Month: May 2017

After the big climb and the grueling decent of yesterday, Roncesvalles greeted all the Pilgrims with a cold rain. The Hospitaleros greeted us with a nice wake up song that basically said “get up and get out!”, they were serious too.

After a quick breakfast of bread, butter, jam and coffee, Leo and I headed out into the rain, something we will grow to miss and soon. At Burguete I got coffee and Leo found a small Tienda which he treated like Costco. You have to understand, Burguete barely qualifies as a wide spot in the road. It took 10 minutes to get him out, we had 22 Km to cover.

The rain and cold stayed with us but the mountain forest was beautiful. We talked a little but mostly walked in silence, difficult for Leo.

At some point, we were off the road and on paths in the woods that have been used for hundreds of years by countless Pilgrims. Last years leaves we thick as they turned to mulch and combined with the mud, it was treacherous as we continued our descent out of the Pyrenees.

Another friend, Donna from Boston joined in and we separated for a while, by now the sun was coming out and it was warmer.

Hunger is a constant on the Camino as you’re burning calories at a high and constant pace but eating small amounts, when you can. Also, green veggies are rare, eat them when they’re available.

After descending for a couple hours, Vizkarret appeared at a perfect time. The sun was out, its right on the river and, the Bar Juan looked good. It’s places like this that you reconnect with the people you’ve met which is one of the best parts of the Camino for me.

With a full belly, more water and aching knees we started the worst of the descent down saw-tooth rocks that stopped just outside of Zubiri, my home for the night.

My thought from the day before about there always being another hill was still with me. Why had this become so present? Was I thinking about it in only the physical sense or was there more to it? At this point, it was just there.

Zubiri is is a small town with a couple of Bars and restaurants. In Spain, a bar isn’t what most Americans think it is. They certainly sell beer and wine thank you), but the also serve food and may be quite elaborate or just a tiny space. Because of the size, you are constantly seeing new and old faces.

Two of of these faces belonged to a couple recent TAMU grads. One was Madison and the other, I just called Doc as she starts Med School this summer. These young women are very smart and we (Leo, Donna and me) enjoyed our visit with them.

Sore from exertion, knees screaming and bone tired, I was in my sleeping bag by 8:00 and out 30 minutes later.

It’s almost as if you live the 1 day life vignettes every day.

Apparently the hosting site has been down for several days which is OK because there’s a known bug using the iPhone to add info. On top of that, Albergue wifi stinks! Now I can move on.

First night in SJPP was both exciting as well as exhausting. It was truly planes, trains and automobiles. Coupled with a storm front which brought a cold wind and rain. Stepped off the train in Saint Jean Pied de Port (SJPP) into a drizzle which made the walk to the Albergue very wet.

One of the best experiences has been meeting all kinds of people. The night before I started my Camino, I met Leo who’s from Flower Mound, Brian from IA, Tim from TN and a young woman from England who now lives in Australia. We all planned to walk together the next day. Fun conversations had to end as we were heading out at 0630.

The day in SJPP started off beautifully, no rain and a bright sun. The Camino though has a way of surprising you.

As as we began up the first 1/4 of the climb, it became very steep with grade warnings for vehicles. After huffing and puffing, finally reached Hunto which offered a break.

At Hunto, the sky darkened and the cold wind began to pick up. 10 minutes is all we took as we began the incredibly steep climb to Orisson. I must confess, I was wondering if I’d make it.

Orisson was the last place to bail out and while I never really thought about that, it certainly did rattle around in my head. I did not want to walk the Valcarlos road route, I really wanted the Napoleon route through the pass.

The climb from Orisson was not as steep but it was long and it never stopped. When I thought I’d crested the last hill, you came around a bend and there was another. At some points, you could look up, far in the distance, other Pilgrims going over even more distant peaks.

I reached a point where I was truly hurting, I was tired, the air was thinner than I’d trained in and then, the rain started. While I was putting my rain pants on, it turned to sleet and a slashing wind came with it. While I saw no snow, others did.

As I and others kept chugging up the Pyrenees’s, it occurred to me that there will always be another hill. I quit looking up the hill and looked 4-5 feet in front of me, the top will be there when I get there.

The whole idea of there will always be another hill really resonated with me for many reasons.

After 7 hours of climbing, the descent began and those final 2 hours through virgin stands of trees that resembled Aspens was both humbling as well as beautiful. At one point the fog cloud was blowing through giving the forest an eerie presence.

I walked for a while through a forested area that was covered with wet and rotting leaves from last fall. Lebet, a young women from Montreal discussed how we ended up on the Camino and how it was a shame that others could not share the experience.

Our 15 minute conversation ended and she trekked on as I stopped to take a picture. This intimate but brief situation seems to be common on the Camino. I walked the remaining hour of my 9.5 hour day alone and in silence.

Never happier to see the Albergue de Roncesvalles. Everyone there is a volunteer, a Hospitalero. These people are committed to the cause of the Camino and help the Pilgrims in every way.

It was cold and windy as we went to La Posada for our Pilgrims dinner. Soup, pasta and the trout that Hemingway made famous. I didn’t linger, I was bushed. My Camino buddy Leo and a new friend Donna stayed a bit longer.

Our room had about 90 people in bunk beds of both sexes and of all ages have. Strangely, it was relatively quiet.

Morning arrived and the Hospitaeros came through with a song which basically said get up and get out.

Welcome to the Camino.

One heck of a travel day! 0615 to LGA, hung out at the Crowne Plaza until about 2130 when I headed over to JFK to catch my TAP flight to Lisbon.

As my usual, no sleep on the plane and I think I was the only person who was not asleep. Never flown a A330 before, nice plane and very quiet.

Got in to LIS about 40 minutes early which was nice, got to my hotel in 5 minutes and cleaned up so I could head into the old town to look around. I have lots of pictures but there is some bug in my blog software that won´t let me upload pictures from my iPhone which is a real problem. Using a house PC here at the hotel which does not have all the US punctuation marks.

Old Lisbon is very interesting, apparently pot is legal here, 2 people offered it to me in broad daylight. Nice center, spent a little time walking around, I need to get out of here before rush hour I’m told. Enjoyed my walk and it started to ward off jet-lag.

Early flight to Bordeaux tomorrow morning then a bus to the train station where I catch my train to Saint Jean Pied de Port (SJPP) and arrive around 1500.

I´ll need to get my bearings quick as I need to round up some food, check the weather which looks like rain and cool right now as a huge storm hits this area, maybe snow in the mountains. Not many food or drink options on Day 1.

It´s going to be a long day on Friday but I´m ready to go.