Day 13 Belorado to Ages (March 31)

We got up early and started at 0720 our earliest start yet. Too bad we had to walk 2 hours to find an open bar for our first cup of coffee. One other comment about the albergue last night. By the time the hospitalero got up and had the coffee going, more than half the pilgrims were gone. The place we stopped at on the way had okay coffee and the bocadillo de chorizo was probably the worst we had yet. The sky was full of clouds in every direction. We really pushed walking today. We had to decide for a short day or a long day. Stop and call it a day at Villa Franca de Oca or commit to San Juan de Ortega. We decided to push on since we were feeling pretty good. We stopped for a bite at San Juan de Ortega and decided to the extra 3.5 km to Ages based primarily on the fact that the albergue at San Juan de Ortega did not have hot showers. We ran into the Austrian sisters when we stopped and they asked if they could join us as we walked to Ages. Cullen had mochilla (blood sausages) to eat. I played it safe with a tortilla con chorizo. The girls said they saw Dieter at Santo Domingo de Calzado a couple of days ago. He´s not far behind us. I think we´re going to dally a couple of days so our arrival in Santiago is on a Saturday, so we may meet up with him there. The last miles from Belorado to Ortega were through forest. Mostly on a very wide path which was probably used for logging. Lots of big ruts. Thank goodness no rain even though the clouds have been with us all day. When we arrived in Ages it seemed to be a ghost town. Not even a barking dog to welcome us! We saw the sign for the El Pejar albergue (private) and decided to stay. The albergue was run by a nice couple and we opted to have dinner there since we didn´t see any other options in Ages. We had nice hot showers, the albergue is bright and clean. Wooden lockers. A couple of internet machines and a dining room used as a game room, or for writing when not being used to dine. We combined our laundry with the sisters and had use of the washer and dryer for 6 euros. IT started to pour rain around 6 pm and it was running down the streets passed the albergue. Dinner was good. For starters, arroz con pollo, then tortilla with salad and peppers and ice cream for dessert. We were joined at our table by a maybe 35 year old Spaniard doing part of the Camino by bicycle. His name was Juan Ramon and he and Cullen had a very interesting discussion about a variety of subjects. I´m so glad Cullen was able to use his Spanish for something besides finding beds and ordering food!

Day 12 Grañon to Belorado (March 30)

When we woke up the wind was still howling! Alberto and David (hospitaleros) had breakfast ready for us (bread, coffee, juice). Alberto took Cullen and I into the church before we left. Another beautiful church. Mass last night was in the chapel so it was nice of him to show us the church. When we left the albergue the wind was blowing as hard (or harder) as it was the afternoon we arrived in Roncevalles! The first 4 miles it was blowing right at us. I can´t even tell you what the scenery was like on this leg of the journey since my head was down against the wind the whole way. And, all I heard all day was the wind blowing. We walked only 10 miles today, but it felt like 20. We finally arrived in Belorado and went directly to the bar. We got on the internet, sent some emails posted a day or two to our blog, then decided where to stay the night. There were 3 albergues. The parochial, the Cuatro Cantones and another that was new and no info in any of our references. So we stayed in Cuatro Cantones. I think there were 18 or 20 beds in the room. A women´s toilet, a men´s toilet and 2 showers with cold water only. We passed on the chicken dinner offered by the hospitalero. Instead we went to the grocery store and Cullen bought the fixings for a tortilla with 6 eggs, 2 potatoes, onion, chorizo. We ate the whole thing plus a half loaf of bread and a bottle of wine to wash it all down with! Although the bathroom and showers were clean, the kitchen was not so much. Also only cold water to hand wash our clothes tonight. After dinner we walked over to the Church and went inside. An older woman started talking to me in Spanish and I communicated (in Spanish) that I was a pilgrim from the U.S. Cullen came over to join the conversation and she told him she was 90 years old. She said the procession they have in Belorado is quite grand and it was a shame we wouldn´t be there for it. I´ve met more pilgrims each day who have started in Logroño. We went to bed around 9.

Day 11 Azofro to Grañon (March 28)

Another beautiful morning. We stopped at the restaurant Seville, had coffee, and bought a couple of bocadillos for the road. There were a lot of bicyclists there. They seemed to be in a biking club all wearing the same logo on their shirts. They loaded all their gear into a van before leaving. What a noisy bunch. Once we started walking, a couple of other cyclists passed us carrying the own gear. One fellow was towing a little ¨tiny¨ trailer. It was not a bad walk to Grañon. We planned a stop here because one of the forum members is supposed to be the hospitallero at the albergue in Granon. The walk was very noisy - construction and highway noise. I wish we could get to walk on something soft instead of pavement and rocks. We walked to Circuena and made a stopfor coffe and tortilla. Our second stop was in Santo Domingo de Claderas to check out the ¨Chicken church. Then continued. We stopped just outside of the city, just before the bridge and ate our lunch. There were many stork nests in the area. They were build on top of poles that seemed to have been placed there for just that purpose. I don´t know if we were tired or what, but the walk from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Grañon was difficult for us. When we arrived at the albergue, Alberto welcomed us. it was his last day David would be replacing him. We stayed in the attic of the St John the Baptist church. It was probably the most rustic place we´ve slept in. Just mats on the floor. There were about 20 of us in the room. There were a few people we had met previously. Many German and Spanish pilgrims, one young man from South Africa and a young lady from Switzerland. We showered and did our laundry. I don´t understand why the washing machines here take soooooo long! I really miss real towels. We went to mass at 1900 in the chapel. Though the mass was in Spanish, the priest offered the pilgrims a special blessing in English and Spanish. It was very moving. After mass, the hospitalleros cooked supper tonight. Pretty good pasta - Alberto is Italian! delicious bread, asparagus, tomato salad. Our first pilgrim meal. One of the German pilgrims spoke to us about the German route. I have to investigate that more. One of the younger Germans played a few tunes on the piano. He was quite good. When we went to bed the wind was howling.

Day 10 Naverette to Azofra (March 28)

We were the only ones in the Albergue in Naverette last night. We had a good sleep and woke to more beautiful blue skies. There was no offering of food or drink when we got up so we just left and walked about an hour to Ventosa and stopped at the first bar. More great coffee and a chocolate croissant - yum. They also had wifi so we took advantage and sent a couple of emails with the iTouch. Not much to see on the way out of town. A snow covered mountain was on our left in the distance most of the way. Got to Najera and saw a big stork´s nest. Stopped on the Plaza de Espana for a caña, coffee and egg salad sandwich. The plaza was quite lively since it was Palm Sunday. Just 4 more miles to Azofra! Passed 2 wineries - here´s a shout out to our friends at The Wine House in Fairfax! When we arrived in Azofra we were hoping to stay at a private Albergue but only the municipal was opened. The sleeping arrangement is great because there are only 2 beds to a room. The are men/women toilets, but there are 4 shower stalls - coed. The hospitallera here is a young American woman originally from Columbia, MD. There are computers, but no wifi. Today I spoke to my mom and brother so all is good. It was a pretty easy walk. We had dinner in the restaurant Seville and were joined by a Spanish couple about our age. Though I did not contribute much to the conversation, I was able to follow along pretty well. I had a great meal of 2 fried eggs, chorizo, jamon, fries, bread and wine. Cullen had veal cutlet and fries. Both of us had flan for dessert. Went back to the albergue after supper and met a 79 year old Spaniard walking the Camino. Had a good night´s sleep.

Day 9 Logroño to Naverette (March 27)

Had a good sleep last night in the pension. Took advantage of another shower with real shampoo provided by the proprietor. Definitely have to do a pension once a week to rejuvenate! Living out of a backpack is hard. There was a bar open right outside our pension so we stopped in for a coffee (the best yet)and a most delicious pastry. We had an hour until the library opened so we had a second cup. We caught up on our postings-emails then headed out and had a very lovely walk around the lake. Another beautiful day. We passed the fence of crosses mentioned in the guide book. Pilgrims are very inventive. There was a cross made out of a water bottle. We decided to stay at the El Cantaro Albergue when we arrived in Naverette because it was smaller than the first albergue you run into when you arrive in town. The owner was very welcoming and did the wash for 3 euros. I´m getting used to paying someone to do my wash! The building had lovely tile work throughout it was very clean, wooden lockers, separate women/men showers and toilets. Luxury! There were 6 bunks in the room. It was 10 euros per person for the night. We went for a walk around the town before dinner and checked out the church. I´m amazed at the enormity of the churches. Stopped at the ¨Deportivo¨ bar/cafe and ran into some pilgrims we had met previously. Had a decent meal for 12 euros; Chick peas and spinach, stuffed peppers and arroz con leche. Cullen had garlic soup (again), ribs and fries, and yogurt.

Day 8 Los Arcos to Logroño (March 26)

After our goodbyes we started walking under blue skies. We stopped and bought some supplies for the day. Something we did not do the day before and we sorry we had not. We stopped in Sansol for a cafe and passed a couple of very attractive albergues. The walk wasn´t bad, but since we had not had a good night´s sleep we were going to stop in Viana for the night. We ran into a couple of young Spanish men whom we met on the first day out of Roncevalles and they were going to continue to Logrono. One said to me, ¨Palma, have a coffee, a bocadillo and a beer then continue to Logrono. It´s an easy walk, mostly downhill¨. Though we didn´t have the coffee or bocadillo, Cullen had a beer and we continued to Logrono. It was not a bad walk so we´re glad we went on. As soon as we arrived we headed to the tourist office and found a pension for the night. After 8 days of walking, we are ready for a bed and bath to ourselves. We hit ¨Tapas row¨ and enjoyed great food and wine. During the evening in Logrono we ran into the first of many (I hope) religious processions. It consisted of a large statue of the Black Virgin being carried by about 10 men and women. The virgin was carrying a set of rosary beads which swayed as they carried her. There was a good sized band of brash and drums. I can´t begin to describe the feeling of watching that event.

So far, no blisters-thanks to all who suggested coating your feet with vaseline everyday. The only complaint is the inside of my arch-instep feels sore. It only hurts when my boots are off. Bwahahahaha.

Day 7 Lorca to Los Arcos (March 25)

The folks at the albergue were kind enough to get up and make us cafe con leche and toast this morning. We left around 0830 and had intended to make it to Irache and get a hotel. But we were making good time with the Irish pilgrims and decided to forge ahead. It was great to see the wine spigot and fill our bottle a bit. No lines, no busloads. We did stop in the hotel and they gave us access to the coffee machine and the bathroom which was great. We arrived in Los Arcos around 1815 and made the mistake of stopping in the first Albergue we came to because we were tired. A young South African woman gave us good advice the next day to pass the first albergue by. She stayed at the last albergue and there were only two people staying there. There were lots of pilgrims in the albergue we stayed in, which was okay because we ran into many we had met before. It was a very noisy night - 2 snorers who could wake the dead. At breakfast Billy and Christine (Irish) were pushing to Navarette. They are on a tighter schedule than we are to we said farewell to them.