Day 5 - Madrid to Sarria - 20 May

We bought an Orange Spanish sim but they were affected by the internet sabotage the next day so the others got vodaphone sims. They got the better deal I think.

As usual there are a few technological glitches and I can't upload photos to the blog! 😳 Hopefully I'll sort it out soon.

Caught taxis to the Chamartin Station to catch the train to Sarria for the start of our walk.
The result of Cressida' pure optimism of not packing a raincoat has resulted in the weather bureau changing their tune to beautiful weather every day of our walk!

The train started as a VFT doing 246 kph but slowed in the mountains. Lovely countryside, pine plantations and stone houses out in the country. In the towns there were apartment after apartment blocks all about 6 storeys high. Hundreds of them. It was a very different look to our smaller cities.
Arrived at Sarria after a 6 hour trip at 7pm.

The host of our gorgeous 6 bedroom apartment convinced us to go to his favourite restaurant and phoned to book us in. We arrived at Roma restaurant and saw the Michelin labels in the window and were alerted to the fact that it wasn't for us as we wanted a quick meal before an early night. We checked the menus (20 euro per course not 20 euro per head including wine that our host had assured us it was)! We apologised and high tailed it out of there and fornd Caferteria Polo where we had pizza and pasta and free flowing beer for 5 euro a head excluding beer and wine.

We start the walk tomorrow and are all a bit nervous, excited and on edge. Going to meditate tonight!

6.7 km today.

Day 4 - Madrid - 19 May

Walked to Plaza de Espana a beautiful park with two fountains and a pond.

Then Jardines de Sabatini

on the way to Palacio Real de Madrid - the Royal Palace  12th Century Moorish Castle. 

The boys getting ready to take a photo:

All that effort was worth it:

                             Panorama of the rear of the Royal Palace:

We toured the cathedral de Almudena. Construction started in 1879 on the site of a mosque which was destroyed in 1083. Construction was abandoned during the Spanish war and recommended in 1950. It was completed in 1993 when it was consecrated by Pope John II.

 The ceilings are painted in a moorish style with bright colours. Some of the stained glass windows are very modern. It's a lovely cathedral and the tour to the museum and top of the dome was worthwhile.

The crew out the front of the cathedral:

Lunch at Magerit in Plaza Major entertained by Spider-Man helping tourists get that special photo.

Drinks and dinner at El Ingles top floor bar and restaurant experience. Fantastic pizza, Japanese, Mexican and hamburguesa!

                                                   The view:

Gran Via - we stayed just around the corner:

10.6 km today.

Day 3 - Madrid - 18 May

Lovely breakfast at Woohoo suites of cereal, toast, croissants, muffins, coffee, tea and coffee set us up for a day of walking - training for the Camino!

May18 just happened to be a day of free entry to all the art galleries in madrid.  Visited the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum which started out as the best private collection of art in the world. 1000 paintings from the 13th Century up to the 20th Century.  Many beautiful impressionist paintings that I loved one by Munch 1911 "Geese in an Orchard" which shows he can paint happy scenes. 

This is by Kandinski 1922 "Untitled":

Cezanne 1905 "Portrait of a Farmer":

Then we walked to the Prado but there were queues and the free tickets weren't available until later in the evening. So, we went up and visited Inglesia de Los Jeronimos. This turned out to have an interior as beautiful as the exterior.

Then we walked up to the Parque De El Retiro hoping to find a place for lunch on the way. Unfortunately the cafes along the way didn't open until 1pm so we walked through the park. The lake in the park even boasted a row boat hire facility or for the less energetic a ferry boat ride!

We continued through the park and found El Brilliant for bocadillos de calamares and Sangria or beer!  

Then we wended our way through the Reina Sofia Museum which specialises in contemporary art. We saw Picasso's Guernica which was part of wider an exhibition on how he came to paint it.

Then back up through a pretty uninspiring Puerta del Sol. Orange network has been effected by the cyber attack and we can't get sims for a day or so.  So we will rely on wifi at night.

We had drinks in the sun watching the world go by. Lovely.

Set out for dinner at 8:30 - really getting into the Spanish way of life! Cressida found the Taverna Tempranillo and it was an inspired choice on the Casa Baja.  We got the only large table and had a very memorable dinner. The best dish was baby squid barbecued in a sensational oil. The only glitch was when we ordered Loin Galicia Stone Porker. Some of us were expecting special (!) grass fed pork loin.  We got thin slices of beef placed on a cast iron griddle on top of a pizza stone at our table. We thought they must have run out of pork or not understood our order.  We asked the waiter a couple of times and the most comprehensible answer was "oh yes, it is very good!".  It finally dawned on us that the stone and iron griddle was the "stone porker" and "loin" was beef not pork!

Then it was off to the highly recommended 24 hour Chocolateira San Gines established in 1894 for our first chocolate con churros.  Simple but fantastic and very generous. We waddled home!

Walked 18.5 km today - incidental exercise - and we all survived!

S

18.5 km walked today!  Incidental exercise. earch Resul

Day 2 - Madrid - 17 May

Emirates staff are very friendly and efficient, the food was very good and the seats and legroom on the A380 were great. 

Our prebooked private shuttle passed the Real Madrid's home stadium and lots of apartments - spread out and only about 6 levels so not overwhelming in the areas surrounding the freeways into the city. It's very dry with silver birch and plane trees everywhere. 

Spain has a population of 48 million. Madrid, the capital, has 3.6 million people.

We are staying at Woohoo suites a stones throw from the Grand Via in the centre of the old part of town. The entry is unprepossessing but inside the building is a lovely old marbled floored place with an ancient tiny lift. The suites - 6 units within a locked communal area are brand new and excellent. There is also a communal dining room for breakfast. 

Walked to the Plaza Major the ancient, huge town square with restaurants on the ground floor with seating in the square and residential units above dating back to 1617.

Cressida led us to Calle Cava Baja where many tapas bars are stretched along one street.  We had dinner in one that opened early as the majority don't open until 8-10pm. Had wine and beer sitting at a high long bar where we chose from a selection of tapas behind a long window. Very easy way to negotiate the language barrier - point, raise your finger for one and nod yes! 

Then we discovered our first Mecado. Mercado de San Miguel. A huge building where they sell pastries, tapas, sangria, ham and fresh produce. A gorgeous place we'll have to return to. 

Lovely old stone buildings painted dark orange and bright yellow with tiny Juliet balconies are everywhere. Even the newer buildings blend into the old buildings. There were lots of people walking around the wide roads, little traffic and no buildings above about 6 floors in the whole area. Very little sign of street sellers and the waiter at the bar we had our first drink in told a busker to "vamoos". It's a lovely part of the city.

Day 1 - We are off! - 16 May

Bought books, looked at duty free and now relaxing with a drink waiting to board the Emirates plane at Sydney Airport for Dubai and then on to Madrid in 25 hrs.

6728 steps today.

 

Preparing for the Camino

Walk in a Relaxed Manner - Life Lessons from the Camino by Joyce Rupp.

We won't be doing the whole Camino like Joyce and her companion Tom but it would be nice to approach our small part of the Camino with some of the lessons she learnt on her walk. 

After a few false starts we all have our shoes, socks and backpacks for the trip and have done a few preparatory walks. We also have a nurse, compeed and body glide at the ready. 😊

Beautiful Narrabeen Lake Walk but maybe a tad flat for a serious preparation walk!

Packing for Spain

We are getting very excited about our trip to Spain.
Cressida and Shayne have made it so easy for us by doing the vast majority of the planning and booking.  We still have to pack our bags though which is an undertaking in itself.

Europe my tiny 20 inch bag and my carry weighed 20kg total. (Excluding what I wore on the plane.)
Alaska my 26 inch bag and carry on weighed 22 kg total. (Excluding what I wore on the plane.)

So far my research shows that everyone doing the Camino, especially those doing the full 800 km, is obsessed with travelling light. So, of course, despite the fact that we are only walking 110 km, I've become obsessed too.

This time I'm determined to be well under 20 kg for everything including my carry on bag.  So far I have my list down to 13kg including the weight of the bag and backpack (excluding what I will wear on the plane) which is very impressive for me. I hope that doesn't change too much before we go. Ooops, I haven't weighed my camera yet...

This isn't what I will be carrying on the Camino but includes everything for the whole trip. Luckily Patrick and Alf will be doing a driving trip around Spain while the rest of us are walking and will be able to carry stuff that isn't necessary for the walk.

Of course for me to travel this light means Ronnie will have to take a few extras: