Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Camino part 2


Back on the camino again.

Photo of a double rainbow on the way from st Jean Pied de Port to Orisson.



The sunrise in the morning leaving St Jean before the rainbows.

The river in Najera 

Huge stacks of hay everywhere

Many pilgrims on the camino even though it's October and rainy.

A long road ahead before the next village


More rainbows

Full rainbow

Pilgrim dinner in Belorado

Caves where hermits lived outside of Belorado

Arrived in Burgos and had chocolate and churros. 

Cathedral dome in Burgos 

In Burgos Cathedral

Long journey to St Jean Pied de Port in France. 
From Porto to Madrid, Madrid to Irun  (38.6 €) then took the subway to Hendaye France (1.65 €) though I have heard of some pilgrims walking the border and the the train to St Jean (15.30€)
I would probably just try to find a cheap flight closer to St Jean instead cause it's so much faster to fly closer. 

St Jean Pied de Port to Roncevalles 24.9km (around 7.5 hours)
St Jean is a cute town but much more expensive than the rest of the Spanish side of the camino. I dated at Altrea for 17€ which included breakfast (which is of course just bead butter and marmalade and coffe and tea). Nothing was open when we left St Jean so we were happy we ate the bread. It was really beautiful walking over the Pirinese and not as bad as I thought though it was really windy. 

Logroño to Najera (29.1km)
I stayed at the municipal auberge (7€) but I heard the Parish aubergue was really wonderful and would stay there next time.  Leaving Logroño there is a big bull that overlooks the city. In Najera I stayed at the parish aubergue which was a donation to stay and had a kitchen. Najera was a cute small town with neat cliffs and a red river passing through it. 

Najera to Santa Domingo de la Calzada (20.8km)
In Santa Domingo de la Calzada I stayed at the aubergue and I think there is only one but it was really spacious with a kitchen and wifi and lots of sitting areas and a terrace outdoor area. The beds were really squeaky and some people complained of bed bug bites. The town was nice. 

St Domingo to Belorado (22.4km)
We stayed at Cuatro Cantones for 6€ and it was nice with a pool a garden and a fig tree with ripe figs. 

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega (24km)
We stayed at the aubergue in San Juan de Ortega which was a town with nothing no store and only one restaurant, but we did not want to walk the additional 3.5km to the next town Ages though I think I would next time as it was a cute town and had a market and places to eat.

San Juan de Ortega to Burgos (27.6 km)
Long day around 7.5 hours with stops. We stayed at Emaus (5€) which was great. It was so clean with small rooms closets outlets and lights in each bed and the the volunteers taking care of us were amazin and really tried to get all of us to be together. We all atr breakfast and dinner together for a donation and the cooked and served it all. The food was amazing and we did some singing and shared some prayers. The big group of Germans did a prayer before dinner in English for us and then the Spainyard sang another prayer in Spanish for us. A really great place though far from the city center for those that walked 28km.. Only a 10-15min walk but with a bag and everything can be discouraging. 
Stayed an extra night in Burgos to rest and went to the Cathedral which is huge and for pilgrims we get a 50%discount so it was only 3.5€. We stayed the second night at divina de pastor aubergue for 6€. 











Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Salt Lake City, Oregon, Ogunquit, ME

lots of snails in SLC, Ut
Lots of tents in Oregon at sunset, near the wildfires
Really beautiful sunset
Pumpkin patch in Oregon
This is the place heritage park - a beautiful day for biking.. until it starting pouring
Shopping in SLC, what a view from the mall, cloud covered mountains
Random trip to Ogunquit Maine

Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the way), Spain Part I



Camino Frances

So I started part of the Camino Frances, the most popular camino to Santiago. I only did one week of it, but it was a fantastic experience.  The people and the walk made for a really great experience and I hope to go back soon to finish.  
Stage 1

Day 1 - Roncevalles to Zubiri - 20km

Day 2 Zubiri to Pamplona - 20km

Day 3 Pamplona to Puente de la Reina - 23km

Day 4 Puente de la Reina to Estella -21 km

Day 5 Estella to Los Arcos - 21.5 km

Day 6 Los Arcos - Logrono 26 km







 Dried sunflowers
The windmills along the way
Festival with gigantes and the people were all dressed in white and red
Great viewpoint

The wine fountain along the way



beautiful mornings

Walking through fields

Its grape harvesting season in wine country
Follow the arrows : )
Lots and lots of hay, this one had a sign that said "full"

Another pilgrim walking in flip flops
a place to leave notes
Sunrising
Snails covering the fields

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Spain, Barcelona and Estartit and the festival in the Gracia neighborhood of Barcelona

Shitting figurines in Barcelona, famous for Christmas
 Diada Castellera de Festa Major de Gràcia 
Street festival in Gracia where the decorated the streets

The decorations were incredible

Each street had a theme, such as candy, music, willy wonka, Alice in Wonderland etc

The decorations were made using recycled goods

The streets were packed

decorations were everywhere

Really amazing festival

View from Guell Park

Estartit, view of medes island made famous by Jaques Cousteau
Estartit is a costal town in the area called costa brava, a couple of hours from Barcelona.  A bus ticket from the North Station costs around 21.7Euros.

Guell park
Gruell park - Gaudi

Stonehedge, Brussels and Amsterdam

Stonehedge

Bridge with the locks

The locks have names on it and are put on during weddings

Making of the flower carpet
Douro the other side of the river from Porto where Port wine is made

The peeing baby the symbol of Brussels

The finished carpet which is done every two years and lasts a weekend

There were Belgian Waffles everywhere in Brussels, and yes beer, chocolate and fries too

The carpet in progross