A day of slugs and Barro!

These pictures are backwards. Start at the bottom!

The river

Katie and mountain

Beautiful countryside!

The river we followed all of today

Day 1 and we are sill speaking! Even though Katie has tiny American legs and Bea has long Dutch legs that tackle mountains like a cake walk. 

These views were our motivation. That and the fact that we were homeless of we gave up. 

We took a break before a hill we thought we had to climb. Turns out it wasn't part of the route and we celebrated. 20 minutes later we were looking down as that "steep" road from our steeper path. 

Katie wants to get married int their garden. 

In Spain!!!

The river!

One of the many waterfalls we saw!/walked through. 

Skeleton and slug. 

There is hope. 

The beginning. Was such cake. 

Bea in saint jean

Our first steps. 

After a night of great sleep for Katie (jet lagged and after 20 hours of travel) and a bad night sleep for Bea due to a certain snorer in the room we were awoken at 6am. Breakfast  was served between 6:30 and 7 and it consisted of French white bread and jam as well as instant coffee. At 7:30 we left the hostel at st jean and started the Camino for real. 

The rain was pouring down but our spirits were high and the beautiful scenery encouraged us to keep going. Katie took a lot of pictures on her iPhone as she had a waterproof cover for it. (Thanks mom!) Bea unfortunately did not pack her camera charger as last minute she decided that it was too heavy to treck up the mountain. She also did not check if the battery was full (which it wasnt) and therefore her camera was rendered useless.

The first half of the way went by quickly and we reached the town of Valcarlos in no time. We felt so great we kept walking which in hindsight was our first mistake. Suddenly our spirits dampened as the rain poured down heavier and the route became a steep uphill. We were soaked to the bone and only halfway. 

The next stretch was along a dangerous winding mountainous UPHILL road with cars speeding by in the mist. Here we risked our lives for St James. We hope he appreciates this. 

The route then turned into a lovely track along the river with plenty of waterfalls, we remembered why we signed up for this adventure after all. However After a while the track became a mudslide which incidentally in Spanish is Barro. 

 We took the lower route as the higher route was too dangerous (it is so cold here it was snowing in the mountains). In hindsight this was a stroke of luck as the lower route was much tougher than expected.  It broke out-of-shape Katie.  

We finally reached the summit with a map of the vista we should have seen. Katie collapsed on it out of brokenness. We looked up and saw Spanish clouds the look just like the ones in both America and Ireland. We got a bit lost for about 5 minutes as it was spitting down rain with high winds. We eventually found the right way and continued on and soon saw a sign that indicated Roncevalles was only 15 min away. We finally saw a building that looked like a castle. We planned to walk right past it to find a hostel with a hot shower, but as luck would have it, it was the hostel! It is run by the Dutch and therefore wonderfully clean and orderly. The floors are sectioned off into little compartments of 2 bunk beds. It had hot showers which we abused until we could feel all of our limbs again. It also has a laundry service! 2euro70 and they will wash and dry your clothes. Obviously, as out clothes were soaked with borro, we took advantage of this!

Then we hung out for a bit in the common room and chatted with and American for Arizona and an Australian. Then we went to a restaurant and ate a 3 -course meal (soup, trout & fries/pasta, yogurt and a bottle of wine!) We sat with a lovely Irish couple that was there for 12 days to do part of the hike. 

All in all it has been a beautiful and challenging day. Crossing our fingers for some sun soon!

A day of travel!

Well after our beautiful reunion in the Dublin Airport arrivals gate, Bea and I checked in to our flight for France. We spent our two hour wait catching up at Butler's Chocolate Cafe. It had wonderful coffee, and even better chocolate! Our flight to France was uneventful aside from Beatrijs creepily taking awful pictures of me passed out (hadn't slept yet since America) and karma redeeming itself... A kid behind Bea threw up. 

Well we arrived in Biarritz, walked outside and found a bus going to the train station. We got to the cute little town of Bayonne, got out tickets, a delicious sandwich of brie, honey, and veggies, met a random New Zealander who had done the Camino twice and provided us with some tips, and hopped on the bus to take us to our starting point. Bea,as always on any moving vehicle, passed out in 30 seconds. I tried to hold on in an effort to adjust to the time change, but failed and spilled a very cold diet coke I was holding down my shirt as I fell asleep. 

Once we got to StJean we went straight to the reception for the pilgrims. We arrived just on time as we got some of the last places at the cheap municipal hostel. We paid ten euros for a hostel, breakfast and a pilgrims passport. 

At the hostel we met our four other roommates, all Americans like Katie. After settling in we had time to explore. The town is very picturesque and Katie especially kept on commenting on the wonderful colours and views all around. We followed a long set of steps which led us to a beautiful castle fort like structure. The view from here was incredible. 

After dinner of a shared pizza served by a snooty French waitress we went back to the hostel. Poor Katie at this stage was exhausted and jet lagged and is now asleep on the bed. 

So far all has gone well except the constant lashing rain. Tomorrow we will take the low mountain route to Roncevalles as the higher route is too windy and snowy and dangerous. Katie was a but bummed as she had her set on the mountain, oh well! We are excited to start the Camino for real tomorrow. 

 

Reunited and it feels so good!

Remember how I said i would be very good looking at this point?!

Regardless we found each other!!! Up next: France!

Dublin!

I've made it to Ireland!

I've already had to declare my unemployment. Lovely. 

The night before....

So it's the evening before Katie and I leave before our big adventure in Spain and I think I may have food poisoning, not a good start. I should have suspected something dodgy about those half price Haribo sweets.
On the plus side, my bag is finally packed and ready to go. It is extremely difficult to pack four weeks into a small rugsack. I, being a girl like to have a choice of outfit for all occasions, to suit my mood at the time. I found it hard to resist throwing in extra t-shirts and trousers just in case I would get the opportunity to wear them. In the end every item I put in my bag had to answer this simple question: Is this worth the effort it will take to carry it up the hill? Usually the answer was no.

So why would one subject themselves to such agony? I for one, wanted to do the Camino as it sounded like an adventure and an unforgettable experience. Who better to join me in the adventure than Katie, my companion from last summer. It took three months, rain, sun and wind, a leaking tent, social isolation, difficult bosses, and a camp-site for Katie and I to learn to put up with each other. Only joking, from the moment Katie arrived on the camp site, and despite twenty hours of travelling we stayed up all night talking, I knew we would be the best of friends. At the end of the summer it was very difficult to say good bye.

Now the night before our big reunion, I have no doubt that our friendship will survive the Camino. I think the experience will be tougher than I ever imagined but that it will be one that I remember for the rest of my life.

♫ ♫ ♫ The Final Countdown badadadum, badadadadum... ♫ ♫ ♫

Ok so its finally here! I was up till 2 trying to find all my stuff to shove into my backpack and trying to sort out my life. I have inexplicably woken up at 6am, so basically "I'm too excited to sleep!"

I'm that kid

So my current life plan is to run a bunch of errands, buy stuff I'm missing, and pack. My flight leaves just before 2pm, so I've got a bit of time.... especially since I felt it was necessary to wake up before the sun on my first day of unemployment (dumb). All the errands I have to do are stressing me out a bit and  there is bad weather forecast, which I don't like. 

This one time in high school we went to Disney World for a choir trip. One thing led to another and I somehow ended up on the Tower of Terror. It was terrifying (should of figured that one out, uh due to the name?) Well, on the flight home, it was a bit turbulent, and every time the plane would jerk, I felt like I was back on the ride and we were going to plummet. So since then, I have not been a huge fan of turbulence. I like to panic silently while trying to help the pilot keep the plane in the air by grabbing on to the armrest to keep it flying. I also like to be near a window to make sure we are still in the air and a proper distance away from the ocean. I've flown probably 30 or so times, and I still stress at turbulence. From experience I've found that drinking a beer before any flight at the airport regardless of hour or ridiculous price really calms the nerves, and then coupled with a Tylenol PM, I should be a happy little camper... I hope. 

So, to packing. I've read a dozen or so blogs about what I should pack. I then went to the REI sale last week and fell in love with every REI employee, because they were all travelers too, I was surrounded by kindred sprits and expensive hiking gear. I followed the salesperson's every word ... I think I blacked out for part of it, and walked out half a paycheck deep in gear. I don't know how it happened. But now I am ready for all the backpacking adventures the world can throw at me. In real like I have never been backpacking, for real. I wear a backpack when I travel, but I've never hiked with one. So I just put a big investetment. I'm going to love, A. because I probably will, and even if I don't, B.I will until I pay off my VISA!

Oh gosh. Its go time! On my way to O'Hare!

"the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray"

And thats where adventure starts!

What is the El Camino?
Originally it started as a religious pilgrimage to the city of Santiago, Spain to pay homage to the body and spirit of St. James that is said to be buried in it's Cathedral. This pilgrimage is now walked for many reasons whether for religious purposes or just amusement.

I can't speak for Bea, but the El Camino just kind of seemed like fun. I was raised Catholic, but I'm more of a just lets be nice to each other and enjoy the hell out of life type of a person now. I love walking. I love being outdoors. I love the sun (even though we are forecast for rain in Spain mainly on the plain for the next 7 days of our trip, I'm sure its just a weatherman error... right?!) I love being unemployed. I love an excuse to travel and to shower but minimally and have that be acceptable. Most of all I can't wait to meet other travelers and learn all of their stories. Oh and I suppose I am rather excited to see Bea too as it has been almost a year.

How does it work?
There are many routes to follow to arrive at Santiago. Bea and I will be walking the most traditional route, "Camino Frances" which is highlighted in yellow in the map below. I'm leaving from Chicago on May 28th where I will fly to Dublin via Newark. Bea and I will stage our joyful airport reunion where I'm sure there will be a power ballad cued to emphasize the greatness of this moment. Then we will board our classy RyanAir flight to Biarritz, France. By the time I arrive in France, I will have been traveling for 16 hours. I'm pretty sure I will be very good-looking at this moment.

From there we will take a train to St. Jean Pied de Port. Once there, we need to find accommodations for the night and then must get our "Pilgrim Passport." Actually, we might need to do that in reverse order. The pilgrim passport is proof that we are pilgrims hiking the El Camino. This will allow us to stay at albergues which are cheap hostel-like places. You typically can only stay there for one night as you are expected to rise with the sun and continue on the hike the next day. The passport is stamped at each hostel every night and then a month from now when we arrive at Santiago, we will present our passport to receive the certificate of the completion of the El Camino de Santiago. We don't really have our route planned out. There is a day that we need to be in Santiago by, as Bea already has a ticket home. So basically our plan is to wake up, walk, eat, drink an impressive amount of sangria, and sleep.


So Martin Sheen did a movie about the El Camino. It is great. I love President Bartlett. Just ignore the part where the son dies. That is not in our itinerary. However I do like that Martin Sheen is the American (aka me) and Joost is a bumbling Dutch (aka Bea). I feel like it is quite representative of our friendship. I'm a grump and Bea is a goon.

We are following the yellow route.