Vilamayor del Rio encounter

Vilamayor del Rio on the way from Redecilla to Belorado is not a village that many of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims going through each year would remember.  "It's a one-horse town where the horse was shot" said the outspoken and opinionated South African lady sitting at a table in the nice restaurant café a couple of hundred metres away from the Camino route on the other side of the highway.  Unless one deviates from the Camino there was absolutely no where to get a drink.

But that was not the only complaint that was aired. The rather stern manager / waiter received a string of comments in his absence. He was indeed an odd one who appeared to have taken a leaf out of customer service book from Fawlty Towers. He made sure all customers obey the rules for the place which were prominently displayed at the front door, including no backpacks, no walking poles, no shorts, no singlets, no removal of shoes etc all of which pilgrims are mostly to have with them or want to do.

The lady went on to complain about the lack of English probably forgetting that she was in Spain.

We were soon joined by an Aussie family group of a mother and two young children walking for the late father of the children who passed away last year. Remarkably the 13 year old boy walked the Camino with his father once before. There are many such stories on the Camino.

Stories on the Camino

Santo Domingo is a two-tale town. The one about the chickens is too long to narrate here so it's best left to google. (Accompanying photo of the bird cage inthe cathedral). The story of Dominic who helped pilgrims in many ways including building a bridge and attained sainthood despite initially failing to be a monk, is more plausible.

On the Camino we often meet up again with people we came across earlier.  In Santo Domingo we ran into the Italian lady who was nursing a painful foot back in Logrono and who obviously recovered well. And how excited we were when we met up with Cody and Kristy in Redecilla whom we knew from the Sydney pilgrims group!

Santo Domingo to Redecilla del Camino

Today we resumed our walk having rested and recovered, but just a gentle 11km. We are walking in a different season  and the landscape looked quite different from the last time, all green with young unripened  grain crops and blood-red poppies popping out everywhere on the roadside (is that why they are called poppies ?) The cooler weather made walking much easier than last time.

Apology to Spain

I have to admit that in a moment of indiscretion I posted what might have appeared to be comments on the Spanish that were less than generous.  Indeed some readers would say I had been totally rude to my hosts who all had been kind and hospitable. My intention was to point out, especially to would be pilgrims the challenges of the Camino, ad the surprises in some small places like Santo Domingo.

Indeed where else in the world can one get a cup of good coffee for 1 euro or,  as we had earlier today,  a 3 course meal for 13 euros, and find locals who helpfully pointing out the right way to Santiago despite all the disruptions to their lives.

The weather conditions at the Pyrenees were awful but then so are all mountain ranges. Since then it has been clear blue skies and bright sunshine eveyday.

As you can see in the photo we were smiling as we prepared ourselves for some Spanish ham, salad, tomatoes, fresh bread and vino tinto (red wine).

Santo Domingo

Tower at Santo Domingo.

Bilbao -Santo Domingo food comments

Not many pilgrims complain about the food in Spain but we always do after a few days in the villages and provincial cities;  we are spoilt by multicultural Sydney and Singapore no doubt.

We can live with pinchos for lunch but it seems every bar is offering the same half-dozen choices - tortilla,  jamon, boccadilos perhaps drowned in mayonnaise or olive oil. You want anything else you have to wait till after 8 pm or later. 

Bilbao is a city that attracts perhaps millions of visitors each year but it is still hard to find a full meal serving place at lunch time let alone one serving non Iberian cuisine. We spotted a Chinese restaurant in town; like the others  they open in the evening after 8 pm.

Imagine our excitement when we got to Santo Domingo, a tiny village by comparison to Bilbao,  and found not one but several places serving full meals in the middle of the day including several showing off "2 Forks" signs. We jumped immediately into one and enjoyed the 11 euros menu del diaz of fish soup (Kay had salad), lamb stew (meat balls), ice cream and drinks. Obviously the large number of pilgrims have made an Impact here; pilgrims have their special needs,  partly because they need to go to bed early and partly because they come from places with less rigid cuisine style and eating schedule.

Bilbao

This morning was spent at the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum which we had heard so much about. We particularly enjoyed The Clock, a video montage of thousands of movie clips each containing a scene with an indication of time on a time device such that the entire screening act as a real time clock. It was indeed worth every minute of our time there.

We also explored Bilbao's old town including the Camino route passing through there. Bilbao is situated on a different Camino route from the Camino Frances.

A respite from walking at Logrono

We end up spending 3 nights in Logrono for Kay to recover from her cold and for me to overcome the fatigue that lingered on ever since the Pyrenees. Perhaps there was a touch of jetlag as well.

Logrono was a good spot to rest in spring though the seeds from trees float down incessantly like snowflakes and collecting in drifts everywhere gave me some hayfever.

We met up again with some pilgrims we encountered earlier including an Italian lady we shared an albergue room with at Zubiri. Unfortunately she was forced to rest with a foot injury.  We are beginning to hear of many such stories now that we are more than 100 km down the track.

By the 3rd day we had rested enough to want to to a lengthy walk so we explored the parks on the banks of the Ebro River and walked the Camino right across the city to its southwestern edge at the railway bridge and back. We had done this stretch previously but we then did it in the dark before dawn broke to avoid the then summer heat. Yesterday we had a good look at suburbia alive.

While resting, a cursory look at a map of Spain gave us a sudden realisation that Bilbao, a side trip objective, is just to the north of us in Logrono. We took a quick decision to take a trip there from Logrono instead of venturing forth on the Camino for the time being.

Logrono

Logrono cathedral

Perigrinos boom

There are all kinds of "perigrinos" or "pilgrims". The traditional walkers who intend to walk every metre of the way seem now to be overwhelmingly outnumbered by the touristy kind who gets transported to and from sections walking little or none at all. Hotels with private facilities are crowded or full.

Purists would surely shake their heads  disapproval but who is to say which kind of pilgrims is the true one?

Logrono

When we found that we would be in Logrono on a Sunday we were disappointed thinking that everything will be dead. What a pleasant surprise when we found cafés open and chocolate and patisserie shops as well. What's more the sky was blue and the sun shining brightly.

Things are cheap; we had three dishes of pinchos two coffees and a soft drink for 8€ or less than 11 aussie.

We learn something new each time we come to Spain. Only peligrinos order café con leche after breakfast.  It's café cortado - with less milk.

We sat for a few minutes through a Spanish church service at the main cathedral and listened to the ringing of its bells, which to a ringer of the Engish version like myself sounded rather monotonic.

Beyond Puente La Reina

Beyond Puente la reina the Camino cuts across the richest wine producing regions of Spain. We had few incentives to redo the walk across rolling hills and vineyards even though they are truly beautiful. Kay, still nursing a cold, proceeded to Logrono while I walked the 7 odd km from Los Arcos to Torres del Rio with the intention of taking a good look at the 12th century Knight Templar church there. The terrain was quite flat all the way bar the steep climb to the village but I forgot the one idiosyncrasy of Spain by arriving during the siesta time and could only admire it from the outside. Even old churches need a rest. That was still better than our previous Camino when I walked right past it.

Zarqueigui

Golden canola fields and statues of the Alto de Perdon

Zariqueigui to Puente La Reina

Zariquiegui albergue was disappointing in its lack of maintenance, the place had deteriorated since our last stay. The saving grace was the company, the Canadian - South Africans who walked the same leisurely place and hence we met again, and the father and son pair who slowed to allow the younger's feet to recover.

Kay had a mild cold, so decided to skip the Alto de Person to proceed directly to Eunate with mechanical propulsion
while I pushed on by foot. The alto climb wasn't too difficult even though we are 2 years older! I walked on to Eunate, a diversion just to view the remarkable 12th century Santa Maria Romanesque round church, one we missed the previous time.

I caught up with Kay at Obanos from where it was just a short 2km stroll to Puente La Reina, the Queen's bridge.

Civilised brekky (breakfast)

May Day holiday in Pamplona, not much point staying another day, so we are off to Zariquiegui halfway up to Alto de Perdon where the masthead background photo of this blog was taken two years ago.