tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35829174450390791382012-02-17T02:26:21.148+02:00We are supporting a Romanian charity through our trip to Santiago de Compostela. The St. Jean Village is located around 20km from Bucharest. This special village community helps underprivileged people to lead a normal life, to make a fresh start. For more information see www.unitate.ro. So far we have raised <strong>12,502 Euros</strong>. If you'd like to help just send us a message stating how much you'd like to donate. Thanks. Jan, Richard and SamJan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-38577677217727594612007-06-24T16:01:00.000+03:002007-06-24T21:17:10.149+03:00

As if wanting to give us some extra support on this last day, the weather turned around completely. On waking up, there were no more clouds, only a beautiful open sky with bright sunshine and over 25 degrees. We could not have wished for a nicer way to start the final stretch of our journey.We only needed to add 50 kilometres to our account today. Only a few climbs (nothing as hard as in recent

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No rain, no rain! No wind to speak of. 20 degrees outside temperature. Perfect weather for a cycling day in Galicia. And that´s just what we had. We were already impressed yesterday with our last 20 kilometres into Sarria through beautiful landscapes, small villages, little stone walls bordering every piece of grassland (the kind that makes us feel like we´re cycling in an English TV series on

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Today was the top mountain-stage of our Camino. The long climb up to O ´Cebreiro brought us from some 700 metres in altitude to 1,300 metres. 15 kilometres of gruelling climbing. In the rain of course (all big mountain stages ask for extreme weather). We cycled with views of clouds lying over the mountains beneath us. Again amazing scenery. After 1.5 hours of suffering (using the smallest gear we

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A night out in Rabanal (especially when you have to be back in the refugio by 22h00) does wonders. We´ve never felt better than we did this morning. Even if we were all freezing cold during the night (no blankets on our beds and less than 12 degrees during the night..., Sam slept with his clothes on, Richard stole pillows from other beds and put them over him, Jan lay all his clothes over his

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We are getting used to the early wake-up at the refugio. At 7h00 Jan was sitting in front of the computer (yes, refugios often have an internet connection available, though it is nearly always occupied). It is so nice to have a blog, as long as you keep it updated. The early wake-up this morning was designed for exactly that (3 days of updates in 1 go: we hope you readers appreciate reading our

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Today we planned a long day and more importantly an earlier start; something we do not seem to manage that easily; preparing luggage (dry clothes), breakfast, preparing bicycle hick-ups etc. does mean that we always head off later than planned.Today we did it. At 9h45 we were on the bikes after a nice tortilla and bacon sandwich (and a coffee - normal size - the one they call here 'americanos').

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-43353649441923433862007-06-19T08:51:00.001+03:002007-06-19T09:50:38.714+03:00

We planned for an early start. But we needed dry clothes and so we started the day with some intensive ´dry those clothes´activity. We are not really very experienced in this area of life. We did not have a tumble dryer, there was no sun. So we went for the alternative approach: Sam started ironing wet clothes, Richard used the micro-wave, Jan put his clothes on the heating elements of the

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-5721469583258883072007-06-19T08:32:00.000+03:002007-06-19T09:54:00.591+03:00

We stayed in a 'pension' in Burgos. They did have a safe place to lock our bikes away. On the 2nd floor of the building...The night before we had spent enjoying the Burgos nightlife (no refugio to get back to by 22h00) and did it in our usual way of tapas-bar hopping. We blend in well now with the locals standing at the bar and ordering different plates of food (most of them you choose from the

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Start as usual; wake up with the other pilgrims. The biggest difference this time was the fact that the Swiss organisation that runs the Refugio we were staying at offered breakfast to those interested. We were. Nevertheless we were still pushed out of the door at 8h00 (from then to 12h00 they clean the place and then open up again for a new flow of incoming pilgrims). By the way, the place we

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-785498075640412142007-06-14T21:55:00.000+03:002007-06-15T23:30:11.999+03:00

Spain is known for holidays, olive trees, heate waves, sunburn, gazpacho...Forget it. Today it rained as if we were in the middle of Belgium, Holland or England. Really heavy rain, pouring down on us. Cats and dogs. A plouat in draci. Pijpestelen. You got the picture. Sam and Richard put on their special ´ponchos´,which made them look like clowns in military colours (we´ll post a picture

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-25804086826592289642007-06-13T20:27:00.000+03:002007-06-15T23:33:15.085+03:00

Pilgrims wake up early. Understandably, they prefer to walk in the cooler morning hours, and most refugios have a curfew, which means you are in bed anyway at 22h00 at the latest and the lights really go out at that hour in the dormitory. The one we slept in last night had 30 bunkbeds, there is no way you can escape the rule in such an environment. Even if everyone tries not to make too much

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Earlier start than on day 1; we are used to putting the bags on the bicycles. First a sandwich-breakfast in a local bar (the nice manager of our pension did not offer any breakfast; we were happy he didn´t).The drive out of Pamplona starts with a big climb, a real big climb, an impossibly big climb, the sort of climb where you see people walking next to their bikes. For the first time we met

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We got off to a late start due to the fact that we did take breakfast (something most pilgrims don´t do - and most refugios don´t even offer it). Above that, we had to mount all our equipment/bags onto the bicycles. Took us more time than expected and we realised that even if we did pack light, we had difficulty in fitting everything into the ´pannier´bags supllied to us.Before heading off, we

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Just a quick note; we had a nice flight to Madrid, a perfect drive to Pamplona, and a friendly taxi ride to Roncesvalles (we drove along the road that we have to take tomorrow and realised that this really is a hilly environment). We are now sitting in the Hostel La Posada in Roncesvalles. On arrival we were more than happy to find that our 3 bicycles had been delivered as requested (Didier of

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Last Sunday we did our last training trip in Romania. We chose the area of Urlati/Ceptura for some nice climbing (700 meters in height difference). A beautiful area with plenty of vineyards. We took time out for a rest on top of the hill, and as we ran out of water (and found no shops open in the villages we passed through), we filled our bottles at one of the many wells you find in this area.

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-74318841485305499132007-05-30T00:17:00.001+03:002007-06-01T10:55:15.887+03:00

The final details, discussed in another meeting on Richard's roof terrace... Well, nearly the final details :-) The packing list, the first night's accommodation, the average distance per day... We are so eager to start and still 11 days to wait! Luckily there is another weekend coming during which we can exercise and build up our condition. The beers in the picture are not ours. They belong to

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Of course you cannot do such a trip without proper preparation. Training trips through the mountains and through the woods, many hundreds of kilometers we did this year already... Bucharest is not really a bicycle friendly city. We normally put our bikes in the back of a car and it takes us 1-2 hours to get to the best cycling environment imagineable. We have been in places where no bicycle has

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-77069073156101421012007-05-26T19:48:00.001+03:002007-06-01T10:53:51.739+03:00

We will cycle from right to left on this map. In total some 850 kilometers (depending on how many wrong turns we take, some people already told us it is only 790 kilometers but they do not realise how bad we are at following a track).We will start with a nice down-hill trip from Roncesvalles to Pamplona, though many mountains will be on our way before we reach Santiago de Compostela!The middle

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-36306628598678026722007-05-26T19:43:00.000+03:002007-06-01T10:53:15.466+03:00

We used to go cycling in the mountains of Romania every other week. Then Richard came up with the idea of doing the Camino about one year ago. Since then we have spent more time off our bicycles talking about it than time on our bicycles trying to work on our physical condition. We discussed packing lists, we hired bicycles in Portugal and reserved our first night in Roncesvalles in Hotel Posada.

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-74643455652498263142007-05-25T23:38:00.000+03:002007-06-09T00:41:16.296+03:00

Dear all, The final 2 days before we leave: on Sunday morning we will be at Bucharest's Otopeni Airport carrying as little luggage as possible. Our flight to Madrid will be followed by a 450 km car drive to Roncesvalles. We are curious to see if our rental bikes will be waiting for us. And if they look sufficiently mobile. As of Monday morning we will be researching how hard the saddle

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Dear all,The countdown is nearing its end. 6 more nights in our normal habitat. On Sunday we leave for our journey into the unknown. Yesterday we did our last training run. 45 kilometres of hard work in the Carpathian Mountains, climbing 700 metres in height, in temperatures of over 30 degrees. The muscle pain is bearable, the training of the past months has paid off. Less of a success is the way

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Dear all,What does a pilgrim take on a trip of 850 km from Roncesvalles to Santiago? Normally, the pilgrim overestimates his need for luggage, and his own force to carry it. All the places where pilgrims sleep are full with luggage items that were left there by pilgrims realising that less means more. So we have to be careful when packing. The pilgrim-on-foot carries his luggage on his back and

Jan, Richard and Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08369688054805652840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3582917445039079138.post-29832863323227442422007-05-23T13:30:00.000+03:002007-06-01T12:03:06.615+03:00

Dear all,We start our pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela on June 11th from Roncesvalles. Somewhere in the mountains, just across the border between France and Spain. The first few days we will be cycling up and down out of the Pyrenees.The real pilgrim starts his journey from home. Close the frontdoor behind you, hide the key under the flowerpot and off you go. From Bucharest that would mean

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Dear all,3 weeks to go.On 10th June, we, Richard, Sam and Jan, fly from Bucharest to Madrid. It will take us 4-5 hours to get from Madrid to Pamplona. From there we have another 65 km to Roncesvalles, from where we start our trip to Santiago de Compostela following the historic pilgrimage route (the Camino Francés for those in the know). Pension Posada in Roncesvalles has been informed in Manuel

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