Camino Frances in Summer

Basque hills ablaze with blooms

Monday 9 July: I'd really like to walk the camino norte, the northern coastal route to Santiago favoured by the British, so I need to get a bus back east to the trailhead at Irun. My Spainish is not good and printed on my ticket is 'Iruna - Pamplona' so presumably it stops in Irun before continuing on to Pamplona? But, no, Iruna is the Basque name for Pamplona and this is where I find myself - so what do I do now? I know, I may as well take advantage of the situation and walk the camino Frances again - it's summer and the scenery will be different, I'll stay at different places, meet different people and, where I can, I'll take different routes. Yes, this will work.
Wednesday 11: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles - 16 miles (25km). Rain and mist crossing the Pyrenees so I'm glad to be in the warmth and comfort of the abbey complex. I decide to dine at La Posada where the pilgrim's menu turns out to be better than the abbey fare - tomato pasta, trout with fries, bread, wine and yogurt (€9). Here I meet Kevin & Steph from Canada.
Albergue de Peregrinos (€10), in the abbey building - modern with comfortable built-in bunks in cosy four-bed compartments with power points and free wifi. Hot water and showers, but no blankets provided, it's a chilly mountain night.
Thursday 12: Roncesvales to Zubiri - 14 miles (22km). The sun is shining and I enjoy the walk very much. I bump into Kevin & Steph at the albergue and in the evening I picnic with Paul, a kilted Glaswegian, and two Belgian guys, leaving them drinking on the riverbank I have an early night.
Zaldiko albergue (€10), run by Maria, free wifi and internet. Hot water and showers.
Friday 13: Zubiri to Cizur Menor - 16 miles (26km). Pamplona is lively with revellers in dazzling red and white fiesta dress.
Roncal Maribel albergue (€10), with sturdy, non-squeaky, bunk-beds and free wifi, hot showers but no hot tap water.
Saturday 14: Cizur Menor to Lorca - 18 miles (25km). Enjoyable day.
De Lorca Jose Ramon albergue (€7), cosy albergue with small rooms and kitchen above a little bar, hot water and showers. Luckily I get a single room, bargain.
Sunday 15: Lorca to Estella - 6 miles (9km). A short day and, once again, I stay near the wine fountain at Ayegui - free wine.
Albergue San Cipriano, Ayegul (€6), beds, rather than bunks, in a sports centre.

Monday 16: Estella to Los Arcos - 13 miles (21km). At a little breakfast bar in Azqueta I run into Kevin & Steph again and we walk together to Los Arcos where we meet American girls, husky raven-haired Jackie, Brook, and German guy Yan.
Case de Austria - Fuente de Los Arcos (€10), German beer served in a cosy patio garden.
Tuesday 17: Los Arcos to Logrono - 17 miles (27km). Kevin, Steph and Yan are soaking their feet in a fountain above the Rio Ebro where I join them before we cross the bridge into Logrono. In the evening it's a tapas bar crawl - great till l inadvertently choose the tripe dish.
Albergue Check-in (€11), new airy and comfortable.
Wednesday 18: Logrono to Najera - 19 miles (30km). Walklng with Jackie for a while, then alone into Najera where Steph is waiting for me on the bridge. She and Kevin are apparently not a couple, Kevin is due to meet his wife in Leon. Later I meet Jackie at the lido - it's a warm day and the chilly pool is, well, refreshing.
Albergue Calle Major (€10), new B&B albergue.
Thursday 19: Najera to Santo Domingo de Calzada - 13 miles (21km). I join up with Steph & Kevin, Yan and three pretty Irish girls for dinner, it's menu del dia (menu of the day) for €12, as shown on the restaurant's chalk board, but when the bill arrives it's €22 each. The waiter explains that the daily menu is over and we have had menu del noche (menu of the night). We protest strongly, the daily menu is still on show but eventually a compromise is reached, €20 each, ripped-off in Santo Domingo.
Monasterio albergue (€5), yes it's the nunnery again.
Friday 20: Santo Domingo to Belorado - 14 miles (23km). I meet Kevin & Steph again on the outskirts of Belorado and we choose Cuatro Cantones albergue as it has a sun-heated pool in the garden and a very good communal dinner with wine for just €10. Over dinner we meet a loud American couple and the guy baits me (we had just been talking about a German table nearby):
American guy to all: "What do you think this table is, American or Canadian?"
Me: "No, no, no - it's British! You are just our naughty children from across the water, and anyway, I still think your flag looks like a pair of French clowns pantaloons unfurled."
The Canadian's laugh out loud but the yanks are stunned to silence, well, at least for a while. 
Cuatro Cantones albergue (€5).
Saturday 20: Belorado to Ages - 18 miles (28km). When I arrive at the albergue, Kevin, Steph and Yan have already booked in and it's full but Maria, the hospitalario, shows me to the spacious attic room. It's very atmospheric and has mats on the floor rather than bunk beds, this is great and it's half the dorm rate. Soon I'm joined by the three Irish girls, Jo, Dee and Gill, then later Scottish Paul arrives together with a blond pretty-faced but plump German girl, Melonie, who takes the mat next to mine.
Early in the evening we gather in the front garden for a beer. It's Saturday and it's the Irish girl's last night, they want to party. As I stand up the rickety bench moves and I go over on my ankle, bugger, I'm not even walking on the trail. This is painful.
At dinner the wine flows and then we adjourn to a nearby bar for more wine and song. It's turning into a wild night and Maria has said she'll keep the albergue doors open until midnight. 
Finally, we arrive back in the attic room but only the safety lights are working when we slip into our sleeping bags. In the half light I trip on a mat, go over on my ankle again and land with a heavy thud on the floor. Then there's another thud - bang! "Ya fuck*** bast***.",  Paul's hit his head on a beam.
Later, I'm woken by yet another bang:
"Yea ya fuck*** bast***." (Irish girls and I giggling).
"Where's my fuck*** kilt."
Bang! "Yea ya fuck*** bast***." (Irish girls and I giggling even more).
Finally he disappears to the loo minus his kilt. Unusually the ablergue does not have the room signs on the doors but above them and we find out next day that naked Paul, much to the alarm of the occupants, has gone into all the little dorms downstairs looking for the loo.
All I hear that night is bang! "Yea ya fuck*** bast***." (Irish girls and I giggling again) when he returns.
San Rafael albergue (€5), good food and comfortable attic.
Sunday 22: Ages  to Burgos - 14 miles (22km). Walking with the Irish girls today they ask if, apart from Paul, I heard anything last night. Not that I remember. Reluctantly they tell me that 'jiggy-jiggy' was happening on the mat next to mine - Kevin was in a sleeping bag with Melonie. Not only that, early this morning he was back downstairs in bed with Steph. By now they are both on the bus to Leon to met his wife. Bad boy.
Municipal albergue (€5).
Monday 23: Burgos to Rabe de las Calzados - 8 miles (13km). Short day as my ankle is still painful. In the evening I meet an English girl who has just started the camino in Burgos. She tells me of a wild party in Ages where a pissed English guy fell over and broke his ankle, a Scottish drunk was running around everywhere naked and multiple couples were bonking in a dormitory. Chinese whispers on the camino, she had been talking to American Brook who got it second-hand from German Yan who spoke to the Irish girls before they left.
Rabe to Castrojeriz - 18 miles (28km). My ankle is no better so I book into a hotel for a couple of nights, comfort.
Le Mason Hostal (€22), en-suite.
Thursday 26: Castrojeriz to Boadilla del Camino - 17 miles (27km). Ankle much better.
El en Camino albergue (€6), with pretty enclosed garden and pool, my favourite.
Boadilla to Carrion de los Condes - 17 miles (27km).
Hostal Santiago (€15), bed in 4-bed en-suite room with bath tub, free laundry service.
Carrion to Terradillos de Templarios - 17 miles (27km).
Jacques de Malay albergue (€10), single bed in 5-bed dorm.
Terradillos to Sahagun - 7 miles (10km). Here I receive the news I've been awaiting but dreading. I need to return to Britain on grave family matters, cancer has ended my cousin's life prematurely.
Monasterio Santa Cruz (€13), dinner B&B.
Sahagun to Mansilla de las Mullas - 23 miles (38km).
El Jardin del Camino (€6).
Mansilla to Leon - 12 miles (19km). Bus to overnight in Santander, flight to Stansted and the kind hospitality of my good friends Stef & Dudley in Bishop's Stortford.
Photos of the Camino Frances in Summer.

Bilbao

Bilbao's West Highland Terrier

Sunday 8 July: I would like to stay longer in Spain as it gives me easy and quick access back to Great Britain, so l've decided to walk the camino norte along Spain's north coast. Working my way by train and bus eastwards, back to start in Irun, I stop off in Bilbao for a day. I like the riverside city. Jeff Koon's floral sculpture of a terrier puppy graces the entrance of  Frank Gehrey's stunningly designed Guggenheim Museum and other architectural splendors abound.
Photos of Bilbao.

Santiago to Fisterra

Fisterra harbourside

Monday 2 July: Santiago to Maronas - 27 miles (44km). This is not a religious pilgrimage for me so I'm not dwelling in Santiago but continuing to the Atlantic Ocean at Fisterra. At Negreira I see Julie sitting in an albergue doorway, she's crying.
Me: "Are you okay?"
Julie: "No."
Me: "What's the matter?"
Julie: "There's been storms and power cuts at home and our house has been burglarized - there's a trail of stuff and our television is in the front yard."
Me: "Don't worry, it's probably not that bad, does your dad know?"
Julie: "Dad's flying home right now so I can't contact him. I'm not worried but it's our cat, she's missing - my little sister will be so upset."
Me: "Don't worry. I'm sure they wouldn't steal a cat, she'll turn up. Cat's have a habit of surviving."
I comfort her for a while then continue as the day is still young.
Casa Pepa en Santa Marinas (€12).
Tuesday 3: Maronas to Fisterra - 26 miles (43km). Up and over misty mountains and eventually I reach the ocean at the fishing village of Cee. The weather brightens up so I continue along the coast to Fisterra. This is nice. Just as I'm entering my sandal comes apart and I see Mechteld who caught the bus here yesterday.
In the evening we meet Adam & Joanna and find a little sangria bar with a table football machine to celebrate. It's a fun evening and one snippet of conversation goes something like this:
Me: "It was a good day today."
Adam: "Yes, but I think it's going to be a harsh winter. Blackbirds are building their nests with . . ."
Mechteld: (laughing but looking at me accusingly) "You told him!"
Later we go skinny-dipping before staggering home.
Albergue de Pas (€10).
Wednesday 4: Bump into Natasha & Garry, they're fine. Julie's cat has returned home unharmed. Even Leah is here, suffering badly from tendinitis. I spend the afternoon sunbathing with Mechteld before we catch the afternoon bus to La Coruna for one last tapas dinner before she flies back home. My pilgrimage is over, what next?
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Santiago to Fisterra. I've now walked  483 miles (780km). 

Portomarin to Santiago

Catedral de Santiago

Thursday 28 June: Portmarin to Palas de Rei - 16 miles (25km). Fairly uneventful day.
Albergue Buen Camino (€10).
Friday 29: Palas de Rei to Boente - 13 miles (21km).
Another quiet day before arriving at the pretty church and comfortable hostel in Boente.
Albergue Boente (€11). 
Saturday 30: Boente to Monte del Gozo - 27 miles (44km). A long day to reach the massive hostel complex at Monte del Gozo that can accommodate more than 2,000 pilgrims.
Municipal albergue (€5).
Sunday 1 July: Monte del Gozo to Santiago de Compostela - 3 miles (5km). Meet Adam & Julie who have stopped at the hostel for, you guessed it, coffee. They go on ahead while I order breakfast. As soon as I arrive in Santiago I take my stamped credentials (pilgrims passport) to the pilgrim office to get the cathedral's certificate of pilgrimage, the Compostela, it's dated and my first name is scribed in Latin - Davidem. In the afternoon I meet Adam & Joanna again and later see Mechteld in the cathedral who is now with an Aussie guy from Melbourne. Nevertheless we agree to have dinner and in the early evening I'm surprised to run into Mike who has been here for several days. Dave & Julie are also here so it's a happy reunion.
Over dinner I'm completely embarrassed when Swedish Johanna appears in the restaurant, l don't think she saw me. We walk to Praza Roxa where the world cup final is on a big screen - Italy v Spain. The crowd erupts when Spain wins.
Roots & Boots (€15).
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Portomarin to Santiago. I've now walked  430 miles (693km).

Molinaseca to Portomarin

Bell tower in Ponferrada's old city

Friday 22 June: Molinaseca to Villafranca - 19 miles (31km).
I'm walking with Adam & Joanne from Bournemouth, until they stop for a coffee just short of Ponferrada, then I continue alone past the medieval Templar castle and into the city's old quarter where I meet Mechteld again. She's trying to buy a needle to puncture a blister. Both Adam and I have explained the technique:
a) Sterilise a small needle and thread.
b) Put a stitch through your blister.
c) Knot at both ends to stop it sliding out and trim the thread ends.
d) Repeat as necessary depending on the size of your blister.
e) Leave the threads in place as the blister drains and the loose skin toughens to protect the tender skin underneath.
f) After a few days when all is well, remove the threads.
We queue for what seems like hours in the local haberdashery and have a picnic lunch in the town plaza. Here Mechteld doctors her poor feet and it works a treat (she won't let me near them).
Chatting as we leave the old city we find ourselves on a busy road in a modern industrial area - we've missed a right turn so have to backtrack to find the route again. Stopping at a fountain in Fuentes Nuevas we share fruit with three American girls who Mechteld had met previously before carrying on to a quirky albergue in Villafranca, the cosy beamed attic with comfortable mats resembles a ship, we love it. 
Ave Fenix (€6), mats on the floor in attic and tasty communal dinner. 
Saturday 23: Villafranca to Herrerias - 17 miles (27km). 
Opting to take the scenic but remote and poorly waymarked Dragonte route to Herrerias we find it's a long hard climb on this high-level route but it's quieter and more beautiful than the road route. However, there are few water fountains or other amenities. It's a hot day and when we stop for lunch Mechteld is shocked when I use my precious water to rinse my hands. 
Mechteld: "We could die of thirst up here!"
I laugh and joke back:  "Are you sure you have enough oxygen with you for this altitude?".
We are still in farmland but I'm sure this would be a mountain in Holland. 
The maps in the guidebook are inadequate and just above the San Fiz de Soe rock quarry we loose our way as each path we try runs into a muddy bog or stops at a field boundary. We can see a hilltop village but can't get to it. Mechteld is tired and, I think, quite worried but eventually we reach a village which we hope is Vilasinde, the only one with a bar on the entire route. Mechteld is so releaved that when a gnarled old woman appears in the cobbled street she runs up and hugs her - I can't stop laughing. Kindly, the lady shows us to the bar, it's closed, but after a few knocks on the door we are welcomed in. We are the only customers, this is nice, I wish we could stay the night.
Hours later we eventually reach the cosy albergue in Herrerias, a long and tiring day but I enjoyed Mechteld's company, it was fun.
Albergue Myriam (€5).
Sunday 24 June: Herrerias to Fonfria - 12 miles (20km). Another uphill morning and we cross the border into Galicia. After lunch in the pretty hilltop town of O'Cebreiro we agree to meet up later and I go on ahead as far as Alto do polo. The albergue is not so good so I continue onto Fonfria where I meet up with the three American girls again - I hope Mechteld catches up. Nice communal dinner, but no pretty little Dutch girl.
Albergue Reboleira (€8).
Monday 25: Fonfria to Triacastela - 6 miles (9km). Short day today as I wait for Mechteld to catch up - no joy.
Albergue Xacobeo (€9).
Tuesday 26: Triacastela to Sarria - 12 miles (19km). Walking with Adam & Joanne for a while today I relate to them, a little unfairly, one story I told Mechteld when we were talking about countryside lore (we had earlier  been discussing gullible people).
Me: "Do you know how to tell if it's going to be a harsh winter?"
Mechteld: "No."
Me: "Blackbirds build their nests with bricks."
Mechteld: "Really, I didn't know that." 
Albergue O Durminento (€10).
Wednesday 27: Sarria to Portomarin - 14 miles (22km). Another hot but otherwise uneventful day.
Albergue Ultreia (€10).
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Molinaseca to Portomarin. I've now walked  372 miles (598km). 

Astroga to Molinaseca

Molinaseca's Romanesque spans

Tuesday 19 June: Astorga to El Ganso - 9 miles (14km). Today's the start of the mountains again and I opt for another short hop to the small windswept village of El Ganzo.
Albergue Gabino (€8) B&B.
Wednesday 20: El Ganso to Foncebadon 8 miles (13km). More hills and at Foncebadon I bump into Natcho again. We have a beer together as I'm celebrating three years of travelling today. I'm standing on the albergue balcony when a pretty girl waves to me from the garden, I wave back, but I'm sure we have not met on the camino. After dinner we talk, she's from Utrecht where she works in the organ museum when she's not sailing on the IJsselmeer or around the Frisian Islands. Her name is Mechteld (I can write it but the pronunciation is beyond me). She seems to enjoy my head massage before we are ushered to bed.
Monte Irago albergue (€20), enjoyable communal dinner, B&B. 
Thursday 21: Foncebadon to Molinaseca 12 miles (20km). Walking with Mechteld we reach Punto Alto (1,505m) marked by a pile of stones and other items left by pilgrims - sounds spiritual, looks like a garbage dump. It's raining so I'm walking fast and when Mechteld stops to rest, I carry on (I don't have an adequate waterproof). Descending out of the mountains the weather begins to clear and I pass through the pretty villages of El Acebo and Riego de Ambros to reach the attractive riverside town of Molinaseca. Below the Romanesque bridge a dam provides a pool for swimmers, it's a pretty place. Erin, minus Cameron who has gone back to Ireland, cooks a dinner of chorizo stew with rice for myself, Paul, Gary and Natasha who now seem to be hooked-up together. Briefly glimpse Mechteld and give her a wave.
Albergue Municipal (€5), converted church with sunken kitchen below and, beds above and outside under the porch.
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Astroga to Molinaseca. I've now walked  353 miles (569km).

Leon to Astorga

Gaudi designs in Astorga

Laptop finally repaired so blog resumes apace:
Sunday 17 June: Leon to Hospital de Oreigo - 22 miles (36km). Stopping at a little bar in Fresno del Camino I join Dave, Julie, Erin & Cameron for brunch. Walking with commercial airline pilot Dave for most of the afternoon we stop to enjoy a beer at Villar de Mazarife while waiting for the others catch up. Leaving them all at Tio Pepe albergue bar in the village I continue to Hospital de Orbigo, a larger village with a stunning twenty-arch Medieval bridge.
Albergue San Miguel (€10) B&B, friendly with a little art gallery.
Monday 18: Hospital de Oreigo to Astorga - 10 miles (16km). A short hop today to the small city of Astorga with it's striking Gaudi designed building dwarfed by the uglier Gothic cathedral.
Amigos del Camino de Santiago albergue (€5), comfortable municipal albergue with garden, terrace and lounge. Met up again with Dutch Paul and Erin & Cameron.
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Leon to Astorga. I've now walked  324 miles (522km).

Burgos to Leon

Sunday 10 June: Burgos to Hontanas - 20 miles (32km). Natasha is suffering this morning so we split up at a road bridge just short of Tarjados. There's writing is on the wall. I continue to Hornillos del Camino and when the skies open up I take shelter under a little overhang, put some music on and fall asleep. When I waken there's not a cloud in the sky, I've been dozing for two hours. Now entering the flat tableland of the Spanish Meseta I continue alone to the pretty village of Hontanas. Erin & Cameron, Dave & Julie, Mike, Johanna and Canadian Christine are all there when I arrive. Sitting outside drinking refreshments, Julie shows everyone a photo of me asleep by the wayside. Later I give all the girls an ancient Thai hand massage which goes down well, Christine asks if I could give her a private full body massage the next evening.
Albergue el Puntido (€5), welcoming and friendly but with the usual banks of squeaky bunk beds.
Monday 11: Hontanas to Boadilla del Camino 17 miles (28km). After an English breakfast for brunch in Itero de la Vega, it's raining and I have no waterproofs, so I pick up the pace and overtake an astonished Mike on the run into Boadilla del Camino. Dave & Julie are there but Johanna is in the more basic municipal albergue. Our's is a good one offering a very tasty communal dinner. Sitting opposite me is amply-proportioned Tara with a catholic priest to her left and Julie to her right. Tara has been travelling for nine years mostly in Spain and Honolulu and is on her way back to Pamplona to walk the camino again, she's already walked it five times. Our conversation continues something like this:
Me: "So where are you from?" (I think she's Irish-American).
Tara: "I'm a citizen of the world."
Me: "Well, let me put it another way, which country issued your passport?"
Tara: "That's a very personal question - I'd sooner you asked about my sex life."
Priest: "Gulp."
Me (I know what I want to say, but I glance at the priest and tone it down to something ineffectual).
At lights out Tara and I are drinking wine on the sofa in the separate lounge where we spend the night. In the morning she's gone.
El en Camino (€6), great albergue, mostly bunks with some beds, congenial hosts, good food, a swimming pool and sculptures in the little grassy courtyard, comfortable lounge.
Tuesday 12: Boadilla to Carrion de los Condes - 16 miles (26km). Leaving late I catch up with Erin & Cameron who I walk with for a while before I realise that I've left my laundry hanging up in the albergue, I go back. Laundry in my pack, I start again but meet Erin & Cameron who are walking towards me, we had all taken the wrong path. We can't seem to escape Boadilla, but soon we find the correct route along the pretty Canal de Castilla, over a ruined staircase of locks, and into Fromista. Walking alone again I catch up with Johanna and Julie who are walking together and accompany them into Carrion de los Condes. Julie (from the US, walking with, her father, Dave) is a 22 years old studying in Madrid and Johanna (Swedish student) is 23, so they probably have much in common. The girls head for a nunnery albergue and I for the more expensive private one. Later in the evening I meet Mike who shows me around the nunnery where they are all staying. It's not bad - beds, rather than bunks, and mass included.
Hostal Santiago (€15) shared 4-bed bedroom with en-suite hot tub and free laundry service - luxury.
Wednesday 13: Boadilla to Sahagun - 25 miles (40km). I meet Dave at the little bakery, where we buy breakfast, before walking alone all morning to meet up with Johanna and Mike at a lunch stop bar in Caldadilla de la Cueza. We walk separately but again meet up at the spacious Los Templarios albergue (no wifi) in Terradillos de Templarios. Mike decides to stay, but Johanna and I walk on towards Sahagun. This could be a long day as Johanna is trying to escape the attentions of an Italian guy who is trailing behind her. She's a physics graduate from a family of dentists in Gothenburg, and is awaiting final confirmation of her acceptance into dentistry college. She's walked the camino before, two years ago, and is walking it again on the advice of her mother's lifestyle coach! We stop for beer and ice cream at Albergue Laganares in San Nicolas del Real Camino where Johanna devoures two ice creams in a fashion that implies that she definitely knows how to enjoy herself in the company of men. Continuing to Shagun we have a nice four-berth en-suite room all to ourselves.
Monasterio Santa Cruz (€5), monastery and hotel with various en-suite rooms around a central grassy courtyard, small library and art gallery.
Thursday 14: Sahagun to Mansilla - 24 miles (38km). I always start late but walk fast so, as usual, Johanna is ahead of me. We have agreed to meet up but there are two routes and I take the more scenic route and miss her.
Amigos del Peregrino (€5). Basic municipal albergue with little grassy courtyard and kitchen.
Friday 15: Mansilla to Leon - 11 miles (18km). Walking alone again I stop at for brunch at bar Casablanca, east of Leon, where classical music is blaring from the outdoor speakers. As I walk into the bar and a girl rushes up, flings herself around me and greets me with hugs and kisses, it's Johanna. We walk together into Leon and she tells me a little more about her life.
She works in fashion shop but can earn more money in two hours as a stripper than she can in all week in the shop. She's sold two of her Gucci handbags (I don't know how many she has) to pay for this trip as she is trying to save money for a lip job, a boob job and liposuction (she's 23!). She has been to London once but didn't see any sights as she was partying in the West End with a girlfriend and rich Arab men, hence the Gucci handbag gifts. We reach Leon and book into the municipal albergue together. Her lips and boobs are great but she could loose a little from her thighs.
Peregrino municipal (€20), modern with dorms and private en-suite rooms.
Photos of the Camino de Santiago: Burgos to Leon. I've now walked  292 miles (470km).