{"id":6682,"date":"2017-12-06T01:31:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T01:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=6682"},"modified":"2025-11-22T16:50:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:50:27","slug":"buen-camino-the-good-parts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=6682","title":{"rendered":"“Buen Camino!” – The Good Parts"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A Pamplona<\/a>\u00a0monument to running with the bulls<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0(Something that is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/strong>on my\u00a0bucket list<\/a>!)<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

December 6, 2017 – Some people reading “Hola! Buen Camino<\/a>*”\u00a0might think I had a lousy time in my five weeks hiking the Camino de Santiago<\/a>\u00a0in Spain.\u00a0 For example, there was my comment on the first 10 days – after starting in\u00a0Pamplona<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 being “pretty miserable<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 My left foot constantly throbbed, until it blistered up and got tough.”\u00a0 And that it took about 10 days for that to happen.<\/p>\n

But there were lots of good<\/strong> <\/em>things that happened during those 30 days on the Camino…<\/p>\n

\"21743239_361474040953373_4085132213676039775_n\"<\/a>The good times started with Pamplona itself, where my part of the hike began.\u00a0 I had drinks – two separate times – at the\u00a0Caf\u00e9 Iru\u00f1a<\/a>.\u00a0 (Immortalized by Ernest Hemingway in\u00a0The Sun Also Rises<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/em> And before the hike started my brother and I spent a day sight-seeing.\u00a0 (During which I took my own photo of the “running of the bulls<\/a>” monument, at left…)<\/em><\/p>\n

Then too, at the end of the first day’s hike we stayed at the\u00a0Albergue Jakue<\/a>, in\u00a0Puente la Reina<\/a>.\u00a0 That was September 13, when we made 15 miles but didn’t reach the albergue until about 8:00 p.m.\u00a0 The good part:\u00a0 “They had a $13 dinner special,* which included wine.\u00a0 I GOT MY MONEY’S WORTH!<\/em><\/strong>”\u00a0 To explain:\u00a0 The wine came in a serve-your-own set of three spigots, not unlike those for draft beer.\u00a0 (Except for the privilege of “pouring your own.”)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As I recall, there was a red wine, a white wine, and a\u00a0ros\u00e9<\/a>.\u00a0 (And I noted that I had a good portion of each.\u00a0 As added in my journal, “Did I mention that I got my money’s worth on the wine?”)<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps fittingly – or preemptively – during that first day we had hiked up and over the 750-meter high Alto del Perdon<\/a>.\u00a0 (Also known as the “The Mount of Forgiveness.”)<\/em>\u00a0 And as one link says:<\/p>\n

It is a very windy place, and a long winding climb.\u00a0 The path is not very steep but feels tiring…\u00a0\u00a0Maybe the weight of unforgiven sins on our shoulders<\/strong>?\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Once the top of the hill is reached, [the pilgrim-hiker] is welcomed by these statues\u00a0representing pilgrims, braving the wind to continue their chosen path.\u00a0 (Emphasis in original.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For myself I was mostly glad that some enterprising lady had a “cafe movil,” basically a truck-pulled trailer offering cold drinks.\u00a0 And it was interesting to go\u00a0“‘horsing’ around with some of the cut-out statuary at ‘the Peak…'”\u00a0 (The Peak of Forgiveness that is, as shown above right.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is also a good time to mention that dinners on the Camino were universally delicious.\u00a0 Most of the albergues featured a three-course special, including a salad, main course and choice of desserts.\u00a0 Which may explain why – even though people said I “looked thinner” when I got back home – I actually weighed the same 160 pounds as when I left.<\/p>\n

Then on September 14 we stayed at the\u00a0Albergue de Capuchin<\/a>, a pilgrim’s hostel run by monks in a monastery:\u00a0 “Though ‘Spartan’ it has wifi … and a shower, w\/ washer\/dryer and a restaurant downstairs.”\u00a0 That was in\u00a0Estella<\/a>, not to be confused with\u00a0Estrella<\/a>, “a\u00a0lager<\/a>\u00a0beer, brewed in\u00a0Barcelona<\/a>,\u00a0Spain<\/a>.”\u00a0 (With which I became well acquainted, while in Spain.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Getting back to the hike, September 16 “was tough. 17.3 miles, from Los Arcos to Logrono. We’re both limping this fine Sunday morning.\u00a0 I have an unpopped blister on the ball of my left foot…\u00a0 I put a bandaid on it.\u00a0 Then duct-taped a gauze pad on top of that.”\u00a0 But along the way we had gotten some “jamone” sandwiches to go, and later ate them in a copse next to the “Ermita del Poyo,” or Hermitage of the Virgin of Poyo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And incidentally, those “jamone” sandwiches became pretty much part of our daily routine.\u00a0 Jamone<\/em><\/strong> is “basically a cured ham, thin sliced and dark hued, with cheese, on a half loaf of French bread,” as I wrote.\u00a0 I suppose the bread was actually “Spanish,” but either way it was very<\/em><\/strong> chewy, as was the jamone<\/em> itself.\u00a0 Which led me to ponder at one point during the hike, “I wonder what people with dentures do for lunch in Spain, what with the chewy sandwiches?”<\/p>\n

One answer?\u00a0 They probably go hungry!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And speaking of routines, breakfast had a routine as well.\u00a0 Fresh-squeezed orange juice – one feature I do<\/em><\/strong> miss about Spain – along with\u00a0caf\u00e9 con leche<\/a>\u00a0and tostadas<\/a>.\u00a0 (As in\u00a0toast<\/a>, or “more French\/Spanish chewy bread, toasted and spread with butter and marmalade.”)\u00a0<\/em> But however routine those early meals of the day, “dinners on the Camino were universally delicious.”<\/p>\n

I took a picture on September 17, the fifth day of hiking. And aside from a quaint shepherd and his flock, it also shwoed “some fellow Peregrinos in the background, walking along the road.”\u00a0 That particular day featured a lot of hiking on macadam and asphalt highways, but with more than two months’ hindsight, the picture above right made it all worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Plus, I discovered – in just checking my hand-written notebook – some more good parts of the Camino.\u00a0 I wrote on September 15, “Two nice Spanish ladies helped us today.\u00a0 One came from behind and zipped up my pack.”\u00a0 (As in the side pockets that I’d left unzipped.)\u00a0<\/em> Then, “Another [lady] pointed us back to where ‘we’d’ made a wrong turn.\u00a0 We had to hike across a field.”<\/p>\n

I remember that.\u00a0 While the Camino is normally well-marked, there are<\/em> <\/strong>times when you can get lost.\u00a0 We’d taken what we thought was the right path, but then discovered there were no other hikers around.\u00a0 That’s when the Spanish lady took the time to point out the error of our ways.<\/p>\n

But now I’m getting really<\/em> <\/strong>close to the 1,000-word maximum.\u00a0 So I’ll wrap up with the picture below, from the first day off we took from hiking.\u00a0 We reached\u00a0Burgos<\/a>\u00a0– with a population of some 180,000 – on Friday evening, September 22.\u00a0 (After 10 days hiking.)\u00a0<\/em> After checking into our swanky hotel, we went out for a bite at the\u00a0Cafe Dolar<\/a>, an American-themed pizza parlor.<\/p>\n

It was quite the Friday-night hot spot, and featured American-movie posters on the walls and ceilings, and some old-timey advertising<\/em> posters and such.\u00a0 I had such a good time that I went back Saturday afternoon, for a quick\u00a0cerveza<\/a>.\u00a0 And to take the picture below.\u00a0 (You can see my yellow-shirted arm to the left in the mirror.)\u00a0<\/em> It was almost like being home…\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>(But better.)<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Pamplona – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0 Caption: “Monument to\u00a0running of the bulls<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNote\u201d also that an asterisk in the main text indicates a statement supported by a reference detailed further in this \u201cnotes\u201d section. \u00a0Thus, as to “Some people reading ‘Hola! Buen Camino<\/a>*,'” the full reference is to the post dated October 23, 2017, “Hola! Buen Camino!\u201d \u2013 Revisited<\/a>.\u00a0 (As opposed to the “primitive” post I did while on the Camino itself, “Hola! Buen Camino<\/a>,”\u00a0<\/em>dated October 3, 2017.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And as to the “$13 dinner special,” that would have been 13 euros.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Pamplona\u00a0monument to running with the bulls.\u00a0 \u00a0(Something that is\u00a0not\u00a0on my\u00a0bucket list!) * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * December 6, 2017 – Some people reading “Hola! Buen Camino*”\u00a0might think I had a lousy time in my five weeks hiking the Camino de Santiago\u00a0in Spain.\u00a0 For example, there was my comment on the first 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6682"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6682"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25816,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6682\/revisions\/25816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}