Day 4 Zubiri to Trinidad de Arre

Kilometers walked 20  km --about 12miles, negligible amount of elevation. Itwas a wonderful day. Rolling hills, always but not excessively high. I was able to walk thehills pretty well today, but much of the walk was very slick. Dangerous, and I don't want to get hurt. My feet are ok, although I will be losing my 3rd left toenail, although no blisters so far. The weather has been rainy and warm, the problem being no clothes dryers and no outside sunny line for clothes. This is a real concern.
Things I thought about today
My backpack and my walking poles are my best friends.
Always tie your shoes really tightly, and have plenty of water.
The more you work at something, the better and stronger you will get.
 The pictures below are of a river we walked along today. The second picture is of our new friend Jerry from Toronto, who we keep meeting up with, and the last picture is of a son and mom, Hans and his mom Korine, aged 82 .
Hans is walking the first week with his mom, and then she is walking the rest of the camino, pulling her bag by cart. Amazing!

Day 3 Roncesvailles to Zubiri

Total 22 km (12 miles). Total elevation descended today, 1200 feet- 400 meters.  We walked from Roncesvailles  to Zubiri. Today was another hard day for us, although not as hard as the first 2 days. Today was hilly and then the descent was very, very steep. The path was mostly through the woods and was so beautiful. A lot of the path was very mucky and extremely rocky,  and I am so glad we had our walkings sticks. They provided us with much stability throughout the day. The descent, for me, I would classify as treacherous, and it was so steep and muddy. There were several small villages with such pretty houses. We picked up food at the market, and had a nice breakfast and lunch on the trail. We also stopped for cafe con leche twice. We have had such a great time. 

We are sore today, and I have a small blister on my left big toe, but I slapped some duct tape on it mid day and its now gone. Another of the toes on my left toe has a smashed toenail from all of the downhill today, but it doesn't hurt greatly. Ibuprofen is a good drug. 

 Leaving Roncesvailles this morning

Days one and two- St jean to Roncesvailles

28 kilometers approximately 18 miles, elevation climb up 5000 feet. 

Hi everyone!

What a wonderful past two days we have had. On day one, we climbed to Orisson, and it was very difficult for me. The climb was very high elevation, and with my pack, we went up 800 meters and then another 600 today. I had a hard time, mainly because of the high elevation and the fact that I live at sea level. My legs were fine, it was my breath. I got to the point where I would count 50 steps, and then stop to breathe.  Good thing is we also came down the mountain today, and the really hard climbs are over . 

Things I have learned so far:

We are stronger than we realized.

Living at sea level and climbing mountains is no easy feat. 

I like red wine

There are wonderful friendly people from all over the world. We have met Canadians, Portuguese, Norwegians, Australians, Swiss, and many others.

Drinking water is so important

If your underwear needs to be washed, you can use them as a washcloth, and accomplish 2 tasks.

I love John, who has been so supportive, and we are getting along great. 

That's it for now, we are well and go have drinks, dinner and then pilgrims mass tonight. 

Then sleep.
 I can't get the pix downloaded, will try later!

We made it to St. jean!

Well, here we are, safe and sound in St. Jean. 

Our walking sticks are misplaced and we are working with Iberia to retrieve them. Otherwise, we will buy more and make a claim with Iberia. 

We are having fun. And we are going to clean up, wash some clothes and go and get some dinner. The people have been so great and helpful, and I am excited for our walk tomorrow. I'll post more tomorrow, after we have rested. 

Leaving today...The story and history of the camino

A little bit about the history of the camino--

The history of the camino begins with the town of Finisterre, which is on the western coast of Spain. Finisterre was thought of as the end of the earth, back before the times of the explorers. 
 The world was considered to be flat and Finisterre was the last bit of it.-- at least in Spain...

 In the time of Christ, St. James, the apostle, preached in Spain, and after he was martyred in Jerusalem, legend has it that his remains were brought back to Spain. His remains are supposedly buried in Santiago, where a cathedral was built and named for him. The Cathedral of James  was started around the year 1022, and finished 200 hundred years later.

Pilgrimages  to Santiago began during the middle ages, and the route is now very highly traveled. About 170,000 people walk some part of the camino each year. In the middle ages,  The Moors inhabited Spain, and the crusaders were in this area, routing them out, and I understand that there are many relics of the blood shed along the camino The Knights Templar were there, as well as Napoleon. 

The route lies under the Milky Way, and pilgrims in the past, used the Milky way as a guide to get to the city of Santiago. 

Hundreds of thousands of people have walked this route from about the year 800, and the route to Santiago extends not only from St Jean Pied du Port in France, where I am starting from, but from all over Europe. My portion is really the last leg of the journey. 

The symbol of the camino is the scallop shell, and all along the way there are yellow arrows, or scallop shells pointing the direction to go. There is also a legend about that, that I will share with you in another posting. A lot of pilgrims wear scallop shells on their packs. We have brought two from home, with holes drilled and cords to put on ours. 

I have a camino credential, a kind of passport that you get stamped at each place you stay. If you walk the last 100 km of the camino, and present your credential to the cathedral, you recieve a compostella. A compostella is a certificate of accomplishment given to pilgrims and it also gives an indulgence or forgiveness of sins as  related to the Catholic church. 

It is all quite interesting, and I first became interested in walking  the camino, after seeing the movie "The  Way" with Martin Sheen and directed by his son Emilio Estevez  two years ago. it is an impressive spiritual movie, and when I walked out of seeing it, I said to myself, I would really like to do that! (And it is an instant play on Netflix for any of you wanting to see it)

Our flight leaves tonight from Tampa to Miami and we leave Miami for Madrid at 11 tonight. We fly from Madrid to Pamplona tomorrow and will stay in Pamplona tomorrow night. On Saturday, we leave Pamplona by bus to St. Jean, over the Pyrenees to stay the night and start our walk on Sunday. 
My biggest concern as of this moment-not to take anything I really don't need to carry, and sleep on the plane tonight. All will work out! Ufltreia!! (onward!)

Leaving in 2 days

We leave in 2 days. I am nervous, excited and have butterflies that this trip, originally planned almost 2 years ago is coming to fruition. Am I ready? I don't know. People ask me why I am doing this, instead of taking a vacation, or just relaxing, and my answer is-- I don't know all of the reasons. I do know that I have always wanted to go on a pilgrimage, dedicated to the Lord, and opening my mind to all of the wonderful experiences I have lived and want to live in the future. I want to spend a good portion of my day in meditation and prayer, thanking God for all of the wonderment I have had throughout my life. I also want to make it a journey for myself, and not an easy one. I want to push myself physically, in order to open my mind up more spiritually. I know that Jesus will be walking with me every step of the way, and hopefully, he will help me be strong mentally, as well as physically and emotionally to accomplish this goal-dedicated to him.

I have been so blessed in my lifetime. I had wonderful parents, who nurtured me and encouraged me throughout my life. I have siblings, who I know that if I needed them, would be there for me. My children have been the heart of my life and if not for them, I would consider my life empty. They have brought me untold amounts of joy since they were born. I love them completely, and unconditionally, and without their love, I would never be in the mental place I am today. I have been wonderfully blessed with their spouses- who also have been so loving to me, and who I have come to love as my own.

I have 5 grandchildren. A true blessing at my age of 57. I am so glad that I am young enough to enjoy playing with them and spending time with them. I anticipate many, many fun times with them in the future.

And then there is John. We met only 4 years ago, and some days it seems like yesterday, and some days, it feels like forever that we have been together. He is loving, kind, and supportive of all of the things I want to do with my life- like going to Spain and leaving home for 7 weeks. He has never, ever implied that I shouldn't go and do this. I am so fortunate, and blessed that he is coming with me for the first 10 days, to help me find the beginning of this walk and encourage and pull me up that mountain on that first day.

Which brings me back to "Why am I doing this?" I'm going to for myself, to look at this wonderful world we live in and come home thinking about what I want or need to do with the rest of this blessed life I've had. Maybe changed, or maybe not changed at all. Don't know. I think the key is to have little expectations, and be open to everything that will happen. I'm just gonna walk, and walk, and walk til I can't anymore.

Leaving in 6 days

We leave in less than a week, and I am getting both excited and nervous. I have all of my planned items laid out, and I keep checking and rechecking everything in an attempt to keep the weight down. I don't want my pack to be no more than 14 lbs. my pack empty weighs 4lbs. I know that it's so important to think about each item cause I will be carrying it for 480 miles. Each item of clothing is being scrutinized and I have to think about the little shammy towel I'm taking, and what do I do with my long wet hair? Decisions...
 On a lighter note, I received 2 wonderful gifts from my children yesterday. Eric stopped by and gave me his childhood rosary. It is made of wood beads, and has the prayer of Saint Francis on it. I then received in the mail from Andrea a rosary with birthstone crystals dedicated to our family. I love the intentions of my kids and love them both and will carry them both. Some things are just so important.