May 31st - End of the First Stage

We will bring to a close here in Burgos the first half of our Camino journey. A little sooner than we had planned, we decided not to continue on to Sahagun this year for several reasons. The fourth member of our group, Gina, had to return to Toronto for an earlier commitment and left the Camino two days earlier at Villafranca - Montes de Oca. She wants to complete the Camino and will join us next year. If Frank, Encarnita and I stop now, Gina will have only a short distance to walk next spring before she catches up with us, and we continue on as a group.

Encarnita has also come down with a cold and the enjoyment is taken out of the Camino when one has to proceed under the weather, especially when the days have been as cool and damp as they have been for the last two weeks and promise to continue to be.

We will head south in the morning, stop off in Madrid for a day and visit with friends, one of whom was about to join us for the next week. Pepe, in Madrid, is likely breathing a sigh of relief, but we will encourage him and his training for next year.

We took full advantage of Burgos to explore some of the city´s many monumental landmarks. I had forgotten how rich the gothic cathedral is. Frank and I also paid our respects to the Monastery of Las Huelgas, whose abbess was so powerful that she could negotiate directly with the Pope, and the Cistercian church of Miraflores, with its highly detailed marble sarcophagus for the King and Queen who produced Isabel the Catholic, the queen who financed Columbus.

While we are ending the walking, I will take advantage of the time in the south to find some software that will enable me to enter pictures more quickly on the blog, and with a time delay bring you pictorially up to date.

John

Pamplona to Logroño - 2

The bridge at Puente Reina (The Queen´s Bridge presents a lovely image as one leaves the town. Pilgrims have crossed it for centuries.

Indeed, in the early years of the Camino the path and bridges did not exist. It was the work of men like Santo Domingo de la Calzada and San Juan de Ortega who recognized the plight of the early pilgrims, and began to create the paths and build the bridges across the rivers that we use today.



While the walking can be tiring, our pace is not so severe that it prevents one from smelling the roses.

Photos: Pamplona to Logroño - 1

On the Camino one thing you can count on is a steady stream of churches. This church at Cizur Menor was decommissioned some time ago, the surviving active one is just as attractive.

May 30th - We are in Burgos

We spent last evening and this morning in a favourite place - Santo Domingo de Silos. It is a functioning monastery in a small town south of Burgos. Our hotel is a small Renaissance palace, and the monks conduct vespers and mass to the strains of gregorian chant. The picture on the left is the monastery´s cloister. The upper level is supported by unusual double columns and each of the capitals tells a story of its own.

This posting is also meant to serve as a test. I think I may have found computer equipment and software that will let me post pictures. The equipment is, however, located in a room with lots of lights in the ceiling, but no light switch. I almost had to dismantle the computer equipment to find a USB port. But that´s life. We will see if I can add more this evening or tomorrow.

John

May 28th - Atapuerca

We are making our way through the eastern stretches of Castilla la Vieja to Burgos. We stayed in two very well equipped casas rurales, one in Villafranca - Montes de Oca, the other in San Juan de Ortega. The latter was opened only a few weeks ago.

We have now left the valley of the Ebro and the rioja wine country behind. The rivers now will run to the west and to the Duero (Douro in Portugal). We were saddened to learn that the priest who so generously provided hospitality to the pilgrims coming through had died a few months ago. The owner of the casa rural in San Juan is filled with enthusiasm and soon may replace him.

We stopped in Ages for breakfast this morning. The lady who operated the albergue came from Tarifa, and when Encarnita said her grandfather came from Tarifa and his name was Seco de Lucena, the lady immediately recognized it. Her cousin is the town historian and we will be in contact.

At this moment I am enjoying the free internet facility provided by the presentation centre at Atapuerca. Atapuerca is one of Europe´s major archeological sites. It was in the newspapers around the world a month or two ago, when convincing proof emerged that they had found the remains of the common ancestor to Neanderthal man and homo sapiens.

We will be in Burgos tomorrow afternoon and will take a detour for one day to Santo Domingo de Silos where we will listen to the monks in the monastery perform services to the tune of gregorian chant.

John

May 25th - Castilla la Vieja

Still having trouble inserting photographs into this site. As a result I will rely entirely on words.

Today we participated in Corpus Christi in Santo Domingo de la Calzado. We then walked across the farm lands laden with wheat, potatoes and peas, as we headed into Castille. Tonight we are in a hostal beside the highway. Tomorrow we have 22 kilometres to do before we rest.

The weather has been wet. Not continuous rain, but enough dampness to cause people to worry about mildew on the vines. We will try absorb enough good wine memories from previous vintages to soften any sadness over a poor 2008.

Enough for now.

John

May 23rd - Even More Pictures

The marvel of the Camino is the landscape. Through Navarre we were working our way through a green landscape: wheat starting out, grape vines and grape vines destined to produce wine, fine woods. A green landscape on the foundation of a red soil.

On the way from Torres del Rio to Viana we were fortunate enough to coincide with a Romeria when the townsfolk of Bargota carried the statue of the virgin from their church to the nearby hermitage of Santa Maria del Poyo, the saint who had worked wonders for the town and had become its most important religious link. At an outdoors altar behind the hermitage the townfolk gathered for mass, accompanied by a twelve person choir and guitar. And skyrockets.

May 23rd - More Pictures - The People We Meet

A most important ingredient of the Camino is the contact with people. People whom we would otherwise never know. People who are on the Camino for all manner of reasons.

Bryan, from Birmingham, is a healer, a practitioner of reikai (I may not have the term spelled correctly). Reikai is the art of laying hands on people and improving their well being. This was Bryan´s second time to walk the Camino. He had developed the practice of arranging stones in the shape of a heart. Over the following days we found four or five of his messages along the trail.

John, from London, had walked the Camino. He was now retired and had returned to the Camino to give back. From his trailer we he moved to different locations along the trail, he would administer first aid or coffee or both.

May23rd - Pictures from Encarnita

All those grassy fields of poppies that Encarnita has painted? They really do exist.

Encarnita encountered this stone at Obanos, on the way to Puente Reina. Immediately she decided her name had purpose, as it contained the most important mystery of the catholic church.

May 23 - Installed in the Monastery at San Millan de Cogolla

Encarnita is crossing the Pyrenees walking against a howling wind. Once past this marker, she is in Navarre and Spain, and it is down hill to Roncesvalles.

It would appear that I have overcome a technological hurdle and am now able, at least in this monastery, to transfer pictures from my camera to the internet.

After a beer and dinner, I will attempt to produce a few more pictures and text, to bring you all up to date.

John

May 18 - Arrived in Viana

I am frustrated by my inability to post photos of any of the wonderful sights we are enjoying. It would seem that the software limitations of the machines we encounter, if we encounter machines, rule out the posting of pictures from either of out two cameras. Words will have to suffice.

First of all, we are walking well. Yes, the feet hurt and the back gets sore. But we did complete 20 kilometres today, have had supper, enjoyed a couple of beers and some wine, and will soon head to bed. By morning, we will be ready for another day.

We have gradually moved from the mountainous landscape of the Pyrenees down though the hills of northern Navarre, and are now exploring the rolling fields of wheat and wines that make up the southern part of the region. Tomorrow we will be in Logroño, at the heart of the rioja wine country. The landscape is very green, springing from a reddish soil that has changed the colour of our boots, thanks to the rain that has left stretches of the trail quite muddy.

The landscape is vast, much broader than one would think. The Cantabrian mountains to the north appear from time to time, but we are comforted by the knowledge that we do not have to cross them.

The real joy of the Camino, however, is not the landscape, not the flowers, not even the continuous sound of birds singing as we walk through the hedge rows. The real joy are the people we talk with and what we call "Camino moments" that occur.

Let me give you a few examples.

This morning we stopped to view the old church in Torres del Rio. It is small, really only a chapel. Its floor plan is octagonal in shape, and its ceiling was constructed in a Moorish design, as that was the only technique the artisans of the period knew, because the Reconquest had happened only a few years earlier. As we stood admiring the simplicity and the beauty of the design, we hear music. Five voices, signing a capella an "Ave Maria" from the 16th century. They were a church choir and wanted to lend their talents to this ancient architectural treasure.

A little later we came to an outside altar that seemed to be prepared for some event. A Romeria, when the statue of the virgin is taken from the church to a special site, in this case a hermitage that was devoted to the patron saint of the nearby village, and mass is celebrated. The whole town had turned out, and there was lyrical music from a group of fifteen parishoners.

This evening we are staying in an up-scale hotel. Frank and Gina, however, asked us to join them for dinner in the albergue where they are staying. The albergue, or hostel, is attached to the cathedral. After dinner, we went through a secret entrance into the choir, high in the church, and spent fifteen minutes contemplating the enormous barroque altar that was slightly illuminated.

Each day has its moments, more than one, that makes this a very special trip.

Tomorrow we will spend the afternoon and night in Logroño. The following day we are off to Sotès, where we have accommodation booked in a hotel that has six rooms located in a renaissance mansion. And so life goes on.

Sorry about the pictures. I will keep trying, but I won´t lose any sleep over it.

John

May 14th - Puente Reina

We are finding access to the internet less convenient than I had thought. This afternoon I have a machine that is more modern than the one I have at home and the software is one generation ahead of mine. Nevertheless, I cannot figure out how to attach the disc from my camera to the computer so that I can transmit pictures. You will have to be content with words.

The title has to do with where we were two days ago. We left Pamplona (Cizur Menor) and climbed the Cuesta del Perdon and dropped down to Puente Reina, where the two major pilgrims routes from the middle ages join: one from France and the north, the other from Toulouse and the south. The Queens bridge is a beautiful medieval structure.

From there we took two days to reach Estella, a major town on the Camino. We took two days because I wanted to stay in Mañeru where there is a delightful bed and breakfast.

This morning we left Estella and are now ensconced in Irache. On one side of the road is a huge monastery that we are about to visit. On the other side is a bodega (winery for those limited to English). If you look at www.irache.com you will find a camera focused on the entrance to the winery where there is a pair of fountains, one providing water and the other wine. We may be there.

We have stories to tell, and I wish I could tell them with pictures. I think I will stop writing and spend a little more time with the technology to find out what is possible.

John

Tuesday, May 13th - Cizur Menor

Yesterday was a short day taking us from Pamplona to a refuge in a small town half a dozen kilometres to the west. After four days of cloud, rain and wind, we enjoyed a picnic of chorizo de Pamplona, relaxing under a bright sun in the garden of the refuge. A good pilgrim´s dinner in a nearby restaurant. The atmosphere in the dormitory for twelve, with the nearby church bell sounding every thirty minutes was a different experience. Tonight we are in a hotel, after having climbed the Cuesta del Perdon.

More coincidences on route. Nadia and Samir Kassissieh, good friends from Wellesley, are on the Camino about a week ahead of us. We are in touch by e-mail.

Sorry there is no picture posted this morning, but we have to get under way. I will try to do two this evening.

John and Encarnita

Four Days into the Camino

This evening we reached Pamplona, having walked twenty-two kilometres from Zubiri.

The picture shows Jean Anne a doctor from Oakville on the left and Frank on the right, a friend and associate from Sun Life. The reserved chair is for Encarnita who was likely occupied taking the picture. The beers were a reward for our climb up from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port half up to the pass across the Pyrenees.

The following day we crossed the Pyrenees in the face of a howling wind, and came down to Roncesvalles, of Charlemagne and Roland fame. The following two days were spent walking down the Arga Valley to Pamplona where we are now.

The people you meet are one of the attractions of the Camino. Fellow pilgrims from all the continents and the people of Navarre. Today, by chance Encarnita asked for directions from a resident of the outskirts of Pamplona. It turns out his aunt was the maid for Encarnita´s father´s best friend. The world is small, and the adventure great.

We apologize for not posting sooner, but access to the internet was restricted, and one of the possible locations had been decommissioned by a storm.

More soon.

John

Anticipation

Saturday, May 3rd,

Departure day was drawing near. Indeed, Encarnita had already left to spend a few days in Granada with her family. We will meet in Madrid on Tuesday, together with Frank and Jean Anne.

Running around organizing a two month absence at the Toronto end, bringing together the material ingredients for our walk, all takes time and energy. I am certain our family in Toronto will be glad when we are both gone.

Looking ahead, I will add a second pilgrim's scallop shell to my collection. Undoubtedly Boris will manage to hitch a ride, thanks to Sara hiding him somewhere in my backpack. Boris has an easy life: well travelled with no need to make an effort.

Fiori Takes Care of the Homestead

We had to leave little Fiori behind. Of course, this city dog is probably more comfortable there where the pads of her feet have grown soft and where she can cohort with the other street dawgs down on Queen West. Sara tells us that Fio's taken up art down on Graffiti Lane of Rick Mercer fame. Good for her! Perhaps she'll contribute to the next Don Valley Art Show.

Getting Started

It was a more difficult beginning than usual.