Friday, August 5, 2011

Another ´ketchup´ blog.

I feel so horrible that you guys have been waiting for this (and my next) post to be put up. Obviously we've made it safely, but you will read more about that in the next post.


We came upon this in a plaza in Leon on our way to meet friends for dinner. We thought this was pretty interesting considering the band had a sign saying "we are all Greece." There was a lot of talk along the Camino about the economic crisis in Europe.

Resting at the pilgrim statue in front of the hotel in Leon. We stayed in the Parador because the night before mom had a 102.5 fever and a baad stomach, and it was definitely a nice place to rest for the next day's walk to Hospital del Obrigo.

We felt good enough to do a little shopping. I felt a little sad to finally throw out my holey green dress in Leon after finding myself a cute blue romper.

A garden along the way. The man was almost 90 and he told us that he stayed young by tending to his garden and talking to Peregrinos who walked by. He was also very happy to tell us everything that he was growing.



The first signs of Hospital


Hailstorm in a small albergue that we stayed at in Hospital. We made it into the town with our friends Nick and Jenna just before it started raining (and later hailing). I never thought the second time I saw hail would be in warm Spain. My mom's tendons were really acting up so she opted for the 10$ massage in the middle of the albergue. The woman said that she had an accupuncture treatment that she promised would cure her tendon pains in her legs. She took a toothbrush sized hammer with 7 half inch needles and hammered up and down her calves like when you tenderize meat. I wish we had a picture because you would never believe what the back of mom's legs looked like when she was done! Mom said that it was a miracle and she never felt pain in her legs again, but she was worried about dying from some kind of infection due to the lack of sanitation.

 
Friendly cows and calfs on a small farm we walked through. They came right up to the fence to nudge my hands for attention. (walking into Astorga)


David, a man who has been living in a garage for a while, giving free food and drinks to the pilgrims. Whenever anyone would leave he would call out GOOD LIFE! But instead of yelling it, he said it kind of like he was singing. Mom and I agreed that that is how we would say goodbye to people from then on.

Going down the extremely steep and slick descent to Astorga.

 
Tea shop and palace (another Gaudi) in Astorga, we found the teashop walking around town because everything was closed because it was monday. We were sad we missed the palace, but we found a few great teas to send ahead home. Normally people can go into the palace and see the chocolate (and other) museums.
 
After we left Astorga in the dark (of morning) we ran into two groups of our friends. We stopped and had breakfast at a cute cafe where we learned a stray dog was served gourmet tasting french toast by the owner, every day for breakfast.

A friendly mini pony on the the road who came straight up to us.

Cowboy bar haha :D

 
Heading out again, and another friendly dog entering Rabanal. After we checked into our albergue in this VERY small town (like five houses no doctor, no pharmacy) mom's fever started to climb again. We had also just passed the horses (seen above) and she was feeling asthmatic......

Mom with her IV drip.
Mom kinda had a huge freak out at the idea of possibly dying in Rabanal ;) and had to go to the hospital to be checked out. Our neigbor (and good friend) from Sanxenxo is an ER doctor. She first considered getting someone to drive us the three hours to Sanxenxo, but I didnt let her end her camino so close to finishing. Instead we called our doctor friend. Turns out his best friend is the head ER doctor in a town 20k from where we were staying that night!! (Ponferrada). Within a half hour the doctor picked us up and took us to the hospital. Within an hour mom had had multiple tests done and was pronounced healthy, but dehydrated.

The next day we cabbed back to the town where mom got sick and walked about 25k!

Although it did help that we didn't have our packs to back track ;)

 
The Cruz de Ferro- This is a place where pilgrims have left a rock from home, depositing all of their sorrows into the rock, and by leaving the rock behind, they leave behind their sorrow. Luckily i'm only 14, I dont have many sorrows. My rock was a rare form of crystal from our family quarry in PA. I colored one side blue (for my past at baldwin) and one side red (for my future at Exeter). I hope it works for good luck and nervousness haha.

Funny signs at a village with a population of 1 person. We actually met the guy as we passed through because mom really had to pee. He told us the bathroom was across the road and a little into the woods, and "It has a door and everything!" She decided she could hold it for a few more kilometers.

 
more pictures from our day walk


Trying to lure out kittens in Molinaseca.

The Knights Templer Castle in Ponferrada with our friends June and Miriam.


A house in the middle of a vinyard in the Bierzo, on the way to Villafranca del Bierzo.


 
Running into friends for a healthy breakfast of a sandwich, chips, and a coke

 
In O'cebreiro a dog waiting for hot dogs at the counter and a shot of leaving in the rain. This was definitely the hardest climb, imagine climbing 5,000 feet in the cold rain, sweating under a HUGE poncho, slipping on the mud and rocks. We were so desperate that we went out looking to buy sweatpants, but since there was only one gift shop, we didn't have any luck. We settled for going back for a warm shower and enjoyed our canned ravioli dinner under the covers.

At this point we are officially in Galicia! There is only once short section left, which I promise to get up in the next couple of days. :)

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Not dead yet ;)

I know its been a while, but there were no computers along the meseta. Only teeny tiny towns haha. Here is a quick recap of the week. I cant even remember the names of some of these towns since theres been so many ^^´

Me with Leena from finland and Joan from Canada

    
The cathedral in Burgos (day and night). Coincidentally we arrived on the start of the city´s festivals.

Not always a beautiful view of nature

Leaving Burgos at 6am. We couldnt find an open cafe and we were desperate to find food so that we could take our meds (I swear, we are going to come back addicted to ibuprofen haha). We asked a man coming down the street if there were any open bars in the area and he told us no. A minute later he called us back down the street, and proceeded to hand us a bag full of fresh donuts and muffins he was carrying!

(NOT A VERY GOOD PICTURE) There are stork nests EVERYWHERE

The meseta. Long long stretches of flat nothing. Fun.

Coming into Hornillos

Oats, Wheat, barley

A picture in front of the church and municipal albergue in Hornillos. We arrived after a very long and hot day on the meseta. The albergue was full. I came SO close to crying. We cooled off in the church and went into the local bar to have a drink, and there we found an ad for a beautiful Casa Rural that offered to come pick us up.

    
It was a restored mill that still used the water for power! The owner also owned a hot spring-bath and offered to drive us there so we could take a bath :)

    
There were ducks and chickens everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I caught a duckling with the owners help, he gave me some bread :) we also got to see them all cuddling up before bed.

  
Dinner at the casa rural with our new friends Deedee and Ken from california, and a couple from france who we will never see again because they cover twice the distance that we do per day. The picture on the right is the owner of the mill. He is in the movie The Way with Martin Sheen, turns out his daughter married Emilio Esteves´son. They met while he was doing the camino! They also had their wedding at the Casa Rural. We also got to see the wedding album :) The two dogs are Pekas and Chuspi, and they are adorable.

View of the windfarm on the meseta


    
The ruins of a fifteenth century monastery. We actally slept here one night!

 
Singing in the ruins with our new friend Trey from Nashville. On the right is a picture of me with our Canadian friends Jenna and Nick. We decided to leave at 5am because it´s been way too hot. We´ve been walking with them ever since :)

    
In Carrion cooling our feet of in the ICE cold river

 
More meseta :( So bored I decided to see how far I could walk blindfolded, 2km!

A tenth century bridge

 
The hills above Castrojeriz

Napping at our destination (Blanking on the name)

With the bread man who stopped us to talk, he sent us on our way with a bag of mom´s favorite cookies and his email address so we can send him a picture once we get to Santiago

 
A 2000yr old roman road, the longest and most preserved roman road in spain

    
Picnic lunch. On the right is a picture of our italian friend who is traveling with his 30yr old son. He made his rolling backpack all by himself.

Cooking with friends



A funky bar on the way to Leon

    
Mom sick in bed with a fever :( NO PANICKING! She talked to our Seattle camino friend who is a doctor and he thinks it was just food poisoning (and she is feeling much better today). On the right is me rubbing pain creme on her feet, even though I dont like feet.

 
Getting ready to head to Leon. The book suggests that you take a bus into Leon to avoid the industrial areas. Since mom still had a little fever, we did (SHHHHH! DONT TELL!). Picture in front of the Parador

Running out to meet our friends from Texas for dinner. Sorry its been a while and that this post isnt that detailed, I had a lot to catch up on.

SUSAN we loved GraƱon! The week before we were there an American woman and her two daughters were the hospitaleros :) but we also loved Belorado, funny a kilometer out of the town I realized i had left my hiking boots in the albergue (I was hiking in my crocs that day) haha. The albergue we stayed in was called Cuatro Cantones, and it had a pool! I think your daughters would like it :)

Bye for now everyone!