After a long day of 35 km from Arzúa, I arrived at Monte de Gozo with Kay, Oscar and Fernando. The walk went through forests and villages again today, with fragrant eucalyptus trees shedding their bark. The 2 hrs of morning fog finally burned off to leave us with sunshine through the trees. We walked mostly alone, meeting up for coffee breaks. It was the right way to do the last big day.
Tomorrow we will walk 5 km to the cathedral, get our compostela, and attend the pilgrim mass at noon. Then we'll head to our hostel and transform ourselves into regular people as we get ready to meet some of our other friends for a "family gathering", reuniting the families of friends who ate Ricardo's marvelous paella in Carrion de los Condes. Monday K, F, O continue to Finisterre, but I will do it in a day trip on the bus, just to see the ocean and throw my socks in it.
I'm feeling sad, I don't want it to end. I keep thinking of how I might do this next time. Strange. Good thing I'll have lots of time in trains and planes to think things through.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
at home in Galicia
This is me with my favourite pilgrim monument, the tired one who has taken his sandals off. We were on our way out of León that day, it was the beginning of my bad day turned good day.
And today what a lovely wet day of walking through the Galician countryside! Lots of farms with cows and chickens, lots of rain, lots of mud. Lovely views all around. Many pilgrims looked unhappy today, they're really tired of the rain. Lucky me I like the rain! My jacket kept me dry on top, and the rain didn't get hard enought to wet my pants except for about an hour or so after lunch. And when it stopped, my pants dried quickly. Still, it was great to get to the big modern pilgrim hostel in Portomarin, and throw everything into the washing machine, sleeping bag and all.
This morning I started off with Kay, Fernando and Oscar from Samos where we had stayed overnight in a monastery. They like to get going early with a minimal breakfast of yogurt and fruit. On that fuel we covered the 12 km to Sarria in 2 hrs and 10 minutes. That's so fast! Too fast really; I got a leg cramp in the last few minutes before we stopped for breakfast, where I could fuel up on tortilla (potato and egg dish), while my camino brothers ate toast and jam. No wonder I took off like a rocket after that, right? I always feel a little sad when we lose each other during the day, they're so great in so many ways. But it makes the reunions in the evening so much nicer, and tonight we had a dinner with some other friends as well.
There's a light haze of sadness over the great camino family feeling now, as we near the end of the walk. I don't want it to end! But just a few more nights of earplugs against snorers, waking up early, massaging the feet and walking with the first light. But it's so much more than just a walk, have I said that already? I'll figure out a better way to say it soon.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
should I go or should I stay?
Should I stay in Ponferrada or should I heed the call of the road and keep walking?
If you're wishing there were some pictures here, please visit my friend Fernando's blog, since he's better organized about photos than I. And I'm in some of them anyway.
Yesterday I passed the highest point of the walk, some 1500 m above sea level. There I left a symbolic stone at the bottom of the iron cross where pilgrims have been doing just that for ages. It was a wonderful climb: the fog burned off, there were dark clouds with light coming through, the terrain of the path was nicely varied to give my feet a break, and I can't talk about the view, you'll have to see it for yourself. Do visit the mundicamino site (link at left), stay on the Spanish page and click on Camino francés (the English site is not great). I'm somewhere in their stage 25.
My head and heart are full, and I have a week of experiences left. Will likely arrive in Santiago on June 1, hopefully for the party that some of the "compañeros de la paella de Carrion" are planning.
So, I think I'll go to the next village after all. Animo!
If you're wishing there were some pictures here, please visit my friend Fernando's blog, since he's better organized about photos than I. And I'm in some of them anyway.
Yesterday I passed the highest point of the walk, some 1500 m above sea level. There I left a symbolic stone at the bottom of the iron cross where pilgrims have been doing just that for ages. It was a wonderful climb: the fog burned off, there were dark clouds with light coming through, the terrain of the path was nicely varied to give my feet a break, and I can't talk about the view, you'll have to see it for yourself. Do visit the mundicamino site (link at left), stay on the Spanish page and click on Camino francés (the English site is not great). I'm somewhere in their stage 25.
My head and heart are full, and I have a week of experiences left. Will likely arrive in Santiago on June 1, hopefully for the party that some of the "compañeros de la paella de Carrion" are planning.
So, I think I'll go to the next village after all. Animo!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
los ángeles del 21 de mayo
Today I had a very hard day. It all started with a little egotism yesterday: I went for a massage in León and told the therapist that I'm ok with intensive massage. Ha. Maybe true at home, but not here on the camino. I walked out of there one big ache, and sleeping for 90 minutes afterwards did nothing to ease the pain. Walking to the cathedral afterward I felt some gentle twanging in the left foot. Should have gone straight to my bed, but didn't. Felt better this morning, but after about 90 minutes of walking with my compañeros and with very sore balls of my feet, I had to stop for a café con leche in Virgen del Camino. They went on, of course, they want to get to Finisterre by June 4 or so. Besides, I've left them before and caught up, so it's not like I'll never see them again. Still, I was feeling very sad and very sorry for myself. I sat outside with my coffee, my orange juice and my pastry and pulled my hat over my eyes ostensibly against the sun but really to make it less obvious that I had turned into a water fountain. That's when the camino started to speak to me.
Angel #1: a pilgrim from near Vienna who asked if she could sit at my table even though the others were unoccupied. When she came back with her coffee, she saw my face and told me she was in the same spot a few days ago, that it was ok, that I'd feel better soon and would stop hurting soon, and that I'd see my friends again. I didn't ask her name. She left before I did, but later she came up from behind me again, encouraging me to let the camino teach me about limits and to enjoy my own pace. After walking with me for a while, she stopped to put moleskin on her sore toe and I walked on.
Angels #2 and #3: I was walking with quite sore feet, but the terrain was softer so I was making better progress, and happened to catch up with Danielle and Michel, a couple from the south of France who've been on the road for weeks, started in Le Puy. They told me they had seen our mutual friends and encouraged me to keep to my own pace. Walking with them took my mind off my self-pity.
Angel #4: around 12:30 I stopped at an albergue in San Martin del Camino, wondering if I should call it quits for the day, but not really wanting to. The hospitalero told me what was in the mixed salad and I ordered it. The hospitalera who brought it to me was angel #4: the salad was a small mountain and had eggs, tuna, rice, pasta, tomatos and lettuce. She told me to sit there and eat the whole thing, that this is exactly what my body needed. She brought me a pitcher of water and big chunks of hearty bread, then kept checking on my progress. After a while she asked if I wanted a glass of wine, on her. Really exactly what I needed. The break finished off with yet more comfort because Richard called just when I was finished eating, and then Ed called as I was walking out of the village.
Angel #5: the misery of the day was incomplete without a nice downpour, but that happened a few minutes after I left the village. I found partial shelter under a tree until the worst of it passed, but by then my pants (that's right, I came without rain pants, loca that I am) were drenched. By then self-pity would have been ridiculous, especially when I saw Fernando, a pilgrim-hospitalero from La Rioja, poking his head out the window of an old barn asking if I was nuts. But I won't call him angel #5; that honour goes to the happy frogs who were singing in the creek next to the path for the remainder of the walk to the village of Hospital de Orbigo.
Angel #6: when the rain stopped and the sun came out, my quick-dry pants quickly dried in the light breeze which was playing with the leaves. The sound reminded me to breathe and to live where I was and not somewhere else.
A few hundred metres from the village Fernando from La Rioja caught up with me and laughed at the two of us walking in the rain. He might be angel #7, but that would simply be too cute or medieval, so I'll leave him out of it :-)
Now I'm sitting in a warm albergue getting ready to eat my empanada with tuna, and later my yogurt. My feet are still very sore, as are my calves and shins. Who know how things will be tomorrow, how far I'll be able to walk, but for tonight at least I'm warm and dry.
Angel #1: a pilgrim from near Vienna who asked if she could sit at my table even though the others were unoccupied. When she came back with her coffee, she saw my face and told me she was in the same spot a few days ago, that it was ok, that I'd feel better soon and would stop hurting soon, and that I'd see my friends again. I didn't ask her name. She left before I did, but later she came up from behind me again, encouraging me to let the camino teach me about limits and to enjoy my own pace. After walking with me for a while, she stopped to put moleskin on her sore toe and I walked on.
Angels #2 and #3: I was walking with quite sore feet, but the terrain was softer so I was making better progress, and happened to catch up with Danielle and Michel, a couple from the south of France who've been on the road for weeks, started in Le Puy. They told me they had seen our mutual friends and encouraged me to keep to my own pace. Walking with them took my mind off my self-pity.
Angel #4: around 12:30 I stopped at an albergue in San Martin del Camino, wondering if I should call it quits for the day, but not really wanting to. The hospitalero told me what was in the mixed salad and I ordered it. The hospitalera who brought it to me was angel #4: the salad was a small mountain and had eggs, tuna, rice, pasta, tomatos and lettuce. She told me to sit there and eat the whole thing, that this is exactly what my body needed. She brought me a pitcher of water and big chunks of hearty bread, then kept checking on my progress. After a while she asked if I wanted a glass of wine, on her. Really exactly what I needed. The break finished off with yet more comfort because Richard called just when I was finished eating, and then Ed called as I was walking out of the village.
Angel #5: the misery of the day was incomplete without a nice downpour, but that happened a few minutes after I left the village. I found partial shelter under a tree until the worst of it passed, but by then my pants (that's right, I came without rain pants, loca that I am) were drenched. By then self-pity would have been ridiculous, especially when I saw Fernando, a pilgrim-hospitalero from La Rioja, poking his head out the window of an old barn asking if I was nuts. But I won't call him angel #5; that honour goes to the happy frogs who were singing in the creek next to the path for the remainder of the walk to the village of Hospital de Orbigo.
Angel #6: when the rain stopped and the sun came out, my quick-dry pants quickly dried in the light breeze which was playing with the leaves. The sound reminded me to breathe and to live where I was and not somewhere else.
A few hundred metres from the village Fernando from La Rioja caught up with me and laughed at the two of us walking in the rain. He might be angel #7, but that would simply be too cute or medieval, so I'll leave him out of it :-)
Now I'm sitting in a warm albergue getting ready to eat my empanada with tuna, and later my yogurt. My feet are still very sore, as are my calves and shins. Who know how things will be tomorrow, how far I'll be able to walk, but for tonight at least I'm warm and dry.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
moments, not kilometers
When I was walking out of Burgos with my friend Wolfgang a few days ago, an elderly gentleman held us up for a little chat. This happens regularly, and the opportunity for an interesting conversation is just to great to pass up. Domingo Lopez Calle told us the camino is not about hurrying to collect kilometers, but about slowing down and collecting moments.
That's what I'm doing. I'm walking on my own again, enjoying the space around me watching the clouds pass, and the space in my head watching the thoughts pass.
The meseta is so beautiful, there are fewer pilgrims on the road, and my body has found its own rhythm.
That's what I'm doing. I'm walking on my own again, enjoying the space around me watching the clouds pass, and the space in my head watching the thoughts pass.
The meseta is so beautiful, there are fewer pilgrims on the road, and my body has found its own rhythm.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Gifts of the Camino
Today on Pentecost Sunday I'm in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. There's a 5-day feast for the saint going on this week, so there's one party after the other going on in the village. It's fun, makes one forget that it's cold and damp out. There's a great legend here that features miraculous chickens, so in a while I'll go to the church and check out the chickens there. You can read the legend by following the image on the site above, to "milagro".
Sounds tacky, I know, but there are so many great things that happen as one walks along, so I thought I'd make a little litany of thanks for the gifts I've received, in no particular order.
The four compañeros I've travelled with yesterday and today: Wolfgang, Kay, Fernando (link to his blog at left) and Oscar (2 Germans, 2 Mexicans). It's a great little band of pilgrims, there's lots of singing and laughing and multilingual chatting. Yesterday when I was walking with a wet behind for about 4 hrs their company helped me keep my spirits warm, and in the evening in Nájara we had a great time at dinner. When we're walking, there's a nice rhythm of walking alone or with the others, and we wait for each other at major crossings or at a café/bar for our morning coffee.
The views: the beautiful colours in the fields, the amazing delicacy of flowers (the colours of the season are blue, red, yellow). The lines of geography: the shape of the hills, the line of the path ahead, the shapes and colours of the wet rocks, the different colours and textures of the mud. The villages: smooth shining cobblestones, beautiful arrows and shells showing us the way, seemingly unpopulated before 9, except for the flowers in the windows and at the doors, and then when we finish dinner, around 9, and come out of the restaurant, suddenly there are people everywhere.
It seems there's something every day: Fri I walked into Logroño with 4 men from the Frankish area of Bavaria, and they turned out to be a folk quartet. Their beds were in a row next to mine, and as we were settling in they sang for me "Grosser Gott wir loben Dich". They've promised me "Weisst Du wieviel Sternlein stehen" next time we meet. The room we ended up sleeping in last night had huge skylights through which we watched storks flying around. Today when we were having a wet picnic on a bench beside the road in Cirueña, an elderly couple opened their window and welcomed us. The man, Ismael, came out and said, "nice picnic, but where's the wine?" We said we didn't have any, and he motioned for us to follow him. He led us to his cellar where he has 4 vats of 300 L each, and he gave us from the vat of young wine of tempranillo grapes. It was so delicious with our baguette of ham and cheese! He was so fun, telling us about the process, about how he sees hordes of pilgrims rushing by but rarely anyone who stops and even more rare the possibility for a conversation. His son and grandson dropped by and we talked to them too.
The food: the morning coffee after a couple hours of walking, when friends meet again and check on each other's aches and pains and how they slept and where they're walking to. The lovely fresh bread, delicious cheese, the interesting local stuff on the pilgrim menus in the restaurants.
The hot shower at the end of a day's walking, the crashing on the bed afterward before heading out to explore the village when everything opens again at 5. The delicious feeling of early sleep, a natural waking, and peaceful start to walking at first light.
This is just a little taste of some of the joys in my days. I'm filled with gratitude for these and many other gifts of the Camino.
Sounds tacky, I know, but there are so many great things that happen as one walks along, so I thought I'd make a little litany of thanks for the gifts I've received, in no particular order.
The four compañeros I've travelled with yesterday and today: Wolfgang, Kay, Fernando (link to his blog at left) and Oscar (2 Germans, 2 Mexicans). It's a great little band of pilgrims, there's lots of singing and laughing and multilingual chatting. Yesterday when I was walking with a wet behind for about 4 hrs their company helped me keep my spirits warm, and in the evening in Nájara we had a great time at dinner. When we're walking, there's a nice rhythm of walking alone or with the others, and we wait for each other at major crossings or at a café/bar for our morning coffee.
The views: the beautiful colours in the fields, the amazing delicacy of flowers (the colours of the season are blue, red, yellow). The lines of geography: the shape of the hills, the line of the path ahead, the shapes and colours of the wet rocks, the different colours and textures of the mud. The villages: smooth shining cobblestones, beautiful arrows and shells showing us the way, seemingly unpopulated before 9, except for the flowers in the windows and at the doors, and then when we finish dinner, around 9, and come out of the restaurant, suddenly there are people everywhere.
It seems there's something every day: Fri I walked into Logroño with 4 men from the Frankish area of Bavaria, and they turned out to be a folk quartet. Their beds were in a row next to mine, and as we were settling in they sang for me "Grosser Gott wir loben Dich". They've promised me "Weisst Du wieviel Sternlein stehen" next time we meet. The room we ended up sleeping in last night had huge skylights through which we watched storks flying around. Today when we were having a wet picnic on a bench beside the road in Cirueña, an elderly couple opened their window and welcomed us. The man, Ismael, came out and said, "nice picnic, but where's the wine?" We said we didn't have any, and he motioned for us to follow him. He led us to his cellar where he has 4 vats of 300 L each, and he gave us from the vat of young wine of tempranillo grapes. It was so delicious with our baguette of ham and cheese! He was so fun, telling us about the process, about how he sees hordes of pilgrims rushing by but rarely anyone who stops and even more rare the possibility for a conversation. His son and grandson dropped by and we talked to them too.
The food: the morning coffee after a couple hours of walking, when friends meet again and check on each other's aches and pains and how they slept and where they're walking to. The lovely fresh bread, delicious cheese, the interesting local stuff on the pilgrim menus in the restaurants.
The hot shower at the end of a day's walking, the crashing on the bed afterward before heading out to explore the village when everything opens again at 5. The delicious feeling of early sleep, a natural waking, and peaceful start to walking at first light.
This is just a little taste of some of the joys in my days. I'm filled with gratitude for these and many other gifts of the Camino.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
"That's man all over for you,
blaming on his shoes the fault of his feet." Says either Didi or Gogo at the beginning of Waiting for Godot. And indeed my shoes and my pack feel so much better on my feet and my back and hips since I got rid of about three pounds of stuff.
Had a lovely day 6 today, walking from Estella to Los Arcos. Could have kept going, but the beds in Torres del Rio were all full. But it's ok, this way my body can recover better.
The spirit of the camino is something to be experienced. Pilgrims are friendly, respecting your need for either some conversation or some quiet. There is comaraderie if you want it, and an inexplicable privacy in the midst of living shoulder to shoulder in the hostels. Very curious.
The path through wine country today was so beautiful, rolling hills formed by the wind, it seems. I was out of earshot of others for a couple of hours and was belting out some hymns and some songs from my Women of Latin America cd. Who needs an ipod? But mostly I listen to babbling brooks, the wind in the trees and fields, the birds.
Now I'm off to my massage appointment. A local therapist offers good prices to pilgrims, and comes to the hostel! Tomorrow maybe a longer day, we'll see. One day at a time!
Had a lovely day 6 today, walking from Estella to Los Arcos. Could have kept going, but the beds in Torres del Rio were all full. But it's ok, this way my body can recover better.
The spirit of the camino is something to be experienced. Pilgrims are friendly, respecting your need for either some conversation or some quiet. There is comaraderie if you want it, and an inexplicable privacy in the midst of living shoulder to shoulder in the hostels. Very curious.
The path through wine country today was so beautiful, rolling hills formed by the wind, it seems. I was out of earshot of others for a couple of hours and was belting out some hymns and some songs from my Women of Latin America cd. Who needs an ipod? But mostly I listen to babbling brooks, the wind in the trees and fields, the birds.
Now I'm off to my massage appointment. A local therapist offers good prices to pilgrims, and comes to the hostel! Tomorrow maybe a longer day, we'll see. One day at a time!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
in joy and in pain in Puente la Reina
I'm so glad to be here!
I mean that in several senses.
So glad to be walking the Camino. It feels like exactly the right combination of physical effort and peace in nature; solitude and encounters with fellow pilgrims and interesting conversations in English, French, German, Spanish, and some multilingual ones with gestures. It feels right to be here.
Also so glad to have arrived at the hostel earlier today, because being here also hurts. The heck with my spiritual reflection on what I need and don't need, my attachment to my things is taking a physical toll, on my hips (inadequately padded hip belt for this weight) and my feet (too much weight on them). Something has to go. But what? I'm eating the food as fast as I can. Maybe mail some clothes and things to Ed's place. I will also to take a few short days like today and give my feet and hips time to recover from their effort.
Here's where I'm staying tonight, the Albergue Santiago Apostol, so you can see my view even though I can't figure out how to get photos out with the technology I have available.
Off to sit in the grass looking out over the green green valley. Pray for good weather, if you're praying!
I mean that in several senses.
So glad to be walking the Camino. It feels like exactly the right combination of physical effort and peace in nature; solitude and encounters with fellow pilgrims and interesting conversations in English, French, German, Spanish, and some multilingual ones with gestures. It feels right to be here.
Also so glad to have arrived at the hostel earlier today, because being here also hurts. The heck with my spiritual reflection on what I need and don't need, my attachment to my things is taking a physical toll, on my hips (inadequately padded hip belt for this weight) and my feet (too much weight on them). Something has to go. But what? I'm eating the food as fast as I can. Maybe mail some clothes and things to Ed's place. I will also to take a few short days like today and give my feet and hips time to recover from their effort.
Here's where I'm staying tonight, the Albergue Santiago Apostol, so you can see my view even though I can't figure out how to get photos out with the technology I have available.
Off to sit in the grass looking out over the green green valley. Pray for good weather, if you're praying!
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