Pics from London 2010

Hi

I am figurout how to add pictures to this blog. Don't think this is the best way but I am learning or so I hope! These are pictures from London and I am experimenting with them as London is where I took the fewest pictures. Visually it wasn't too exciting or attractive after rural Spain and Morocco. The pictures I have hear are of a human statue in the area of Convent Gardens and a picture of Convenet Gardens market.

I've also got two pictures of some very striking characters who were promoting the musical "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" (which I really liked). They were just off Charing Cross Road near Leicester Square. And I have a picture of Trafalgar Square which I liked hanging out at with a coffee for the people watching.

I also have a picture of a guy sitting on the curb and making music (and a bit of money from a traffic cone and a picture of "Boris's bikes". These are public bikes which are part of a scheme introduced by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. They were quire popular during the one day transit strike that happened when I was in London.

pictures

home tomorow night - yeah! pictures to follow buy I want to put them on Picassa and do a bit of basic editing and will then put the links to them on this blog for anyone who is interested. curious exercise this blog. long periods that I couldn't post and not sure what it read like. I have enjoyed this trip but don't know how interesting it was to anyone not on it.

tired and wired

so its 11:30 and I am just back at the hostel after seeing Wicked. shouldn't be tired but my roomate from last night got up at 6 and took an hour to get ready and leave at 7. twit should have got his shit together the night before and left quickly and quietly. just got back from Wicked which was very good and should go to bed as |I am tired but also wired so I am doing this first. took a tour today that included a boatride on the Thames to Greenwich. Johnny Depp is filing a new Pirates of the Caribean movie in Greenwich but the most we saw was lots of closed sets and a few actors in period british navy uniforms. however later when I was in teh Greenwish market (crafts, collectibles etc) I saw a guy who could have been Johnny Depp withot makeup or swagger but who knows. I stood astride the Prime Meridian of longitude with a foot in the western hemisphere and a foot in the eastern hemisphere. was going to cross the thames by walking a pedestrian tunnel under it but the lift was out of service. took a train to St pauls and walked along the embankment to the Parliament Buildings and Westminster abbey and then to the theater which was across from Victoria station. when the show got out around 10:30 I could have taken the tube or a buss back to the hostel but I wanted to suck up as much memory/atmosphere I could as I don't think I will go out tomorrow except maybe during the day. walked a couple of blocks back along Victoria street to the Thames and could see the London Eye - just a Ferris wheel but a really really big Ferris wheel. walked past Westminster Abbey, the houses of parliament and big ben and down Whitehall street to Traflgar square. then up Charing Cross road past thebars, restuarants and theaters getting out. getting to 11:00 on a Thursday but still lots and lots of people around. continued up Charing Cross Road which changed its name for no apparent reason to |Tottenham Court road and psat the Spearmint Rhino, a 'gentleman's club' and the two doormen look like members of the russian mafia. there is a young woman outside having a smoke. she pulls her jacket closed and before she does I can see she is wearing some kind of sexy uniform and must work in the club. she looks more like a tired single mom than a sex object.

Priscilla

saw the musical of Priscilla Queen of the Desert last night cause I wasn't sure what to see and it had wond awards. It was gaudy and colourful and tacky and spectacular and a lot of fun. Probably not a great musical but a lot of fun. I liked the theatre it was in too. Not a huge number of seats on the floor but three levels of balconies and each of the balconies had 3 or 4 rows of seats set fairly steeply above each other so everyone had very good sightlines. today I am off for a boatride on the Thames and a walking tour of Greenwich and then I see Wicked. tomorrow not much touristy stuff as I get ready for the flight home the next morning. the trip draws to a close.

meetings etc

this trip is winding down or I am. have a ticket for a musical tonite and Wicked tomorrow night and then Friday I am going to a museum and getting me ready for leaving Sat am. my flight, subject to confirmation, leaves sat 10:35 from Gatwick. I have to be out there 3 hours before flight and that means I will need to catch a train at 5:30 AM. much fun.
meet intersting people when hanging around. a brazilian guy who needed a place to sit at breakfast. he is in London a few days and then off to Iceland. Not sure why but he does have an interest in natural history. having some pasta arrabiata at an inexpensive cafe frequented by students and got talking to a couple of oung guys, one brit and one swiss about various things including law, economics etc etc. Going to se Priscilla Queen of the Desert tonite (the musical) which won lots of awards thsi year and should be fun.

henry iv and jack the ripper

so I walk over to the new globe theater and buy a cheap ticket and am a groundling. the globe theater recreates the original as well as they could and the seats are either wooden benches in the galleries or standing around the stage which is what it was in |Shakespeare's time. I opt for standing in front of the stage as being cheaper and closer to the action. I am a groundling. I get in line early and am right in front with my elbows on the stage and it is very very good as theater should be and I think as shakespeare shold be. afterwards I wander around and then go for a guided walk on the subject of Jack the Ripper and home to bed. Today not sure what I am doing.
Was shocked though by something totally uncivilized. wandering around the town of london area and came across a pay toilet set-up (50 p about $1 Cdn). Can't remember seeing one of those in a long long time.
Bikes Bikes Bikes - see people of all ages and both genders riding bikes around london. clothes range from full lycra to street and business clothes. was standing outside the tube station when someone emerged from the tube carrying a folding bike which he assembled in less than a minute and cycled off on.

First day in London or there's a man in my bed

So I go to the 1/2 price theater ticket booth and get a ticket for Warhorse (recommended by couple I met in Sahara and involving a horse and puppets - don't know anything else and haven't checked). book online a ticket to the Globe theatre for Tuesday afternoon. wander around london and then off to dinner and the play. It is incredable and unlike anything I have seen before. I have heard talk that Steven Speilberg is making a movie out of it.
walk back to the hostel and enter my room in the dark and go to bed and there is someone in it. some front deskscrew up and I take another bed. Have breakfast with him the next day and he is a scot leaving for Australia to live down there. while we are at breakfast a yound guy is looking for someone to site and he joins us. he is from New Jersey, living in Anchorage and working temporarily in Scotland but visting London. is in the oil industry and interesting. Off to the Globe and then a walking tour of some kind.

last day in Marrakech

our last day in Marrakech and I have no big plans. go to the artisans ensemble and look at some beautiful leather goods I can afford but don't need. Don't buy. mail a couple of post cards, go for a walk in the mid-day sun (mad dogs and englishmen go out in the mid day sun) and go out for a final meal with the group.

leaving morocco - get up at 6 for two cups of bad coffee before leaving for the airport. at airport I check in with airline, go through security, go through passport control, go through boarding and then sit in airpland being told that because of earlier delays we have missed our takeoff slot and are waiting for next slot. Ah the glamour of travel. get to Luton (london) and wait 1/2 hour for luggage and then take bus into city. it drops me off at Baker street tube station and I am trying to figure out how to get to St Pancras station across from my hostel when I realize I am a mile away and put my pack on and grab my bag and start walking. along the way I pass the Royal Acadamy of Music and notice a young chinese woman who is unlocking her bike. at the next cross walk she asks me where I have been explaning that she has seen the Canadian flag on my pack and is also from Canada (Burnaby). she is studying piano performance here and we walk and talk a few blocks until she turns off.

On to Marrakech

leavign tinehir and stop at a world heriatage site. it is a kasbah and a site where the trading caravans were guraded from. Our driver is good and that makes me very happy as we go over a mountain highway thatis far and away the most impressive I have seen or travelled. Huge exposure on tight narrow winding road. then get to Marrakech and the traffic is beyond description. all kinds of vehicles with no apparent rules exhibit the bigger vehicle has right of way. It kind of flows with individual drivers weaving in and out. Got to our Riad and settled and I took Verne and Liz and Phil out to the restauarant I found earlier on the square for dinner and a brief tour of the souks and square and to bed.

Brekkie - walk with Robbin to Museum and then I find my way back and over to Artisans |ensemble for some painless shopping. fixed prices and noone husseling me. I've seen the souks and and wandered through them but find them overwhelming. Was going to mail some stuff home but can't do that (for reason I don't understand) until the day after I leave. OK. Went with Hamman with group and found it interesting and enjoyable. steam bath and then a woman attendant puts savon noir on me front and back and then after further steaming rubs me all over with a coarse mitt visibly taking off skin. then a shower and relaxing with some mint tea. One more sleep and then off to London.

more morocco posts from london

tues sept 28 - long drive with a stop at a hotel for a moroccan pizza. meat & other stuff baked into a pizza shape. tasty. talking to young man there who said itgot to 45 - 50 degrees in summer. continued driving and entered beginning of Sahara desert. hard flat black gravelly area such as most of the Sahara is I understand. got to a hotel where we are to meet camels and were early and had time for a swim. wonderful and incredible. after swimming and lazing about got ready for the camels. camels came and we got on and rode them out on to the orange coloured dunes. camels on the flat and uphill aren't too bad to ride but going downhill is not so good. If I rode them much I would develop calluses in some new and interesting places. rode them out to a desert campsite about an 1 1/2 hour out. getting off was interesting. met an interesting couple from london who recommended a play in london called Warhorse. & 3 women from Australia. had a good dinner. after dark wandered away from the lights of the campsite for a piss. weird towander into the dark and see a group of camels resting there. defintely not what |I am used to. stars and milky way were incredable. lie outside watching the stars until i fell asleep. there was a young nomad girl from the nearby nomad camp selling some crafts. a hard bargainer. we ride back to the hotel and after breakfast take of. stop at a well exhibit where they try to sell us stuff we don't want for too much. stop at a fossil/mineral shop where they show us the process. lots of beuatiful stuff but we don't buy much. stop for lunch at the museum of the oases. good lunch and I enjoyed the museum. tried to buy the dvd of the exhibits but they are out. on to tinehir to stay at the Tomboktou hotel and access the internet next door. Manage to print off my Ryanair Boarding Pass which is good. can't access my email. oh well. On to Marrakech.

Further Morocco post

Sat Sept 25 - we hike over a mountain pass and down about 500 feet and up AND over another mtn pass. about 4,000 feet gained. we were to get up at 7 but i got up for a bathroom break at 6 and the light was so beautiful and the day so quiet I stayed up. took some pictures and enjoyed watching the camp and the village come to life. After we started to hike I went to take apicture and my camera informed me that my battery was dead. my spare battery was in myother pack. Oh well. As we were walking up the first pass we saw five camels coming up the way behind us. It was a Berber nomad with his camels. He walked with us for a while talking to Mo and then his way separated from ours. came down a long loose rocky slope from the second pass and on the way down I figured out a way to dry my clothes that would save energy and money. will start keeping an eye out for internet as I have to print off my Ryanair boarding pass. lots of time yet.
Sunday Sept. 26 packed up and started moving down the river valley. steady downhill & went through an amazing gorge and then thru a second amazing gorge. walked in the stream for 2-3 k ankle to knee deep. Much fun. Got separated before lunch and a few of us were going to wait for the others at an intersection at the beginning of a village.stopped at a store with a fridge and cold drinks for sale. Wonderful. |good day. tomorrow short day and the van and the gite.
Monday Sept 27 walked down rough road through Berber villages. as before women were beuatifully dressed to work in the fields. this morning we all contributed to a tip which will be divided among the guide, cook and muleteers. We stop at a 200 year old kasbah which is 4 stories high and houses a family of 20. we get a tour and have sweet mint tea in the courtyard. we buy water and it is cold. Yeah! the women who go back and forth wear beautiful dresses that all of the women in our group admire. we walk on skirting farmed fields and occasionally picking a ripe fig which taste amazingly better fresh than dried. we stop for lunch and our van comes and the trekking part of morocco is over. we pack the van and say goodbye to the guide, cook and muleteers. he van driver takes group pics of us all. they will take 3 days to walk back to their homes and we will take a couple of hours to drive to our hotel in the Dades gorge which is amazing and spectacular andlined with new hotels and restuarants. I shower and change my clothes for the first time since starting trekking. |Feels very good! Before goign down to dinner Brenda asks me whether we 'dress for dinner' I say no and start to figure out what she has in all her luggage. she is nice but without any background in backpacking or travel where she can't take her hairdryer. |Good dinner at beautiful hotel in wonderful location and soto bed.

morocco update from London

wed 9-22 1,000 m elevation gain and 700 m elevation loss down to our camp on a broad plateau that we share with other trekking groups and noads and their herds of goats. Overcast but very picturesque. tomorrow we go to the peak of M'Goun which involves a hike with an elevation gain of about 5,000 ft (1,650 m?) and the same amount of descent on the othedr side. We are going up to an elevation of 4,070 m. It works fine and I am glad not to have the nausea or headache I know that some people get at such altitudes. Liz 73) is a bit slow and I hang back to encourage and distract her and it all works well. Long relatively level ridge is the final approach and quite nice. We share the ridge with other trekkers, mainly French, but they all return the way they came and we descent to the M'Goun river valley several thousand feet below where we find camp, the muleteers and the members of our group who chose not to go up to the peak. Descent included lots of scree and was much fun. my repaired ankle has given me no problem at all. In camp we are just hanging about and chatting about travel arrangements among many other topics when someone says to me 'you heard about the labour problems that Air Transit is having didn't you?' Actually I didn't but that is quite a ways away and I am sure will sort itself out even if it invovles me coming home a different way than planned.
MonfRIDAY sEPT 24 A short day of 6 hours on the trail that ended up being 8 hours walking. all tired and thirsty. stopped at a tiny store in a very small village. bought water, fanta, cookies and apples. |Terry asked the price of a fancy dress. ratherthan telling her the price the shopkeeper put the dress on her with a fancy head scarf and proceeded to do her make up in a traditional Berber pattern and |Terry ended up buying the dress and head scarf (200 dirham about $25 canadian)she looked amazing and very different. she took the dress off as we walked through the village but still had the makeup on to the amusement and amazement of the women and children in the village. Women were working in the fields in fancy dresses and makeup? We got to camp and discussed alternative routes for the remainder of the trek. Original route had lots of walking in the river which people were looking forward to but Mo was concerned with rising water levels. We decided to take alternative route thatinvovled crossing two mountain passes and some walking in the river. Good decision I think.

London

out lining up plays to attend and wandering around. it is relaxing to spend time in a city where people speak the same language, have no interest in you and you don't have to fund off hustlers. going for lunch and then will complete the Morocco entries. Beautiful stuff in Morocco for relatively little but I am proud of myself in that I bought little. There were these beuatiful leather bags in 'carry on' size which I looked at. they cost 550 dirham which is about $65 and would have cost several times that in Canada and were beautiful but of course I have absolutley no need of one and walked away. suppressed my urge to acquire. off for some cheap pasta.

london briefly

booked a ticket in the globe last night and off shortly to the 1/2 price ticket booth to see what I am gonig to tonight. London for all its traffic and hustle bustle seems so much quieter and more orderly than Marrakech. cooler as well of course. Morocco update will resume later this afternoon. Hope all are well in Canada and I will likely be back in a few days (likely as I hear my carrier Air transat has some labour issues)

minor catch up from London

Hello

a minor catch up today as I am tired from travelling from Marrakech and need some food and a shower and ... It is so different here from Marrakech - the people, the heat, the noise, the traffic etc. I took the bus in from Luton airport to Baker street underground station and was trying to figure out the tube conection to St Pancras where I was going and realized I was just outside of Madame Tussaud's and only about a mile from my hostel so I just walked. This keyboard is so easy compared to the keyboard in Marrakech. that one was based on a french keyboard with letters in different places and had arabic characters as well so that some of the 'letter' keys had 4 possible functions! Going to get myself sorted out a bit tonight and start thinking of what I want to do here. When I was walking over from Baker Street station/Madam |Tussaud's I walked by the Royal Acadamy of Music. There was a young chines woman unlocking her bike who I passed and who catching up to me at a crosswalk asked where I was from. She saw the maple leaf on my pack and was herself from Burnaby and studying piano and performance at the Royal Academy.

Anyway now I go back to Morocco to catch up with where I left off. the fi9rst time I went to the Medina (old city - world heritage site) I was at the internet cafe and met Carla and Mohammed both from england and ended up going with them for coffee on the edge of the square for a oouple of hours of conversation and the best people watching I have ever experienced! Mohammed a moderate and thoughtful muslim originally from Sierra Leone. went down a long narrow alley with shops on both sides and scooters going thru and found laundry. haven't taken any pictures of the square or the soukks as they are too long, caried, colourful, rich etc to be captured with pictures.|Got hassled/hussled by a guy who was going to show me an auction. I reacted slowly and got pulled through many shops before getting back to square. I gave him change from pocket. He wanted more which I didn't give. Lesson -- DON'T GO WITH HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! Unpleasant experience.
Next Day - met group. seem nice. Packed stuff that I am not taking in my pack each day trekking in a small sports bag that willl be given to the muleteers to take to our camp each day. drove over a mountainour terrain in a small van until reaching our accommodations for the night in Happy Valley. Our guide 'Mo' for Mohammed is from here. he took us for a small walk around the village so we meet him and him us. Bought a scarf which I understand may be very useful. I was concerned about the froup and me but this seems like it should be a good group with a good guide.
Next Day - leave the next day at first light after a light but good breakfast for a s short day walk to a high camp defintely in the mountains. Mules arrive a bit after us with considerable supplies. We don't travel light. - Yesterday Mo explained to Liz that in Morocco he could have 4 wives, one chines, one canadian etc. It dawned on her that he was kidding her and she exclaimed 'bullshit! He was dumbstruck in surprise but got her back when he let her explain to him what cookies were. more to come but shower and food needed now!

Madrid + Marrakech

hello all from marrakech

well I have seen madrid in a small meqsure. I slepton the floor of the madrid qirport. my flight I got in at midnight qnd ,y flight left qt 6:30 am and I qnd many others spent the nightn the floor of the qirport waiting for morning.I am i Mqrrqkech now qnd it is qmazing. The centrql squqre andthe souks qre beyond description in their richness, colour qnd diversity. I can not describe it qny better. There are food vendors; crqft vendors and entertqinment; I hqve seen ly first snqke chqrmers but didn,t get too close. I don,t like cobrqs. the crqfts qre qmazing qndI cqn see how one could go home with souvenirs you never intended tobuy, I have qlreqdy found out I need to hone my bargqining skills. I meet the group I trqvel zith tonight and leqve for the atlas mountqins tomorrow; John

Friday Sept 17

so not much to do and lots of time to do it. have left the albergue but left my pack there to pick up later this afternoon on the way to the airport. spend the night travelling and arrive in marrakech tired and hoping I can get in my hostel early or at least leave my pack there while I wander marrakech.
My companions from the Camino are gone and I have been missing them and remembering the camino but now it is time to start anticipating morocco, new companions and a city and country unlike any I have experienced. would like to have visited a mosque but evidently that is not allowed. oh well there will be much to see and experience.
while packing up this morning I was talking to a young french man who had walked the camino francais from the french side of the pyrenees (700 k +) and wasn´t ready to stop walking. he was going to walk on to Finisterre about 100 k.
things you notice & remember - Luz liked her olive oil on bread, salad etc and over one meal she noted that the oil wasn´t that good the other evening. not something I would have noticed or probably have been able to preceive.
HOPE ALL ARE WELL & ENJOYING A VERY FINE SEPTEMBER.

Sept 16 Santiago

so it is the evening in Santiago and I have said asad goodbye to Jean-Baptiste and Luz. Jean-Baptiste is taking the bus back to France and Luz to some friends in Vigo and eventually back to Tenerife. It was sad for me as they were the last of my travelling companions from the Camino and they were each great! If I am lucky I will see each of them again. Jean-Baptiste was thoughtful and considered ideas and life. Luz was spontaneous and warm. They made great trvelling companions.

I am on my own in Santiago and, if practical would have moved my flight to Marrakech forward toleave tonight but will spend another day in Santiago. I fly from Santiago to Madrid tomorrow evening around 10 in the evening and then around 6 the next morning from Madrid to Marrakech. I plan to sleep in the aiport with my travel alarm in my shirt pocket to make sure I don´t miss my flight. I stay at a hostel the first evening and the next evening I stay with the group I am travelling with at a riad. I would explain what a riad is but that will have to wait until I have stayed in one. I am sharing a room with Vern an ex logger/trucker who lost one arm in an accident. should be fun. As I will be getting to Marrakech quite early I hope I can atleast leave my pack at the hostel.

Travel Note - I left home with a 500 ml plastic bottle of condensed campsuds from the co-op. Have used it for showers, shampoo, clothes and dishes and there is lots left. good stuff.

sept. 15 Santiago

Random Notes
was reading Bicicle diaries by David Byrne which I picked up at the hostel in London. finished it and gave it to Chris from Colorado.
was walking down a quiet and beautiful wooded path with Luz in front of me holding her phone in the air recording birdsong (something Maggie might do)
walking down a trail and find seveeral of my spanish companions excitedly taking a picture of a squirrel. obviously less common in Spain than Canada.
Pictures - I am taking many pictures but they won´t be truly representative of the Camino as they are of beuatiful trailside scenes and of my companions. Underrepresented are pictures of us walking along the road or holding tight to the side of the road as cars whiz by or walking through suburbs or industrial parks. Lots of pictures to go through when I get home and then I will post a link to them.
took the bus from Lugo to Ferrol and the Camino Inglise (English) . End upin Neda and find an albergue. poor dinner with sullen server but then we walk in the growing darkness to a local festival we have been told of. Carnival rides and cheesy carnival midway with bright silly plush toys for prizes. A band is plying to hundreds of people of all ages. Music is latin of some kind and the band has a good horn player and some good looking youg guys and girls. Lots of people having fun. We walk home to our albergue in the darkness. The Belgians we share the albergue with are long asleep.
Random Note - no more distances given as no one agrees as to what they are - guides, local etc.
<Mino, and are told we have walked closer to 30 k than the 23 k we understood we had walked. Still must find a way to keep our stages shorter and that is difficlt as this camino has fewer albergues. Young hospitalera says we can call town ahead and if they don´t have an albergue they will find somewhere to put us up.
Feeling good. I walked 23 - 30 k and after taking off boots and pack and having shower I feel fine. Don´t want to wlk any further today but next day is fine. >Feels good that I can still do fairly strenous activities without kiling myself.
The Belgians started arriving bout 3 hours after us and we couldn´t figure out why but I talked to >Chris, the yank, with them, and it turns out they stopped about 3 more times than we did.
Sat 9, 11 get up and leave before the belgians. the plan is to wlk to a town where we will be put up in a sports hall. stop at a town about 10-12 k and there is some kind of festival happening and there is art from many different artists in many styles hanging from balconies all over town. later in aftrnoon getting hot and tired and are unclear about where we are going. we lave camino at Cos and walf 2-6 k to town with sports hall. it is hot and it is 6 k. too few places to refill water along the way. reach sports hall and it is wondrful. we sleep in a large room on gym mats and have showers and the plce to ourselvs. there is a pool which the women use. I shower and get a cold drink and relax poolside. we walked close to 30 k and Random Note walking through groves and plantations of eucalyptus trees in Galicia.
Sunday sept 12 started wlking knowing generally where we are reconnecting with camino in village of Presedo. would have wlked right by cnnection to camino which wasn´t marked except for the woman we stopped to alk to. we wlk to Bruma which is about 20 k and there is an albergue. stopped at a roadside barcafe and had cafe con leche grande. next k was steep and getting hot. rural spanish roads can be very steep. after a couple of hours met a woman who was very helpful and friendly and refilled our water bottles. must be strange to have hundreds and thousnds of strangers walk pst our backyard. walkedon and saw a sign saying albergue 1 k. we are vry happy. got there and happir. a nice clean well set up albergue but about 2 k from town. a good 3 course meal is delivered for 10 euro each. we are happy. next stage is about 27 k. Alicia´s foot has been botheriing her so she takes the bus and we walk. We go for bocadillas for dinnr and I hear that Luz and Begonia are getting more tired and do not like this camino as much as the camino primitivo becuse the scenery isn´t as impressive and we have lost companions so our group is not as rich and diverse. I hadn´t thought about it but agree. I get to Santiago and walk around as tourist withouta pack. Trekking in the Atlas mountains i carry only the days stuff and a muleteer carries the res. sounds good to me.
Monday 9-13 Bruna to Siguero esy 27 k but the last 5-6 k is down a gravel road in the forest which is straight, has litle shade or interest. we get to the sports hall. we will be sleeping on mattresses in the room the tble tennis tem is using now. we get in at 9 and put out stuff down and go for dinner. before then luz and lici go for a swim and we drink and chat with other peregrinos. I go for the shortest hairct I have ever had. the barber finlly understands and puts away the scissors for the clippers. My friends rub my head and say it feels soft and fuzzy.
Manana Santiago.
met pilgrim who was with the spanish navy and he told me that he enjoyed st Johns newfoundland.
WED sept 15 it is 8:15 and i am sitting with a machine made cafe con leche watching the city go by. I have several things to do and lots of time to do them. Our group of friends will start to disburse today and I am a bit sad. We went our for a good dinner last night. We went to the old city and met Jan'Bptiste and a friend of his who hd met earlier. The friend was about my age and from Paris. We found a restaurant in a narrow street in he old city and shared a fine meal of peppers from Padrone and pulpo etc. it was 9 - 11 in the evening but the cafe and street was full of people. after dinner around 11:30 we went for a walk down to the cathedral square which was alive still with people. A group of young peope, 30?, was signing loudly and I have no idea wht they were singing. I wandered around the corner to the sound of pipes. A goup of 4 young women who sounded great but were just finishing unfortunately.
The cathedral is lit up at night and spectacular. I wish I had the ability to dequately describe it. It is huge and massibe and breath taking and at the same time live with detail and images. There are statues and images all over it and i believe that the statues and images all have meaning(s) but I don´t have the educational or religious background to understand the meanings of the images. Still incredably amazing and I cn think of nothing I have seen in NA that has the same combination of beauty, grandeur, history and meaning.
Eventually we wndr away. I don´t know where we are going and it doesn´t matter. We end up, w/3 others we had met before, sitting and lying on a grassy hillside looking over some low rise buildings at the well lit cathedral. amazing view. we sit there relaxing and chatting until we spring up because the automatic sprinklers come on. we walk on to the taxis and home to our lbergue.

this could have been a much differen trip but I met a very wondrful group of people early on nd travelled with them and it has been great.

More atch up

Friday sept 3 - Companiello to Berducedo We are a group of pilgrims (peregrinos) who met and shared dinner at an albergue the end of the firt day´s walking. WE share the trail and help each other out becoming friends in the process. so far no internet, no postcards. the weather is good and we are going on the variation over the local peaks in an earea where there are habitations or other potential support. Evidently in poor weather the route can be miserable and dangerous but our weather is good and the waymarking in the route has been improved. The initial climb is long and hot but the views are magnificent and we see wild horses in ruins dating to medieval times as well as a site of a mine that I understand dates to Roman times. long descent and we arrive (about 29 k) at a village of Berducedo. Merced and Kiki geet their first and Merced says the public albergue is not too clean so we opt for a private albergue which is clean but which offers no services or kitchen. While most of are showering and doing our laundry in the sink and putting it out to dry Merced and Kiko look for a place for us to eat. The restuarant is closed for holidays and a bar owner doesn´t want to do any cooking. Arrangements are made at another bar for an old woman to do some cooking and it will be brought to the bar for us to eat. She makes a great lentil soup and ensalada mixta (mixed salad) and we are happy. Forgot to mention that about 6 k back some of us passed an older peregrino on the way who stopped to let us pass him. we got a bit further and stopped for a drink and wondered if he was all right so stopped further waiting for him. Gave him water and insisted he drink it and eat the snacks we gave him as he didn´t seem fully ok. Peter from the Shetland Islands. we walked about a k more and found our friends waiting for us at a roadside bar with Jean-Baptiste ´J-B´who had met Peter earlier and who was helping him.J-B went back for Peter and walked him to the bar and i bought him a cold drink. we urged Peter to consider taking a taxi or changing his route to the Camino France which would be miore suitable for him but he wouldn´t consider changes saying repeatedly that he was quite obstinate as if this was something he was proud of. They arrived at Berducedo as we were eating and we gave them food. J-B made sure that Peter had a guide and gave him additional directions and was then going to do his own camino. At dinner I was making conversation with Luz and found out that she is also a member of couchsurfers.org and has had good experiences with it. Cool. She has belonged for two years. Maria will be leaving us tomorrow and we will all miss her very much. Unfortunaely she has to go back to work although I have offered to phone her boss and lie for her. I am glad I have met her. Luz has joined us and I think we are all enjoying her company.
Sunday Berducedo to Grandas del Selime a hot day of steep climbing and steep descents. part way down it is obvious that Merced is having problems. I walk past her and half an hour afterwards a small forstry vehicle comes down the track with her in it as a passenger. she get let off below us and about 1 1/2 from a hotel/restuarant with a great view. we get to her and are consiering the last 6 k to Grandas. It is now hot - 30 degrees plus and the remainder of the way in is along a steep winding road with no shoulders and little shade. We are sitting on the steps of the hotel discussing getting a taxi when the hotel keeper mentions that the bus is in sight. Immediately all discussion ends and we grab ur packs and flag down the bus who gives us a ride in to Grandas wihout charge! We are sleeping on mattresses on the floor but that is fine. in the evening we wander around and stop in at a local festival in the park. they are playing traditional dance music. Romero who is not part of our group but who is travelling parallel to us starts dancing with Kiko. They re great and then Alicia (a 65 year old grandmother) starts dancing with Romero - AMAZING!
Monday Sept 6 Grandas del Selime to Padrone (about 30 k) (distances are aproximate. early on we compared guides and found they rarely agreed) There are many foot experts in our group and on the camino because there are many foot problems such as blisters. additionally this camino wiht its steep ascents and descents stresses feet more. I have been having trouble with my little toes on each foot and Raoul takes something that looks like a tubular bandage and cuts off a piece for each little toe. Works well. do we have this in Canada? Our hospitalero last night said we had done the worst of the Camino Primitivo which cheered us all up. unfortunaely we had a stiff wind and rain and when we got to our destination we were all wet and a bit cold. we were staying at an albergue about a k beyond town so we met and had lunch ( 3- 4 pm typical spanish lunch time) at a local pulperia and had a very good time there. Our company was me, Kiko, Merced, Raoul, David, Alicia, Begonia, Luz, Jean-Baptiste
Sept 7 Padrone - Cadao 24 k
started off good with moderate grades but while walking Kiko got a call that his mother had died. not a surprise as she was elderly and had alzeimers but sad. Emotional moment and Kiko and >Merced will be leaving to go home to be with family. Will miss them greatly expecially considering I have only known them a few days. Kiko is full of fun and good spirits. Merced emotional and caring. continued walking and it was raining heavily and very windy. about 7 k before Cadavo took taxi. got places in the albergue and then people came in who had walked entire distance and were being sent to overflow facility. I tried t swap as I felt guilty but wasn´t allowed to. No internet no postcards.
Wed sept 8 Cadavo to Lugo (about 31 k) put raingear on but it only rained an hour or two. My pack cover was two small so I gave it two David cause it fit his pack. stopped at an old church. tired when I got to Lugo. I thought we were all going to bus to Ferrol and do the english way but Raoul,David and Jean-Baptiste are going to continue to the french way and santiago while the rest of us will enjoy a rest day in Lugo and catch a bus to Ferrol and start the english way the next day. the english way is actually a bit longer and should be much less crowded. David wasn´t around when we went for dinner. He found a pack cover that would fit my pack, bought it and gave it to me. emotional farewells to people we have become close to in only a few days.
thursday - Raoul and David leave early. JB stays and has breakfast with the rest of us and then leaves.Everybody but me has a mobile phone (luz´s phone is also a 12 megapixl camera) and have exchanged phone numbers. maybe we will meet again for dinner in Santiago. we check our packs at the bus station and buy tickets for 4 pm and go our separate ways to relax and explore Lugo. I start by walking the top of the old roman wall that circles the old city of Lugo. I expect I will update this blog again in Santiago. Maybe before but not too likely.

small catch up

so I am in Lugo and this is the first t¡me I have had internet access since I left Oveido. wonderful country, some tiring days and some incredibel people. Will send more details when I get to Santiago and have a day or so to rest and resupply before leaving for Morocco.
Got to Asturias airport a week or so and was feeling good as the bus for Oveido was right outside and leaving shortly. things were obviously going well. got off the bus and didn´t know where to go. Was in a part of northern spain that doesn´t see many anglo tourists so noone spoke english. Couple of guys were very helpful and downloaded google instructons for how to get to the >Cathedral where I thought there would be Camino information. Goodle instructions didn´t work. Met a fellow pilgrim who gave me bad instructions. Figured out on my own how to get to the cathedral. Noone there. No information. Found pilgrim´s hostal and all OK. Went for dinner and saw stuff happening looking like a kid´s festival. Very cool with many families out enjoying themselves. many people out socializing but noone eating. I forgot the Spanish day which includes dinner not usually earlier than 9. Earlier on the other camino where there are more foreigners but this camino has fewer travellers and fewer foreigners. mainly spanish. returning to the pilgrim´s hostal (albergue) I saw a tv crew interviewing what appeared to be two local celebrities. I walked right by them but they had no interest in me. Imagine that. checked out the camino route out of town for the next morning and went to bed.
NEXT MORNING Tuesday started walking in the early morning. First 10 k were strenuous. kept going and got to Grado about 28 k where there was an albrgue but the tourism office informed me that there wasn´t an albergue anymore in Grado and I would have to walk an extra 3 k to San Juan de Villapanada which by the way had no food service or bar or cafe nearby. It was really hot and I was tired. I started walking. Didn´t buy any food cause I dind´t see anything open and I was really tired and it was hot. >The way out of town was steep up hill of course. Got a bit short of the albergue and someone leaving it stopped and asked me some qustions that I didn´t answer well as they were in Spanish and I was hot and tired. Told me to go on and it turns out he was the volunteer custodian (hospitalero). Got there and took a bunk in the dorm. Got into the routine and took a shower and washed my clothes in the sink and hung them outside to dry. People got together to put together a meal. I bought a bottle of wine as a contribution. Much fun. The local celebrities were there. Pilgrims got togther in one of the traditional activities in the evening. bandaging feet and checking out each other´s feet and toes and blisters. There was more up and down than in 2008 on the Camino France and I don´t seem as strong. Boots that fit at home don´t fit as well here. ¿how can that be?
Wed Sept 1 - a tiring day but not as bad as the previouos day. Walked with Maria and her son Pau and sometimes ¨Kiko and his partner Merced. they are the people interviewed on tv the other night not cause they were local celebrities but cause they were the 3,000th people to start the camino primitivo ´CP´ from Oveido this year. Everyone got up in the dark and ready and waited half hour or so until it was light although a couple of people started by headlight. local note - someone mentioned to me that something happened at nine o´clock in the afternoon. Got to albergue in Salas and was lucky to get a bunk. thought I would end up with a mattress on the floor or worse. couldn´t shower cause everyone had used all the hot water so went to lunch with others. Had lunch with Oliver a dentist from Quebec (note - saw him a day or so later but not since and is only other Canadian I have met on the CP. no yanks or brits or aussies at all.) after lunch went looking for some shower sandals. asked Pao along cause he seemed bored. think he thought I wanted his help which I let him give. Have to see how this route works out. It is hotter and steeper than the route I did in 2008 ( spanish note ' bars and cafes serve many drinks - pop and beer in 200 ml containers)
Thursday Sept 2 shared brief breakfast and set out with 4 or so. Climbed steadily for 2 hours or so. after climb route was basically up and down. got separated from others and when I got to Tineo was lost and couldn´t find albergue. helpful local figured out that directions wouldn´t help so he walked me about 1 k or so and bought me a drink along the way to the albergue. tired and taking off pack and boots helped and shower rejuvenated me. did laundry in outside basin. no plug but the plug I brought with me worked and others borrowed mine. lost raincoat along the way. old raincoat no loss but must have one so Maria helped me find sports hop and buy raincoat - cheap but adequate. Internet available in >Tineo but by the time I had dealt with essentials it wasn´t available. Forgot to mention the countrywoman we met on a country lane. she asked us to wait until her son had driven her cows past - no problem. she was dressed as a spanish countrywoman with simple old dress but had several bracelets on each arm, rings on each finger and several gaps in her front teeth. Her speech was simple and declarative and I learned afterwards that she had dealt with the marital status of each of the women pilgrims she was talking with. The pilgrims I was walking with all looked rather like urban sophisticates compared with her.I keep making decisions to walk a reasonable distnce each day and not push too much but this camino doesn´t work that way. there isn´t many options for accommodation and the stages tend to be long, strenuous and tiring.
Friday Sept 3 - we were going to walk to Borres but 3 k before Borres a woman at the bar cafe said the community alberque at Borres was in poor shape and we should beware. Fortunately she had just opened a brand new private albergue where we were and could put us up and private great and filling meals as well. the albergue was nice and new and she didn´t stint on the toilet paper which is a blessing but the food was poor. the wine she said was homemade and very good. well it was homemade. we decided she was trying to payoff the cost of the ablergue very fast. I thought her flowered suit was curious and Luz, who is sensitive to odours, thought she smelled. Tomorrow we will get up early and do a route variation which evidently isn´t done often - no people, houses, occomodation - 29 k and great views. I strongly suggest we all take lots of water and we take about 3 k each. steep climbs and magnificent views, wild horses and old ruins. Luz who has joined our group is a part time dula who supports pregnant women but not medically - emotionally and psychologically.

London

So I'm in London and very tired. I left home early early Sat Am to make sure I had time to deal with any problem or delay on the highway. Got little sleep the night before with my 'logic being that being really tired would mean that I would sleep on the flight and arrived early this morning in London having slept on the filight. I slept about an hour or so. got to my hostel and will get to bed early this evening so as to get lots of sleep and be fresh and enthusiastic when arriving in Spain tomorrow. Made arrangements to get to the airport tomorrow AM. Will end up getting to my starting point sometiem late afternoon I estimate so I will find a place to stay and check out the town/city of Oveido and get an early ande fresh start on the Camino the next morning. Havng fun wandering the streets here. so much to see and discover. stumbled upon the Samuel French bookstore (theatre junkies will understand) and have been seeing many bikes with the Barclay's name on and 'docking' stations for them. A public bike plan I think and I gatehr the docking stations minimize loss from theft. Going out for another walk as otherwise I would fall asleep. Found a good and cheap place to eat I remember fondly from the last ime \I was here. Still there and expanded hours. good. Will be fun when I am back here ina month or so.
john

3 more sleeps!!

3 more sleeps and I am on the road to Calgary to catch my flight for London. Had all my stuff spread out on the dining table last night to make sure I had everything. A couple of things to pick up today - immodium, visine etc and tonight I see if it all goes in the pack. It will althought I may shift stuff things from the "it would be good to take" to the "I don't really need" category. And I have to organize such that stuff that I won't need until Morocco or London go at the bottom of the pack or elsewhere where they won't be lost and they won't be in the way.
I take my time packing and am quite thorough. Making sure I am organized relaxes me in that I know things will happen that are unexpected but if I have got my shit together I will manage fine. Of course once I leave the house early Sat AM I am off and waht happens happens.
John

getting ready and am excited

will pck this eeekend and make sure I ahve everything I need. Gonna cut he grass this weekend too and it probably won't grow too much when I am gone. I may have lucked out with a place to park my car while I am gone in Calgary. I REALLY wasn't prepared to pay for long term parkig at $70 a week while I was away which meant taking the bus in to Calgary and a shuttle from the Greyhound. To make sure to be at the airport in time I would need to cathc the 2:25 AM bus from Golden. A casual conversation in the pub with a friend may provide a place to leave the car. I find out Monday and it would be so nice! After the Camino in Spain I fly to Marrakech to hook up with a tour group (Morocco Explored and they have two places left on the trip). I checked out different tour operators and these seem very good. A woman from Chilliwack with a Moroccan partner. I get to Marrakech early in the morning and meet the group late the next evening. I've arranged to stay at a hostel the first night (less than $9 Cdn) and then will check in at our hotel the next day. Robbin from Morocco Explored sent me the contact information for the hotel so I know where to go to meet the group and I checked out the hotel's website http://www.riadomar.com Very cool and unlike anywhere I have been. Well gotta go and mow the lawn. Put lots of bugdope on so that the mosquitoes don't eat me alive!

Getting started

Hi

so I'm starting my blog and don't know if anyone will read it. I'm travelling to London-Spain-Morocco-London and home. I don't expect anything too exciting but if anyone is interested in what my experiences are like walking the Camino (pilgrimage) routes in Northern Spain or being in Marrakech, trekking in the Atlas mountains of Morocco and riding a camel in the Sahara or catching theatre and god knws what else in London then this may be of interest.

There may be several days between posts as there will be times when there is no internet computer around and I'm not carrying any wi-fi device even if wi-fi was available. I leave in 8 days and I am now just finishing getting organized. Not taking much with me cause I like travelling light and in Spain I will be walking from village to village carrying all my stuff on my back. I don't want to carry more than necessary obviously.

Kinda fun getting organized but that finishes this weekend and I am so looking forward to going. Amazing what you can do over the internet. booked a hostel in Marrakech and went on a forum (lonely planet thorn tree) and found out where in Marrakech to buy some basic I will need when I get there.Did I mention that I am getting excited?

Gotta tart up this blog and add some colour. the pictures are of home - the starting point and me figuring out how to add pictures. works here but I wonder in Marrakech what the keyboard will look like. many learning experiences ahead of me. should be interesting.