Grumpy on the Camino
Hi all,
I'm very grumpily writing from an albergue in Belorado, Spain. I'm taking a rest day in the hopes that my blisters, which went from minor to significant around mile 12 yesterday, will have a chance to heal and I can get back to walking tomorrow. I bused ahead to where we were planning to stay tonight, so Mom was still able to walk and we didn't lose any time.
I don't want to do a blow by blow accounting of the past week, but here are some general impressions:
The Musee d'Orsay was very cool, although I'm not sure I liked any of the art as much as I liked the building. I did really like the Van Goghs in person, he's one of my favorites.
The Musee de l'Orangerie was my favorite by a wide margin. I asked a lot of people what my top priority of things to see in Paris should be, and now I have an answer if anyone asks me. It has these giant Monet panels, in rooms built from them that Monet designed himself. The whole space is really, really cool. Mom compared it to going to an aquarium, which is pretty accurate. Most of the art in Paris could be anywhere, but the Monet panels wouldn't be the same anywhere else.
They also had an exhibit going on how Monet influenced American abstract art. There were great pieces by Rothko and Pollock, and some other artists I wasn't familiar with but really liked. I think I posted a few on my instagram. (Not going to put pictures on this post, I'm on mobile data and also too grumpy to deal with the very annoying photo upload interface.)
We also climbed various things in Paris. Not the Eiffel Tower, because what do you even do with a view of Paris that doesn't include the Eiffel Tower, and also it's really expensive. But we went up in the Arc de Triomphe at night, which was really neat. The stairs were kind of a lot, but actually the worst part was that they're a stone spiral staircase. They just kept going, and it made me really dizzy.
On our way back from that, we got mildly lost in the Madeleine (lol, I honestly don't know how to spell that. I spent the whole time in Paris calling it the Madeline neighborhood and admiring the beauty of the church they kindly erected in my honor.) neighborhood and found where the president of France lives. There were an ominous and increasing number of police officers with big guns, until we got to a street that was closed off and we had to to detour around it. We speculated wildly until finally I looked it up and determined that the Palais de something-or-other, where the president lives, is on that street. At which point the security seemed quite restrained, compared to, say, the White House.
I also went up to the top of Sacre Coeur, which was taller and less user friendly, as staircases go, but oddly didn't make me as dizzy. The view from up there was excellent, and seeing the bell tower and roof statues from above was interesting. Would recommend, basically.
Despite our careful planning, our train trip to San Sebastian was impacted by the rail strike, in that our connecting train from Bordeaux to Hendaye was cancelled, and we had to take a more local train. But we got there eventually.
I'd like to note here, for embarrassed posterity, that it took me until now to realize that the squinting at my phone could probably be avoided if I put my sunglasses on and turned the brightness up on my phone.
Anyway, San Sebastian, and then Logroño the next day, are the greatest places on earth, because they a) have amazing pinchos/pintxos and b) have lots of gluten-free options. Also c) for some reason, foie gras is insanely cheap. So for two nights in a row I got to completely stuff myself on tiny plates of super rich and delicious gluten-free food, much of which was marked as such on the menus, and everyone knew what I was talking about when I asked if something was gluten-free. Hard to pick a favorite, but one of the best ones I had was a piece of buttery gluten-free toast with a thick slice of grilled foie gras on it, topped with a bit of some kind of fruit preserve. It was about two big bites worth of food, and it cost under three euro. Basically I love San Sebastian, and will sadly have to abandon you all and move there immediately.
We spent the past few days walking through La Rioja, where, apparently, all of the bars have amazing local wine they're selling for one or two euro a glass. The food hasn't been quite as good, but it's hard to compete with one of the top food cities in the world.
So, the Camino de Santiago. We're doing that now, finally. The afternoon we arrived in Logroño was a little nerve-wracking. We did all the final preparations, like washing clothes and sending stuff ahead that we don't need until Santiago. Somewhat predictably, when we actually got started the next day it was much better. Some of things I was worried about haven't been a problem, like making sure to take enough breaks. It's super hot. We have to take breaks, so we do. On the other hand, bathrooms have been about as much of a problem as I expected. The towns haven't been very frequent, and I don't have any problem using the bushes, except there aren't bushes, just farmland, and the larger problem: There are tons of peregrinos (pilgrims, people on the camino). They're everywhere. Yesterday in particular had several long stretches of road where you could see a mile or more of the track, and there were always people on it. But, I think the towns are going to get more frequent, so that should resolve itself.
The towns have been pretty interesting. Some, like where we spent last night, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, exist because of the camino. It's like 1000 years old (seriously) but the reason there's a town there is because of this trek that we're on. It's a little trippy.
So, we've done 30 miles so far, Logroño to Santo Domingo, and when Mom gets here to Belorado, she'll have done 44. I'm really disappointed not to be walking today. I know that taking a day or two to let my blisters heal will probably let me avoid having to take way more time later when they're worse, but it still sucks. I feel really good otherwise. People talk about the best training for the camino being the first week of the camino, but I think we kind of got that out of the way when we were doing 10 or 12 miles a day walking around Paris. I was certainly more sore then than I am now.
When I do start walking again, I'm going to try sending my pack ahead and just carrying my day pack. Hopefully less weight on my feet will keep the blisters from returning/getting worse. I may also try hiking in my back-up shoes, light and comfortable Nike Flyknits. I think that the heat may be part of the problem with my boots. I tested and broke them in well, but I never had an opportunity to test them in 75 plus degrees and hours of direct sunlight with a full pack.
The most generous, "the Camino provides," everything happens for a reason interpretation is probably that, in terms of personal growth, practice listening to my body will probably do more for me than walking 14 miles with a heavy pack, since I already know I can do that. But I'm still grumpy.
I'm very grumpily writing from an albergue in Belorado, Spain. I'm taking a rest day in the hopes that my blisters, which went from minor to significant around mile 12 yesterday, will have a chance to heal and I can get back to walking tomorrow. I bused ahead to where we were planning to stay tonight, so Mom was still able to walk and we didn't lose any time.
I don't want to do a blow by blow accounting of the past week, but here are some general impressions:
The Musee d'Orsay was very cool, although I'm not sure I liked any of the art as much as I liked the building. I did really like the Van Goghs in person, he's one of my favorites.
The Musee de l'Orangerie was my favorite by a wide margin. I asked a lot of people what my top priority of things to see in Paris should be, and now I have an answer if anyone asks me. It has these giant Monet panels, in rooms built from them that Monet designed himself. The whole space is really, really cool. Mom compared it to going to an aquarium, which is pretty accurate. Most of the art in Paris could be anywhere, but the Monet panels wouldn't be the same anywhere else.
They also had an exhibit going on how Monet influenced American abstract art. There were great pieces by Rothko and Pollock, and some other artists I wasn't familiar with but really liked. I think I posted a few on my instagram. (Not going to put pictures on this post, I'm on mobile data and also too grumpy to deal with the very annoying photo upload interface.)
We also climbed various things in Paris. Not the Eiffel Tower, because what do you even do with a view of Paris that doesn't include the Eiffel Tower, and also it's really expensive. But we went up in the Arc de Triomphe at night, which was really neat. The stairs were kind of a lot, but actually the worst part was that they're a stone spiral staircase. They just kept going, and it made me really dizzy.
On our way back from that, we got mildly lost in the Madeleine (lol, I honestly don't know how to spell that. I spent the whole time in Paris calling it the Madeline neighborhood and admiring the beauty of the church they kindly erected in my honor.) neighborhood and found where the president of France lives. There were an ominous and increasing number of police officers with big guns, until we got to a street that was closed off and we had to to detour around it. We speculated wildly until finally I looked it up and determined that the Palais de something-or-other, where the president lives, is on that street. At which point the security seemed quite restrained, compared to, say, the White House.
I also went up to the top of Sacre Coeur, which was taller and less user friendly, as staircases go, but oddly didn't make me as dizzy. The view from up there was excellent, and seeing the bell tower and roof statues from above was interesting. Would recommend, basically.
Despite our careful planning, our train trip to San Sebastian was impacted by the rail strike, in that our connecting train from Bordeaux to Hendaye was cancelled, and we had to take a more local train. But we got there eventually.
I'd like to note here, for embarrassed posterity, that it took me until now to realize that the squinting at my phone could probably be avoided if I put my sunglasses on and turned the brightness up on my phone.
Anyway, San Sebastian, and then Logroño the next day, are the greatest places on earth, because they a) have amazing pinchos/pintxos and b) have lots of gluten-free options. Also c) for some reason, foie gras is insanely cheap. So for two nights in a row I got to completely stuff myself on tiny plates of super rich and delicious gluten-free food, much of which was marked as such on the menus, and everyone knew what I was talking about when I asked if something was gluten-free. Hard to pick a favorite, but one of the best ones I had was a piece of buttery gluten-free toast with a thick slice of grilled foie gras on it, topped with a bit of some kind of fruit preserve. It was about two big bites worth of food, and it cost under three euro. Basically I love San Sebastian, and will sadly have to abandon you all and move there immediately.
We spent the past few days walking through La Rioja, where, apparently, all of the bars have amazing local wine they're selling for one or two euro a glass. The food hasn't been quite as good, but it's hard to compete with one of the top food cities in the world.
So, the Camino de Santiago. We're doing that now, finally. The afternoon we arrived in Logroño was a little nerve-wracking. We did all the final preparations, like washing clothes and sending stuff ahead that we don't need until Santiago. Somewhat predictably, when we actually got started the next day it was much better. Some of things I was worried about haven't been a problem, like making sure to take enough breaks. It's super hot. We have to take breaks, so we do. On the other hand, bathrooms have been about as much of a problem as I expected. The towns haven't been very frequent, and I don't have any problem using the bushes, except there aren't bushes, just farmland, and the larger problem: There are tons of peregrinos (pilgrims, people on the camino). They're everywhere. Yesterday in particular had several long stretches of road where you could see a mile or more of the track, and there were always people on it. But, I think the towns are going to get more frequent, so that should resolve itself.
The towns have been pretty interesting. Some, like where we spent last night, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, exist because of the camino. It's like 1000 years old (seriously) but the reason there's a town there is because of this trek that we're on. It's a little trippy.
So, we've done 30 miles so far, Logroño to Santo Domingo, and when Mom gets here to Belorado, she'll have done 44. I'm really disappointed not to be walking today. I know that taking a day or two to let my blisters heal will probably let me avoid having to take way more time later when they're worse, but it still sucks. I feel really good otherwise. People talk about the best training for the camino being the first week of the camino, but I think we kind of got that out of the way when we were doing 10 or 12 miles a day walking around Paris. I was certainly more sore then than I am now.
When I do start walking again, I'm going to try sending my pack ahead and just carrying my day pack. Hopefully less weight on my feet will keep the blisters from returning/getting worse. I may also try hiking in my back-up shoes, light and comfortable Nike Flyknits. I think that the heat may be part of the problem with my boots. I tested and broke them in well, but I never had an opportunity to test them in 75 plus degrees and hours of direct sunlight with a full pack.
The most generous, "the Camino provides," everything happens for a reason interpretation is probably that, in terms of personal growth, practice listening to my body will probably do more for me than walking 14 miles with a heavy pack, since I already know I can do that. But I'm still grumpy.
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