We are starting day 10! Spent the night in the town of Castrojeriz. After a week of chilly weather, we finally had some sun and warmer temps yesterday. We spent one night in Madrid, a couple nights in Logroño, then taxied to Viana to begin where we left off (or very close for me) last…
Camino Reboot
22 days to departure! 😀 It’s been a rather surreal seven months since that fateful day back in August. Things happen in life sometimes that you just can’t make up. Unless you write novels. Ha. Such as… A few days before Christmas I receive a photo, via text, of Cindy in a cast! What the…
Short, But Profound
Day eight – August 16 It was a magical start to the day… Still dark when we woke just before 5am, there were party-goers playing music and dancing who had been up all night! Quickly repacking our backpacks – we were finally getting this routine down (!) – we left our albergue just before 6….
Estella to Los Arcos – And A Surprise Festival
Day Seven – August 15 It was dark and other pilgrims were still sleeping, so we were repacking our backpacks with just the light of our phones while trying to make as little noise as possible. Cindy went out to use the bathroom and had forgotten to take her key, so she had to wait…
Puenta la Reina to Estella – The Longest Three Kilometers Ever
Day six – Aug 14 After a good night’s sleep – because… air-conditioning, ha! – we got another early start, leaving our Albergue before daylight. We retraced steps we’d taken yesterday in exploring the quaint little town and headed toward the bridge leading us out and on our way to Estella. Being as early as…
Pamplona to Puenta la Reina – 434m Up & 538m Down
Day five – Aug 13 We thought we scored big when we found that we had the bunk at the end of the large room next to a window! There was also a fan! Well, we soon discovered that the fan wasn’t very effective plus it was loud and it wanted to travel – across…
Zubiri to Pamplona – Another Hot Day!
Day four – Aug 12. The most interesting thing about Zubiri is the bridge that you cross over into the town which is more industrial than the ones we’ve walked through the past few days (there’s a magnesium factory on the outskirts where many of the locals work). The bridge is Romanesque and called Punta…
Roncesvalles and the Slog to Zubiri
Day three, Aug 11. Though the second half of the trek over the Pyrenees seemed long – mostly because of the heat – we arrived in Roncesvalles by early afternoon. The check-in process was quick and efficient, plus Cindy and I were lucky to have bed assignments in the same ‘pod’. Having been recently renovated,…
A Journey of 500 Miles…
…begins with a single step. Pamplona to St Jean Pied de Port Our last day in Pamplona was so hot – we didn’t have the energy to do any more exploring. We found the bus station, bought our tickets, then a shady spot to have a light lunch and some sangria until the sweat was…
Buenos dias, España!
A late arrival in Madrid and a few days in Pamplona… After a relaxing stopover in D.C., we checked out of our hotel and arrived at our gate several hours early. Being members of an airline family (Jeff, a retired United pilot; Justin, a Delta pilot; Cindy, a retired Delta flight attendant, and her husband,…