We made it to our second stop, a 17 km walk from Valcarlos to the town of Espinal. We had a wonderful stopover in Valcarlos, a beautiful Little town in the Pyrenees in the heart of Basque Country. The albergue there was so nice and we shared the room with 8 other people, a young American couple, both seminary students, and 6 jovial French folks, all seemed in their 60¨s. One man told me he was 68. Oddly enough, I felt more of a sense of privacy sharing a dorm room with 8 other people (besides Tom) than I did in our little room in St. Jean that we shared with two other people. I think this is because the 10-bed room in Valcarlos was so big that we had more space between us all, but mostly because of improved bathroom situ. In Valcarlos we shared 2 showers, two potties and 4 sinks among the 10 of us. In St. Jean there were 2 showers, 2 sinks, and 1 potty for 16 of us! My impression so far is that the quality of albergue life will be determined by the person-to-commode ratio. We had dinner on the terrace of a little restaurant in the town. We had the fixed-price meal: for 12.50 euros each (about $18 - that included tax and tip) we had a huge salad nicoise ( made with tuna and hard-boiled eggs) that would have been more than enough for dinner, followed by the main course, a filet of pork for me and for Tom a local fish dish made with tomatoes and peppers and toped with a sunny side egg. The dessert was a flan with whipped cream. Dinner also included a basket of fresh bread and a carafe of wine for Tom and for me - what else? Diet coke. The waitress asked us how many people were staying in the albergue and seemed concerned that there were only ten. It´s too bad that the low road gets blown off or dissed by all the pilgrim guidebooks so that few pilgrims pass through the town of Valcarlos. This town could sure use the pilgrim business and certainly deserves it.
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We made it to our first stop on the ¨low road¨, the town of Valcarlos. If the mountain road offers breathtaking panoramas of the view from above, the low road offered us breathtaking panoramas of the view from below. The Pyrenees opening up before us was the most beautiful sight imaginable. Still, the low road isn´t actually all that low. There were plenty of steep uphill and downhill spots to negotiate. We met not another pilgrim along the way except for one man (looked about our age), an American who works at the embassy in Madrid who was doing the camino by bike! When we got to the tiny town of Valcarlos we couldn´t find the albergue so we stopped at the post-office/tourist office and the very nice girl who worked there gave us directions and a number written on a piece of paper. She told us when we got to the albergue to punch the number into the door. We did, it opened, there wasn´t a soul in the albergue so we grabbed ourselves a couple of beds then took showers. This albergue is ultra clean, ultra modern, (the gite at St. Jean was charming but not so modern) and has a washing machine we used to wash our clothes. Finally a few other pilgrims cam staggling in then the lady who runs the albergue came in to take our money (10 euros per night) and tell us that she´d be back in the morning to fix us breakfast. I´m guessing that the person-to-facility ratio will be much better here! Love to you all! Patti 8)
We spent our last night at the beautifful L',Esprit du Chemin. We were sorry to leave, not only Tom & I but everyone in the gite, in part because we all expect that this will be the nicest, most private accomdations we'll see. (though we could be wrong, who knows?). We all doubted we'd have as much privacy as we had there. By privacy I mean 4 persons per room. the first night Tom & I shared the bunk beds with two nice English men, one a priest and one a pianist (how about that!), both in their 60's. Last night our suitemates were two young German girls, one a nurse and one a teacher. Everyone has been nice as can be. But even in this small gite one has to modify one's ideas of privacy. The communal bathrooms are to get used to. It's interesting to have two people taking a shower while two people are brushing their teeth at the sink while there are two people in line to use the single commode upon which you are sitting trying to go. There's also a line to use this computer, so I guess it's really time to go!. We're on our way! "Hello life...goodbye Columbus!" Peace and a wonderful day to you all! Patti 8) Cliquez ici pour modifier. Cliquez ici pour modifier. .
We made it! From the Madrid airport, ...to the Madrid train station, ,At least as far as the Pamplona bus station, and, if our luck holds, we should arrive at our starting point, St. Jean Pied de Port in a few hours. It´s taken me a few hours to figure out how to use this computer which I found in the bus station. I swear I've been more stressed out trying to get this machine to work than in trying to make my way across a country where I don´t speak the language very well and don´t know the transportation system at all!. Bus is leaving in a few minutes, just share that things went pretty much as predicted, we did in fact stumble all around before figuring out how to get here, but with the help of kind Spaniards and kind fellow pilgrims we´ve met along the way, it seems that we´ll make it. To the starting point, that is. I´ll try to be more long winded (takes so much effort, right?) when the bus isn´t blowing it´s final horn. Haven´t figured out how to download photos, may not be possible, then I´ll have to make 1,000 words worth one picture. Love to all| Patti 8)
In a little over twenty-four hours from now we should be in the Madrid airport, schlepping around trying to figure out how to get to the Madrid railway station, where we'll walk in circles until we find the train to Pamlona, where we'll exit the station and stand on the sidewalk looking up and down and all around, wondering where the bus to St. Jean-Pied-De-Port leaves from. Hopefully people will take pity on these two clueless Americans and we'll somehow eventually manage stumble onto where we're supposed to be. If this turns out to be my last blog, don't worry, it just means I can't find a computer, or I can't figure out how to use one when I find it. But if there's a computer to be found and figured out, the blog will go on! Blessings and wonderful days to you all, good friends and loved ones, 'til we find each other again. Peace, Patti and Tom 8) 8) The 4,757 foot -high mountain over which the Camino climbs on the first day has always been my biggest Frankenstein monster nightmare : Because this mountain happens on the first day, before I'll be all toughened up and strong; because it's the only day on the Camino when we'll be required to carry all our food and water for the 9 or 10 hours it takes to get from our starting point in St. Jean Pied -De-Port to the next nearest town of Roncesvalles; because 9 or 10 hours is a long time to be hauling the recommended 3 liters per person of water (which has got be even worse than carrying two extra pairs of undies); and because 4,757 feet is dang steep. All the other days (except for one other day, one of the last days, by which time we'll have arms & legs & backs like Arnold Schwartznegger) the elevations will be kinder and there will be plenty of water stops and rest stops and cafes and albergues along the way. Except on this first day. Or so I thought. And yet I always vaguely knew there was another route, a "low road" that runs parallel to high road, it just never was on my radar. Until today, when the thought suddenly popped up in my brain: we could take the low road! I found some information on the low road and learned that it passes through villages, over rolling hills and through lush forests and that few pilgrims take it. Maybe few take it because, like me, they just don't think about it, or maybe because the breathtaking panoramic views from the mountain trail are supposed to be among the most beautiful sights on the camino or anywhere. So can I stand to go through life knowing I'll have passed up one of the most spiritually enlightening vistas on the planet? Eh, well, you know what they say: "Before enlightement: chop wood, carry water, clean floor. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water, clean floor." I guess I can.
Things that may turn out to have been a good idea or a bad one: 1. Dumping my $200 whoopty-doo back pack from a hoity-toity camping store for a $50 one from Meijer's because the Meijer's one weighs half as much as the hoity-toiter. (Can you guess which is which?) 2. Turning my nose up at a substantially-constructed $50 rain suit for a $19.99 one that feels like it's made from the same roll of plastic that they make the dollar-store party table cloths from. Because the $19.99 one weighs less than half the $50 one. 3. Tossing my 2lb sleeping bag from my back pack and replacing it with two wisps of chiffony polyester from Joann's Fabric that I figure I can use as a set of sheets on my albergue mattress while I sleep in my clothes. 4. Declining a sturdy backpack cover for when we're in the mountians of Galicia where it pours rains 60% of the time in favor of a $7.99 poncho that appears to be cut from the same roll of party table cloth plastic as my rain suit. 5. Deciding to pack a couple pairs of undies after all. (Researched the history of underware, found out the true reason we wear them. Turns out underware was invented shortly after the invention of the zipper. Very shortly after.) I finally got my scallop shell. Two shells, actually, one for me and one for Tom. I found them in a crafts store then had Tom drill a small hole in each one. Theoretically you aren't supposed to arrive at the Camino with a scallop shell, you're supposed to find one that's been washed up along the beach only after you've walked all the way to the sea, thus earning your shell. But I couldn't wait, I wanted Tom and I to each have one from the start to tie onto our backpacks, because the scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino. Apparently the image is everywhere along the way showing the pilgrims where to walk, identifying the albergues, maybe just cheering them on. I'm guessing the scallop shell is the symbol because of the sea metaphor, but I also read that "the grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes pilgrims traveled, eventually arriving at a single destination." (Kelli Crull). For twelve hundred years pilgrims have been making their way from all points of the world to the single point of Santiago de Compostela. And God willing, three days from now Tom and I will be among them. Hair needs shampoo. Shampoo needs to be carried. Therefore get rid of hair. I was afraid if I went to my usual hair salon and asked for a "guy cut" the hair dresser wouldn't believe me and I'd end up with merely a short girl cut. So I walked into Jerry's Barber Shop and asked for my guy cut, and even there I had to kind of insist, but Jerry (who turned out to be a pretty blonde named Jennie, which might have been part of the problem) ultimately delivered. Upon looking in the mirror my first reaction was "AAAAAAGH!" My second reaction was "Aaagh?" My third reaction was, "Eh, doesn't really look any worse than usual." How is it that the less something weighs, the more it costs? $139 for a high-tech 6-oz. coat that feels as warm as a furnace. $45 (thankfully marked down to $25 on the clearance rack, but still...) for a UV-protection shirt so light that it feels like a wisp of nothing. I hesitated, sighed, and complained to anyone within earshot, stomped out of the store then back in before surrendering and forking over $40 for a pair of quick-drying hiking pants that I can wad up like a handkerchief and toss into my pack. And yet I gladly gave not a second thought to paying more than that for a ticket to see "The Book Of Mormon". I was thrilled to snag a ticket to that show for $45 dollars, I snapped that ticket right up! Go figure. (On the other hand, "The Book Of Mormon" made me laugh for two hours straight. I've had those fancy pants for weeks and so far they haven't even made me crack a smile. ) |
Patti Liszkay
My husband Tom and I will be walking the 490.7-mile Camino de Santiago from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to Santiago, Spain. We leave Columbus 9/11/13 and return 10/30/13. God willing. ArchivesCategoriesThe sequel to "Equal and Opposite Reactions" in which a woman discovers the naked truth about herself.
A romantic comedy of errors. Lots and lots of errors. "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa or in print: http://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/equalandoppositereactions or from The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, Ohio Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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