21 - 22 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

Angela and Kristine left for the convent of Santa Clara at 7h30 with a few of the pilgrims who also wanted to attend mass.  It is still dark and day breaks around 8am. I blew out all the candles in the bathroom and mopped and scrubbed in there first, barricading the door with broom and mop as I walked out.

 

Then I stripped the beds.  Angela had suggested that there was no need to wash the sheets every day so today would be the first time we didn't 'stew' them in boiling water. 
I went from bed to bed, taking out the blankets and pillows, shaking the sheets on the beds.  There was a little black speck on one of the sheets that didn't move.
 I got my Waka Waka and shone it on the bed.  Eeeek!  Was it a bed bug?  I picked it off the bed with a white tissue and carried it outside.  Is this what a bedbug looked like?  I wasn't sure so I rolled it up in the tissue and put it in a zip-lock bag.  I'd check with Angela when she got back but just in case, I would stew the sheets after all and spray the beds and walls as usual.  It took ages to boil enough water on the stove as only three burners were working but by boiling water in smaller pots I eventually had sufficient water to cover the sheets and pillowcases in large plastic basing.

 

I sprayed the walls and all the blankets and put them in the plastic containers in the sun.  Then I swept the dormitory and checked the dustpan.  Two more of the critters in the pan!  I rolled them up in toilet paper and added them to the zip-lock bag.

Usually by mid-day our beds are all taken but by lunch time today we only have 7 pilgrims signed in including a young Spanish woman with Tourette Syndrome, who I adopted as my assistant hospitalero.  She helped sign in a couple of pilgrims, showed pilgrims where to do their washing and held the fort while I walked to the tip to get rid of the trash.  She also helped with the chopping of the vegetables for Angela's lentil stew and was thrilled when we rewarded her with an extra piece of chocolate at dinner time!

 

At about 1:30 Angela and Kristine arrived back with groceries but no candles.  We were now critically low.  I called them aside away from the pilgrims to show them the bugs I had found.  Bed bugs.  Angela told Kristine to burn them whilst she took the Waka Waka to search the back wall where Kevin had said they liked to hang out.  She found two more.  
Although this didn't represent an outbreak, it was obvious that pilgrims were carrying them here from other albergues and we had to be extra vigilant about searching and destroying them.  Kristine thought we should close the albergue.  Angela didn't agree - this wasn't infestation, just a handful of 'passengers' being transferred by pilgrims.  We would continue to inspect the bedding, walls and floors and spray every day.

One of our pilgrims today was an Indian doctor from Mumbai.  We had a long conversation about South Africa and cricket - Finn would have been proud of me!  After dinner I was trying to push down the rubbish in our bin when I sliced my little finger on a tuna tin lid.  It bled like buggery and I called out, "Is there a doctor in the house!"  Our Indian doctor and our nurse Kristine took charge and cleaned the wound then applied pressure and strapped it up tightly.  Still blood was oozing through the dressings.  "You must sleep with the hand raised tonight," he said, "and see a doctor tomorrow in case you need a Tetanus injection." 

I would accompany Angela to the 8h30 mass and then we would walk to the village to find the doctor. 

9 SEPTEMBER - SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA 21 km

Marion has been a wonderful Group Leader.  Every night at 6pm she is available in the foyer of our hotel/pension to answer questions, tell the group about the next day's walk and pass on any special instructions.  Every night everybody arrives and so the next day there is no confusion about where to leave the luggage, how far the next day's walk is, what to look out for along the way.

Bonnie and Randy usually make an early start and the rest of us trickle out about half an hour later.  Connie likes to go ahead to do her meditation.  Jeffrey strides out and Marion, Moyra and I bring up the rear.  An hour or so into the walk, Connie has slipped back and Marion and Moyra go ahead. 

Jeffrey has been struggling with his back and even the day-pack has been too much for him.  Marion and I decided to inspect the contents of his pack and after sitting him down on a bench made him unpack it.  Besides various items of clothing, most that he wouldn't need whilst walking, he also had food, first aid stuff and three prayer books weighing the pack down.  Marion took the clothing, we shared the food stuff and Jeff asked me to take the prayer books. 
"They're going to be too heavy for you, Syl," said Marion. 
"Nah - they'll be Ok", I said.  And, surprisingly, they didn't seem to weigh anything in my pack, ironic as it was that the Anglican priest had entrusted his prayer books with a self proclaimed Buddhist! 
Connie is carrying a little Polar Bear toy called 'Barcelona'.  At every opportunity, Barcelona is photographed on the trail, sometimes next to monuments, churches, wayside crosses; sometimes with other pilgrims, sometimes on her own. 
I told Connie that there are very few children's Camino stories and that she should write a story about 'Barcelona walks the Camino".  I hope she does!

 

Connie and I walked into Santo Domingo together.  We stopped at the tourism office to ask the best way to the hotel and a woman leaving the office offered to walk us to the road where the hotel was.  Last year I had caught the bus here and the stop was just across the road from the hotel.

 

I had a gift for Paco and Anna and after checking in, we walked to the old town to visit the cathedral and have a look at the chickens in their place on honour at the back of the church.  You can read about Saint Dominic of the Causeway here, and of the miracle of the chickens.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_de_la_Calzada

Moyra, Marion, Connie, Jeff and I had a meal in the old quarter before returning to the hotel. 

8 SEPTEMBER - NAJERA

We chose to take the route to Ventosa where there is now a large café-bar at the entrance.  We stopped for a hot chocolate and I walked through the village to find the albergue San Saturnino where I had stayed in 2002 and in 2007 with Marion and Annelise. 

On the way we visited the cemetery which has a 13th c portal. 

These fabulous olive trees were in the grounds of a winery. 



 

A few km further we came across a wayside camper selling drinks and snacks.  Pilgrims are always grateful to see these 'informal' cafes especially on long sections between towns and villages. 

 I walked into Najera with Jeff and Connie and Marion was there to show us the way to the Hotel Hispano where I had stayed last year.  Anna was behind the desk, her sister was there with her two children and her father was cleaning cutlery in the kitchen.  Our luggage was in the foyer so I took out the little gifts I had brought for Anna, her parents and her sister's children.  I received hugs all round!

After checking in Marion and I decided to have a picnic in the park and bought a few snacks.  We met the others in the park and shared the Amarula, chips, cheese and olives.

 

Marion and I walked into the new town to look for the Cell-Mobile shop.  My Blackberry wasn't receiving emails and she had lost the little drawer for the Sim card in her iPad.  We found the shop but even though a very knowledgeable young lady fiddled and fussed over my phone for half an hour, she couldn't get the email function working.  Then she had a look at Marion's  iPad but didn't have the part.  She phoned ahead to Burgos but they also didn't have the part. 

 

 

We had walked two shortish days from Logrono but it would be 21km to Santo Domingo.  

7 September - logroño to Navarret

We met downstairs and walked together out of the city.  It seemed more like a few months ago rather than 16 months ago that I had walked out with Kathy.  We stopped at the cafeteria for a coffee and hot chocolate and also at Marcelino Lebato's table in the woods.
When we approached Navarret I took a photo of the spot where I had fallen last year.  I crossed my walking poles on the spot and forgave the Camino for my accident and broken arm.
Everyone was thrilled with the 3 star Hotel Sancho. We were too early to check in so we left our packs and went looking for a supermecado to buy food for the road tomorrow. It was siesta so everything was closed. The church was open and I put a Euro in the slot to switch the lights on so that we could see the magnificent interior of the church.
When we checked into the hotel Marion and I were amazed by our room which had a small sitting room area with a double settee and tables.   It was the smartest room we had ever had on the Camino and I decided to take advantage of the bath and soak with the sachets of Bath foam they provided.
We found a special place to et that offered something different to the regular pilgrim food. I chose 3 different tapas rather than the menu which included peppers stuffed with Cod and a black squid ink sauce.
I still can't get used to the pillows here.  They are long sausage shaped pillows and you only get one.  It was quiet cool but there were extra blankets and we had a good sleep.

El Burgo Ranero

I said goodbye to Kathy then walked down to the station and bought my ticket to El Burgo Ranero,  train leaving at 14hr37.  I am amazed at the exactitude of the timetables here. The bus is at 11:51. Not 11:50 or 11:55 , but 11:51.  The train will depart at 14h37 - not 14h35 but exactly 14h37.
I asked if I could also buy a ticket from El Burgo to Mansilla the next day.  "No hay". He said. The train doesn't go to Mansilla, I must take the bus. But sir, where do I get the bus ticket? "No se". I don't know.  (There's a hole in the bucket, dear Lisa, dear Lisa, there's a hole in the bucket,  dear Lisa,  a hole).
I went back to the hostal and tried finding a bus from El Burgo to Mansilla but kept coming up with nothing on the tablet search.  I asked if I could use the Internet in their reception.
Turns out that there is no bus on Saturday. We are back to the weekend story. No bus and no train. I will have to get a taxi tomorrow to Mansilla. I was planning on getting one of the almost hourly buses available to La Virgin on Sunday. HA! No way, Jose. There are hourly buses Lunes to Viernes, but none on Domingo (Sunday).  I will get a taxi to Leon bus station and, hopefully, will be able to buy tickets from there to La Virgin,  Hospital d'Orbigo and to Astorga.
I left a message on the ALSA Facebook page about the problems I'm having with getting bus tickets. Can't buy them on the bus,  or in the towns, or online if you have a foreign credit card. "Try booking on Movelia" they replied.
I went on the Movelia website. It seems that one can book with them, even if you have a foreign credit card,  and if you don't have a printer.  You take down the booking reference number.   I'd like to try that. I might book a one-way ticket just to see if it works.
At 13h30 I walked back into town and a peregrina from  Italy asked me where the bus stop was. She wanted to go to El Burgo Ranero.  Providence? 'Honey you have stopped just the right person' I think,  and tell her no bus without a ticket,  nowhere to buy the ticket,  best to take the train. "Donde estacion el tren? She asks. "Come with me," I say, and we make our way to the station.
Luciana is originally from Brazil but now lives and works in Venice, Italy.  We manage to converse in Spanish and we get on the train together.  El Burgo is an 11 minute ride. I think it will take Kathy over 4 hours. We arrive at 14h48. Its a dusty,  tired looking place and a small stream of pilgrims follow us to the town. How do I know where to go?  I dont, I just head for a church tower and soon pick up the yellow arrows.
I say goodbye to Luciana and she kisses my hand. Sweet peregrina. I turn left towards the large service station truck stop hotel, Castillo Burgo, where Kathy is waiting for me.
I shower, wash a few clothes and set up a makeshift washline near the open window then Kathy I go downstairs to the large cafeteria. I have a mixed salad (no tuna) and she has beef steak, eggs and chips. She is burning up energy walking +20km each day and I am burning out trying  to get from one town to the next.
At 7pm we are ready to retire to our smart, truck stop rooms.