Itt ahol élek nem emlékeznek meg a Mikulásról. Sok évben emiatt mi sem. De olvasván az NoLBlog-ot és felújítván érdeklődésemet "for all things Hungarian" eszembe jutnak régi Mikulás emlékeim. A karácsonyi emlékek mellet ezek legrégebbi gyerekkori emlékeim.

Meg a késöi 40-es években az államosítás nem fejezödött be és anyám egyik legjobb barátnöje a Stümmer csokoládé gyáros leánya volt. December 6.-án odasétáltunk úgy este 7 felé, sok más gyerekes ismerös szintugy. A Szilágyi Erzsébet fasorban volt szép villájuk.

Várni kellett mig a Mikulás jött és ijesztgették a gyerekeket hogy a Krampusz is jöhet ha rossz voltál.

A Mikulás megérkezett, egy nagy fotelbe bele ült és minden gyereknek elé kellet járulnia, egyik a másik után, és elmondania hogy miért jogosult a csokoládéra. Mert persze jó volt. Én nagyon féltem. De a végén volt csoki böven. A felnöttek jól mulattak.

Ma olvastam, a vasárnapi ujságban amire elöfizetőek vagyunk és igy a házunkhoz szállítanak. A 200 éves évfordulóra lett irva.

Csupán a linket adom meg, akit érdekel és tud angolul, ajánlom, egy érdekes cikk.

Én nagyon szeretem Lisztet de sohasem gondoltam őt másokkal összehasonlítani, avagy zeneszerzőket rangsorolni.

Valahogy szerintem műveszek és verseny lovak értékelése más alapokon nyugszik.

Ennek ellenére egy jól kutatott és mély cikk, ami nem ritka a NYT-ban.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/arts/music/looking-at-franz-liszt-on-his-bicentenary.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=liszt&st=cse

Köztudott hogy a borfogyasztás Észak Amerikában növekedik, ugyanakkor más alkohol fogyasztása (sör és tömény italok) stagnál vagy csökken.

A fogyasztók elcsábitásáért nagy a verseny a termelők, illetve országok között.

A magyar borok fogyasztását eleve befolyásolja a tény hogy az európai borok aránya az utóbbi idökben csökkent összehasonlítva az “új világ” termékeivel. A nyertesek elsősorban a dél amerikai borok: Argentinából és Csiléből, másodsorban az Ausztrál, Új Zélandi és a Dél Afrikai termékek. Megemlitem a nagyszerü amerikai borokat, ezek föleg Kaliforniaiak vagy Oregonból származnak.

Az ideális éghajlat ezekben az országokban majdnem hogy garantálja a minőséget minden évben. Plusz a bortermelést profi módra a legjobb európai szakértők bevonásával (és sok pénz befektetésével) szervezték meg, aránylag nem régen. Az eredmény az hogy most nagy mennyiségű kitűnő bort tudnak szállitani, meglepöen jó áron.

Kanadának is van saját bora ujabban: a Niagara környékén és nyugaton (British Columbia megye egyes részén) ahol egész jó minöségű borok termelésére képesek, ugyan csak kis mennyiségben.                                                                                                                    

Itt Kanadában az alkohol es borforgalmazás jobbára állami (értsd megyei) kezekben van. Ahol én lakom, a mindenható LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) “uralkodik”. “Board” vásárló ereje az egyike a legnagyobbaknak a világon: kb 20 millió lakosra vásárol bort! Az adó magas a borokon, én itt álltalában tíz dollárt fizetek egy üveg asztali borért, azért amit Magyarországon kb 500 forintért ( 2.5 dollárért) megvehetnék.

Információként ideteszem a linket ahol a jelenleg listázott termékek, közöttük a magyar termékek is találhatóak. Csak válassz “Country of origin”:  Hungary.

http://www.lcbo.ca/lcbo-ear/jsp/ProductSearchNonVintages.jsp?language=EN

A Magyar borok nagyrésze az olcsóbb ($10/üveg vagy kevesebb) kategoriába tartozik, kivéve a tokaji aszúkat.

Egy LCBO megrendeléshez ebben az (asztali bor) kategoriában hatalmas mennyiséget kell szállitani, amire (szerintem) kevés magyar borgazdaság képes.

A minőségi kategoriában viszont ahol kissebb mennyiségek is megfelnének, (ezt az elöbb megadott website-on “vintage” kategoriának hivják), túlnyomóan a francia, olasz, spanyol borok dominálnak, és sajnos magyar bor ritkán található. Persze saját tapasztalatom szerint jópár magyar termelő simán megállná a helyét itt is, de a listázás eléréséért (gondolom) a verseny óriási. Listázáshoz nemzetközi borversenyeket kell nyerni és a temelőnek muszáj ismertebbnek lenni világszerte. Nem igaz manapság az a mondás hogy jó bornak nem kell cégért. Ezeket a minőségi borokat csupán “boutique” boltokban árulják, jobbára nagyvárosokban.

Az evésről irok talán ez alkalommal, ez kedvenc témám. Utazásaim alatt mindig is hangsúlyt tettem arra hogy a munka után jól egyek, ez egy kis kutatást igényel elötte, én nem sajnálom az idöt és mindig jól “felkészülten” érkezek egy új városba.

Persze szabadságon és Magyarországon ez a “követelmény” még nagyobb, mert nejem is jelen van és megbirál ha a választás hibás....

Többféle forrás van hogy hol lehet jol enni. Európában a Michelin dominál, itt amcsiban a Zagat, ugyan Michelin is ir New York es San Franciscorol. És persze a New York Times. Baráti tanács is jó ha van de csak akkor halgass rájuk ha az illetöek szeretnek enni, ha nem felejsd el.

A budapesti látogatásinkat komplikálja hogy sokszor ismerösökkel megyünk enni, és amit ök “ajánlanak” azt “illő” elfogadni. Márpedig még mindig sok helyen a hangsúly a nagy adagokon van a minöség helyett és túl zsirosan föznek a mi izlésünknek.

Megemlitem szeretünk egyszerü étkezdékbe is járni, kettöre különösen emlékezem: a Kádár Étkezde a Klauzál téren és az önkiszolgáló a vári Hiltonnal szembenlevő épületben (az udvarházi bejárónál balra az elsö emeleten, hétvégén ez nincsen nyitva).

Hiányolom az álló hideg büfféket, olyasmit ami a “Mézes Mackó” volt a 60-as években a Kigyó utcában, francia saláta, aszpikos lazac, ez/az, nyitott szendvics, kaszinó tojás helyben fogyasztható vagy elvitelre. De megszünt es hasonlót nem leltünk. Tud valaki ajánlani? Ha már itt tartok hol lehet jó pacaltot enni? És a vese velővel mi történt? Mert az aztán nincsen....

 Többször meg voltunk hiva barátokhoz. Az idén az egyik helyen olyan mesés töltött paprikat csináltak amit már régóta nem ettem. Feleségul kellene volna kérni a hölgyet de férjezett volt és én nös vagyok. Na de éttermekről akartam beszámolni.

Elmondhatom hogy Magyarországon az utóbbi 10 évben az éttermi kaja minősége nagyot javult, persze árak is rendesen felkúsztak “világszinvonalra”.

Szóval itt van a nem hivatalos “little étterem lista” Budapesten, májusi saját tapasztalatok alapján listázva:

1/ Bock Bistró….amikor ott voltunk gida hús volt a special…én kalandos étvágyú vagyok…kecske szalontüdöt rendeltem (!), fennséges volt. A boraik is jók.

2/ Centrum kávéház…nagyszerü konyha…soha sem csalódtunk. Na es a cukrász választék a legjobb magyar cukrásztól jön Vácról. Nevét elfelejtettem. Szobrot érdemel. Külön hűtött vitrinnél kell választani. Nagyszerű. De a Gundel palacsintájuk se kutya!

3/ Csalogány 26... Kedvenc helyünk. Egy müvész birtokolja a konyhát mint chef, a nivó nagyon magas. Gratuláció.

4/ Elmentünk a Costesbe is ebédre. 3 fogásos ebédet rendeltünk, nagyon jó volt, de talán az adagok kicsit nagyobbak lehetnének, és én nem vagyok a nagy adagok hive és hozzá vagyok szokva csúcs éttermi adagokhoz, de jól lakni 3 fogásos ebéd után azért szeretek. Több kenyeret kellett volna kérni, mellesleg a kenyér es minden isteni.

Ennyi a kajáról. Folytatása következik…..

A szombati New York Timesban megjelent egy cikk az utazás részlegben Bp-röl, ez adta az ihletet hogy én is irok egyet, egyébként a link itt van: http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/travel/36-hours-in-budapest.html?ref=travel

Csak egész röviden, nem akarom a komolyabb témájú bloggerektöl sok idöt elvenni. Mert ugyebár egy ilyen poszt teret vesz el a zOrbán szapulóktól...mea culpa.

Nejem és én kb minden két évben mint túristák látogatunk, kb egy hetet maradunk, ami áltában egy három hetes Europai út egy része. Az idén május végén jöttünk egy Passau Bécs bicigli túra után, és utána Krakkóba mentünk fel. Mindig más hotelben foglalunk, az idén a Vigszinház mellet a Lipót városban, az NH Budapestben. Nagyon megszépült ez a vidék a Lipót város.

Nagyon élveztük a villamosokon az utazást. Még egyszer vidékre is lementünk, vonattal a Déliböl, a barátomat meglátogatni aki Bicskéhez közel lakik. A Déliböl indult minden órában, gyönyörű új vonat...és mivel 65-ön túl vagyunk mindez ingyenes!

Vezetni kellemetlenebb, Krakkóba menéshez béreltem egy kocsit a Szabadság téren, de nehéz tájékozodni, a föútvonalak nincsenek jól jelölve egy kin volt a Váci föutvonalat (M0 ha jól emlekszem) megtalálni. És az országúton fel kell a lámpát tenni...nálunk az magától mindig bekapcsol. Na de tanul az ember.... 

Majd folytatom....már késö van és birkózom a Magyar klaviatúrával most Pesten vettem, és megtanultam hogyan használhatom a laptopommal.

Mindannyian olvastunk/hallottunk arrol hogy mi történt. Tragikus és elgondolkoztató.

Érdekes volt követni, itt a NOLBlogon, azt hiszem Hmmmm irt egy posztot még tegnap elött, "Gyáva gyilkos" cimen, muszlim extremist várván....de nem az...és szöke!

Azóta nagy a csend ebben a témában...tudom vasárnap van...de mégis...ha muszlim lett volna, lenne poszt böven...van valakinek erröl valami véleménye/teoriája mi lehet ennek a magyarázata?

Lehetséges hogy van veszély a másik oldalról is? Mi a teendö????

(In praise of active vacations)

Seriously. Take a break and do it. Your will enjoy a week of healthy exercise, excellent meals and wine, the opportunity to see peaceful and prosperous old towns and the landscape along the ever-present majestic Danube. How can you go wrong?

There are two main sections, one from Passau to Vienna, the other from Vienna to Budapest, each about 350km long. Our trip involved the first one.

There are fully guided tours but we chose a self guided type, you will see soon what it entails. The first thing to do is to decide at what pace you’ll cover the distance. Those more ambitious will take five days; we are over 60 so we chose 6 days.

Next rent bikes via the internet ahead of time through a local outfitter. Their service also includes reservation of hotels on route, the transportation of luggage from hotel to hotel, provision of bike panniers to carry lighter stuff needed for the day and naturally a phone number to make sure that you get repairs etc. if needed. Included is the cost of taking the rental bikes back at the end.

The closest airport to Passau is Munich. We arrived on a Sunday mid May around noon. There are hourly train connections between Munich Airport and Passau; it is a two hour train ride.

Our outfitter was from Passau; he waited us with his van at the station and took us to the hotel. He spent about two hours with us explaining on a detailed map what to look out for on route. Since paths run usually along both river banks, one may be easier or more interesting than the other; also there may be maintenance (closure) on certain sections. He also explained the rental bikes. They are different from bikes used in North America in that they have coaster brakes, and gears (choice of 3 or 7) that are all covered inside the rear axle, thus protected and foolproof. When you change gears you are not supposed to pedal but coast…the opposite what you do on our bikes here. All of this is somewhat new and takes a little getting used to.

We spent the rest of the day discovering Passau, an old Bavarian town on the border with Austria (and close to the Czech Republic) with a history of more then a thousand years. It is located at the conjunction of three rivers, the Danube the Inn and the Ilz. In 700 AD it was a largest diocese of the Roman Empire, an important post to spread Christianity in Europe. Easily walkable, with lots of old churches, pastry shops and beer halls. Yes there is a castle also.

We had an excellent dinner in the restaurant our bike supplier recommended. Eating our first meal we enjoyed all things German. I had a cloudy Weiss beer, Maria had white wine, I ordered the fresh white (fat) asparagi that were in season, Maria had soup with liver dumplings in it. Restaurants here have a lasse fair attitude toward allowing pets in; there was a friendly golden retriever under our long table.

 Donau Schlingen

We set off next morning. A cool crisp Monday morning, it was the beginning of the biking season. The good weather did not abandon us and has gotten warmer as we went. I imagine the route is busier during the summer school break; this trip is an ideal family vacation. The first day is the shortest, some 35km and takes you to a scenic hamlet called Donau Schlingen where the Danube makes some sharp turns and a grand hotel is located. The hotel had separate parking lot for bikes and was full with tourers like us. Many were in groups assisted by busses. I imagine if one belongs there and feels like not biking anymore on a particular day, the bus would come and pick you up. But I note that there were opportunities to “cheat” for individual bikers like us also. You may hop onto local riverboats and also on trains that commute between the settlements. Your supplier gives you the schedules.

Day 2 was a more challenging, at least 53km ending in the Austrian town of Linz. It is the biggest town, some 250k inhabitants and where the name of the pastry “linzer” comes from. To get there we biked alongside green forests, stopped at quiet coffee houses for pastry and espressos and crossed the Danube twice, once over a power station dam then over a bridge before arriving by 3 pm. Maria had a stumble with her bike right in Linz at a bike under-path, having to do with the complex manoeuvre to negotiate the short sharp steep turn, the coaster brake and (undoubtedly) with fatigue. The bike took the impact and had to be repaired; Maria got scratches. To her credit she did not loose her enthusiasm except from here on she descended on slopes at a rather measured pace.

 Grein

Day 3 takes you to Grein, a lovely Austrian village. The distance would be 65km, but because of reconstruction of the path along the Danube there were detours and up and downhill sections, so it was the longest day. There were times the shortest route was not clear and we did get to places that was not in the itinerary, like the lovely hilltop village of Wallsee, that took additional efforts. It was always a pleasure to arrive at the destination hotel. The outfitter offered two classes of accommodations, one more B&B oriented, the other (somewhat more expensive) hotels. We chose the latter.  The hotels were usually the best place in town, family managed, with excellent restaurants and buffet breakfasts before departures.

Day 4 (51km) started with a bike ferry ride to the other side of the Danube. While waiting for the ferry I asked the user of an electric assisted bike to try it. It is a hilarious feeling. The motor’s assistance felt like my father’s help pushing my bike in my childhood. You can rent these bikes and a lot of people in their advanced age take advantage of it. Our day ended in Melk, a historic town dominated by a Benedictine monastery.

Day 5 (45 km) is by many the most beautiful part of the trip. The hills along the Danube shift from forests into vineyards. The predominant wine variety is a white called “gruner vertlinier”, but there are others, reds also. There are many heurigens, growers offering wine tasting and simple food. The day ended in Krems, a bigger town with university and lots of good restaurants, in close proximity to Vienna. Arriving as usual we had a cold glass of beer and while Maria was having a rest I went to scout for the “best place to eat”. I got this information often from the tourist buro via a slight “cross examination”; they at first would not name one, not wanting to show preference. By 6 pm we would walk the town and end up in the selected restaurant. Here in Krems we asked the hotel to phone and reserve, but most of the time this was not needed, in fact most of the time the best restaurant was in the hotel where we stayed. Smaller places have no English menu, but servers when young spoke some English and we ended up knowing what to order.

Day 6, the last day, would have been the long ride into Vienna but Maria specified that she wanted to cut it shorter so that she could “shop” in Vienna. We took the train from half the distance in Tulln, thus saving 40km from the 85. It was a Saturday and there were tons of bikers from Vienna on the path, filling roadside heurigens, consuming wine and food. We arrived around 3 pm in Vienna to the Franz Josef Rail Terminal and rode to our hotel via touching the Danube Canal that had a park like atmosphere where families and kids were enjoying the shade and the green. To Maria’s regret stores were already closed, and they stayed closed Sunday also, Viennese do not mind forgoing all those sales, they prefer to enjoy the weekend, let the tourist fume, (and plan better next time)…. and just wonder along the rich shop windows.

 In the Grinzing heurigen.

Vienna deserved an extra day even if it was a Sunday. After breakfast we walked the “inner stadt” the city looked clean, prosperous and beautiful. While it does not have the vistas of neighbouring Budapest or Prague it makes up with the grandeur of public buildings like the residence of the Astro-Hungarian emperors called the Burg, the arterial tree-lined avenues called Rings and of course the richness of it stores, that were all closed…you heard that before. After this stroll we bought a 24 hrs transportation pass, and being a sunny Sunday decided to go to Grinzing, once an outlying wine growing village, now swallowed by greater Vienna. It has kept its charm and is full with inexpensive heurigens for folks to eat and drink after returning from a walk in the hills. The custom is to select your food in the establishment’s kitchen, cheese, spreads, sausages, pates and bacon is on offer and they bring it out to your communal table in the shady garden where wine drinking takes place and where you may mingle with the locals’ kids, grandmothers and dogs if you want. At the end they all take the streetcar back into town that rattles along the long streets. It beats washing your car, cutting your lawn and activities that many of us do on a weekend in good weather.

Ottawa, June 19 2011

PS

Our outfitter: Pedaloradtours, Passau, www.pedaloradtours.de

Cost for two of renting bikes, 7 nights in hotel with breakfast (incl. 2 nights in Vienna) 1,500 euro.

Haho hallellúja képzeljétek ékezetekkel tudok irni...megha idöm lenne meg valami okosat is irhatnák de nicsen, igy csak képzeljétek el hogy tudnák...ha akarnák...
Magyarországra érkeztünk, Funyi tegnap megnéztük Tatát, nagyon szép volt meg jót ebédeltünk a tó mellet.
Persze betüket keresni kell meg, es valamilyen ok miatt a z es az y is masutt van a klaviatúrán, nembeszélve az @-röl!

1                    What is the Camino?

The Camino Santiago is a network of 1000 year old pilgrimage routes (trails) in Spain leading to the provincial (Galician) town of Santiago del Compostella. Here in the grand cathedral the remains of Apostle Saint James are kept. Santiago is close to the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.

The most popular of the trails is called the Camino Frances, leading from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains to Santiago. This trail is 760 km long, taking roughly 33 days to walk. It winds through a part of Spain that is otherwise hardly visited by tourists, save possibly the fiesta week in Pamplona (running of the bulls).

Walking the Camino is increasing in popularity.  For some it offers religious solace, for many others spiritual satisfaction or physical challenge. In any event it goes through hauntingly beautiful landscape, mostly mountainous, ancient towns and villages, old forests, green fields and vineyards.

While the trail is open all year round the popular (and wise) time to do it is between April and November. In my estimation in this period there may be at least 300 hikers a day on each section meaning close to 10,000 pilgrims on the entire trail.

Walking the trails is also a social thing. You will not be alone at the end of the day; the myriad of international participants is most impressive.

There are all kinds of accommodations available along the trail, starting from dorm style run by the Catholic Church, municipalities and private individuals, to B&Bs, inns, etc for those who prefer more privacy.

No reservations are needed, the least cost accommodations fill up fastest, but volunteers will make sure that everybody finds a place to sleep.

Along the trail there are stores also café bars and restaurants where one can eat and drink at very reasonable price, so not much food needs to be carried along in your backpack.

2                    How to do it?

There are websites describing all you ever wanted to know, list of items you need to carry along, minimizing the weight of your backpack is important. A good book/trail map describing sections of the trail with elevations showing ups and downs along with up to date lists of accommodations is also useful.

Many walk the Camino alone, at the end of the day you’ll have plenty of opportunities to strike up a conversation and socialize with fellow pilgrims by a glass of wine or beer.

Pilgrims are given a “passport” at the starting accommodation. At every accommodation and other notable stops you have to get this passport stamped, proving that you are a legitimate “pilgrim” allowing you to get preference at admissions to the inexpensive dorms. At the end you’ll get a certificate in Santiago proving the completion.

The Camino will be one of your least expensive trips. Your daily expenses will not top the 30 euro mark a day! This includes dorm costs at 5-10 euro a night, pilgrims’ dinner widely available in restaurants usually 9 euro, and the rest are your lunch/coffee/beer/wine expenses along with the use of Internet (widely available).

The majority of participants walk the entire length. However due to lack of time there are those who only walk a section, say they walk a week only instead walking the close to five weeks that is needed to complete the entire Camino.

Then there are possibilities of walking it with no pack. This is a huge advantage… but for this you’ll have to sign up with a touring group (they usually do only selected sections) and pay accordingly. Alternatively I have seen small groups with cars; each day one is assigned to move the car ahead while the others are walking.

You can also do the Camino by mountain bike (or even on horseback) mainly in a group or with a tour operator.

3                    My impressions

I walked the Camino with a retired former colleague of mine. Len is 4 years younger and has walked most of the trail six years ago. I still work, but I scrounged up the courage and asked for a longer vacation from April 26 to May 28, giving me 32 days thinking this will be plenty. But to do the whole thing you need even more time.

To get to the starting point from Canada and then back home from the finish eats up 6 days. We had rest days in Burgos, Santiago and another day before flying out from Madrid. Not having the recommended 33 days to walk the entire length we had to “leapfrog”. We took a 160 km bus-ride before midway from the city of Burgos to Leone. Nevertheless we walked a respectable 600 km in 24 days, a 25 km/day average.

We were planning to walk 40 km a day. Forget that, the trail is often mountainous, up and down, even though my backpack was only 10 kg I felt often as a sherpa porter straining up seemingly never ending hills. Times like this your concentration is your next step, you breathe heavy you became a living robot. On the positive side you’ll loose weight guaranteed. I lost five ponds.

We started the Camino at its traditional starting point in France in the picturesque Basque village of St. Jean Pied de Port at the foot of the Pyrenees. I made reservations in a hotel and also in the town’s two Michelin starred restaurant via the Internet, and we had a fabulous four course dinner there before the start.

The first hiking day, crossing the Pyrenees into the Spanish village of Roncesvalles is the most challenging portion of the entire trip. Everybody recommends that you choose the “scenic” (translation, more strenuous) route called the rue Napoleon that is 26 km long but has a 900m uphill portion followed by 600m down. They forget to mention the effort involved. (The alternative route follows the highway and has only 300m rise. Give it a serious consideration.)

We started at 7 am on a nice day and were told the trip should take 8 hrs. Well for me it took 10-1/2 hrs and for Len 12 hrs. It is here that I note that Len was not helped by his habit, namely starting to sample local beers at trailside establishments let say from late morning on. This drains energy…. I told him so….but he kept his habit all along.

The first night in Roncesvalles Spain exposes you to what will be a way of life for 30 or so days: arriving dead tired to the dorm selected, getting your bunk bed, arranging your things on top of the bed (your only private space), going for a hot shower and washing your things if needed, going to get your beer or wine in a local pub, check the Internet, getting to a restaurant with travelling buddies to have the pilgrims dinner: 3 courses, each having usually 3 selections, wine bread included, simple but fresh food, chit chat with pilgrims from all over the world and going to bed around 10 the latest.

In the morning regrettably from early 5:30 on you’ll not be able to sleep. Hikers are early risers they noisily organize their stuff and pack so usually by 6:30 and 7 you’ll be on the road. We did not even bother to eat breakfast this would happen later at one of the trailside coffee bars where superb cappuccinos and fresh croissants were always available.

I carried trail mix in my pocket and a water bottle hanging from my neck, I could eat and drink without stopping; you stop for rest say at every 2-3 hrs.

One goes at one’s own speed, initially I was faster on uphill and remained faster on downhill than Len, but we caught up at rest times or at the end of the day in the agreed village. This worked except once (midway through) when I did not leave my backpack outside at a dorm while negotiating the stay so Len marched along to the next village 6 km away even though we agreed to stay where I stopped.

Not having cell phones and only communication via the Internet meant that we have not managed to meet for a week. One morning I spotted him entering the trailside café I was already sipping my cappuccino in…his bi-coloured suspenders were an easy give away.

Briefly about the weather… I was all ready for sunny Spain (that is what the advertisement is saying) and warm days but after the first day the weather has changed and stayed ugly and cold for close to twenty days! It is not that it always rained, but by almost every noon the skies darkened it turned drizzly sometimes with ice pellets, temperature of 5 degree Celsius, with northerly winds that made it feel even colder. This is of course OK to walk in but makes your exposed hands numb thus useless to perform the most elementary functions such as unzipping you pants…. Gloves were on the list to pack, but I said the hell with that and I came to regret this decision big time. Anyways thank goodness I had a woollen sweater and a windbreaker with pockets to keep my hands in. Also it became important that the place where we stayed at night be heated and that they had blankets, after all we did not have sleeping bags…also on lists I am sure. Trails at places became extremely muddy requiring extra energy.

So reading this you may get the idea that this is just too hard and no fun but that is not at all what the experience meant to me. So what are the rewards? I’ll sure miss something but first to mention is the scenery around the trail. Distant mountains with snow on them in May…green waving fields of wheat with islands of trees in the midst for harvesters to rest in…vineyards in Rioja and elsewhere and drinking superior wine at 1-2 euro a glass in the pubs. Walking trough green forests that reminds you of being parts of paintings that hang in museums with clearings and currents and stone bridges, pastures with sheep and sheppard. It is real in this part of Spain! Next you happen on old villages and towns many times with abandoned houses and sleeping dogs on the main square. And you spend time in lesser known but still glorious cities, Pamplona, Burgos, Leone, Astorga, etc. See magnificent romanesque and gothic churches built before the discovery of America. You’ll strike up friendships with fellow walkers. One may hug you and say that you look like the Uruguayan president; the other say from Sweden invites you to share a bottle of Rioja or tell you about life in Elizabethtown South Africa or Bergamo Italy…and so on. Finally you’ll experience the Spanish way of life. Most shops are closed between 1:30 and 5 pm but then everybody is on the street. Crowds are in pubs and cafés having a drink and eating tapas and socializing. Restaurants (pilgrims menu exempted) will not serve dinner before 8:30. There is no prime time for TV in Spain! They must watch a fraction of what we do here. They speak to one another more. They eat fresher food, stay at home less. City folks tend to live in apartments and hey they are happy!

On the negative side I mention two things: one is that they smoke more, most establishments allow smoking with no restrictions. The other is (I think) signs of huge government expenditures that of course as a tourist you enjoy, but I wonder if they (meaning the Spanish taxpayer) can really afford. I saw numerous spectacular autostrada constructions, going as the computer designed it straight bridging mountain valleys with “skyways” on 80m legs and then entering tunnels. Gone are the days when highways hugged mountainsides. Many villages are gloriously paved with sidewalks that are architecturally renewed; all over the country windmills are humming by the thousands…solar heaters provide hot water in many of the dorms…will the Spanish taxpayer be able to pay off all the loans that were needed? Many German and French pilgrims were just shaking their heads.

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How shall I conclude? Maybe that doing a trip like this you’ll develop a respect for a parts of your body most people take for granted: your feet and legs. Your hiking boots must be top class and broken in. I recommend you buy the best socks possible. I guarantee that you legs will protest to this extreme use by blisters, swelling up, etc. It is important to treat these as soon as they show signs of developing. There are patches and ointments, drugstores along the trail make a killing selling these.

Also it is important to cover only the distance that you are comfortable with. Doing too much may result bad things to one’s knees and legs. I saw a good number of people who for one of these reasons could not continue.

So with all this proviso if you feel like it do it! Hola and bon Camino!