Sahagún, Spain

On our hike this day, we were surprised to see Vivian and Tony go by in a wagon pulled by two horses. Apparently they were overcome by injuries so hitched a ride onwards. We stopped short of the suggested next stage because it was just too far for our bodies to go in a day. We wound up stopping in this Podunk town to stay in its one small hotel which also served as the main restaurant: Hotel Camino Real Leon. The hotel manager was a real flirt, finding reasons to fluff my hair or flatter me which put Norm off. The walk was just a bit shorter giving us a reprieve, but then, after a hearty dinner there was nowhere to go, and not much to see. I wound up feeling a bit sick, so we called it a night early. The hotel was full of Germans, French and Dutch people who were all about our age which got me to wondering to see so many geezers doing a very taxing journey. That night I had lovely technicolor dreams of home, surrounded by dear friends. I woke from a deep sleep feeling refreshed and recovered.

Carrión de los Condes, Spain

We set out at 8:20 am after coffee and toast at the Alberque next door. It was a sunny day with fairly easy hiking mostly on a footpath that followed a road. We carried lunch, bread, cheese, apples and nuts. We arrived at another town every few hours, and stopped at each to rest our feet. As we walked, we sometimes met up with other pilgrims, like Sofia and Lily so we could pass the time visiting. It was a seven hour hike once you add in rest stops. We took off our shoes and stretched our shoulders, feet and legs when we stopped. My feet held up very well, but my shoulders were aching by the time we arrived at our destination. Also the flies were a plague. Our favorite rest stop was an Alberque that played Gregorian Chants and featured green lawns, hammocks, tepees, and friendly dogs. Just outside, we ran into a pilgrim with his wife, dog, and donkey cart. They weren’t so happy though. It appeared they were bickering. Carrion de Condes is a lovely community. We opted for a hotel tonight with a hot bath. After we cleaned up we strolled the town, walked down to the river and had dinner at a local cafeteria with a view of children playing and young mothers strolling.

Boadilla del Camino, Spain

We started out late today. Norm was sleeping well, and I didn’t want to wake him. Then I had a text message from Alaina asking me to call, so I did on Skype. We didn’t get to breakfast until 9. The breakfast was the best so far, with ham, cheese, bananas, and Spanish tortilla. The coffee was not so hot because we were late. We hiked under clear blue skies today, and not much mud. The big climb came early with gorgeous views. We had a second coffee, this time hot, a few hours down the road. We hiked through lunchtime surrounded by green fields and scattered wild flowers. We ate our bread and cheese and apples for lunch just before Boadilla. Then we decided it was late enough, and a good time to stop. Norm has sore blistered feet, and my shoulders hurt from the rucksack. We are staying at a hotel next door to an Alberque. We ate dinner and will have breakfast at the Alberque because the kitchen is closed here. The Alberque was a lively mix of pilgrims from many nations and of all ages. Tomorrow we will get up earlier and try to make up a few lost kilometers.

Castrojeriz, Spain

We awoke at around seven, all eight of us in the attic. We were on the trail by 8:20, just grabbing a couple of small croissants and off we went. We are beginning to get to know our fellow travelers, in the attic, we were with Olivia, Naomi, and Michelle. Along the way, we got to know Vivian and Tony, a mother son duo from Australia. We slogged through a few kilometers of mud with them. The mud was thick and clayish, strong enough to take the shoes off my feet. We finally made it to breakfast in Hontanas, where we had our coffee and bananas. We picked up bread at the market as we left town. About two km. down the road, I realized I’d left my poles at the market, so Norm stayed with the packs and I trekked back, finding them waiting for me. It’s so much easier without the pack so I just flew back. By the time we hit Castrojeriz, I was one tired camper so we didn’t quite make it to the town center, but booked a room at Hotel La Cachava where we have a lovely studio out back. I washed out all the mud and showered, then we checked in for 45 euros. We walked the town finding an open bar for a glass of wine and conversation with the Camino crowd. Then back for a rest before dinner.

Burgos, Spain

Our first hiking day was lovely! We had scattered showers, and nippy temps so wore my merino wool shirt all day. It didn’t rain hard enough for the rain coat, but I did add my pack cover. The way was mostly flat or rolling hills and green fields. At times, it was muddy and the mud was clay. We started out at 8:20 am, just after coffee and croissant. We had our fruit and packed a lunch. Although my pack was heavier than I would have liked, it wasn’t uncomfortable. My feet held up quite well We stopped for lunch at Rabes de Calzada, where we thought we would stay but since it was an easy walk we decided to push on. It was just a bit of a climb to get over the hill. We reached Hornillos at 2, right before the storm broke. As luck would have it, we nearly got the last bed in town. It’s a double in the attic dorm room at Casa de la Abuela. We are shoehorned in with three Frenchwomen and the two kiwi chicas from the laundromat. The last lady to arrive is an Aussie, and they added a bed for her. We were fortunate to get here. It’s a sweet family with a passel of children. They made us a basic pilgrim meal, and now we are tucked in listening to the rain. All showered, fresh clothes, what more could we want?

Burgos, Spain

Today is going along quite alright. We took care of business, which means I mailed a day pack to Leon. If I am struggling to walk, it will be there so I can change my strategy and courier my big pack carrying only what I need for the day. For now, I believe I can carry my load, as we are hiking across the plains. It rained a little, but not so much to bother us. At the post office, we were waited on by the same lady who helped us last year. The Correos had boxes, so she packed it up too. After the Correos, we took a taxi to a Lavanderia discovering it was not so far as we thought. We had our laundry done in a snap, and walked back to our hotel to pack it up. Then we went tapas hunting for lunch. We had some open faces sandwiches, mussels, chips and sausage. Also tasted the wine and sangria. It’s siesta time, and shops are closed now. Norm is napping while I write. We are ready for the road tomorrow. We have met a few perigrinos and found out it isn’t so crowded yet. I am breaking in my shoes, and fancy socks. Everyday I do my exercises for my feet, and I praise that they are well. We bought some bread, and sausage. After siesta we’ll find fruit and cheese. Norm is snoozing and I’m just sitting here with a big grin watching the sunlight filter through a curtain. Just out the window, there’s the cathedral and the pilgrim’s way. At last, we are living the dream.

Castellbisbal, Spain

We set our alarms for 7:00 am so we could leave the hotel at 8. I set my phone alarm and Norm set two more since he gets insecure about waking up. It was quite a jangle at 7 though our neighbors probably deserved it since they’ve been noisy when we were sleeping. Our plan included breakfast at the bus terminal before boarding at 9. We left right on time. The taxi stand was only a few yards from our hotel, and the fare would be about 10 euros. Getting to the terminal was a breeze, and it wasn’t so hard to wrangle the packs. We found our bus number and departure time posted, then I sat to look for the tickets. I dug into my document bag, but didn’t find them. They had apparently vanished. We looked in all the pockets and compartments we could think of even though we both clearly remembered I had put them in my document bag next to my passport. It was like falling down a rabbit hole into senility. We didn’t want to miss our bus, so Norm trucked upstairs to stand in the ticket kiosk line while I sat with the packs. I felt horrible and couldn’t believe I lost our tickets. I thought I’d look one more time, this time taking out everything. Then there they were, two wrinkled wisps of paper crumpled in under the smart phone. I grabbed all our bags racing upstairs to catch Norm before he bought new tickets. We were both so happy, but only had time for a quick cup of coffee and shared croissant. After all, Norm reasoned, who needs coffee after we had to that adrenaline burst over missing the bus. We boarded on time and enjoyed a leisurely 9 hours of countryside views all the way to Burgos. The bus stopped often but never for more than 15 minutes. We came rolling into beautiful Burgos around 6 pm. Our hotel was an easy walk in the old part of town near the cathedral.

Castellbisbal, Spain

On our second day, I was able to wake up refreshed after a deep sleep. We went out to the Arc de Triomf by metro and found Terminal Norte where we could buy our bus tickets to Burgos. Mission accomplished, we stumbled upon a large park surrounding the Arch so decided to explore it before breakfast. The park, Parc de la Ciutadella, was once a world fair, so it was home to a zoo and a few museums. We followed the signs to a waterfall which was really a dramatically designed fountain which featured a waterfall with multiple statues. Next to the site we noticed a pleasant coffee bar with outdoor tables so we breakfasted there on fruit and coffee. We returned to our hotel by metro, and Norm bought our tickets online for the Sagrada Familia so that was our second event of the day. At the cathedral, we took our time and noticed details and spaces that we had missed the first time through last year. We had the time and energy for one more adventure, a visit to the Hospital de San Pau which is next to our hotel. We bought two ten euro tickets to walk the grounds and explore the two Art Deco buildings of what had once been a hospital, but now houses offices for several health organizations. In the gift shop here I found a lovely Art Deco shirt but I won’t buy it until we return here. After a rest, we went to dinner at Barcelona Crepes which is now our favorite restaurant in this city. We had a salad to share, with savory crepes – salmon for Norm, ham and Brie for me. At the end of our meal, our server brought us complementary shots with lemon, vodka, and some delightful licour. It was 11 by the time we settled in for the night. Tomorrow we would be heading off to Burgos.

Barcelona, Spain

On our first day, we took it slow. We had breakfast at Crepes Barcelona and walked around the Sagrada Familia neighborhood. Norm changed money so all is well, but I remain sheepish about my missing cards. We are walking everywhere so I can break in my trail runners and my Iniji toe socks with compression sleeves. This is my best plan to manage my foot troubles Before leaving home, I had bought tickets to see La Perdrera by Gaudi. That’s a giant stone apartment building built around 1912 by a wealthy couple. La Perdrera was the nickname given by the community because the building site was such a noisy mess during its construction. The stonework was all done on site. It housed 16 families in its heyday, but now there are only four tenants left. Since they have lifetime leases, they will live there until they die. We had reservations to see this building twice, once in the afternoon with audio sets exploring on our own, and a second time for the night tour with a guide, light show and champagne in the foyer. We had a nap between visits and dined at a local bar. The night tour was wonderful, especially the light show finale on the roof which was projected on the chimneys. Also spectacular was the view of the city lights. We sipped our champagne in the company of some other tourists from the British Isles. We walked home around 11, feeling sparkly from the effects of the champagne and the romance of travel.

Barcelona, Spain

We arrived later than we thought because we missed our connection in Paris. We got a late start out of San Francisco for some undisclosed technical problem that had us sitting on the runway for nearly an hour. In Paris we had sandwiches and had to chill for six extra hours. The later plane got us into Barcelona around 9 at night but it’s still light out because of the higher latitude. We found a taxi, and we careened off to our hotel, the BCN City Htop, just next door to the Hospital de San Pau. They had our reservation, and that’s when I went digging into my passport bag and discovered I had no credit card and no debit cards. That’s right, I had flown in to Spain for 6 weeks with nary a card! I didn’t let on to the desk clerk just cool as a cucumber, we signed in. She didn’t ask for the card anyway because it had all been entered online. Up in our room, I was in a panic at first tearing through all of my bags and mentally retracing my steps. We had just arrived, and I had pulled out my smart phone and passport many times, but hadn’t needed to look for the cards. That’s when I remembered the last time I had used the ATM was in Sonoma. So logically, the cards were in Sonoma. So I sent a text to Alaina outlining my problem. She was just leaving work for a lunch break so had time to get right on it. She found my cards in my Suburu wedged in between the seat and console. Apparently the little grey wallet just slid out of my pocket. I told her where to lock them up, then came up with a plan to live without them. Flexibility is one of my strengths. Norm and I have a joint account, so he could access the account with his card for both of us. And I can move money online from one account to another. The credit card will be missed, but Norm can cover that too, and I had plenty of cash. We had this very serious glitch solved within an hour with gratitude to Alaina. Mostly I felt a bit blue out of embarrassment. I’m not the spring chicken I used to be, so I don’t remember things as well, such as rechecking the documents. Not to mention I’m not so fit, I walk a bit slower and fumble around more. But we are here, and managing ourselves in the twilight of our lives.