Day 7: Cirauqui to Villamayor de Monjardin (Luquin) The highlights of today are that we managed to walk over 16 miles, found the magical monk wine spigot, and were denied lodging because all the alburgues were full (aka completo)! The … Continued
Day 5: Pamplona to Zariquiegui The morning began with a quick stop and spark of excitement over a goofy thing. I heard about these interesting bathrooms used in Europe, but have never seen one. Now I have not only experienced … Continued
Camino Francés Day 3: Roncesvalles to Urdaniz Even though we started the Camino a few days ago, today was the first time I felt the true essence of the pilgrimage. We walked till we felt we couldn’t walk any further. … Continued
DAY 0: THE BEGINNING OF THE EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO We left Madrid today by train to arrive in Pamplona. At the station, we encountered a bit of a misunderstanding, a taxi fiasco if you will. Once it was all … Continued
DAY 4 IN MADRID The sun nearly had the sky all to itself today. The only clouds to speak of were far off in the distance hanging over the hazy mountains. I can feel its rays warming my back, but … Continued
DAY 3 IN MADRID We began our day with a typical Spanish breakfast: coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and muffins. In Spanish: cafè con leche, café solo, zumo de naranja y dos magdalenas. Madrid River Walk What a day! We … Continued
Madrid Day 2 It’s our first full day in Madrid. We visited the oldest continually operated restaurant in the world, wandered the halls of the Royal Palace, drank (sort of ate) the most delicious hot chocolate ever made and much … Continued
We made it to our first stop in Spain today, the city of Madrid. The day started out on a good note with both our trains arriving on time and O’Hare Airport looking like the below when we got there. … Continued