Still Truckin´--Trekin´

So the weather has been better (now starting to get hot), we are having a blast, we´ve managed to avoid blisters (unheard of in camino world, knock wood), and Kepa is the biggest celebrity ever.  Still averaging 10ish pictures a day, and we constantly meet people we have not yet met who already know 1) his name 2) where we are from and 3) other random information about us.  Apparently he is on tons of other camino blogs.  Among our random groups of people we have run into multiple times, we have gotten particularly close to a mid 50sh British couple from Suffolk, a mid 50s man from Andorra, and a mid 20s couple from Asturias (Kepa almost prefers the woman from that couple to us haha).  Also occasionally hang out with some college students from Ireland and some others from Texas A & M.  We are now in the mundane, hot, monochromatic desert oasis of ¨the meseta¨.  Wishing we were back in the Basque Country or at least La Rioja.  Looking forward to the great city of Leon and then, eventually, celtic Galicia.

May 28 Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belarado, Castilla y Leon (23.9 km)
The day after seeing the chickens we walked a long way to a well preserved pilgrimage town and ate on the main square.  A very good day.  The first picture says it all to me.  Sadly, we left Rioja.

A really pretty stretch

Someone left a mural on a wall in Belarado.  You could definitely feel the "crisis" (what they call
the recession) in this neck of the woods, but we still really liked the feel of Belarado.

May 29 Belorado to Ages (27.7 km, for most of us)
Hard, cold driving wind and threats of rain sent G-Mom and Kepa ahead by taxi for 15 km of the middle of this leg.  We all walked about 10 km, then sent them ahead to the supposedly idealistic monestary-albuerge of San Juan de Ortega by taxi.  Brittany and I then climbed two mountains and walked across a battlefiend from the Spanish Civil War.  When we got to the monestary, however, we found a note left in the bar by Mary Ann telling us that the monestary was not nice, the monks no longer served soup, and contrary to their advertising there were no private rooms suitable for a baby.  So she had walked ahead 3.5 km to Ages, where we joined her.

G-Mom and Kepa wait in the bar at the albuerge in Ages.
We found them having just finished a chocolate and churros.

May 30Ages to Burgos (22.2 km)
Pretty weather as we made it to the large city of Burgos, home of the first Gothic cathedral on the Iberian peninsular (and a relatively impressive one at that).  Also the location that El Cid is supposedly buried.....since 1921.....which makes me skeptical.  But Alan B. of the comment wall assures me he really is. Does one trust a medievalist?  The most impressive cultural find in Burgos, however, was Sucarum.....home of home-made soft serve icecream with home-made toppings.  2/3 of us had the chocolate bomb....choc ice cream with multpiple chocolate toppings.  The cone?  Made of crousaint.  Bri had yogurt flavored ice cream with apple toppings.  Take that yogurt hipsters!!!!!! (I can at least respect gilato, though I prefer good quality ice cream or sorbet........but yogurt ix na!!!!).   Topped with the best cotton candy of our lives.  I just don't know what to say.

The view from the top of a hill 10 km out of Burgos.  Quite the vista.

A street in Burgos. These trees where ubiquitous in Rioja, but Burgos put them to particularly good use

In a cloister of the cathedral.   Notice the scallop shell? 

Yum.  Sucurum.  Need it.  Again.  Now.

May 31 Burgos to Rabe de las Calzados  (12.2 km)
A short day so that we would have more time in Burgos.  Had some GREAT morcilla in a tiny bar in Rabe.  It is the Castilla y Leon version of Boudin.  Pretty darn good.

Headed toward Rabe with the sun at our shoulders.

Morcilla and artesian cheese.  A GREAT lunch.

June 1 Rabe de las Calzados to Castrojeriz (29.0 km)
Ate lunch in the wonderfully preserved medieval city of Hontanas.  Google it.  You´ll be happy.  .5 km out you still couldnt see it even though the meseta is flat.  Then a drop off and BOOM.  A great lunch too.  Kepa fell while crawling and whackadoodled his head.  Otherwise an enjoyable day

This man, at Store Kilometer Marker 469, took a major liking to Kepa
and gave him a scallop shell from Finnestarre

See how you see nothing....Then boom.  Really pretty cool

Getting close to Castrojerez

June 2 Castrojeriz to Fromista (25.5 km)
 Really liked Fromista.  The cathedral was 11th century yet had carvings of people (2 centuries ahead of its time).  Had an AMAZING meal in a beatifully decorated restaurant (see pictures).  The Jamon Iberico and the cheese were to die for.  The table was an old alfafa buster turned upside down with a flat glass put over it.

Coming over a BIG hill and onto the meseta, which (the first few days at least) was much
prettier than people said, if only because of the late/wet spring that kept it green.  Even so, it was
monotonous. But getting close to Fromista you walk along some really pretty canals.

Fromista was one of our favorite spots on the camino, and the location of our first slight splurge
meal. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was beautifully decorated.  The food was sublime.

June 3 Fromista to Carrion de los Condes (19.7 km)
  Carrion used to be 12,000 people and they were forced to sacrifice 100 virgins a year by the moors.  Now there are only 1000 people and a pretty good restaurant here too.  Had a torta de Santiago to celebrate Kepa´s due date (had he been full term).  Maybe a new holiday?  Kenneday!!!!  G Mom got a haircut by a woman that spoke no english.  Fun.

What? You can drive to the same places? Why are we walking?

June 4 Carrion de los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios (26.8 km)
Long, hot, boring day on the meseta.  But we made it to a tiny burge population 100, seconds before they were about to give our room away.  Whew!!!!!!

Meseta, meseta, meseta.  At least it is still green.  I think that is about to change after Shahagun.

One last drink with Joan, a man from Andorra who we met many days in a row and ate dessert with
in Fromista. A kinder man I have not met on this trip, and he took a MAJOR liking to both Kepa and
Brittany.  We remain in touch, but we are out ahead of him on the trail.  Hope to visit him in Andorra
someday. Sadly, my Catalan is fragile :)

Keep Calm and Camino On

So our feet feel about ready to fall off, but we are doing well.  We are apparently becoming a bit famous.  Kepa gets his picture taken 7 to 12 times a day (not exaggerating), and upon arriving at one town an Australian woman came running at us all excited yelling ¨finally I get to see the baby!  I´ve been hearing about him for days!¨.  I find it ironic that we have become this famous, because children on the Camino aren´t actually all that rare, but they are just rare enough that we are the only people in our group (basically you keep re-meeting the same people who are within the range of 20 km before or after you, day after day) so we are a novelty to our group.  We have heard, through the grapevine, that other children are currently on the route.  Apparently there is a four month old two or three weeks ahead of us (that shocked even me).  Also a family of 2 adults and 3 children ranging in ages from 2 to 11, accompanied by 3 donkeys, apparently has finised the Camino Norte and is currently walking back (!!!!) on the Camino Frances.  I think they may already be North of us, but if not then we may pass them.  The Spanish guidebook has an entire section on traveling with children, and none of the people running the places to stay have been the least bit shocked (though many of them have been very, very helpful and tried to help us book reservations a day or two ahead).....and most of the Spaniards are excited to see a baby (see the previous post about the Spanish obsession with babies....which has proven to be even more extreme than we joked about), but not too particularly "phased".  The Americans, Japanese, Brasilians, Aussies, Brits, and others, however, apparently find us to be QUITE the novelty.  I´m sure Kepa is now all over stranger´s Facebook pages now.

The Camino has proven quite tiring on our bodies, especially considering our expectations seeing as we walk 4 miles every day, and have been taking practice walks for up to 16.  Apparently you can´t replecate a mountain nor an uneven Roman road.  That said, in spite of the sore bodies, we are having the time of our lives.   Kepa´s mama thing is continuing (though worst at night when tired), but otherwise he is crazy happy.  In fact that seems to be what shocks the other peregrinos the most.....how happy he seems all of the time.  It makes me want to ask, do you think we would have tried this with a baby who wasn´t so easy going and laid back?  I wouldn´t have, that is for sure!

May 24 Estella to Torres del Rio (29.1 km)

Long, long day.  We took the high road (by choice) and it paid off.  Yes it was more climbing but it cut off a 1.5 km, and it also was a more gentle climb over soft dirt paths under the shade of a forest.  Everyone we know who took the lower route took longer and looked more tired.  After climbing that mountain it was a long descent through a pretty city called Los Arcos, then on to Torres Del Rio......a tiny medieval town on a tall hill above a river.  It´s name means Towers on the River.  The town had 2 hotels and 1 bar, but we had a really good time. Very memorable.

There are public water fountains provided everywhere on the Camino, but just outside
of Estella there is a particularly unique one.....the spout on the right is water indeed, but the
spout on the left is vino tinto, or red wine.  A sign to the right asks you not to fill takeaway bottles
with the wine, so Brittany had to improvise.

A beautiful day coming off the mountain in Monjardin

May 25 Torres Del Rio to Logrono (La Rioja) (20.1 km)

Today we left the Basque region crossing into the great wine region La Rioja (see our post on Places We´´ll Go, Things We´ll See).  Shorter, but our most tiring day yet.  Logrono is beautiful but very sleek and modern.  Logrono,as well as most of Rioja, was pretty well bombed out in the Spanish Civil War. Logronians had the money to rebuild pretty, but still rebuilt.

We saw a rainbow as the sun started to drive away the morning rain.

In Viana we happened to be there for a Basque festival.  Lots of
boys and girls in traditional Navarese dress.  Bands too.  Purty cool!

May 26 Logrono to Najera (29.4 km)

The opening 10 km was around a beautiful lake.  Then 10 killer km across an open wine desert.  But then a beautiful 10 km over a small mountain and descending to the rivertown of Najera (pretty next to the river, dirty otherwise.....whole spanish civil war meets poor area type of thing).  We stopped at a lovely bar for sandwhiches and cerveza before the final 10 km.  After the killer day we broke down and ate pizza in Najera.  We rarely eat inauthentic while in Europe, but after 30 km we NEEDED it :)

This man walked with his self-built pull cart starting from his home in Italy.  He speaks no English
but we saw him and conversed with him most every morning for a week, then he disapeared. He either got out
ahead of us or fell behind us.  Hopefully he didn't have to abandon.  I'm very skeptical of carts for the Camino, but
this was the most practical and best built one we saw.  If any could make it, this could.

Rioja is COVERED with wine regions, in the flats and the mountains alike.

May 27 Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada (21 km---supposedly)

We awoke to drizzle, checked the weather app, and thought we had a chance to chase some sun.  Kepa was well covered (we have a whole thing to cover his pack, plus his rain jacket) but the plan didn´t work out so well for the rest of us.  In the first 6 km the drizzle turned to downpour and all of the adults got drenched even in our raingear.  We took shelter in a cafe in Azofra (pretty, tiny town), drank hot chocolates, ate, warmed up, and then took a taxi to Santo Domingo de la Calzado.  We feel like we were cheating a bit, but we just didn´t want to do anything stupid with a baby.  And I don´t think St. James will blame us for 9 little miles :) :)   Now in Santo Domingo, sun now shining (of course), doing laundry and about to go see the chickens!!!!!

Walking toward Santo Domingo de la Calzada (before the rain)

Kepa finds this all very exhausting

The square in Santo Domingo

On the left you can see the inside of the cathedral,
the live chickens are in the bright area to the left.
Above you see our chocolate chicken.  Yum!

Finally......We Camino!!!

So we´ve been walking three days now.  We´ve only covered about 40 km, partly because of weather and partly because of getting our sea legs.  But we are having the time of our lives.  Kepa is doing amazingly well.  Happy, flirting with everyone, watching waitors (his favorite past time), eating all kinds of new foods (he is quite the fan of Basque piquillo peppers, which we of course only let him have in small doses....Kepa has always liked his chicken spicy---Seinfeld reference people!).  We feel much, much better about things, though our legs and shoulders are definately plenty tired.  Things going well.  Hoping for a couple of longer days the next two days.  It is supposed to warm up a bit. Thank goodness.

 May 20, Iruna (Pamplona) Basqueland/Spain

We started feeling better this day.  We had good weather in Pamplona (Iruna in Basque), did laundry, walked around the city, ate a great meal of pinxtos (second day in a row), and got our bags packed for the next morning´s walk.

The Plaza de la Castillians in Iruna.  A very pretty main square.

Just off the main square.  The Hemingway Pizza and Doner Kebab shop.  Really? Reallys?!?!?  I mean I love a couple of Hemingway´s novels, I love doner kebabs when I´m in a junk food binge, and a well done pizza is a thing of beauty.....but what do the three have to do with each other?

The interior of the Cafe Iruna, a well preserved and elegant 1920s bar on the main square. You can drink here with dignity.  And Jake Barnes did in The Sun Also Rises.

 May 21, Iruna to Uterga (17 km)

It was surreal to be walking out of Pamplona.  We walked up a gentle slope for several hours (finally turning steep) as we ascended a major hill (mountain?)....the ascent was through mustard fields and wheat fields, opening up on a beautiful cemetary next to a loan tree (where we ate lunch).  At the top there were neat cutout statues, then a descent.  Met a lot of awesome peregrinos, and several hangers on (whom we managed to ditch haha).  Kepa is quite the hit and averages 5 to 8 photographs a day.  And the spanish won´t finish pinching his cheeks.  Not kidding.

Bri, Kepa, and Mary Ann walk through beautiful fields before climbing a really steep mountain.  Everything was beautiful

Cervantes style cutouts on top of the mountain (under modern windmills).  Is is supposed to be a stunning view (up to 100 km) but we had drizzle and clouds.  But still a pretty view.  And either way, the day was warm enough and no real rain, so no complaints.

Todd, Brittany, and Kepa on the descent

 May 22, Uterga to Lorca (18.5 km plus a 4 km sidetrip to see a octagonal church)

A stunningly beautiful day.  We went out of our way to stop an an octagonal church.  A beautiful lunch in Puenta de la Reina along the river, and we walked through the wonderfully preserved medieval hilltop town of Ciraqui (Google it, you´ll be glad you did).

The route out of Uterga

The octagonal church in Eunate

Todd and Mary Ann walking toward Ciraqui

A cross along the way of St James

May 23, Lorca to Estella (9km)

A short day because it is cold and threatening to rain.  But a wonderful day and a nice meal in Estella.  And tomorrow we plan to walk 27 km to a beautiful medieval town.

Kepa enjoys a swing in downtown Lorca before we begin

Lots of political graffiti.  This one originall said You Are Not in Spain. Then changed to You Are Not Alone in The Old Spain. Then changed to You are Nothing in Spain. Then changed to simply You Are in Spain.

We thought this interesting in relation to the warring graffiti above. A pro Basque statement written around a yellow arrow marking the way of St. James. Anyone who says (like me in a prvious post) that the Basques in Navarra are less nationalistic or that the French Basques are not as Basque, is slightly misrepresenting things. I´ve never seen an area more self identified as Basque as I did in St Jean Pied de Port, and I continue to see Basque political statements all around Navarra.  And most menus are in Basque first, Castillian second.

Things Not Going as Planned, We´ll See

So we had a great flight, although Kepa did really fight going to sleep on the second plane (and was embarrasingly loud).  I mean, compared to a lot of babies on a plane he did well, but not quite our typical well behaved, take me anywhere traveler.  We had a great day walking around Madrid

The ¨Museum of Ham¨in Madrid. Not Kidding

Kepa and Mary Ann on the Metro

On Friday we took the train to the beautiful Basque village of St. Jean Pied du Port, where we got our compestellas (pìlgrim´s passports) and scallop shells (traditional signs of the pilgrims).  The plan was to spend the day Saturday resting up and preparing, then walking into Spain (and beginning our journey) on Sunday (our Anniversary) 

Kepa on the train

St. Jean Pied de Port

But things did not go as planned.  First, it rained all day. Second, it snowed in the mountains. Third it was miserable even just being in town like a tourist, let alone imagining a walk. Fourth, we were already getting depressed because Kepa chose this minute, the beginning of this trip, to become a mama´s boy.  He has never shown any preference, always happy to be passed around (even to strangers to him), always happy. But when we got to Virginia he was scared of Mary Ann.  We didnt think much of it, but since we´ve gotten to Europe it has gotten more extreme.  Hes totally happy in the pack or crawling on the ground, and is excited and happy to interact with Mary Ann and Todd in such ways, but in every other scenario he´ll only let Brittany hold him.  Basically, Brittany has gotten mauled by him for four days and has become the primary care giver (when the whole plan was that with three of us, we could trade off).  Luckily he will ride in the pack on Mary Anns back, but the second we hit a hotel or a restaurant or a train....Mama, mama, mama.  So that, on top of the weather, on top of the looks of little old Basque ladies like ÿou brought a baby? made us really, really down and seriously, seriously considering abandoning the camino, salvaging what funds we could, and returning home.  Finding out that the weather is supposed to stay in place for at least a week did nothing to lift the spirits.  And before you start saying, didn´t you think of this before you go? I´d have to respond yes! yes we did!  We researched average weather for may (typically ranging from a tad chilly to warm, some rain but not a rainy season)....and we fully expected to have to sit some days out in the rain because of the baby.  But we didnt expect super cold, set in rain (for up to a week no less), and in St Jean, the town where it is the MOST difficult to bus ahead from (because of the mountains and the national border).  heck, this weather is so freakish it was the headline in the paper

Where is the Spring Time?

 So this time Saturday we were 90 percent thinking of bagging this, feeling stupid, feeling like horrible parents, and returning home.  And that is still in play.  But we are a bit more optimistic.  We are halfway through a long train day to get back around the mountains to Pamplona, where there is supposed to be sun and a bit more warmth. Such a move moves us three days ahead on the Camino and means we miss most of the areas that were the most ¨Basque¨on the trip, but it allows us to get ahead and into the sun.  We stopped in Hendaye for some Basque cakes to make us all happier as well

¨Gateau Basque.....cherry or cream?  Yes please!

We will lose one of those 3 days in transit, and another by taking tomorrow off to do laundry, rest, see how Kepa is reacting to all of the travel (trains can be tough on the little guy)....as well as to monitor the weather.  If things go bleak, then this might all go south.  On the other hand, Kepa has been happy today, especially when we have been walking with the pack, the skies are sunny, and we have hope.  Maybe this will prove to be not such a bad idea after all.  We also met some nice Scottish people who did this with their child a few years back, so we aren´t alone.  But the route through the Pyranees, with this non typical weather, would have been too much.  We wont do that to our little guy.  Hopèfully we get better luck as we move forward.  If not, we´ll hang our heads in shame and head home :)    But we remain optimistic.  Sunshine an basque cake does that