Day 9 Najera - Azofra 8kms

It was 12 noon before we checked out of our hotel room and didn’t we savour the opportunity to sleep in - there were no 5.3am alarms for us today

I was not feeling as well as I would have hoped but the tenderness was relieved enough that I could carry Aurelia for a short distance and so we aimed for Azofra 8kms away. It doesn’t take long for the mind to adjust to walking kilometres so that 8 kilometres seems like a short stroll.  Show how far we have come since the first day and the sheer overwhelming panic felt in a field when the enormity of the task overtakes you.


Once checked out we stepped out of the hotel to a cold blustery wind and rain. This was the first time we would have to use the gortex jackets in rainy weather. We popped Aurelia into her rain jacket but the rain eased off to not much more than a drizzle by the time we had crossed the river. This was lucky for us as Aurelia was warming up to the game “You put it on, I’ll pull it off”. She was a champion of the version of this game involving a beanie she WOULD NOT keep on in London and the result had been her picking up a cold. It is a slow 8kms when you have to keep stopping to pull her hood back over her head.

We left Najera by climbing a short but steep hill which gave our trekking poles a good work out. “Welcome back” the camino seemed to say to us!

Used to a blazing heat each day I had left the hotel with wet hair but combined with the icy wind my ears were screaming at me. Desperate to stop them aching I resorted to wearing Nick’s beanie which was not the most glamorous look I have ever modelled.

It took a little while for us to find our rhythm again today thrown by the initial steep incline. Luckily the remainder of the walk into Azofra was through irrigated farm lands and the remaining kilometres were completed quickly with the town upon us before we realised. Having reached the town unexpectedly fast - despite me feeling under the weather we had set the fastest pace of all our days of walking - we sat down in the town square. I was convinced that we had made such good time due to the late start - proof sleeping in is good for your constitution.

Nick and I debated walking on to the next town but we came to the conclusion that rejoining the camino today had required us to overcome enough hurdles without adding another 10km. We tried to remember the lesson the camino had taught us earlier on about pacing ourselves. Also the skies were looking ominous and as we sat in the town square trying to reach a decision several pilgrims stomped past us in ponchos completely saturated.

This cemented our decision, the storm was obviously coming this way, and so we decided to head towards the one albergue in town. If only we had made the decision 2 minutes earlier - or crash tackled some of those wet and weary pilgrims. Upon arriving at the “club med” of albergues, as some pilgrims had described it in the visitor book, we discovered that those last few pilgrims had claimed the last of the private rooms.


As per usual Aurelia was a hit with other pilgrims from the moment we arrived. Waiting to have our credentials stamped my head turned to the sound of two aussie accents - how quickly and instinctively the brain seeks out what is familiar and the same -asking “is that an Aussie accent” We introduced ourselves and discovered the two Aussie girls, Emma and Kate, were from Adelaide. Seems us Aussies were slowly taking over the camino. They were planning to couch surf their way around Spain and Portugal for 5 weeks following the camino and then like us Emma was planning to relocate to the UK.


Just as we moved forward to tell our starting point to the volunteer at the desk, a loud voice bellows “Feck” at the vending machine next to me. I almost had a heart attack I was that startled by the Scottish pilgrim. “This coffee is shite” he said before introducing himself and telling us he had had a gutful of the camino already.


This entire albergue was full of rooms which slept only two people - except for the rooms we were given. Being shown out of the albergue and down a small dirt road the lady directed us into a cement rendered very ’non club med esque’ building. How we longed for a hot summers day now, as stepping into the building, the wind whistled along the corridor and the temperature was at least 10 degrees cooler. The white cement walls and starkness of the interior made me think of a solitary confinement cell in prison. Shivering we entered our room to discover we were sharing it with three Korean missionary students who were walking the Camino as part of a large group.


They were thrilled to see Aurelia and she set about immediately charming them. One of the girls had lived in Canberra, Australia’s capital city, for 6 months and they all told us that Australia was their favourite country. Aurelia had found herself 3 Korean playmates.


We set about setting up Aurelia’s cot and making small talk with the Korean pilgrims who were fascinated by our decision to walk the camino as a family. Suddenly the door burst open and “How do you like ya prison cell” boomed off the concrete walls of our room as the Scottish pilgrim stuck his head in the door wearing a huge grin. One of the poor Korean girls almost jumped out of her skin. Grinning madly he told us about the night he spent in a prison cell in Spain 25 years ago for being drunk and that his cell had been better than this room - and we believed him.


Shivering in our room, we made the decision to head to the warmth of the common area and begin organising dinner. Here we heard more Aussie accents and spent time getting to know Chris and Jo - a brother and sister from NSW who were walking the camino together. The conversation with Chris was particularly interesting as this was his second time walking the camino and his reflections regarding his experience of walking alone the first time and now with company were very interesting. Chris and Jo were both doing blogs while they walked the camino - good on them for having the energy and they can be found at ChrisonCamino.blogspot and Jo on the Camino.blogspot.


While Nick fought for space in the kitchen from the French, other pilgrims fought amongst themselves to entertain Aurelia. One man in particular entertained her for ages on the floor allowing her to climb all over him while he read her a In the Night Garden book. With a 3 month old grand daughter at home - he repeatedly told us ‘I love your child’ and his affection was returned. Aurelia made herself right at home with “her camino poppy” and emptied out his entire wallet before bum shuffling away straight for the door with his Euros in her hand - making us all laugh.



Aurelia also charmed a Korean lady who was celebrating her 40th birthday that day. Aurelia was fascinated by the koala bear keyring this pilgrim had on her camera strap and despite our refusing the Korean lady insisted Aurelia keep it, bringing her collection of keyring gifts for the carrier to 3.

Sitting on long wooden communal tables at dinner the Koreans, seated to the right of us, all stood to sing Happy Birthday to the 40 year old woman. The other pilgrims all fell silent. Once the Koreans were finished singing Happy Birthday a group of Danish women jumped up and in danish began singing Happy Birthday to the Korean pilgrim. The entire room was now laughing and clapping along and the Korean lady was horribly embarrassed. This was the sense of comraderie I was hoping we would find on the camino. One lady from the Danish group ran over to hug the Korean pilgrim announcing “it’s my birthday today as well”.

Well this prompted the german pilgrims to jump up and another rendition of Happy Birthday was sung -this time in German. Finally, not to be outdone, the French pulled themselves away from their gourmet fondue meal and gave a fantastic French version of Happy Birthday. Aurelia squealed and clapped her hands along with the singing. When the French sat down Chris and I sneakily looked at each other and without speaking unanimously decided there didn’t need to be an English version of Happy Birthday sung. Spoil sports we are.

The communal singing seemed to remove a tension that had been existing in the room as people began to open up and speak to others next to them and across the table. On reflection this was the first night where we sensed a positive change in the experience of our camino. It seemed that a lot of people were still ‘finding their walking legs’. This sense of disillusionment that many pilgrims, including ourselves, had with the camino up until this point was making people internalise their emotions and experiences with people really keeping to themselves. I suspect that no one wanted to let on to a complete stranger that they were struggling.

Still once the conversations began to flow it was clear that while some may have blisters, some tendonitis and some homesickness - everyone was being challenged and having to learn new lessons in a way they hadn’t anticipated.

Walking back to our rooms with an uplifted spirit I hoped that some of these people would be keeping a slow pace and we would be able to have another night with these pilgrims at an albergue down the path. The first time you meet a pilgrim it is polite small talk, the second time you are more friendly and the third time you feel as if you have made a friend for life - the intensity of the experience creating strong bonds. With walking so slowly we had only ever reached the polite small talk stage with others.

Brushing my teeth before going to bed that night I got chatting to another lady in the bathroom. She had a lot of questions about travelling the road to Santiago with a child. At the end of our conversation she revealed that she was 5 months pregnant with a little boy. She was carrying her own pack and they were walking 15-20kms every day.

I smiled, shaking my head in disbelief. All I could do while I had been pregnant with our littlest pilgrim had been lay on the couch with extreme morning sickness. I couldn’t have dreamt of walking the camino whilst pregnant - pregnancy is exhausting. I said “congratulations” and then without thinking the words “gee you’re brave” slipped straight out of my mouth!!!

Day 5 - Viana - Logrono - 10km

10th May

Albergue
€5

Weather
Overcast and threatening rain for most of the day - when the sun comes out the weather is steaming

There is a moment before fully waking that I enjoy. That moment when the limbs of the body are relaxed and the eyes are still closed as if the senses of the body are warming up slowly one by one. This is a lovely state from which you can easily slip back into your dreams if you have awoken to silence around you, or your bed is comfortable and the temperature right.

The parent of a young child knows that this semi dream state is left behind, long forgotten when toddler-dom arrives. Aurelia wakes most mornings with energy burning to escape her small body and if she has undone the zip on her Kinderkot then she loves nothing better than to crawl over to you and welcome you awake by picking your nose for you!

But this morning my ears informed me that she was still sleeping, my ears instinctively searching for the soft sounds of her regular breathing. However this dream like state was not to last as the assault on my ears was so disorientating I was forced to switch on my other senses to make sense of my surroundings. What on earth is that noise -is it French? Why are French people shouting all around me? Why does my bed feel so hard? And who has chopped off my feet and replaced them with burning balls of fire!! Where the hell am I ?

The answer to those questions was I was rapidly waking up, surrounded by people, on the living room floor of the albergue where we stayed last night. I was not in my bed at home and the hard tiled floor would explain the general aches and pains I felt In my hip and knee joints. Those burning balls of pain which used to be feet - I was responsible for those - a reminder to not bite off more than I could chew in future. Okay, okay I’ve learnt my lesson I promise

Apparently if you are a French pilgrim your voice has no volume switch and so you are left only to speak so that your voice reverberates of everything that surrounds you - my head included. My eyes go to the Kinderkot once again - surely I was mistaken, there is no way that Raya could be sleeping through this noise - an army mess hall would be quieter than this. Pilgrims observe me checking on Aurelia and their excitement at seeing Aurelia wake up only causes them to raise their voices in anticipation. I am sending a plague of blisters on anyone who wakes my daughter at 6am today and make it clear I want them to back away from her Kinderkot.

As I take in the pilgrims around me not only do I notice they are all loud - I had been sleeping with ear plugs in - but they are all dressed the same - in wet weathers. Seems that the sound I had heard had in fact been rain, and not ‘the soft pattering on a tin roof lulling you to sleep rain’ but rather the ‘torrential downpour that will make the path a mud bath today’ kind of rain. Varying assortments of ponchos parade pass Nick and I as we slowly start sorting our clothes - don’t they know it’s not raining inside - and the French pilgrims have the most impressive rain gear we have seen so far. Turns out this is because they have walked from Le Puy and for the 5 weeks of walking to the Pyrenees they had encounterd rain and mud every single day - hmm so the French are responsible for bringing this bad weather with them.

I start the slow process of bandaging my feet remembering today that my sister in law had asked me to take regular photos of my feet and blisters if I got “any really awesome ones”. Well these babies are redefining awesome!! After a combination of gauze, compede , elastoplast and electrical tape I put my socks on and squeeze my feet into my boots. This is going to be bad, really, really bad.

This was not the experience I was hoping for and certainly not what I wanted to be journaling about but a glossed over golden blog does nothing to share the realities of the camino experience and it is these realities that teach our minds the lessons from which the camino becomes so meaningful. Therefore the “warts and all” or shall I say “blisters and all” version must be shared.

The overwhelming feeling towards my body is anger. It seems that my body has a history of being reliably unreliable. Nick has always been fit and I on the other hand have a “please infect me/ injure me” sign on my forehead which is apparently irresistible to Life. This camino experience I had envisioned as empowering and uplifting. Instead my body and my mental strength appeared to have run for cover at the first sight of strife. Today I was worried we had bitten off more than we could chew and since it was my job to carry Aurelia if I wasn’t up to the task then I would be responsible for our family trekking adventure coming to a premature end. Never one to let go of a dream easily I tried to pull myself together to get my head around the walk ahead of us. Today would only be 10km and we only had to take it one step at a time. Small achievable goals was the strategy of the day.

Slowly pilgrim by pilgrim cleared out of the living room and it appears the silence is what wakes Aurelia from her sleep. Perhaps she too was slowly turning her senses on one by one and once the coast was clear she knew it was safe to make an appearance - clever peregrino.

We organise our packs (the speed with which we are doing this is not improving we note) and head out the door. At least we weren’t the last to leave today. A lady is sitting with her feet, soaking them in salt to clean her blisters while she argues with the albergue security man that ‘she doesn’t care if it 8am -her feet are not ready yet”. When you stay in an albergue you are able to stay for one night only and then you must have left by 8am the next day. We pass out the door with 10 minutes to spare.

The time it takes to get dressed, feed Aurelia, have breakfast and pack our bags has worked in our favour as now the rain has stopped. The downside is that the wet muddy trail has now become irresistibly boggy for our boots. We squelch slowly along the trail and try to avoid ending up on our backsides. The muddy track also makes it very difficult to find anywhere suitable for a nappy change for Ray.

The walk is mainly flat before a short climb before entering Logrono. The landscape today is not what we would term ‘inspiring’ as we spend a lot of time walking through the “Embalse de las Canas” which is a wetlands reserve. At some

points the ground is so muddy and churned up that we can’t see the footprints of earlier pilgrims and there are signs pointing in two opposite directions. If we hadn’t have met pilgrims who had walked this section before we could have easily rambled the wrong way.

With the I-pod on again and Raya enjoying being in the carrier with the cooler weather we see the first few signs to Logrono and console ourselves that we are almost there. I place a small pebble on the stone sign marker - my “’offering up of my sins” and the cursing I have done with my feet today, there are plenty to offer. As we walk under the motorway we see some pilgrim graffiti and shortly we enter the city of Logrono.

As we head towards the albergue we anticipate finding the location and having a small picnic lunch as there is plenty of time to kill before we expect the albergue to open and, as we have only walked 10km and it is only noon we anticipate most pilgrims will have walked on.

We see the street with the albergue and I am ready to head to the grassy river banks for something to eat. Thankfully Nick decides we should head down to the albergue to check it out. As we walk down towards the albergue, which is located on a corner, we hear voices. As we get closer to the corner we see that in the street to the side of the albergue a long queue of pilgrims have already formed, with at least 70 pilgrims waiting, and more in the courtyard area. Nick and I can’t believe it -we really have no option but to join the queue to ensure we have a bed inside the albergue that night. I silently curse the albergue experience and wish we were just checking into a hotel for the evening. The weather has now warmed up and we are sweating standing in the queue. No one is interested in letting me move in front of them to stand in the shade with Aurelia - some pilgrims true colours are showing.

As we stand in the queue hugging the wall and the small amount of shade we can find we see familiar faces in the queue ahead of us. Standing in front of us are a large group of German people. As germans walk down the street in the direction of the end of the queue they stop to speak to the germans in front of us -and then remain there. Now when this happens for the first time we think perhaps they were part of the initial group but as it continues we become aware that all these blokes are just pushing in. Who pushes in front of a woman and small child in the heat? Nick is gearing up to have serious words with the german in front of us (who does himself no additional favours by lighting up a ciggarette next to our small child).

As the queue begins to move I decide our standing and waiting is over and I push through the queue with Aurelia to the shade and seats of the courtyard so she can crawl on the floor and have something to eat. I ignore the disgruntled expressions from pilgrims in the queue. Slowly one by one the pilgrims are taken into the albergue to have their credentials stamped. The process here seems to be excruciatingly slow.

Nick enters the courtyard area with his pack as the queue progresses and many jokes are had at the size of the pack. Thankfully one pilgrim thoughtfully mentioned that a small child was waiting in the queue and one of the volunteers came out in the courtyard looking for us. She ushered us all inside, silencing the people complaing with a French tongue lashing.

The albergue here was large with well maintained facilities and they did their best to accommodate us with Raya by giving us the hospital room when it became free. However they are ultra strict at this albergue, the list of rules is long and they make no exceptions. Miss curfew and enjoy sleeping on the street without any of your belongings as some pilgrims apparently had to do.

Our meal is eaten in as I can’t walk to a restaurant. My feet are weeping and my socks were soaked when I removed them. I suspect that my toes are now infected.

Raya loves the attention of the dorm room set up and after a short bum shuffle away she bum shuffles back again - this time with a big smile on her face and her hands full of biscuits from the male pilgrims she has charmed along her journey around the dorm room.

We are both tired but we are thankful that only one of us is carrying an injury. Nick is left to do the showering of Aurelia on his own as standing on my feet in the shower I find a difficult process without juggling a slippery toddler. I say a prayer of thanks for having married a man who is such a hands on exceptional dad. I know that with such a heavy pack Nick must be doing it tough however he never complains and accepts it as another challenge on the camino.

The showering experience in the women’s bathroom is proving interesting. There appears to be some ‘cultural differences’ in how women from different countries approach the showering process. Without a doubt the Spanish women I encountered were the exhibitionists.

British women were the most prudish dressing entirely before coming out of the cubicle where other pilgrims waited to have a shower. I tended to put my undies and bra on and then jump out for the next person to have a shower, getting dressed outside. This seemed to be the most common option.

However the Spanish women would strip down naked whilst waiting in the queue, then exit the shower cubicle naked and remain so whilst brushing their teeth and hair. After a long walk each day this assault on the eyes was the last thing I needed.

The usual wash, eat, journal and sleep process is carried out and by 9pm another day on the camino is over. The female French volunteer has kindly secured us the private hospital room on the top floor of the albergue and we move our belongings up there and settle in for the night. The plan tomorrow is to find a pharmacy and see what range of over the counter drugs Spain has to offer it’s pilgrims.