head today. Need to be more “sold out” and I know it. – Mark

Went 40.5km or 25.2mi today. ‘Nuff said. Will walk into Leon tomorrow.
More later. -Mark

Well,
1) I like the stories they tell In their art, architecture, stained glass, etc
2) There are a lot of cathedrals in Europe/Spain
3) Most of the treasures are contained in Cathedrals as opposed to museums. At least most older treasures.
4) The history of Spain, and other European countries lies in her churches. In them you can see the fall of Rome, the rise of the Visigoths, the Muslim invasion, the reconquista, the age of kings, the age of monasteries, the renaissance, the reformation, the counter reformation, humanism and even secularism. You can see evidence of wars, and of new worlds explored IF you know what to look for. You can see history…..and I love history.

-Mark

Allison and I would now be in last place. Good thing it’s not a race. It’s been so fun to run into Cindy and Nadine and Ken over the last couple weeks. But alas their schedules were always going to force us apart and Allison and I are now farthest East.
Honestly this would have bothered me a bit a few years ago. This Camino has been so much more relaxed and easy because of it. Oddly enough, we’re doing just about the same amount of km each day as last time and perhaps even a bit more.
Today we passed into “unknown territory” the part of the Camino our schedule forced us to skip last time. It’s fun to see things for the first time again.

-Mark

Had lots of time today to think deep thoughts and ponder the universe. I did none of that.
I kept wanting to, but all I could do was feel contentment. Not a bad day at all.
-Mark

Spent Allison’s birthday as a rest day. It was a nice leisurely day in Burgos. Slept in late (for Camino anyway – i.e. past 7am), had a breakfast with eggs (a treat), toured the Cathedral, climbed to the castle, and had dinner with Cindy. All in all a great day celebrating Allison’s birthday in Spain. – Mark

Little to mention on our walk today through wheat country. Last significant climb tomorrow until after the maseta.

We left Rioja and entered Castile-Leon region today. We’ll be in this diverse region until about 10 days until the end. I’ll miss the wine rows.
-Mark

As I mentioned, we stayed at Granon last night (met up with Nadine and Ken again ironically).
Granon is another donativo and that alone makes it special. Even more so however are several things they do there including…
Sleeping in the church belfry, preparing meals together, yoga/stretching, communal dinner, meditation/reflection time in the choir of the church after dinner and sleeping on mats (much more comfortable than you are probably thinking).
It is just a very unique and special experience and one that I will be remembered and treasured for a long time.
-Mark

We woke this morning to a thunderstorm in Logrona. Knowing from our last Camino that the next two days were interesting but more of what we’d already seen Allison and I took advantage of the poor weather to take our one and likely only bus ride a day ahead to Santa Domingo de la Calzada. We walked from there to Granon.

Granon is Special…more later. – Mark

Well, Allison and I had our adventures getting up at 5am and starting out in the dark and cool air. We began along Roman roads, took an alternate (longer and more countryside) route around Estella, stayed a bit too long at the Bodegas Irache (winery), walked to our destination only find it full. That left us with one choice…walk another 12km to Los Arcos. That’s a 36+km (>22.4mi) day in the hot sun.
Too long but we scraped by without blisters.
We are beat though and treating ourselves to. Private pension for the night.

More later
-Mark

I think that’s about right for “3 years ago”…Allison and I had to halt our Camino for a day because she had so many blisters. We’re blessed that this year we’ve both survived with no blisters so far and that is a big relief. I’m happy for Allison.

What’s the difference. That’s hard to say. It may be the different shoes, better socks, more socks, foot goo, better discipline, the result of many prayers or just good fortune (likely a combination of all of the above).

I am having some trouble with my back muscles and knees, but it’s minor so far and manageable.

The people experience on Camino is awesome as we’ve come to expect. Everyone is quite giving, generous and caring.

-More on that later.

After a wonderful night last night and waking up to a soft Gregorian chant at the refugio this morning we headed to and through Pamplona ending the day after only 13.5km – “slackers”- I know right! It really was an easy day.
This time three years ago Allison had several blisters and was beginning to struggle. I’m happy to say we are both blister-free so far. Life is good.

All I all it’s been a relaxing day even though Allison was interviewed for a “women on Camino” blog and Allison and I were interviewed for a Finnish students Master’s thesis on people’s approaches to Spirituality on the Camino.

Nadine and Ken have gone on ahead. Bye guys!

-Mark

Today was over 31km so we really pushed. We did this just to arrive at one specific Albergue in Zubaldika. It’s a “Refugio” meaning that it operates purely on donations. You are greeted differently and cared-for more genuinely at Refugios than anywhere else on Camino.
Dinner and breakfast are included. All I can say is here you feel loved on. It’s very very nice.

-Mark

Hey Everyone
Thanks for following our Blog.

Here is some information on different ways to follow us.

The simplest way is to just type
dowtycamino2017.tumblr.com
Password=pilgrimage

This will show you everyone’s (Nadine, Ken, Cindy, Allison and Mark) entries in a “most-recent-first” order. That means as you scroll down you’ll see earlier and earlier posts.
This is nice because the most recent posts will be near the top.

The bad thing about this is that we may post a story and follow it up with a picture. For you you’d see the picture first and have to scroll down to see the story to which it relates.

You can also see this whole Blog in chronological order by going to:

dowtycamino2017.tumblr.com/tagged/group/chrono
Password=pilgrimage

This is nice but as the Blog gets bigger you’ll have to do a lot of scrolling to get to the new posts.

If you want to just see Cindy’s posts you can do that by replacing “group” in the address above with “Cindy” i.e.
dowtycamino2017.tumblr.com/tagged/Cindy/chrono

For just Allison and I, change “group” to “MNA” which stands for Mark and Allison.

For just Ken and Nadine change “group” to “KNN” which obviously stands for Ken and Nadine.

Unfortunately there is no way to just see one persons posts in “most recent first” order.

So enjoy and thanks again for following us.
Please comment and encourage us as we make our way some 500mi across Spain.

-Mark