I enjoyed a down day in Summerside after completing the first 80 miles of my Island Walk. I caught up on laundry and things, did  a bit of sightseeing, enjoyed a scrumptious cioppino the night before and a marvelous lobster BLT croissant with salad, and recharged for another 80- or so mile week.

Below is a picture of the B&B where I’m spending my down day—it’s close to good eateries!

My B&B from last night “Warm House” dropped me off at my new B&B “Summerside Inn” to check in and leave some of my things to lighten my load—they had family coming and couldn’t host me these next two days. Then they shuttled me to my starting point (and picked me up at the end of the day).

I proceeded to cover 14.6 mi (23.4 km) on the rail trail, pretty much straight again. The mosquitoes were especially pesky today and I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to buy some Off—I only needed to cover my hands, neck and face.

I have one picture of a bridge in the trail, only as a reminder that these were all railway bridges!

An old African proverb proved true today:

When you plan a journey, 
It belongs to you 
When you begin a journey 
You belong to it.

From today on, I feel I belong to the Island Walk.

I covered 11.6mi (18.5 km) on what seemed like a perfect day: temperature between mid-50s and mid-60s, light backpack (am still in shuttle mode), flat, no way to get lost, and only one mosquito attacked me (and s/he paid the ultimate price).

I walked entirely on what’s known as PEI’s Confederation Trail, a former railway track that tended to be straight as an arrow for miles on end. PEI bought the right-if-way in the 1990s and the 470-km recreational rail trail was born. The tracks were removed and stone dust was placed over the traditional railway crushed rock ballast, giving a surface suitable for walking/ running, and biking. Although well drained, marshes run along the sides where mosquitoes breed. Beyond the narrow marshes are agricultural lands: mostly potatoes and corn.

Every few kilometers, a bench or picnic table present a welcoming sight. I included a picture of the Linkletter mega farm whose owners, now 7th generation farmers tend to over 500 acres much of which planted with potatoes—their storage structures were most impressive.

The last few pics are of the Warm House B&B located adjacent to a local cemetery and where I’m staying for 2 nights. Noteworthy is the picture of a sidewalk, which you’ll only find on one side of the street—I’m guessing as a cost cutting measure.

My stay at the EBB Tide B&B was delightful with the hostess herself planning a Camino shortly; she and two of her best friends were celebrating a reunion after not having seen each other for many years. I left well after 9:00 and was shuttled to my starting point at Borden-Carlton where I started at 9:41.

I covered 15.2 mi (24 km) most of it with gusty headwinds and with my puffy jacket because it never really warmed up. On the way I saw many a newly harvested potato on the roadside trying to make a run for it from its fate in a frying pan!

With lodging getting scarcer as I go toward the northwestern tip of the island, it’s becoming more difficult to find availability. It took about 2 hrs of calls, but I think I have lodging for the next 8 days, including 5 nights at a hostel—still being negotiated. Shuttling can cost as much as CAD 100 (74 USD) per ride, depending on the distance.

Today I covered 13 mi (21 km), about 2/3 of it in a gentle rain interspersed with gusts of winds that tried to twist my poncho into a pretzel. A short piece of clay road became slippery with the rain, but I managed not to fall. I weirdly enjoyed the rain up until the nine-mile mark when I was seriously trying to get out of it to take a short break. Luckily I found a barn with the barn door open. No one was around so I made myself at home for about 30 minutes. After putting myself together again, I headed out expecting more rain, but it soon stopped. 

Along the way, several antique stores appeared with interesting goods including the one below with the VW bug and roof fan on top.

My destination today was at one end of Canada’s Confederation Bridge, opened in 1997 and claiming to be the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered water.

Today’s short 9.8-mi walk with the sun at my back started along the ocean to my left and agricultural fields to my right—lots of string beans and potatoes, even a potato stand selling 5-lb bags for 5 CAD. Most was along the shoulder of a two-lane highway.

Then, a stretch of clay road took me up straight through forested hills and offered some shade. Small gurgling streams added to the scenery. It didn’t last long before descending back down with views of the ocean. The last mile or so headed directly into Victoria directly toward its lighthouse, now only a colorful monument.

Noteworthy is that most all houses along the walk have no fences and their large surrounding lot is covered with well-cut grass. Each day, I must have seen dozens of mowing operations in progress, either by the home owner or a professional. These are huge lawns to mow weekly.

A perfect day for starting my Island Walk: 15.9 mi (about 25 km) and a high in the low 70s. I finished Section 1 and walked into Section 2 of the Island Walk itinerary. After leaving Charlottetown, I found low hills rolling through forests and agricultural farms: corn and cereals. My first dirt road greeted me at 10.1 mi—woohoo, as pleasant change from concrete and asphalt.

At my pre-planned destination, my B&B had me picked up and brought to the tiny town of Victoria, my overnight venue some 10 miles beyond where I stopped walking. I celebrated the day at the local Lobster Barn with their famous Lobster Roll (4 oz of lobster)—what a treat.

The pic of the day was a fellow hosing down graded dirt next to the freeway with a cocktail of grass seed, fertilizer, green color, etc. to seed it with grass. Never saw anything like it.

Arrived at Prince Edward Island (called PEI by locals) at about 12:30, a bit after noon. It feels surreal to be here after talking about it for over a year. The cabbie, who turned out to be the company owner, David, took me from the airport to the Rodd Royalty Hotel to claim my reservation and pointed the Island Walk Trail to me along the way—the hotel lies directly on the trail (not a coincidence), as shown by the pic of the hotel.

Would love to have celebrated my arrival with a lobster downtown, but the red-eye drained my enthusiasm and we’ll celebrate another day—main concern is to be well rested for my first day, around 15 miles and a fully loaded backpack. I ‘m eager to start.

The week of August 21st is the last week of training before starting the 700-kilometer Island Walk on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada. Sunday’s hike (Aug 20) was 11 miles with my full backpack (16 lbs). I journeyed from home to the Ventura Harbor, about mid-way and came back a different route. Tropical Storm Hilary caught me on the way back—I got good training putting on my pancho. You can see the fierce clouds at the Marina. I’m posting a few pictures just for practice.

Three of us (Ana and Joe Alcantar and Kurt Buckley) on this pre-hike encountered 10 stream crossings on the way up to Danielson Ranch (20 for the round trip). They're not unlike what you might encounter on a Camino. We crossed these streams using trekking poles and hiking shoes as well as my (Kurt's) usual Ecco sandals. The attached pictures describe the situation.

Although canceling this hike was an option, we decided that the three of us will still proceed with the hike next Saturday (as per final instructions) and give each of you the option of cancelling individually--although we would love to see you. If you decide to come, consider bringing an extra pair of footwear to slip into at the end of the hike. Trekking poles are a must to ford the streams.

If you cancel, we'll understand--but please reply to this email letting me know your name. You can also message me your cancellation at 805-218-1286.

Our group of about 30 walkers began our hike at about 8:00 AM at the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center at 1901 Spinaker Drive, the far end of the Ventura Marina. However, we first  met at the Museum of Ventura County Parking Lot at 7:30 AM to arrange for transportation to the Marina.

We proceeded to walk around the Marina and picked up Anchor's Way on the Marina's north side, then meandered around the Ventura Keys and ended up walking north on Pierpont Blvd until reaching San Buenaventura State Beach. We continued the trail until reaching the Ventura Pier (incidentally, the largest wooden pier on the California coast from 1938 to 1995, at a length of 1,958 feet).

The Promenade took us from the Pier another mile up to Surfer's Point, then along the Ventura River (that was raging due to the recent rains) up to Main Street where we turned right and headed toward the Wall Street Murals via Ventura Ave. (aka the Avenue) and up Ferro Dr. (one of the three ways to hike up to the Cross). After a brief photo op at the Cross, we headed down a different way that took us behind the Ventura City Hall and down Main Street to the Mission, ending at Peirano's for lunch.

About 30 of us had lunch at Peirano's Restaurant after the hike, and then we conducted a book signing of The California Mission Walk, The Hiker's Guide to California's 21 Spanish Missions Along El Camino Real (a fully-revised second edition)--all six of us who authored this Guide were there.

Day-14, Tue, May 10 from Rajka to Bratislava. Last day of walking was 13.4 miles (21.4 km). But I waited for today, Day 15, Wed to blog because my first place to visit in Bratislava was St. Martin Cathedral to give thanks for being able to do this Camino, and much more than that, for all the wonderful “figurative cloaks” and gifts in my life. With his birthplace in Pannonhalma, it almost makes to call this a St. Martin pilgrimage.

It’s a beautiful cathedral that dates back to 1452 and in 1563 became the coronation church for the kingdom of Hungary, including Austria’s famous Maria Theresa. Very close to the cathedral is an outdoor exhibit and monument bringing to light that in 1969, the Government demolished a synagogue because it was in the way of a ramp being built to a new bridge over the Danube—hard to imagine except in autocratic regimes. A walk up to the castle followed and then I became immersed in a complex history that involves the Celts, Romans, Slavs, and everything else that passed through here. My head is spinning with it all—but it’s all good.

On the way in to St. Martin’s Cathedral, I passed a huge outdoor military equipment exhibition: tanks, trucks, Apache helicopter, etc. Interesting! Then I passed a permanent facility with Lockheed Martin signage—my last employer! It was open to the public and, on the return trip, I went in free with my Lockheed Martin ID.

Then to my surprise: the ship, Amadeus, that we took 22 years ago for our Danube Cruise (where we met our now close family friend, Lucille) was anchored there waiting for their passengers to return from touring Bratislava—it only anchors for one day!

Today’s 10.2 miles (16.2 km) brings me to my last overnight stop in Hungary, a Camino guesthouse, no less, with appropriate stamp.

Tomorrow will take me to Bratislava, Slovakia, my final Camino destination. Now unlike most other lodgings, there’s almost always a restaurant close by; this evening, however, I made do with groceries for evening and morning meals, as can be seen from the picture. I also found it interesting that many cars in the residential neighborhoods now have SK (Slovakia)on their plates instead of H (Hungary). And a roadside gas station almost looked like our high-demand Costco gas stations. I’m guessing that being near the border causes folks to buy gas on the other side.

I also photographed the ubiquitous WWI and WWII memorials, this one solemnly decorated with black tulips.

Sadly only 2 more walking days left. Most of today’s 12.6 mi. were coincident with the official Camino route. So it’s no wonder that on passing a large, highly mechanized dairy farm, one of the workers ran after me to offer me something in Hungarian. Then I heard the German word, Milch. After a few minutes he came out with a 1.5 Liter (a bit more than 1.5 qts) plastic bottle of chilled whole milk. I was in disbelief. I showered him with “köszönöm” many times over (thank you) and found a nearby spot to drink nearly all of it—warm milk just didn’t sound good. So grateful how the Camino provides.

My main focus was finding and picking those dedicated bicycle paths that make the walk next to the roads so much more enjoyable—success for most of the day‘s 14.9 miles (24 km). Some interesting encounters today included the unlikely event of seeing a train cross my path, a mother Church with her two children chapels, and a Wiener Schnitzel at Jimmy‘s Pizzeria (where I‘m staying)!

I’ve been spoiled having breakfast at all my places of lodging. Well, today there was no breakfast at Domus Peregrini and, although I figured something would be open, nothing was. I had visions of running out of energy and all that goes with that. In desperation, I found a very, very small corner store that was open and they fixed me up for the day. Turns out, I didn’t have to panic—a huge German Lidl grocery store was several blocks down the road.

I stumbled onto the Apple live-text feature—statue signage and signs are magically coming alive. I grab the text off of pictures and paste it into Google Translate (set up with Hungarian to English).

A dedicated bicycle-pedestrian path conveniently led from Pannonhalma directly to Györ (county seat of same name), a distance of 13.1 miles (21 km). I took a break at a roadside coffee shop that had a fascinating outside decor with a stretch-Trabant car as a centerpiece—I didn’t want to leave it. Notice also the huge production the bike path makes as it crosses a railroad!

Passing fields and several small villages, I entered the town of Györ through sprawling outskirts and eventually arrived at a pedestrian-only zone lined with restaurants and shops. I easily found my Domus Peregrini lodging, which consists of very spacious apartments for only $40/night.

Györ just vibrates with energy, young and old, locals and clearly tourists. It didn’t take long for me to find a troupe of dancers lowered by ropes in front of a 5-story building and dancing against the building. Several thousand onlookers were standing in the plaza in front of the Györ National Theater. Check out these pics.

After 7 days of walking my pilgrimage from Budapest to Bratislava, I arrived at the town of Pannonhalma. The nexus between St Martin, born some 1700 years ago at the foot of a hill and the site chosen by Benedictine Monks to found a monastery in 996 is extraordinary. It would evolve into one of the most influential arch-abbeys of medieval Hungary. (The library’s over 400,000 works is awesome.) The nexus between Hungary and the Habsburgs appeared to me in the Basilica’s Crypt, namely the heart of former Crown Prince Otto of Austria and Hungary von Habsburg. It was buried here as recently as in July 2011. (BTW, it’s not unusual to find the heart buried at a location other than the body, which is traditionally found in the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna.)

After spending time in the Basilica, the library, and the winery (owned in large part by the Monastery and what an exceptional wine tasting experience!), I then spent hours researching Otto von Habsburg’s life—why? Because having roots in Vienna, I was interested in his views and influences—I was favorably impressed.

I finally walked a small portion of the actual Camino (well marked, as you can see). Most of my route, however, was off trail on country highways due to lodging constraints. There is an albuerge here in Pannonhalma. I’m ready to move on.

16.3 mi from Bábolna to Pannonhalma, mostly flat except at the end to climb up to the Basilica. The Abbey and Basilica became recognizable at nearly 9 miles away, literally hours before I arrived, and that made it magical. So much history to this Abbey that was founded in 996. I reserved an extra day for visiting and will share those highlights tomorrow.

I’m staying just below the Abbey and that means a climb to visit it even though I went by it on way to my guesthouse. Made up for no breakfast and lunch with venison goulash, dumplings and a few glasses of bull’s blood (Egri Bikavér).

)—it’s a real trat.

Fifth day of walking in Hungary and here I am at Bábolna, a town of fewer than 4000 in a hotel that’s part of an agribusiness concern (fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides) as well as an off-site event Center. That all sounds good but there’s nothing here after 4:00 PM. A security guard registered me at the company‘s entrance then took me to another building that has about 16 rooms—it’s like a morgue! But I’m super happy that I had a big lunch and still have carry-out from breakfast—too tired to walk another half mile to a restaurant!

I opted out of walking 19.8 miles (32 kilometers) today and decided to take the bus for the first 6 miles (10 km). Main reason is that I‘m looking at 16 miles (25 km) tomorrow, which is OK since I‘ll stay at the famous pilgrim‘s venue, Pannonhalma, for two nights.

Sights for the day: my first platoon of windmills standing at attention and presenting arms—sad that they weren’t moving—probably not enough wind (need minimum of 9 mph)!; Almost took the wrong turn to the town of Dad; nice lunch; wrong impression arriving at the Park Hotel with all the cars—5 minutes later they were totally gone.

Fourth day walking finds me in Tata after about 12 miles and an 800 ft climb—a good day that hit the low 70s. Sandwiches made at this morning’s lodging carried me through the trek—no coffee along the way, that I always appreciate. The road meandered through beautiful forests along the way until it opened up to fields and occasional horses. A few blooming rapeseed fields peaked at me through the trees.

With about an hour to go, I treasured a needed break under the shade of a beautiful tree. During the afternoon at my hotel, I reworked my route and based on a fellow SOCAL pilgrim’s advice (Mary McKinley), I decided to stay two nights at Pannonhalma, the birthplace of St Martin of Tours—a prized pilgrim destination point here in Hungary. I resonated with St Martin because the French city of Tours was celebrating his 1700th anniversary with a spectacular sound and light show against the cathedral—it had mesmerized me. BTW, I will gain an extra day tomorrow to allow an extra day in Pannonhalma!

And incidentally, our military word: chaplain, connects with St Martin who gave a beggar half of his cloak, capella (capellini). Chaplaincy is defined by the same compassionate impulse as the incident of Martin with the beggar!