Roaming Rocks

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: 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: 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: 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: 16.94/ Steps: 37,097

Todays selfie

The first few steps out of bed were a bit electrifying because I was so sore but things worked themselves out soon enough. Savina and I were out the door before 7am this morning so we thought we were doing good. Most of todays walk was along the river and relatively flat so it was a good day! We decided we would stop at the first bakery for breakfast and didn’t get anything from the hostel. The path today had several small towns along the way so we figured it wouldn’t be too far. We started walking….

…and then we met up with Lou. I had sat next to her and her daughter at dinner in Orisson and it was good to see her again. (Doesn’t she look like Catherine Zeta Jones). We were hoping this abbey would be open because it was being renovated the last time Lou did the Camino and she wanted to see the progress. She had to wait for her daughter and promised that there was a café that wasn’t far ahead … so we kept walking….

…and walking

And walking…

And there was no bakery or restaurant open! Finally after 6.5 miles we came across La Parada de Zurian and this café was lovely! I ordered fresh squeezed Oj, café con leche, and a mushroom tortilla (think omelet/quiche with mushrooms) and everything was delicious.

We got back on the trail and headed to Pamplona. It was so beautiful.

And then we came to the fork in the road. We were told that the left turn was 4km longer but flat and in the shade and that the right turn had lots of hills and was in the sun. I had convinced Sabina to go left because I definitely preferred shade and river views and so we went. It was fun to sit back and watch everyone debate their choice.

We had a beautiful walk along the water and enjoyed some beautiful scenery. About .5 miles we came to another fork in the road. It was signposted to go right but I was almost positive I was supposed to go left again. We followed the instructions of a Spanish lady even though I clarified with her that we wanted the river path and she directed us to the right. We climbed a super steep hill and talked about turning around but by the point we realized it wasn’t the river path, we had already invested some substantial distance. So instead of shaded peaceful river views, we got hot and sunny climbs and descents! I really need to learn to listen to my gut.

We finally got to Pamplona city limits and it was fun to see big city life again. We had about 3.5 miles to get to the hotel from this point.

The path is marked by yellow arrows or shells. Below are typical markers. See if you can find them.

I did love how the walkway was lined with trees that were connected with its counterpart on the other side of the walkway. Although I could probably make an educated guess, I really have no idea how they made that happen.

We only had 30 minutes to go but felt we needed to stop for some ice cream to help get us over the finish line. We had a nice break in the park and couldn’t have been happier!

The walk to the hotel had some fun statues and interesting signs.

Pamplona doesn’t tolerate sexual harassment

I met up with Nikki and we shared a proper hotel room for the night. So exciting to have a shower that didn’t turn off every 30 seconds and to have a bed with real sheets and no other bunk below or above us.

After cleaning up, we went to Cafe Iruna, a bar that Earnest Hemingway used to frequent, checked out the town entrance, walked around the old town area and the had pinchos (appetizers) for dinner. Such a fun night!!

Foot update: pinky toe blister burst today on its own. I popped one of the blisters on my big toe and the other went away. No new issues. I think I should be good tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Miles: 16.94/ Steps: 37,097

Todays Selfie

The lights were turned on at 6:00am and there was no choice but to get up then. I packed up and was on the road a bit after 7:00am. This Camino is 800lm/500 miles and this is where I was at this morning: 755km to walk or 790 if you were driving.

It was such a beautiful morning. There was a chill in the air, the birds were singing and it started out FLAT!!!

I ran into Savina in the first bakery I came across and we dined on chocolate croissants and cafe con leche. As we walked a bit further we ran into Cindy, our roommate from Orisson and we decided to walk together.

We are starting to see the same people while walking. We ran into Sharon from Georgia and we loved that we had the same shoes! They call it your Camino Family and I do agree that we are starting to look out for each other.

In many blog posts, people had talked about how rocky and steep the descent was for this section. We didn’t really hit the rocks until the last 4 hours and then it became very rocky with random rock formations that were a challenge to navigate.
Ironically, the Camino office gave us this breakdown for todays hike:

But when we arrived to the hostel today we were shown the true breakdown:

I was expecting a day of complete down hill and couldn’t understand all of the hills we encountered until I saw this. It wasn’t a horrible day at all but the last 3 miles seemed to last forever and we were DONE by the time we reached Zuburi. Our muscles are sore and our feet felt like blocks of cement. We collapsed for a bit when we arrived at the hostel. Although standing up and moving was initially painful things definitely get better when we walked into town. We put our feet in the river and that really helped!

This hostel (Suseia) is the best I have stayed at! The hostess was super friendly, it has the cutest living spaces and the food was to die for!

Our bunk beds are sturdy, they have cloth sheets and privacy curtains and it is really clean! I shared the room with 5 other people and yes Savina was my roommate again.

We had a communal meal and enjoyed the food and company so much. Honestly it was the best dinner experience I have had so far.

Foot update: my pinkie toe blister is huge. I am going to give it until tomorrow to see how it is before I pop it. I have 2 other small blisters on my right foot. I went to the pharmacist today and she had good advice on what to do. Any opinions on popping blisters or not?
Well, it’s 10:30 and time for bed. Hasta manana!!