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.

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...

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!

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!!!

 It was an excellent night´s sleep and we are feeling well rested today.  We have done a small amount of wandering around the city (in non-blister-forming flipflops) and have seen some beautiful architecture.  We walked down the Calle Estafeta where the bulls run....there is NO room to hide!

We have had a fair amount of leisure time and time to wash our clothes (and yet have had difficulty finding an internet cafe) and are somewhat demoralized by losing our momentum by the temporary change from pilgrim to tourist.  We are, again, sleeping in a converted monastery/church tonight.  This one houses some 100 pilgrims.  We are ready for the heat and the snoring and the poor quality of sleep.  Thankfully, we showered at the hotel this morning as we found out that the bathrooms are not only small but co-ed. 

Hopefully, we will be back on the Camino in full strength tomorrow.  Thanks for reading and posting comments.

Communal dinner

 Day 3, Thursday. We made our way very slowly from Zubiri to Trinidad de Arre, just outside of Pamplona.  Jess´ blisters allowed us the opportunity to hear everyone´s opinions on blister care and prevention.  Many kind people offered supplies of compeed and tape.  We were walking at very different paces and decided to split up, each of us with a Sarah that we had met.

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. 

That night we enjoyed the company of fellow pilgrims as we prepared a meal together.  We planned on sharing a meal with Sarah and Sarah, which spiraled into including a woman from Madrid named Isabel and a Frenchman named Christian.  Everyone contributed to the meal in their own way.  Brian and Sarah went for some of the basic provisions.  Christian added a bottle of wine, some meat, and olives.  Isabel, last to arrive to the kitchen and understandably the least prepared to contribute, offered her fruit for the following day´s hike to be part of dessert.  People were cooking and laughing together.  Mostly English was spoken, but there was also a lot of Spanish and French.  The night spilled into the garden and we continued conversations about the pilgrimage in the monastery´s courtyard.  It was something that we had read about on forums and in guidebooks...not something we expected to encounter in the first few days of our trip.  The pilgim mentality is something unique.

Sarah (Peligrosa), Sarah (Tortuga), Jess and Isabel

The night ended similarly to other nights - we tried to sleep despite mucho snoring, people woke up extremely early to start the race, and we were annoyed.  Thankfully we only plan on walking 5k to Pamplona for a day or two of blister rest.

Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Day two-Wednesday. We awoke early to the sound of pilgrims packing up and milling around at 6am.  It was still dark outside and raining, where were people going?! We packed up and left our bags by our bunks to go in search of breakfast while we waited for the sun to come up.  

After cafe con leche and pan (bread) we made it back to our stuff as the 8am bell was ringing-apparently the signal to be completely out of the albergue.  How we managed to get yelled at two days in a row (before for being early and now for being late) is a mystery that illustrates that we do not have our act together yet as pilgrims.

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.

Once in town we showered and sat by the river after doing some much needed yoga.  

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.

 We met a lot of interesting people along the hike, but everyone moves at their own pace and there were plenty of opportunities for short conversations while passing or being passed.  The weather couldn´t have been better and the views of the French/Spanish Pyrenees and countryside were beautiful.

 The markers we followed-flechas or arrows

Only 763 kilometers to go!

One of the only sources of water on that first day

While climbing about 3000ft in one day proved difficult, it was really the downhill parts that were roughest on the feet, ankles, and knees.  Blisters, the nemesis of the pilgrim, were beginning to form...

And now for the steep descent to Roncesvalles

We spent our first official night of our pilgrimage in an albergue (which is akin to a hostel that can accomodate upwards of 100 people) in Roncesvalles, the first city on the Spanish side of the mountains (incidentally, we never had our passports stamped with a Spanish stamp....).  The albergue was beautiful.  It was recently renovated and the bunk-beds were very comfortable.  Unfortunately, sleeping in a large room with close to 100 exhausted pilgrims inevitably leads to a tremendous amount of snoring.  Our earplugs were working overtime, but were ultimately only minimally helpful. 

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!

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...

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

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...

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 :)