A Captain’s Camino

“Soy un peregrino.” I am a pilgrim. Everybody knows. Everybody. Apparently we have neon signs on the top of our heads because we can’t hide.

And I don’t mean with our backpacks on…that’s too obvious. I mean we can be spotted a mile away after our shower, after we’ve changed out of sweaty hiking clothes, when we’re in the super markets, sitting on a park bench, doesn’t matter.

We might fool other pilgrims (like I did this afternoon when two pilgrim ladies thought I was a Spaniard and tried to ask me something in broken Spanish…). But everybody else in this country knows we are pilgrims.

Dress? Not that different, mostly. Language? They know before we speak.

So I assume it’s the hitch in our giddy up after a day of hiking (or 13 days…). Maybe the slight grimace on our faces as we stand up or sit down. Maybe we always look a bit confused.

Anyway, pilgrims cannot hide. Period.

Extra thought: Old age is like underwear. It creeps up on you.

In almost every place I stay, the dinner costs more than the bed for the night!

Three course pilgrim dinners are usually 10-12 Euro ($11-14). The beds are generally 5-10 Euro ($5.50-11).

Not sayin’ the meals aren’t worth it, but the beds are generally WELL WORTH the 5-10 bucks after a day of walking.

I think today’s albergue may be the best yet. Clean, newish, more room than most, very nice bath/shower rooms. And the food so far has been excellent here. We’ll see what dinner brings.

Tonight’s Dinner: Quite good! Carafe of red wine, bread, excellent salad, a very thin, but delicious “steak” and fries, and slices of watermelon for dessert. All for $11.

So I’m showing you food along the way. All good so far. But I promise I won’t show you the results if any of it makes me sick!

Extra thought: Before the crowbar was invented, crows had to drink at home.

Stunningly gorgeous morning – cool, calm, and sunny for a stroll to and through Burgos.

It is a large city and took a couple hours to fully walk through. Burgos is dirty, sprawling, industrial, and not very interesting…and it is beautiful, old, modern, and filled with park areas. Truly the tale of two cities as I walked from east to west.

If the market below is accurate then I am now UNDER 500 kilometers to go – only 300 miles!

The small town of Tardajos where I’m staying tonight seems nice, but I haven’t had a chance to explore yet.

Here are a few views of Tardajos:

Extra thought: Have you noticed “the” & “IRS” spells theirs?

Had an excellent pasta carbonara this afternoon at this small albergue, and joined by the owner’s kids at the next table. They had a plate of paella that looks like a good bet for my dinner later.

The carbonara today was the best dish I’ve had so far on the trip, although all the food has been just fine.

Extra thought: Taller people sleep longer in bed.

Why is it that people have an overwhelming need to write on every dang sign they can reach?

It’s usually something inane and unnecessary, but they are convinced that the world needs the benefit of their incredible wisdom. Give it a rest, folks, put the sharpie down! Please.

Extra thought: Never trust a train. They have loco motives.

Late start after sleeping in and having a delicious breakfast. Not on the road until 8:00 am!

And the hills started immediately! I guess it’s good I got a comfortable night’s sleep to prepare. Only 25 kilometers today, but the hills definitely woke me up!

Although cloudy and foggy early on, the sun eventually came out and there were some beautiful views.

A good distance along, the route was crudely fenced off for some type of military training area. That explains all the weapon firing in the distance!

Tonight’s albergue only has 3 bunks in a tiny room, a small common room, and a small women’s and men’s bath/shower. The actual toilet room is so small you literally have to sit or stand sideways! What a novelty! But everything is newish and very clean – small blessings abound.

I’m hoping dinner in the bar below will be good – walkin’ makes me hungry and there are few options in this tiny village. The large city of Burgos is only about 15 kilometers (and worlds) away. And I’ll walk through there tomorrow.

Extra thought: Reading while sunbathing makes you well, red.

And the towns have THE…MOST…AMAZING…CANDY…STORES…EVER! ‘Nuff said.

Extra thought: Remember, if the world didn’t suck we’d all fall off.

So after twelve days of walking and staying in crowded albergues, I picked a hotel for tonight! OMG, best decision ever!

I’m in a small village in the hills called Villafranca Montes de Oca. And while it looked pretty when I arrived, I’m pretty clueless since I’ve done nothing but indulge in relaxing since I got here in the early afternoon!

The day started cloudy, but with 0% chance of rain until evening. Right…the rain started early, along with the thunder. Not heavy winds though so it was rather pleasant under the poncho.

The day was mostly countryside with villages dotted every few kilometers. Walked about 29 kilometers today, so now I’m kind of between convenient stops. The city of Burgos is about 40 kilometers away, but no lodging for the last 15 km or so. Oh, well, I’ll figure it out along the way.

In Belorado they have some interesting brass plates along the Camino route through town. Hand and foot prints of both kids and adults. I’m sure there’s a story, and the internet will provide! Eventually, as time permits, later, I’ll figure it out. But here are a few of the brass plates:

As I’ve said, beautiful cathedrals and churches abound along the way. Here’s another after the sun returned today.

And back to the luxurious cotton sheets… nothing super fancy, but it was just my time. Stay in the albergue with 50 of my closest friends? Or stay in a hotel room with my shadow – me! Easy choice, and well worth it. Aahhhh!

Now I’ll explore the area a bit and hit the Super Mercado (Super Market) for supplies for tomorrow. Most Spanish stores open from 9 am to 2 pm, and then close for siesta (such a civilized practice!). They reopen at 5 pm for an hours or a few. It works well for us since a pilgrims “siesta” time is around the same closed hours. Moi simpatico! (I think that’s a mix of languages!)

Extra thought: The only thing flat-earthers have to fear is sphere itself.

So if you are in the older, narrow parts of a Spanish town, stay around for dinner time! The smells on a calm night coming from the mix of home, restaurant, and bar cooking is intoxicating! Especially when you’re hungry, but mouth watering regardless. Wow!

And while waiting for dinner tonight, we have two Spanish pilgrims serenading us with amazing, soft Spanish music!

And here’s tonight meal, mixed salad, bread, pasta, potatoes, and lentils – delicious!

Extra thought: Life without music would b flat.

Another 28 kilometers today with a few hills, but not bad. Spectacular weather and I felt pretty good so I blew through Santo Domingo, the regular stop, and ended in Granon.

Very small village on top of a hill and surrounded by farmland, with mountains in the distance. Probably only a couple hundred residents. Not much here, but they have a pretty impressive old cathedral. Pilgrims can actually stay there, as well, but mats on a stone floor are off my list!

I am staying in my first “Donativo” albergue, an albergue that only takes donations. I expect they probably do better since people are mostly pretty generous. It’s an interesting building, like many, a repurposed home or old shop. Beds and bunks stuffed in everywhere. The linens and blankets look pretty suspect, but I just use my sleeping bag liner on top of all the beds. And the beds are too short and have crappy mattresses. Other than those things, it’s a great place!

They will provide a group dinner meal at 8:00 pm, and put out breakfast items in the morning. I’m hoping for a filet mignon and baked potato! Unlikely… probably just rubber chicken, but filling.

At one end of the village is a very small park area and a small adjacent restaurant. A Spanish 2-person band played there most of the afternoon. Their name is Malauva (Mala-oo-vah). They were quite entertaining and played lots of Spanish and English songs (Johnny B Good, Who’ll Stop the Rain, etc.) that everybody sang along to.

Wine was only 1 Euro a glass, about a $1.10, and they had other drinks, hot dogs, etc. Fun to sit and watch, and they had some serious groupies in black band logo t-shirts going crazy for each new song. The singer looked like Bob Dylan, sang well, and played awesome harmonica. His guitarist played well, too.

And this is me relaxing in bed, waiting for dinner, and hoping this is not a “bed bug” albergue!

Extra thought: Lif is too short.

A pretty long 30 kilometer (18 mile) hike to Nájera today. Walked by myself and always move faster; only took 5 hrs 15 min and I was passing everybody on the trails.

The good thing is that there will always be more opportunity for beds if you get in early without a reservation. Working well so far!

I got into Nájera at 11:45 am, but had to wait for the 1:00 pm check in time. Just nice to take the pack off and relax!

Nájera is backed by stunning red rock cliffs behind old town. Very similar to Sedona, Arizona. Lots of walking paths and caves in the hills, as well.

Extra thought: Please cancel my subscription to your issues.

Only a two hour walk from Viana to Logrono this morning in perfectly glorious weather! What a beautiful place.

My Navy friend, Brad, is continuing to have some difficulty with shin splints so we’re taking it easy. Unfortunately, he’s going to need a few days to recuperate so he’s jumping forward by train and picking up short stints after resting. This is the Camino so it is likely that I will see him again before Santiago. Happens every day that you see a pilgrim that you haven’t run into for days past.

Logrono is a much bigger city with lots of sightseeing opportunities.

When I talk about how beautiful a place is I am most generally talking about the old town area in each city, not the newer areas of town. I’m talking very narrow cobblestone or other stone streets, often not much more than one car width. It’s a good thing that Spaniards (and most Europeans) rarely use their horns because a horn in the confined streets could probably kill you! Talk about a closed in space!

Every city, town, or village has a Catholic church or more and all of them are old and impressive.

To further reduce weight in my pack, I pulled stuff out that I had not used yet and sent it forward to Santiago. It can stay there for 30 days before pick-up so that helps. It is super expensive to mail packages back to the U.S. Unlike many place in the States, however, the lady at the Logrono Post Office was so friendly and helpful. She spoke English well, but Google Translate is also incredibly useful! (You can even point your phone at a Spanish sign, menu, etc., and you’ll see a translated version on the screen! Whoa!

Met up with Fiona and Vanessa, my South African friends, again a couple days ago after not seeing the for 4 or 5 days. We all had dinner in Viana and Logrono. That’s the Camino – make instant friends, lose them, make more, see the former ones again down the line!

Long walk on the Nájera tomorrow!

Extra thought: A bike in town keeps running me over; it’s a vicious cycle.

Thank you for following my blog. It’s been fun posting about the trip, and I have enjoyed the many comments from family and friends. I haven’t been very good about responding to individual comments, but I do read and appreciate each one. Stay tuned for new updates regularly!

Extra thought: My friend was explaining electricity and I was like watt?

Two half days make one rest day, and the extra time to relax and recoup is welcome. Brad, a retired Navy Captain, that I’ve been walking with for the past several days is having some shin problems so we’ll just take it easy.

And while lots of parts ache every day – primarily feet and hips – a hot shower, some Vitamin M (Motrin), a couple beers, dinner, and sleep all combine to work wonders! Always ready to go in the morning so far.

Extra thought: Big shout out to my fingers. I can always count on them.

For those who know me well, you will be shocked at my pilgrim dinner tonight. Beer and dessert, of course, and seafood paella for a starter.

But for the main course, I knew the waiter said chorizo (delicious sausage), and potatoes (also delicious), but I didn’t hear the “fried eggs” part.

So in case you didn’t know, fried eggs ARE NOT my thing. I’ve probably eaten only two or three fried eggs in 50 years – no kidding!

Not sure why, but the combination was actually pretty good! The eggs were a little more done which helped, well seasoned, and the combo with chorizo and potatoes was good. Not a chance that I will be adding fried eggs to my menu any time soon, but not bad!

The municipal albergue where we are staying tonight is nice, but the town is really pretty. It sits high on a hill like many old villages and towns so that it could more easily be defended.

Right across the alley from our place is the shell of a huge old church.

And like many places in Spain, not just in Pamplona, this town of Viana also runs the bulls through its old town area streets. You can see the red fences closing off squares and side streets and other signs of the practice. There also are shops that sell the common white and red worn by the participants.

Extra thought: If you suck at playing the trumpet that’s probably why.