Monasteries

Above is the monastery in Roncesvalles in the Spanish Pyrenees. We stayed there in 2008 and to our pleasant surprise, the accommodations were superb. In fact they top the list of all the places we've stayed in the three years we've walked in France and Spain.

In 2009 we stayed in the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria Carbajalas in Leon, Spain. It was nice, but our room looked out on the courtyard seen in the foreground, which was the scene of all-night partying by crowds of young people.

 Coming into the town of Samos, one gets this view of the Monasterio de Samos. Impressive as the facility is, we'd been warned away from staying there. Peeking into the cramped sleeping rooms, we discovered that we had received good advice.

We stayed in the huge Monasterio de San Martin Pinario in Santiago in 2009. The building covers almost an entire city block, but one day at breakfast we were joined by only four other guests.

Peg lounges in our rather basic room in the Monasterio de San Martin Pinario.

This is the Augustinian monastery of St. Nicholas de Barri in the tiny town of San Juan de Ortega. Built in 1150, it has accommodations for pilgrims. We didn't stay there, but stopped this year for a cup of coffee in the adjoining cafe bar.

All that remains of the Monastery of St. Felix de Oca is this gateway. Founded in the 9th century, it was once an important institution.

These ruins are what's left of the convent of San Anton, near Castrojerez in the Kingdom of Castilla y Leon. The order was famous for curing the disease St. Anthony's fire, now thought to be a form of ergotism, resulting from the eating of moldy bread. These ruins date from the 14th and 15th centuries. Unlikely as it might seem, a small facility tucked into one corner of the ruins was offering lodging for pilgrims when we visited in 2011. We took a pass on the opportunity and opted for more traditional accommodations.

The monastery of St. Zoilo, near the town of Carrion de los Condes now functions as a luxury hotel. Walking by this year we thought we might stop for a cup of coffee, but decided to walk on.

These ruins are nearly all that remains of the once-important Monasterio de San Facundo in Sahagun, Spain. Behind them is a much more modern clock tower. The monastery was founded in the mid 800s, but these ruins may be of more recent structures.


We missed others along the route, some having been reduced to little more than rubble, and many more probably re-purposed. Those that are still active as monasteries or convents are mostly reduced to mere handfuls of occupants.

A Camino Presentation

On Monday October 13, the day after my mom would have turned 92 and two days after Aunt Pat turned 88, Russ and I did a presentation about our Camino experience. (Notice Carol, Vic, Karen, and Aunt Pat's party hats in the picture from the birthday celebration.) We talked to the Gainesville chapter of the National Association of Retired and Active Federal Employees.

It was great fun. People asked a ton of questions about what we brought, what we wore, where we stayed, what we ate…about our packs and our gear. Their feedback on our photos was wonderful and we totally enjoyed the experience.

In the photos, you will see that some of the Narfians, like Barb, even tried on our equipment.

Maps of our Camino Trek Route

Here is a map of France and Spain which shows the primary Camino/Chemin route in yellow. We walked, approximately,the two sections that we marked in blue. The first is from Figeac to Moissac. From there we caught a train and jumped ahead to St. Jean Pied de Port. From there we walked over the Pyrenees and ended in Pamplona.

The next two maps show the places we stayed each night.

Camino hike finished; Off to Madrid and Barcelona for a few days

After a restful, rainy night in our hotel in the Pamplona suburb of Burlada, we took off by train for Madrid to meet our friends, Arnold and Ismini. We had several restful days of sightseeing, good food-wine-cheese, and fun you can only have with good ole friends.



Madrid is lovely to visit...bustling, clean, full of parks and ornate buildings. Barcelona is as nice. Full of young people...more young people than any of the other places we have been in France or Spain. Vibrant and eclectic.

AVIS caused us more than a little grief on the trip between the cities. More to come on that!

The photos show:

• Peg (with no backpack!)at the train station in Pomplona
• All of us learning to be really angry with AVIS along the route to Barcelona.

We did it!

We walked every mile as planned. It is amazing that the last day gave us enough non-rain to make it to Pamplona. More to come in the future.

Click on the links to hear voice recordings of what we were thinking on the last day of hiking.

On the Trail, the last day, Sun in the afternoon, May 31st

More from the Trail, lost in Pamplona, May 31st

Last post from the Camino, Pamplona, May 31st

As reported in the voice recordings, it had rained so hard last night when we were in Zubiri that the path was flooded. But the rain diminished to a drizzle and we were unwilling to forego our last day on the trail. So, off we went in our rain gear. The first part of day was quite an adventure! After we arrived at the nice, flat river park path into Pamplona the hiking next to the swollen river was easy. Getting lost at the end because of bad directions added to our tiredness, but in no way spoiled the thrill of making it to our goal!

The photos show:

• Russ stepping into the swollen stream that almost caused our Korean pilgrim friend to tumble into the drink. Can you see the rocks we needed to negotiate?
• Russ pondering the just completed wet walk, while encouraging Peg to plunge in. Pretty reflections eased the discomfort, though.
• A pretty town we passed through
• A view of the lovely countryside
• The swollen river near Pamplona and the river walk
  

Walking along the ridges of the Pyrenees

A gorgeous day of sunshine! We walked from Roncevalles to Zubiri, about 13 miles. It was still uphill and down, in the mountains, although we got over the peak the day before. So beautiful, being on a ridge and looking over at the tops of the other ridges, right at our level.

Tonight we have a fourth floor walk up room, shared bath. But only 27 euros :) The auberges are 60 bunk beds to a room, for 5 euros. Not brave enough!

Click on the links to hear what we were thinking as we found our 4th floor walk-up and closed restaurant.
Zubiri May 30th 4th floor walk up, restaurant closed

Now we are having a beer and talking to the other pilgrims. This is a great experience. On to Pamplona tomorrow.

The photos show:

• Russ crossing the medieval bridge that led us into Zubiri
• A crowd of pilgrims gathered at a breakfast spot a few miles after we left Roncesvalles
• Several views from along the ridge-top trail between Roncesvalles and Zubiri
  

Over the Pyrenees and into Roncesvalles, no rain!

A wonderful morning, again. We started with breakfast at the casa rural and then hit the road about 8:30. The sun shone on us as we climbed, and climbed, and climbed. We climbed about a half mile in about 7 miles. At the top reaching the point where Roland failed to sound his oliphant and recall the army to save him before he was mortally wounded.



By the time we got there we were pretty tired, but the vistas were spectacular and we loved it all. At the top it was windy and we donned our jackets for the descent into Roncesvalles...only about a mile and 300 ft less elevation.

Click on the "reports" to hear real time voice recordings of our thoughts.

Report 1: Arriving in Roncesvalles, the start of the Spanish part of Camino, May 29th

We are staying in a renovated monastery...monks never had it so good.os at mass at 8:00. This is totally cool.

This town has 20 inhabitants and hundreds of peregrinos...especially on bike here for some reason.

All is well for today...about 14 miles to hike tomorrow.

Report 2: Leaving Roncesvalles, May 30th

Report 3: The Pilgrim Dinner and Mass in Roncesvalles (recorded on the trail to Zubiri, May 30th)

The photos (not in order because I cannot make them stay in the order I put them in) show:

• a foggy morning in the Pyrenees
• a clear view of a craggy mountain top
• a hazy view back down to a town we climbed past
• a couple of views along our dry! trail today
  
• cold, tired, wind-blown hiker at Roland's Pass
• kids building a monastery out of styrofoam rocks on a field trip in Roncesvalles
• the hallway in our 'monastery' and a corner of our living room
  
• the old hospital, turned gite d'etape, where the ward had bunks for about 100 pilgrims
  

Saint Jean Pied de Port, The Rain Stopped, Glorious Walk to Valcarlos in the Pyrenees

The train ride up from Moissac was rainy and very interesting. We sat with Irish pilgrims who walked the trail all the way in Spain a few years ago and continue to walk alternate routes. The train from Bayonne to Saint Jean Pied de Port was packed with pulgrims...every seat. the rain slacked to drizzle about when we arrived. What a quaint town! Basque architecture...all white washed buildings with red roofs. No more fieldstone walls. It is a walled city with cobblestone streets...Russ does not like how they treat his feet, but they sure make it look old and fun.

Had a good Basque dinner and a good night´s sleep, although not where we expected because they´d overbooked. But they found us a great place. No complaints from us at all!

This morning, it was Not Raining! Glorious start to the walk over the Pyrenees. It was not even cold. We shed our jackets after a mile or so. The hills are covered with patches of forest, prosperous looking farms, sheep, streams, wildflowers. The parts where we walked along the road had light traffic. We stayed off the trails that were muddy...no more mud, please.

We arrived in little Valcarlos between noon and one. Our inn is on the side of a ravine and as totally cozy as it is pictoresque. We walked into town and Russ used his Spanish to ask a lady at the church where to find glue to fix his boot. She took us to a store and helped us find the glue. Back at the inn, he sewed his boot together with dental floss and covered it with the new glue. The Camino is about leaving your old ways behind...maybe he will be a cobbler in the next life.

Now an afternoon of lolling around, an evening meal in a Basque restaurant on the square by the church, and breakfast at 8:00 at the inn before starting on the next 9 mile hike, to Roncesvalles...half the distance continues our climb over the mountains, and the other half starts us down. This is one of the prettiest places we have ever been.

Oh, and I love that in Spain they use qwerty keyboard :)

About the photos...I cannot get them to stop rearranging themselves at will. Therefore I will simply tell you what pictures I have posted and you can perhaps match up the descriptions with the photos.

• Pilgrims on the train with us from Bayonne to Saint Jean Pied de Port
• Pilgrims hiking from the train to the town
• Russ and Peg, with belly packs covered by rain jackets, at the Pilgrim Welcome Center in Saint Jean Pied de Port
• A main street of Saint Jean Pied de Port in the rain
• Overview of Saint Jean Pied de Port from a hill above the town
• The river running through Saint Jean Pied de Port
• Russ on the bridge over the river
• 3 pictures along the way to Valcarlos in the Pyrenees
• Dogs following Russ along the route into the Pyrenees
• A dog wishing it could follow us on the adventure
• A little town we passed through on the way to Valcarlos
  
• The altar in the Valcarlos church of Santiago. Note Santiago on his horse ready to kill the Moors, even though they did not come to Spain until centuries after his death
• An overview of Valcarlos through the trees along the trail as we hike up and out of town in the morning
  

Lower in the post is a description of what we experienced this day and a set of real-time recordings.

Click on the links below to hear voice recordings of our thoughts, made in real time.

Report 1: Leaving Saint Jean Pied de Port and Starting up the trail into the Pyrenees
May 28th morning

Report 2: To Valcarlos, Halfway up the Pyrenees-Russ
May 28th afternoon

Report 3: About Saint Jean Pied de Port, the walk to Valcarlos, and being halfway up the Pyrenees-Peg
May 28th afternoon

Report 4: Leaving Valcarlos and Walking in the Pyrenees May 29