Roaming Rocks

Miles: 18.39/Steps 40,260

Todays Selfie

I left before sunrise to be able to get to Burgos early. The sunrise was gorgeous!

The road was really rocky and hard on the feet and there were a couple of steep inclines but otherwise it was a good walk. There was a beautiful cross at the top of one of the hills.

I ran into Savina at breakfast today around mile 6 and we walked the rest of the way to Burgos together.

We did the river walk the last 5 miles which was beautiful but felt like it would never end.

I had a quick meet up with Ference and Nikki when I got into town because Ference was moving on and stuck around so we could say our goodbyes.

Nikki had rented an apartment in Burgos and invited myself and Annie to stay. Words can’t express the luxury of having a kitchen and private bathroom and sitting area. I took the loveliest bath and then went and got a massage. My body was really tired and appreciated the tlc. I am so appreciative of Nikki for sharing her space! It meant the world and seriously helped both my physical and mental state!

Nikki and Annie had cut up a lot of veggies for dinner and the plan was to come home, have dinner and then have a quiet night watching movies, doing face masks and relaxing.
We started with dinner.

Side note: Annie had met Father Mark from Australia earlier in the Camino. I am not sure if it’s a requirement of all priests or just a personal goal but he strived to say mass every single day.

Father Mark texted Annie and let her know that he was able to get a chamber in the Burgos Cathedral and he was starting at 6:00pm. We got our shoes on and ran/limped to the cathedral. He performed a private mass in Latin for 4 of us. It was really intimate and just amazing.

Afterwards, we invited him and Marie (his colleague) to come over to our house for dessert and wine. He had to make a stop before he could come over so we hurried home and had to clean up our dishes and laundry that was hanging up all over the house drying.

It was such a lovely evening with really engaging conversation. I would never have written that into a possibility of the script of what would happen on this trip but it was awe inspiring, refreshing and really special.
We ended the night with face masks after he left and had an amazing sleep with no snores or farting!

Miles: 18.84/Steps: 41,247

Todays Selfie:

I was unsure of my bed reservation status for today so started the day at 6am in the dark to try to get ahead of the crowds. The weather is still bad and we had rain. The trail had very goopy mud and was rocky so it wasn’t kind on the feet. That said we walked thru a lot of forests that were really pretty. Some were very dense.

Today there were also several small gifts that I have learned to appreciate so much while on the Camino. A random chair in the middle of nowhere to sit down and relax, beautiful doors, Bruce Springsteen videos playing in the bar while I was eating my lunch, painted wood trunks along the trail just to make us smile, dogs that like to be petted, Camino friends sending texts to check in and make sure all was good, seeing the village you are headed to when you crest the last hill, getting one of the last beds in the Alburgue even if it is a top bunk of a 36 person room with a paper sheet and a stool to help me getting down. It’s been a good but long day.

There were two really big hills today and some beautiful scenery. My mind goes to all sorts of random places when I’m walking up them. Today I saw the funny side of things! I know my days of being invited to work at the Playboy Mansion are over (is that even a thing anymore?) but I want to give a huge shoutout to all my single friends who go on hikes for a date. I can promise you that there is nothing sexy about me hiking uphill. (Maybe that is why H doesn’t like to hike with me?) I am literally gasping for air the entire way. I can’t possibly hold a conversation because that would consume the small amounts of air I am inhaling. I sweat like a pig so if I was wearing makeup it would be smeared all over my face. I am also not going to lie (sorry mom) but profanity might possibly come out of my mouth and that’s not sexy either. “How much f*ing longer does this hill have to go?” “Can this f*ing hill be any steeper?” “Are you f*ing kidding me?”

So kudos to all who are successful at hiking on dates! It’s a good thing I’m not single and needing to hike to pick up a mate! Poor Caitlyn. I literally had to end a call with her this morning because I was about to pass out from trying to not pant into the phone! Haha

The alburgue in Ages was ok. I stayed at the Albergue Municipal la Taberna de Ages . I got one of the last beds and felt lucky to have it as I had reserved it on Whatsapp but they didn’t have any record of it when I arrived. I dropped off my shoes and found my bunk bed. Top bunk. At least there was a paper sheet.

I ended the day with drinks in the bar with Irish Pat and then dinner in the restaurant with Dutch Inez. I was in bed before 9:00pm. Blisters are all healed. Feet can walk 10 miles with zero pain. At that point I stop every 2-3 miles for a stretch and a massage!

Tomorrow is a 14 mile hike, all downhill into Burgos where I will stay with Nikki. Her accommodation has a bathtub and I have never been more excited for anything!

Miles: 16.69/Steps 36,542

Todays Selfie!

Directions were good today. Lots of arrows/shells pointing us in the right direction.

There was a lot of rain and some small hills but nothing crazy. There were several beautiful murals along the way and of course a fair share of cats and dogs.

It also was a day of reunions. I’m starting to get to know a lot of people on the same schedule that I am on and it’s nice to see familiar faces. I met up with Dee again at breakfast and then she was in my alburgue. I also saw Orlando from the Gran Canaries, and my bunkmate Paul from the second night in Roncesvalles. My Italian friend Eduardo from the last 2 miles into Logrono also stayed in my Alburgue and there were several others that I haven’t really mentioned here like Audre from Lithuania! I also ran into Efren Gonzalez on the trail. I have watched so many of his videos on YouTube. It was almost like meeting a Camino Celebrity. If you haven’t seen his videos you should check him out…. Click here to get to his home page on youtube.

The Alburgue Cuatro Cantones hostel was beautiful. It had a pool and a big yard and it’s own restaurant. There was a lot of charm and it was very pilgrim friendly. Every bed had its own outlet and light and clean cloth sheets!

What a difference a letter makes. Again.

I was trying to book the Hostel Victoria and booked the Hotel Victoria by mistake. When I was going thru my bookings I realized it was south of Madrid and was non refundable. Lucky for me, the hotel manager at Cuatro Catones called them for me and got them to reverse the charge. She was the loveliest person and so helpful!

The town had so many great Murals:

I decided to have a wander around the town. It was small but quaint.

I shared dinner with the Italian man (Edoardo) from the other day. Google translate was our friend and we made it work and it was really fun. After we finished the salad I realized that it had a bit of unexpected protein (an ant!). It’s ok! It didn’t eat much of the salad!

Big day tomorrow. 18 miles with rain and 2 big hills! Not sure that I have a reservation for a bed. Wish me luck!

Miles: 16.47/Steps: 36,063

Todays Selfie:

Isn’t the body an amazing thing. I have walked over 110 miles in the past 6 days. I have had the worst blisters that have all healed. I am positive I haven’t eaten enough calories or drank enough water that I should have, (not on purpose). I have used muscles I haven’t ever used before, the amount of time each day that I have an elevated heartbeat is sadly shocking, and yet it recharges every night and is ready to go every morning. It has made me realize how important sleep is and how magnificently we are built. The entire time on todays walk, I thought about ways to focus on self care. Treatments for my feet, stretches, hot showers, rest, food. I finished by 1pm today and was able to really refresh.

Todays second selfie:

There was even a golf course in a deserted town. And….there is a story about the deserted town. As I mentioned earlier, there are twice as many people doing the Camino as usual. Because of this a lot of alburgues are sold out and there is a struggle to find a place to sleep. This deserted town was 4 miles away from Santo Domingo and I booked it because I couldn’t find anything in Santo Domingo. On a whim I checked Santo Domingo 2 days ago and found a private room for $40. I was so happy that I gladly cancelled my reservation for this town. I had no idea at the time but it was a total ghost town. All of the houses were empty. Apparently the housing community was built but no one ever moved in. What a blessing! Again! Everything is just working out on this Camino.

I didn’t know it but Santo Domingo was in the middle of the Festival of Santo Domingo, a week long party. As I walked into town there was a choir singing and a statue being carried through the town with priests and other officials following the procession. It was as if they knew I was coming.

Santo Domingo has a great story about chickens. It goes back several hundred years so there are a few versions but you will get the basic idea:

A devout German couple was making the pilgrimage to Santiago with their eighteen-year-old son. When they reached Santo Domingo, a local girl took a liking to the young German, who, being a good Christian, did not respond to her advances.

Hurt and angry, she put a silver cup into his bag and accused him of theft. The town believed her and hung the innocent boy. His parents, although they were sad, went on to Santiago, where they prayed for their son. On their return trip, they again stopped in Santo Domingo, this time to visit their son’s body. To their surprise, he was still alive, and still hanging from his rope. (At this point I always wonder how they didn’t notice that part before they left, but it’s best not to ask a lot of questions about these stories.) In some versions of the story, the boy spoke to them and told them that Saint James himself was keeping him alive. The parents rushed to the town’s sheriff and demanded that he release their son.

The good sheriff was just sitting down to a hearty poultry dinner, and laughed in their faces. “That boy is no more alive than these chickens on my plate,” he said.

(See where this is going?)

Yep, the roasted birds sprouted back their feathers and beaks, got up, and started walking around the dinner table. Properly chastened, the sheriff rushed to the gallows and released the young German, who was pardoned and allowed to go home.

So in the cathedral there are several statues with the chickens and there is actually a chicken coop in the church that has chickens in it. They could be heard clucking throughout the cathedral.

I went back to the room to work on booking accommodations and got an early night of sleep.

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.

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…