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  1. Anthony Rocco

    want solitude

    Your expectations lead me to believe you will be very disappointed with the Frances. Combining that with your experience, and your desire for challenge, I would recommend the Primitivo. But keep in mind that many caminos are much less busy in November, a challenge in itself. Consider off season...
  2. Anthony Rocco

    Starting the Camino in Bayonne

    14 of us are walking the Camino Baztan in May. This starts in Bayonne and ends in Pamplona, where you can join the Frances. This is an ancient route that has seen few walkers for hundred of years. Gerard Kelly wrote a guidebook about this and our group had a zoom with him last week. It is indeed...
  3. Anthony Rocco

    If you had to choose to skip a part of the route. What would be your choice?

    I'm willing to bet that you can do the whole route in no more than 35 days of walking, which leaves you time to take breaks in some wonderful cities, including Burgos, Leon and Astorga, as we did, and still spend 3 days in Santiago, which we also did. Go for it! Don't plan in advance to skip a...
  4. Anthony Rocco

    Michelangelo painting in Logrono

    We love Logrono and try to always stop by the cathedral to view the Michelangelo as lovers of sacred art. But...let me honest...if it wasn't labeled a Michelangelo...I would likely overlook it as the work of a good but not great Mannerist painter, a style of painting popular at the time that I...
  5. Anthony Rocco

    One More Step

    Bridges, whether old or new (as in Bilbao, for example, or here in Alexandria, VA) are a joy. Just this past weekend, I led our camino group on The Wilson Bridge Walk, which provides sweeping views from the top of all of downtown DC with the reward at the farthest point a stroll around National...
  6. Anthony Rocco

    St Jean to Burgos in 2 weeks?

    2 weeks will give you time to enjoy some delightful towns along the way. Be sure to overnight in Estella. We blew through it the first time we walked the Frances. We came back on another camino and loved it. We just spent 10 days there in May this year, hosted by the local Amigos Association...
  7. Anthony Rocco

    Zabaldika

    My wife and I stayed there in 2014. It still holds first place among our wildest experiences at any albergue. We were the first to arrive that day and the good sister decided that since I spoke Spanish as well as my native American English, I should sit with her and check in other English...
  8. Anthony Rocco

    Rest day recommendations near Estella

    I am like you: I overplan and overthink every camino. But I can't help myself and I find it great fun. If I didn't overthink and overplan, I would likely go into withdrawal, stress and anxiety. It must be embedded in my DNA from thousands of years of my ancestors fleeing here or there. That...
  9. Anthony Rocco

    Rest day recommendations near Estella

    If no one responds on the suckling pig eateries on market day, I will check it out when I'm in Estella for ten days starting in mid-May. Our favorite restaurant in Estella from previous times there is Katxetas, Estudios de Gramatica Kalea 2. Packed with locals and excellent local cuisine, it...
  10. Anthony Rocco

    Rest day recommendations near Estella

    You might consider Hotel/Hostel Alda. The Amigos del Camino de Navarra is hosting 27 of us from the American Pilgrims on the Camino (APOC) starting in mid-May for a ten day tour of the province. We will be staying every day at this hotel/hostel. Wonderful places to eat and drink in Estella, one...
  11. Anthony Rocco

    What time to depart SJPDP in order to reach Roncesvalles by 4pm

    Both your pace, your stamina and the weather are all factors determining walking time. In our case, and I was over 60, I was in reasonably good shape and the weather was ideal: cool, clear and a light breeze. We started at 7:15am, stopped for coffee at Orrison after the steep walk there, then...
  12. Anthony Rocco

    Did you take many photos and videos?

    Photos are important. Why? It's not about the vistas, churches, etc. You can find better ones online. It's about the people you meet, whether those you walk with, dine with, host you, help you, you help, etc. Years later we see those people and ourselves, if f included in the photo, as we were...
  13. Anthony Rocco

    CF Backwards? West to east.

    After a long day's uphill walk that started even before Igualada, we simply HAD to have a beer. Fortunately, they were for sale at the Quickie Mart or whatever it is called there.
  14. Anthony Rocco

    CF Backwards? West to east.

    I haven't walked the Camino Frances backwards, but I did walk the Camino del Ebro backwards, starting in Logrono and ending in Barcelona. There are arrows to help you since this is actually part of the long Camino Ignaziano, which starts in Loyola and ends in Manresa. The arrows are red...
  15. Anthony Rocco

    When do most pilgrims feel like quitting the Camino de Santiago?

    Good to anticipate and even better to be nervous. This should motivate you to do more practice caminos before you go. Not only will you strengthen your muscles, but you will also see how jettisoning weight makes you not only more comfortable, but able to walk farther. Before we set out on first...
  16. Anthony Rocco

    Michelangelo painting in Logrono

    We've been to Logrono three times on various camino routes. Every time we go there, we stop by the church to see the Michelangelo. It is indeed difficult to see, impossible to get a decent photo. But each time we visit, we find it more and more intriguing, for want of a better adjective. It is...
  17. Anthony Rocco

    Logroño article in the Washington Post

    Logrono is our favorite. We have scheduled three different camino walks to be in Logrono for their wine festival, the feast of San Matteo. It's incredible fun...not to mention the good wine and street food. One year, we started a camino there the day after the feast, heading southeast on the...
  18. Anthony Rocco

    Instead of Sarria to Santiago-any other100-150 km on the Frances

    Europeans who are working and have no more than a week or so to spare do the Camino Frances over a period of 3-5 years. In my view, each 150 kms has its own special features. I wouldn't rate one over another, although I expect many might rule out the meseta, which we loved. I would, however...
  19. Anthony Rocco

    When do most pilgrims feel like quitting the Camino de Santiago?

    Only one "camino" we walked that we regret having done so: Offa's Dyke along the border of England and Wales. Up and down like a rollercoaster, wet, muddy, walking through of fields of moguls with cowpies everywhere, a violent storm on Hatterall Ridge that literally tore my poncho to shreds. Did...
  20. Anthony Rocco

    When do most pilgrims feel like quitting the Camino de Santiago?

    On our first camino, it was day 2 that we thought even doing one camino was a sign of people lacking a full set of brain cells, while how could anyone not insane consider doing more than one? On the second day, the albergue we were aiming for in Larasoana (spelling?) was closed for bedbugs. We...

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