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

The German volunteer turned on the lights at 7, a not so subtle hint to get up. Five minutes later she was checking each bed to make sure people were awake. Another five minutes and she was examining the white walls alongside each bunk bed with a sticky piece of tape. I saw her press it to a wall and examine it. I thought she was exhibiting the German penchant for cleanliness until someone pointed out she was checking for bedbugs. I noticed the Basque Blue Bull was ready to go but he kept hanging around, probably wanting to walk with someone. People seemed to match themselves with others. Mats's 'future wife ' seemed to be hanging out with the handsome Frenchman. Martin had blisters and was walking slowly and walked with Melissa who was wearing crocs to avoid rubbing on her heel blisters. I don't think I have mentioned Mats's future wife before. He met her near the beginning. A slim fresh looking young Frenchwoman who was wearing 5-toed shoes. Each toe is e...

We left Villafranca and soon ran into Dave and his new girlfriend who were walking very slowly. He seemed very happy to see us and I overheard him say he was going to walk with us to get some exercise. She soon called him back and adjusted her sweater which was hanging from his pack and then he caught up with us. 'We tend to walk slow when she has to concentrate and translate into English.' Dave's natural pace was much faster and I think he enjoyed the pace of a few kilometres with us. Strange blue trees along a section of highway. We soon left the highway (and Dave) and followed a meandering river while all around us mountains mocked me as they knew I would eventually have to climb one of them. Up high were incredibly tall bridges crossing from one mountain to another. A high tech world way up there while we hiked on centuries old pilgrim trails. Many of the pilgrims we talked to had decided to stay at the bottom of a mountain but we decided to spread the elev...

In which Liz and Linda make a run for it, breaking out of an albergue in the middle of the night. Brace yourselves for this blog post: it's a doozy. Grab a coffee or a glass of wine (or for you Mum, a G&T....maybe two).  At 7 am, there is a major discussion going on outside our bedroom in the hallway with one of the volunteer  hospitaros (volunteer host of an albergue) and two peregrinos. 'It will have to be treated with chemicals.' I interpreted this as meaning the bedroom across the hall had bedbugs. The two peregrinos did not look happy. TPTP peed again thus time in the bedroom. It is not even 7:30. This is the earliest we have ever left, 5 minutes before they would have kicked us out.  It's only when we are having our first coffee that I notice a slight itch and a welt on my wrist. Then I see two more further up my arm. They say bedbug bits are usually 3 or more in a row and found more at your extremities, I.e. Towards your feet and hands. Da...

Last night we had a communal dinner at the albergue. It was optional at €8 but with only a few buildings standing there weren't a lot of options.  We liked these opportunities to meet people over dinner. So we sat at a table with 5 other people by the fire: a young German couple (he turned 28 yesterday), a couple near retirement from Berkley, and an Irish man, and enjoyed a huge paella.      This morning we had already been walking 30 minutes when we saw the sun come up over the far horizon.  We were pretty high up which meant that eventually we had to come down. It was hard going on the rocky trail. Mats and I decided to take the road down to the next village instead while Linda persevered on the trail. We should have read the guidebook which specifically suggests not to take the road. Switchbacks with Hairpin curves and no shoulders has meant a few pilgrim deaths. We were lucky. Despite the dangers and the fact it was longer, it was still beautiful en...

When you are feeling sick, you loose things. Sometimes even your mind. I am not that sick.  Yesterday I lost my anti-chaffing cream for both feet and thighs AND my new and favorite bright flourescent yellow socks! It isn't the colour that made them my favs, although they do look good with my blue with orange trim shoes. Nor is it the fact that they have a right and left sock clearly marked on the toes. It is because I haven't got a blister since wearing them. With such a reputation, I bought a second pair (subtle blue) 2 days ago. Thank goodness. Even so, I like to change socks at least twice a day, and I will have to revert to my Darn Tough second favs.  Feet are everything on this trip. Everything! So to loose your foot glide cream and your fav socks in one day is bad. Very bad. So last night I was careful to put my bag with my gortex runners under my bed and carefully placed a toe sock and my new fav blue socks on top and went to sleep. There were 4 of us in the...

I am definitely not feeling well. Diarrhea. Nuff said. But a pharmacy was top priority and I remembered seeing one on the way in from the bus station. We had heard from Mats that he had passed through the village of the virgins and feeling so peaceful he accidentally walked 30k instead of 12.  Linda and I had a vague plan. On a map there were railroad tracks between León and a town about 40k north. We would take the train there and start walking. We ightbsomehow connect up with Mats. But coffee and a pharmacy first. We had a café con leche at a small café where you are also served miniature doughnuts. Walking out, I threw my backpack on one shoulder planning to put it on correctly once outside. There was a loud voice, in Spanish, and a man rushed up gesturing 'agua, agua' . My pack had peed again.  All over the floor and everyone noticed. At the train station we found out there was no train to where we planned to go so we moseyed over to the bus station and were to...

  Yesterday we decided to bus into León. Even THE guide book suggested we consider it. It is 18k of boring city semi industrial suburbs. So Linda, myself and Mats left Victo and Thomas at the albergue. They plan to walk, so we left in the dark in search or good coffee which we suspected, correctly, would be in León. Nothing like a need for coffee to get you going in the dark. In León we ran into Dee, the Aussie who gets bitten by any bug in th neighbourhood. She just got out of hospital. A very nasty reaction to some bug bite has finished her trip. She and Rob had made it to the next town but within hours of getting bitten she had huge blisters and the kind ladies at the albergue called a taxi and sent her to emergency to hav e them dealt with. The doctors thought it might be fire ants. We often visit the churches along the way. Linda and I decided to go into the León cathedral while Mats had another coffee the square. He has been here before and prefers smaller towns t...