SANTIAGO!! -

WE HAVE ARRIVED!!! On Friday afternoon, June 25, at about 2:45, we set foot on the plaza just outside the Santiago Cathedral and could truly say we had made it to kilometer O! It was a great feeling! For the last few weeks we walked with Carmen, a wonderful woman from Ottawa who we met on the Camino, and it was great to share our success together. We all received our Compostela - the official document confirming our pilgrimage.

The next day we all attended a wonderful mass for pilgrims at the Cathedral, and have enjoyed meeting various "Camino companions" throughout the town since our arrival - bonded by a shared experience.

Both Don and Joe have arrived in Santiago as well (by plane!) and we are looking forward to exploring Galicia together for the next few days. Carmen is on her way home and we look forward to connecting with her again in Ottawa.

Thanks again for all of the encouraging comments we received through the blog and for all of your thoughts and prayers; we really felt that each of you was travelling with us on our journey.

Less than 100 to go!

Greetings from Portomarin, after an absolutely lovely walk through the hills of Galicia. The weather continues to be fabulous - sunny, cool in the mornings and going up to the mid-twenties by noon. Today we walked 23 km; yesterday we did 25 km. A few days ago we crossed the third and last mountain range; the high point was at O´Cebreiro, a lovely little touristy town, set on the ridge of the mountain. So, at this point we are 95 km from Santiago - according to our map book. The signs in town say 90 km....

This morning we left Sarria, which is about 120 km from Santiago. There were noticeably more walkers today, since, to get the official Compostela in Santiago, you must have walked at least 100 km. And this is a holy year - which means that St. James' special day, July 25, falls on a Sunday. So there were many more people on the path today, including teenagers, families, couples, groups of friends, etc. All of these are in addition to our other ¨Camino Companions¨, which we would like to show in some pictures. Unfortunately we cannot seem to upload pictures today, we´ll try again another time.

Ponferrada

A couple of days ago, on June 15, we arrived in Ponferrada, the last large city before we reach Santiago. It had been a relatively strenuous day of walking down from the highest point of the Camino (1515 metres) where we left the stones that we brought from home at the base of the Iron Cross, as per the Pilgrim tradition.

In Ponferrada we met up with Flor and David, who were introduced to us through ¨Camino connections¨ from home. They kindly invited us to their home for supper and to stay the night. Their wonderful hospitality included a sampling of local appetizers and Galician food. They gave us a brief tour of the old town, including the Templar Fortress and the Basilica. We came back for a lovely fish dinner - sea bass on potatoes and onions - with a delicious local red wine.

The next day Flor and David actually walked the entire day´s route with us to Cacabelos. It was a beautiful walk with cherry trees, orchards, grape vines, small villages, always with the lovely mountains in the background. Flor is from Galicia, the ¨province¨ that includes Santiago and which we will get to tomorrow (June 18). Some say that Galicia is the most beautiful part of the Camino. Flor gave us some insights into the food, culture and people of Galicia - we are in for a treat!

It was wonderful to meet Flor and David and to have their company both in the evening and the next day. Their enthusiasm and hospitality were so generous and very much appreciated.

We are currently in the small town of Trabadelo, between Villafranca and O´Cebreiro, with about 180 km to go. The weather has been fabulous - some sun and cloud and highs of 20-21 degrees. Our walk today took us up a steep hill out of Villafranca, up above tree line with beautiful views both in front and behind us; we continue to enjoy the walking and the adventure.

Leon and 300 km to go!

So, about all of that good weather we´ve been writing about - it´s over for now. We´ve now had a chance to experience the Camino in the rain. We´ve had two days of the real thing and a couple of overcast and drizzly days. Rain makes for a very different kind of day. We prepare our packs with rain covers and wear lots more clothes, including rain jackets and gloves, since the temperatures have been much cooler - about 9 degrees. It´s also been noticably windier. The walking, however, has still been pleasant. When we stop for a break, we bring all of our wet gear into the bar, hoping for a nice warm cafe con leche and a chance to dry out a bit. At the end of the day we stuff our boots with newspapers to help dry them out (contrary to advertising, goretex is not waterproof) and the dormitory is filled with drying jackets, ponchos, rain pants, etc.

Yesterday we walked into the city of Leon and had the afternoon to look around. We saw the Gaudi building - very lovely (that´s it in the picture), and the cathedral - spectacular. Just walking around was interesting - lots of winding, old streets and inviting plazas. Unfortunately we had to walk very quickly since it was raining and very wet.

In Leon we stayed at the Benedictine Monastery for the night. We´ve stayed at a few of these now. Generally the facilites are limited and there is no charge, other than a request for a donation. In the evening there is usually a vespers service in the church with the nuns. It´s lovely to attend and enjoy the music, though we really don´t understand a word.

The rain has given us new appreciation for certain things about the Pilgrim experience. Our particularly happy moments include:
- energy snacks during the day - nuts, dried fruit and especially chocolate
- coffee stops - the usual cafe con leche with those delicious Spanish pastries
- seeing our destination for the day on the horizon
- a hot shower
- checking in with people we´ve met before on the Camino
- dry socks and boots
- hearty Pilgrim meals with the always available red wine
- good weather for drying laundry.

We´ve done about 500 km to date and have approximately 300 to go. Spanish distance signs are notoriously inconsistent. Our map book says 297 km to go, however the sign on our albergue today says 319... Regardless, we are making good progress and are continuing to enjoy all of the various different aspects of the journey. Each day is a new adventure.

Business Opportunities on the Camino!

There are some wonderful business opportunities here on the Camino that we´d like to tell you about:

Have we mentioned the number of cyclists that travel to Santiago, using the same route as the walkers? They whiz by in their spandex with the names of their home clubs emblazoned on their shirts and shorts. They usually wish us all "Buen Camino" as they cycle past. They come from all over the world, mostly Europe, covering about 80 km per day. One man from the USA even had his GPS with him. But somehow, these cyclists have not heard about a BICYCLE BELL!! or they haven´t been taught how to use them! They often come up behind us so quietly we don´t realize they are there until a voice calls out "Hola!" and we realize a cyclist is on our heels! Which way do we move? to the left? to the right? stay in the middle? A little bit of warning that they are coming would decrease our anxiety immensely when we feel their breath on our shoulders! So the business opportunity for you entrepreneurs out there is to sell bicycle bells to every cycling Pilgrim on the Camino. Instructions will be needed in Spanish, German, French, Dutch, and English ... for starters.

Another business opportunity is to sell those laundry spinners to help get more water out of clothes after hand-washing them. We think they may be called "extractors", they work like the spin cyle of your washing machine. We have encountered them twice in our travels to date - once in the albergue run by German volunteers and again in the albergue run by Dutch volunteers. Every albergue should have one!! It´s amazing how much more water comes out of wet clothes using this device - and that´s very helpful when you need to hang up your hand-washed clothes every evening to dry.

The third opportunity is for lots of WD40, at least a dozen cans needed at every albergue. You wouldn´t believe how loud and irritating squeaky doors - bedroom doors, bathroom doors, cupboard doors - even beds! can be during the night when you are doing your best not to disturb the other eight or so people sleeping in the room! If you would actually oil the squeaky doors for the hospitalieros, that would be even better!!

And finally, one for the designers among you - showers! Pilgrim showers need rethinking. They need lots of hooks - for clean clothes, for dirty clothes, for towels and for toiletries. They need privacy. A dry place to stand after showering would be nice. A good showerhead and good drainage help. And all of that would probably be needed within about one square meter of floor-space. Those of you who have travelled in Europe will know how small the showers are here.

So, there´s the challenge. Let us know what you come up with!

The Meseta

In the past week we have covered a lot of ground! In fact, we are now half way to Santiago and feeling quite accomplished!

Last Tuesday we were in the city of Burgos and had the opportunity to be tourists for an afternoon. It was great! We drank coffee and ate lunch in the plaza - lots of people-watching, with the very large cathedral in the background. We also toured the cathedral and went to a mass for Pilgrims in one of the very lovely chapels.

After Burgos, we were on the Meseta, or "table land". It´s relatively flat, but not like our prairies. It´s noticably drier here, and the sun gets hot in the afternoon. Lots of grain farming here, and the fields are much bigger and wider. The first crop of hay has been cut; the colours have changed from spring greens to more summer greens and golds. The land is "scrubbier", there is more irrigation and, generally, things look less fertile. We´ve moved from the province of Burgos to the province of Palencia, where there are more houses built with bricks rather than stone.

We´re doing well. We generally get up earlier to walk in the cool of the morning. In the first picture, we turned around to see the town of Casrojeriz in the sunrise. In the other picture we are enjoying a bocadilla for lunch - lunch happens after cafe con leche, whenever we are next hungry.

We are currently in the small town of Ledigos and we are making plans for arriving in the city of Leon, about four days from now. The weather has continued to be amazing - sunny, and enough breeze for an enjoyable walk, provided we don´t continue into siesta time in the afternoon - about 2pm.

Thanks again for your comments, we enjoy hearing from you.

A Couple of Updates - May 30

First of all, we thought we would let you know where we are and how we are doing.

We are currently in Villafranca de Montes de Oca, about 1.5 days walk from the big city of Burgos. The weather has been fabulous - big blue skies, a few high clouds, and nicely warm but not too hot (not as hot as it was when we first started).

We are getting into the groove of about 20 km per day. Our departure time varies from about 6:30 to 8:00; sometimes we have breakfast before we leave, sometimes en route. Regardless, the first stop of each day is always at the "bar" for cafe con leche. We carry snacks and munch as needed. We generally aim to arrive at our destination for the day at about 2pm so we avoid the third tier bunks and/or the overflow dorms which are much less attractive. Showers and laundry are high on the agenda after we arrive. We get groceries if necessary, check email/blog when we can (internet and phones are not always available). By Spanish standards, we have an early supper at about 7:30 and then drop into bed.

Last night we had a real treat. We stayed in a "casa rural" - a small hotel, about 2 km off the route in the tiny hamlet of Quintanilla del Monte. Ana and Ana (mother and daughter) gave us a very warm welcome. Their hotel is called "La Encantada", which means "Enchanted". Mama Ana cooked us a fabulous dinner of paella with pork rather than seafood. The "second plate" was delicious fresh sausages with a nice fresh salad. Dessert was yogurt and fresh fruit. The town itself includes a number of nicely renovated homes and quite a few old, derelict buildings. It seems to be a place where city dwellers are buying up old places, renovating them and then using them as country homes, especially on the weekends in the summer. Ana told us that, in the winter, there are just 12 residents in the town!

Another update: We thought you would like to know that we received word from Parkinson Society Ottawa that the fundraising campaign has exceeded $10,000!!! This is really amazing!!! We are thrilled and really appreciate your encouragement and support in this way. A big thank you to each and every one of you!!

Albergues along the Camino

When we told folks about walking the Camino, many of you asked where we would be staying. For the most part, we are staying in albergues, which are much like hostels.

There are albergues run by the municipality, by the church (at least we think that´s what ´parochial´ means) or privately run. We´ve stayed in municipal ones and private ones.

Our favourites so far are the ones run by volunteers. The huge dorm in Roncesvalles is a municipal albergue, run by Dutch volunteers. They were so friendly and helpful. See all the boots, which must always be left at the door. The building itself was originally a medieval pilgrim hospital, so it has served pilgrims for many, many years. In Pamplona we stayed at a small, municipal albergue, run by German volunteers. They are members of a fraternity and the (generally retired) men come and stay for three weeks to welcome Pilgrims, check them in, provide information about Pamplona, including good places to eat where there are Pilgrim menus (i.e. hearty and cheap) and make breakfast in the mornings. Tonight (May 28) we are in Santo Domingo de la Calzada where we are again in a large (about 150 beds, plus overflow) municipal albergue, this one run by Canadian volunteers. The facilites here are very good! Santo Domingo, in fact, was sainted for all he did for Pilgrims back in his day (11th century).

In Villamayor de Montjardin we stayed in an albergue, an old, refurbished village house, also run by Dutch volunteers. The volunteer organization, however, is a different one from that of the Roncesvalles albergue. It´s an ecumenical group; in addition to the usual duties, they prepare supper and breakfast for the Pilgrims, with grace offered before supper. On the day we were there, we met them on their way out to the fields to pick fresh herbs for the salad. They also host a time of meditation in the evening which we found very meaningful.

In Lorca we stayed in a private albergue, 36 beds in a restored stone building. It was very fine, but did not have the ambiance and friendliness of the others.

In Viana, we stayed in a very large, municipal albergue that was originally a monestary. The bunks were three tiers high!! Unfortunately for us, we came in a bit late that day and both were assigned third level beds!

Speaking of beds, we´ll head off for now.

We continue to enjoy your comments. We´ve learned how to insert pictures, so there are a few in our previous posts; have a look.

Sunday, May 23

Greetings. We have free internet today, so we thought we would write a quick update.

We had a great day again, the weather was gorgeous. It was cool in the morning, warming up to hot by noon. After filling our waterbottles with cold, fresh water at the local town fountain, we set off at 7:15. The scenery was again lovely, rolling hills with grain fields, vineyards and olive groves. No cows or sheep anymore. The sound of cowbells has given way to the sound of cuckoo birds. There are still lots of wildflowers, we have tried to take pictures of the different kinds. Somehow we ended up with more pictures of the brilliant red poppies than anything else. We will post some pictures when we figure out a way to do that. We also walked on an old old Roman road today and across several Roman bridges. We saw a pelican sitting on its nest on top of a bell tower.

The path was, for the most part, up and down through the countryside though we passed through 6 towns. In Puente la Reine we had our picture taken with St. James himself and had cafe con leche, sitting in a little sidewalk cafe in one of the narrow little streets. We had ice cream and a picnic lunch in Ciraqui; the church bell was just chiming noon as we came into town.

We have again met a number of interesting people, including a young man from Romania. He claims to be one of only two pilgrims from there. Canada, on the other hand, is well represented on the Camino, as is Germany and Australia.

Till next time; we are off for another Peregrino supper.

A few days later...

The trip up and over the Pyenees on Wednesday was a cold and foggy one - quite the experience of the mountains! We were glad of our jackets and gloves. There was snow in the mountains, and, when we got to Roncesvalles (Roncevaux in the picture) we heard they had had about 6-8 inches of snow the day before and on the weekend they had turned people back because of the bad weather at the top of the mountain.

The refugio in Roncesvalles was another experience. Neither of us have ever slept in a dorm with 110 other people! The snoring did not keep us awake but apparently it did bother some of the others. We woke up to dim lights and lovely music at 6am. The refugio is run by Dutch volunteers; we had some lovely conversations with them and got away by 7:30 am.

On Thursday we walked to Zubiri, 22km. We thought the Pyrenees were tough, but this was also a tough day. The weather was gorgeous - sunny; it became hot as the day went on. There were a lot of steep ups and downs but the scenery was beautiful. Sights and sounds included lots of wildflowers in bloom, birds, more cowbells, the clock tower in Zubiri. We´re grateful for good footwear, including an extra pair to change into and our Tilley sunhats. Alice is really appreciating her walking poles, especially on the ups and downs.

We´ve had some fabulous food. The best was at the albergue in Orisson - cassolet - white beans in a delicious sauce with lamb. Every Peregrino meal starts with home-made soup, usually vegetables in good broth. Local red wine appears with every supper, just like water. It´s delicious! Our coffee breaks happen any time of the day, any time there is good cafe con leche available. Breakfast and lunches are usually baguette with cheese, possibly some meat, some fruit.

On Friday we walked 22 km to Pamplona where we stayed at another albergue, this one run by German volunteers. It was delightful! We poked around Pamplona a little bit. It´s a very lovely city and worth a trip back sometime. Today we got as far as Uterga, a very small town. We´ve covered about 90 km so far. We´re still trying to find just the right combination of time to get up and leave in the morning, walking, breaks and how far to plan for each day - so far the first 5 km are much easier than the last 5 and ups and downs (of which there have been many so far) make a big difference.

Thanks for your comments. We´ve enjoyed reading them.

We're on our way!

We arrived safely in Paris after an uneventful overnight flight - the way we like it - and took the train to Bayonne through the beautiful countryside to the south of France, though the scenery was a bit lost on us as we dozed off and on along the way. Bed at the hotel was very welcome! On Monday we took the bus to St. Jean Pied de Port, where we poked around for the rest of the day. It's a lovely old, little tourist town in the Pyrenees. The market was in full swing - with lots of colourful things to buy, but we held fast to our rule "no souvenirs until Santiago". We checked in at the Pilgrim office and picked up our credencials des peregrinos (passports for pilgrims). And we bought lunch goodies for the trek on Tuesday - some cheese, dry sausage, bread, an apple and chocolate (a staple for hikers).

At the gite we met other hikers, including a group from Ottawa! And on Tuesday morning (today) we started walking!!!! Our first day has been short, though uphill all the way - 8 km to Orisson - picture above; we arrived at 11am, ready for coffee and lunch. We met more hikers, this time including a couple from our neighbourhood in Etobicoke.

The walk this morning was lovely - a very still morning with the early mist still hanging around. We heard lots of birds, cows and cowbells, sheep, roosters and the chatter of fellow peregrinos. The scenery is breathtaking - steep green hillsides, picturesque white plaster farmhouses with red tile roofs and matching shutters, wildflowers blooming along the narrow ashphalt roadsides. All but about 1 km was along the narrow road; we had to step off the road to let cars by. The 1 km was off-road, on a grassy/stoney/wet/muddy track.

So now we've done our chores - showered, did our laundry, made our beds, and updated our blog, fighting all the way with a very different French keyboard!!

Tomorrow we anticipate more good weather and spectacular scenery as we continue to climb up and over the Pyrenees.

Send Off

We had a wonderful send-off from friends and family. There was lots of good food and conversation, in spite of the rather blustery weather. It was a truly a taste of the Camino - we'll just need to deal with whatever weather the day brings!

The prayer sending us off is lovely:

Loving God, you are never far away for those who seek you.
Be with your friends, Claire and Alice, on their pilgrimage and guide each step along the way.

Be a companion for them along their journey,
a guide at the crossroads,
strength in their weariness,
defence before dangers,
shelter on the way,
shade against the heat,
light in the darkness,
a comforter in discouragement,
and firmness in their intentions,

so that, with your guidance, they might arrive safely at the end of their journey and, enriched with love and grace, they might also return safely home;

through Jesus Christ Your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Amen

It was ten years ago that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It was also ten years ago that I first heard about the Camino de Santiago. I am thrilled that my good friend, Claire, will be joining me to fulfil my dream of walking this ancient pilgrimage route in Northern Spain. We depart May 15, 2010.
Having decided to walk the Camino, we realized that there is a challenge much greater than walking 20 km a day for 40 days. People living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) face challenges affecting their quality of life every day.

PD is a progressive, neurological disease affecting more than 100,000 Canadians. People with Parkinson’s have difficulty with voluntary muscle control, exhibiting such symptoms as: slowness of movement, tremors, stiffness, postural instability and difficulty walking. There may also be non-motor symptoms such as depression, decreased memory and cognitive difficulties. Many of these symptoms may be successfully managed with medications but a cure has not yet been found.

We decided to address these challenges by teaming up with Parkinson Society Ottawa (PSO). As a regional partner of Parkinson Society Canada, PSO serves more than 8000 people in Eastern Ontario – both those with PD and their care partners – offering support and education to Ease the Burden and funding research and advocacy work to Find a Cure.

Partnering with PSO, we have set a goal of raising $8000. That means $10.00 for every kilometre we walk or $1.00 for every person served by PSO! Please consider being part of the team. You can keep us in your thoughts and prayers, spread the word about Parkinson’s disease, or kindly make a donation to PSO.

You may make your donation by going to www.parkinsons.ca ; follow the link “How you can help” and click on “Tribute Donation” and put in one of our names. Your gift will support people like me living with Parkinson’s today and will give us hope for the future.

Thank you for being part of the team that is working to ease the burden and find a cure.

Alice

I too am looking forward to walking the Camino with my good friend Alice. Alice and I have a long history of hiking and adventure. Alice introduced me to backpacking many years ago and we subsequently spent a lot of time on trails, both hiking and cross country skiing. We’ve hiked out west, on the Bruce Trail; climbed Mt. Washington and hiked hut to hut on the Appalachian Trail. We skied just about every park with trails in the Toronto area as well as in Algonquin Park, including weekend adventures that involved sleeping in a tent or building a snow cave. But all of that was more than 20 years ago! How time flies!

We subsequently both got married, schedules changed and it was harder to fit in those kinds of adventures. Alice ended up in Ottawa while I stayed in Toronto. We have managed to maintain an annual ski in the Gatineau along with skating on the canal in Ottawa, usually as part of Winterlude. And, more recently we’ve enjoyed annual cycling weekends in various places – there are lovely trails in Ontario and Quebec!

So, perhaps we’re trying to resurrect out youth, with yet another (perhaps crazy) adventure that requires lots of research, planning and preparation… we’ve done all of those. Or maybe we’re trying to prove we can still meet this kind of a challenge, in spite of both having dealt with cancer and now Parkinson’s for Alice. Or maybe it’s just that the Camino is beckoning, calling us to further explore the gifts of love and life - a long-time friendship, the wonderful support and encouragement of our spouses and a life-long relationship with the Giver of Life and Love.

So, we’re up for it! We’ve prepared as best we can, recognizing that there are lots of unknowns – Where will we stay? What will the weather be like? Will our packs be too heavy? Can we avoid blisters? What about language? - but that’s the adventure. We’ll post notes on this blog from time to time to let folks know how we’re doing.

Thanks for your interest!

Claire