Seasoning the Seasons

NHK TV has a series called "Seasoning the Seasons" (Exploring the Four Seasons of Japan) and they have one episode on winter, in which they visit Echizen, northwest of Kyoto and feature the special foods that become available in winter, like smoked persimmons, taro, sake and Echizen crab from Ishikawa (not Kyoto).  We'll have to keep an eye out for those foodstuffs.  We also watched an episode on Hosenji, a neighborhood of Osaka.  Now, have I watched the one on Udon or not?  I've watched "Udon" on Begin Japanology...  Good gravy.  Does this mean I have to make another list to keep track of them?

Most of Seasoning the Seasons feature destinations outside of Tokyo and so they don't have much that is immediately useful for our trip in January.  There is one on Ekiben, the bento boxes they sell at train stations that vary by region, but I can't find a video for it on YouTube, which apparently is one's only option.  We watched another one on Kyoto: The Enigmatic Entertainers of Gion about the geishas, or really the maiko, the young girls training to become geishas.  Wasn't "Maiko" the name of that Japanese restaurant we used to go to on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley?  That was Willy's first time eating out, although he really didn't get to eat since he was only a few weeks old.

Too few of the episodes are online.  I'm waiting for Boris Popov to upload the latest episodes to YouTube...

Moving On: PASMO and SUICA Cards

Now that we have our plane, hotel and AirB&B reservations, we can move on to more mundane topics like public transportation.  Our hotel is one that Juan and Mandy stayed at and liked in January 2011.  It's on the edge of the red light and nightclub district in Shinjuku so we'll see how two sticks in the mud survive in such a dynamic surrounding.  There's a Shinto shrine in the next block so hopefully that will balance out the environment.  Shinjuku is in west Tokyo so we'll need to take subways/trains to the other areas and we want it to be easy so we'll buy a SUICA or PASMO card so we don't have to buy tickets every time.  We'll be in Tokyo more than a week and we can use the cards at their many convenience stores as well.

The Japan Guy blog has posts on what the PASMO and SUICA cards are,  how to get them (even a personalized one that can be reissued if lost),  and how to use them.  How do you return the card and get your 500 yen deposit back?  He doesn't cover that but JREast has a page on its Suica card that tries to explain it.  Fortunately the information is available in English.  The cards can be used on the trains and the subways and the buses.  There are also unlimited one-day tickets for the metro, metro & train, or metro-train-buses but I don't know if we'll be using them that much.  I would like to walk a lot, to see things, even if it is January...  And if it is clear, maybe we can see Mt. Fuji.

NOTE:  Mandy sent me a link to a blog about the 1-2-3 day passes that has convinced me we should get two 3-day passes when we are there.

Begin Japanology Programs

I'm having trouble keeping track of the Japanology Programs I've already watched so this is a list of the Begin Japanology programs available.  Yes, the X means I've watched it.  Or think I did.

Season 1

x Ep 1 - Bento
x Ep 2 - Miyazawa Kenji (Japanese poet and author of fairy tales)
x Ep 3 - Lacquerware (a mini)
Ep 4 - Rakugo
x Ep 5 - Tsukiji Market
x Ep 6 - Yoshoku (Western Style Cuisine)
x Ep 7 - Kyudo (Way of the Bow - Archery)
Ep 8 - Tea Ceremony Architecture
x Ep 9 - Dagashi-ya (Japanese Sweet Shop)
x Ep 10 - Nihon Buyo (traditional Japanese dance with a fan)
x Ep 11 - Abacus
Ep 12 - Ryukyu Kimono
x Ep 13 - Bamboo
x Ep 14 - Shirakawa-go (world Heritage village with thatched houses)
x Ep 15 - Fireworks
Ep 16 - Hanging Scrolls
x Ep 17 - The Tale of Genji: Part 1
Ep 18 - The Tale of Genji: Part 2
x Ep 19 - Matcha
x Ep 20 - Tokyo Tower
x Ep 21 - Dashi
Ep 22 - Oribe-yaki (pottery)
Ep 23 - The Colorful World of Utagawa Hiroshige (mini)
Ep 24 - The Seven Gods of Good Fortune (not available)
x Ep 25 - Sushi
Ep 26 - Mikoshi (portable shrines)
Ep 27 - Yuzen Kimono
x Ep 28 - Buddhist Statues
x Ep 29 - Hot Springs
Ep 30 - Fish (not available)
x Ep 31 - Tatami (straw mats)
Ep 32 - Castles
x Ep 33 - Miso

Season 2

Ep 1 - Nishijin-ori
Ep 2 - Kyoto Lacquerware
x Ep 3 - Sake
Ep 4 - Katsura Rikyu
Ep 5 - Bonsai
x Ep 6 - The Four Seasons
Ep 7 - Hina Dolls
x Ep 8 - Nagasaki
x Ep 9 - Five-Story Pagodas
x Ep 10 - Cherry Blossoms
x Ep 11 - Chopsticks
x Ep 12 - Aizome (Indigo dye)
Ep 13 - Bunraku
Ep 14 - Kiriko Cut Glass
x Ep 15 - Traditional Folk Houses
x Ep 16 - Tea Ceremony
x Ep 17 - Soba
Ep 18 - Origami
Ep 19 - Imari Porcelain
Ep 20 - Folding Fan
x Ep 21 - Kaiseki Cuisine
X Ep 22 - The Sounds of Japan
Ep 23 - Masks
x Ep 24 - Satoyama - The Japanese countryside of rice paddies where people live in harmony with nature, creating an oasis for wildlife.
Ep 25 - Kendo (Sword fighting)
x Ep 26 - The Fragrances of Japan (scented woods)
x Ep 27 - Spinning Tops
x Ep 28 - Rock and Stone
x Ep 29 - Ink Brushes
x Ep 30 - Tsukemono
x Ep 31 - Dogs
x Ep 32 - Ramen
x Ep 33 - Rice
x Ep 34 - Shinto Shrine
Ep 35 - Festivals
x Ep 36 - Shinkansen (Bullet train)
Ep 37 - Gagaku (ancient imperial court music and dance)
x Ep 38 - Marriage
Ep 39 - Shogi (Japanese board game like Chess - also in Jap Plus)
x Ep 40 - Nabe Cuisine (Japanese Hot Pot)
Ep 41 - Sword

Season 3

x Ep 1 - Sentou (bath houses)
Ep 2 - Karuta
Ep 3 - Taiko
Ep 4 - Cram School
Ep 5 - Light
x Ep 6 - Footwears
Ep 7 - Monkey
x Ep 8 - Soy Sauce
Ep 9 - Tuna
x Ep 10 - Fusuma (sliding doors with decorated paper)
Ep 11 - Pearl
x Ep 12 - Todaiji (Bronze Buddha at ancient capital of Nara)
x Ep 13 - School Lunches
Ep 14 - Geiko and Maiko
x Ep 15 - Robots
x Ep 16 - Wasabi
Ep 17 - Women's Fashion Magazines (Just a mini of shots)
x Ep 18 - Izakaya
x Ep 19 - Apartments and Condominiums
x Ep 20 - Towns and Neighbourhoods
x Ep 21 - Tempura
x Ep 22 - Subways
Ep 23 - Hairstyles
x Ep 24 - Home Appliances
x Ep 25 - Roof Tiles
x Ep 26 - Miniaturization
x Ep 27 - Silk
x Ep 28 - Soybeans - and products like tofu, miso and natto
x Ep 29 - Curry
x Ep 30 - Dams
x Ep 31 - Hotels
Ep 32 - Radio Calisthenics
x Ep 33 - Ekiben (railroad bento lunches)
x Ep 34 - Bridges
x Ep 35 - Earthquakes
Ep 36 - Chrysanthemums
Ep 37 - Cameras
x Ep 38 - Hiragana (one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets)
x Ep 39 - Udon
x Ep 40 - Money
Ep 41 - Nishikigoi
x Ep 42 - Volcanoes
Ep 43 - Firefighting

Season 4

x Ep 1 - Mochi Rice Cake
x Ep 2 - Watches and Clocks
x Ep 3 - Fugu Blowfish
Ep 4 - Haneda Airport
Ep 5 - Kagura Dances
x Ep 6 - Snow
Ep 7 - Pollen Allergy
x Ep 8 - Sashimono Woodwork
Ep 9 - Cranes
x Ep 10 - Kitchen Knives
x Ep 11 - Fishing
Ep 12 - Armour
Ep 13 - Judo
Ep 14 - The Life of Taro Okamoto
Ep 15 - The Life of Osamu Dazai
Ep 16 - The Life of Kenzo Tange
Ep 17 - The Life of Hideko Maehata
x Ep 18 - Toilets
Ep 19 - Lifts (not available)
Ep 20 - Motorcycles
x Ep 21 - Unagi Eel
Ep 22 - Japanophiles - Ilan Yanizky
Ep 23 - Japanophiles - Silvain Guignard
Ep 24 - Japanophiles - Stéphane Danton
Ep 25 - Japanophiles - Dorothy Feibleman
x Ep 26 - Plastic Food Samples
x Ep 27 - Insects
Ep 28 - Traditional Japanese Mathematics (not available)
x Ep 29 - Bicycles
Ep 30 - Chusonji
x Ep 31 - Seaweed
Ep 32 - Charcoal
x Ep 33 - Rain
Ep 34 - Golf
Ep 35 - Shipbuilding
Ep 36 - Japanophiles - Bruce Huebner
Ep 37 - Japanophiles - Noelke Muho
x Ep 38 - Japanophiles - Matt Alt
Ep 39 - Karaoke
Ep 40 - Holidays
x Ep 41 - Red Sea Bream
x Ep 42 - Shopping Streets
x Ep 43 - Chickens and Eggs

Season 5

Ep 1 - Ekiden (relay races)
Ep 2 - Batteries
x Ep 3 - Cafes
x Ep 4 - Hot Water Bottles and Pocket Warmers
Ep 5 - Ikebana
Ep 6 - Excavators
Ep 7 - Woods & Forests (not available)
Ep 8 - Japanophiles - Dhugal Lindsay
Ep 9 - Japanophiles - Richard Emmert
Ep 10 - Japanophiles - Art Lee
Ep 11 - Japanophiles - Philip Harper
Ep 12 - Kabuki
x Ep 13 - Wild Vegetables
Ep 14 - Horses
Ep 15 - Massage Chairs
x Ep 16 - Shikoku Pilgrimage
x Ep 17 - Regional Fast Food
x Ep 18 - Department Stores
Ep 19 - Kimonos
x Ep 20 - Aquariums
x Ep 21 - Confectionery
Ep 22 - Dolls
x Ep 23 - Moss
Ep 24 - High School Baseball
Ep 25 - Planetariums
Ep 26 - Japanophiles - Adam Booth
Ep 27 - Japanophiles - Dave Spector
Ep 28 - Japanophiles - Euan Craig
x Ep 29 - Shamisen
Ep 30 - Crested Ibises
Ep 31 - Abalone
x Ep 32 - Tokyo Station
x Ep 33 - Tokyo Skytree
x  Ep 34 - Tokyo Bay
x Ep 35 - Potatoes, Taros, and Yams
Ep 36 - Name Seals
x Ep 37 - Mushrooms
x Ep 38 - Vending Machines
Ep 39 - Scissors
x Ep 40 - Satsuma Mandarins (the kind grandma has)
Ep 41 - Gift-giving
Ep 42 - Mapping Kyoto Streets

Season 6

x Ep 1 - Sumo
Ep 2 - Bathroom Scales
Ep 3 - Enka
Ep 4 - Small Factories
Ep 5 - Japanophiles - Azby Brown
Ep 6 - Japanophiles - Ernst Seiler
Ep 7 - Japanophiles - Yasokichi Konishiki
x Ep 8 - Ume Plums
x Ep 9 - Storehouses (historic earthen buildings)
x Ep 10 - Wagyu (Japanese beef)
Ep 11 - Uniforms
x Ep 12 - Rice Cookers
x Ep 13 - Burial Mounds
x Ep 14 - Stationery (Pens, mechanical pencils, tape, craft knives)
x Ep 15 - Bread
x Ep 16 - Pine Trees
x Ep 17 - Parcel Delivery
Ep 18 - Pro Wrestling
Ep 19 - Strawberries
Ep 20 - Calculators
Ep 21 - Television
Ep 22 - Lake Biwa
Ep 23 - Expressways
Ep 24 - Beer
Ep 25 - Japanophiles - Mike Harris
x Ep 26 - Japanophiles - Karl Bengs - A German trying to revitalize mountain communities in Japan
Ep 27 - Japanophiles - Kenny Omega
x Ep 28 - Shakuhachi (bamboo traditional flute)
x Ep 29 - Convenience Stores
Ep 30 - Used Books
Ep 31 - Women's Nylons
Ep 32 - Remote Islands
Ep 33 - Characters and Mascots
Ep 34 - Grapes
Ep 35 - Makeup
x Ep 36 - Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints)
x Ep 37 - Buses
Ep 38 - Parties and Gatherings
x Ep 39 - Conveyor Belt Sushi
x Ep 40 - Pets

Season 7

x Ep 1 - Persimmons
x Ep 2 - Nighttime Scenery
x Ep 3 - Ise Jingu - The greatest Shinto shrine in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture
x Ep 4 - K-cars - The sub-sub compact cars that made Japan an auto power and allowed Japanese families to afford a car.
x Ep 5 - Japanophiles - Nancy Singleton Hachisu - The author of Japanese Farm Food and Preserving the Japanese Way
Ep 6 - Japanophiles - Chris Hart
Ep 7 - Japanophiles - Rogier Uitenboogaart
x Ep 8 - Railways
Ep 9 - Pianos
x Ep 10 - Squid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic6fiwCIzmg

Lunch On!

I know, I know.  I haven't finished the 300 plus episodes of Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus but thought I might look at NHK's "Lunch ON!" series, which is meant to offer insights into working people of all kinds by looking at their lunches.  Would only the Japanese thing of that?

I started with "Lunch at the Kyoto Woodblock Studio" (Season 2 Episode 4) where the staff (about 15) take turns cooking lunch and have to stay within a 2,000 yen budget (plus any leftovers in the fridge).  Fernando says he prefers the Japanology programs -- maybe he misses the narrator Peter Barakan.  But they have one on "40 Years of Lunch Together at the Balloon Factory" and who could resist that?

As I was looking over the NHK schedule of English language programs, a few more caught my eye: Kawaii International (on Japanese Pop culture), Cool Japan (in which foreigners look into something Japanese, like Beans) and Dining with the Chef, which they offer on our local PBS Create TV channel.  Looking for the Bean episode on YouTube I stumbled across another NHK series:  Your Japanese Kitchen, the most popular episode evidently being "shabu shabu" -- the Japanese version of hotpot.  Yes, we are really immersing ourselves in Japanese culture...  Now, if only I could find some of that slimy natto.

Oh oh.  I ran across another NHK series: Core Kyoto.

Chromecasting Japanology

A couple of days ago, Fernando asked me why I wasn't "chromecasting" my Japanology programs to the TV.  A lot of extra work, if you asked me.  But after seeing the greatly improved picture quality on the TV, I was a complete convert.  I had assumed the picture quality would be the same -- isn't it coming over the same wire?  But the full-screen YouTube video on my MacBook Air is really pixelated and indistinct.  When it is transmitted to the TV, it is perfect.  Thus I won't be watching any more episodes on my laptop.  Poor Fernando.  Now not only does he have to watch Rick Steves and Lidia Bastianich, but he's got a couple of Japanologies a day to contend with as well.

Naturally I've been choosing episodes he might like:  the Abacus, Sento (Japanese Bathhouses), A Trip through Akihabara (the electronics section of Tokyo), Sumo, Mt. Fuji, Making and Cooking Rice (he fell asleep a quarter through that one).  I'm really having trouble remembering which ones I've seen so it is good that I'm writing them down, although I'm not quite sure what is the best way to keep track of them.  They have two versions of Sento and rice, a Begin Japanology one and a Japanology Plus one.  In any case, I'm making good headway.

Japanology Plus

So after Begin Japanology, the season went to Japanology Plus, described as: "Going a step further from our previous series BEGIN Japanology, host Peter Barakan visits experts in various fields to show Japanese culture from a new perspective."  It also generally has a little clip with Matt Ault, an American translator in Japan who adds a bit of youthful enthusiasm.

Let's see if we can find all the episodes so we don't miss a choice one that isn't pulled up by YouTube in the preview column.  They have a list on the TVDB but the episode numbers often don't coincide exactly with the numbers on YouTube.  I'll x the episodes as I watch them so I remember...  Eventually I'll link them all...
OH Golly!  After all this work, I come across: Japanology TV where they list all the programs of both Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus and link to most of the videos.  Ah well, I still can check off the ones I've seen here.  There are 252 Begin Japanology episodes and 79 Japanology Plus episodes with new ones being produced every two weeks, so if I watch one a day, I should have most of them watched by the time we go to Japan...

x Episode 1: Public Bathhouses in Japan - Sentō 銭湯 (4/3/2014)
x Episode 2: Having Some Delicious Ramen
x Episode 3: Mt. Fuji
x Episode 4: The Japanese Chess Shogi (remake)
Episode 5: The Great Story of the Cherry Blossom
x Episode 6: A Trip through Akihabara (A neighborhood of high tech wizardry and pop culture in Tokyo)
x Episode 7:  Wagashi (Wagashi (和菓子) is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, anko (azuki bean paste), and fruits. Wagashi is typically made from plant ingredients.)
Episode 8:  The Great Story of the Shinobi Ninja
x Episode 9:  Making and Cooking Rice
Episode 10: Castles
Episode 11: Japanophiles - Elizabeth Suzuki
Episode 12: Japanophiles - Everett Kennedy Brown
Episode 13: Japanophiles - Carolin Eckhardt
Episode 14: Going Wild For Karaoke カラオケ
x Episode 15: The Latest Bento Trends 弁当 (new version)
x Episode 16: Bamboo (new version)
Episode 17: Taiko Drums
x Episode 18: World's Largest Fish Market - Tsukiji Market (new version)
x Episode 19: Festivals
x Episode 20: Beautiful Japanese Gardens
Episode 21: The Art Of Origami 折り紙
Episode 22: Japanese Buddhist Statues
x Episode 23: The Roots of Japanese Yokai Creatures (bizarre creatures and supernatural phenomena in Japanese folklore which are today often featured in video games, anime, and manga.)
x Episode 24: Shinkansen (Bullet Train)
x Episode 25: Lessons for Life (The Japanese love to take lessons and develop new skills.)
Episode 26: Japan's Robotic Superpower (Japan is a robotics superpower with 300,000 industrial robots - more than any other country - and it is also known for its anime-like humanoid robots.)
Episode 27: Sports Days in Japan
Episode 28: The Living Works of Art: Bonsai
x Episode 29: Preparing the Most Delicious Sushi
Episode 30: Through the Eyes of a Geisha
x Episode 31: Japanophiles - Bartholomeus Greb (begin 2015 season)
Episode 32: Japanophiles - Ivan Vartanian
Episode 33: Japanophiles - Alex Bennett
x Episode 34: The Seikan Tunnel (between Honshu and Hokkaido)
x Episode 35: Snow Country
Episode 36: The Unique Japanese Comedy
x Episode 37: Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway
Episode 38: A Season of Change (spring, graduation, entrance ceremonies)
x Episode 39: Waste and Recycling
x Episode 40: Period Dramas (Plays, movies and TV dramas that depict Japan as it was in the eras up to the samurai times are called "jidaigeki", literally "period dramas". The original period dramas were kabuki plays.)
Episode 41: Weight Loss Industry
Episode 42: Dams
x Episode 43: Izakaya (also visits Kakuuchi - a liquor store where you can drink)
x Episode 44: Craft Beer
x Episode 45: Fermented Foods
x Episode 46: Umbrellas
Episode 47: Job Hunting
Episode 48: Japanophiles: Amir Takahashi
Episode 49: The English Conversation Business
Episode 50: English at School
Episode 51: Shrine & Temple Carpenters
Episode 52: Bunraku (Puppet Theater)
Episode 53: Kids' Summer Holidays
Episode 54: Swimming
Episode 55: Haunted Houses
x Episode 56: Onsen (Hot Springs)
Episode 57: Japanophiles: Andrew Mancabelli
Episode 58: Cameras
x Episode 59: Wrapping and Packaging
x Episode 60: Tokyo Housing
Episode 61: Japanophiles: Adam Zgola
Episode 62: Kombu (Seaweed)
x Episode 63: Hotels and Inns
x Episode 64: Tidying Up. Long before Marie Kondo there was Nagisa Tatsumi who wrote the "art of discarding". Peter Barakan also talks about Marie Kondo, who is cuter and so probably was tweeted more.
x Episode 65: Mt. Takao
Episode 66: Japanophiles: Maud Archambault (begin 2016 season)
x Episode 67: Silk
x Episode 68: Underground Tokyo (aired 1-28-16)
x Episode 69: Earthquake Preparedness
Episode 70: Japanophiles: Jorge Cabeza Fernandez
Episode 71: Japanophiles: Pico Iyer
Episode 72: Okinawa Dance

SEASON 2
For some reason, in April of 2016, after 3 years of programs, they decide to begin "Season 2" and these are the ones currently being broadcast.

Episode 1: Whiskey
Episode 2: Quest for Perfect Skin
x Episode 3: Bladed Tools (scissors and knives)
Episode 4: Family Crests
x Episode 5: Breakfast
Episode 6: Footwear
Episode 7: Running (6/2/2016)
Episode 8: Emoji 2016-06-16
x Episode 9: Ekiben 2016-06-23
x Episode 10: Bicycles 2016-06-30
Episode 11: Kimono 2016-07-07
Episode 12: Kokeshi Dolls 2016-07-28
x 13: Shinise: Long established businesses
14: Japanophiles: Rezaul Karim Chowdhury (A Bangladeshi soba master)
x 15: Toilets (8/18/16)
x 16: Bridges (8/25/16)  (Very interesting engineering)
17: A Nation of Singers
18: Restoring Castles
19: Volcanoes
20: School Club Activites
x 21: Smells
22: Paper
23: Japanophile Paul Lorimer: pottery
x 24: Katsuoboshi (12/1/2016) (shaved smoked skipjack tuna)
25: Day Care for Kids
26: Sweets & Snacks
27: Hairdressing
28: Japanophiles: Carine Lafitte
29: Noh Theater
30: Moving Services
31: Okinawan Karate
32: Sleep
33: Tokyo Rail Network
34: Denim
35: Japanophile: Randy Channell Soei
36: Japanophiles: Zoe Vincent
37: Buddhist Altars
x 38: Driving Schools in Japan
x 39: Curry
40: Cafes

Japanology Episode 2

I've watched my seven Japanology videos on YouTube and have learned that I don't have to eat raw fish for breakfast but can have coffee and thick toast, that it rains a lot in Japan, that the Japanese have a love affair with vending machines, that most regional fast food contains offal, and that I'm going to enjoy visiting the Department Stores -- they will be a trip back to my childhood only better because they all have food basements like the City of Paris.

Now I need to choose another seven for next week: May 28-June 3
x Seaweed
x Fermented Foods (I think I'll stick to pickles.)
x Tsukemono Pickles (pronounced skeh-mo-no) (Begin Season 2 Ep 30)
x Bicycles (Beg Jap Seas 4 Ep 29)
x Unagi Eel
x Udon
x Having some Delicious Ramen (Japanology Plus Season 1 Episode 2)

And here are the videos for June 4-June 10:
x Rice (Begin Japanology Season 2 Ep 33)
x Tsukiji (Skeejee) Market (Begin Japanology Season 1 Ep 5)
x World's Largest Fish Market Tsukiji Market (Jap + Season 1 Ep 18) - Surprisingly hardly anything was repeated in this second video of the market.
x Traditional Folk Houses (Begin Japanology Season 2 Ep 15)
x The Shikoku Pilgrimage (Begin Japanology Season 5 EP16, 2012-05-03) Very similar to the Camino de Santiago.  88 shrines in 50 days.
x Ramen (Begin Japanology Season 2 Ep. 32)
x Shinkansen (Bullet Train) (Begin Jap Season 2 Ep 36)

Fourth Week:
x Japanophiles: Matt Alt (BEGIN Japanology Season 4 Ep 38) Matt Alt is an American translator and expert in Japanese yokai.  He and his wife have published Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, which is reviewed in "Choosing the Best Yokai Books for You" and which the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has.
x The Roots of Japanese Yokai Creatures (Jap + Ep 23)
x Wagashi (The Jap Plus Ep 7 on traditional sweets made of rice flour, sugar and adzuki bean paste.)
x Dagashi-ya (Beg Jap Season 1 Ep 6 on the good old-fashioned sweet shop of the post-war years) Dagashi meaning junk sweets.  This video puts a positive spin on them.
x Confectionery (Beg Jap Seas. 5 Ep 21 2012) The Japanese take on Western Pastry.
x Cafes (Begin Jap Season 5 Ep 3)
x Potatoes, Taro and Yams (Begin Jap Seas. 5 Ep. 24)

Fifth Week:
x Tatami Mats (Begin Jap Seas 1 Ep 31)
x Yoshoku (Western style cuisine.  Beg Jap Seas. 1 Ep 4)
x Shopping Streets (Beg Jap Seas 4, Ep 42)
x Soba Noodles (Beg Jap Seas 2 Ep 17)
x The Fragrances of Japan (incense) (Beg Jap Seas 2 Ep 26)
x Silk (Beg Jap Seas 3 Ep 27)
x Matcha (Beg Jap Seas 1 Ep 16)

Sixth Week
x Persimmons (Beg Jap Seas 7 Ep 1)
x Waste and Recycling (Jap Plus Seas 1 Ep 39)
x Mochi (Rice Cakes) (Beg Jap Seas 4 Ep 1)
x Abacus (Beg Jap Seas 1 Ep 11)
x Sumo (Beg Jap Seas 6 Ep 1)
x Making and Cooking Rice (Jap Plus Seas 1 Ep 9)
x Mt. Fuji (Beg Jap Seas 1 Ep 3)

Seventh Week
x A trip through Akihabara (Jap Plus Seas 1 EP 6)
x Sentou (Japanese Bathhouses) (Beg Jap Seas 3 Ep 1) This earlier Begin Japanology episode is a bit more interesting than the Japanology Plus one on Sentou.
Karuta (Japanese Cards) (Beg Jap Seas 3 Ep 2)  Halfway through, the video starts stuttering
x Seikan Tunnel
x Onsen (Thermal Baths)
x Underground Tokyo (Jap Plus Seas1 Ep 28)
x Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway
x Moss
x Convenience Stores (Beg Jap)
x Tempura (Beg Jap Seas 3 Ep 21)

Japanology

Penny turned me on to this YouTube channel about Japan, especially about their foods.  I see that there about 7 seasons, some with 41 episodes and that will certainly keep me busy.  Juan had watched one on mushrooms that he liked a lot so that was my first episode.  I feel that there should be an organized way to view them in sequence but it is not obvious on YouTube.  They are produced by NHK World, which is the international service of NHK, Japan's public broadcasting organization.  On NHK World's website they also offer Easy Japanese with lots of audio.

So here is my first week schedule of Japanology programs to watch:
Bamboo
Vending Machines
Rain
Regional Fast Food (Beg Jap Seas 5 Ep 12)
Breakfast (to see if they have alternatives to raw fish...)
Department Stores (are they really magic kingdoms?)
Conveyor Belt Sushi

Heck, after watching all the Japanology videos, I won't even have to GO to Japan!

Japan next? Tokyo, Kyoto and Hakone?

I thought I better post something before a year lapses since my last post, April 29, 2015, about the weather on the Camino.  And I should post something about our 2 weeks on the Camino (I had left it for something to do over the winter when I couldn't garden but other things got in the way...).  Since last April we have traveled in the U.S.: California, Boston, the Outer Banks; but I don't have to prepare for those destinations like I do for a foreign country.

Mandy says we need to go to Tokyo and Kyoto and to Hakone to see Mt. Fuji.  I have no concept of the layout of Japan so a nice map would be the first step, to see which towns are near each other.  I have no bucket list of things to see and check off but would like gardens, markets, kitchenware and handicraft stores.  I want to walk the streets and wander through neighborhoods, eat the food, but not in 4 star restaurants, only in little noodle joints, or on the streets, where we can afford it.

Three weeks later:  As you can see I didn't get very far with this post.  But now I'm reading Juan and Mandy's Insight Guide to Tokyo from 2004.  It's a little dated because it talks about the effort to move the government offices outside of Tokyo in case there is an earthquake.  One of the 3 locations suggested is Fukushima...

Current Must-Do in Tokyo
Kappabashi Market.  This is where they have the fake food shops but also the restaurant supply stores.  Bento.com has a list of the various stores he found interesting: Tanaka for lacquerware;  Kondo and Okuda for bamboo products; Hashito for chopsticks; Kamata for knives; Propack for everything; and Maizuru for plastic food models, including souvenirs like magnets and keychains.  This was written in 2005, it looks like, so that's not much better than the Insight Guide.  I hope things don't change much in Japan...
On the same website (dated 2004), Yukari Pratt has a list of tools for the Japanese kitchen, like strainers, bamboo colanders, wooden lids, graters, and brushes, which she says make great gifts for gourmet friends.  It looks like I better take a big suitcase.

Antenna Shops
Prefectural "antenna shops" are retail stores that specialize in food and other products from a specific Japanese prefecture or city. Set up by local governments and located in Tokyo and other major cities, they are meant to promote an appreciation of regional foods and crafts, and encourage tourism."  Bento.com has a map of antenna shops in Tokyo and you can browse through a list of them with descriptions.  You can click through to their websites and then have google translate the Japanese for you: "Black of cartilage of pig chili soy sauce boiled (65g) and finished with a soy sauce taste of perfect Kagoshima classic knob of rice or potato shochu black pig cartilage."

Must-Do in Kyoto
Bento.com also has a section on the Nishiki Market in Kyoto, with a list of recommended shops, such as Aritsugu for knives and strainers, Dintora for Japanese spices, Fuka for fu (wheat gluten), Takakuraya for pickles, and Yubakichi for yuba (tofu skin).  They recommend following up with a visit to the nearby food floor of the Daimaru Department Store.  Department stores seem to be alive and well in Japan, with food courts in the basements, like the old City of Paris in San Francisco.  Or was that just in 2004??

The Rain in Spain

Galicia is supposed to have lots of rain - that's why it's green like Ireland - so we better plan on getting drenched once a day.  We've bought ponchos although I meant to waterproof my old windbreaker and the CampDry I bought dissolved the lining in the small area I tested so I didn't "waterproof" the rest of it.  We also have waterproof pack covers for our big backpack although they are overkill for the little ones we'll be carrying.  Here's the descriptive forecasts for the area.  Since Sarria and Santiago are only about 100 km apart the weather forecast should be pretty similar for the towns in between.  Weather Underground doesn't have the forecast beyond Friday May 8 so that will be a surprise.

Leon - Friday May 1 to Sunday May3

Sarria - Sunday night, May 3 to Tuesday May 5

Melide - Wednesday May 6 to Friday May 8

Final Itinerary

Friday, March 27th we got the email part of the CaminoWays Holiday Pack with the hotel information in it.  The accommodations are pretty much the same as they were in the first itinerary except for the casa rural in Ventas de Naron and the hotel in Santiago.  So now we can put together the itinerary for the whole trip except for the train back to Madrid.

Thurs April 30 (Day 1): Flight to Madrid from Pittsburgh via Philadelphia

• Leave Pittsburgh on US Airways Flight 4571 at 10:15 am, arriving Philadelphia at 11:25 am.
• Leave Philadelphia on US Airways Flight 740 to Madrid at 6:45 pm. (Yes, it's a 7 hour layover!!  What are we going to do for that amount of time?  You can only walk for so long.  Maybe we can take a nap somewhere on the floor.  At least we shouldn't miss the connection.)

Fri May 1 (Day 2):

• Arrive Madrid 8:20 am if we are on time and don't have to return to Philadelphia again an hour into the flight.  
• Take the Pink Metro Line 8 to Nuevos Ministerios; switch to the Blue Metro Line 10 towards the Charmartin Train Station (37 minutes total).  
• Take the 2:40 train to Leon or switch to an earlier train (10:30, 11:05) depending on when we land. 
• Check into Hotel El Rincón del Conde (118.80€ for 2 nights) on a pedestrianized street in the Barrio Humedo in the city center with wifi and private bath.

Sat May 2 (Day 3): Explore Leon

Sun May 3 (Day 4): Leave Leon and take the 10:15am ALSA bus to Lugo, arriving at 1:30pm (17.54€ apiece) and then the 1:45pm Monbus to Sarria, arriving at 2:15pm (3.70€ apiece).  The trip from Leon to Lugo goes through some of the towns on the Camino that we will be missing: Astorga, Ponferrada, Villafranca del Bierzo, Piedrafita do Cebreiro.  Lugo looks like an interesting town but I don't think we'll have time to linger, although we could take the 4:35pm bus instead and walk around.
In Sarria we stay in the Alfonso IX Hotel.  It has a sauna and swimming pool, and Wi-Fi Gratis as well as free parking.  Too bad we don't have a car...

Begin walking.  The hours are based on 30 min and 20 min miles.

Mon May 4 (Day 5):  Walk to Morgade (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
CaminoWays: Casa O Foilebar, a casa rural in Paradela which is 8 km south of Portomarin.   We give them a call from Morgade (I hope our phones work) and they come pick us up and then deliver us back to Morgade the next morning.  They don't mention wifi.

Tues May 5 (Day 6): Walk to PortoMarin (9 km/5.4 miles) (1.8-2.7 hours)
Stay in Pousada de Portomarin, again a run-of-the-mill hotel.  I wonder if they have any redeeming qualities like a good pilgrim's menu and a good breakfast buffet.  It appears to have wired Internet access (how do we connect an iPhone/iPad?).

Wed May 6 (Day 7): Walk to Ventas de Naron (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
In Ventas de Naron there are no accommodations so we'll need to call the casa rural where we have reservations, Casa do Campo in Monterroso, and they will come pick us up, as it is 8.5 kilometers off the Camino.  The casa rural in the sample itinerary was the Pazo de Ludeiro which had been featured on the Paltrow/Batalli/Bitman TV series so I'm sure the prices and demand for it went up.  Casa do Campo is also family-run and small.  It doesn't have a website so we can't check that out but there are reviews on TripAdvisor which are very positive.  No mention of wifi however.

Thu May 7 (Day 8): Walk to Palas de Rei (11 km/6.6 miles) (2.2-3.3 hours)
Stay at Complejo la Cabana  (69€)  Looks interesting and it has wifi in the common areas.

Fri May 8 (Day 9): Walk to Melide (14 km/8.4 miles) (1.8-4.2 hours)
Stay at Hotel Carlos 96, again not a very interesting hotel that's across from a Peugeot dealership but at least it is supposed to have wifi.  We anticipate having plenty of time to explore the city and eat pulpo.

Sat May 9 (Day 10): Walk to Arzua (14 km/8.4 miles) (1.8-4.2 hours)
Stay at  Casa Teodora Pension  This is on the Camino and looks nice and even has wifi in the rooms.

Sun May 10 (Day 11): Walk to Rua (16 km/9.6 miles) (3.2-4.8 hours)
Stay at O Acivro, a casa rural right on the Camino that offers wifi.

Mon May 11 (Day 12): Walk to Santiago (19 km/11.4 miles) (3.8-5.7 hours)

In Santiago we are lodged at a contemporary hotel in the business district south of the historic city center: Hotel Gelmirez, not at the Hospedería San Martín Pinario near the Cathedral, as in the sample itinerary.  Hotel Gelmirez has a public parking lot in front of it in case we are driving and it is near the Galician regional parliament.  That's somewhat disappointing but we are only there one night and then we transfer to a small 3-room hostal up by the cathedral.  The Gelmirez is a 3 star hotel and I like to stick to 2 stars because they are less sterile.  But I'm sure there won't be any bedbugs...AND it has free wifi.

Tues May 12 (Day 13): Santiago. Check out of the Hotel Gelmirez and check into Pension Acibeche, a 3-room establishment over a store.  It has wifi.  Explore the city and the Cathedral.  Get our compostela and make sure we make it to Mercado de Abastos, although we won't be buying anything to cook -- unless they cook it right there in front of us, which I understand is a possibility.

Wed May 13 (Day 14):  Take the 9:05 Renfe train to Madrid, arriving at 2:56 pm.  Check into Hotel Clement Barajas (62€) near the airport.  With free wifi and airport transportation.

Thurs. May 14 (Day 15): Flight to Charlotte 12:35 pm.  Arrive 3:51 pm.  Flight to Pittsburgh 10:09 pm.  Arrive 11:26 pm.  Yes.  Another 7 hour layover.  That's what happens when you use AAdvantage miles.  Maybe we could go into Charlotte for dinner.

Trains to and from the Camino

I wrote this post at the beginning of March.  I'm still waiting to make reservations for the last leg of the trip from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid.  Renfe still doesn't have the schedules for that route and date.

Our flight to Madrid gets in at 8:20 am on Friday, May 1st.  But with our experience with flying US Airways to Rome in November, when both flights were 3 hours late, I want to allow plenty of time to catch the train.  The high speed trains to Leon are at 11:05 and 14:40.  When we flew to Madrid in 2007 with a 7:35 arrival time, we had made reservations for the 14:05 train to Pamplona and were able to change them to the 9:50 train.  That time we went first class and there was hardly anyone else in the car so I'm hoping that maybe we can do the same thing this year although it is May 1st so the train could be crowded.  At least if we go first class where there are fewer passengers, it should be easier to get an earlier train.  So we are on the first class car (117 euros for two) of the ALVIA 04141 train that leaves from Madrid's Charmartin station at 2:40pm and arrives in Leon at 5:40.
Here are the stations along the way:
Segovia (3:11pm); Valladolid (3:50pm); Palencia (4:30pm); Sahagun (5:04)

I'll have to wait until March 13th to make the reservation from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid since they don't take reservations more than 2 months in advance.  They have a 9:05 train that arrives at 14.56 (2:56 pm).

Here's a map of the train routes.

Seafood on the Camino

The north of Spain has a lot of seafood, even in the towns in the mountainous interior -- except maybe in Leon where meat is king -- and they have a lot of local names for them, so I decided to create a glossary, with photos so I'll remember.  There's a post on The 12 Essential Galician Seafood Catches by a Texan living in Santiago which should help.

Vieiras or Zamburiñas
These are scallops which are the symbol of the Camino de Santiago so we should try to find them someplace, although I know we can get them at home without any problem aside from money.  Our good friend José Andrés has a PBS Made in Spain episode on Galicia in which he begins with a recipe for zamburiñas a la gallega which are served on the shell.  Our Texan in Santiago says vieiras are larger than zamburiñas.

Pulpo con cachelos (Pulpo á Feira / Pulpo a la Gallega)
This is boiled octopus with boiled potatoes and it's hard to get a simpler dish than that.  Our Texan in Santiago recommends the Bodegón Os Concheiros as his favorite pulperia.

Too bad they don't serve it with red peppers and a salad to give it some color.  They need more chefs like my high school art teacher, Mr. Brothers, who once asked me:  "Doesn't your mother choose her dinner menu by what looks good on the plate?"  As if that was the obvious way to come up with a well-rounded meal.

Percebes
These are goose-neck barnacles that Rick Steves had to pay $16/pound for in the Santiago market.  He could have gone out to the Asturian seashore and picked his own like José Andrés did in this Made in Spain episodes on PBS which I urge you to watch because there is no chef more entertaining that José.  Or you can follow this gastronomic driving tour of the Costa da Morte, which sounds lovely.  The restaurant that they recommend eating at in Santiago de Compostela is La Bodeguilla de San Roque which seems to serve more meat than fish.  Autalia also offers a Ruta gastronomica en coche por el norte de Galicia de Coruña a Ribadeo (the northern coast) and another western coast route: Ruta gastronómica en coche por As Rias Baixas de Muros a Baiona (south of the Costa da Morte), in case we ever find ourselves in Santiago with a car.

Nécoras
These are velvet crabs which are the favorite of our Texan in Santiago.  He says if you can try just one of the 12 seafoods, try these.  He also mentions the larger spider crab, centollo, but they are more expensive.

Gamba / Camarón
These are shrimp and the Texan says they tend to be tiny and a lot of work to shell.

Cigala
These are scampi or langostinas or jumbo shrimp with garden shears for hands.

Razor Clams

Almejas / Ameixas (in Gallego)
These are clams with concentric ridges.

Berberechos
These are cockles, like clams with radial ridges.

Navajas / Navallas
And these are razor clams.

Mejillones / Mexillóns
These are mussels and are very affordable, according to the Texan.

Now you'll notice this seafood is almost all shellfish without a real fish in sight.  I guess we'll have to wait till another post for those.  In the meantime, I'm going to read the Texan's post on "What to Eat in Galicia: 10 Dishes to Try" in which he says:

"I’m gonna go out on a limb here and argue that the region of Galicia in the northwest part of Spain churns out the best food in the entire country. Give me some Galician food any day over expensive Basque pintxos, snobby Catalan cuisine, or the famine food of the central meseta."

Stay tuned!!

León Gastronomy

León did not get its name from león the lion but from the Roman Seventh Legion that set up its fortress here to protect the gold mines in Astorga in the first century AD.  Sometime we will have to go visit the nearby Las Médulas where the Romans used hydraulic mining to wash away the soil from the mountains and retrieve the gold.

Las Medulas

Despite the real derivation of its name, León still uses the lion in its coat of arms.

León is situated on a high plain, to the east of Burgos.  After León, the mountains begin again so this is not the part of the Camino that we chose to walk, although I wish we could have visited the towns of Astorga (a Roman town founded in 14 BC as Asturica Augusta), Ponferrada (from the Latin Pons Ferrata or Iron Bridge), and Villafranca del Bierzo.

Chorizo de León

León is known gastronomically for its cured meats so Fernando can't be a vegetarian here.  He won't want to be when morcilla, lengua and manitas de cerdo appear on the menu.  The Chorizo de León is spicy with red paprika and smoked over oak wood.  We'll have to remember to take some with us for lunches when we are walking.

Then there is Botillo del Bierzo, which I've already mentioned, as being the caecum of a pig stuffed with miscellaneous parts, including bones, so that is something that is not picnic food but that one has to sit down to and that is served hot.  Plus it wouldn't fit in my little 16 liter  Gregory Maya backpack.

Lengua Curada

Then there is Lengua Curada or cured tongue which can be served "loncheada" with aceite.  I'm assuming this means sliced thinly (as for "lunches") and dressed with olive oil because the tongue is not very fatty and dries out.  There is also stewed lengua on the menus or we could get a "surtida" with an assortment of cured meats, because of course we have to order some morcilla (blood sausage) for Fernando.  The restaurant La Poveda has an extensive list of animal parts in its "raciones" or tapas menu, some of which I will have to Google to discover what they actually are before we get there.  Like mollejas de lechazo, which are sweetbreads of a young lamb, chipirones (squid), ajetes (young garlic), oricios (sea urchin), necoras (small crabs), and one we'll definitely have to try: percebes or goose barnacles.

Pimientos del Bierzo

I, of course, might opt out of most of the meats so that I can concentrate on the pimientos del Bierzo -- Valle del Bierzo being west of León --  and the pimiento morrón de Fresno de la Vega, Fresno de la Vega being just south of León.  I'm afraid I'll have to settle for canned ones since May isn't exactly the season for peppers.  Maybe we should have planned the Camino for September when there are more harvest festivals.  If we stay in private hostales and pensiones and hotels we shouldn't have to worry about the end-of-the-season bedbugs.  Maybe next time!

Cocido Maragato

What other vegetable options are there in León?  In Pamplona they had a number of tapas with berenjena that were very good so I am hoping there might be a couple of eggplant tapas in León.  Alubias and other beans are popular in the region -- essentially anything that can be cooked into a hearty stew with meat.  One such stew is Cocido Maragato from Astorga which features berza (that broccoli raab type of green), garbanzos and seven to twelve meats (what did you expect?).  The meat is served first, then the garbanzos, and last the soup.  All cocidos seem to be composed of garbanzos and meat.  Then there is the Olla Berciana which appears to be the same thing from the photos, only it is what they eat in Bierza.

And I suppose there is always the Menestra de Verduras, that overcooked vegetable stew.  Did you know that you can buy the vegetables frozen in a bag so all you have to do is add water and meat?  If we had an apartment we could make our own undercooked version without the meat.

I am always on the lookout for a version that is fresh and green but I was a bit surprised to find out that in 1994 the famous Catalan chef, Ferran Adrià of elBulli, deconstructed the menestra into what you see on the left.  What do you think?  I'm afraid he has had no influence whatsoever on the Spanish cooking of the menestra.

Getting the Right Day Pack

Osprey Tempest 20

I decided to exchange the 20 liter Osprey Tempest backpack for a Gregory Maya 16 liter.  Fernando's Gregory Miwok backpack is a better size at 18 liters but mine is supposed to fit a woman better, although the Tempest was supposedly made for a woman and it rubbed on my hips, which is why I exchanged it.  That and the fact that some of the outside pockets of the Tempest are made of a lycra netting that I know will deteriorate with age, just like swimsuits, and that are not waterproof, and I know we will get rain on the Camino.  There were a few things in addition to the size that I appreciated on the Tempest.  You can adjust the size of it, making it longer or shorter depending on your size.  The zippers are covered and seem to slide more easily than those of  the Gregory, except for those side pockets on the waist belt that are hard to reach and unzip on the Tempest.  Plus I like the location of the inner zippered pocket in the larger zippered compartment on the Tempest rather than up on top in the smaller compartment on the Gregory.

Gregory Maya 16

But 16 liters isn't much and it's a tight fit for my windbreaker, long-sleeved shirt, fleece jacket and a purse.  It's surprising how much more easily they fit into Fernando's 18 liter pack since it is wider.  So now I have second thoughts about the Maya 16.  Penny has the pink version of it and she also uses it as a hydration pack but I'm not that fond of drinking out of a tube, although Lord knows I should be drinking more water.  Plus Lord also knows that I pick up more along the way than Penny does so I really need extra room for storing various oddities.  In short I am now comparing the woman's Maya 16 with the man's Miwok 18, trying to discover what the big difference is.

Gregory Miwok 18

The broad part of the man's shoulder straps are slightly wider and about 3 inches longer so that they don't fit as well over a woman's chest, although I like the feel of the man's waistband better, since it doesn't ride up as high as the woman's and sits more at what I consider my waist.  I'm surprised that Gregory doesn't give the option of being able to lengthen the pack like the Osprey Tempest does since Gregory does offer that feature on their larger packs.

Gregory Miwok 18
in Tropic Orange

Fortunately my MacBook Air laptop fits into the Maya 16 ok, although I don't have plans to take it on this trip.  I'll write down my blog entries in a couple of little moleskine notebooks and then type them up when I get home.  Maybe I'll just learn to live with a smaller pack and make Fernando carry the lunches, the ibuprofen, the first aid kit, the compass, the tissues, the pocket knife, and the thousand other miscellaneous items that usually fit into the woman's purse.  Unless, that is, I decide to order a Miwok 18 in Tropic Orange...

Packing List for the Camino

I'm looking around for my packing list from 2007.  I'm sure I made one...  It isn't on the blog and it wouldn't be on my laptop since I didn't get that until 2011 when we went to Paris.  I can't find it on my big mac either so I dug out my plastic ziplock bag of moleskine journals, memorabilia, and receipts in the hopes that maybe I would have jotted it down there.  You'd think that I would at least have taken a photo of the backpack with its contents like every other pilgrim on the Camino has done.

Let's see if I can recreate the list of items from memory and photos.  We won't  be taking the lightweight 1 pound sleeping bag and the microfiber towel this time since we'll be staying in hotels and not albergues.  The following things worked pretty well in 2007 so I'll probably take the same stuff.

2 quick dry polyester T-shirts (which I still have)
1 long sleeve Ex-Officio polyester shirt (ditto)
1 pair REI terracotta hiking pants (ditto)
1 pair khaki hiking pants (which I still have but don't fit into -- yet)
1 REI fleece jacket (which I still have)
1 Sierra Designs windbreaker/rain jacket (ditto)
1 lightweight fleece pullover and 1 lightweight fleece pants - for sleeping in albergues
3 pairs nylon underpants (I use them as washcloths to wash them but, no, these won't be the ones from 2007.)
2 bras
3 pairs wool socks
2 pairs sock liners
1 pair Lowa hiking boots (the 2007 ones)
1 pair Keen shoes (I've gone through that pair and many others) - which I'll replace with Keen sandals.
1 purse (which I still have somewhere but I'll take a smaller one)
1 rabbitwool sun hat (which I still have but it has shrunk)
1 pair sunglasses
Several moleskine tiny journals for writing down the day's events.

So, does my list look like this photo?  This time I better post one here.

Fernando is discouraging me from taking the laptop and I suppose he is right: the point of the Camino is to disconnect from everyday life.  Ahhh...but we will still have our iPhones and most hotels we are staying in have wifi.  On the other hand, we are walking short days and will have a lot of time on our hands at the casas rurales that are out in the middle of nowhere.

Last time I also took a bunch of stuff for blisters that we never used.  So I will wait until they develop and pick up something at the local pharmacy.  The hotels/guest houses we will be staying in might provide us with shampoo but I'm not sure they'll have hairdryers.  My hair will just have to be what it is, or maybe I can get a "Buff" to cover it up, which seems to be all the rage with the Europeans.  The Buff was developed by a Spaniard for riding motorcycles on the backroads of Catalonia so perhaps I can pick up one in Leon or Sarria.

For more Camino packing tips, check out the "See You Soon, Mom" video on Youtube.

Returning from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid

We should try to book this before we go so we are sure to get back to Madrid on May 13th, in time for our flight home on the 14th.  RailEurope.com doesn't let you book trips in Spain more than 60 days in advance.  RyanAir quotes us a price of 25.29 euros and has flights at 8:15 and 22:20, neither times the best, although the 8:15 am flight is cheaper at 22.61 euros, paid with a debit card or 23.11 with a credit card.  It says that the fare is 10.99€ and the Spanish airport taxes are 11.62€.  Iberia charges $174 so it's not in the running.

I'd actually prefer the train or bus so I could see the countryside and have the time to decompress before flying over what we walked in 2 seconds.  However, I was looking at the bus schedule at ALSA and all the trips take 8-10 hours!!  It goes up to Coruna and has 20 stops so scratch that!  But there are 7 buses a day so in case another form of transportation gets cancelled hopefully we could still take the bus.

There are three trains to Madrid from Santiago, one at 9:05am, one at 5:05pm and then an overnight trenhotel that leaves at 10:33 pm and gets into Madrid at 8:02.  The day trains take about 6 hours so we'd take the earlier one at 9:05am and arrive at 2:56pm.  At 54.20 € it's more than RyanAir but we'd get to see the countryside.  It looks like we will have to think about this.

More Blogs on Sarria to Santiago

I'll use this posting as a place to store other pilgrims' postings on our section since I can never remember where I read or saw what and I often can't get back to what I've seen before.

Sarria to Ferreiros

The Huffington Post had an article on the Camino last year: "4 Things You Should Know Before Hiking Spain's Camino Trail" and linked to a blog by a woman from Mariposa, California.  Sarria to Ferreiros was her day 42 so she was more seasoned than we will be.  But her photos from June undoubtedly portray what we will experience a month before in May, including the terrain, the rain and overcast skies.  Fortunately she has an index to her 47 daily posts by stage.  Her are the ones that pertain to us (after Ferreiros).  The photos are hers.

Santiago de Compostela

1. Ferreiros to Ventas de Naron (22.4 km)
2. Ventas de Naron to Melide (26.2 km)
3. Melide to Arzua (14.3 km)
4. Arzua to Pedrouzo 
5. Pedrouzo to Santiago (20 km)

The author of the blog also got tired of colorless and monotonous food, like the dishes in this photo she took.

Ah well, I suppose anything tastes good after a day of walking.  We will be sure to fully document our diet on the road.  I might be eating a lot of ensaladas mixtas, until I get sick of canned tuna...