Camino de Santiago - Week 3
SUNDAY, 11 MAY 2025
Today was a beautiful day in Spain. It was clear and warm all day. I left Estella at about six thirty, headed for Los Arcos. The trip was about 14.5 miles in total.
Just out of Estella on the Camino, the first village you get to is Ayegui. This is the home of the famous Camino wine fountain. The fountain is on an outside wall of a winery. Each day at 08:30 the winery puts 100 liters of wine into the fountain for Pilgrims to taste on their way west. Pilgrims can also fill their water bottles if they need water.
When I got to the fountain at seven thirty, no one was tasting because the day's allowance had not been put into the fountain.
That little problem did not bother me because I was not there for a taste, I was there to get a souvenirs. I had brought from home three tiny sample bottles. All I needed was about an ounce in total. I dug out my tiny bottles and cracked the tap on the wine side of the fountain. Enough poured out of the tap to fill one bottle. I closed it and then opened the tap again for the second bottle. It filled up as well!
I only wanted two bottles. A girl who looked to be about 20 walked up and was asking me all about the fountain. I told her what I knew and said she could try it if she hung around for another hour. It was then she saw my tiny bottles. She asked me if I was going to drink them. I said no, I wanted them for souvenirs. I asked her if she would like to have my third tiny bottle for herself. You would have thought I had offered to give her a thousand dollars! She simply could not believe that I was willing to give her my third bottle. She said, "did you bring those all the way from home?" I said yes, but that it was no trouble at all. I filled the bottle and sealed it for her. When I handed it to her, she said, "I wish I could repay this kindness. It was very nice of you to give it to me." I again said it was no trouble and I was glad to give it to her because she appreciated it. She asked my name and said if and when she opened it she would remember me being kind to her. I told her she was welcome and I hoped to see her later on the trail.
I think small kindnesses often have the largest return.
The rest of the day was filled with walking through and around wheat fields and vineyards. When I reached Los Arcos, I sat down to rest about 2:30 in front of the cathedral. I was eating my snack when I realized that church had just let out. It was a pretty good crowd, but there were no young people or young families there. Everyone from that service was about 80 or so. After the crowd had left, I went up to the door and looked at the service times. The church also has a service on Saturday. Maybe that is when the younger crowd attends.
Tonight I am staying in Los Arcos at a new alburgue. The lady that owns it is from The Netherlands or Austria. She sold me a place to sleep, supper tonight, and breakfast tomorrow for €41. We had zucchini soup (delicious), salad, some kind of pasta with a carbonara sauce (also delicious), and tiramisu for dessert. All very delicious.
Finally, the man and woman next to whom I was sitting at supper were from Oregon. They asked where I was from. When I told them Georgia, the wife said their son and his family had just moved to Cumming, GA. I told them that is where I live and to make sure they come to the parade on July the fourth. You can't hide from anyone anymore.
MONDAY, 12 MAY 2025
I guess I am getting old. Sunday morning before daylight, I was awakened by my left ankle throbbing! I have no idea why it should want to act this way either. I have not had any really strenuous terrain to cover since the Pyrenees. My feet have been tired, but not necessarily sore. I must have been doing something with the ankle to compensate for my case of Camino knee. I have no idea.
Either way, I knew the terrain was relatively flat on Sunday, so I completed the almost fifteen miles with little trouble.
This morning, I could barely stand up. I got my stuff together and was getting ready to leave the Alburgue when a fellow Pilgrim said I should think about sitting today out. I did not want another zero day since I had just completed one on Saturday. I was determined to try, anyway.
I left the Alburgue at about 08:00. My foot was protesting very painfully as I stepped into the street. Progress was slow, but I was moving, for a few minutes anyway. Before I left, the owner of the alburgue had told me that if I was not one hundred percent sure I could complete the 27 km section, I needed to make another plan because after the halfway point, there was no town until the very end. I still wanted to try. I had walked less than a mile when two British ladies who had also been at the alburgue saw me. One of them told me that if I continued and really injured myself, all I would be able to do would be to go home with a sore foot again. That struck home with me. I went back to the alburgue and asked the owner to call a taxi for me. I am in Logrono tonight. I have done only a quarter mile of today's section, but I am still here! My ankle feels a little better. I will see what tomorrow holds.
TUESDAY, MAY 13 2025
I am still in Logrono. My ankle is getting better, but it is doing so very slowly. I remember when I was a younger man and things like aches, pains, an sprains were simply a minor inconvenience. I could get banged up, and by the next day I was ready to go again. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER FOR ME. If you are under 40 and are reading this, remember what I am about to tell you and that you did not believe it at the time: YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED AS WELL!
This hotel has a nice breakfast for its patrons in the morning. I spent all day yesterday with my ankle elevated. I truly mean all day. When I hobbled into the hotel after going to the pharmacy just up the street for a new ankle brace and some arnica cream, I got my room and promptly put up my foot.
The arnica cream is a natural anti-inflammatory that comes from a flower that is in the sunflower family. One of the British ladies said I should get some because it worked really well for problems like mine. The only two times in my life I have ever heard of arnica was when my uncle Charles gave Daddy a tube of arnica cream because it helps clear up bruises. The second time was in the John Wayne movie McClintock. After the big fight scene at the barbecue, McClintock suggests everyone go in the house and use some tincture of arnica on their scrapes and bruises.
I have a can of spray that an Irish lady gave me as well. It is not arnica, however. The best way I can describe it is to say it is like a thinned down version of Ben Gay in an aerosol form. I spray it onto my ankle and the compressed gas immediately cools the area I am spraying. The stuff that comes out of the can then can be rubbed into the joint. It is amazing. She said, "Here love, I am gifting this to you because you look like you need it. It helped me!" She was right, and also a very kind soul who just wanted to help a fellow Pilgad2rim.
I am resting for at least another day. When I decided to go to the afore mentioned breakfast downstairs this morning, I was a bit apprehensive. Yesterday my ankle had hurt so badly it would make my stomach queasy and my forehead sweat when I would put weight on it. This morning I eased over to the side of the bed, grabbed my new ankle brace, (an engineering marvel), strapped it on, put on my shoes and slowly stood up. Between the rest, the creams and sprays and the fancy brace, I can now stand on my ankle without pain. It still complains a little when I walk, but I can move along slowly without feeling like I am going to throw up. I think the rest is doing me and the ankle the most good. I am going to watch a lot of YouTube today with the ankle up and see how it goes.
WEDNESDAY, 14 MAY 2025
Well, I am still at the hotel with my ankle on a pillow. I think it is a little better than yesterday, but it is sore. I can now stand, and even walk on it without it hurting. The problem is when I bend it. Currently I have a very limited range of motion in my ankle going up or down. As long as it is flat, I can walk. If I go either up or downhill, it is still painful. I have begun massaging the sore spots and stretching the joint by pulling a towel that has been looped around my toes. Both seem to help. This afternoon, I may venture outside and see if I can negotiate the slope in front of the hotel. It is not too steep. I can then see where my leg needs work. In the meantime, I am going to watch more YouTube.
Well, I went for about a half mile walk around town. My knee seems to be the best, I would put it at about 85%. My ankle is at about 70 - 75%. Neither hurt when I am walking. The problem is in the mobility. My ankle is very stiff. If you have ever turned your ankle, this is what it feels like. I can now stand on it fine. I just cannot bend my ankle and foot up to lift my toes. It does not hurt, it is just stiff. I think this will get better when I walk out of Lograno tomorrow. My plan is to cut the 28 km section in just under half. I plan to walk from the hotel to Naverette. It is almost exactly eight miles and pretty flat. I plan to go slowly and just try to get things limbered up again. I was looking at my foot just below my ankle and it is bruised. I think I somehow sprained it last Sunday walking into Los Arcos. I have never heard of it, but I guess a constant and repeated impact over several hours could cause a problem like that. Either way, I am on the mend and I am thankful for it.
THURSDAY, 15 MAY 2025
I was up, packed, and ready to go by 08:30 this morning. I usually like to go earlier than that, but I wanted the sun to be good and up before I left because I was not exactly where the Camio was in relation to my hotel. It was also supposed to rain at about 09:00. I wanted to see if it would rain because I have to put on my rain gear and it is hot. I really don't know if the rain gear is worth the trouble. It seems to me you are either going to get wet from the rain or the sweat you produce when you are sealed up in what is essentially a Ziploc bag. I generally just put on my jacket and don't bother with the pants. They are just too much of a good thing for me.
It didn't rain and I asked the manager at the hotel which way was the Camino and she said simply, "Turn Left." I echoed, "just left?" She shook her and pointed her finger left, up the street. I thanked for all her help these last three days, went through the door, and dutifully turned left. About 100 yards ahead I could see a Camino sign. When I went to the pharmacy and on my shakedown walk yesterday, I had turned right both times and never even looked up the street.
One thing I like about the Camino when it comes into a town, it goes through the town, not around the outside. I like to look at the buildings, houses and businesses. I think it is interesting to see how the ordinary people in Spain make their way in life.
The track through Logrono was about three miles. I went by churches, the courthouse, schools, all kinds of mom and pop businesses. And with that I will say that candy shops are very popular. It is bulk candy. You pick out what you want and shovel all the different kinds you want into a bag. They happily bill you by the gram.
When I got over a modern bridge on the western side of town, I was back out in the grape vineyards. Judging by the size of the vines, some of these vineyards are old. Some of these vines are six to eight inches across. I don't know one thing about growing grapes, but I like the concept. I am sure I would not like the actual practice.
The track wound in and through a wooded section that had apparently been a municipal park. It was a little run down, but people were using it just the same. The same is true everywhere. "Make do with what you have." Spain is a country of walkers. Old and young alike come out with their friends and just get together to walk and talk. I am on the record as liking that. The track sort of loosely followed the highway for a while and then dipped into the next valley that held the town of my destination for today, Navarette. I could see it in the distance. As I walked closer the church bells sounded the 1:30 mark. When I got just outside the city limits, the bells started again and fireworks started going off! Not just firecrackers, but big mortars that made big booms in the sky. Fully knowing there were not being launched in honor of my entering the city for the evening, I wondered what was the reason for the ordinance.
When I got to my hotel, I asked and the proprietor and he said that today is the day that honors the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro. He said if I wanted a piece of cake and a glass of wine I could go up to the cathedral and they would be happy to give me both. I said thanks, but no. I would trade the wine and cake for a shower and a bed.
Friday, 16 May 2025
As I have been walking about the Spanish countryside for now almost two weeks, I have been paying attention to some of the little things that perhaps the local population just takes for granted. These things are not world changing concepts. These little items just burrow into my brain where I think about them while I am headed west. Here are twenty of those things:
1. Spanish power poles are not nearly as tall as they are in America.
2. Spanish drivers take pedestrian rights of way VERY seriously. If a Spanish driver even thinks you may be contemplating crossing in a crosswalk next Tuesday, they are going to stop. It does not matter that there may be 47 cars and a bus behind him. If you are on or near the curb looking like a crosser, you get the right of way.
3. There is a lot of graffiti. Some of it is very well done. I was crossing a brand new road yesterday that was not even in service yet. On the bottom of the brand new overpass was some brand new graffiti. It was very colorful.
4. If you are headed out of a town on any major thoroughfare, you should see a white road sign with the name of the town that is just behind you with a red line diagonally across it. You have just been told you have left the city / town limits.
5. Double knotted hiking shoes are hard to untie with freshly trimmed fingernails.
6. Dogs barking at each other do it in a universal language.
7. Bicycle riders have a special sense of superiority while on the Camino.
8. Arnica cream is a miracle in a tube.
9. Spanish coffee is a wonderful thing.
10. People plant flowers at the ends of their fields just to make them look nice.
11. People are generally nice.
12. Some of them still wear you out.
13. The cars in Spain are tiny.
14. Ford is the only American marque I have seen.
15. I don't know the speed limit on the open road.
16. Neither, it seems, do most of the drivers of the tiny cars.
17. In the language of my people regarding the tiny car drivers, "Son he had her wound tight."
18. An American can get by without air conditioning as long as the windows will open.
19. If it is not 500 years old, it is not here.
20. Old people are the nicest.
Now for the regular news.
I got outside early this morning in Navarette. It was right at seven a.m. I had thought about going earlier, but I have a hard enough time finding the Camino markers in full sun. I am sure a headlamp would be problematic.
I walked up the hill toward the cathedral that had yesterday sent mortars into the sky for San Isidro day. All was quiet and I was the second customer in the small panaderia just across from the front of the cathedral. I always try to get a black coffee and some kind of sweet roll, croissant, something like that to start my day. The Spanish coffee is delicious. It is not bitter, but it is strong. It is hot, but it will not boil your tongue. The bread is always fresh. There are little trucks that go around to the places that do not bake their own bread, delivering the day's orders. If I drove at little bread truck, I would weigh 300 pounds and probably get fired for stealing.
After I finished, I was out the door and on the Camino. I have been slowly increasing my mileage after I took the days off to rest my ankle. My plan today was ten miles. These ten miles and yesterday's eight combine to make up one designated section on the Camino. I split it so I could be moving, but maybe not reinjuring my knee and ankle.
Today must have been "Check on John" day. I bet throughout the whole day there were at least ten people who asked how I was doing. Keep in mind that of that ten, I probably had seen four previously. It was nice of them to check on me and I appreciate it, but I am like my mother in that I do not enjoy having people make a fuss over me. I like to blend into the background. Anonymity is one thing I enjoy.
At the end of the walking day today, I added ten more miles to the total. I am at 117 miles and have completed nine of the thirty six sections. Tomorrow will be a twelve mile section. I am going to do all of it. I plan to start early because it is still slow going.
SATURDAY, 17 MAY 2025
I left Najera this morning about 07:30. I think my hotel had once been a church or a school, something like that. It had the feel of a government or public building. I ate quickly and was out the door and on my way. I followed the Camino signs for about a quarter mile and that is where what I like to call the "Lost Pilgrims' sightseeing tour" began. The Camino signs and yellow arrows are pretty easy to see, but this morning I along with several other nice folks were milling around trying to find the next marker so we could all go west. These Midieval towns and villages are not laid out in a grid. You might have an entire street that is less than one hundred feet long. I took a gamble and started walking what I thought might be a logical way for the Camino to go. After about ten minutes, I decided I was wrong and went back to the last place I could see a sign. While I was once again scouring the streets ( there were five that converged here) for an arrow, a shell, just anything to point the way, I saw two ladies heading away from me with a purposeful gait. I decided to follow them. Again that was a bad decision. They went through and past where I had already been. I knew that more of the same was not right, so I went back again to the start. I figured the people who lived around there would start to recognize me and begin to wave in a few minutes if I came this way again.
When I got back to what I was now calling "five points", I saw my shot. A public works truck pulled up and an older man was getting out. I eased up to the back of the truck like I was a new neighbor, looked him straight in his eyes, smiled and said "Camino?" He looked me straight in my eyes, smiled like the grandpa he probably was, and pointed to...wait for it... NOT A ROAD, BUT AN ARCHWAY BUILT INTO THE SIDE OF A 500 YEAR OLD BUILDING. When I saw where he was pointing, I saw a yellow arrow. I smiled and thanked that old man. He smiled, patted me on my shoulder and said "Buen Camino".
I went through the archway and was led to a courtyard that in turn led to a side street, and I was on the way again. About fifteen minutes later I was headed up a street and out of town and here came the public works truck toward me. I waved at Grandpa and he waved back!
This was a day of field walking. In the total of twelve miles walked today, there was only one other tiny village to go through before ending in Santo Domingo.
I did make a mistake this morning when I booked my hotel for tonight in Santo Domingo. I think it will be a good story in the years to come.
I booked my hotel room on a travel booking website that books places to stay literally all over the world. I found a small hotel that l liked and booked a room. I did not think one thing about it until I walked into Santo Domingo about two thirty this afternoon. When I put the address of where I was to be staying into Google Maps, my phone called me the electronic equivalent of stupid.
It turns out I had booked a room in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is always those small details that get you in trouble.
I canceled that reservation and then began my search for a last minute place to stay for tonight. As luck would have it, I was able to book an entire apartment for one night for the price of a hotel room in Santo Domingo. There is an old building about two blocks from the cathedral that has a pair of two bedroom apartments that are rented like hotel suites!
I can now truthfully say that I rented an apartment in Spain for a while when I was walking the Camino. Technically that is true. I will have rented it for about 18 hours when I leave tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow I am walking to a town called Belorado. It is 14 miles from Santo Domingo Spain, not the Dominican Republic. It is an easy mistake to make.
