First lovely day on a new Camimo

Had a good sleep all alone in this albergue. 

I have left the Ruta Del Ebro send started on the Camino Castellano-Aragones, which will take me through Soria and close to Burgos.  

There was nothing terribly special about today's 27 or 28 kms but the walk was wonderful. Even though I had a couple of water crossings, one easy and one tricky, and one awful highway crossing.  

I left my nice albergue a bit before 7 and within 3 minutes was off on a dirt/gravel road through fields. No people, no cars, just vineyards, wheat, barley, alfalfa. 

About at the halfway point, I went through a little town with more of that awesome mudejar construction from 14-15 C. 

Then out to do a huge half circle, with the town I just left and the town I was going to at the end points. So the camino turned a 5 km straight shot on the road to a 9-10 km meander through fields. I am not complaining because it was great. 

I was glad it was cloudy because there is no shade on this stretch. I was also glad it was cool because otherwise the local "cierzo" (strong wind) would have been hot and unbearable. 

I made it to town around noon and went to the town hall to get a stamp. I was greeted by the local gigantes, who are paraded around on local holidays. These guys are at least 15' tall, though you can't tell from the picture. 

The town of Borja is a wine center-- one wine from here you may have had is Borsao. 

Had a wonderful menu del día in a restaurant recommended by a friend and will now try to get up and walk around town after a very wonderful and filling lunch!  

YUM 

In Gallur, on the Imperial Aragon Channel.

Today's 30+ were great at the beginning, through a town with a magnificent 14C mudejar church. Really nice. 

Then a few kms through fields followed by some punishing kms on the side of a busy road with no shoulder. Some respite came with a few kms along the Ebro, 

But the last 10 or so we're all on asphalt, which drains the energy right out of me. 

I walked along the Imperial Channel for a while and then into my destination, Gallur. Another albergue, this one up by the old train station. Ten beds but I'll probably be alone. 

The town is on a hill on the other side of the channel and it has definitely seen better days. The church stands on top with 13 storks' nests visible. 

This is where two Caminos cross -- the Ruta Del Ebro, which I've been on from the beginning, and the Camino Castellano-Aragones, which I'm moving to tomorrow. It goes more westerly than the Ebro, and will take me to Burgos. I don't know much about the province of Soria, so this is an easy way to learn. 

 

 

I'm having an absolutely wonderful lunch at a place recommended by a camino internet friend. First course was eggplant and red peppers, yum. Main course is sea bass with a tomato chutney concoction. Go here:  

Thanks for the recommendation Sabine!

Mayor 29. From Zaragoza to Torres de Berellen.

By the time I was installed in the albergue, my GPS showed 27, not bad given the terrible time I had getting out of Zaragoza. The first part was easy. I stopped in the basilica and lit some candles and sat a while. 

Then to the edge of town was a piece of cake. But then things went south. First, it's hard for me to judge which of four multi-layer roads the GPS wants me on, so as a result I wound up inside Zaragoza's train station. 

Then once that was sorted out, I realized that these GPS tracks must pre-date the current road configuration. So after climbing over a few concrete barriers, being thwarted by several high chain link fences, and realizing that I had to go back because I was heading into the divided highway, I finally saw, just over a little hill, a biking/jogging trail. Sure enough, there were the arrows!  I'm sure there is now s much better way to get there than the crazy route I took. I think if you looked at my GPS tracks, you'd think I was going in crazed circles.  

But from then on things were fine. 

Nice cool weather, several towns on the route with open bars, but the highlight was the Corpus Christi processions and all the kids dolled up for first communion. 

This is a little but lively town of 1500. The town has an albergue, the first since starting out eleven days ago. Now that I've showered and washed clothes, I'm hoping the crowds have disappeared and I can get a good lunch. 

So Annie is leaving Zaragoza for Santiago in an hour or so.  That's the way things go on the camino and we both had no expectations about how long we'd be together. We are good companions even if our walking paces are different, and who knows where we will meet up next.  

Buen camino Annie, I will miss you!  

No pilgrims but bed bugs????

Or maybe they are fleas. Or maybe they are something much more harmless but I don't want to take a chance. This morning I woke up to see a curly line of about 7 red bites on my torso. Aargh. 

I have had them before, but at that time I was walking with a Spanish army sergeant who knew exactly what to do. I just spent the afternoon lounging on a roof terrace in a bathrobe supplied by the Hostal owner. This time I had to do it without Miguel, but my pal Annie helped a ton. 

It's amazing how bedbugs put pep in your step. I walked those 32 km to the Basilica in about 5 1/2 hours. They weren't really very idyllic most of the way. 

Glad I made it through the dangerous parts:

But going into town and seeing the Basilica was impressive:  

So far, things have worked out about as well as could be expected. Annie had already scoped out the town for important places like laundromat and where I could buy a cheap outfit. So here's how we did it. 

--check into hotel and leave all my stuff in bathroom in big plastic bags provided by hotel. 

--go buy insecticide to spray pack, and an outfit -- dress and underwear for 11.5 €. 

--go back to hotel and shower and put on new outfit 

--go to laundromat and put pack, sleeping bag, rain poncho, hat, all clothes and fanny pack into dryer for two ten minute cycles. (Seven is all that's technically needed) 

-- wash and dry all clothes 

-- go back and inspect toiletries, bag with charger, etc. 

Not exactly how I hoped to spend the day in this nice city, but oh well. 

How to lengthen a short stage without really trying

But first look at my very creative photo from last night. Annie in the mirror :-)

So today was a straight shot, 18 easy kms through fields. Annie went ahead to Zaragoza where we'll meet up tomorrow. I left around 7, expecting a pretty simple day. But to start, no arrows anywhere. No problem, I have a GPS, right?  Well after about two hours, the GPS wanted me to go straight through a farm. And in the middle of the road through the farm were two big snarling and barking dogs. 

No way was I going through there, but since I was out in ag fields, I assumed I'd have no problem finding a few dirt roads to detour around. Not so easy. At the end of one of these roads was a man tilling his fields and singing (to my ears it sounded like a sevillana) at the top of his lungs. He stopped his machine and came to help. Gave me what seemed like pretty easy instructions but after twenty minutes in a recently watered alfalfa field, I gave up and went back. This time he led me there, slightly incredulous that I had messed up. 

The second time I made it!  And saw a few arrows after that. My only other doubt was at this spot --with the collision of two yellow arrows. But luckily the GPS showed me which one to take. 

Typical scenery from today. Kind of Midwestern. 

I'm in a nice little pensión, the San Miguel. The guy at the desk has been very helpful to me. I have to buy new boots because my beloved Salomons are ripping zcross the top. 

This is always a dangerous proposition, changing footwear mid camino but I really have no choice. Fingers crossed!  

May 26. Escatron to Quinto

I was on the road by 6 am. Two rest stops and 37 km later, I was in Quinto by 1:30-45. I'm feeling good and no foot or knee problems, knock on wood. There was very little elevation gain, and that would slow me down considerably. 

I left the Hostal in quasi-darkness but could see the hydro-electric blinking off in the distance

I went past the monastery I gave up for a Parcheesi Game.  

Then a few kms of badlands to Sastago, and then the Ebro fun began. 

Just after Sastago I walked past a cave near the river with a sign that indicated it was a refuge during the Civil War. That haunted me, wondering who had been in there, what had happened to them, etched. I actually made up a little story that ended well, unlike what probably really happened. 

Lots of riverside rambling -- the Ebro River (also called the Sea of Aragon) curls all over in this neck of the woods. Also had a lot of big fields of grain with  and big skies.  

Lots of river walking, a few small towns and here I am.  

Tomorrow will be half of today, then Saturday into Zaragoza. 

All is well. Love from Laurie. 

May 25 -- Caspe to Escatron. 32 long shadeless kms.

This would have been a good walk for someone seeking forgiveness or doing penance It was pretty punishing, pretty desert-like, pretty endless. 

 I just put my pedal to the metal and walked till my GPS said I had walked 21. Then a short rest, boots off, and the last kms went fast. Those last couple with the town right there and you slogging away on the side of the road are the hardest no matter how many you've walked. 

It was the kind of day that gets people thinking -- remind me why I am doing this! But there were of course a few pluses -- no asphalt, heavy cloud cover, one or two glimpses of the Ebro, 

totally flat, and the occasional colorful cement truck. 

When I arrived in town, the woman working in the town hall came out to hug me and wish me Buen camino. It turns out she knows a lot of the same Camino people I do. Small world. 

So we've got a pretty cell-like room at the dock on the river, it's part of the local nautical club. No charm, pretty dark inside but the water is hot, there are towels, and the beds have clean sheets. Downstairs  there's a restaurant full of workers so the good must be edible. I'll know in a few minutes!! 

Just a short update since I was unable to post this yesterday. After lunch on a stroll through the almost deserted old town, I met a woman sweeping in front of her house on the Calle Mayor. She described how years ago, at this hot hour of the afternoon, there would be three or four groups of residents sitting outside in the shade of the buildings--drinking coffee, gossiping, playing games. 

Heading up the hill towards the "new town," (built originally by the now closed hydro-electric plant for its workers) there was more life. I even got recruited to be the fourth in a game of parcheesi :-). 

My parcheesi game meant o had to forego a trip to see the outside of the gothic Monasterio de la Rueda (monastery and hotel closed a few months ago, drats). But the game was a lot of fun.  

May 23 -- Fabara to Caspe

Door to door was 24 km, so it was a pretty easy day. Nothing spectacular in the scenery, but virtually every step aside from town exit and entrance was off-road. 

I wouldn't say we've entered Spain's breadbasket or fruit basket but today there were a few fields of grain and an enormous peach orchard. Lots of rocky boulders for the boulderers in the family, though I don't know how to judge their suitability for climbing. 

A nice woman stopped me and wanted to know all about the camino.  She insisted I take a big bag of their organic cherries -- all she wants in return is for me to hug the Apostle for her in Santiago.  

Finally made it back to the Ebro 

They sure make a big deal out of the Camino here even though we have yet to meet any other pilgrims in the flesh. 

We are now relaxing in our little family run Hostal. Very nice people, three generations at work!  

Going to Fabara.

We had a good dinner in Plaza

Comercio at the restaurant Gran Plaza. Mine was a plate of sepia (like calamari but smaller), shrimp (you know those Spanish gambas are not like the US), and calamari, with a salad. The owners are  Cuban, and we had a really good conversation. We decided we could solve the world's problems ourselves. 

Believe it or not, I have lost two adapters in  four days. Crazy. How dumb am I?  I have one left!!!

We are now back at our little slice of heaven where we hope our clothes will dry. 

Then tomorrow off to the unknown town of Fabara, but it looks like it has a pretty amazing Roman mausoleum. 

We were so happy to finally talk to Sra. Martin in Fabara. She has a room waiting for us!  Tomorrow is 31 km but no elevation gain to speak of so we are ok!  

So good to talk to Dad/Honey. We are hurting but the Camino is a great source of healing.