Author Archives: Lizhk

The albergue was a ramshackle house with an entrance patio, an entrance hallway stuffed with a beer fridge, a bench for taking off shoes, a wall of shoes, a corner of walking sticks, three doorways, a podium and people entering and leaving. One door led to a dining room with a massage table. This room,Continue reading “Day 8 Los Arcos to Logroño Oct 6”

We had good intentions to start early. We were all out of bed by 6:30 but somehow things dragged. This was our third or fourth day that we have used the luggage transfer services. For a couple of days, we used a big white garbage bag which Linda and I stored clothes and other itemsContinue reading “Day 10, Ventosa to Azofra, Oct 8”

We (Mats, Linda and I) started early enough to walk in the moonlight, although being in the city with Venus behind us and the moon high in front isn’t quite ideal. And, we only walked in the moonlight far enough to find a cafe/bakery open for breakfast. Inside the café, we found Lisa and EmilyContinue reading “Day 9, Logroño to Ventosa, Oct 7”

We decided to use the luggage transfer service.  Rather than using a water bottle, my backpack has a flexible water bladder that slips down into a pocket at the back and has a hose that goes out the side of the pack and dangles down in front. The hose makes it easy to drink, justContinue reading “Day 7, Estella to Los Arcos, Oct 5”

The top priority for today was to buy a new pair of hiking shoes. I couldn’t wear mine anymore, the blisters on the inner side of both feet were too sore and wearing them made them worse.  I also did not want to risk creating new blisters by overusing my sandals so we opted forContinue reading “Day 6 Puente la Reina to Estella Oct 4”

Linda and I climbed the hill into the ramparts of the walled city in the early morning light and stopped to look at the view across the wide valley and over to the ridge that we suspected we would be climbing then we entered the old city and followed the scallop shells in the cobblestonesContinue reading “Day 5 Pamplona to Puente la Reina Oct 3”

Along with Mats and Brad, we shared a room with Santiago, a young man from Brazil whom we met walking alone in the wet the day before, and two other men. I still haven’t adjusted to the new time zone so I am not getting as much sleep as I would like but hey, myContinue reading “Day 4 Zubiri to Pamplona”

We left the beautiful old monastery in Roncesvalles after breakfast. We were among the last to leave. We stop at the road sign ‘ Santiago de Compostela 790k.  The guidebook says 751. So does this mean the ‘Way’ is a shortcut? It is a thick Scottish mist intermingled with rain. It is a hilly sectionContinue reading “Day 3 Oct 1 Roncesvalles to Zubiri”

Two Irish sisters staying with us at Orisson told us they had checked out the trail past Orisson yesterday and it wasn’t too bad. But they were wrong and hadn’t gone far enough. It seemed okay at first , but then the road went up and up and up. The grades were not as steepContinue reading “Day 2, Orisson to Roncesvalles Sept 30”

Day 1 can be summed up: OMG! Which when you think about it, is exactly what pilgrimages are all about: Oh My God, please forgive me for I have sinned….. Only 8k but 7.9 was all uphill. 3 hours to go 8 k. Some of the grades are 45%! Steffen took the lead, and weContinue reading “Day 1 St Jean Pied du Port to Orrison, September 29”