Zibiri

We started walking about 8 am this morning after an all night bus ride and it rained until about 1030 am. However, it did quit raining and the sun came out later in the morning. We walked about 15 miles, more or less. Since we started walking a day early and did not do the first day from St John Pied de Port, we are about 2 days ahead of schedule. I think we will take a short day tomorrow. Patsy was very tired and sore after today´s walk so we might walk to Trinidad tomorrow and then on to Pamplona the next day.

The fog was so thick this morning it seemed suspiciously like rain, ever the the coming down in sheets. But it was warm enough so it was actually pleasant enough. There are a few English speaking people doing the Camino that many signs are in Spanish, French, German and English as well as Basque. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. They are amused by our Spanish but not in any hurtful way.

The church in Roncevalles is just like the photos. Very ancient looking. This is sort of mountainous country, but with forests and farmland. More hay than anything else and not many vineyards. Some of the towns are small. Roncevalles has a population of 30. Not many services there. We are staying in a very nice Refuge. Hot showers and we share a room with three bunkbeds. There were hot showers with lots of water, so it meets Patsy´s minimum requirements. We had the perigrenos dinner at a cafe tonight and it was very good. I had spagetti for a starter, Chicken Polo for second and flan for desert. Filling and tasty. It comes with water, wine and bread. Nice for somone who walked 15 miles.

Food is very important on a trip like this one. Don´t laugh! I may spend more time talking about dinner than the other aspects of the trip.

Trinidad:
I took a few photos today that should look pretty good. Mostly of mountain views and a few monuments. The bridge here in Trinidad is very scenic and old.

Roncevalles, Spain the first day on the Camino

We made to Roncevalles but the weather is too bad to get a ride to St John, so we start our Camino from here. Rainy and wet with too much fog to go over the mountains.

Patsy is shown here with a fellow pilgrim with whom we shared a taxi from Pamplona. The church in the background is huge but the village has a population of about 50. Many of the churches along the Camino were built for the pilgrims and this was an important stop on the Camino Francais.

Costa Blanco Spain

We are having fun with the family. The weather has been good, Seth,s family thinks it is famously hot. From Houston it is only warm. The girls are spending much of their time in the pool or the beach. Today is both. We have some nice photos which we will send when we can. Tomorrow we leave for Irun and St. Jean Pied de Port, the start of our Camino. If the weather there is anything like the weather here in Altea, we will do very well.

We are going to do the most popular of the Caminos, the Camino Francais. Here is a map. We are starting just to the east of Roncevalles, Spain, in St Jean Pied du Port, France. All the major routes from France meet at or near St Jean.

Photos of the Jacobsweg near Bechhofen

Here are some photos along the Jacobsweg (German Camino de Santiago). All the photos are a few minutes walk from Seth's house. The paths through the woods here look just like the photos. There are a lot of paths and the Germans use them a lot. The scallop shell sign in a couple of the photos is the sign for the Camino de Santiago. We expect to start seeing a lot more of those a week from Monday.

We are finally getting some nice weather.Seth, the girls, the neighbors and Patsy and I went to the dinasaur park today to get some son. They seem to be suffering from sunlight deprivation. There was a lot for the girls to do there, so it was a great success. The weather was so nice, it was great to be outside.

A video mistakenly taken instead of a photo at the Landstuhl castle. Savannah and Amber love this castle. Ruins seem better to them than a well maintained castle.

The Vineyards at the wine festival. The vineyards in Germany are at least as beautiful as anywhere.

The town center at the wine festival. Rendi wearing her high heels.

Patsy and Liesel (sp) walking about in the vineyards during the wine festival.

Savannah at a wine festival.

A view of the route into town from Seth and Kathy's house in Bechhofen.

Here is a photo of Seth and Kathy's duplex.

Jakobsweg (Way of St James)

We have noticed the scallop shell signs on some of the paths here. Come to find out, the Way of St. James extents this far. Below is a web site with a pilgrimage path through Bechhofen.

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=20713

There are some old tank barriers left in the countryside from WWII in the first photo.

I finally got a photo of me. One is of Seth and me. The other one is me in my walking clothes walking in Bechofen, Germany. Seth says it has rained every day, so you just can't wait around for good weather.

It is pretty country with lots of walking paths. You can see some of the farm country in the photo of me and Seth. At least walking in 50 deg F is not nearly as bad as cylcing in it. Patsy and I have both had more than enough cycling in wet, rainy, cold weather.

Bechofen, Germany

We made it to Seth's without a hitch. Nice trip all around. Beautiful part of Germany. Pictures will follow later today.

Some nice You Tube posts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u_oa7J4xik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EppyMumKRHU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y45YVNxT1go

Keep training

Patsy and I have been doing at least some training. 6 miles again today. The Woodlands has nice walking trails. Our route today included The Woodlands triathalon. It looked like it got perhaps a thousand entries. There is a very nice park on Lake Woodlands where the swim is done. The roads are closed or traffic restricted for the bike andrun. Last week the park hosted the Spring Bark, which is like an old fashioned dog and pony show except no ponies. We fly to Germany on 11 May and that is not long from now. Seth is already finding us places to walk to keep in training.