The Colour of Autumn

Few things conjure up Autumn than the colours and changes in trees etc. In Queensland, we don't get much of a seasonal change, but I recall vividly my first trip to Canberra and enjoying the vibrant colours of red, gold and rust of the fallen leaves. Here in Europe, Autumn has an intensity that is quite wonderful, and they celebrate seasonal change in a more profound way than we do in Australia.

Germany is a seasonal country - fruit and vegetables are generally only available during their growing season, not all the time like in Australia. In the south of Germany where I am currently, pumpkins are the big thing at this time of year and they perfectly show off the colours of Autumn. Hence, Ludwigsburg has a Pumpkin Festival, held in the grounds of a schloss (castle / palace) which in itself is a wonderful place to visit. Here you can see and sample the delights of the humble pumpkin. I had an absolute ball and really enjoyed the pumpkin fries, served hot with herb quarck (a sort of cheese). Each festival has a theme, this year's is sport. There was pumpkins depicting soccer, boxing, skiing etc, etc. I also learned that the German word for pumpkin is kuerbis and that pumpkins are very photogenic.

Ludwigsburg Palace and southern gardens

Pumpkins lining the pond

Multiple uses for pumpkins

Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes

The colour of Autumn

Strange pumpkins - Turks Turban variety

Another strange pumpkin - Gremlins variety

A Fork in the Road

Firstly, my apologies for not updating the blog earlier. I was wrestling with my conscience and trying to find a reliable internet connection with little success.

Sunday - 29th September

I finally made it to Ponferrada in pouring rain and with my ever present foot pain on 28th September. Really annoying but I thought it would be okay after a rest. The downhill stuff is getting to be really painful. So, after getting some advice, it turns out I may have actually hurt my back, which may be the source of much of my severe foot pain. The rest of it is manageable with anti-inflammatories and regular massage of the foot. I was advised to cease carrying the backpack and rest to see if the pain subsided. Looking seriously at what I thought I could accomplish, I have made the difficult and disappointing decision to cease the walk.

Accordingly, I went back to Madrid to ponder my options and decided it would be best to contact my friend in Germany and see if I could visit a couple of weeks earlier than planned. That means, I will probably bring my flight home forward as well. All in all, I've had a wonderful trip since I left Australia in February and didn't have anywhere else in Spain I had a burning desire to visit just now. Apart from that, I can't walk very far, even not carrying the backpack, so I don't really feel like more sightseeing at the moment.  Also, if I have the opportunity to come back to Spain, I could finish the walk in about 15 - 20 days so do-able on a normal vacation. Perhaps subconsciously I just want an excuse to come back to Spain?

Monday, 30th September

Decision made. I'm off to Germany on Thursday via a 15 1/2 hour train trip - Madrid to Figueres; Figueres to Paris, change stations and trains and then train to Germany. Need to get up before 5 am to catch the train from Madrid. However, I'm staying in a part of Madrid I know reasonably well as I stayed near here in May with my friend Gillian. Great location and only 10 min walk to the train station. Now, if I can get my foot to cooperate, I can visit some favourite haunts from that trip.

Thursday, 3rd October - 10 pm

Finally in Germany. Very long day after getting up at 5am to catch the train from Atocha Train Station. Walked to the station in the rain to find the main entrance doesn't open until 8 am. No signage to alternative entrance. Walked around the building until I found a security officer who showed me where to go.

Train changes in Figueres and Paris easy. I took taxi in Paris, as I just can't work out the metro system. In Paris I had to change stations from Gare de Lyon to Paris Est. Seems simple on the transit map, but I couldn't find the information desk to ask how to manage it. Oh well, taxi not that expensive for piece of mind - only had 1 hour to get to the other station so not much time for mistakes.

Finally arrived at my friend's apartment at 10.00 pm, very tired and feeling a little sad at the end of my fabulous year.  However, I enjoy new haunts to explore and whilst I've been to this part of Germany before, there is much more to see and experience. Autumn in Germany. Should present some interesting photo opportunities.

Thar' she blows!

Well, today's challenge was wind and rain. The weather had been forecasted to change and today was it. Started out with a cloudy morning and managed to walk from Rabanal del Camino to Cruz de Ferro in weak sunshine. Following tradition, I left a stone I had brought from Australia at the foot of the cross. This cross and spot has become a very important symbol of the Camino. During the climb, I was constantly buffeted by very strong wind which kept blowing me sideways. It was difficult to stay upright in places. After Cruz de Ferro, it was basically downhill for a very steep descent. The rain started about 5 mins later. After 3 hours of downhill struggle in the rain, I decided to stop in El Acebo. I still have a further 8 kms or so of downhill descent to do tomorrow and it will still be raining. Hopefully it won't be quite as exhausting as today! However, I have now traversed the highest point of this route. Feels like an achievement. Will likely have another short day tomorrow and only walk to Ponferrada.

Gourmet eating - Pilgrim Style!

I´ve made several comments about the food on the Camino and you may have gotten the impression that it is universally bad. This is not really the case. However, variety in pilgrim menus doesn´t really exist and whilst filling, it isn´t very healthy as it doesn´t contain enough vegetables to keep me happy. Lots of chips, meat (usually pork) and legumes together with the ubiquitous bread make the general menu for pilgrims - cheap and filling is about it. However, as I´ve been basically travelling with a couple of other Aussies from Western Australia for the past 10 days or so, and they are completely over the standard pilgrim menu offerings, we have been seeking out more interesting food. Not good on the bank balance but excellent for the taste buds and variety. Yesterday, in Astorga, we ended up at a wonderful restaurant that served us prawns and mushrooms in a wonderful sauce (sounded funny but was a great combination). Over the past couple of days I´ve managed to have trout stuffed with vegetables, a large plate of grilled vegetables, leeks filled with seafood, leeks with smoked salmon (leeks are a speciality of this area), wonderful vegetable soup and today, one of the best seafood and fish soups I´ve ever had. Truly, the life of a pilgrim is hard work and suffering!

The benefits of a good massage

Day 26 is now over and I´m two thirds of the way to Santiago (measured from St Jean Pied de Port). Lots of towns claim the half way point but it really depends on where you start. Tonight, I´m in a lovely little town called Rabanal del Camino which has mostly stone houses and walls everywhere. The two churches are built of stone as well. As far as I can tell, there are about 80 inhabitants and 5 dogs - two German Shepherds, one French Mastiff, a ginger/red dog of indiscriminate parentage and a small dog of a terrier sort. However, there are 4 albergues, a guest house and the Posada (pub with beds basically) so room for around around 120 pilgrims as well. There are 4 restaurants / bars and two small grocery type shops. Not bad for a town that probably only still exists because of the Camino de Santiago. The other claim to fame here is that there is an order of monks that come to one of the churches and sing Gregorian Chant for vespers. Hopefully I will get to hear them tonight as I actually like this form of music and have a friend in Australia who leads a similar group of singers (but he´s not a monk!). Today was basically a standard day´s walk - around 22 kms. There were a couple of small climbs to negotiate but nothing too strenuous. However, my foot pain recurred again today and just before I got to Rabanal, I had to stop for a while to rest my foot and try to get the pain under control. When I arrived in town I saw a sign advertising massages. My albergue hostelero was happy to arrange this so at 4 pm, I presented myself at the appointed place and had a full massage. I knew I had a few tight and sore muscles but wasn´t expecting some of the ones the therapist found! I´m happy to say that currently I feel very relaxed, comfortable and have no pain of any sort. Hope the benefits last for tomorrow as well. Anyway, it is good to be pain-free, even if for only a few hours. I think the time to just chill and relax (whilst somebody performs torture) was worthwhile and if I get another opportunity to indulge, I may just do that! Tomorrow, I´m off to Molinaseca which is about 26-27 kms so a bigger day with lots of steep sections to test those newly relaxed muscles!

Where am I now?

24 September - Tonight, I´m in a little town by the name of Hospital de Orbigo. When sending my nightly text to my parents to let them know all is well, I thought I´d better ensure they knew it was the name of the place, not that I was in hospital! Spain has some interesting place names that come from distant history and make sense when you know the stories. This place used to have a large ¨hospital¨ (hostal) for pilgrims back in the medieval period, hence the name. Orbigo is approximately 30 kms west of Leon. So a very long days walk, but not so hot today. Tomorrow the weather is likely to change and become unstable with rain forecast for several days. I am still about 12 days from Santiago and have the Galician mountains to traverse (likely in the rain). Tomorrow, I head for Astorga which will be approx two thirds of the way done - yippee!!!!!

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Santiago.......

You might get the impression from some of my blogs that this walk is all about pain and suffering (and bad food). However, it is also puntuated with sudden and unexpected acts of kindness, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and various amusing incidents either happening directly to me or people I am with or related as stories by other pilgrims we meet. ¨M¨- (name changed to protect the guilty). Wonderful lady with great sense of humour. However, at every albergue, she seemed to manage to leave things behind. First albergue it was her shorts, next albergue was her toiletries. A little later, a pair of walking trousers were inadvertantly ¨stolen¨ by a young Spaniard (she´d left them hanging up as they were wet and he took them in the dark thinking they were his!) Luckily, she was finishing her walk at Logrono. We were a bit worried that if she kept going, she would be walking in her pyjamas or worse! In many albergues, the beds are bunk beds. One even had 3 tiers. Great for the snorer´s symphony as you can fit more people in each room! In one small town (lucky us, we arrived on fiesta night), I shared a bunk with a very friendly Spanish cyclist. I had the bottom bunk and he the top one. However, the weight range for the beds was listed on the side and he suddenly looked very guilty and said he might weight more than that! Being of a generous nature (think self-preserving), I offered to swap with him. His response gave me a good laugh - he declined to swap and asked me if my life insurance was paid up! We left the discussion agreeing that if the slats started to bend, we would swap. I safely spent the entire night on the bottom bunk. However, nobody got any sleep due to the fiesta which went on all night. I did try to warn the others at my end of the room that this would happen but they just didn´t believe me. Now they know!!

Hump Day

Well, if anyone is wondering what happened to me, wonder no more. The reason for limited blogs has been intermittent internet availability and the difficulties of blogging via wi-fi from a smart phone with a very small keyboard. Add in sheer exhaustion at the end of a long, hot day of walking, then you probably get the picture. So what have I been up to since then? Well, I´ve managed to catch up with some fellow Australians from WA that I met on day one (the mad Aussies) and lose my friends from the UK. I´ve also managed to make it past the half way mark and I´m still upright and walking (slowly, but I´m walking). Since the last blog, written from San Juan de Ortega, I´ve visited Burgos, taking two days rest there and walked the meseta (central plateau). I´ve been to Leon and and now fast approaching the Galician mountains which will rival the Pyrenees for steepness and effort. Each day brings interesting people, conversations, vistas and challenges. However, despite pain, fatigue, bad food and lack of sleep I would say overall it is an enjoyable and definitely worthwhile experience so far. What I will learn and take home from this experience is yet to be confirmed. Not smothering snorers is an ongoing skill I am developing! One of my fellow pilgrims wants to stick sharp things in snorers´ (and other rude peoples´) eyes! So I´m in good company. Really, we aren´t homicidal at all.

Camino Fever

Below are some words about the Camino written by a fellow pilgrim. I have his permission to share this tongue in cheek description (thanks Bob). Rest assured it us very accurate! I have decided not to play. ¨A brief essay on Camino Fever. This is a rare phenomenon only observed amoung peregrinos. It appears to become worse as the Camino progresses. It is open to debate whether CF is a brief psychotic episode or a form of mass hysteria. Camino Fever usually occurs in large dormitories in albergues. It involves grown adults going to bed before 9 pm and hissing anyone with the temerity to come to bed later. The ensuring night is puntuated by snoring in multiple keys and toilet breaks (tricky if you are on an upper bunk without a ladder). The affected then wake around 5am ensuring that everyone within earshot wakes too. The sole purpose of this exercise is to ensure the CF individual hits the road in the complete dark, and often cold, before 6 am. This means the affected can see nothing except the semicircle of light from their headlamps. They do manage to avoid walking in the heat of the day. The desired result is that they reach the next town by 1pm at the latest, grab the available beds so that they can repeat the exercise again the next day as in many towns there is little to do other than eat, drink and sleep. I hasten to add that CF, while infectious, is not irresistible.¨

Thirds

Hi all, Just a very quick blog whilst I have internet connection. Tonight, I´m in San Juan de Ortega (St John of the Nettles)a very small town which is basically a ruined monastery and albergue (place where pilgrims sleep) with a resident population of 20 people. I toured the monastery today with a group of Spanish people after impressing the hospitalero (head honcho at the albergue) with my Spanish when I laughed at something he said in Spanish to his colleague. He was being a bit irreverent at the time so was very apologetic. I gather there has been too many pilgrims today and they have run out of room to put them. I expected the albergue to be full so was just asking for other options when they decided they could fit in one or two more mattresses, but sorry, no pillows. Basically any flat surface to sleep will do me. it was quite a steep climb today so I´m happy with a mattress and I can fashion a pillow without any problems. I´m really just writing to let you all know I´m now officially at the 1/3 mark of the trip. Tomorrow I should reach Burgos (a city of about 170,000 people). I think that will be a shock after quiet roads and sleepy little towns for the most part. Anyway, I´m feeling as if I have achieved something getting this far. One third of the way is pretty good going - that over 258 kms in 13 days (average is a bit low but the terrain has been really steep!) Just think of all the steps I have completed up to now.

The Call of the Camino

Each day of walking has it´s challenges and sometimes, I feel a bit overwhelmed and uncertain that I can continue. The unrelenting miles, the constantly changing terrain, the often filling but not particularly health food available in small towns, lack of sleep, all take a toll. Often at the end of the day, you feel you just can´t go on, but as it´s night time, you have to wait till the morning to make arrangements and by morning, the world seems different. Night time may bring doubts, but each morning, I get up, pack, have breakfast, shoulder my backpack and start walking. By the time I´ve gone 5 kms, I´ve forgetten the doubts of yesterday and look forward to the new experiences of today. It´s quite amazing how the Camino just seems to keep pulling me forward and not letting me give up. Maybe I´ll make it to Santiago after all. The smallest things make a big difference, like the kind taxi driver who drove me and two companions from Zubiri to Cizor Mayor who just wouldn´t leave us until he was sure we had a bed; the kind hotel manager who gave us a triple room at the end of a corridor so nobody would disturb us (and then gave us a 5% discount because we were pilgrims); the random bunch of Irishmen who have provided welcome laughs and encouragement just when we needed them, to strangers who stop and ask if you are okay, elderly gentlemen who show you the way just in case you could get lost and wish you a good trip etc. I n the Pyrenees, I was struggling along and a French lady appeared, seeminly out of nowhere and walked alongside me for a couple of kilometres, chatting away and telling me that it would be less steep soon. She didn´t speak English and I don´t speak French, but we managed to communicate in a mixture of French and Spanish to good effect. Once I reached my accommodation, she appeared again and said - you made it- and then left. I didn´t see her go, she wasn´t a pilgrim and didn´t seem to be with anybody, but she was an angel to me that day. And today, whilst walking from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Grañon (about 8 kms), I met a man coming the opposite way who stopped and wished me ¨buen camino¨ and called me by name. At first being very surprised, I then realised he was the same man who had taken my registration at the albergue yesterday when I arrived in Santo Domingo very tired after walking 33 kms (I thought I had only walked 28 - 29kms so was shocked when he told me it was 33!). Roberto remembered me and was just coming back from a walk when he saw me. He took the time to check I had rested well, shook my hand and wished me a safe journey. And of course, all the wonderful fellow pilgrims who are friendly, helpful and willing to chat, despite language differences. It´s quite wonderful how you often met up with people you may have only had a few words of greeting with and they will want to know how you have been going and give you a hug. Truely, the Camino is a walk of a different kind and seems to embody a spirit of comradarie, friendship and kindness despite annoyances, disappointments and downright grumpiness at times. It´s been a hell of a ride, absolutely gruelling at times, but always surprising, interesting and overall, enjoyable (well now that I can manage my foot pain lol). Now, if I can just get a decent cup of tea tonight, all will be right with the world.

Passing the 200km barrier

Walking the Camino is certainly a challenge. However, it does provide some wonderful surprises and opportunities for laughter along the way. I have been very grateful for new friends and acquantainces that I have made so far as they often provide the boost needed to keep going. I´ve met some crazy Irishmen who have provided wonderful opportunities for laughter which should be mandatory for doing long walks. I only ever met them whilst stopping for breaks, but the laughs and fun broke the fatigue and weariness and provide a welcome mental boost for the next section of the walk. The last two nights, I have spent with a couple of new acquantainces, Maurice from South Africa and Christopher, an elderly Irishman. I´ve lost contact with my two other Australian mates for the time being, as strangely, I am ahead of them at the moment. We are staying in touch via email to update each other on our whereabouts. I´m sure they will catch me up sometime soon. Well, tonight I am in a lovely little town called Belorado. It has links to the Camino back many centuaries and has an ancient castle on top of the hill. The Church also seems to have part of it´s complex built directly into the cliffs behind. Either that or it is a fabulous house! I could easily come back here to explore this area but I think I´d rather stay in a hotel next time. The communal sleeping arrangements are an integral and necessary part of the Camino but not conducive to regular and restful sleep. Yesterday, I made to to the 200 km stage of the walk. Yeah!! I feel like I´m achieving something now. I hope to be in Burgos by Saturday, but that will require a couple of fairly solid days with some significant climging tomorrow. Hopefully, the feet will hold out. I´ve definitely had some feet trouble, with major pain in my right big toe joint causing the majority of the problems. I managed to speak to a pharmacist in Santo Domingo de la Calzada yesterday and now have some anti-inflammatory tablets to take which seem to be helping. I have now spent two days walking normally(borrowed some tablets from a fellow pilgrim the night before). It´s amazing how much difference this makes to my comfort and energy levels. I started off yesterday morning barely able to walk and feeling that I would be lucky to make it 8 kms to the next town. I ended the day having walked 33 kms (which wasn´t the original plan) and feeling pretty good, albeit with tired feet. Today, I walked 23 kms but as it was alongside the highway, my feet are quite sore from the hardness of the ground. At least my big toe joint behaved itself today! So, all´s well at the end of day 12 and I get to walk in oak and pine forest for half the day tomorrow (whilst climbing a mountain). Catch you all again soon.

The Route

For those of you unfamiliar with the Camino de Santiago, let me begin by explaining that there are several routes that you can follow. Some start together then diverge and others start at different places but join closer to Santiago de Compostela. I am following the traditional route, The Camino Frances (or French route). We start in St Jean Pied de Port in southern France, can either that the Valcarlos route or Napoleonic route over the Pyrennes and the head west through Spain to Santiago. I took the higher route, the Napoleonic route through the Pyrennees to Roncesvalles in northern Spain. From Roncesvalles, I travelled to Zubiri, Pamplona, Cizor Mayor, Puenta La Reina, through Los Arcos towards Logroño and then follow the route to Burgos, then Leon etc. In some places there are alternate routes as well but whether I take them will depend on time, energy, places to stay, food etc. You can probably just google Camino Frances to get a list of websites that will show you the route and have pictures of the way as well.

How far I´ve come and how far yet to go!

Day 8 of the walk is finally over. Actually, I shouldn´t complain today as I ended up only doing about 10 kms and decided to stay in Viana rather than push on to Logroño. I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that I had met some mad Australians who had adopted me. Well, whilst having a break in Viana and a well earned cup of tea, they walked past. I had thought they would be far ahead of me, but Jo had some blister trouble and wanted to have a short day. As Logroño is the final destination for Moira and Pam, my travelling companions up to now, we all decided to stay in Viana to have a final celebration of camino friendship. My feet are very happy to have stopped for the day! Overall, I´ve done over 100 kms in the past 8 days and have felt every rock, ascent and descent on the way. Whilst I have found the experience gruelling at times and have wondered about my sanity, I believe I can still continue. All in all, it´s been fun, despite lack of sleep (snorers beware!), physically challenging days and lack of variety in the food offered to pilgrims. If you like potato chips every day, you would probably have a lot of fun. But for me, lack of vegetables and available fruit are taking a toll and as most small towns don´t have a supermarket or shop, relying of travelling vans etc, it can be a tricky business finding what you want. Tea is also a doubtful commodity but I have generally managed to find a bar or cafe selling tea at least once per day (even if only peppermint tea). Last night we staying in a lovely little village called Torres del Rio. However, we arrived in the middle of their local fiesta. I told Pam and Moira that we wouldn´t get any sleep as the Spanish party all night (they didn´t believe me then). This morning they know first hand about the Spanish ability to party. The final revellers were heading home when we were heading off at 8 am this morning. Fireworks, loud music, dancing and singing are not conducive to a good night´s sleep, no matter how tired you are. Most of us went back downstairs to join in for a while. Lots of fun was had even if no sleep occurred afterwards. Anyway, I´m still walking, still upright and meeting very interesting people. Yesterday afternoon and last night over dinner I got to speak Spanish for over 3 hours. I´m getting better and feeling more comfortable having general conversations all the time. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I´m sure it will be interesting and probably challenging. 36 days to go and 675 kms yet to walk!!

Suffering Pilgrims

Why did I decide it would be a good idea to do the Camino de Santiago? After 5 days of walking, over the Pyrenees, across varying terrain almost every kilometre, steep descents into towns and just about every hill and mountain between the Pyrenees and Ayegui (near Estella, Navarre), I can confirm that the reputation of the Camino to test the pilgrims in the first week is very true. I´ve meet people with incredible blisters and foot injuries who have done heaps of walking and long distance walking before and never had trouble, only to find the Camino showing them the meaning of pain and fatigue. I haven´t had any blisters thankfully, but I do have very sore feet, especially my right foot. Every day after we finish, it´s a struggle to take off my boots and put on other shoes. Walking to the bathroom for a shower is all I can manage. In fact, yesterday by the time we got to Puenta La Reina, I couldn´t even do that. I wasn´t sure I would get even that far at lunch time as at that stage, I couldn´t put weight on my right foot at all. However, after a break, some Panadol and some food (and a wonderful cup of tea), I found I could go on just a little bit more. By the time we got to Puenta La Reina and found the main albergue was full and most of the albergues in town likewise, I think we could have just cried. However, there is a newish albergue just outside town on the far side - they had beds. Yeh!!! However, need to walk all the way through town, across the bridge and then climb a very steep dirt track for about 350m to get there. That was a definite challenge let me tell you! My Spanish skills got put to the test again yesterday and this morning, translating for one of my companions. We had a room companion who had very bad blisters. Pam, being a nurse, took one look at them and was very concerned about his feet and the very real possibility of infection. The gentleman was Spanish so I got to translate as he didn´t speak English. He was very appreciative and this morning asked Pam to look at another injury on his toe which luckily turned out to be a blood blister (albeit a very large one) which wouldn´t cause any significant problems. He was a lovely man that I would have enjoyed talking more to if we had the opportunity. He had apparently been walking 45kms per day from Barcelona until his feet got really sore and then he slowed down to only 20 - 28 kms per day!! (I can barely manage to keep up 22 kms per day). First time in his life he had ever had blisters from walking as well. Anyway, meeting lots of interesting people, have proved my usefulness with Spanish and coping so far with the challenges. I might just make it to Santiago de Compostella after all - only 38 days to go!

No Room At The Inn

The weather has been fantastic for walking, so much so, that everybody seems to have decided to do the Camino at the same time as me. Given that it was a very wet Spring and Summer in Spain, it is possible that the unexpected and unusual number of pilgrims at this time of year is due to the wonderful weather. However, the downside is that there is often a scarcity of beds in the normal albergues for late arrivals. As I´m a bit of a snail, this could be a problem. I tend to walk at a steady pace all day, but definitely not fast. I´m not the slowest either. So, after a very tiring and fairly gruelling day from Roncesvalles to Zubiri, we (my companions from the UK)and I just wanted a bed and some sleep. Our feet were sore, the descent into town was steep and full of rocks and pebbles so needed to watch our feet and, the town seemed to never get closer. We discovered there was no room at the inn or the other 5 albergues in town, nor any vacancies in the next few towns. The only option seemed to be to catch a taxi to Pamplona. So, off to Pamplona we went only to find that the two albergues in Pamplona and the one in the next small town were full as well! So, no bed in a pilgrim hostel to be had for miles. Everyone we spoke to said this was very unusual for this time of year. Having to go by taxi from Zubiri to Pamplona meant we had missed one day of the walk, but there really wasn´t much choice. The high number of pilgrims and the wonderful weather made it unfeasible to return to do the walk the next day or suffer the same fate with regards to beds (or pay for a 4 or 5 star hotel in Pamplona and the budget doesn´t stretch that far). The taxi driver was really lovely and definitely wanted to help us find a bed so kept driving us to different albergues, waited while I ran in to check if any vacancies, then drove us to the next one. Eventually, we ended up in a triple room at Cizur Mayor in a lovely little hotel. Split 3 ways, the 70 euro bill wasn´t too bad. The people in the hotel were very friendly, helpful and we got gold star service for dinner and a 5% discount for being pilgrims. We love them! We also then got a very good nights sleep. My Spanish skills got pressed into service with the taxi driver and the albergues and hotel. My new friends are very impressed! So, now ready for the big day ahead - 19 kms to Puenta La Reina (over more hills and mountains including the famous Alto de Perdon - a very steep and long climb).

Over the mountains

I have now cross the Pyrenees and survived. Very challenging walk but amazing and beautiful scenery. So, Day 2 is over and all good. No blisters but very tired feet. I´m glad to be at the albergue and able to rest. The local restaurant/bar has internet so I´m typing this as quick as I can so I don´t run out of time to post something. Sorry for any mistakes! I have met some wonderful people already, including a group of mad Australian women who have kind of adopted me at the moment. Also in this group are two ladies from the UK (Scotland and northern England). Together, we have having a ball despite the challenges of the mountains. I´m the slow one of the group but as we all walk at our own pace, often we only catch up at night to great amusement of our fellow pilgrims. I don´t think they would believe we only met yesterday. So much laughter and so little wine (fabulous). All great fun so far. The comradrie of the Camino is wonderful and very special. 2 days down and only 40 to go! The weather has been amazing and I´m glad to say it has been ideal walking weather, cool, especially high up in the mountain with the wind but sunny and clear after morning fog and cloud. I´m now back in Spain after starting in Southern France and enjoying hearing Spanish again all the time. I have some wonderful photos but no way to post them. If I get a chance to do so at another time, I´ll update the blogs so you may have to check back from time to time to see what I´ve been experiencing. Anyway, till next post (internet availability), I trust everyone is well. I´ll be thinking of you all as I walk. Chau y hasta luego.

The Journey Begins!!

I am writing this blog from St Jean Pied de Port in Southern France. From here, I commence the long awaited Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Internet connection is a bit iffy but I will try to keep you all updated as to my journey as often as I can. French keyboards are set up differently to ours so if there are mistakes, please be forgiving!

Yesterday, I travelled by train from Stuttgart, Germany to St Jean, a journey of about 12 1/2 hours. Fairly tiring but I was getting excited by the time I got to Bayonne. The trip from Bayonne to St Jean is around 1 1/2 hours, through wonderful wooded and colourful countryside. There is a river alongside the train tracks and you start to get a glimpse of the Pyrenees and then think, OMG, I have to climb that in a couple of days. It really starts to make the walk a reality, I can tell you!

St Jean is a very pretty little medieval town at the foot of the mountains, with cobbled streets, old buildings and a veritable air of purpose and tranquility. I will have wonderful memories of this town. I have met some of my fellow pilgrims, a friendly, chatty bunch and the alburgue is excellent. It will be the perfect place to start this strange and fantastical journey I have decided to undertake - perhaps I am mad after all?

So, till next available internet, please keep me in your thoughts and if you have any spare energy, please send it my way as I will probably need it!

Highlights from London

Quick blog whilst I still have internet access to prove my tourist credentials. I think everybody who has been to London would have seen the following places so won't write much about them. Great place for a visit (not sure I'd want to live here).

London Phone Boxes

Marble Arch

Symbols of a Roman Past

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Scene in Hyde Park

London Bridge

Tower of London

Now I'm a real tourist!

Well, being in London is a very different kettle of fish to being in Spain. For all my sight seeing in Spain, I kept convincing myself that I wasn't a real tourist, I was undertaking cultural tourism as part of my studies as I was in Spain as a student. Everything I was doing was just homework (including the visits to bars etc). I don't have that excuse here. Here I'm your ordinary garden variety tourist, from the Colonies no less. The typical Australian seeing "the mother land". I wonder if I will see any Corgis?

Good news! Went for a walk and saw a Corgi - very cute.

I've spent the last 4 days being very busy being a tourist. After arriving on Saturday, I went for a short walk, but due to the weather being wet and cool, I didn't venture very far. Just far enough to get my bearing.

Sunday dawned foggy but dry. I decided to spent some hours on the hop on hop off bus seeing as much as possible of the highlights of London before heading off to one of two museums. However, the day became  very lovely (even sunshine) so I ended up doing two rounds on the hop on hop off bus. I got to see the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Harrods, Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and lots more. I decided to test myself so did the first trip on the bus with the English commentary and the second trip with Spanish Commentary. Good fun. Afterwards, I went for a walk through Hyde Park which is very close to my hotel.

Monday saw me catching a train to Bath. I had a fabulous day walking around Bath. I managed to see most of the sights and having still a couple of hours free at the end, I then did a bus tour around the town as well. I have some decent photos which I will try to post as soon as I can.

Tuesday dawned foggy but expected to be fine. It ended up being quite a warm day. I was meeting some friends in the afternoon so decided to go for a walk and then go to a museum until time to get to Liverpool street station. However, the day was so nice, I ended up just walking and walking. My hotel was 10 mins walk from Hyde Park. Hyde Park joins onto Green Park and then St James Park. So I walked from my hotel, through the 3 parks to the Houses of Parliament, across Westminster Bridge, along the other side of the river Thames to Tower Bridge, back across Tower Bridge and then up to Liverpool Street Station to meet my friend Emma (from Valencia). All in all, it took 3 hours to walk the whole way and was wonderful. I saw many of the same place as on the bus, but from a very different perspective. 

Then, Emma, Stephanie (also from Valencia) and I went to a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Absolutely brilliant and a fantastic venue. Afterwards, we walked along the river a bit then found somewhere to have an early dinner. Steph had a Spanish class to get to and Emma had to catch a train back to Norwich. so, parting with promises to stay in touch, we all took different trains to our various destinations.

Today, I'm hanging out at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport waiting for my flight to Stuttgart and the long awaited start of my walk. Tomorrow I catch a train from Stuttgart, Germany to St Jean Pied de Port, southern France. Then the walk begins in earnest.

For those of you who have been following my blog, I will continue to blog as often as possible during the walk, but this will depend on reliable internet access as I go. Uploading photos will probably be difficult but I'll see what I can do.

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Friend I met in Hyde Park

 

Outside of Globe Theatre

 

Stage of Globe Theatre

 

View of inside of theatre from our seats for the play

 

Steph and Emma, friend I met in Valencia at
Don Quijote Language School

Finding Paddington (Bear?)

After my adventures at Madrid Airport, I'm happy to say after a two hour delay, my flight to London took off successfully, with only a bit of minor turbulence mid flight and a smooth touchdown. Getting to Paddington Station proved to be a very simple endeavour. Off the plane, follow the signs to baggage claim, through border control, customs and take the Heathrow Express which took me directly to Paddington Station in about 20 minutes. No fuss, no bother, easy peasy. Once at Paddington Station, I found the information desk and was directed to my street (Sussex Gardens) and within 10 minutes had found my hotel, checked-in and was enjoying a hot cup of tea in my room.

Only one complaint - in the British capital, the land of tea drinkers, there is discrimination. There is no less than 8 sachets for coffee but only 1 tea bag!!!! Shock and horror. I've fixed it though, I found the local Tesco's (5 min walk) and bought my own tea bags. Now I can have as many as I like, when I like (he he).

Despite a thorough walk around the neighbourhood, I didn't catch sight of that famous bear, Paddington Bear. Perhaps he is on holidays given that it is August? (seems to be the month for holidays in Europe). I've found the map, checked where I want to go, how to get there and I'm all set for tomorrow. I've even been back to the station to book my ticket to Bath on Monday. See, I can be organised sometimes !!

Adventures in the Aeropuerto (Airport)

No sleep and travel make strange bedfellows. They definitely aren't a match made in heaven. Well, that's my excuse anyway and they were only minor adventures. Quite funny really. I wonder what the shuttle bus driver thought!

This morning I left Granada on a 2 am  bus bound for Madrid Airport. This airport is huge but luckily the bus went directly to the terminal I needed for my flight to London, arriving approx. 3 hours before the flight so perfect timing I thought. I'd have time to get through check-in and security and have a leisurely breakfast and a walk before getting on the plane. I can only blame sleep deprivation for what happened next!

On arrival,  I got off the bus at Terminal 4 (I needed terminal 4). However, I somehow managed to get myself on a shuttle bus going to another terminal so ended up having a guided tour of the Madrid Airport. I think I must have missed the sign saying it was Terminal 4 and just followed everyone else onto the shuttle bus. To be fair, I'd only had a couple of hours of broken sleep (well dozing really) so wasn't at my sharpest. I only realised my mistake when we got to Terminal 2. I was able to take another shuttle at Terminal 1 back to Terminal 4 (a round trip of approx. 25 mins) and finally, went in search of my check-in counter.

Now, the check-in counters run at a perpendicular to the entrance hall at this terminal. Hence, as I wasn't wearing my glasses (not expecting to need them), I had trouble finding the British Airways counter. After several minutes of confused wandering, I finally spied a BA sign. Now, where was the check-in line? Usually in airports these days, you have to check-in via a machine and then go to the bag drop counter. However, I couldn't find a machine for BA but did find the bag drop counter and the Club BA counter. Neither of which were much use to me as I needed the normal check-in. Finally, I thought I found the line, dutifully lined up with up to 100 other people and did the airport shuffle. Getting closer to the front (about a third of the way there), I discovered I was actually in the Iberian Airlines line. So, now completely confused, I decided to just go to the Club BA line and ask. Luckily, I still had plenty of time before my flight (more than I realised at the time actually). The nice man at the Club BA counter told me I could check-in there and also drop my luggage. Wonderful! Now, relieved of my luggage, I just had to find breakfast.

Finding breakfast proved to be a bit more difficult than I expected from such a large and major airport. The first and only place in the main terminal appeared to be McDonalds. Now most of you will know my views on McDonalds - it is not part of the food chain! Decided to forgo breakfast and go directly to my gate. Perhaps they have a drink and snack machine there. Anything is better than McDonalds!  However, as I said earlier, Madrid Airport is very big. They use letters instead of numbers for the gates. Then once you find the right letter for your gate, you then have to find the right number ie S gate, but S51 for departure. Getting to my gate meant taking a shuttle train for 15 - 20 minutes. However, as my flight was delayed, they hadn't decided specifically which gate but it would be M, R, S or U which are all in the same area but once you get there you might still have to walk a long way to find your specific gate. No problems, still got plenty of time and the system is very smooth and efficient with good signage. Anyway, it's only 9.00 am and the plane now doesn't leave until 11.30 am. Except..... when I got to the gate area, there was a notice that it was delayed even further so new departure time was 12.30pm. Damn, really need breakfast and a toilet. Luckily, Madrid Airport is well supplied with toilets. Just have to get through passport control and find some breakfast.

Immigration is a very large area, with excellent signage - right is for all the EU etc citizens, left is all other nationalities. However, no people on the other counters. What were we non-EU people to do? Several non EU persons wandering around looking confused and lost was a bit concerning. However, as I couldn't find anything else that looked like where we should go, I headed to the EU counter to ask. Turns out today, we all use the same counters. A very nice man gave me a lovely smile, wished me a good trip and barely glancing at my passport gave it a stamp and I'm on my way! Next step, definitely breakfast.

Luck was in, after 5 mins walk, I found a food place but it was full. Decided to keep walking a bit and come back in the hope that somebody would have left. However, found another place, good food, excellent tea and hardly any people. Fed and watered at last, I was feeling more myself, despite my fatigue and lack of sleep. Now just have to wait till they decided my gate number, and time of departure. London here I come!

Just when you thought it was safe.......

Tired of hearing about Granada yet? Just when you all probably thought I'd exhausted all topics regarding Granada, I finally found one historic place I wanted to visit (it was a bit hidden) and went to a Flamenco show on Wednesday night. The show was absolutely fabulous. I haven't been a huge fan of Flamenco singing before as I find it a bit monotonous and loud - lots of wailing and I can't distinguish the words. However, after seeing the show last night, I have a different appreciation of Flamenco.

The Show was basically 4 people - two dancers (male and female), una cantante (singer) and a guitarist. Seeing them together made me realise that the words of the songs may not be so important, it is the profound expression of deeply felt sentiments that is the important thing. The music, the singing and the dancing appear sometimes to be completely random and over the top, but I now believe are in fact a controlled form of expression. I really liked the dancing and the music, but I think I'll pass on too much of the singing. Together it was an amazing experience and I'm glad I took the time to go.

 We were only allowed to take photos at the end of the show so I can't show you how amazing it all was. I promise my next blog will be from London, but as I'm about to start the Camino, you can be assured that there are more Spanish adventures to write about coming up!

 

 

The other place is El Bañuelo. This is the original Arab Bathhouse in Granada. It's now kind of inside and behind a building that doesn't look remotely Arabic and whilst there is a sign nearby with a short history of the site, it doesn't indicate the entrance. I knew which street it was in, but couldn't find the entrance until this week. Glad I persevered. The roof was different shaped holes that allow natural light to penetrate into the different rooms. Pictures below.

Simple things in life....

Sometimes the simplest things in life, things we take for granted, are not so simple after all.

In the last few days, I've had some new experiences in Spain.

• I went out for dinner with a friend, had a great time, came home and went to bed. Next morning I woke up as usual but to discover my watch had stopped. Okay, no worries, just get a new battery fitted and all's well. Full of confidence with my new language skills, I asked my Spanish family where I needed to go to get a battery. In Australia, we would go to a jeweller's and it would be done pretty well straight away. However, I have learned that not all things are the same in Spain (eg. you buy postage stamps from a tobacconist booth). So, back to the watch. In Spain you go to a Relojeria to buy watches, get them fixed and buy and get batteries fitted. These shops are much like jewellers, but not all jewellers are relojerias. By the way, the Spanish word for clock is a reloj and a wrist watch is a reloj de pulsera (literally clock of the wrist). So far so good, there is a relojeria close by. However, in Spain, August is holiday time. Therefore, lots of shops are closed for vacation. I eventually found 3 relojerias but all closed. I figured I could do without my watch for a few days and once I got to London, I'd try to find the relevant shop. However, when I mentioned the closed shops to Pepe, he insisted on taking my watch with him on his and Trini's afternoon walk and was lucky enough to find a relojeria open and 4 euros later, I had a functioning watch.  I offered to pay him commission but he wouldn't let me.

• At the post office:- Now this was an interesting experience. I had decided that I wanted to send some miscellaneous items home to Australia rather than keep lugging them around London & Germany. I was also conscious of the weight of my luggage and the need to manoeuvre it through more airports, bus and train stations. So, I found the local post office, worked out their opening times (only in the mornings in August, it's holiday time you know) and ventured in. Hmmm, lots of counters but no envelopes, boxes or the like to send things in. I also hadn't seen any shops selling these types of items so thought best go home and ask the all-knowledgeable Pepe. Armed with the new knowledge from Pepe, I returned to the post office and entered through the other entrance (below ground)  but on locating the counter, was told that I had to go upstairs to buy the boxes and then go to the postal counter. So, back upstairs, discovered you have to push a button to get a number first (after lining up for a few minutes). Okay, easy - got to the counter. No, wrong counter. Need to go to counter 11. So off I go to counter 11, got my box, then had to take it to be weighed, then back to counter 11 to fill in the declaration form, then, get my number and line up again to have it officially weighed and pay my money. Lucky I have enough Spanish to work this all out from what they told me as there was no signage to indicate any of these requirements. We'll find out just how successful this transaction was when my parcel arrives in safely in Australia!!

• I also had to go to the main bus station today to finalise my ticket to Madrid to catch my flight to London. Everywhere else I've been, the bus station is quite central and easy to get to and buying a ticket is very simple. In Granada, the bus stations is several kilometres away from the centre and you basically need to take a bus or taxi. Luckily, there is a bus stop just out the front of the building I've been living in so really simple to get a bus. Approx 30 minutes later I arrived and walked in expecting to be on my way again in 10 - 15 minutes. Don't know what was happening in Granada today, the but line up was very, very long. I stood in line for 40 minutes before I got to the window and I noticed a lot of anxious faces. I discovered the anxious faces belonged to people who had specific buses to catch and they didn't have time to get to the counter before the bus left. I was very happy to let a couple of elderly ladies go in front of me so they could catch their bus on time. Even so, when I left, the line was just as long. Maybe it's just that it's holiday time in Spain or maybe something wasn't working as it should. It appeared that a lot of people in the line already had tickets so maybe there was a major breakdown or something and tickets needed to be changed. It was all very strange.

Spain just keeps handing out different and surprising experiences to compare with life back home in Australia. That's part of the fun of travelling! I've been trying to consider our processes through the eyes of a foreigner. They probably have just as many funny stories to tell about how Australia functions as well. I guess it's all about what you are used to.

Saying Goodbye

Well, another week has flown by and I now have less than 5 days left in Granada. On Friday I head for Madrid and Saturday fly out to London for 4 days. It will be a bit difficult in some ways to leave Granada as I feel very at home here and even now, after nearly 8 weeks, there are still new things to discover and explore. I have really enjoyed my time in Granada and would really like to return one day.

So, England for 4 days. Lots of cultural tourism to undertake in London and  I have a trip to Bath planned as well. It will be a shock I think to be speaking English all the time after 5 months in Spain. Perhaps I will find some Spanish ex-pats in London to chat to?

My mind is definitely turning to the challenges and preparation for the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. I've been wearing my walking boots for a few weeks and packed the backpack with the necessary gear. I'm about as prepared as I can be. I officially start on 1st September from the south of France, but will arrive two days earlier to do some warm-up walks first. As the first two days are climbing the Pyrenees, I think I need to ensure the leg muscles are well and truly ready before I head off. Should be lots of fun.

Anyway, have a few chores to do today to ensure a smooth get-away on Friday. Next blog will probably be from London.

Tapas Tours, Granada

I've been a bit remiss in my posts about the food here in Granada, which I have found to be excellent. As previously mentioned in my blogs, I have been on two organised Tapas Tours and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I mostly forgot to take pictures. However, last night I ventured out with a friend from the school, Ellie, to sample some more of these tasty treats that are a speciality of Spain. The good news is that here in Granada, tapas and drinks are very cheap. But you have to be careful, it's easy to keep having more. And, finally, I remembered to take some photos.

The tapas here are really varied, but will often include pork or chicken, seafood and berejena (eggplant). What you get depends on if you go to a bar that allows you to choose from a selection (of up to 25 different types in one bar I saw) or a bar that has set tapas for the evening. If you choose the second option, there is usually a different tapa for each drink you buy at that bar. It could be anything from jamon y queso (ham and cheese), aceitunas (olives), lomo (a cut of roast pork), to any manner of creative offerings. Given that the most I have paid for a drink (usually a glass of wine) and a tapa is 2 euros (approx. $2.90 AUS), I think that's pretty good value.

Whilst tapas is included in the price of your drink, at least in Granada,  you can just buy the tapa and forgot the drink or get a non-alcoholic drink. Given my explorations in this area, I have a new drink of choice when dining out on a tapas tour - Tinto de Verano. This is a mixture of wine and usually lemon squash type soft drink and served really cold. Very refreshing on a hot day. It also means that I don't have a lot of alcohol to drink in one evening! It makes a change from Sangria and would be easy enough to make back home in Australia. Next Spanish get together, I'll make some if anyone else is interested!!

So to whet the appetite of anybody thinking of coming to Granada, below are a few examples of the tapas to be found here. There are endless variety of others. Also, it is usual to move from place to place, have a drink or two and then move to another bar. This is a very pleasant way to have dinner, particularly if the company is good.

Tapa of lomo topped with a very small fried egg and tomato salsa

Bomba - basically a mashed potato ball filled with meat,
crumbed then fried. Spicy tomato salsa to finish it off
Served hot

Here's one we would recognise at home, smoked salmon and
soft white cheese with olives.

Berejenas - Fried eggplant with a sweet sauce
(usually honey but this sauce was smoky as well,) Served hot.

One of the interesting and cosy bars.

This very interesting dish (for 4 people) is basically fried baby fish.
The fish are similar to guppies. You just stab away with your fork
until you manage to eat them all!

Looks like soup but is actually a specialty white wine, very sweet
Normally served in bowls and you just slurp it up!
I had a taste but it was too sweet for me.

Tinto de Verano - mixture of red wine and
lemonade or lemon squash, served cold
with ice and a slice of lemon.
Very refreshing on a hot day!

Spanish Encounters: At the Pub

The last couple of weeks have been a bit quiet for me, not much cultural tourism nor social activities. Partly, it has been really hot and partly, I've just been too lazy or tired to bother going out at night. However, last week, a new acquaintance (Ellie) and I ventured out to a local bar quite near the school. This bar is really tiny and only seems to have 4 seats with standing room for another 4 people. If there was any more people in there, I think you'd have to be really good friends!. 

Ellie had found this place a couple of weeks ago as the lady who runs the bar is open early for breakfast and does coffee etc during the day and sells tapas and drinks at night. I imagine you can buy drinks during the day as well. Bars in Spain are not quite what we are used to in Australia and are generally a mix between a bar selling alcohol and a café selling coffee and cake etc.

Anyway, the owner is a very open and friendly lady so gradually, Ellie has been visiting for breakfast and having conversations with the owner and her husband. So, when she invited me for a drink, it was really for us both to have conversation practice. It was great fun. As it turned out, there were several "regulars" in the night we went and we had Spanish practice with all of them. They all seemed quite content to talk to us, even with our limited Spanish and seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. One chap, Antonio was born and still lives in the Albaicin in Granada (Arab Quarter), the other chap was from Seville originally but had lived in Granada for many years.

During the course of the evening, we managed to talk about our countries, their differences, where we live, what we like to do and our families, among other topics including the quality of the wine and the food. I think, apart from the families I've stayed with and the people on a tour I did to the Alpujarra, this was the most authentic Spanish speaking experience I have had to date. Real, normal Spanish people going about their ordinary lives and including us extranjeros (foreigners) without missing a beat. There was lots of laughter, a little miscommunication and plenty of Spanish lessons occurring over a glass or two of wine (beer in Ellie's case) and of course, tapas.

One other experience occurred about an hour before we left. An elderly man (probably in his 70s if not 80s) kept telling Ellie and I we were beautiful and asking where we came from (We decided he was a bit deaf). Then he decided he needed to know if I was married and when he left, wanted to give Ellie a kiss, not the usual kiss of greeting that the Spanish go in for, but a full on kiss. Ellie was a bit horrified by this and firmly told him the only man she kisses is her husband! Created a lot of laughter from the other people in the bar.

We went again last night and had another great time. I can see why Ellie likes to go there most days. If I didn't have a meal waiting for me with the family I'm staying with, I could easily spend a lot of time there - good company, great conversation, good wine and food. What more could you ask for from a Spanish encounter?

Views of the Alhambra

Below are some photos of the Alhambra as seen from various sites around the city. I hope you enjoy the view!!

From Barrio Albaicin, Alcazaba section



From Mirador San Cristobel

From Abadia del Sacramonte

View from Mirador San Nicolas

View from Camino de Sacramonte

View of Alhambra & Granada from Abadia del Sacramonte