Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos (November 5)

An assortment of photos from this friend-filled day. Brend, Harold and Markus in the one with the cookies. It was Markus 20th birthday and those cookies are called principes. The picture with the puddle is a family from Mallorca traveling together. They have a great blog which you can find at http://caminantessihaycamino.blogspot.com

Day 5: Puente la Reina to Estella (November 4)

Our Dutch friend Brend and Mark! We walked over a Roman bridge and a 2000 year old Roman road. So incredible to think about how long ago these things were in use.

Day 4: Pamplona to Puente la Reina (November 3)

The picture with the iron statues was taken at the top of what´s called Alta del Perdon. It was a rainy day but we enjoyed a great big lunch in a little pueblo called Uterga.

At the end of Day 5.... more photos to come soon...

Dear friends and family, A couple things...... Mark is taking most of these photos with his cheapest camera so that´s why they´re not as professional as you´re used to :) Also I´m taking some of them (this is Becky by the way). We are spending the days walking and talking with the various people who are also on the Camino. We are sleeping, eating, and living well. Spain is every bit as wonderful as I remembered and Mark loves it as I had hoped he would. We have been staying dry..... most of the time and when it rains, it only makes the sunshine that much more beautiful. The weather is perfect for walking and we find that we are comfortable in the clothing we brought along. We do an average of 15 miles a day which takes us about 7 or 8 hours because we end up stopping a lot to take pictures or eat chorizo or chat with various people we meet along the way. We have sore feet, ankles, knees, etc... but it is getting better each day.
Please send us messages as we love to hear from home....... 4321mark at gmail dotcom and/or beckyteiwes1 at gmail dot com or 917 300 9120
I´ll leave you with a Spanish toast that our Canadian friend Harold says all the time ¨Salud, Amor y Pesetas y el tiempo para disfrutarlos.¨ Translation...... Something along the lines of ¨I wish you health, love, and wealth, and the time to enjoy all three!¨
Becky (written on Friday, November 4th from an albergue in Estella......... about 75 miles from where we started walking in St. Jean Pied de Port).

Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona

Alfonso and Becky before entering the old section of Pamplona.  It´s been illuminating to hear about Spain and it´s history from people as we walk.

Jesus y Maria, the alburgue in Pamplona.  Many of our acquaintances are also staying here.  It seems a community of travelers has already begun to form.

We are sending this on the evening of November 2nd at the end of Day 3.  We are grateful for the warm showers, comfortable beds, and good company along the way.  We´ll write more as time and internet access allows. 

Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Becky and two Spanish women from Mallorca.



Mark on the way to Zubiri with his backpack carrying the shell, typical pilgrimage symbol along the Camino.



Menu del Peregrino (Pilgrim´s meal) pork, potatoes, salad, soup, rellenos, wine, water, and good company from Spain, Canada, Switzerland, and Finland.

Day two found us walking towards the industrial town of Zubiri.  We walked alongside many of the same people we had met the previous day.  It rained for the first few hours but we were so blessed by complete sunshine the day before so we weren´t complaining.
We met Harold who is 80 years old and is hiking the Camino for the 7th time.  Some other interesting characters include Alfonso who spoke of pre-Franco Spain and his affinity for interesting Spanish toasts.  (some not appropriate for blogging :)
One Spanish family is traveling in a group of 6 and they have made for some very lively conversations.

Day 1: St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Roncesvalles, Spain

Halloween in France and about to begin the walk to Santiago.

The Pyrenees close to the French-Spanish border.
 

 We took the bus from Madrid to Pamplona on October 30th and then found there was no bus to Roncesvalles so we hitched a ride to France so we could begin our journey on the 31st.  Thanks to Juana, our first ride, and to Maria and her dog with skin problems for the second ride, we made it to France so we could begin walking on the 31st. 
We climbed the Pyrenees and enjoyed the view of Roncesvalles, a medieval city population 100 as we entered just before sunset.  We attended a pilgrim´s mass and then enjoyed some trout and vegetable soup.