Liz and Linda and El Camino de Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage 2017

We got up early and were walking by 6:45 - in the dark.  Even so, we were almost the last to leave the albergue.  Again. Sleeping in, while sleeping in a room of 16 beds is impossible especially when the door  squeaks loudly every few minutes after 5 o'clock as another person left. Why can't they all leave at once? Linda wondered why people rush out the door in the dark and don't stop to smell the roses, and I agreed, but a while later while walking, I realized there were many different types of roses. There is the rose of walking by moonlight and seeing your moon shadow. There is the rose of walking under the stars, the rose of seeing the sunrise and the rose of early morning light on the hills. We were sipping café con leche around 7:30 am when I noticed my backpack had peed again, this time on the floor of the café. Embarrassing. It does this when I put the pack down inadvertently squeezing the mouthpiece of the tube open.  I offer to mop it up, but the w...

Last night was very different. We are staying in the 15th C. church, up a small stone staircase past a window which showed the two feet thick walls and in a room @20'x 30' built onto the side of the church and into the attic. There are 14 thin mattresses on the floor. In the attic is another 10 mattresses, and down below at ground level are 8-10.  The laundry room is in the attic and up some rickety stairs into a dusty, cobwebbed area above the dome ceiling of the church. You could see the dome below.  Dinner was cooked by an Italian man assisted by many volunteers.  The Knave, his Jester and The Viking were there too.   Mats warns us that this last time he was here they asked everyone to sing a song from their country.  Linda suggested we sing This Land is your Land.  I prayed we wouldn't have to sing.  I only knew the chorus. While they prepared dinner, many of us went to evening mass. We didn't understand anything, except at the begin...

We stayed at a good albergue last night- only two beds per room and no bunk beds! Paradise. The bedspread was a bit scratchy, but I tried to stay in my smooth sleeping bag. The sad story is this morning I stumbled into someone else's room (it was empty) and saw clean sheets. Back in my room, I checked. Sure enough, we had clean sheets under the scratchy bedspread and didn't even know it! I did notice that one room had a padlock on the door.  I wondered why as I hand washed my daily uniform.  I didn't have sop and usually used my shampoo, but I had left it in my room.  Noticing a Spanish liquid washing soap next to the sink, I used it.  I was taken back by the medicinal smell and grabbed the bottle to re-read the Spanish.  The only words I could make out was that it was suitable for coloured clothing.  Bleach.  Ugg. I quickly rinsed my clothes just in case, and then it dawned on me.  A locked room.  Medicinal soap. The soap was to kill i...

The albergue was a ramshackle house with an entrance patio, an entrance hallway stuffed with a beer fridge, a bench for taking off shoes, a wall of shoes, a corner of walking sticks, three doorways, a podium and people entering and leaving. One door led to a dining room with a massage table. This room, in turn, led to a bedroom with numerous bunks. Another door off the dining room led to a crowded courtyard with a foot bath, drying racks for clothes, a few tables and a tired dog.  Another door from the entrance led to the W.C.s another to a crowded bedroom, and a staircase that led up to two more bedrooms with a dozen bunks each, a kitchen and a balcony. The highlight was massages by donation given by a young woman from Brazil. She asked where I wanted her to focus. 'Back?' ' No. Legs and feet.' She looked at my feet and with raised eyebrows 'I cannot do your feet. They are not clean.' And this was after my shower! She told me I had rocks ...

We had good intentions to start early. We were all out of bed by 6:30 but somehow things dragged. This was our third or fourth day that we have used the luggage transfer services. For a couple of days, we used a big white garbage bag which Linda and I stored clothes and other items we wouldn't need during the day. That probably took three to five  pounds off my back and the same for her. Every albergue has luggage transportation services. You pick up a pre-printed envelope, write the destination on it, stuff it with €5 (@$7.50) and tie it to your luggage you want to be transported and magically it is at your destination when you arrive. Since we bought a proper bag with handles Mats now adds a few of his things. Then we proceed to fill the empty backpack space with bottles of wine, tins of olives, jars of white asparagus, sausage, cheese and baguettes. So weightwise we haven't had much load taken off our backs, but our picnics have improved. Somehow, between Logroño an...

We (Mats, Linda and I) started early enough to walk in the moonlight, although being in the city with Venus behind us and the moon high in front isn't quite ideal. And, we only walked in the moonlight far enough to find a cafe/bakery open for breakfast. Inside the caf é, we found Lisa and Emily and met Brian and Zosia from Victoria. They looked vaguely familiar.  After a café con leche and a croissant, with Mats picking up a baguette and we were on our way again. Once out of the city and 6 km into the countryside we entered a park with winding trails and a café overlooking a lake.  Once again Lisa and Emily were leaving as we arrived. They hoped to get to Ventosa, our goal for the day, but then take a taxi into Nájera . Lisa was on a tight schedule and had only two weeks, and Emily found the distance a bit too far. Steffen met up with us but soon left us in the dust so to speak. Stocking up on supplies in Navarrete and pouring wine into water jugs so the wi...

We decided to use the luggage transfer service.  Rather than using a water bottle, my backpack has a flexible water bladder that slips down into a pocket at the back and has a hose that goes out the side of the pack and dangles down in front. The hose makes it easy to drink, just squeeze your lips on the mouthpiece and suck.  Bottles are awkward to reach and find, then undo the top.  A hose flopping and tapping you on the shoulder encourages you to drink.  So, we still needed our backpacks to carry food, wine and water. We took a few things out of our packs to lighten our loads by @5 lbs each.  We got a garbage bag and put the unneeded 5 lbs in, and the volunteer host showed us how to fill out the transfer form.  It meant we had to pre-plan our day and figure out where we would be staying that evening and have our  luggage sent on to that spot. The luggage service was worth the €2.50 it cost each of us - our backs felt lighter, our feet felt ...