Orio a Zumaia - August 26, 2011

Cae la tarde en Orio y el cielo se vuelve plomizo y oscuro, amenaza lluvia. Ponemos la colada bajo techo y tal como estaba previsto la lluvia hace acto de presencia en mitad de la noche. El sonido continuo de las gotas al caer sobre el tejado nos desvela y reconforta al mismo tiempo. Un sonido que nos acompañara hasta el amanecer.

Desayunamos temprano y enredados en los ponchos caminamos bajo una suave lluvia que deja paso a un tímido sol que se cuela entre las nubes. Hemos llegado a Zarautz. Pueblo costero en el al que entrar vemos demasiada gente en el paseo marítimo mirando al mar... para nuestra desgracia hay una ballena varada en la playa. Nos sumamos la curiosidad y a la impotencia del resto de la gente. No hay nada que se pueda hacer. El mamífero marino yace a merced de las olas, mientras los surfistas hacen cabriolas entre los restos del animal. No es de sorprender la presencia de estos formidables animales por estas costas, de hecho la última ballena se cazo en estos lares en 1901 frente a las playas de Orio.
El sol calienta ya las azules aguas de esta costa, mientras nosotros caminamos por un espectacular paseo marítimo dirección a Getaria, cuna de Juan Sebastian el Cano. Primus Circumdedisti Me... así reza en el monumento erigido a este ilustre marino y a sus valientes marineros que fueron los primeros en circunvalar el globo terrestre, desde 1519 hasta 1522.

Unas cervezas y un vino nos pone de nuevo en el camino. Hasta Zumaia solo restan cinco kilómetros. Nos espera el albergue de San José, un convento de las Carmelitas descalzas. Monjas de clausura y que por supuesto lleva una agradable joven que se llama Mari. Digno de ver... te da que pensar de las mujeres que entregan su vida a la Orden y a Dios...
Desde Zumaia hasta Itzar, por un precioso camino entre ovejas, patos y barro. Atravesando portones y alambradas que parecen poner fin al Camino pero que con las inconfundibles flechas amarillas te dicen que nada detiene tu Camino...
Después de habernos perdido, inexplicablemente es la tecnología nos encuentra en Deba, vamos al albergue.






Another photo of the countryside covered with wildflowers (in September?)




Whale that had died and floated ashore onto one of the beautiful beaches of the Cantabrian Sea (also known as the Bay of Biscay).




For me, this was an incredible day: perhaps one of the most beautiful hikes of my lifetime.   For most of the day, we maintained a view of the sea, either walking alongside the shore or looking down on it from above.  We then spent the night in a converted convent with a room to ourselves (e.g. only one person snoring) and I was able to get my first full night of good sleep!  Nonetheless, I am currently exhausted, so we head up to the albergue &  Sergio's travelogue will have to provide the better detailed description of the day. Will try to add more later.



Photo of the idyllic setting: green mountains, long-wool sheep, with the turquoise sea as scenic background.




One of the many beautiful views of the sea that contributed to this fantastic day.






This was part of the seaside walk that courses through Zarautz and lasts for several kilometers.  Windy, cool, and nearly perfect.

                            On the way to Zumaia.







 Village near where we saw the whale & where we stopped for some re-fueling.

                            Near Zumaia

               And finally, the house I will buy when I win the lottery!!

After a fantastic day of walking in perfect temperatures along the sea, we arrive in Zumaia.

Posted using BlogPress from Dusty's iPad by Sergio & Dusty.

San Sebastian a Orio - August 25, 2011

Hemos pasado un par de días en Donostia, nombre que recibe en vasco la hermosa ciudad de San Sebastian. Es momento de comenzar a caminar dirección Santiago, aunque no sea nuestro destino, nuestro corazón nos lleva allí.

El agradable paseo por la playa de la concha pronto dirige nuestros pasos por una empinada subida entre frondosos árboles hacia Igueldo, es aquí donde nos encontramos con Jose Mari, un apasionado y enamorado el Camino, él tiene de forma desinteresada una "parada peregrina" en la que ofrece un par de sillas para los fatigados peregrinos y agua en abundancia, también tiene un sello para dar crédito de tu paso por esa localidad. Conversamos con él y continuamos hacia Orio. El camino es de constante y suave subida, muy agradable y las impresionantes vistas de la costa pronto te transportan a una fuente de agua fresca y pura que el propio Jose Mari se en cargo de adecuar, es de agradecer esta parada entre una exuberante vegetación de intensos colores verdes.
Ensimismados en nuestros pensamientos nos encontramos con la pequeña Ermita de San Martin de Tours, patrón de peregrinos y caminantes. Solo a doscientos metros nos encontramos con el albergue de Rosa. Es tiempo para relajarse y conocer gentes del lugar...





Beautifully verdant countryside: everything is green, wet, (sometimes slippery) and simply luscious!




Photo of the blog co-author next to one of the Camino signs (which were not quite frequent enough for this chica who became lost on two separate occasions--one of them this first day!)  She is still looking pretty sleep-deprived!





Sergio's photo of a spider that had made his (her?) home outside the dining area at our first albergue in Orio.




First day of walking the Camino & I need to say right away that este Camino es mucho mas duro que el Camino Frances!! For me (not for Sergio) this was a VERY HARD day.   As far as I can recall, there were no flat areas: only pretty intense inclines followed by equally steep declines. I was still going on little sleep (totally awake each day at 4 am) & had (of course) acquired some blisters walking in San Sebastian in sandals without socks. And then I got lost. I have no idea what occurred, but "de repente, no estuve en el Camino". We had walkie talkies, but I was unable to reach Sergio & had no idea where I was.   Finally, I was able to wave down a cyclist who redirected me so I was able to & find my way to the albergue.  A great dinner of veggie pasta (my Camino favorite) revived my spirits, but it was a tough night sharing quarters with two competing "roncadores" (snorers). Finally had to listen to classical music on my iPod to screen out the noise. Woke in the morning to big storm & a day that began with walking in the rain (which when you live in Texas is quite the exciting treat!)

By Sergio & Dusty from Dusty's iPad.

De pintxos por Donostia - San Sebastian August 23 & 24, 2011

 An aerial view of the city courtesy of Wikipedia since neither of the current traveling photographers had access to a helicopter.

Nos encontramos en San Sebastian, en estas tierras vascas junto al mar Cantábrico podemos disfrutar en el casco antiguo o casco histórico de su inmensa gastronomía, en los que destacan por su sencillez y sabor los afamados pintxos y de sus caldos, como el txakoli, un vino blanco que se escancia como la sidra y se sirve frío, un vino suave muy adecuado para acompañar los pinchos (en castellano).
Pasear junto al mar después de haber saboreado las exquisiteces de las innumerables tabernas y respirar ese aire impregnado de sal de la brisa marina... sensaciones y experiencias, vivencias en buena compañía... algo que no os debéis perder...






Pintxos de jamón con boquerones.  Pinchos (tapas) of ham & anchovies. 






Escanciando un poco de vino Txakoli.  Apparently the proper way to serve the Txakoli white wine is for the server to hold it above his head & pour from there.  Until the 1980s, txakoli was a home-made wine, drunk in the Basque County, Cantabria and Valle de la Mena, and was almost in danger of dying out towards the middle of the 19th century. However, since some varieties of txakoli in the Basque Country managed to achieve Denominación de Origen certification from 1994 onwards, its quality, spread and appeal have increased.




Servidor saboreando unos pinchos. Sergio engaging in one of his most favorite activities: tasting & enjoying whatever food and drink might be available.  No fussy eating for him.




           Después de un buen tapeo, nada mejor que una copa de pacharán.

Although I am not known for my adventurous attitude toward food and drink, I came to love this digestif made of sloe berries (a sort of plum).  Patxaran is made by soaking sloe berries, collected from the blackthorn shrub, along with a few coffee beans and a vanilla pod in anisette. The process produces a light sweet reddish-brown liquid around 25-30% in alcohol content by volume.  In addition to dictating the amount of sloe to be used, the regulating body for Pacharán Navarro insists that no colourings or flavourings be added and that the maceration last between one and eight months. (This is the new food/drink that I will be bringing home to Texas from this adventure!).





                         Panorámica de la costa de San Sebastian.

           Dusty talking to some fishermen as they are working on their boat.

The flag that we will see throughout our trip through the Basque Country (pais vasco) rather than the flag of Spain.  When we reach Guernica I learn a great deal more about the history of this autonomous region and the desire of many of its citizens to become a separate country from Spain.



Cartel publicitario.   I am putting a photo of this poster on the blog to show how the Basque language does not even remotely resemble Spanish: looks more like a cross between German, Russian & Greek! In Basque, the name of the language is officially Euskara and it is classified as a "language isolate." Scholars have found no link between Euskara/Basque and the Indo-European languages of the surrounding countries.  

Since I am now running on about 12 hours of sleep over 4 nights, I am allowing my traveling companion (who would definitely be considered a "foodie" were he American) to provide the description of our time here in San Sebastian.  Tomorrow we begin the actual Camino - today was spent getting prepared: I already sent about 5 pounds of junk back to the states, discovered during today's fantastic rainfall that my rain poncho does not actually protect the wearer from getting soaked (good to know prior to walking many hours in the rain!) and (I pray) getting a full night of sleep before we head out in the morning for Zarautz.   Expect to see many photos of Sergio enjoying the local cuisine while I survive on yogurt & granola (actually had pesto pasta today for lunch, but do not expect such luxury in the near future.) I definitely want to add for all my Austin readers that I am sitting outside in a typical cafe-bar wearing JEANS & a SWEATSHIRT!! And everything is wet & GREEN! Increíble!

Hasta la próxima.

Ubicación:San Sebastian (Donostia) - August 24, 2011
By Sergio & Dusty via Dusty's iPad.

Everything but the kitty - August 20, 2011

    Emma letting me know that she is not at all happy about me packing.

                      I wonder if she would like a trip on the Camino?

I leave tomorrow for Spain & my second Camino walk & thought I should see if I can recall how to blog from my iPad.  Packing has been (as always) a challenge because it seems that I always want to take more than I can actually either fit in my backpack or am capable of carrying.  I was able to stuff it all in (except the kitty who very much wants to see Spain). Fortunately, this time I will have a compañero del Camino who has promised to help with the overflow as HE does not mind wearing the same clothes everyday.

              Sergio on Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France (August, 2011)

Now you, like me, might be thinking that this guy who just climbed the highest peak in western Europe, looks like he might just be in a bit better physical condition than I, and you would be correct.  This is the reason that I refer to Sergio as my traveling companion as opposed to my walking companion since I firmly believe that he will spend the better part of the afternoon "tomando cervezas" or napping as I slowly complete the walk to our appointed destination (see title of this blog).  I am also hoping that he saves the top bunk for me (I get claustrophobic on the bottom).  We met last year while I was trudging along with my blisters & he was cycling the entire 500 miles, and connected as he was the only other person I met who was keeping a blog of the journey: http://mibiciasantiago.blogspot.com/.  He has also been a fantastic Spanish tutor for the past year (faithfully correcting my emails).  So I have high hopes for a bilingual blog & a "Buen Camino!" for us both.  We will be walking a section of the Camino del Norte, beginning in San Sebastian.  Following is a link to the main Camino site where there is a map of the intended walk: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/el-camino-del-norte/.  Sergio is also a fantastic photographer, so we should have some good photos as well.

I need to go finish my packing & send out the link to this blog which (I hope) will have entries at least every few days. 

Location:Austin, Texas

Like an Addiction: August 14, 2011

I leave for Spain in one week (!) and I had planned to discontinue walking this last week: would give my feet a rest, do something else for exercise, etc., but it appears that I am UNABLE TO STOP WALKING!!  Yesterday I picked up a 1/2 size smaller shoe at REI (who, bless them, will take back anything, anytime if its not right!) so my "plan" was to take a short walk in the new shoes to compare them to the other pair & decide which fit better.  I decided not to take my pack & thought I would walk for about one hour.  But I found myself saying " I'll just go a bit further" (like the alcoholic who keeps telling themselves: "just one more beer.").  It was this incredible night: comparatively cool (currently 88 degrees at 11:30 pm), full moon, lots of sprinklers turned on to cool my walk & I just did not want to stop walking.  I walked for nearly 3 & 1/2 hours and can now say with assurance that this shoe fits better.

Last summer, my walking was about getting ready for the Camino.  It started out feeling a bit like torture (especially the hills), but this summer has been all about the incredible pleasure of walking.  I have always liked walking & have had countless walks around Town Lake with friends, etc., but now walking feels totally different for me since going on the Camino last year.  For one thing, there is nothing both legal and safe that reliably provides such an elevation in mood or peace of mind.  It's not just walking: its the walking without a plan, without a time limit, listening to music (more about that shortly) and just wandering.  I especially like walking at night because I don't have to hurry, don't have to get to work and can feel, for a while, free of all responsibility.  For me, walking with music is a significant part of the overall experience.  Early on, I used to listen to podcasts or books, but that requires paying attention and walking for me now is all about letting my attention wander, and for the time that I am walking, not having to focus on anything at all (other than not getting run over).  There was a brief crisis tonight when my headphones suddenly ceased working & I had a moment of imagined withdrawal, but (like any addict) I had a secret stash of old, tangled headphones that would do in a pinch.

I don't think that this addiction is going to break.  I found myself wondering tonight if it would be possible to do a ferry plus walking trip through the Greek Isles next September (as I have told myself I don't want to be one of those people who walk the Camino de Santiago every year until they are 85!)...so I am already planning my next walking trip.

So if you are feeling a bit inspired (or just wonder how nuts you have to be to do this in the Texas summer) here are some of my hints and recommendations: 1) get walking sticks ("bastones": gracias a Sergio); 2) get comfortable walking shoes & thick socks & a fanny pack to carry water & other supplies; 3) freeze your drinks & drink them as they thaw--trust me, they stay cold for hours that way; 4) get a headlamp because you will want to walk either before sunrise or after sunset--its the only time that is bearable; and 5) put all your favorite music on your ipod.  If you are actually interested in the training aspect, I highly recommend the two following apps for your iPhone (or other smartphone): "Map my Walk" (for those of us who get lost & want to know how far they have walked and be able to find their way home in the dark) and "Digifit" which is used with a heart rate monitor and a gadget that plugs into your iPhone.  If you are like I used to be & think of walking as something for the elderly, not really "exercise", it may help to see that, after 3+ hours of walking, you have (if you are me) burned about 1400 calories (that's without a backpack!). 

So I freely admit to being an addict & had it not been for the Camino, I never would have discovered this almost free (after the cost of shoes & walking sticks) and completely legal mode of reaching a calm euphoria.  I should point out the downside however: its midnight and I have virtually no interest in going to sleep.  However, since my "discovery" of walking, I sleep more deeply and better than anytime since I was an adolescent, so I don't really care if I miss a few hours of sleep.  Well worth it.