Jenny M

Posts by Jenny M

Camino – Burgos (Day 15)

Date: Tue 21st May
Distance: 0km
Temperature: Cold
Mood: Great
Santiago de Compostela: 501km

Today was a complete chill out day. Sleep-in? Our now built-in alarm clocks had us awake soon after 6am. Still, we had a relaxing morning before heading off to the Burgos Cathedral. Wow, this makes the Paris Notre Dame Cathedral look small in comparison. Later in the day we caught up with our Aussie friends, Graham, Cheryl and Carly who we have constantly being bumping into since Bayonne Train Station on the way to St-Jean-Pier-De-Port. They had completed the last stretch into Burgos that afternoon (not like some people!). We made arrangements to catch up over dinner as this would possibly be the last we see of them before we fast forward the Meseta on bikes.

Tomorrow is our scheduled rest day and we are in no hurry to push off just yet. We are enjoying the small break and plan to test out the bikes with some more sightseeing.

More Photo’s

Camino – Burgos (Day 14)

Date: Mon 20th May
Distance: 30.5km
Temperature: Cold
Mood: Great
Left: Belorado 7:45am
Arrived: Atapuerca 5:00pm
Arrived: Burgos 6:00pm (Taxi)
Santiago de Compostela: 501km

Turned in early last night after an entertaining meal with a couple of Irishmen from a large group of 14 who are over here as part of their walking group. Slept solidly through to 6:00am (can’t say that everyone did that night!). Big day ahead so need a decent breakfast. Nothing open in town so will have to settle for the Albergue 4€ (each) breakfast. Although cheap, isn’t as good value as a typical local bar with freshly squeezed OJ and fresh Croissants with a Cafe con leche for around 5€ total!

We set off in high spirits! Cold, but no rain in sight (yet). Accommodation was our only challenge as the villages from around the 24-30km had very limited accommodation. As a result, most were already booking ahead! We decided to let the Camino decide for us!

The first 1/2 of the walk had numerous picturesque villages, the the second 1/2 was a scenic walk for over 12km before the village San Juan de Oterga that most were planning on staying at. Our plan A was to walk a further 3-4km to Agés and find either a private room at an Albergue or a room at a Hotel or Casa Rural (sort of a B&B).

Whilst the weather continued to be cold and overcast we enjoyed the day much more than the previous. We stocked up on supplies at a village called Villafranca Montes de Oca due to the long stint ahead. We walked through to San Juan before finally stopping for a picnic lunch and a hot chocolate whilst resting the weary feet.

The sun finally poked its head out as we entered Agés. After walking through the village with no hotels in sight some locals came to the rescue as so often they do and directed us to an Albergue with private rooms. Unfortunately they were “completo” (full), except for the attic space where we could sleep on the floor with 10 others. Forget it!

Plan B – it’s only another 2.5km to the next village of Atapuerca. With the sun shinning and our spirits still high (just our poor bodies showing signs of fatigue) we marched on down the road to Atapuerca and weaved our way through some back streets for the advertised Casa Rural. The hostess didn’t look too happy to see us land on her doorstep and with only Spanish we made out that there was no accommodation available in town!

Plan C – Now after 5pm, the next town looked too far off for our feet to carry us. We tried to ask the Casa Rural hostess if she could call us a Taxi. So she wrote down the number for us. Very helpful! We then regrouped, rang our Hotel in Burgos booked for the following 2 nights and asked if they also had a room available for tonight as well. Once confirmed, asked if they could arrange us a Taxi and was politely given the number again! Rang the Taxi company, told them where we were and 20min later were on our way to Burgos in a Mercedes! Secured our room… Happy wife happy life! Phew! Could have ended in tears!

Now there is no downside to skipping less than 20km of walking into Burgos the following day as this last 20km was going to be pretty ordinary scenery as most would be the outskirts of Burgos and it can be hard to navigate your way in as we found with Pamplona! We now have a full extra day in Burgos. The bikes have already been delivered ready for our cycle across the Meseta and our parcel from Paris was waiting for us. (Lots of small miracles as far as we’re concerned!)

Did anyone tell us how spectacular Burgos was going to be? It’s like Spain’s equivalent of Paris! Grabbed the first thing that took our fancy for dinner! Really healthy eating, but hey we are on holidays and we just walked over 30kms again!

Lots More Photo’s

Camino – Belorado (Day 13)

Date: Sun 19th May
Distance: 23 km
Temperature: Very Cold/wet
Mood: Good
Left: Santa Domingo 8:15am
Arrived: Belerado 1:30pm
Santiago de Compostela: 551 km

Awoke refreshed, checked out, found a local bar for a quick bite and hit the road at a leisurely 8:15am.

Each day the temperature seems to be getting colder and higher odds for rain. We wear our wet weather gear for both extra warmth and in preparation for any rain.

Today again wasn’t the best day for photographing the local scenery due to a light drizzle, however we could have been walking through Gippsland with the green rural rolling hills. We were treated with 4 lovely small villages to break up the day. We had aimed at stopping for a coffee or hot chocolate at the first village, but so had everyone else. Whilst the local bar was making a roaring trade, we weren’t keen on waiting to be served so on we marched to the next village. Here we were able to get a seat at the bar and order hot chocolates only to hear familiar Aussie voices from a nearby table. To our surprise we found a couple of our Aussie friends (first met back in Orrison) just leaving.

After our hot chocolate pick me up, we headed off and were keen to get to Belorado so we could find some reasonable accommodation as we knew there were already a lot on the road with limited accommodation available.

With the village just in our sights, the heavens opened and gave us a good drenching as we scuttled towards our final destination. We enquired at a decent looking hotel only to be told they were fully booked, so we took our chances with a private Albergue around the corner that offered private rooms. We were greeted by a local with unfortunate teeth and no English and after a little hand gesturing he was keen to show us his private rooms. Thankfully they got the tick of approval and although it was a shared bathroom, it wasn’t too shabby, especially as we were paying 30€ for the night!

Not much to see around town so headed for one of the rare bars that are open during siesta and ordered some more hot chocolates. So much for loosing any rolls! Now just have to choose we’re to eat tonight!
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Camino – Santo Domingo (Day 12)

Date: Sat 18th May
Distance: 21km
Temperature: Very Cold
Mood: Good
Left: Nájera 7:30am
Arrived: Santa Domingo de la Calzada 1:15pm
Santiago de Compostela: 574km

We donned our wet weather gear and made a hasty departure at a surprisingly early hour (for us!) of 7:30am heading off up the path in a light drizzle but very cold conditions!

Not the most photographic of days due to the rain, but we took in the sights of the snow capped mountains that surrounded us along with the usual wheat fields on one side and vineyards on the other. The path was very muddy at times and we had to carefully pick our route – our boots got caked with red claggy mud.

A much needed breakfast in a bar at Azofra, 5 or so kms down the track was enjoyed followed by a hot chocolate in a bar at Cirueña a few kms later. Approaching this town we walked through a new estate with newly built apartments, however very few were inhabited not sure what the plan was and for whom this town was created.

A wickedly cold wind blew us into Santo Domingo De La Calzada by 1.30 and the first hotel we came to we entered – we were not taking any chances with our accommodation tonight! We secured one of the last remaining rooms and within minutes had the bath running (no photos due to the insensitive comments received last time!). Finally after posting the previous days blog we went off to explore the local sites, cathedral and bell tower, where we enjoyed 360 deg views of the town. After which we enjoy another pilgrims dinner (menu included below) and back to the hotel for what is hoped to be a wonderful, restful sleep.

More Photo’s

Camino – Nájera (Day 11)

Date: Fri 17th May
Distance: 30km
Temperature: Cold/Wet
Mood: Mostly Good (until the end of the day)
Left: Logroño 8:30am
Arrived: Nájera 4:40pm
Santiago de Compostela: 595km

Please forgive us. We know you were all looking forward to a relaxing Saturday breakfast whilst catching up on our daily blog!

SMB on wheels – Enjoy the ride fellas! (Your numbers are dwindling!)

Our accommodation in Logroño was fab! After a typical breakfast we checked out and hit the road. It was a cold 5 deg start and we copped a shower as we walked out of town. The Camino trail out of town is also used as a local walking track and we were greeted by most of the friendly locals as we passed them with the typical “Buon Camino”.

This was going to be another big day with 30km back to back. I had pre booked the night before a private room at an Albergue so we didn’t need to worry about accommodation when we arrived, but we needed to arrive before 4:30pm else risk loosing it!

We enjoyed a morning coffee break in the village of Navarette and bought some lunch supplies before continuing on. The weather was looking very ominous the further we walked until just before getting to the small village of Ventosa a storm came through bring with it hail! We made it to a small bar just before the downpour! After a hot chocolate and the rain subsiding and 12km remaining, we left after 2:00pm knowing we needed to get to Nájera before 4:30. With about 5km to go, the legs were letting us know that they had had enough and the feet were getting sore, until we finally made it.

Well on top of 2 x 30km days, being wet and tired we met our “Raymond” (reference “The Way”). Going from a lovely Hotel in Logroño to a private Albergue room in Nájera were 2 worlds apart. (Note: Many Pilgrims stay in the Albergues for their entire pilgrimage and enjoy the experience. We admire them! Call us “soft” if you like, we have sampled every type of accommodation on offer so far on the Camino and there extremes are wide!). To top the day off, Jenny ceremoniously dumped her backpack on her bed and minutes late realised she had emptied the remained of her water bladder all over the bed! After a quick shower (A shame we forgot to take a photo, you had to see it to believe it) and after rearranging the entire room (see photo) we headed into town for a quick bit of sightseeing (Whilst we didn’t feel like it, we always drag ourselves out to see the town we are staying in and in this case we didn’t want to hang around back in the room!) and we needed to eat something for dinner.

“Raymond” had offered us earlier to eat at his restaurant for 9€ each, but after passing by and seeing no one in there we decided to play it safe and choose the cafe with the most people in it! We enjoyed the company of a French couple at the table that had 2 words of English between them (twice as many words of French that we had between us). So was a very entertaining evening as we discussed our Camino adventures in broken English, Spanish and French and with a lot of hand gesturing!

Back in our room all settled in for the night we are treated to the noise of what sounds like a rodent! And did I mention there was no WiFi!!!

We have experienced a low point! But don’t expect it to last!