Category: Camino de Santiago 5/2023 Page 3 of 9

Miles: 17.48/ Steps: 37,278

Todays Selfies!

We had the best stay last night in the hotel. The room was dark, the beds were comfortable and we slept so well. My legs were super sore though and the soreness woke me up every time I moved. I always fell right back to sleep but the struggle was real! We didn’t wake up until 6:30am but still managed to get out the door by 7:00am!

The path out of Pamplona was very well marked. We saw a few people still celebrating the evening away and a lot of bicyclists but aside from that the roads were very quiet.

Once we got out of town, the road was bordered by all kinds of flowers and weeds. They were beautiful.

After about an hour, we stopped and I had my favorite Spanish breakfast…chocolate croissant, fresh squeezed OJ and café con leche. It always hits the spot!

And then we were back on our way!

The arrow points to Alto de Pardon. It marked the highest point on todays hike and was almost the midway point. In English, Alto de Pardon translates to the Hill of Forgiveness.

Funny story…or not…I was on the final stretch up to Alto de Pardon and I was admiring all the rocks because they were perfect for painting. My mouth was open because I was breathing pretty hard from the steep path. All of a sudden, the biggest bug flew into my mouth and down my throat and I totally started choking. It took me forever to get it cleared and the dance I did while I was choking was anything but graceful!

More random pictures from the day:

The last 3-4 miles always seem to take forever. I thought I had booked the same hostel as Nikki but when we pulled up our reservations to navigate to it, I realized I had booked a place further down the road. We left to go on our seperate ways and I discovered that not only was I booked at a a campground but it it was also a kilometer in the wrong direction and I was tired. Randomly, I walked into the first Alburgue (Alburgue Puente) I saw and there was Nikki! ….and they had one bed left but it was on the 3rd floor. I was tired but I wasn’t going to complain but the 3 flights of stairs were the end of me after such a long day!! I got a top bunk and this was the first alburgue that didn’t provide a sheet. I ended up laying my towel and scarf down because I couldn’t imagine sleeping on the plastic mattress without something underneath me. This, coupled with the lack of air flow made it a hot night.

The alburgue manager did let me know he had an arrangement with a local masseuse if I was interested and you can bet that I signed up! Walking thru town to get there was magical. Small streets, old buildings and doors and no people around.

Isabelle, the masseuse, was lovely and I don’t think I will forget that massage for a long time. Firstly I have never hurt so bad in a massage in my life. I’ve had a lot of deep tissue massages but never like that. She spent a lot of time helping me thru the tightness. She gave some tips on things that I should do, and even had me walk thru the hall so she could critique my walking. She was amazing.

After the massage, I met up with my friends and we had a lovely dinner.
It was just a great day.

Foot update: I have lost half the skin on my pinky right foot. My pinky left foot was trying to fit in and now they are both being annoying. Blister on right foot big toe needed to be drained again tonight. None hurt really bad while walking so that’s good!

Miles: 18.53 / Steps: 40,571

Todays selfie!

Despite a horrible night of sleep (so hot, lots of snorers, no base sheet and top bunk struggles) I started the day in a really good place. I took care of my feet and packed up and was out the door at 6:30.

Nikki, Ferenc and I met for breakfast and I had a delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. Before we were about to leave, I realized I couldn’t find my Credential (Passport for the Camino that gets stamped one to two times per day to prove you have been on the Camino. ) I went back to the hostel and looked everywhere for it but couldn’t find it. It’s such a bummer to lose the first 5 days of stamps but I figured I would just get a new one in Estella, tonight’s stop.

It was a gorgeous day. The temperature was cool and I enjoyed walking with Ferenc and Nikki. My feet were bandaged but they still were hurting a bit. I figured I would just plough through but it wasn’t enjoyable.

There were 3 big hills today but nothing as bad as the first two days. Nikki is a beast on the uphills so she always gets in her rhythm and waits for us at the top. I am slow and steady. I will always get there but it just takes me longer.

Random pictures from today:

My blisters on my feet were very painful today. Aside from my pinky toe, the others had sorted themselves out. My right foot wasn’t faring so well. It got to the point where I couldn’t stop because starting up again hurt even worse. I was really in my head with the pain today and had to tell myself to just push thru. I walked the last 7 miles without stopping at all except to quickly take the clown pictures. (My gift to you!)

We arrived to the Agora Hostel around 12:45pm and relaxed for a bit. My bed situation tonight is much better than last night! This place is actually great! And I have a cotton sheet as well! I am in the top bunk again but it was really nice!

I worked on my blisters a bit and then decided to stay in this town an extra night to have a doctor look at them.

I also called my hostel from last night who called my new best friend Isabel, the masseuse from last night, and found my Credential had fallen out of my bag there!! In my heart, I knew I would find it and didn’t really stress about it. I’m so happy! It is getting delivered to the hostel tomorrow. So many people were involved in helping me get it back and I am just so grateful!

Nikki, Ferenc and I said our goodbyes after dinner since I will be staying the extra night. I hope to sync up with Nikki again in Burgos. Let’s hope all goes as planned!

Estella is very beautiful. A few pictures from our walk home.

My personal favorite ….Luck is to have a clean neighborhood.

Miles: 7.21/Steps: 15,792

I decided it made sense to have a rest day today to give my feet a chance to heal. Everyone had left the hostel by 7am and checkout wasn’t until 8:30am so it was really nice to have the place to myself for a bit. I had a lovely shower, organized my things and left at 8:30am on the dot. I went straight to the doctors office which opened at 9:00am. I hoped I could get an appointment and wanted to be there when they arrived. Estella was deserted that early in the morning. It was so peaceful and quiet. It was nice to take my time to stroll down the streets and enjoy the architecture. God knows we don’t have anything like this in Arizona!

The doctors office was Clínica Podológica Cristina Sáenz and Cristina was awesome. I had a bit of a breakdown while I was there. I just got a bit overwhelmed by the severity of the blisters and I think the tired was catching up to me. She calmed me down, sat me down and got to work. She cut off spare skin on 2 of the blisters. She made the puncture wounds bigger on 2 others and gave me some great tips on what to do. Apparently, I have bad shaped toes and different shaped shoes and moleskin wouldn’t have made a difference. (Great genes!? Thanks Mom and Dad!) I’m just going to have to work thru it. Her number 1 recommendation was to use a needle and thread the blisters and leave the thread in. I went to the pharmacy and it really is a thing.

I had to kill 4 hours before I could check into my hostel so I walked back to the old part of town to find a grocery store and a coffee shop.

I haven’t really spoken much about the high number of people that are doing the Camino right now. In years past, April and May were much slower than the rest of the year because the weather is unpredictable. I thought it would be a great time to come but a lot of other people had the same idea. That combined with the fact that Korea TV did a reality series about the Camino has drastically increased the number of Koreans on the trail. Historically a person could arrive to any town and find a bed somewhere but unfortunately that isn’t the case now. For example, most people walk from Estella to Los Arcos which is 13.5 miles. Los Arcos is completely sold out tomorrow so I have to walk 17 miles to get to Torres del Rio. It all works out in the end but it does take some of the spontaneity out of things. I spent 2 hours figuring out distances and booking rooms at the coffee shop today. I’m about halfway booked for the trip which is a good start.

I arrived back at the hostel at 1:30 pm and waited for the courier to bring my Compostela. I was so happy that it arrived! I knew in my heart it was going to work out but it was a relief to actually have it in hand.

I decided to treat myself to a single room tonight with a private bath. It’s been a long week and I needed a good nights sleep. On my walk there I came across this sign

The property manager Pablo was great and gave a great tour of the building. He taught me some Spanish along the way. He was fun to be around and the accommodation was great. It’s actually a three bedroom apartment. He rents out the rooms individually. I got the master bedroom and it was the best accommodation I’ve had since I started walking. My housemates were Alice (retired 46 year old from Taiwan who speaks a small amount of English and no Spanish) and Jackie (who is the funniest French Chef I have ever met. He reminds me of a combination of the Swedish Chef on Sesame Street and my brother in law Mike). He barely speaks any English but was so animated with his stories that I totally understood what he was saying most of the time! We used Google Translate a lot at dinner but I was thoroughly entertained.
I have a big day tomorrow so am ending here! Everyone please send positive to my toes tomorrow!

Miles Walked: 21.12/ Steps: 46,252

Todays Selfie

Yes I took the elevator down the 3 floors this morning because I wasn’t quite ready to start walking!! Haha!
I felt pretty good this morning though. I find that once I start walking my blisters don’t hurt so much after the first 5 minutes. I was good to go!

There is a monastery that serves free wine to pilgrims. It is actually one of the things that people get really excited about. To get there you should walk down the road the arrow is pointing to. Sadly I realized after walking 1/4 mile down a steep road that we were on the wrong road. We turned around and walked back up the steep road and realized that someone had placed a Camino arrow going the wrong way. Grrrr! I walked over to the monastery because who wants to miss out on free wine?! Note: A lot of smaller communities will try to direct pilgrims to go through their towns even though it is off the beaten path. This happened to a few people in different places along the Camino and added substantial mileage/time to their trek because it was an unexpected detour.

I spent a lot of today alone. It wasn’t a hard hike and it was peaceful. I love having people with me but it was really nice to have some quiet time. I really wanted to be present for the Camino but did listen to some of my 135 bpm dance remix music to get up the hills today. I did the equivalent of 190 flights of stairs.

We came across a house with tons of chickens and goats and a bucket of bread for us to feed them. That was the best treat!! I still feel excitement like a 5 year old when it comes to feeding animals. The animals were very excited as well.

A lot of people stop in Los Arcos when they are walking the Camino but because there were no beds I needed to walk to Torres del Rio. I enjoyed all that Los Arcos had to offer. The balconies were beautifully decorated and their church was stunning. I spoke with the senoras who were working at the church and they took me upstairs to see the organ and the different view. It was gorgeous.
Outside they had a map of the world and pins to place your location. No one from Arizona had pinned so I put a big red one on Phoenix!

I loved these sheep! They had a whole field of grass to eat but would rather struggle to get the same grass outside the fence. I guess they are as bad as humans in thinking that the grass is always a greener…

The clouds let loose as soon as I passed Los Arcos. I had 4 more miles to get to my hostel so I put my walking music on and pushed thru.

I got to the hostel, Alburgue La Pata de Oco and was TIRED! It was supposed to be a bit over 17 miles but my Fitbit read over 20 miles. The hostel manager was lovely and not only gave me a bottom bunk but also gave me a spare sheet for a future hostel that might not provide one. I will say I was not impressed by the Alburgue itself. The room was cramped and dark. It slept a lot of people and the plugs were not easy to get to.

After sitting down for a bit and resting, I got up to look around. The outside area was very cute. It even had a swimming pool but it was way to cold to be thinking about swimming. There was a beautiful church across the street from my hostel but it was closed.

We had a communal dinner that was a lot of fun. The first course was typical Catalonian soup but I have no idea what was in it.

There were some Italian men sitting at the end of the table that scarred me for life. Between their toots and obnoxious and loud conversations in our dorm room, I was really annoyed and ready to get away from them.

After dinner we ended with glass of Rosé and said our goodbyes. Tomorrow is a short day but I would love to get on the road semi early.

Miles: 18.52/Steps: 40,563

Todays Selfie:

It was a beautiful day!
I got to talk to Howard as I walked out of Torres del Rio. As we were talking I saw a deer frolicking thru the wheat fields. It was so majestic looking and reminded me about how lucky I am to be doing this trip. Of course he cracked a joke about hunting deer but I pretended not to hear it! The sunrise was gorgeous and the chill in the air promised that it wouldn’t be a hot day.

There were lots of views and landmarks to see on the trail but my favorite was the food stall that showed up in the middle of nowhere when I least expected them! I had fresh squeezed orange juice, a chocolate croissant and a banana.

I’m not going to lie but the struggle is real when communicating with people who don’t speak English or Spanish. It takes a lot of extra effort to use Google Translate or to act out what message you are trying to get across. Don’t get me wrong because I do try to do it but sometimes I just don’t have the energy.
Fast forward to the last 2 miles of today. I was exhausted and so slow. This Italian gentleman and I walked at the same pace but were both too tired to talk. He only spoke Italian and French. I only speak English and Spanish. That said we really valued each others company and cheered each other on. Even though it was only a 12 mile day, I’m not sure I could have made it without him

It was one of those situations that could have been really awkward but was just comfortable companionship that I really appreciated. I don’t think I will ever see him again but he has no idea what a blessing he was.

The river in Logrono:

I walked into Logrono and over its river. I got to the hostel at 12:30pm and they didn’t check people in until 1:00pm so I chatted with a lady from Mexico and a man from the Canary Islands to pass the time. My Spanish was good enough to understand about 65% of the conversation. They were super entertaining and funny.

It was a good day at Alburgue Albas because I got a bottom bunk and a sheet in a room with 22 other people.

After showering, doing laundry and napping, I went to town to see about getting some new shoes.
….and of course there is a story…

Most people believe in a higher power or divine reality. People can call it many different things but some choices are: God or a god, the Universe, Guardian Angel, Divine Being. I am not sure what I specifically would call mine but I believe there is one and I believe they protect me and point me in the right direction when I am going astray in life all the time. If you know me, you know that things always work out. It might not be how I planned it but things usually end up better than I plan. The presence of this higher power came to my attention twice today.
Firstly, today, I was thinking about how I got here. How did I get to be walking this Camino at this stage in my life and had a thought. We lived in Santiago de Compostela (where this pilgrimage ends) for almost a year. I spoke to strangers all the time. How is it possible that the whole time I was here, I didn’t speak to a single person that got me excited enough to consider doing the walk then. I often sat in the courtyard and watched the pilgrims come into the plaza but I never considered it to be something to do at that stage of my life. But…the seed was planted and it was watered by movies and Facebook groups and stories of friends doing it and here I am. I do believe that this is the right stage of my life to be on this adventure. I am not sure I would have appreciated it back then as much as I do now.

The second intervention was later in the day. When I was looking up directions to my hostel, I randomly saw a review that also mentioned a fabulous shoe store that specifically helped Pilgrims with walking shoes. I had come across it by mistake and it mentioned that it was located near the main plaza.
I started walking to the plaza (by the cathedral) and put the stores name into Google Maps and it listed the store as being 1 mile away.

I definitely didn’t want to walk that far but was open to consider anything to fix my blister problem. Every time I tried to follow Google Maps it turned me around and would say I was going in the wrong direction.

I tried navigating on my own but each time I got turned around. Finally I asked a local couple to send me in the right direction. They had never heard of the store. After a lot of debate for a couple minutes they pointed me in the general direction because there was multiple ways to get there. They sent me up a very small and almost suspicious street and I’m not kidding when I say the store was three stores in. It was the craziest thing. It wasn’t in Google Maps and of the multiple ways they could have sent me….they sent me down the right street. Such a blessing!

The store manager and his wife were amazing! They totally understood my problem and made a great recommendation. I got some North Face shoes and immediately after putting them on I knew they were the right shoe!

I then met up with my friend Victoria and enjoyed all that Logrono had to offer! We drank wine, ate tapas and found the Mecca of all bandaid stores. We felt like children in a candy shop! It was a great night and ended with H talking to me while I walked home because we all know his voice will protect me from Stranger Danger if anything happened. 🤪 It was a great way to end the night. ❤️

Some pictures of Logrono:

Foot Update: I have mastered the art of threading a blister…look away if you are faint of heart…

Miles: 22.12/Steps: 48,434

Todays Selfie

Today was a looonnng day of walking. It was my longest day yet! My blisters are healing and there aren’t any new ones! It’s so nice to not have blister pain and to only have tired foot and leg pain! I’m so happy!

The first stop is always the most anticipated because it is the first coffee and the first food of the day. It’s such a relief when it is in your site! I was a bit confused and happy today when I realized I had walked a lot further than I thought I had by the time I stopped in Navarette (8 miles from start).

There was a lot going on today.

The sun came out and I ran into these two. They are two of the funniest people I have met on the Camino. I previously me them in Logrono while we were waiting to check into our alburgue. She is from Mexico (I can’t remember her name) and Orlando is from the Canary Islands. They only speak Spanish but they were super entertaining. We walked the last 6 miles together and I thank my lucky stars for them because it was a long day and they made me forget about how tired my feet and legs were! When I got to the alburgue (bottom bunk with paper sheet. $9) I had to just lay down for 30 minutes to give my body a chance to recover. I stayed at the El Peregrino Albergue and I felt like I walked into the set of a movie. Pink Floyd was blasting thru the sound system, incense was burning in the living space, the hotel manager was super chill and a bit goofy. I liked the vibe there and don’t quite understand how they survive on $9.00 per night. They did only have one plug for the entire room which was unfortunate but aside from that it was good. I was hungry and wanted to see the monastery so Irish Dee (who was staying at my albergue) and I “limped” into town. We toured the monastery and it was under renovation but had a lot of character. All the restaurants were closed because of siesta. We found a bar that reheated some meatballs for us and gave us some bread and wine and we were very happy with that. We could see this stork nest from our table. I don’t know what I was expecting for a stork’s nest but it certainly wasn’t this.