Pulpería A Garnacha Thanks again for all your wonderful suggestions. We're back now and I thought I'd give a quick account of our whistlestop tour. We flew into BILBAO and then zig-zagged to SAN SEBASTIAN, St Jean Pied De Port, PAMPLONA, BURGOS, GIJON, Melide, Astorga, LEON, SALAMANCA, Avila, Segovia and MADRID with those in caps being places we stayed the night.
First a few general observations. One thing that really struck me is that The Camino is
long, hard and its tentacles really do stretch all across Northern Spain. Particularly driving back from Melide to Leon I was struck by just how mountainous the going is in a way that just didn't strike me as I plodded along day by day, so congratualtions to those who have made it, it's quite an achievement. Second I was interested to see the ebb and flow of numbers on the trail as the day progressed. As one who tends to start early and finish early I was really surprised by the numbers who were still on the trail deep into hot afternoons, no wonder my experience of bed availability seems so at odds with the experience of others, it's very easy to get caught in your own bubble of what the Camino is.
Now more specifically, I made a list of all your recommendations and tried to fit them in to about a quarter of the days we would have needed to cover them all, so I'm afraid some fell by the wayside. Things weren't helped by Easyjet breaking the wheel of my dad's wheelchair which while not essential would have increased our walking range. I'm afraid I didn't take many piuctures for the simple reason that I hate taking pictures.
Day 1. We were in Bilbao for just the first night but had a lovely tapas meal at the Mercado de la Ribera to get us in the mood before going to the Guggenheim in the morning which to my mind had a better building than the body of work deserved and I say that as a modern art fan. to be fair it didn't help that they were between major exhibitions.
Day 2. San Sebastian- Just there for the afternoon and evening staying a little outside in the beautiful Aiako Harria National Park. Had a fantastic, though not as Basque as I would have imagined from the menu, michelin starred meal at the Alameda restaurant.
Day 3. Left early for St Jean, which was absolutely packed, then drove up for a late breakfast at Refuge Orisson hoping none of the exhausted pilgrims hated me, I'm pretty sure in vain, as we jumped out of the car. Then it was back down and round the mountain, through Roncesvalles and on to Pamplona. Visited the cathedral (this will become a theme) and was underwhelmed. I was impressed again and dad for the first time by the pentagonal fort. The Museum of Navarra was interesting and our way out of the city the next day we passed the ring of activities we don't talk about and Hemmingway's bust.
Day 4. Another early start, stopping first at Bodegas Irache just outside Estella to pick up a couple of bottles of wine out of gratitude for the free stuff I've had in the past rather than out of any expectation of vinicultural excellence. Still this stuff was perfectly good for the price.
Continuing on with the wine theme we picked up on a couple of your tips, firstly the wine harvest festival (thanks
@as gaillimh ) which was going on at several of the local vineyards and second visiting one specific one, the Frank Gehry designed Marques De Riscal (thanks
@Kathar1na ) to the north of Logrono. It's a spectacular building but not easy to get close to unless you're a guest of the €400+ per night hotel, this is all you could see on the wrong side of the guard house and locked gate.
After a snack lunch there we continued to follow the camino to Burgos and checked in at Hostal RimBomBin which I'd highly recommend for anyone looking for a break from albergues, couldn't be more central, between Plaza Mayor and the cathedral. We visited the Cathedral ( thanks to
@David Tallan and others) and I was once again astounded by the opulence and amazing domes. Dinner was among the various bars on Calle San Lorenzo and I discovered that
@Kathar1na @SYates @SabineP and I all have similar taste in tapas as I discovered myself at my old haunt
La Quinta del Monje on their say so having not remembered the name. Here's my dad sampling their wares.
Day 5. Started with a search in vain for wheelchair repairs (I still don't really get why wheelchairs are a thing in Burgos but they seem to be) before a looooooong day of driving. Followed the CF as far as Fromista before heading north and meeting up with the Norte around Torrelavega. The pass over the Picos De Europa on the N-625 was one of the most stunning and beautiful roads I've ever been on. We finished the day in Gijon having followed some more of the Norte route, which I have been considering but I must admit I'm feeling a bit put off by what appears to be an awful lot of road walking.
Day 6. Another epic day of driving as we followed the coast to Ribadeo before dropping down to Lugo and then across to Melide for lunch at Pulpería A Garnacha (thanks
@Via2010 ) , would say it was at least as good as Ezequiel and did seem to have a higher locals to tourists ratio. After lunch we followed the camino all the way in reverse to Leon, the water levels in Portomarin were shockingly low and you could clearly see the remains of the old town. We then battled through the hoardes of walkers making brief stops at O Cebreiro, Ponferrada to see the castle (thanks
@Charlotte Helbig ) and Astorga for the Palacio Episcopal, cathedral and chocolate.
Before getting into Leon we took what to me was a very special detour to the tiny village of Cabanillas on the Camino San Salvador where a little over a year ago a friend and I having failed to see the splitting of the arrows leaving Leon had found ourselves horribly lost, hungry and thirsty. A not at all wealthy family shaded us from the August sun, fed us, gave us beers and even walked with us to the bus stop to get back to Leon, I'll never forget their generosity and as a small token of gratitude took them a bottle of the wine I'd bought in Estella and the chocolates from Astorga, it was a little awkward as their English is a bad as my Spanish and they were a bit embarrassed but I was so happy I did it.
Day 7. After a very comfortable night at the Hotel Monasteria Pax, we rose to a bright sunny morning and headed to Leon Cathedral and oh wow I was amazed and immediately understood why
@David Tallan @VNwalking and others prefer it to the showiness of Burgos. I come from a city with a gothic cathedral and pretty good stained glass, Chester in the UK, which might explain why I hadn't bothered with Leon before but the ethereal beauty of that glass in the morning light was pretty much the closest I've ever come to believing in god.
The rest of the day was spent driving to the lovely city of Salamanca, vaguely following the route of the Via de la Plata another Camino, that at least from the road, did not immediately call to me.
Our final day was spent meandering across to Madrid with brief stops in Avila and Segovia both of which I'd have liked to explore more. Avila's walls are particularly impressive.
Sorry this post is so long but I was so grateful to all of you for your advice that I thought I at least owed an account of my trip. To those of you considering something similar I suggest giving yourself at least twice as much time, there are so many things we'd have loved to do that we just didn't have the time for and we rather wasted our freedom to stray far from the Camino path.
Rob.