Saturday, May 25 - Monreal to Puente la Reina

And we are done! Thirty five days, 875 kilometres - half of it in mud, 35 different chambre d'hôtes/gîtes/auberges/hotels and Casa Rurals, umpteen different villages (usually with every store, restaurant and bar closed) and always wearing the same clothes day after day after day (oft times they were clean).

 

Just to emphasize how contrary and miserable the weather has been so much of the time on this route, this morning we started out in a good rain. Fortunately we walked out of it. It was a fairly easy walk highlighted by a great surprise stop in a little town called Enériz. We seemed to have walked into a town fiesta which always turns out well. The locals were all gathered in the central square where tables were set up and bocadillas of grilled chorizo sausage or fried bacon were being handed out freely. More locals were inside the bar enjoying bottles of wine and beer and raciones of chorizo and other snacks. As Dayton had a café con leche and watched the men enjoying all these mid-morning tapas and wine, he had an epiphany. Why, when he has the guys over for drinks and appetizers, should they wait until 4:30 or 5:30pm? Why not follow the Spanish example and start mid-morning? Yes quite the epiphany!

On our way into Puente la Reina, we passed the beautiful little octagonal church at Eunate which is thought to have been connected with the Knight's Templar or possibly a chapel for pilgrims. It also has a small albergue for today's pilgrims.

 

A few kilometres later we were in Puente la Reina and we were done. There is always a feeling of disbelief at the end, more disbelief than relief...truly. However, our end this time will be short as we are moving on to Santiago to start one more short Camino, the way to Muxia.

Coming into Puente la Reina

 

 

We took a bus to Pamplona and have tickets for the oh so slow train to Santiago on Sunday, almost eight hours. After getting our train tickets we took a taxi back into the centre of Pamplona, checked into the first hotel we passed and now are about to go out and find Dayton some pintxos.

 

 

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Friday, May 24 - Sangüesa to Monreal

Last night we had eleven pilgrims in the albergue and within that, seven nationalities: two Canadians, a Brit, an Italian, one young man from France, a Brazilian, one from Holland and some Spaniards. Despite the fact that last night's albergue experience was pretty good with a great communal meal and surprisingly little snoring, I am still glad that we are booked into a Casa Rural tonight in Monreal. It is our first B&B experience on Spain and so far so good. We have a lovely large private comfortable room with all the amenities; big fluffy towels, a hair dryer, heaters and demi- pensionne or here in Spain media-pensión.

Kit, Greg and I taking a break before our last two kilometres to Monreal

 

 

Today we walked anywhere from 25-29kms depending on which guidebook to tourist information one goes by. At the end of the day I always congratulate myself on walking whatever the highest mileage was, and yes by mileage I am referring to kilometres.

Dayton said he had a tough day today. We started out with over a half hour going through tall wet grass and so, despite waterproof Gortex lined boots, our feet were wet for the rest of the day. It was cold and windy all day and Dayton said he was just leg-weary and a little disappointed that where we expected to find a restaurant for a lunch break we didn't. Half the afternoon we played hop scotch through the mud but I just kept telling myself to be grateful that it wasn't raining and I was. On top of this, Dayton's boots are literally coming apart at the seams.

 

When we got to Monreal we did find a bar open and by bar the Spanish mean a cafe/restaurant/bar. We are not bar hopping per se just looking for a bocadilla and a tea.

Our media-pensión meal was pretty amazing tonight: hearts of romaine with crispy fried garlic salad, a hearty soup and then Dayton had stuffed calamari and I had a fried tofu with sautéed vegetables entree. Very nice.

 

Tomorrow is our last day on this Arles/Aragones route so we have said farewell to our other pilgrim cohorts. After 35 days of walking we will try to make our way by bus or train to Santiago and then the plan is to walk the Muxia route. We will see.

 

 

 

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Thursday, May 23 - Ruesta to Sangüesa

Another 25 kms down and not too tough at all. Yesterday the landscape we walked through was dubbed a 'moonscape', grey and crater-like, barren and rather bleak, sort of like the badlands. Today was all moors and Meseta with a really good cold wind but a good hiking day. No rain.

The Moonscape Landscape on the way to Ruesta

 

Somewhere along the way, I suggested we brave an albergue again rather than go all posh, Chris' description, in a Casa Rural (Spanish style B&B). I don't know what possessed me as I am now typing in the dormitory with two world class snorers napping nearby. OMG, I'll be jamming those earplugs in tonight. We shopped for groceries and are pooling our food resources and culinary talents to prepare and share a meal tonight. After showers (not too hot and not nearly private enough), we went back into town to the tourist office and booked a hotel room for tomorrow night. I have no idea what a hotel room will be like in the next town. Monreal is a very small town and boasts an albergue that sleeps 21, a hotel with four rooms and maybe a bar. At the very least we will have a room to ourselves.

 

We made a huge pasta dinner with salad and lots of fruit and a sweet bread for dessert and shared it with anyone who checked on and lots of men checked in. There are beds here for 14 and we are full and I am the only female.

 

One of the Spanish walkers came in with some devastating news about that very exuberant and outgoing

Dario, on the right, serving his pasta. Kit, from Holland, is assisting with our hospitalero, Armand supervising.

 

 

 

Italian pilgrim who taken over the cooking of the meal in Arrés. Yesterday, Dario, this little chef, after he had left Arrés and was on his way up a climb towards Artieda when he collapsed from a heart attack and died. Quite a shock. So hard to believe. It is a cruel reminder that any Camino is quite a physical challenge.

 

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Monday May 22 - Arrés to Ruesta

Last night was a true albergue experience. if you comment on the lack of sleep because of the ronquistadors (a phrase coined after the Spanish verb for snoring - roncar), you will always be informed, "It is the Camino and it is an albergue. You will get used to it". I am here to tell you, you don't. However, there are some parts of this experience that are interesting; preparing a communal meal with the other pilgrims and spending a couple of hours trying to communicate in a mixture of French, Spanish and English. A little chubby Italian pilgrim declared himself 'chef de jour' and made a pasta dish with a chorizo tomato sauce all the while officiously ensuring every other aspect of the preparations satisfied his Italian sensibilities. Times have changed on the Camino. Where once this was an opportunity to leave the real world and all it's technology behind, now the phones are going off one after the other throughout dinner. Never the phones of the Canadians though... we have a Rogers plan, it is too cost prohibitive to ever use in Europe. I hypocritically observe this as I am writing about it on my WiFi accessed iPad...but at least the iPad doesn't have an obnoxious ringtone to disrupt a meal.

 

Our very personable hospitalero volunteer, Armand, was up and frying bread for breakfast well before six am so we could pack up and leave early. We had almost 27 kms to walk today and, even though it was a dark threatening sky in the morning, the worst we had to deal with was a bit of spitty rain(and that's not a typo or auto-correct, it really was just spitting all morning) and a cool gusty wind. Dayton commented on the continual AFC of these walks - another flipping climb, up and down all day. I must finally be getting into the physical and mental groove now because I barely flinch when I hear that we have 27kms to walk today, I've saved that flinching for the few upcoming 31-33km days we have ahead..especially if we do the Muxia route after we finish this one this Saturday.

 

We are in an ancient ruin of a town, Ruesta, but it has a fairly modern albergue. The chief cook and all around keeper of the keys is a vegan and prepares only vegan or vegetarian food. We have to wait 6 hours for the evening meal to be fed but it seems whenever the Spanish pilgrims come in they can order a midday meal. Hmmm. Guess I'll go get my emergency food.. .another bag of chips.

 

 

It is a modern looking albergue but it is a cold one. We all had our fleece jackets on as we sat down to a much appreciated lentil soup. So good. Pasta with mystery protein was next, good and feeling. A very hearty meal which would produce some over indulgence guilt if not for the calorie burning walks. We just have to hope we are bur ing enough to wear this off.

 

It was a really quiet and uncrowded night for an albergue. Only the Dutch fellow was in our room. So all is good and we are ready for another rain threatening day. Spring has not come to Spain.

 

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Tuesday, May 21 - Jaca to Arrés

I am a trooper as in "What a trooper!" I am in an albergue in Arrés sharing a habitaciónes (a bedroom) with several other pilgrims, all men. The beds are all so close that if any one of the men snores I can probably reach over and give him a 'turn over and shush up' nudge. The washroom facilities are all shared too. There is no light in the shower so you have to leave the door open to shower so that you can find the taps, manoeuvre the shower hose and hold onto the soap. There is no heat (although I'm sure eight sleeping bodies in one room might warm it up). We did not see another pilgrim all day so I don't know where all these roommates have come from. But I am a trooper and I will 'keep calm and keep on keeping on'.

Arrés with our Albergue

 

We started out this morning at 7:10am with Chris and Greg, two men on a mission to see a mission or more accurately a monastery. They had decided to add a seven kilometre detour to the Camino route in order to visit the Monastère de San Juan de la Peña so they were feeling they had no time to dawdle. The monastery they planned to visit sounded quite interesting. It was in fact comprised of two monasteries, one of which might have been a hermitage devoted to St. John the Baptist by some famous hermit, Juan de Atares. The monastery dates back to 1025 and was presented to the Cluniac Benedictines and became a starting point for the spread of the Order in Spain. This was also the first monastery to introduce the Latin Mass in Spain. Dayton and I decided to visit any site that is right on the Camino route, no detours, no side trips, especially not a seven kilometre detour two ways so we waved Chris and Greg goodbye as they headed into the highlands and we kept on the low route.

The landscape has changed dramatically from the high, snow capped mountains to a low lying river valley, the Rio Aragone farming valley. The Camino way markers were very confusing and frustrating today. We'd see a marker stating 810kms to Santiago then 37 minutes later we'd see another marker 810 kms to Santiago and we were walking for all of those 37 minutes, not taking a break. We saw three 809 km markers about 15 minutes apart, then no 808 marker and again three 807 markers. I felt like I was standing still but I am a trooper so keep on keeping on.

 

Dayton had another half yard long bocadillo break in Santa Cilia de Jaca and then we continued on to Puente la Reina. Now Puente la Reina is the name of the town at the end of our Camino Arles/ Aragone but once again someone has changed the goalposts. Our Puente la Reina is still a 30km a day, five day walk from here. No complaints. I am now in the walking zone. We did pass one interesting section where there were hundreds of stone pilgrim cairns like a stone fairy or pilgrim garden.

Ten minutes after Puente la Reina, we reached the cut off for Arrés, our destination for this evening. The sign to Arrés indicated 3.5kms but neglected to mention that it was 3.5 kms straight up - a muddy, mucky path. It certainly challenged my 'trooper' status. Aargh, there was a quite seething mental running commentary describing this path and I don't think I was the only one muttering and mumbling about the mud but the 'trooper' prevailed.

There are a couple of blessings here; a bar/ restaurant that stays open and serves food and beverages (as in wine, beer and fries) all day. I will be a trooper. Maybe not. One our our albergue roomies, a guy from Italy, just came in to share a drink with us and he's already apologizing for being a very obnoxious snorer. I am a trooper. I am a trooper. I am a trooper. I will kill him.

 

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Monday, May 20 - Canfranc Estación to Jaca

Six a.m. and the morning 'plastic bag packing' begins; putting everything into an individually labelled bag, squeezing out the air to create a squished vacuum seal and then stuffing them into the backpacks. Pretty noisy task but at least here we have our own room so we are not disturbing anyone else. When there are no bags left and; hence, nothing left in the room, we are good to go. Despite this, about ten to fifteen minutes down the road, I always experience 'packing paranoia' and I fight the obsessive compulsive urge to stop and go through my pack to ensure that my money, my iPad, my glasses are indeed in the bag. So far they have been but you just can't let up...just ask John about his orange shirt that got left in Cizur Menor or Dayton about the legs of his zip-offs that are beside the fireplace in the gîte outside of Auch.

The reason this town is called Canfranc-Estación - the longest train station.

The two British gentlemen, Tony and Peter, were also staying in this chambre d'hôtes so we all headed down to the local bar for dinner. We had asked earlier until what time they served dinner and were told until 8pm but for once we were wise enough to know that 8pm could mean 6:30pm and we got there early. The meal was pretty good and the wine was excellent. For a starter, Dayton had huevos con gambas (tiny shrimp) while the other guys had a garbanzo soup or tortellini and they all had a rather unspectacular meatball entree but, as I said, the wine was so good. I stuck with what will most likely be my vegetarian staple menu here.. ensalada mixta sin atún y sin huevos (salad without tuna or eggs).

 

The weather app on the iPad does not have encouraging news for us this morning. Zero degree temperatures and snow showers so we will bundle up and have hope that we get to Jaca before the snow does. The thing about the weather here is that no matter what you see at one moment you can only count on it being like that for maybe another 37minutes at most. The weather here changes that quickly, from dry and sunny to cloudy and rainy or sleeting or from clear and warm to freezing.

Following the Rio Aragone

 

So now it is 6pm and we are in Jaca after a good day of walking. We decided to chance the Camino route despite some warnings that with the recent wet and snowy weather it was washed out and dangerous. It turned out to be an okay choice; the route was very rocky but dry, a lot slower than taking the highway but all in all it was good. We stopped for a midday break in Casteillo de Jaca and Dayton had his first Spanish bocadillo lunch on this trip; a huge baquette the length of his arm with slabs of fried bacon and queso (cheese), no butter, no mustard, no mayo... just big and dry. Dinner in Jaca was a take away vegetarian pizza. As Dayton says, he can get tapas and raciones any where any time. There might be a hint of sarcasm in that comment.

 

The weather is always a major concern but today, despite the forecast, it favoured us. We were a little like Goldilocks; it was too cold at the start, then a little warm, then it was starting to rain, then it stopped, then it got cold again, then it was hot....oh my goodness layers of shirts and jackets, neck scarves and gloves were off and on all day. However, any day you are not wet and muddy all day is a good day on the Camino.

 

I must admit I have to make an attitude adjustment for the rest of this Camino. I saw the end in sight and somebody moved it! I miscalculated and thought we would be finished the Arles/Aragon route this coming Friday but I missed a stage!!!! AAAArgh. It is like coming to the end of the half marathon and the finish line is moved 31 kms further along. Tomorrow will be Day 31 of walking which is the number of days it took us to finish the Camino Frances. I am already way over 1,000,000 steps on this route.

 

Camino Waymarkers embedded in the streets of Jaca

 

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Sunday, May 19 - Urdos to Canfranc-estación

• Amazing walk, wonderful day. Tough but so good. This was a perfect example of 'plan for the worst and hope for the best'. I think we came as close to the best as possible. None of the rain or snow or freezing temperatures that were predicted materialized so even though the climb was relentless ( my new favourite word) I just kept thinking " The sun is out. There is no rain. This is tough but this is good". On a difficulty scale this rated a little higher than expected, maybe a seven, but on a misery scale maybe only a one or two. Four of us started out together, Chris Slater, Greg, a young French pilgrim and Dayton and I. We left before 8:00am and headed up the mountain road. Interestingly, on the first hour of the walk out of Urdos, before the cut off for the Somport Tunnel, hundreds of motorcyclists passed us. It made me think that we were on the road into Port Dover on a Friday the thirteenth. (For the non-Ontario readers, every Friday the thirteenth every biker within hundreds of miles descend on the Lake Erie town of Port Dover to meet and greet, show off their bikes and maybe have a beer to two). There is a tunnel that one can take to go eight kms straight through Canfranc-Estación but then one would miss the spectacular climb and the equally spectacular views and what fun would that be?

The higher we climbed the more snow we saw on the ground and the cooler the temperature became but we never got too uncomfortably cold. Any chill was from the exertion and perspiration of the climb. After about three and a half hours we reached the Sol de Comport and the Spanish/French border and enjoyed a well-appreciated tea and cafe con leche at the mountain top cafe. Our Dutch friend had arrived a little while before us. He had taken the Camino path not the road and so had had a much tougher and more treacherous time of it. We had followed advice and stuck to the road. It was enough. Kit was also trying another variation of a cafe courageux but we stuck with a tamer non-alcoholic version.

After our break we walked gently down for a couple of hours into Canfranc-Estación where we had another beverage break before Chris and Greg went on ahead to Villanúa. This is when I have to be careful not to fall into that 'comparison is the thief of joy' trap. It is so easy to start to think, "Oh, they are going on another 8kms farther than us", so we are kind of so wimping out, not doing as well. Actually who cares?Just focus on a the joy of a good day's walk, be happy and satisfied with our decisions and don't get caught up in comparison. This is the same sentiment we talk about in every fitness and yoga class, "Let go of comparison and competition, with others or even with yourself and enjoy this moment". And I am.

 

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