Hello dear readers,
We have had a lovely adventure sight seeing in Barcelona for the last four days. It was a long eight hour bus ride from Burgos to Barcelona but we were able to be greeted by familiar faces and stay with our friends Megan and Susana that first night. We have been finding traveling as tourists to be more challenging than just being pilgrims. We are used to walking everywhere, so that has been a low cost way to explore the city. Barcelona has many beautiful things to see and we made our best effort to see almost all of them ; )
We stayed with a friend of a friend in the Gothic district for the first few days and toured around the local markets, cathedrals, the Barceloneta (the beach on the Mediterranean Sea), Montjuic, toured the Palau de Musica Catalana (amazing architecture), art museums, walked the ¨Rambla,¨and walked about as much as we would have on the camino! We then moved up a little higher in the city and explored the Grácia neighborhood, toured the Sagrada Familia and saw many of the other buildings designed by Gaudí.
Yesterday we made our best effort to adhere to the Spanish time schedule. We ate tapas late in the afternoon, took a long siesta and met up with Megan and Susana for dinner at nine pm! We ate paella and other delicious food with our friends and stayed up until after midnight, our latest night yet! We were so proud of ourselves, yet when we got back to where we were staying, everyone else was still up and someone got home around four. We are just not made for the night life it seems.
We´ve had a wonderful time in Spain. We will be posting pictures and editing the blog a little bit once we are settled back in the states. Tomorrow we fly to Dublin and will get to see two of our Camino friends from our first posts, Mark and Marcela. We are really looking forward to it. Tuesday we fly from Dublin and will be back in Chicago. Keep checking back for pictures!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
End of the Road in Sight...
Hi everyone, Brian here.
I´m sure some of you are wondering why we´ve been able to post so frequently in the last day or two. Well it´s a bit of a story that starts in the last town we made it to, Hontanas. When we arrived to our 4 euro albergue at 2pm I showered and immediately fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. After a 5 hour nap, I woke up and had fevers and chills. I had no appetite and went back to bed only 2 hours later for the rest of the night. We had decided during dinner that I couldn´t walk the next day and that we would find a bus back to Burgos, the last big city, to see a doctor.
The next morning came and I was still burning up. The chills became intermittent, but I couldn´t walk very far and I couldn´t carry very much. My sweet wife took almost anything of weight and put it into her backpack for the 5 block walk to the bus stop. I use bus stop loosely. Hontanas has about 500 people living there, so we were instructed to go and sit in front of a small pinkish colored house sometime between 8:30 and 9:00am. We thought we´d found it and I dropped my stuff and sat on a bench. Just then a woman asked us if we were waiting for a bus, because if so, this was not the pink house. Apparently, the one we needed was a few blocks further, "we couldn´t miss it".
We boarded the bus around 9:00am and the bus driver was very animated. He took one look at us and exclaimed that we were going the wrong way to get to Santiago. We explained that I needed to see a doctor before walking any further. He was unbelievably kind. He even went so far as to drive us to the urgencia once we were in Burgos, in the commercial bus!
What we thought was an urgent care ended up being the emergency room. The doctors there drew labs and examined me and I was admitted. This was no short process. They would wheel me in my chair or gurney off for this or that, leaving Jess in a busy room with both of our packs not knowing when I´d be back. For long periods of time, we didn´t know exactly what was happening. We got up to the room and another doctor was in to see me within 30 minutes. He was very kind, but he wasn´t sure quite what to make of my symptoms: abdominal cramps, weakness and fatigue, fevers and chills, and no appetite.
Later that evening I was examined by 2 residents (who would see me again 2 more times that night with their attending). I was given an IV and started on fluids and medicines to reduce my fever. Later that night they decided to add an antibiotic. I was very fortunate to have my own room. The man that was in the other bed was discharged a few hours after I arrived. Jess sat by my bed all afternoon and all night, tending to me with a cool rag.
Hospital day number 2 - Saturday, October 1st.
Things were a bit better when I woke up on Saturday. My fever had broken and my strength was coming back. Unfortunately, my stomach felt a bit worse and they put me on the dreaded "clear liquid diet". I don´t know how many of my own patients I´ve subjected to this awful excuse for feeding some one, but I´ll never do it again. Also, I will never order an arterial blood gas. Why they needed this test on me (twice!), I do not know. A third doctor saw me that day and explained that I was doing well and would likely go home on Monday, if I could advance my diet slowly to normal food. It was then that I learned that in Spain, no one works in the hospital on Sunday, not even the residents!! If there was an emergency, there was a doctor in the building on-call, but absolutely no adnimistrative work or patient care was done. We decided it would be best for Jess to stay at a nearby hotel now that I was on the mend and the old hospital was not the most hospitable place for a guest. We made a comment about the small size of the room and were informed that they´re closing this hospital soon to open a new one.
Hospital day 3 - Sunday, October 2nd
I was up early with nothing to do and not expecting any medical visitors for the day. I had advanced to a full diet by the previous evening and was continuing to get better. Jess, knowing that I had another 24-36 hours in the hospital, lovingly ran around the whole city taking pictures of what turned out to be the Feast Day of El Cid, the city´s legendary war hero. I began to wander the halls with my hospital issue pj´s and IV pole when who do I run into, but Dr #3. We chatted for a bit and he asked if I wanted to go home. Awesome! It was 10:15am, if I left now I could get to the hotel before Jess left to see me, or so I thought. They disconnected my IV, I got changed, and they gave me my walking papers.
I arrived back at the hotel to find Jess gone. We´d just missed each other and I decided to wait. 30 minutes later, I checked in and showered. She didn´t get back until after noon. Apparently, she had spent the morning buying magazines and taking pictures of people in mideval costume so that I had something to do all day. She arrived to the hospital to find my bed empty and, as she puts it, "had a moment" before the nurses told her I´d been discharged early.
Overall, it was a very anxiety filled and vulnerable experience that I will not soon forget in my own care of hospitalized patients. Jess and I walked through the festival a bit and made the decision to come home 2 weeks early. It´s been a great experience, and certainly one we intend to finish some day. The people we have met and the realizations we´ve made have been well worth the journey. We´re looking forward to coming back.
-Brian
I´m sure some of you are wondering why we´ve been able to post so frequently in the last day or two. Well it´s a bit of a story that starts in the last town we made it to, Hontanas. When we arrived to our 4 euro albergue at 2pm I showered and immediately fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. After a 5 hour nap, I woke up and had fevers and chills. I had no appetite and went back to bed only 2 hours later for the rest of the night. We had decided during dinner that I couldn´t walk the next day and that we would find a bus back to Burgos, the last big city, to see a doctor.
The next morning came and I was still burning up. The chills became intermittent, but I couldn´t walk very far and I couldn´t carry very much. My sweet wife took almost anything of weight and put it into her backpack for the 5 block walk to the bus stop. I use bus stop loosely. Hontanas has about 500 people living there, so we were instructed to go and sit in front of a small pinkish colored house sometime between 8:30 and 9:00am. We thought we´d found it and I dropped my stuff and sat on a bench. Just then a woman asked us if we were waiting for a bus, because if so, this was not the pink house. Apparently, the one we needed was a few blocks further, "we couldn´t miss it".
We boarded the bus around 9:00am and the bus driver was very animated. He took one look at us and exclaimed that we were going the wrong way to get to Santiago. We explained that I needed to see a doctor before walking any further. He was unbelievably kind. He even went so far as to drive us to the urgencia once we were in Burgos, in the commercial bus!
What we thought was an urgent care ended up being the emergency room. The doctors there drew labs and examined me and I was admitted. This was no short process. They would wheel me in my chair or gurney off for this or that, leaving Jess in a busy room with both of our packs not knowing when I´d be back. For long periods of time, we didn´t know exactly what was happening. We got up to the room and another doctor was in to see me within 30 minutes. He was very kind, but he wasn´t sure quite what to make of my symptoms: abdominal cramps, weakness and fatigue, fevers and chills, and no appetite.
Later that evening I was examined by 2 residents (who would see me again 2 more times that night with their attending). I was given an IV and started on fluids and medicines to reduce my fever. Later that night they decided to add an antibiotic. I was very fortunate to have my own room. The man that was in the other bed was discharged a few hours after I arrived. Jess sat by my bed all afternoon and all night, tending to me with a cool rag.
Hospital day number 2 - Saturday, October 1st.
Things were a bit better when I woke up on Saturday. My fever had broken and my strength was coming back. Unfortunately, my stomach felt a bit worse and they put me on the dreaded "clear liquid diet". I don´t know how many of my own patients I´ve subjected to this awful excuse for feeding some one, but I´ll never do it again. Also, I will never order an arterial blood gas. Why they needed this test on me (twice!), I do not know. A third doctor saw me that day and explained that I was doing well and would likely go home on Monday, if I could advance my diet slowly to normal food. It was then that I learned that in Spain, no one works in the hospital on Sunday, not even the residents!! If there was an emergency, there was a doctor in the building on-call, but absolutely no adnimistrative work or patient care was done. We decided it would be best for Jess to stay at a nearby hotel now that I was on the mend and the old hospital was not the most hospitable place for a guest. We made a comment about the small size of the room and were informed that they´re closing this hospital soon to open a new one.
Hospital day 3 - Sunday, October 2nd
I was up early with nothing to do and not expecting any medical visitors for the day. I had advanced to a full diet by the previous evening and was continuing to get better. Jess, knowing that I had another 24-36 hours in the hospital, lovingly ran around the whole city taking pictures of what turned out to be the Feast Day of El Cid, the city´s legendary war hero. I began to wander the halls with my hospital issue pj´s and IV pole when who do I run into, but Dr #3. We chatted for a bit and he asked if I wanted to go home. Awesome! It was 10:15am, if I left now I could get to the hotel before Jess left to see me, or so I thought. They disconnected my IV, I got changed, and they gave me my walking papers.
I arrived back at the hotel to find Jess gone. We´d just missed each other and I decided to wait. 30 minutes later, I checked in and showered. She didn´t get back until after noon. Apparently, she had spent the morning buying magazines and taking pictures of people in mideval costume so that I had something to do all day. She arrived to the hospital to find my bed empty and, as she puts it, "had a moment" before the nurses told her I´d been discharged early.
Overall, it was a very anxiety filled and vulnerable experience that I will not soon forget in my own care of hospitalized patients. Jess and I walked through the festival a bit and made the decision to come home 2 weeks early. It´s been a great experience, and certainly one we intend to finish some day. The people we have met and the realizations we´ve made have been well worth the journey. We´re looking forward to coming back.
-Brian
Ampollas!
A blog about the Camino would not be complete without a post regarding ampollas, or blisters. Once an area of irritation begins to form, or "a hot spot", it must be addressed immediately. There are no shortage of remedies passed among pilgrims. Everyone is an expert. We have heard many approaches which I would like to share. Vaseline, one should keep the toes free of friction by applying vaseline every few hours. Liner socks, move inside the main sock and are meant to protect the foot skin from friction. Pads, that´s right, not just for women. Pads are placed on the insole to absorb any moisture (pads with wings help the pad stay put, but are not necessary). Retying the boots in a certain pattern to reduce movement. Compeed, it´s like a second skin that has some strange medicine in is to help reduce the blister once it has formed, (although it can expand the size of the blister) and should not be removed. Duct tape, it seemed a little barbaric, so I didn´t try it, although Brian brought some along. Syringes can be used to suck out the fluid and pus. Another barbaric technique that I now swear by is the needle and thread remedy. A threaded needle is passed through the blister, and then tied off so the fluid can slowly wick out without opening the entire blister to an infection. We also saw someone with huge cotton balls taped to their heals. Tape can be used, but then I found all of my toes sticking together like one massive club foot, which led to other discomforts. Really, when it comes down to it, you just do whatever seems to work for you. Or, be like Brian, who claims that he has so much foot surface area that a blister or callus cannot be formed. Lucky.
Tardajos to Hontanas
People start shuffling at 6am (as predicted) and we are up and out on the road around 7am with our teeth brushed, our water bottles filled, and head lamps on. Sunrise has been around 8:13am and it´s pretty dark until about 7:45. Walking in the morning always seems romantic. The stars are still out, and there are TONS of them! And it´s usually just the two of us walking. Recently, some of that has changed. It´s getting pretty cold in the morning, hence the Burgos stop for hats and gloves, it´s also inefficient walking time. Remember that we have almost no idea where we´re heading each day if not for the yellow shells and arrows. It really slows you down to be looking for them in the dark!
Usually, we stop for breakfast around 2 hours into our day. This is generally at a small town bar that traditionally serves café con leche and tortillas for breakfast. A café con leche is espresso with steamed milk and a tortilla is an egg and potato dish that is cooked like a fritata and then served by the slice. Very tasty, but sometimes gets old. We miss cereal.
Leaving Burgos, we officially started the Meseta, which represents the high plains of Spain. It´s windy, hot, and open. There isn´t much to look at other than the massive, modern windmills. It is a bit Don Quijote of the 21st century. The terrain is akin to a dirt road with gravel and large, smooth river rocks mixed in. The path through the Meseta, as we were told, is man-made. This makes sense as there is no river or waterway nearby to leave this kind of terrain. It´s hard on the feet. Very hard. Jess´s blisters have been taking a beating.
When you stop for breakfast, pilgrims will usually buy a baguette and a few pieces of meat and fruit for lunch as there may not be a place to stop for the next 5-6 hours. The towns around big cities tend to be in clusters that are 1-5km apart, but most of the time it can be 10-12km before you see another building. That´s 3-4 hours of walking. We´ve been sustaining a diet of home-made "bocadillos", or little sandwiches, made of chorizo slices, laughing cow cheese, and baguette. We tend to buy lots of nuts, fruits, and chocolates too. Nothing too exotic. We´ve stuck to apples, oranges, and peaches :)
We arrived to Hontanas around 2pm and checked into an albergue. This particular one cost 4 euros per person. It´s on the low end, but not worrisomely cheap.
And there you have it. It´s a very simple existence, but it affords alot of time for reflection and conversation. Unfortunately, not as much journaling or blogging :)
Usually, we stop for breakfast around 2 hours into our day. This is generally at a small town bar that traditionally serves café con leche and tortillas for breakfast. A café con leche is espresso with steamed milk and a tortilla is an egg and potato dish that is cooked like a fritata and then served by the slice. Very tasty, but sometimes gets old. We miss cereal.
Leaving Burgos, we officially started the Meseta, which represents the high plains of Spain. It´s windy, hot, and open. There isn´t much to look at other than the massive, modern windmills. It is a bit Don Quijote of the 21st century. The terrain is akin to a dirt road with gravel and large, smooth river rocks mixed in. The path through the Meseta, as we were told, is man-made. This makes sense as there is no river or waterway nearby to leave this kind of terrain. It´s hard on the feet. Very hard. Jess´s blisters have been taking a beating.
When you stop for breakfast, pilgrims will usually buy a baguette and a few pieces of meat and fruit for lunch as there may not be a place to stop for the next 5-6 hours. The towns around big cities tend to be in clusters that are 1-5km apart, but most of the time it can be 10-12km before you see another building. That´s 3-4 hours of walking. We´ve been sustaining a diet of home-made "bocadillos", or little sandwiches, made of chorizo slices, laughing cow cheese, and baguette. We tend to buy lots of nuts, fruits, and chocolates too. Nothing too exotic. We´ve stuck to apples, oranges, and peaches :)
We arrived to Hontanas around 2pm and checked into an albergue. This particular one cost 4 euros per person. It´s on the low end, but not worrisomely cheap.
And there you have it. It´s a very simple existence, but it affords alot of time for reflection and conversation. Unfortunately, not as much journaling or blogging :)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A day in the life of a peregrino
So we left Burgos with all of the necessary provisions to push on. Jess had found a warm hat, gloves, more blister care stuff, and I had gotten a warm hat too. Other people also faired well after visiting the wonderful wizard of Burg-Oz (as a point of reference, no one calls it that except Jess and I, who were delirious with walking). Some people were able to get much needed new footwear or hiking pants. Our typical day of a pilgrim starts on our next day out of Tardajos.
Burgos to Tardajos was a short 3 hour walk after spending most of the morning admiring the cathedral in Burgos. We arrived at 3pm. We continued to follow arrows and shells that are painted everywhere that guide the way along highways, through cities, and open fields. These guides are typically posted in several strategic areas. For instance, on curbs, lightposts, houses, buildings, bridges, sidewalks, and on large immobile rocks. It´s really quite amazing that young ruffians and houligans don´t vandalize them. Some are, however, elaborately decorated in graffiti...we´ll get a picture of that up soon.
So you continue to follow your arrows for the allotted number of hours of hiking in a day. Burgos to Tardajos was only three hours, a very, very light day and only about 10km. Occassionally, in high season, people have been refused from lodging places for traveling such a short distance unless they are able to prove sickness or injury! Arrive in your destination town, Tardajos. Read a bit about it, whatever your guidebook has. Check in to the albergue, refugio, or hostel that you have secretly heard good things about that you wouldn´t share with anyone because there may only be 12 beds ;) and start your afternoon ritual.
Generally, we arrive in the early aftenoon, say between 1 and 3pm. First things first, shower and wash your clothes. Remember, that for all intents and purposes, we are carrying roughly 2 sets of clothing each (with additional rain layers and warm layers) which get pretty filthy pretty quick. Washing your clothes by hand and line drying them is a staple of pilgrim life. And if your clothes aren´t dry by nightfall, you bring them inside because it gets cold and wet at night. Then you hang them from your bunk overnight and then usually from your pack whil you hike the next day.
The showers are really hit or miss. Some places are co-ed and separated by a curtian or plate glass. Others are gender specific and have plenty of space. One thing that we cannot figure out is how we are supposed to get dressed. There is no place to put clean clothes, or dirty clothes for that matter, while you shower. I´ve been putting my dirty clothes on the floor with my clean clothes on top...not sure how Jess has been managing. We have been lucky to have hot water everywhere we´ve stayed. Lots of places have a push-button that gives you about 20-30 seconds of water....not cool.
So you´ve arrived to town, done some laundry, and showered. Now it´s time to find something to eat, because you´ve burned 10,000 calories today. The most economical option is generally to go to the market and buy-prepare your own food. Usually that is difficult, because of siesta. This varies from region to region and usually lasts 3-4 hours in the middle of the afternoon (when hungry pilgrims, and especially americans, want dinner). The spanish do not usually eat until 7 or 8pm at the earliest and can be as late as 11pm any day of the week. Many times you´ll find a "menú peregrino". This is a 3-course meal that is roughly the same in every town. A small salad or pasta, some type of pork platter, and a dessert in a plastic cup. The kicker is, if you order this, you are entitled to a refillable bottle of water and a refillable bottle of wine with your meal :) It´s tough to pass up, especially when you walk through some of the world´s finest vineyards all day.
Dinner is not quick and no one is in a hurry, ever. 7pm is the earliest we´ve been served menú and you usually can´t leave until at least 9pm. Then you get back to your bunk and situate your sleeping bag and brush your teeth. One last look at your pack to make sure that you can get out efficiently in the morning. Arm yourself with industrial TSA-style earplugs because the snoring never ends (I´m sorry that we received negative comments about our discontent with snorers, but I stand by most of our advice!) Lights out around 10pm and there´s really no need to set your watch, the French or the Germans will be up by 6am rustling about. On the road by 7 or 730am with minimal sleep and a long road ahead. Buen Camino!
Next post. Tardajos to Hontanas...
Burgos to Tardajos was a short 3 hour walk after spending most of the morning admiring the cathedral in Burgos. We arrived at 3pm. We continued to follow arrows and shells that are painted everywhere that guide the way along highways, through cities, and open fields. These guides are typically posted in several strategic areas. For instance, on curbs, lightposts, houses, buildings, bridges, sidewalks, and on large immobile rocks. It´s really quite amazing that young ruffians and houligans don´t vandalize them. Some are, however, elaborately decorated in graffiti...we´ll get a picture of that up soon.
So you continue to follow your arrows for the allotted number of hours of hiking in a day. Burgos to Tardajos was only three hours, a very, very light day and only about 10km. Occassionally, in high season, people have been refused from lodging places for traveling such a short distance unless they are able to prove sickness or injury! Arrive in your destination town, Tardajos. Read a bit about it, whatever your guidebook has. Check in to the albergue, refugio, or hostel that you have secretly heard good things about that you wouldn´t share with anyone because there may only be 12 beds ;) and start your afternoon ritual.
Generally, we arrive in the early aftenoon, say between 1 and 3pm. First things first, shower and wash your clothes. Remember, that for all intents and purposes, we are carrying roughly 2 sets of clothing each (with additional rain layers and warm layers) which get pretty filthy pretty quick. Washing your clothes by hand and line drying them is a staple of pilgrim life. And if your clothes aren´t dry by nightfall, you bring them inside because it gets cold and wet at night. Then you hang them from your bunk overnight and then usually from your pack whil you hike the next day.
The showers are really hit or miss. Some places are co-ed and separated by a curtian or plate glass. Others are gender specific and have plenty of space. One thing that we cannot figure out is how we are supposed to get dressed. There is no place to put clean clothes, or dirty clothes for that matter, while you shower. I´ve been putting my dirty clothes on the floor with my clean clothes on top...not sure how Jess has been managing. We have been lucky to have hot water everywhere we´ve stayed. Lots of places have a push-button that gives you about 20-30 seconds of water....not cool.
So you´ve arrived to town, done some laundry, and showered. Now it´s time to find something to eat, because you´ve burned 10,000 calories today. The most economical option is generally to go to the market and buy-prepare your own food. Usually that is difficult, because of siesta. This varies from region to region and usually lasts 3-4 hours in the middle of the afternoon (when hungry pilgrims, and especially americans, want dinner). The spanish do not usually eat until 7 or 8pm at the earliest and can be as late as 11pm any day of the week. Many times you´ll find a "menú peregrino". This is a 3-course meal that is roughly the same in every town. A small salad or pasta, some type of pork platter, and a dessert in a plastic cup. The kicker is, if you order this, you are entitled to a refillable bottle of water and a refillable bottle of wine with your meal :) It´s tough to pass up, especially when you walk through some of the world´s finest vineyards all day.
Dinner is not quick and no one is in a hurry, ever. 7pm is the earliest we´ve been served menú and you usually can´t leave until at least 9pm. Then you get back to your bunk and situate your sleeping bag and brush your teeth. One last look at your pack to make sure that you can get out efficiently in the morning. Arm yourself with industrial TSA-style earplugs because the snoring never ends (I´m sorry that we received negative comments about our discontent with snorers, but I stand by most of our advice!) Lights out around 10pm and there´s really no need to set your watch, the French or the Germans will be up by 6am rustling about. On the road by 7 or 730am with minimal sleep and a long road ahead. Buen Camino!
Next post. Tardajos to Hontanas...
Friday, September 30, 2011
The best on the Camino!
Although the Pyrenees were by far the biggest mountains, we are constantly finding ourselves going up and down. The views are amazing, and it makes us excited to be moving towards mountains when we get back to the states. So the day of September 25th we hiked up a bit to Villafranca Montes de Oca. We stayed at an albergue that also has a high end hotel on the other side. The owner, Pedro, was very proud of his establishment and assured us that his place was the best on the Camino and that we should have dinner at his restaurant because it is the best on the Camino! Because he said so! He was quite a character, and he wasn´t wrong about the food. It was wonderfully prepared, and a wider range of dishes than pilgrims are usually offered.
The next day we only made it as far as Ages, when we saw Yoga room advertised as a part of a hostel. The owner, Ana Maria, was so kind and welcoming. She prepared all of the food herself and had created a welcoming, sacred space. Each room had three or less bunks and a private bath (unheard of!). I taught a yoga class to eight fellow pilgrims in the Yoga room. It felt like a strange mixing of my Camino life and my life back home, it was an honor to offer a practice for my friends. Ana Maria said that she had built this place for people like me. Her warm hugs made such a difference this far into our tiring journey.
Burgos, the wonderful wizard of Burg-oz! After so many small towns, everyone had a long list of things to do in a big city. You would hear pilgrims say "Everything will be better once we get what we need in Burgos.¨ I was afraid that the city could not live up to all of our expectations for it. Entry into Burgos was a long brutal city walk. I would never consider walking across a whole city in the states, it would be miserable. The same is true here. We stand out a bit with our dusty clothes and big backpacks, desperately trying to follow the yellow arrows painted as markers through the city. Once in the historic district, all of our Burgos dreams came true. We checked into our hotel (our weekly treat to ourselves) and went exploring the city. The Catedral is an overwhelming Gothic structure. There is no way to see all of it at once from any street view. It was stunning, and that was from the outside... OK, times up, we`ll tell you more about Burgos and where we are now soon. Thanks for reading and for your patience. Blogging has been more difficult than we thought. We appreciate your prayers.
The next day we only made it as far as Ages, when we saw Yoga room advertised as a part of a hostel. The owner, Ana Maria, was so kind and welcoming. She prepared all of the food herself and had created a welcoming, sacred space. Each room had three or less bunks and a private bath (unheard of!). I taught a yoga class to eight fellow pilgrims in the Yoga room. It felt like a strange mixing of my Camino life and my life back home, it was an honor to offer a practice for my friends. Ana Maria said that she had built this place for people like me. Her warm hugs made such a difference this far into our tiring journey.
Burgos, the wonderful wizard of Burg-oz! After so many small towns, everyone had a long list of things to do in a big city. You would hear pilgrims say "Everything will be better once we get what we need in Burgos.¨ I was afraid that the city could not live up to all of our expectations for it. Entry into Burgos was a long brutal city walk. I would never consider walking across a whole city in the states, it would be miserable. The same is true here. We stand out a bit with our dusty clothes and big backpacks, desperately trying to follow the yellow arrows painted as markers through the city. Once in the historic district, all of our Burgos dreams came true. We checked into our hotel (our weekly treat to ourselves) and went exploring the city. The Catedral is an overwhelming Gothic structure. There is no way to see all of it at once from any street view. It was stunning, and that was from the outside... OK, times up, we`ll tell you more about Burgos and where we are now soon. Thanks for reading and for your patience. Blogging has been more difficult than we thought. We appreciate your prayers.
A week in review
After Logroño we headed to Ventosa. It was one of the most beautiful hostels so far. It was all new and clean and they made it feel like a real home with art and a landscaped courtyard to hang our wash and socialize. It was absolutely perfect, and all of our new traveling companions were able to stay. We have been meeting so many wonderful people, and you can blame them for our lack of posts; ) It has been way more fun to socialize than to try to find an internet cafe. We apologize for the infrequency of the posts. Ventosa had a lovely restaurant and we enjoyed our pilgrim´s menu with new friends. Brian and I snuck away from the group for a while to do some yoga in the grass in front of the town church. It was such a peaceful place, especially after the busyness of the feast days in a big city.
After so many great days, we were bound to have a rough one sometime... We had just been saying that we haven´t had any trouble getting into hostels and then came a series of dissappointments. Point of reference we are on September 23rd of our journey. We made good time to Azofra and decided to press on to the little city of Cirueña. It was a hot long walk, but we finally made it to the city. The first hostel we tried had been closed for two years (we are going to have to write to our guide book about that) and the second, and only other one in town, was full. So at 3:15 we filled up our water bottles and pressed on to Santa Domingo Calzada (for a record total of 32 kilometers in one day!). We were pretty silly by the time we arrived. We could barely believe our eyes when we saw that the albergue was full. Oh no! There was one more in town just a few meters away, our last hope. It was wonderful! It had only been open for two years and everything was in great condition. I was so tired that I just wanted to go to dinner (and I had really been wanting some fish after all of the pork they serve here), but Brian wanted to stay in and cook. As we walked past the kitchen to see what we would need to buy, two women who we recognized from our hostel in Ventosa invited us to share their home-cooked fish dinner. It was a miracle. We only had to provide the wine and dessert. It´s moments like those, that happen all the time, that make us feel we are being taken care of on this journey.
So now all our plans were thrown out since we were ahead of schedule and it would be too short of a day to stay in Grañon, which we had been excited about. We walked on to a small city that was had a lot of Paulo Coelho writings, and I was really looking forward to talking with the Brazilian owners. After waiting over an hour for it to open, the woman came out and told us that if we didn´t have a reservation we should keep walking. I was really disappointed, especially when I found out later that it wasn´t even true. We ended up staying in Villa Mayor del Rio, where we reconnected with some friends and made some new ones. We met a young man who was making a video about the Camino, and hopefully we will be able to add his link once it´s completed. He showed us what he´s done so far, and it artfully captures the highlights and feeling of the Camino (minus blisters, snorers, bed bugs, full hostels, tired feet...). We can´t wait for him to finish it though, so we can share our experience more fully with all of you.
This is getting too long, so we´ll break it up a bit. The next climb...
After so many great days, we were bound to have a rough one sometime... We had just been saying that we haven´t had any trouble getting into hostels and then came a series of dissappointments. Point of reference we are on September 23rd of our journey. We made good time to Azofra and decided to press on to the little city of Cirueña. It was a hot long walk, but we finally made it to the city. The first hostel we tried had been closed for two years (we are going to have to write to our guide book about that) and the second, and only other one in town, was full. So at 3:15 we filled up our water bottles and pressed on to Santa Domingo Calzada (for a record total of 32 kilometers in one day!). We were pretty silly by the time we arrived. We could barely believe our eyes when we saw that the albergue was full. Oh no! There was one more in town just a few meters away, our last hope. It was wonderful! It had only been open for two years and everything was in great condition. I was so tired that I just wanted to go to dinner (and I had really been wanting some fish after all of the pork they serve here), but Brian wanted to stay in and cook. As we walked past the kitchen to see what we would need to buy, two women who we recognized from our hostel in Ventosa invited us to share their home-cooked fish dinner. It was a miracle. We only had to provide the wine and dessert. It´s moments like those, that happen all the time, that make us feel we are being taken care of on this journey.
So now all our plans were thrown out since we were ahead of schedule and it would be too short of a day to stay in Grañon, which we had been excited about. We walked on to a small city that was had a lot of Paulo Coelho writings, and I was really looking forward to talking with the Brazilian owners. After waiting over an hour for it to open, the woman came out and told us that if we didn´t have a reservation we should keep walking. I was really disappointed, especially when I found out later that it wasn´t even true. We ended up staying in Villa Mayor del Rio, where we reconnected with some friends and made some new ones. We met a young man who was making a video about the Camino, and hopefully we will be able to add his link once it´s completed. He showed us what he´s done so far, and it artfully captures the highlights and feeling of the Camino (minus blisters, snorers, bed bugs, full hostels, tired feet...). We can´t wait for him to finish it though, so we can share our experience more fully with all of you.
This is getting too long, so we´ll break it up a bit. The next climb...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Catching up a bit
Dear everyone,
We are currently in Logroño. On the map it doesn´t look like we´ve made it very far, but please keep in mind that we are on foot and there are mountains. We arrived to Logroño today to find out that it is the festival of their patron saint, San Mateo. Not only that, but the city is the capital of the Rioja region. The Rioja is a region of Spain that produces some of the best wines in the world, and we are in the capital....on it´s feast day!!! Therefore this post will be short :) but we wanted to let everyone know that we are doing well.
Since the last posting, we have stayed in Óbanos, Estella, and Los Arcos. Each place has been charming in it´s own way. In Estella, the hostel fee was by donation. It was located across the street from the town´s church and pilgrims were welcomed to a home-cooked dinner, provided they went to evening mass :) The priest offered each pilgrim a blessing after mass (in about 5 different languages). He also requested that when we reach Santiago, that we hug the statue and say a prayer for "the priest in San Miguel de Estella". We had a great meal that evening and shared a room with about 14 people and 2 snorers.
A word on snoring. If you are traveling, and you know that you snore, please do something about it. Some simple suggestions are use those nose strips. Sleep outside. Sleep facedown in a pillow. Before going to sleep tell people "I snore, wake me up if you can´t sleep on my account". Don´t travel. Stay in rooms without a dozen or more people. Thanks for your attention.
In all seriousness, Jess and I are having a great adventure. 15 miles a day is certainly taking it´s toll on our bodies and, occassionally, our spirits, but the people and the conversations have been well worth it. We are learning that we have many things in common with other people from different walks of life and different cultures. We are also learning about ourselves and how we want to lead our lives going forward. Lastly, we have learned that despite traveling over 135km and hiking through a mountain range, we have a very long road ahead of us...
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers....we´re off to celebrate ¡San Mateo!
We are currently in Logroño. On the map it doesn´t look like we´ve made it very far, but please keep in mind that we are on foot and there are mountains. We arrived to Logroño today to find out that it is the festival of their patron saint, San Mateo. Not only that, but the city is the capital of the Rioja region. The Rioja is a region of Spain that produces some of the best wines in the world, and we are in the capital....on it´s feast day!!! Therefore this post will be short :) but we wanted to let everyone know that we are doing well.
Since the last posting, we have stayed in Óbanos, Estella, and Los Arcos. Each place has been charming in it´s own way. In Estella, the hostel fee was by donation. It was located across the street from the town´s church and pilgrims were welcomed to a home-cooked dinner, provided they went to evening mass :) The priest offered each pilgrim a blessing after mass (in about 5 different languages). He also requested that when we reach Santiago, that we hug the statue and say a prayer for "the priest in San Miguel de Estella". We had a great meal that evening and shared a room with about 14 people and 2 snorers.
A word on snoring. If you are traveling, and you know that you snore, please do something about it. Some simple suggestions are use those nose strips. Sleep outside. Sleep facedown in a pillow. Before going to sleep tell people "I snore, wake me up if you can´t sleep on my account". Don´t travel. Stay in rooms without a dozen or more people. Thanks for your attention.
In all seriousness, Jess and I are having a great adventure. 15 miles a day is certainly taking it´s toll on our bodies and, occassionally, our spirits, but the people and the conversations have been well worth it. We are learning that we have many things in common with other people from different walks of life and different cultures. We are also learning about ourselves and how we want to lead our lives going forward. Lastly, we have learned that despite traveling over 135km and hiking through a mountain range, we have a very long road ahead of us...
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers....we´re off to celebrate ¡San Mateo!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Pamplona, yes where the bulls run :)
We arrived in Pamplona in the late morning after leaving some of our friends in Arre. We were still travelling with Sarah and Sarah (who we nicknamed Peligrosa and Tortuga). It is very apparent to us now that we must walk at our own pace. The four of us explored the city together before splitting up for awhile and would later meet up for dinner and wine. Pamplona (where we are currently updating the last several days) has been very restful and is a wonderful city. 
We started into the city by passing the Plaza de Toros where the bulls end their run during the festival of San Fermin in early July. Per the plan of having a day of rest and getting some good sleep, we opted for a proper hotel. Just the two of us in a room and a private bathroom...how quickly that becomes a luxury!!!
Hopefully, we will be back on the Camino in full strength tomorrow. Thanks for reading and posting comments.
Communal dinner
The albergue for the night was in a monastery and couldn´t have been more lovely. You had to pass through a little chapel before entering a courtyard with trees, flowers and plenty of chairs to rest after the difficult journey. 
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| Sarah (Peligrosa), Sarah (Tortuga), Jess and Isabel |
Roncesvalles to Zubiri
We headed out at a fast pace and took in the beauty of the countryside. We anticipated it being a much easier day than the one before, but the ups and downs of the trail had it´s own difficulty.
Jess soon found that her hot spots on her feet were turning into ampollas (blisters), a pilgrim´s worst nightmare. We tried to press on faster to get to town, but later found that to be a mistake once we saw the damage.
After a nap we ran into our friends Mark and Marcela from the day before. We enjoyed some San Miguel on the Roman bridge with our friends and soaked up the last light of the day. After another pilgrim´s menu dinner we collapsed into bed for another night of non-restful, snoring filled sleep.
Hike, rest, repeat...
We have quite a bit to catch everyone up on. We started our Camino in St Jean and spent the better part of 9 hours climbing through the Pyrenees, and yes, Jess was right about how difficult it would be.
The markers we followed-flechas or arrows
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| Only 763 kilometers to go! |
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| One of the only sources of water on that first day |
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| And now for the steep descent to Roncesvalles |
Let´s back up a bit. Before spending the night at the albergue, we had made friends with an Irish couple, Mark and Marcella. Wonderful people. We had dinner with them and were able to compare experiences and motivations for doing the pilgrimage. They will be traveling as far as Logroño. We had a great time with them and were able to share stories and drinks until heading back to the albergue armed with our earplugs.
All told, the first day of the Camino was physically demanding and we were rewarded with incredible views. Day two: Roncesvalles to Zubiri.
¡Buen Camino!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Getting to the starting line...
We had successfully made our flight from Dublin to Biarritz France. We were nervous because our flight had been delayed by over an hour. On arrival the plan had been to take a bus to Bayonne and then catch the only train for St Jean Pied de Port at 6pm. Instead, we arrived at the airport (where we could not read any signs or understand any overhead announcements!!). This is when we became nervous. At that moment, we were profiled as pilgrims and approached by a friendly Irishman in his late fifties and offered to split a taxi to St Jean. Outside the airport there were groups of pilgrims dividing up to share cabs. It couldn´t have worked out better. We ended up sharing a ride with Mary and Anna, two Irish women who would be completing 2 weeks´ worth of the Camino. For a comparable price to two bus tickets and two train tickets (we think) we arrived in St Jean with time early and were able to check into the Pilgrim office and get our stamps at our starting destination.
We were unfortunate in our selection of hostels in St Jean. We stayed in a room of 8 people, at least 5 of whom at one point in the night snored, coughed, sneezed, blew their nose, got up to pee, or had an episode of apnea. Also, this particular hostel owner was also the proud owner of 7 cats, 3 dogs, and 3 hens. She insisted that we not wake before 7am out of respect to her and the animals (what!?). After a minimal amount of sleep (and poor Jess struggling with zoo allergies) we were at the door at 7:05am. We were yelled at. She said there is no way that we could have woken up at 7 and been ready to leave at 7:05am. We tried to explain that we are swift and I think she swore at us in French. But we had no time to lose, we had 24k to hike through the Pyrenees with an elevation gain of 1400m. (sorry everything is metric, that´s the way the world works)
Next post....the Pyrenees and day one of the Camino
Dublin and travels
Hello dear followers. The rest of our time in Dublin was great. We walked to St. James´s Gate and received our first stamps as pilgrims! (Jess got a little emotional ; ) The gate happens to be at the Guiness brewery, but the tour was a little overpriced and Brian agreed to have his Guiness elsewhere. We had a lovely dinner in the Temple Bar area and enjoyed a Guiness and Irish cider to celebrate. We´d like to say we did more in Dublin, but we were exhausted and decided it was better to try to be well rested for our travels to France the next day. After 13 hours of sleep and a full Irish breakfast, we were both feeling more like ourselves and ready for France...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Safe and sound!!!
Dear friends and family,
We have arrived to Dublin unscathed. We are incredibly jet-lagged as we left Chicago at 7pm to arrive in Dublin at 8am (which was really 2am). We hit the town running and were able to check a few hostels before deciding on the "cleanest" one. After a quick power nap and letting everyone know that we are safe, we are hitting the town and seeing the Trinity College area then heading to St James' Gate.
St James' Gate is the Guinness brewery. While we'll probably skip the overpriced (and self-guided) tour, our main objective will be to get our first "sello" or stamp for our pilgrim passport, or credencial. This would complete our first task of being assured that we will bookend our Santiago pilgrimage with St James stamps!
Oh, we haven't explained the sello (pronounced SAY-yo) system. As pilgrims, we will be collecting stamps along our journey through Spain to prove that we have been making the trek on foot. This will serve as a keepsake after the pilgrimage, and validate our place at the Pilgrim mass in Santiago the day we arrive. The only "rule" is that the final 100km must be on foot in order to receive our Compostela (the document to absolve all of our sins to date) Had we done this pilgrimage on a Holy Year, ie. when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday, we would have retrospective AND prospective absolution of our lifetime of sins! Of course, we are doing this for spiritual growth and a hiking adventure, but a little absolution never hurt anyone...
Check in soon.
Love,
Brian and Jess
We have arrived to Dublin unscathed. We are incredibly jet-lagged as we left Chicago at 7pm to arrive in Dublin at 8am (which was really 2am). We hit the town running and were able to check a few hostels before deciding on the "cleanest" one. After a quick power nap and letting everyone know that we are safe, we are hitting the town and seeing the Trinity College area then heading to St James' Gate.
St James' Gate is the Guinness brewery. While we'll probably skip the overpriced (and self-guided) tour, our main objective will be to get our first "sello" or stamp for our pilgrim passport, or credencial. This would complete our first task of being assured that we will bookend our Santiago pilgrimage with St James stamps!
Oh, we haven't explained the sello (pronounced SAY-yo) system. As pilgrims, we will be collecting stamps along our journey through Spain to prove that we have been making the trek on foot. This will serve as a keepsake after the pilgrimage, and validate our place at the Pilgrim mass in Santiago the day we arrive. The only "rule" is that the final 100km must be on foot in order to receive our Compostela (the document to absolve all of our sins to date) Had we done this pilgrimage on a Holy Year, ie. when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday, we would have retrospective AND prospective absolution of our lifetime of sins! Of course, we are doing this for spiritual growth and a hiking adventure, but a little absolution never hurt anyone...
Check in soon.
Love,
Brian and Jess
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
pre-Pilgrims
As we continue to loop around Chicago and stay with friends, we continue to get more and more excited about our upcoming adventure. The past two days have been sponsored by Dan/Michelle Stallilonis and Grant/Erica Gholson. Dan and Grant are not only former roommates, but proud owners of the Compostela certificate one receives upon completion of the Camino. We have spent time with them recounting their stories and getting excited to write our own. We'll be doing a final gear check today and heading to the bank to get some euros to get us started in Ireland, France, and of course, Spain.
We will be starting (slightly off the map) in St Jean Pied du Port, FR, on the route called the Camino Frances. This is the most traveled of the 3 traditional routes to Santiago and it is 780km, or 484mi. Below is the cathedral where our journey will end. It seems so far away...
We will be starting (slightly off the map) in St Jean Pied du Port, FR, on the route called the Camino Frances. This is the most traveled of the 3 traditional routes to Santiago and it is 780km, or 484mi. Below is the cathedral where our journey will end. It seems so far away...
Monday, September 5, 2011
Homeless and unemployed
It has been a crazy week for the Leonards. I officially finished my family medicine residency on August 31st. This has begun a strange and unfamiliar feeling of minimal responsibility, no paychecks, and no 'offical' place to live. Jess and I have been blessed to have been provided for in a variety of ways. Let's start at the beginning.
On Monday, August 29th our PODS container arrived. With the help of Brian Huber and Jeff and Kapri Hill the storage unit was loaded in 3 stressful days. On the 31st our lease ended, I became an attending, the pod was shipped/stored, and the Leonards became pilgrims. A sincere thank you to our "mover" friends without whom we would have started our journey with a stumble.
We were fortunate to have formed a great number of families in the South Bend area. From work friends to gym friends to neighbors and church friends, we had a long list of people to say goodbye to. If you're reading this blog, you're likely one of the people who had an impact on our lives in Indiana.
Our last days in South Bend were a whirlwind of goodbyes. We were thankful to spend a night with Jim and Holly Mumaw and enjoy some of their amazing home-made peanut butter & chocolate ice cream. The following night, Mike and Margie Reichmann took us in (and fed us an amazing dinner). Thursday morning (this is Sept 2nd now :) we drove Lucy down to the farm where she'll be boarded for 40 days :( She definitely knew something was going on and kept us up the night before with her constant whimpering. And with that we left South Bend. We spent a day with my parents and my brother Bob and his wife Megan (and their male fetus!) Congrats, again, Bob and Meg! It was wonderful to catch-up and spend some quality time with family.
Well, we're officially pilgrims. We have no address. We have no schedule. We have dear friends who continue to house us (thanks PJ and Steph). We are excited and nervous for our trip. We appreciate everyone's support and prayers. We'll check in again soon. Feel free to post your thoughts and share our blog address :)
On Monday, August 29th our PODS container arrived. With the help of Brian Huber and Jeff and Kapri Hill the storage unit was loaded in 3 stressful days. On the 31st our lease ended, I became an attending, the pod was shipped/stored, and the Leonards became pilgrims. A sincere thank you to our "mover" friends without whom we would have started our journey with a stumble.
We were fortunate to have formed a great number of families in the South Bend area. From work friends to gym friends to neighbors and church friends, we had a long list of people to say goodbye to. If you're reading this blog, you're likely one of the people who had an impact on our lives in Indiana.
Our last days in South Bend were a whirlwind of goodbyes. We were thankful to spend a night with Jim and Holly Mumaw and enjoy some of their amazing home-made peanut butter & chocolate ice cream. The following night, Mike and Margie Reichmann took us in (and fed us an amazing dinner). Thursday morning (this is Sept 2nd now :) we drove Lucy down to the farm where she'll be boarded for 40 days :( She definitely knew something was going on and kept us up the night before with her constant whimpering. And with that we left South Bend. We spent a day with my parents and my brother Bob and his wife Megan (and their male fetus!) Congrats, again, Bob and Meg! It was wonderful to catch-up and spend some quality time with family.
Well, we're officially pilgrims. We have no address. We have no schedule. We have dear friends who continue to house us (thanks PJ and Steph). We are excited and nervous for our trip. We appreciate everyone's support and prayers. We'll check in again soon. Feel free to post your thoughts and share our blog address :)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
First post
Hello blogging world.
We're not sure if this is going to be our blog-site of choice, so please forgive any initial cheesy-ness or our apparent lack of understanding of how blogs work. We'll be playing with the background, font, and layout to lure you into reading about our lives.
The purpose of this blog, and the namesake, is to keep in touch with family and close friends while we walk some 500 miles across northern Spain on the Camino de Compostela. Anyone who has talked to us in the last 3-4 months know that we have been planning this trip for a long time. For those of you who think that this is crazy, let me explain. The Camino is an ancient Christian pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle and saint, James. It is believed that his mortal remains are located in a cathedral in Santiago (which means, St James) Spain. The pilgrimage will take about 5 weeks and we leave on September 10th.
Hopefully, we have piqued your interest. And hopefully, we will learn to make this more visually appealing...
We're not sure if this is going to be our blog-site of choice, so please forgive any initial cheesy-ness or our apparent lack of understanding of how blogs work. We'll be playing with the background, font, and layout to lure you into reading about our lives.
The purpose of this blog, and the namesake, is to keep in touch with family and close friends while we walk some 500 miles across northern Spain on the Camino de Compostela. Anyone who has talked to us in the last 3-4 months know that we have been planning this trip for a long time. For those of you who think that this is crazy, let me explain. The Camino is an ancient Christian pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle and saint, James. It is believed that his mortal remains are located in a cathedral in Santiago (which means, St James) Spain. The pilgrimage will take about 5 weeks and we leave on September 10th.
Hopefully, we have piqued your interest. And hopefully, we will learn to make this more visually appealing...
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