Adios Spain

We left Mary and Burgos on the 18th. Mary was heading for Leon and Maggie and I were heading for Irun on the French border.

We took a bus to Irun and then walked across the border between Spain and France to the French train station. The walk was about 3 km and we arrived in time to get tickets to Paris and the train for our first leg to Biarritz. We stayed overnight and at 7:13 am, caught the TGV to Paris.


Biarritz





Tapas


Paris . . . And then home!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Burgos photos 2

Burgos Cathedral. They started building it in 1225 and kept adding to it!


The Cathedral


The Weary Pilgrim


Ceiling of a chapel


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Burgos photos 1

Arriving at the Municipal Alberge. It is one of the nicest and close to the cathedral.


The River Arlanzon in Burgos


A lovely walkway follows the river.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Burgos

Ages to Burgos photos

Sunrise near Ages





Rocky Road surface :(





In 'The Way' they dropped their stones by this cross.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ages to Burgos

The last stage of our Camino started early. Once again we began walking while it was still dark. We walked along the road for several kilometres sometimes second guessing ourselves because there were no paths or sidewalks. We could see the head lamps of another group up ahead. We stopped for breakfast in the next town and the sky started to lighten when we were finished. We found a path that went along side a military reserve going up along a stony path until we came to the highest point where there is the cross that Martin Sheen et al left their stones.

As we walked down hill we saw several groups of hunters with their dogs. We have no idea what they were hunting but we think there were birds. At the bottom of the hill were several small towns and then we saw the outskirts of Burgos. Surprizingly we found we had to walk around the airport runway. Luckily no planes were taking off! The last few kilometres were completely industrial before we entered the town centre. The cathedral is very beautiful.

Over the next couple of days we saw many if our Camino buddies. We went for tapas with Pablo, Had lunch with Martina, Met Guilermo, bumped into Christine at dinner, saw Charlie, Amir and Loretto, were in the same alberge as Tim, Jim and Edmund and kept missing Deirdre. It was a nice way to finish our Camino.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Burgos

Shoes

Sometimes when we get up in the morning and in the dark, it's difficult to see the differences in things. One of the rules in Alberges is that hiking shoes are kept on racks and they are not worn inside. You can wear your sandals but not your hiking shoes. Since Mary, Maggie and I arrive at the same time our shoes are really close together. Twice Maggie has tried on my shoes which are at least one size larger. The second time I had a huge blister on my heal and I could barely put my foot into 'my shoes'. I told them that my feet must have swollen over night, that I didn't think I could walk that day and then looked down and saw that Maggie had my shoes on.



My shoes are on the top.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado to Ages photos 3

Ages


Ages


Old church in Ages


Old church in Ages

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado to Ages photos 2

Spanish Civil War monument


San Juan de Ortega


San Juan de Ortega

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado to Ages photos

Another mountain morning


Heather





Perigrinos

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega and Ages

The walk to Belorado was 36 200 steps or 22.9 km.
The walk to Ages ( a hess ) was 24 700 steps or 16 km.

We were high in the hills again today; up with the windmills, the communication towers and the heather. We walked with a Belgian man who has arthritis in his feet. Although he appeared to shuffle, he made pretty good time. Many people stop at San Juan de Ortega, St. John of the Nettles (?) but we chose to walk to Ages. Perhaps that was because Mary remembers San Juan and the fact there is nothing there except an old monastery that is being renovated. We continued on to Ages and stayed at a nice Alberge. Once again I wonder Why people are turning the lights out at 9:00.!!!
The town is small but there are several alberges and coffee bars. The church is old and has storks nests in the belfry. Pablo asked one of the residents about the storks and found out they arrive in northern Spain in January and leave around the feast of Santiago on July 25th.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Ages

Belorado photos 3

The church in Belorado. The Perigrinos blessing was longer than the Perigrinos mass.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado photos 2

Camino sign


Can you see the Perigrinos?


It isn't a Sphinx just part of the old town walk.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Belorado photos 1

Early morning





Sunflowers


Are the sunflowers tall or . . .

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Santo Domingo to Belorado

Another early start. The first part of our trek was through wheat fields and sunflower fields. As people hike past the sunflowers that make designs like faces and hearts and we took oodles of photos of them. The first part of the day was quite pretty and then we had many kilometres by the side of the highway. A few clicks out if Belorado we kept seeing signs for alberge - wood cutouts of pilgrims, flags, etcetera. It was like driving past used car lots. We stayed at the Municipal Alberge and it seemed a little loosey goosey but our host Agustin had a little roughness covering a heart of gold. I had been having some problems figuring out how to get from our final stop Burgos back to Paris. Agustin set about figuring it out for me. We had dinner at the Alberge and we knew we were going to be a little late so when we got to dinner, he told us . . . Chicken for you, chicken for you and fish for you. No choices left. We met some interesting people - a seminarian from Mission (Ken Anderson) and priest and his friends from Ireland, two cyclists from Milan, one of whom was in the wine business, and two other Italian cyclists who had never done any long distance cycling and were a little worse for the wear. It turned out to be a good choice!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Belorado

Leaving Santo Domingo

The bridge that Santo Domingo built so the peregrinos wouldn't have to swim across the river !



Another early morning.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Santo Domingo photos 2

Camino stair railing in the alberge


The hen house in the cathedral


Santo Domingo


Calligraphy

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Santo Domingo photos 1

New approach to washing clothes(!?)


Roosters and Hens


What?


Camino sign

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Skipping!!

In order to get to Burgos on time we skipped over two legs of the journey. We picked them because the description indicated that we would be walking near the highway again. We took the bus/coach from the Estacion de Autocar in Logrono to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It is a relatively small town; it's bus station is just a bus shelter.

The old centre us quite lovely with a very old church and a good alberge. The village's claim to fame is a 'miracle'. Hundreds of years ago a German family was walking to Santiago. A local girl thought the son was great but when he rejected her afvances, she hid something valuable in his pack and accused him of theft. The penalty was death by hanging. The judge would not release the body so the family continued to Santiago. On their way back they saw the son hanging from a tree but he was still alive! They asked the judge for him and the judge said, "Your son is no more alive than these chickens on our plates." With these words the chicken the judge and his friends were eating morphed into live chickens and flew away. The result? All kinds of click end and roosters and a pair that live in the church.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Logrono Photos

Vineyards


Riojas grapes


The storks in the tower

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone