Arres to Jaca, 25 km That would be snow on the rooftop While it should probably have been included in yesterday's post, my evening with the two hospitaleros (plus one other Spanish peligrina) was quite entertaining. One had the thickest Spanish accent - as if he's been a two pack per day smoker for his … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 5: timing is nearly everything →

Artieds to Arres, 18km The road less travelled: no place for pereginos in runners! It could have been a really pleasant day's walk, crossing broad tracts of farmland on the edges of the river valley. However, the relentless wind was energy sapping, although judging by the clouds building up on the French side of the … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 4: recovery day (not to be confused with a rest day) →

Sanguesa to Artieda, 32.5km. Ruesta, the normal night stop. The only buildings not in ruins are the albergue and restaurant. Maybe the revenue from these are helping finance the preservation work. I figured I would change it up a bit and add titles to the posts. Plus trying to come up with an appropriate heading … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 3: A day in ruins →

Farmland and wind turbines (you'll need to zoom in!) A few more klicks than ideal on the second day out, but the distance was a minor factor as the weather was downright nasty. A forecast "high" of 4⁰, but with wind gusts up to 65 kmh, the wind chill temperature was -7⁰. Fortunately the wind … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 2: Monreal to Sanguesa, 28km →

Technically I'm on the Camino Aragonese, but that only lasts until the border with France, so having a separate blog section for only a few days might test my WordPress patience. Additionally I went rogue today and created my own route from Pamplona to Monreal, so technically I'm not on any camino. The San Fermin … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 1: Pamplona to Monreal, 21km →

Planes, trains, bus, metro, Skytrain.... all part of the logistics of getting to the start line. Air France was great to Paris, but the leg to Barcelona certainly gave emphasis to the plane's manufacturer: Airbus. I watched two recent Oscar winning movies: One battle after another; and Sinners. Hopefully 'one battle...' didn't get the statuette … Continue reading Via Tolosana day 0 →