It was going to be a sad day today as our Irish yoga guru was leaving us at Logrono. Nevertheless we were entering Rioja wine country and we were still in good company with Speedy Gonzalez (also known as the Brazilian diplomat) and the Irish Choirmaster. We did our usual early wake up and tried…
Month: August 2018
Day 9 Los Arcos to Viana 19 kms 6hrs 19mins – And then there were six!
My legs were on fire! But it was my knees that were going to feel it today. More of that later. We were coming closer to the day we would lose our Irish yoga guru because study and work back in Ireland were calling. We were all in high spirits though after having such a…
DAY 8 Estella to Los Arcos 8hrs 10mins 22.3 kms – the early bird and catching the worm š
Even though we’d lost our Irish spy we were thrilled to be heading out in the dark to have a picnic with the Brazilian diplomat at the free wine fountain at Irachi. Trouble is, none of us bothered to check if it had a specific opening time. The assumption was that the monks had provided…
Day 7 Puente La Reina to Estella 7.45hrs 23.3km
Buenes Dias! Yay -we did it again. Up and out the door before sunrise – all three of us (or tree if your Irish). My beloved was unaware that we were on a time frame and had a secret rendezvous on the bridge at 5.45am. As many of the good albergues do, we found cereal…
Day 6 Pamplona to Puente la Reina 9hrs 26.7km
Before I start with todays post I want to let you know about a couple of other items I am pleased to have packed. I’m pretty sure I mentioned the sheeps wool the other day (fresh from the Nyngan farm I might add) but not sure that I praised the Leki hiking poles – they…
Day 5 Pamplona rest day
Just to keep you in the loop I thought I’d include this brief post. We ended up having a rest day in Pamplona as the cold or flu symptoms seemed to be hanging around me with aches and pains and fever and a bit of a runny nose. I decided to stay in bed until…
Day 4 Zubiri a Pamplona 22.41km 7hrs 41mins – Sweet memories to replace the painful ones
Today was interesting for a number of reasons – the people we would meet, the physical challenge and the distance we would cover yet again. Last night I had difficulty sleeping due to the not too distant fiesta music gently floating in through the window, combined with the general feeling of malaise associated with a…
Day 3 Hola Navarre Espana -Roncesvalles to Zubiri 8hrs 40 24.56km
8hrs 40mins 24.56km Eu15 each bed Eu12 dinner – Total Eu54 It was exciting leaving Roncesvalles this morning. It was dark, cool, there was a buzz in the air because many pilgrims actually start the journey here – In addition I was pain free! We passed our friends in hallways and bathrooms and visited the…
Day 2 One Perfect day weāll go out walking 18.6 km 6.5hrs
Day 2 Orisson to Roncesvalles I will admit to warming up quite quickly after leaving Orisson but once we reached 1100m it is fair to say that the weather was pleasant. Cloud cover and altitude meant that the walk today was a vast improvement on yesterday. Both times I had walked this path previously the…
Day 1 Up up up into fires of hell! Saint Jean to Orisson
Day 1 10.53km 653m elevation gain max 34C Buen Camino me amigos! Day one done and dusted! (Photos delayed due to internet issues!) The night cooled down, and after going to sleep with fan on and a very light sarong as a sheet I pulled my blanket on sometime through the night. One of our…
The End of the Transit
Just a quick post this time to catch you up on our arrival in Spain. We had a one night stop over in San SebastiĆ”n and another transit the next day to St Jean pied de port. A delayed flight meant we didn’t arrive in our hotel in San SebastiĆ”n until 7pm. We showered changed…
Up up and away
D day arrived and we were even escorted into the airport this time by James and Lydia-. Remember how late we were last time? I think the boys turfed us out on the kerb and sped off into the sunset. Liam and Bruce bid us farewell at home this time – I’m sure Bruce was…
Preparaciones para el camino
Buenos Dias amigos, after a growing interest from friends I thought I would provide you with a rough idea of how we are preparing for our second Camino Frances. Or more specifically, how “I” am preparing given my history of pain when walking. As most of you will recall (from reading the earlier posts) I…