Spanish Stroll
Walking
Crocs ‘n’ Socks
I know, I know – it’s not so much a crime against fashion as a crime against humanity. But I’ve got to tell you, I’ve walked 60km over the last two days in these little beauties, and my feet want to buy me a drink. A couple of days ago I made the hiking schoolboy … Continue reading
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Let’s start with the ugly. I don’t know what you were doing at 7.30 on Sunday morning but if you had any sense, you’d still have been tucked up in bed looking forward to nothing more strenuous than a day with the papers and a roast dinner. As for me, I was standing on the … Continue reading
Just Give Me A Sign
It always feels a bit strange on this journey coming back into urban areas after having been walking around in the mountains for a couple of days. Going from this… …to this… …sometimes in the space of half a day, certainly comes as a bit of a culture shock, although it’s also becoming increasingly clear … Continue reading
Luxury Peregrino in Nipple Chafing Drama
Well, if that headline didn’t get your attention, nothing will. (Although presumably it did otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this). Let me explain. I was just getting used to being The Fast Walking Blogger, when all of a sudden a new nickname got thrown into the mix. Apparently my policy of allowing myself one hotel … Continue reading
Boats, Beaches, Knees and Roads
No WiFi again last night, so double Camino bubble again today. I promised on Tuesday to post a photo of Laredo beach at sunrise, sans sizzling sunbathers, and hopefully this will give you at least some idea of how lovely it really is…And this one should give you both some idea of just how long … Continue reading
Double Vision
No WiFi at my final destination last night, hence no post. Although that’s probably just as well, as I was beginning to have a serious sense of humour failure by the time I had arrived. Ruth commented on my last post that the route from Lezama to Bilbao looked a little grim, but compared to … Continue reading
And on the Seventh Day…
…I carried on walking. To Bilbao. At 15.4km, this stage is by far the shortest of The Northern Way, which I had been looking forward to in order to give my body a bit of break. But it has to be said that its brevity is in direct proportion to its aesthetic appeal. The first … Continue reading
It’s the little things.
Amazing what a little thing like a good night’s sleep can do. I can safely say that I have never made better use of €45. It was mildly annoying to be woken up by Scooby Doo asking for Scooby Snacks in Spanish on the hotel TV at 6am (don’t think I asked for that particular … Continue reading
Leg Breakers
Strange how such a quaint English cricketing term can mean something quite so different in another language. Interruptores de la pierna – leg breakers – is the term that the local walkers of The Way use to describe the 24.5km worth of vertiginous ascents and descents that make up the 4th stage of The Northern … Continue reading
Lazy days
I’ve just realised that trying to write an even vaguely interesting blog post after walking the best part of 14 miles a day is going to be a bit of a challenge (as anyone who has bothered to read this far already will probably wholeheartedly agree with). So I’ve decided on lazy days I’m just … Continue reading
His ‘n’ Hers
At 7am this morning, as the sun was breaking over the foothills of Mount Igeldo in San Sebastian, I had the bright idea that it might be a nice thought to text Tiff a picture of wherever I happened to be each morning to accompany her morning cuppa. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that she’d already been … Continue reading
A Walk on the Wild Side
Believe it or not, this post is actually a return to my walk training (17 days to go & counting!). But after the last couple of posts celebrating Bowie week, I thought I’d start off by tipping my hat to Lou Reed as well with this picture, which presented itself a few hours after my … Continue reading
The Drowned Girl
OK, one more post to mark the end of Bowie week (see last post) before I get back on track with the walking posts. But I think I can also probably be forgiven for the digression from my Camino preparations given that we are currently enjoying a very British summertime spate of hail and flash-flooding … Continue reading
Shadow Man
Bit of jumping on the bandwagon going on here I’m afraid. Have just come across a great theme this week being developed by two very interesting bloggers I discovered this week, Cardinal Guzman and Richard Guest, who are marrying their own images with the titles of David Bowie songs. Now whilst I can’t begin to … Continue reading
Geographical Dyslexia
And it had all been going so well. Apart from the brief hiatus in my training schedule caused by lack of liquid refreshment mentioned in an earlier post, I was beginning to feel pretty confident about my upcoming walking challenge. My new walking boots were wearing in nicely, I’d been letting my body slowly acclimatise … Continue reading
A Little Slice of Sussex
Stop Press. It’s stopped raining. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, that’s no longer true – I’m sitting at home looking out at yet another June downpour, having just heard on the radio that the Met Office has coined a new term to describe the weather for the coming months: “an umbrella summer”. Marvellous. Those … Continue reading
Shoreham-by-Surreal
As exotic locations on the Sussex Coast go, the little town of Shoreham-by-Sea isn’t necessarily the first hotspot that springs to mind, sandwiched as it is between a dilapidated cement factory on one side and a power station on the other. But as it’s just a short drive west along the coastline from my hometown, … Continue reading
Back on Track
I think the recent blow to my head must have affected the choice of my first outing to get back on track for El Camino since having recuperated. With the benefit of hindsight, deciding to walk along the Beachy Head and Seven Sisters clifftops in gale force winds and driving rain possibly wasn’t one of my … Continue reading
Face To Floor Interface
As far as unpromising starting points go, I think I may have surpassed myself with this one: The Acute Medical Unit of the Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals. If there is an upside to bipolar disorder (I’m sure I could have phrased that better), it’s that it’s not a condition that readily lends itself to … Continue reading
These Boots Were Made For Walking
It seems as though the idea of starting off my walks in unpromising locations is already becoming something of a theme; last time, a supermarket lift, this time the decidedly downmarket end of Hastings, the East Sussex coastal town of such historic note. Perhaps there’s some kind of subliminal self-defense mechanism going on in the … Continue reading
Spanish Stroll 