This photo was taken the first day of our hike in 2003, coming out of Roncesvalles.
Journal entry on 9/17:
We've been in Spain for two days now. The acclimatization has been strange and wonderful. We stayed in San Sebastian the firgh night, a vibrant and wonderful beach town on the Bay of Biscay -- a city, actually, busy with people and unique buildings built around canals which made me think of Venice. We were dropped off in the center of town, by a taxi from the airport in Biarritz and found a pension immediately. He insisted on keeping our passports, which, I guess is normal but was a little unsettling - and turned out to be fine. We unpacked our backpacks and put everything we thought we would not want to carry on the walk into a box to ship forward to the lista de correos in Santiago, then went in to town to have a bite to eat. We found a restaurant with a sidewalk cafe, ordered a glass of wine, some tapas and were settling in when all of a sudden there was a loud noise and people jumped up and started running. We kept sitting there, wondering what everyone was doing, then realized that the sounds were gunshots and that we were in the Basque area where you hear about shootings etc, but didn't really know what to do so we just looked around and then noticed that traffic and people had stopped, then started moving again. The people who ran from their seats came back and sat down and went on as if nothing had happened. In fact, nothing really had happened but it was an exciting moment.
We went back to the Pension and re-checked our backpacks for anything we thought we would not need and went to bed. In the morning we collected our passports, went by the post office to shed 15 pounds of our belongings and hopped a bus to Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim Museum, which was between shows - a disappointment, but the building alone was worth the trip, and the Alexander Calder exhibit was fantastic. We walked all over the town, crisscrossing the canal and enjoying our first full day in Spain.
Sept. 16, 2003 Camino de Santiago
Sept. 16, 2003 -- First day walking, Camino de Santiago -- email to family/friends
well, we have made it to
Tomorrow we are off to Roncesvalles where we will begin our walk! It´s hard not to compare all the distances we are travelling to the amount we will be walking, so I think I will quit before I scare myself.
We are enjoying the wine, tapas and great weather.
For those who may not know what we are doing.. georgia and I are going to walk the camino de
9/17/03 To Pamplona and Roncesvalles to Begin
This morning we hopped a bus to Pamplona. The images I was carrying in my mind about all three cities we've been in are that they were going to be so much smaller than they really are. Each city - San Sebastian, Bilbao & Pamplona are totally different and unique, and so charming.
We arrived at the bus station in Pamplona at noon, only to discover we would have to wait until 6pm for the bus, so we walked outside and immediately met our first fellow pilgrim, Carlos, a policeman & guard to the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He suggested we share a taxi to Roncesvalles. He flagged down a driver & negotiated a $45 ride. As we rode through the winding country, hilly road, he pointed out pilgrims as we passed small villages and chatted to us about the walk. Of course, I didn't understand the half of it, but Georgia was able to hold the conversation together for us, roughly translating for Carlos, who speaks Portuguese, and myself.
When we arrived the albergue was closed, not to open until 4 pm so we landed at the hotel for a typical Spanish lunch - a soup, potato, lamb, wine, dessert and coffee. We stuffed ourselves and plopped ourselves down outside to wait for the pilgrim hostel to open. At 3pm the doors opened so we could get our pilgrim's credential. The room had the longest table I had ever seen, and all of the pilgrims filed in to sit & stand around the table to get signed in. We filled out a form that stated who we were, where we came from and paid a $5 fee for our bed.
The albergue itself is in a large stone (monastery) building, with 104 beds upstairs (bunks) and bathrooms and communal area downstairs. The bunks are close enough to reach across and touch the person next to you and there is a strict curfew of 10pm. If you aren't in, you get locked out until 6:30 am.
People are from everywhere - France, England, Holland, Germany, Brazil, Australia, USA and I am sure, other places as well, as every bed is filled, and the hotels also. I wonder who we will connect with?
9/18/03 Roncesvalles to Larrosoana
Our first day of walking. Everyone was moving around in the albergue before 6 am. There was a lot of excitement so we got up with them, and took off. We walked 20 something miles, and boy are we pooped! I seems that the energy it took was in the knees and lower legs for me and I'll be surprised if I can stand up in the morning.
What a difference between this Albergue, in Larrasoana than Roncesvalles, which felt like being in a sacred monastery space. The mayor is the greeter for the pilgrims here ad he has a seriously fun time putting everyone in rooms. The building is a two story building, set up like a dormatory. We are in a room with 5 mattresses lined up across the entire floor, and 6 of us to share them. Georgia, myself and Dionne, a young man from Madrid, who we met walking today took the far side of the room. We shared chocolate, stories and laughed about our state of being.
I am finding myself having to stop myself from making judgments about other pilgrims, especially the loud group of Germans who, although are having a lot of fu, are very pushy, and shove their way in front of us to get the shower first - a little strange because it sets up some antagonism with the other roomers.
Some of the people we started with have not made it to this albergue - perhaps they stopped earlier or kept walking - I can't imagine!
We had a great pilgrim's meal dinner at the local restaurant that opened at 7pm and went right to bed.
9/19 Larrosoana to Pamplona
9/19 - Journal Entry
What we want:
New heels!
Cheese
Salami/meat
Small wine bottles
Bread
Chocolate
Aye, aye aye aye - the feet, the legs, the muscles you haven't used in so may years! Reasons to take a taxi or quit walking. But we didn't. Today we walked from Larrosoana to Pamplona. My muscles are so sore and ache so much I could hardly stand it. Georgia has blisters on both feet and I feeil like I may be permanently walking sideways and to the right. It felt as if my kees were the problem but I think it's my thigh muscles seizing up. Now I know why so many of the books spend so much time talking about their feet and legs.
Meanwhile, we are traveling through beautiful old medieval towns, the countryside between is green and lush with horses, cows and sheep everywhere. The Spanish dialect and the way they pronounce their words is foreign to me, compared to Mexican Spanish.
We - I should say I - crawled down a hill, thinking I wouldn't make it - and suddenly there was an old Roman bridge and monastery and large town. We ate a well deserved meal, and rested. On the way out, we met Alfredo, another pilgrim, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, who walked with us and talked us through to Pamplona. He was an angel, really, whose conversation kept us going.
9/19/03 - Email to Family & Friends
After two days of walking, crawling, crying and a few bottles of wine at lunch, we are in
The first day was as any in a pilgrimage, we just marched up / down the Pyrenees to Larrosoana where we landed and slept 6 in a room of 5 mattresses on the floor. Everyone is up at 5:30 to 6am getting dressed trying to be quiet, but really we´ve all been up for an hour or so trying not to wake each other.
We didn´t realize how exhausted we were from the first day´s hike.. we think about 20 miles. it was encouraging to know we only had 12 to go to get to the next alberque in Cizor Menor which is 5 km past
Well, about 6 km into the walk, I couldn´t walk down hill and think I will now permanently walk a little to the right and sideways. No blisters for me, I just can´t walk downhill. Poor
..anyway we know why they drink a bottle of wine at lunch here, and we have had our bottle too! I am trying not to think about how many more miles there are to go and georgia keeps asking why are we doing this?¿ hopefully we will have an answer for you all by the time we are done, but perhaps no¿ I love this spanish keyboard.
From Ron:
Hola, Pilgrims -
Seems like the accent may be on the "grim" part of "Pilgrim" at the moment. Well, its always darkest before things get really miserable.... so buck up!!! Don't forget, this buisness of soul salvation is not an easy thing. Think of all the sins that must be washed away. It all does seems bit wonderful and crazy at the same time. ...
From Margreet:
Gosh guys, I should have told you about the BEST possible way to treat blisters and keep going. See if you can buy this stuff "Compeed" in a store/pharmacy. Put it on a hot spot, or on a blister, warm it up with your hand so it will stick, then wrap a piece of duct tape over it. Guaranteed to stick and stay for a week!!!!. It decreases pressure, pain, misery, and the compeed helps to heal the blister underneath. Good luck. I love you, and Georgia, you are doing this, because when you are old and rimpled, you will proudly tell your grandchildren that this was the BEST thing you ever did in your life. Love and kisses for both of you, Margreet
9/21/03 Letter to ChrisHi Chris!
If we can say anything.... do 100 knee bends a day before you leave - buy compeed right when you arrive and put it on anything that remotely feels like anything on your feet - no matter what they books say, you will go up and downhill all day for the first week - after the first three days, all pilgrims are created equal. aching knees, blisters, just plain tired, no one cares if you snore.
we took a day off to treat
If you decide to bike, you will probably catch up with us, as I cannot imagine we will be there before the 15 to 17 October by foot. Margreet says to buy compeed ( a rubbery patch you put on blisters) and cover it with duct tape. buy a walking stick if you decide to walk... very important especially for us old folk! What has worked for me is I duct tape my heels, balls of my feet and any toe that hurts and for me no blisters, which I am happy about.
anyway, we are liking doing this... onward to Los Arcos
It hasn't been a week, and yesterday we totally fell apart and gave into it. Georgia's blisters are making it too hard to walk and she really needed a day off. My muscles are incredibly sore, but no blisters for me. I think we just did too much too soon.
I had a very strange night sleep last night. We stayed in a hotel, a very sweet hotel in the center of town. We had hot baths, yummm and soaked our feet in hot water and creamed up. The cumulative walking each day is harder on the feet and legs than I thought it would be. Today we are just having a day off to recouperate. Georgia will probably have a few off. Our journal is filling with hangman and cribbage games. We are glad we kept our deck of cards with us.
List #2
Walking Sticks!
new heels
Shoe guy
Walking sandals
Vest
short sleeve t-shirt
Thinner socks
Post office
list #3 Songs we found ourselves singing while we walk
Teddy bears picnic
da dum... da dum..
Beatles songs
Various durdges
9/21/03 - Email to friends & family
Well, it is sunday,day of rest here in
Puente La Reina is a beautiful old town with narrow streets, brick and stone buildings and a midieval bridge leading out of town. We spent the night in a rural hotel in the middle of town and are learning to pronounce all our C’s as th' like the natives do. It’s amazing how many C sounds you use in one sentence.
Meantime, the walk to Puente la Reina was supposed to be the last of the big up and down hill. It’s a good thing because just about every pilgrim is now created equal because of all the physical maladies.. blisters, sore muscles, bad knees and equally blessed with good humor and deeper levels of comraderie between us all.
At the top of the last mountain, outside a little village that starts with a letter Z, we found modern windmills and to our great surprise, an art project by the ministry of hydro power.. a series of iron pilgrims.. shapes of pilgrims past, present and future, about 9 of them. Made us smile for a while before the last big downhill. Looking behind, we could see the remnants of
So we poked along,
We have agreed to not talk about the why word for a while, as being in the here and now seem to be just about enough for now..
We are looking forward to the flat walking that we hear is before us.
The first day we were here, everyone was up at 5:30, walking at 6. Now, the person who runs the albergues are waking us all up at 7 and just like camping, no one combs their hair or puts on clean clothes. Most of us leave at the same time, never see each other on the path, except for a short time in the beginning when some pass others and we all arrive and fall on our new beds within a half hour of each other. Pretty amazing.
So, we are off for a sunday stroll and hopefully will find another email cafe soon.
thank you for all your encouraging emails, they are mucho appreciated!
by the way, here´s a website with an interactive map of the camino walk..
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/
I think we are on etapa #5 now... it´s in spanish but you get to see the general route and there are other pages of an overall map. if you don´t speak spanish.. just click the little buttons and yo´ll find your way around the site
Well, we are back on the road again. We were delayed overnight twice waiting for Raul to warm and stretch Georgia´s shoes. When we returned this morning, he gave them to us at no charge with lots of advise on how to walk the camino... unlike he did at 40 km per day for the first 10 days! Well, no way are we going to do that, but we caught the bus to catch up past los arcos and landed in Viana, another very old old village that was bustling with pilgrims and businessmen and women having bocatillos (crusty bread sandwiches) and wine and coffee. Spain is not the country to try to give up coffee, as they make the best cups of there is... even in the little tiny villages, none of this washed out mister coffee stuff.
So we each took our turn in the bathroom, undressing and putting on our elastic knee pads to minimize the knee stuff. Of course they immediately rolled into little balls around our knees and we couldnt get them to move once our pants were up. So we left them as is and, surprise! they worked. We also each got a telescoping walking stick.. just about everyone has one of these or the more traditional wooden staff... and took off. We walked with a woman who was, from all the places in teh world, Sebastopol California, about 25 miles from where we live. Turns out she knows Margreet.. and Mary Wyman, works for the Occidental / russian river health clinics.
You just never know who you´ll meet
For a little history, which Ihave neglected during our bout with blisters, we began in Roncesvalles.. where Sancho Fuerte (sancho the strong) defeated Charlemagnés army during about 800 ad (give or take a few hundred years, I can´t be exact here without the book) anyway, we passedthe passes of Roldan (Roland) where the boulders we passed were to have been teh size of his footsteps. In the early years of the camino, many churches, monasterys and hospitals (refugios-albergues-hostels) were built to house the many pilgrims going to see the relics of Saint >James in Santiago de Compestela.
The landscape is dotted with castles, 800 year old churches, mixedwith new modern buildings. Today we passed from the province of Navaree..one of the first kingdoms in Spain, into the Rioja region. The hills are rolling instead of steep, the villages ahead visible from a long distance. the soil is deep red, and it is a main grape growing and wine region.
We ended up tonight in the albergue in Logrono, on a fiesta day and everything is closed. The main paseo.. closed sidewalk, is filled with balloon sellers and a puppetter. It is 7pm and things are just beginning to happen.
Mean time, we are off to eat and will check back in when we have gone a little further
viva espana!
9/22/03 Letter from Mer
9/22
Hi...
We're loving your emails...I print them and take them to grandma to
read....what a joy....hope Georgia gets some relief soon.....sounds like you've got all
under control....enjoyAfter this walk you'll be able to write a book on where to shop for
comfortable shoes in Spain....uphill shoes and downhill shoes!!!!! Mom is so enjoying
all the updates....and the th/c...remembering people pronouncing
Barcelona....Barthalona....
We have a ton of rain today...making it hard for me to muster up any
energy....I think of you often...glad to hear that you voted out the
whys!!!!!!!!!.....love you mer
Hi Mer,
thanks for your email! this last couple of days we needed all the encouragement we could get.
another good thing I discovered is that after not wearing my boots for 2 days, then wearing them again today for a half hour, that the boots are what is causing the problem going downhill in my knees. So we found a sport store and bought a good pair of walking shoes.. they seem fine.. part of the process I guess. We are kind of chomping at the bit now, ready to go when
-------
9/23 From Ron
Hola, Muchachas!!!
Sancho the Strong!!!! Raul the Warm Shoe Stretcher!!!! Big Footed Roland!!!! This is turning out to be quite an orthopedic adventure. Maybe the next thnig you'll run into is some local Sasquatch with a foot fetish or maybe Shoeless Joe Jackson. Have you considerd that the problem with Georgia is that her feet are too big - not that the shoes are too small? Maybe this is a job for Diego the Foot Binder. What a rich and wonderous land!!
9/27/03 - Belorado and more
9/27/03
We were trying to figure out how many miles we have gone now. We made it to Belorado yesterday, one of those days that had little villages every 3 to 4 km. It was nice to have something to see so often. Coming into Ciruena, about 1pm, we landed in an abandoned plaza that had a typical running fountain, seven or eight pilgrims eating lunch and airing out their feet.
While we were sitting there, a group of three French people were teasing each other and one of the women started singing these wonderful heartfelt deep songs that sounded like a Moroccan or middle eastern influence. She was impish too, and laughing a lot, pinching her husband. After lunch, we all poked along passing each other and made it to the Refugio about 5pm. After our showers, taking care of feet and hand washing our laundry in the courtyard laundry sinks, we headed to the main plaza for the afternoon drink and tapas.
The woman was sitting next to us and I mentioned I really liked her singing and we talked about where we were all from. She talked about doing a tour of the
We have a whole list of what we now call the songs of the Camino. All those songs that come into your head when you are going through your head when you are mindlessly wandering along. Out of the blue, one of us will say.. oh here´s another one.. so I thought I´d share our music walks with you. I think we are starting at the beginning of our singing careers, as the songs that pop in are all the songs we sang as children, and a few of my dad´s songs:
Yellow brick road
Sweet Georgia Brown
Oh Mary Mack
Not last night (jump rope song)
Itsy bitsy spider
row row row your boat
Cielito Lindo
Down by the STation
Mares eat oats and does eat oats
Oh what a beautiful morning
Gonna wash that man right out of my hair
500 miles (folk song)
500 miles (by the pretenders)
Lonely goatherd (sound of music)
Five foot two
Tiki torches at twilight
Munchkin land
and, one day, we met an elderly man, Jose, walking and he insisted we sing in English:
Bing crosby white Christmas Silent night
Jose called himself the Brujo (healer.. witch - curandero) and insisted that
Today, we took the advice of several travellers who have done today´s walk.. 8 to 10 miles of industrial buildings next to the freeway.. into 
Alfonso III, who lost his castle to Napoleon. There was a lot of damage done, it´s hard to imagine during that time that a castle that big could be damaged like that. One day in
Georgia and I are getting along just great. She carries and reads the map because I always take the wrong turns, and I carry the first aid supplies. We don´t talk for the first hour of the walk because it is just getting light and often, it is the hardest time to be pleasant, having just loaded 15 to 18 pounds onto our backs!
Well, we are in an internet cafe that has about 30 boys, all 15 and under playing some kind of game that they have to yell back and forth at each other, so it´s hard to think and write and be focused, so.. more later!
From Ron:9/27
S / G-
You mention this woman singer but don't give her name. Couldnot find an CD titled "calles mes espana". Maybe if I do a search for "impish french women singers" I'll be able to find her. Edith Piaf was an impish french woman singer. M aybe you met some ghostly precence of Edith Piaf? A sign from the lord to his pilgrams..... Au revoir. RD
S / G -
I always thought it was "Maresey dotes and dosey dotes..." What about "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith"? Can't leave him out.
YOur adventure continues to sound wonderful although a bit weighted towards foot related infirmaries. It must be a spanish thing. On that note I will now make a pilgrammage(?) to the fridge and make a spinich salad with some cold chicken - an adventure of another kind.
Be good - be kind. All my love...RD/DAD
9/27/03 letter from mer
Dear dear Suzanne and Georgia....
We are loving your updates......moms eyes light up when I take her the
printouts... I'm also forwarding them to Katie...I can relate to walking 5 miles....I think I probably walk 20 miles in a month!!!!!....you're both very courageous....and the perk of being together...and feeding off of each others strengths.....and songs to sing along the way....I can picture it all....can't wait to see real pictures when you get back....love to you both mer
9/28/03 Letter from Chris
Susana,
heading out on the 8th oct. to
let me know if you get this
and a previos one
As I'm trying the earthlink webmail
the previous one had a poem too
peace.......Chris
10/2/03 San Bol, Castrojerez, Boadilla, Carrion de los condes, Sahagun & Letter to Chris
10/2/03 San Bol, Castrojerez, Boadilla, Carrion de los condes, Sahagun!
Since last email.. written an an internet kiosk, where it felt you
needed a hammer to punch each key..
We have made it through San Bol to Castrojerez. On the way to Castrojerez, we stopped for a 
breakfast bocadillo (sandwich) in Hortanas, an old, historic town along the camino. Victorino.. the
spanish man who drinks wine from the top of his nose, decided that wehad come especially to see him, so he invited himself to come get us in Castrojerez and drive us back to hortanas for dinner.
We figured we had 15 minutes left before the post office closed so we went right over to mail our post cards and saw that their hours were 9 to 10 am. Every day, we wonder how anything gets done in these little towns! There are several thousand people here, so it is always a surprise to see that the hours of work are so few. 10 to 2.. sometimes 11 to 2, then 5 to 7 or maybe 8 in the bigger cities. What are we doing wrong in
Well, after our jaunt to the mailbox we found the Albergue. Not open until 3pm, so we had an hour to kill. We left our backpacks and wandered back up into the town and had a big vodka and lemonade, and who shows up but.. you guessed it, Victorino!
He came right over with his half bottle of Rioja and wanted to take us back to Hortana with him. Of course all the other pilgrims were watching this and laughing and teasing.
Meanwhile, 3pm we head back to the albergue to find our beds. When we get there, we are pretty happy from our vodka happy hour, and got in a giggling fit until everyone else on the street waiting to get in was laughing with us (maybe at us, who knows). The Hospitalero of the
albergue was a big burly guy with a grey beard, wearing tan overalls cut off to the knees. He immediately informed everyone that anyone intending to get up before 7:15 am, should go to the other albergue, that this place was for those who wanted to rest and have coffee in the
morning. .. One thing I haven't talked about is that about half of the people who are walking set their alarm clocks for about 5 or 5:30 in the morning (a few even earlier than that) so they can be the first on the camino (2.5 hours walking in the dark) and first to the next albergue. There's quite a bit of competition if you are that kind of person..
Anyway, our hospitalero was letting THOSE people know that the 5am-ers were not for him and they better leave. So about 6 left and of course we remained because we have discovered that if you wait untilafter 7:30 am, at least one bar/cafe is open and you can have aleisurely coffee and still be on the road before the sun makes it overthe hill. As a matter of fact, half way into it now, we seem to be thelast, or next to last out of the albergue in the morning. One particularly competetive German man calls us the tourists of the camino.. well I think we all are, but we have fully embraced it and are thoroughly enjoying not fighting for the bathroom in the morning, or the floor space to repack our backpacks.
So. Castrojerez. Has the nastiest woman pharmacist, no sense of humor! Otherwise it is a very picturesque and nice little town to visit.
After Castrojerez, we had a short walk. By the way, the walks are getting much easier. The feet, although a constant concern, have now made it half way! Yesterday, someone was saying that the two main topics of the camino, are how our feet our doing and how heavy our backpack is. Neither of which you can do much about at this point.
Yesterday we added a third topic. The rain.
On the way to Boadillo 
So, we had a really nice night for 5 euros (about $6.60) each and met a few more people, and also found others we had not seen in a few days.. Jose the Brujo.. who is about 70,.. maybe older, and giggles about as much as Georgia and I, and two dutch men.. Cees, who just retired and has walked from
The morning leaving Boadillo was the best morning for views and light yet. The sky was a combination of dark clouds, puffy white clouds, blue sky and the sun coming up made everything look gold, it was really something. We passed the pillar outside the church where in the 1500s
people were burned and whipped, moved along a river where storks were standing in the reeds and into Fromista. From there is was another 12 miles, mostly on the senda (gravel road, along the roadside) into Carrion de los Condes. About 3 miles before Carrion, we had a huge rain storm, wind and hail pelting at us and I think we ran most of that three miles.
Added to our collection of songs, is.. the rain in
So,
love and kisses,
Suzanne
P.S. we are getting in very good shape. In case you were wondering!
Letter to Chris:
Hi Chris
The weather is getting a little colder. If you have the lightweight fast drying pants .. or at least one pair that has the zippered short idea, that would be better than heavier pants because there often isn;t time for things to dry and by the time you get into a town, you don't find the lavanderias open either. Very few albergues have drying capabilities... getting things dry is first priority these days.
I would bring 2 pair pants.. maybe lightweight shorts that dry quickly. same with shirts.. nothing cotton as it takes forever to dry. I have 2 pants, 3 shirts.. 2 short sleeve, one long and a lightweight fleece..
I'v e only had blisters on my little toes. Just tape up anything that remotely bothers you when you are walking.
As for the rest.. lots of people have the new fancy nylon rainwear and most of it keeps them dry but they sweat and are wet anyway.. which means drying sweat off your clothes at the end of the day. we bought rain ponchos and cover our packs with plastic-bungee cords.
many albergues have blankets, but some don?t and you`ll have to decide if a fleece will do it.. probably, and if much colder than now you might slleep in clothes too. we were in a cold albergue last night.. our sleeping bags weigh 2.5 lbs.
it?s a process of figuring it all out, really. Also, if you are carrying too much you can ship it ahead to
lista de Correos,
Peregrino .. and your name etc.
the post offices know the rest.
anyway, we?ve also found that not pushing it too hard.. 20 to 24 km day seems to keep most problems at bay. people doing 30 or more seem to have to rest 2 to 3 days every 4 to five days and dont really get very much farther. We have taken a couple of buses to, through industrial and other uglyl areas.. but not too much.
anyway, we are in Astorga, finally found an internet cafe.
keep in touch by email, can?t wait to hear how it goes
10/3/03 Letter from Chris
10/3/03 from Chris…
What about clothes, shorts? Long pants? what are you walking in. Also is a sleeping bag really necessary or would a fleece sleeping role/sack do? trying to conserve weight , the sleeping roll weighs half what the down bag does, 4-5lb as opposed to 1-2lb. thanks for the blister tips, the duct tape sounds cool and makes sense.
I wonder how I'll do, I do physical work , work out, walk a lot, am always in work shoes banging 
around carrying things. in my backpacking days I'd wear two pairs of sock to protect my feet from blisters, if I got one it was usually on the heel. Have been wearing my walking shoes for work this week to break them in....I notice good socks make a big difference for me.
Any thoughts? I know pilgrims are created equal , but I guess I'm not
your average house wife, If you know what I mean, I was just wondering...
Appreciate the info peace and love, chris
10/5/03 Sahagun, Leon, Villadangos, Hospital de Obrigo
Well, we´ve had a train ride, bus ride and a couple of good walks since Sahagun. In Sahagun, we spent a night in a simple but nice hotel for the weekly bath and soak. The restaurant was a busy little place that served mostly organ meats and although we both ate filete de res (beef filet) it really turned out to be some kind of hamburger mix. Tasted good, but neither of our stomachs have been quite right since. We suspect perhaps a little liver or tongue in the mix, but who knows, maybe just too many bocadillos with chorizo along the way.
Sahagun had a great church with a 16th century retablo over the altar and housed the mannequins of saints, virgins, jesus and the like that are brought out during semana santa. The church was closed, but we happened by the elderly man who had the key to the church. He let us in, gave us the descriptive tour of the church and let us take photos.. something that you can´t do in any of the churches or museums here. After that we visited the other church, famous for it´s mudejar style and hopped a train for
From the
After an afternoon and evening catching all the main sights of
Saturday morning we had a little round about trying to find our way back on to the Camino. We 
knew we had to go over the train tracks (actually they wind around and we went over them about 6 times) and found our way back to the train station. From there we lost track of the brass shells that are embedded in the sidewalks that lead one back to the Camino.
Several angels along the way led us astray, until finally, a very average looking woman in a black pantsuit asked us if we were lost, and led us promptly to the bridge we needed to cross to get out of
From there, it was a steady uphill for about 3-4 miles through the lower part of the city, suburbs, and finally past the town wine bodegas (dug into the hillsides, and back onto the Meseta toward Villadangos, where we were headed for last night´s stay.
It was like a miracle day, our feet didn´t hurt and we kept passing people up, first time ever that we weren´t the last ones along the path.. actually, people who are hiking from the town before us are usually passing us up by 10 in the morning, so we were really happy that our bodies were cooperating so well, and enjoying the competition today. There weren´t many little towns in between, and the towns have now changed. No more quaint medieval towns, mostly highway towns, truck stop places with no services.
As we are traveling along we have several types of entries into towns.
First, there are the towns that we see a sign that says 3.2km (2 miles) and we think, no sweat, 
that’s really close. what seems like an hour or two later (and it may be) we are still looking at a town that seems to be getting farther away the closer we get, and our feet become like lead and we lower our heads and use our walking sticks more heavily than usual.
Second, there are the towns that you come up over a rise, and presto! the town is right there, the albergue on this end of town. These are our favorites, but Villadangos was of the first type. Here we were having a great walking day and the town kept getting further and further away. We finally arrived however and by this time had been able to manufacture a few aches and pains, but the albergue was at the entrance to the town.
The albergue hospitalero left a note on the table: Be back at 5pm, find a bed. So we did. This albergue had triple bunks, and luckily we managed to get bunks on the lower level. It´s really the pits trying to climb up to a top bunk with your 20 pound backpack! At any rate, we got ourselves settled as others wandered in. Then we noticed that there was a very bad smell. Other pilgrims kept walking by holding their noses so we went out to see what was going on.
In the room next to ours, was a man who was asleep, with his stinky shoes sitting at the walking aisle. None of us really knew what to do or say. Should we put his shoes outside, on the window sill.. or my suggestion was to throw them out (vetoed by Georgia who said that wasn´t very nice). So, we all spent the afternoon walking around the back of the Albergue rather than wake him or touch the smelly things.
Several hours later, we went out to check out the town. Villadangos looks like a town that will no 
longer be at some time in the future. Georgia and I found the church, which seemed to be closed, but on the bench out front, there were 4 men and women in their 80´s and 90s´, dangling their feet. One of them got up with her cane, all hunched over in a typical button front housedress and asked us if we were peregrinas. We said we were and she asked us if we would like to see the church.
We weren´t sure at first, as it looked like it was a very old church that had been sloppily renovated in the 1960´s, and not very interesting. But she was a woman you couldn´t say no to. Her name was Lauriana, and she hobbled before us and opened the door for us before we could say no.
Boy were we surprised. There was a retablo-altar in this church from the 1700´s that was dedicated to
We were stunned at it´s beauty and detail, and Lauriana sat next to us and gave us a talking to about the history of
So we took her photo in front of the altar and promised to mail her a picture. She was a little nervous to have her photo taken in her old house dress, but she consented and gave us each two kisses, one on each cheek, with a promise to give one to S
After this, we just about skipped back to the Albergue, we felt we had been offered something really special. Meanwhile, the stinky shoes could be smelled from the front door. Several cyclists were walking in, their shoes in hand and when they smelled the Albergue, they both immediately smelled their shoes to see if it was theirs that smelled. I have to confess, earlier, we both smelled our shoes too!
The man with the smelly shoes was still sleeping and by this time everyone was talking, and new people had come in as well. No one would occupy his room, so he was alone, asleep, with everyone talking about him. We went to dinner with an English woman Ann, and her French husband who are retired,and walking only the second half of the Camino, a French canadian professor who had walked from LePuy
We returned about 9:30 to the albergue, and the smell was the same, and no one had said anything to him about his shoes. It's amazing what people will put up with for a long time before saying anything. And this smell was BAD!
Since
As
He didn´t smile, but immediately took his shoes out, and said something in English, and we realized that he could probably understand everything we were all speculating about.. in Spanish and English from early afternoon on, if he was awake then.
Oh well. He took his shoes out, and when he returned, someone rushed into our berths and said "did you see how bloody his feet are?¨ Of course I jumped right up and
Meanwhile, we walked through Hospital de Obrigo, which has a medieval bridge still standing that is famous for the knight who jousted every man who came across the bridge, to defend his honor (over a woman who betrayed him, of course) and Georgia developed a little ankle something or other, and we hopped a cab for a short ride to Astorga, where we are now.
Astorga is a mix of little winding streets, old and new, and has an Episcopalian castle-museum which looks like it was transplanted from
Tomorrow we begin our ascent out of Castilla y Leon and the meseta, and into the mountains leading to
So, Sunday is about over here and hope you are all well, thank you for all your emails, keep them coming, as I appreciate hearing back, even if I can´t answer each one with the limited time to write these letters. Don´t know what the email will be like in the mountains, but usually every couple of days we find one where we don´t expect it.
be well!
10/6/03 Letter from Mark & Marly
10/6/03
Sue,
Looking at the picture of you and your daughter, reminds me of how proud I am to know you.
Your life and your relationships make a profound difference in the lives of people around you, especially me.
Your daughter is blessed to have a mom in you.
PS I had lunch on
muchas arigato
mark k (and Marley)
Your last Email was very entertaining, boyfriend, people being burned and whipped in the 1500’s and so on. I bet you’re getting buff. You’ll be jogging the trail soon. Thanks for taking the time to send your adventure to us.
Love Dave ……and Pam
........
Just want to tell you how much I am enjoying your trip! You write a
beautiful story. It is fun to hear about the totality of the walk; the food,
the smelly feet, the sweet people who help you find your way...
I hope the rest of the trip is good to you as well. I look forward to
reading more about the adventure at hand. -- Jack
Oh what a trip of a lifetime! I am so enjoying your emails--once I get over my envy!! :) The one photo of
I think I'm going to forward your emails to Steve. He and Nonie went to
Keep me on your list and remember I love you--so be safe!! Dolores :) 0x
10/9/03 Santa Catalina, bartender with the wandering eye
10/9
Elderly man in beret from Santa Catalina
So, back to the bartender with the wandering eye...
Back in
We only wish we had gotten his name and a photo, as he had a great wandering eye. Sometimes it would cross and other times off to the side so you could never tell where to look at him. As the night wore on, he managed to down a few something because he got progressively more drunk. Every time
We slept late, exchanged addresses with our hospitalero, Bienvenidos, who we promised to send a photo that we took of him, with his scythe the day before. This area is particularly beautiful with rolling hills, old vineyards, and lots of crusty old buildings that are charming, although falling apart. We were off to Rabanal where we were hoping to hear the vespers in Gregorian chant.
About 10am, we came upon a place, not really a town, although there were buildings there. It is the home of a place called Meson Cowboy and you could hear it a kilometer away, music, laughing and someone yelling at the top of his lungs at everyone. Meson Cowboy was in our guide book but we had forgotten about it. The building is at a point where the road divided, with a western front and cowboy decor right down to the horse painted on the wall. The owner (never got his name) was behind the bar, pouring aguardiente into anyone´s coffee who didn´t stop him first. Dressed in his jeans, vest and cowboy boots he was hollering at everyone (in fun, we found out.. but you didn´t know for sure at first).
The two sisters from
Speaking of the French, there is an ongoing dialogue throughout the Camino about why the French refuse to try speaking Spanish. so we had a discussion about this and Jack told Ann that all we women had to do was lay on the ground and open our legs and we wouldn’t have any problem meeting the French. First we just cracked up. Then we all had a good hoot over how we would look lying on the ground on our backpacks, (see photo to left, taken later at Monte Gozo) feet waving in the air, and this became the laugh of the day every time we saw Ann and Jack. (we also laughed about how beautiful we all are right now as not one of us has used a hairbrush since we started this walk.. that’s three weeks now)
Meantime back at the cowboy bar, the owner is screaming and hollering in fun at everyone and then comes out and offers to give me a washing machine if I leave
Well, it´s 10:20 and I am about to go back to the albergue and will finish the following next time we get to internet:
Tomorrow we will be going up into the mountains past Villafranca and part way to O´cebreiro, where we hear they have tastefully restored round yurt type stone buildings that have thatch huts.. how romantic!
It will be a day of all uphill too, about 1000 feet or more of climbing so we will probably be pooped by the end of the day.
10/12/03 Letter from Mark
Watch out for those BARTENDERS. They are the most magical and fantastic people on the globe!
The live their lives "Being" with people in a real way daily, and with drunk people a lot.
They see more & know more about people's realness than most PhD therapists...
And they are lots-o-fun.
keep on walk'n
mark k
10/13/03 Letter from Ron
Hola, Pilgrims -
I've been doing a bit of research which may be helpful you on your journey. Apparently there are two, not one, but two, Catholic Saints who are patron saints of foot and/or feet problems. These individuals are St. Peter (the apostle) as well as a fellow named Servatus, who lived and worked in the
Must say that this past weekend was quite beautiful - we're having a great fall. Glen Ellen Village Fair this past weekend - same old - but nice and fun anyway. Cyn and i rode our bikes up and hada few drinks at the lodge and listened to Norton Buffalo toot along with some local band. Both the Raiders and 49's lost - both having poor seasons. Today, Monday, is the observation of Chistopher Comumbus Day - the Italian who sailed for
Hope you and G are well and on the downward stretch. Is this trek something that can be done on a bicycle without a lot of heartache??? I wonder who the patron saint of bicyclists is???? Ther ewas a spread in the Press Democrat this Sunday regarding the charms and wonders of San Miguel...
Till the next time I remain fondly yours.................Padre Rionaldo, Patron Saint of Co-Dependents throughout the Christian World
10/15/03 Letter from Marsha
Dear Suzanne and Georgia,
Thinking of you both as we were in Baja Sur for a retreat with our
Tibetan teacher, an old hot springs resort on the Sea of Cortez, 40
miles north of Cabo...but hurricanes washed out roads so we were
relatively isolated.. it was very special.
your letters are so vivid I feel like we are in part with you both
through your trip. Are you taking many photos? Perserverance?
I'll say Marsha
10/16/03 Astorga, Santa Catalina, Ponferrada
The internet cafes are fewer in between now, as we are heading through the first series of mountains and on to
We went from Astorga into 
doors and shutters and rock streets. Mostly, they seem to be pilgrim and weekend towns full of restaurants. Of course, none are open during the time we seem to be walking!
Meantime, after taking Georgia 1.5 km into a town she didn´t want to go to because of her hurting feet, we had a glorious uphill hike on a path that was covered in heart shaped rocks into Santa Catalina. (surprisingly.. uphill seems to work good for both of us)
Santa Catalina has a population 38, including our hospitalero who is named Bienvenidos, which means welcome. He kept telling us his name, and we would say 'thank you' (for welcoming us) until he finally pulled out his identification to show us that Bienvenidos was his name. When he was born, his father was away and when he finally returned, welcomed him and the name stuck.
There is the albergue, a schoolhouse.. except no children in the town, a bar and bartender with a
wandering eye, and about 20 pilgrims. Nothing to do except enjoy the view, visit with the hospitalero and bartender.
That night we went out for dinner. At the bar.. choice of bocadillos (roll with meat, no mayo, mustard, ketchup etc) or a plate of 5 kinds of ham and chorizo with cheese, and dry bread.
Just to be fair though, we need to say that we have actually had some pretty good bread in between the dry bouts. But this time, it was the average bread, and of course olives, spicy this time.
We met 2 retired, Danish bicyclists, Fred and IB, who were so happy to meet anyone who spoke english that we all ate together and compared camino walking versus camino biking stories, as well as the usual topics of feet, aches and pains, weather and who we are meeting.
As we ambled back to the albergue, the hospitalero informed us he didn´t care what time we got up in the morning, so of course we slept until 9am, after everyone else had already left, and took our time in the shower, taped our feet and as we walked out of town, we were greeted at the 
crossroads by Carlos, our Brazilian policeman who we met our first day here going to Roncesvalles. We haven´t crossed paths with him for several weeks, so it was like old home week, hugs and kisses on the cheek and stories of what we had been doing...
Oops, looks like my internet time is up so I will complete this next time with more about the bartender with the wandering eye, the cowboy bar in the middle of nowhere, Rabanal, where we were to have heard vespers in Gregorian chant (but the monks didn´t show up), the two sisters from California, the english woman (prankster) and her French husband, more midievel towns, Foncebadon and the wild cows, Tomas, knight of the templar and the pagan ritual, and the rocky downhill.
Today, we are passing through Ponferrada, a city of 50,000 where we have already been to the castle of the Knights of the Templar (kicked out of the city in the 12th century, first bankers, and friends to pilgrims..) then off to Cacabello, Villafranca and within several days to O´cebriero the gateway to Galicia and the final leg of the walk (no pun intended)
hope you all are well,
Love Suzanne
10/17/03 A bit of Camino wisdom & a Letter from Chris
Suzanne sent these this morning.(pictures)
They were so bright I thought I’d invade your inbox again
And this bit of spontaneous Camino wisdom
Good pilgrim.
Bad pilgrim
Keep Walking
John
10/17 from chrisWow, I don?t really know how to begin dear friends. perhaps with a story: last night I went to a pilgrim mass in estella, 70 miles behind me, 410 to go!, of jaw dropping midieval towns villages and some of the most inspiring country side This pilgrim has ever seen, and (this pilgrim has seen a lot). Anyway after mass, I lit some candles, for folks I promised I would, and while walking out of the church down the midieval steps ran into the young priest who gave the mass. "Eres peregrino?"he asked "yes father I am and I?m overwhelmed with emotion every day" "Cuanto tiempo llevas en el camino?" he asked, how long you been on the Camino? "A week" I said.
" He smiled knowingly and said "Espera hasta que tengas 3 semanas, 4, 5," As if to say Pilgrim you ain?t seen or felt nothing yet! I thanked him and fellow Pilgrims awaited me for la cena at the bottom of the stair. everyone is feeling this rapture on and off it seems. I'm calling it "Agape" the love that consumes, a term that Paolo Choelo used in his book THE PILGRIMAGE.
SOMETIME YOUR HAIR STANDS ON END as if energy is coming in, or you?re getting beamed aboard the "Enterprize". As I wrote in the intro to my first chap book IVORY GOOSE, "I am at one with my lif purpose and there is no where else I?d rather be at this time" That is to say part of why I am in this world is being currently realized!
This is a poem from my travel book of the camino by John brierly:
To laugh is to appear being the fool
To cry is to risk being called sentimental
To reach out to another is to risk envolvement
To expose feeling is to risk showing your true self
To place your ideas and dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To try is to risk failure
But risks must be taken
Because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing
The people who risk nothing, have nothing and become nothing
They may avoid suffering and sorrow but they simplycannot learn to feel
And change and grow and love and live...
Chained by their servitude, they are slaves; They've forfeited they're freedom.
Only people who risk are truly free
And my friends I'll leave you with one of mine;
CONSUMED
Walking along you can?t tell when its going to come,
On a high trail, a steep climb, or drawing water from a fountain
It comes from far away, a distant corner of the heart
Like a spring up through the earth
A cathartic joyful sadness, gurggles in your soul
A grief long buried, suddenly exhumed
A good-bye to someone you never had a chance to
Admit to yourself you sorely miss someone
You feel what you disallowed
You wonder why you carried the sadness for so long
On the pilgrim road you disgard your emotional baggage day by day
Forgiving those who hurt you, regardless if they meant it or not
You unpack your sorrows and leave them behind
As daily you scheme to lighten your backpack of extraneous items
As you lighten, you are a better conduit for "the love that consumes"
Lighter, you pick up your step along THE WAY OF ST. JAMES
"Te queda mucho hombre!" people say, "you've got a long way to go!"
c.d.g. 10/o3
p.s. A quick dog story: The camino is supposedly known for vicious Dogs they say. I?ve had no problems though cause I speak a little "dog" ya know. Out of Valcarlos a big white spanish mastif charged me. As he approached I saw him make a cavorting hop, so I knew it was a bluff, I didn?t break stride. Then we both stopped and I admired him, his tail began to wag, and I turned and walked away as a bullfighter does to the bull to show his braverey. The mastif came up behind me and grabbed one of my walking sticks and clicked it in his teeth lightly,
click-click, As if to say, Buen Camino Peregrino! I looked back startled and his big tail was wagging farewell...
10/18/2003 Santiago - Final Day
It is as if we have been in a fog for the last week or more now. We passed into
There are more stories, which I will send along later. The arrival was a profound experience. It is as if we had been sitting in silence on a peaceful sunny beach for a month and were then dropped from the sky into disneyland or something.
The arrival at the church yesterday morning was mind boggling and it is all so big and at the same time thousands of tourists. None of us knew what to feel. We got our compostela (certificate of completion), went to the pilgrims mass where a nun sang the most beautiful songs that we all cried.
They passed the Botafumerio (giant incense burner) back and forth across the four story interior. There is a lot of speculation as you walk the Camino, if they will be swinging the Botafumerio on the day you make it to Santiago, so we were blessed to see it.
We passed by the saint, where you get to hug the statue of Santiago, and I was so overwhelmed that I didn´t realize that was where we were and had to ask ''Is this IT?" and the altar boy pushed me along because I was dawdling.
Coming out of the church, a reporter for a French newspaper followed us around asking us questions
about our walk - we said we would talk if she would find us a hotel with a bathtub (and she did).
I am off for now, but over the next week, I´ll catch up on the stories, and john is getting some photos which I am sure he will send along.
It is an amazing thing to have done this, we all know it, and at the same time it is hard to express in words what it feels like. We've made many good friends from around the world and learned a lot about ourselves and each other and are enjoying running into each other for the last day or so, to complete the experience by talking, laughing hugging and feeling sad that it has to end. We have really accomplished something. Satisfied is a good word for it.
The only other thing is how we don´t know what to do with ourselves - how do you just drop back into your life after something like this? ...so we are going out to Finesterre tomorrow and going to do a 15 mile walk to Muxia. We know how to do that!
Off for now
We arrived yesterday in Santiago knowing that it has been completely worth every step. From O´Cebreiro onward there is so little to stop for, other than the beauty of the countryside, that you just walk and walk and run into pilgrims you have seen along the way, but had not seen in a few days or a week - everyone humbled light hearted and really opened up.For the arrival into Santiago we left at 7am, in the dark, and reached Monte Gozo for coffee and croissants then walked into Santiago, wound our way through the narrow streets of the old part of town and into the massive open plaza in front of the church - finally, we had arrived, along with all the others who had been following the same routine with us every day....get up, get dressed, and walk - walk - walk
