Day 15 - 09.07.2020

From Fonfria to Triacastela there is a continuous descent, as we started on the road quite early and the fog and low temperatures are tiring, the wind in front makes the descent even more unpleasant. We didn't really recover after the previous day and we don't feel like talking.

Arriving at Triacastela we stop for a coffee. We are in a real dilemma, where to go? Through San Xil, a shorter road in the valley or through Samos with 7.2 km longer? We choose to go through Samos to visit the famous monastery, a beautiful road with impressive oak and chestnut forests on both sides of the river Oribio (Sarria).

In Samos we are looking for the monastery, mentioned above, dedicated to San Julian founded in the sixth century, which unfortunately is closed under the given conditions, we barely manage to stamp our credential. After we leave the small town, I can barely move my arms, which puts Vasi to an extra effort. 

With great effort we arrive in Saria, we take accommodation at a boarding house, because no one answered the phone at the hostel. We weren't very inspired because the bathroom was very small, and it was impossible for me to go to the toilet or take a shower.

 

We rest the rest of the day without worries, we know that the albergues will be open. We didn't even think much about tomorrow, but in order to not get bored, life gets us in a little hassle tomorrow, which we could have avoided today.

Day 4 - 28.06.2020

 We leave Logroño around 6:30 am. The exit route from the city passes through a beautiful park, a pity that part of the alleys werein construction and we could not see it in all its splendor, although we managed to meet a little friend, whose picture I'm gonna leave lower, so you can enjoy it too. The park hosts a biological research station that studies the ecosystem around Lake Grajera which we thought was really cool.

Route

little friend

    Onwards the road passes through wide valleys, fields full of vineyards and sprinkled with a multitude of bodegas, too bad they were closed and we could not taste some wine, gentle hills, culminating in two more steep climbs: El Alto de la Grajera and El Alto de San Anton.

Born on the Way

Born on the Way

Born on the Way

    The only inconvenience of this stage, if you let me put it this way, is the presence of the A12 motorway, which accompanies us on many parts of the route.

    We arrived safely in Najera, since the morning we looked for accommodation during the short breaks we made, the only private hostel open in Najera, did not want to give us beds in the common albergue,  only in a private room due to restrictions Covid-19. We hardly managed to climb the 26 steps to the so-called room, the room had no bathroom, and the shared bathrooms were impassable: narrow doors and even narrower showers so in these conditions we appeal to a high level of hygiene: wet wipes. We eat cold canned  lentils, from the only open store  (it was Sunday and we had lost the count of days and thus ran out of food) and potato tortilla from a nearby bar, because we can not use the kitchen to heat them, another safety measure Covid -19.

    

    But of course we are happy and grateful to have a place to sleep. Ah, yes I forgot to tell you we were the only pilgrims in the albergue. Another day ends...

Day 2 - 26.06.2020

    Early in the morning we wake up with more vigor after yesterday, the sneakers still wet (they were soaked in water, although we put newspapers in them, according to the instructions of the host), after a cafe con leche and a hearty breakfast (included in the price of accommodation) and a photo as a souvenir (I was going to forget, the owner told us that we are the first post-Covid pilgrims to stay in his house).

    We start moving, we actually have to recover the 7 km from the last stage and the 21 km from the current stage. Great aspirations, but we start with hope. The 7 km from Uterga to Puente la Reina are done without any problem, the only inconvenience was the lack of shops, well, the lack of open shops. A saviour appears as the following event happens to us in Puente la Reina. I was sitting outside on the sidewalk, Vasile, my husband, sitting on the curb, enjoying a soda and a well-deserved break, and we were watching the lively conversations of the locals. We decide to start following the original route, but we don't make more than a few steps and we are interrupted by a voice that warns us from behind: “No podeis ir por ahi con la bici, teneis que tomar la carretera. Hay escaleras al bajar”, what we didn't know and the local tells us is that when we go down from the village we will find stairs following the traditional route. We couldn't go that way of course, so the local led us to the road, we thanked him and we started for the Roman bridge that is after the descent. 

Roman Bridge

We are on the right way

Refugio de P.P Reparadores-Puente La Reina

Refugio de P.P Reparadores-Puente La Reina

Two pilgrims walk on the Roman bridge

    In our thoughts we thank heaven and the man that warned us for sparing us of the unnecessary effort. We advanced another 5 km on a dirt road, keeping the highway on the right.

Highway on the right

Small Break

Dirt Road

Camino 

Highway 

Under the Highway

Under the Highway part 2

    A not so very pleasant part of this stage is the ascent of Mañeru. Although it is very hot since the morning, you could feel the effects of yesterday's storm, the humidity of the air stuck to our skin and the hot air took our breath away. The sloping dirt road with numerous ditches made of water flowing down the valley, along with mud and stones made the ascent a torment. 

Ascent

    We move slowly as if time stood still, we finally manage to reach the end of the climb, sweaty and weak. We don't even feel the rest of the trip to Estella, how it passed, what happened, although there were many ups and downs. We arrive in the city, we are one hundred percent sure that we will find open hostels (on the specialized sites they were all open), surprise !! Everything is closed, another storm is approaching and we are without accommodation, so we took all the hostels in the city one by one. In the end we find something accessible from all points of view, financially and without too many stairs. Of course, human nature in conditions of stress toys with us, dark thoughts surround us: what do we do if albergues will not open? What if we have to continue to stay in hostels / hotels? We decide to calm down and take each day as it comes. It's a wonderfully special trip, let's enjoy it!

Day 2

Somewhere on Camino

On Camino de Tronos you either walk or die

Day 1- 25.06.2020- Pamplona, Spain

Where were we? Ah yes, after too many hours on the bus, one day in Zaragoza and again on the bus, to Pamplona now, ​​we officially became pilgrims after obtaining the first stamp on the credencial in the cathedral of Pamplona.

Credencial-Pamplona

    So many feelings! God, I relive that moment every day and I wonder how have we succeeded to make it to that day. But let's move on with our story, after receiving the stamp we decided not to linger too long in the city and start the Camino in the same afternoon, but wait a sec!? Trying to get out of the twisted old center of Pamplona, impossible for us in that moment, ​​we lost sight of the signs of the route (the specific markings of the Camino, which I leave the picture of below), we lost precious time, but we succeed in the end. We left the city crossing parks, many streets, we passed the huge university campus and slowly, slowly we head towards Alto del Perdon, without realizing what awaits.

Specific signs of Camino

After a short break in Cizur Menor and a run to the pharmacy to get magnesium, heart and muscle support, we head to a more filled with mountains terrains that culminates with Alto del Perdon itself, without knowing and without anyone telling us that we will meet a rocky road, so of course we hardly advance on the stony road that crosses the vast fields of cereals.

    But it seems that nature opposed us from the beginning: a monstrous storm coming out of nowhere caught us close to the summit. Three hours under a walnut tree without the possibility of advancing or return, wet, cold and scared of course, we advance to Zariquiegui to spend the night, but unfortunately the 2 albergue (shelters for pilgrims) were closed due to Covid -19. Without the possibility of a roof above our heads, we look for a place in the following villages, we a sigh with relief when we find an open hostel in Uterga. The problem was the 5 km we had to travel to get there, you have to keep in mind that it was still raining and it was already 9 in the evening, but salvation came to us, the host, the owner of the hostel that would welcome us had called us a taxi. And so, dear readers, we ended the first day of the Camino, a hard day, full of adventures and emotions, I can not tell you how many times we wondered what we actually got into and if it makes any sense to continue. One thing I noticed from the first day of the Camino, from the perspective of 2 people with not much exercise, is to listen to your body and heart, can it handle more? To pay attention to the advice received from the locals (we had received warnings from the village elders that a storm was coming, but the signs were contradictory so we ignored the warnings) and certainly the more water, the better.

    From the perspective pf a person with disabilities, although I used a hand bike and prepared myself somewhat mentally and physically for exercise, it does not compare to what you encounter in the day-to-day life, every stone was against me and of course climbing a mountain exceeded my physical exercises at home, but if I learned something that day, it certainly was to never give up.

    So darlings, we will soon continue with the second day of our adventure. Until next time, peace of mind and body!

Y buen camino, peregrino!

Pamplona Cathedral

Pamplona

Buen camino, peregrino!

 

    If you think that Camino is calling you, you can find out my experience during the 21 days of walking, on the French route, the oldest pilgrim route in Europe. Being a special year, post Covid-19, with uncertain situations, closed borders, applied security measures, deserted roads, municipal, parish and even private albergue (some, of course) closed, planes left on the ground and thus cancelled flights and many cancellations of plans, I realized together with my husband that it is necessary to mobilize and that's how we covered the approximately 840 km from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela. You may be wondering, how did we do this in just 21 days, because you usually need a longer period of time to cover this route, about 35-40 days actually, well, pure audacity, lack of open accommodation, where we could spend the night, but also driven by the desire to reach the destination without problems. Of course, various problems and fears arose during this adventure, among which we were stopped by the police and the fear of not being able to return (due to the government desire to close Romania's borders) and others I will tell you in the coming days of Camino.

Turistic indicator

  Of course you may not know, but I am a person with disabilities, paraplegia after a spinal cord injury (or in less medical terms lack of feet mobility), which often led to the need of help from my husband in most stages of the route, even if I had a hand bike attached to the wheelchair (cool, huh?).

So coming back to this year's main problem, Covid-19, planes don't fly, what do we do? That was in our minds, since the end of March, when our first flight was cancelled. That shouldn’t have been a problem, but they were cancelled again two times, desperation took over and we said stop and made the impulsive decision to take our bus tickets. Nice, isn't it? 36 hours spent in a bus without many possibilities to get off, accessibility? naaaaah. We chose the Baia Mare-Zaragoza route, as we are from Maramureș and have long wanted to bathe our eyes in the beauty of the Virgen del Pilar cathedral. It was strange that before entering the cathedral, we accidentally entered a church dedicated to St. James (as well as the cathedral of Santiago), it seemed to me a magical coincidence, which wonderfully makes our story take a cyclical touch. From here on again on the bus to Pamplona (we were just talking about cycles), because Saint-Jean du Port, the usual place to start the pilgrimage was closed. I cannot express myself clearly, describe in words what I felt when I received the first stamp on the credencial (pilgrim's passport) in Pamplona Cathedral.

Bus somewhere in Europe

Delicias, Zaragoza

Delicias, Zaragoza

To Pamplona

Virgen del Pilar, Zaragoza

The dream comes true and our adventure takes off, as we soon see the first real day as pilgrims.

Until next time,

Buen Camino, peregrino!