Los Argos to Logrono: A Welcome Day Off!

June 27th. We did not walk today. The forecast was for 38 degrees and the section was long (over 30 kms) and very hilly. On a normal day it would have been doable but in this heat we decided it would be foolish to subject our bodies to such torture. So, we took a taxi and arrived in Logrono around 11am. This brought us completely out of the Navarre into La Riojo. Logrono is a university town with a population of 130,000. Being here is something of a shock after the quite villages we have become accustomed to. We entered the city over the Puente de Piedra and headed for the main square and the cathedral - a Gothic building which is both austere and ornate inside and quite unlike the cathedrals of England or Northern Europe - it is a curious blend of medieval and modern.

One nice surprise on this Camino is the number of young (late teens/early twenties) people here. They are lovely - so full of life, so friendly and so curious. It´s so great to see!

One difference between Roxanne and me is that Roxanne likes to listen to music on her Nano while she is walking. She says it helps to distract her from the agony of the walk. I cannot do that. I need to listen to the birds and the crickets and the frogs and the combine harvesters (of which there are many) and even the distant hum of traffic on the auto-route. It keeps me in the moment - which is what I want.

Speaking of combine harvesters, we almost got mowed down yesterday walking through a wheat field. One such beast came hurtling down on us and we had to leap for the ditch to avoid being swept away by it.

Such is the Camino!

Estella to Los Argos - Beating the Heat with a Fellow Traveller

June 26th. The temperature is now consistently in the high 30s. By 10am the sun is as hot as fire and only keeps getting hotter as the day progresses. The cool forests of the Navarre are far behind us and now we find ourselves walking on baked mud or bright concrete paths. The heat beats down on us from above and is reflected back up from the ground below. There is no shade. There is no escape! We must now be strategic about our walking. No more than five hours a day regardless of how far we get. If we don´t reach our prescribed destination we must take a taxi!  In fact, today we took one from Estella to Villamayer de Monjardin (10kms) with a fellow peregrino who also wanted to survive the heat. Then we walked another 15kms. We must drink at least four litres of water every day. Luckily I have my Steripen Classic (ultra violet water sterilizer) so we can fill our bottles from the hotel taps and from springs and fountains along the way. Thanks, Lynda, for suggesting it. It is literally a life-saver. It also feels good to know that we are not contributing plastic bottles to the Spanish landfill!

Now, about the food! Here in Spain the food is consistently bad - just as in France it is consistently wonderful. My vegetarian (sin carne, sin pescado) and wheat-free (sin pan) diet is not appreciated. Even Roxanne, who eats almost everything, is not happy with the food. For example, something as simple as an omelette is murdered by these northern chefs. The one I ordered last evening arrived partially cooked and floating in olive oil - not at all like the delicious omelettes I remember from southern Spain! That said, the beer is good and so is the wine, so it´s not all bad!

Our walk today was once again very beautiful as we passed through wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves. Dos Arcos is a pristine little town with a lovely central plaza and several outdoor cafes. It has been here since Roman times and its eastern gate (no longer standing) was originally called the Gate of Shells (Porta de la Concha). It is a popular centre with the peregrinos. We both liked this town very much.

 

Pamplona to Puente La Reine: Interesting Juxtapositions on the Alto de Perdon

Pamplona turned out to be a rather scruffy city with indications of poverty, or impending poverty, everywhere - not surprising, I suppose, considering Spain's economy right now.  Walking into the city through a very rough area was rather spooky - many eyes were following us and I was glad not to be alone.  Evidence of Basque separatism was also very prevalent - signs, posters, graffiti and protest marches were the order of the day.  We saw the best part of the city as we were leaving; the trail went through a lovely park and on towards the university campus.  Such was Pamplona! 

The 25kms walk across the Alto de Perdon to Puente La Reine was very, very challenging.  It was extremely steep up, and extremely steep down, with gravel, rocks and boulders underfoot for most of the way.  It was also unbelievably hot - the last 10kms were out in the open with no shade at all.  The sun was unrelenting.  Nonetheless, I still had the energy to be fascinated by the juxtaposition of the medieval pilgrim sculptures on top of the Alto and the 21st Century windmills strung out across the hilltops. 

Today´s walk (June 25th) from Puente La Reine to Estella was also very difficult as it was almost all up hill (and that was a mountain-sized hill not a gentle slope!).  We arrived at our hotel completely exhausted but were soon revived by a hot shower and a cold beer.  Tomorrow´s walk promises to be equally challenging.

Today, as always, the European blackbirds (turdus merula - not seen in N. America) were singing their melodious songs in the hedgerows as we walked along.  Now I have the Beatles song “Blackbird singing in the dead of night / Take these broken wings and learn to fly” swimming around in my head and I can´t get rid of it...

I have taken lots of pictures but can´t post them because I never have access to a computer to download them from my camera.  The hotels here provide only keyboards and monitors...

Roncevalles to Akeretta - White Cows and Long-Haired Sheep

I lost two pages while trying to add pictures.  These first two posts belong at the very beginning of my blog.  Read these and then scroll down to find my June 22 entry.

 

St Jean Pied de Port - A Very Inauspicious Beginning

 June 19^th.  We arrived in St Jean Pied de Port after a long and circuitous journey - Ottawa - Toronto - Paris - Biarritz - Bayonne - St Jean.  The last leg up the valley by train was spectacular with thick forests, open meadows, craggy rock outcrops and a bubbling river.  When we arrived at the station in St Jean all the eager peregrinos with their large backpacks rushed off the train and scuttled up the hill to the auberge while Roxanne and I casually dragged our suitcases over the cobbled streets feeling somewhat smug as we knew we had a lovely hotel to go to.  Image our surprise and disbelief when we arrived at the hotel only to find it closed for the week!  After much deliberation we finally rang the doorbell and a reluctant inn keeper opened the door.  When we told him we had a reservation his only response was “No, no, no, no reservation - we are closed”.  Persistence played off, however, as while Roxanne stood in the street and guarded the luggage, I followed him inside and first pleaded then begged and finally insisted that he check his list of reservations.  This he did – reluctantly.  A few minutes later he bent forward, grasped his head in his hands and muttered several unrepeatable words under his breath.  Then after a few more seconds he looked up and said, “Please wait!”  Two hours later, after a great meal in a nearby restaurant, we returned to find a smiling host and a lovely room ready for us! 

June 20^th.  Next day we explored St. Jean, wandering up and down the cobbled streets, walking on the medieval wall that surrounds the city and climbing to the citadel.  From the citadel we had a magnificent view of the town, the valley and the mountains beyond.  Later we found the old bridge near the Porte d’Espagne and the 14^th century Gothic church, Notre Dame du Bout Pont.  Of course, we also made use of the many cafes and restaurants - especially for cold beers as it was ridiculously hot!  That evening brought the most violent storm I can ever remember with thunder, lightning, rain, hail and gale-force winds.  
 
Tomorrow we’ll pass through the Porte d’Espagne and cross the bridge as we head out into the mountains and up over the Col de Lepoeder at 1450m (4757ft).
 

… And On to Roncesvalles

 

 June 21^st.  Because of the storm we decided to take a taxi to Roncevalles the next morning and walk back up the Col de Lepoeder rather than attempting to cross it from St. Jean.  This we did, walking for about four hours in some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable.  The climb up to the top of the Col was rather steep but well worth the effort.  The views from the top were exquisite.  On the way down we stopped at the small chapel of San Salvador on the Pass de Ibañeta.  Originally built as a monument to Roland in the 11^th century it was rebuilt in the 20^th century as a simple chapel.
 

Now we are back in Roncevalles staying in a former monastery (the one described by Hemmingway in The Sun Also Rises) waiting for our special “peregrino dinner.”  The monastery, also built in the 11^th century, has served as a haven for pilgrims down through the ages.

June 22nd.  Today we walked from Roncevalles to Zubiri and later went on to Akeretta to find our hotel.  The first part of the walk was glorious - we started by walking along a lovely woodland path and then out into an open meadow.  Here we saw beautiful white cows and shaggy long-haired sheep.  All the cows had tiny calves and Roxanne thought this was significant because we had been talking about mothers earlier on the walk.  Not being the overly introspective type, I did not make that connection!  Roxanne makes connections all the time.  I do not.  The most I can say about connections is that walking through the meadow was an enormous deja vu for me from growing up in England.  I was surprised to find that I remembered the names of many of the wild flowers we saw along the way - buttercups, daisies, blue vetch, cow’s parsley, corn-flowers, wild orchids and deadly nightshade - not to mention the ever present duo of stinging nettles and dock leaves - stinging nettles produce a horrid and painful rash; dock leaves can be used to ease the pain.  They always grow together - isn`t nature wonderful!

 The first part of our walk from Roncevalles to Burguete followed the path taken by Jake Barnes and his friend Bill in The Sun Also Rises as they went on their famous fishing trip.  It would have been the path that Hemmingway himself used many times as he walked the same route (there is a large plaque to Hemmingway in Burguete).  What I find interesting is that although Hemmingway wrote extensively about this region, he never once mentions the Camino - even though the Englishman, Harris, walks over the mountains from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncevalles - almost certainly using the path that all the peregrinos use for the same walk.

 Later we passed through several deep, dark forests with very strange-looking and sometimes menacing trees (very Lord of the Rings!).  We finally arrived at Akerreta and at the beautiful Akerreta Hotel, built in the late 17-hundreds and lovingly restored by its present owners.  It was perfect because of its imperfections!  The owner proudly told us that it had been used extensively during the filming of the The Way and he pointed out the area of the garden where the communal feast was filmed.  It was also obvious that he had been very impressed with the actor, Martin Sheen.

 
Next day (today - June 23rd) we walked from Akerreta to Pamplona - a distance of 20kms - another beautiful walk.  Although we will not be here in Pamplona for the running of the bulls, it is still interesting to explore this charming old city.

Tomorrow we must leave early to walk to Puenta La Reina (about 25kms) over the Alto de Perdon where the famous peregrino statues dot the skyline and the wind turbines stretch for miles and miles across the horizon.