No Epilogue to this Journey

The second day I was in Santiago I ran into one of the people I walked with on the Camino as I was on my way back from my morning coffee.  We hunged each other as if we'd known each other our whole lives.  He explained he was on his way to catch a bus for further travels.  He then looked me in the eye and said, "A lot still to process."  I knew exactly what he meant.  Tears were right below the surface for me, some because I was home sick and some because the community that I became a part of on the Camino would never be the same.  I would never be the same.

Twenty two of us had dinner the night before at the Sam Francisco Hotel.  Our group was seated in a room that looked like an old chapel.  We said our goodbyes, wishing every one on to their lives.  Now in Madrid my thoughts still fill with Camino, the walking the people, the villages.  Before I came I had three expectations, meeting people from all over the world, creating community, and walking through village after village in the countryside.  I was not disappointed.

As I continue to process the Camino the realization that the experience will take a life time to process. I know now why people I'd met who had done the Caimino had a twinkle in their eyes when they talked about their experience.  A volunteer at the Albergue I stayed at on Easter said it the best, "Buen Camino" is not just words it's the spirit of the Camino community of walkers.

The Finish Line

Sitting in the kitchen of the Albergue in O Pedrouzo I felt sad the walk was ending, yet excited about going home.  Such mixed emotions.  The internet was good at this Albergue reaching out to thenwhole place, what a good time to call Laura. We talked for a while even though I woke her up.  I sat drinking my machine made coffee wanting to saviour every moment on the path.

Today the rain was guaranteed.  I walked out into the darkness heading for the Camino.  The path didn't go through town.  The street lights lit the way until the

path turned left into the woods.  I hesitated, took out my phone to help light the way.  In about a mile I stopped at a cafe with the worst cup of coffee yet on the
Camino, worse than the machine coffee.

By this time all my rain gear was on.  With every step I thought about Santiago wondering what the city would be like, what not walking would be like, wondering if I'll be able to change my flight, will I be able to get my certificate as soon as I get into town, how long will be the line be.

13.3 miles later I walked into Quintana Square in front of the Santiago Cathedral.  Garnet walked up to me before I even got across, gave me a big

hug,"Good work," he told me.  He led me to the Camino Santiago official office to question up to get my certificate.  He said the wasn't as long as when he arrived the day before.  We talked about all the adventures since he went on and I took a day of rest in Burgos.

After getting my certificate we went to a nice restaurant for paella.  Garnet offered to get champagne but then remembered I don't drink.  We talked about the Camino community, the Albergues we stayed in, the food we'd eaten.  It felt like the first of many homecomings yet to come.   I came and did what I had intended, walk the Camino de Santiago French Way.

Reflecting on the Path

One more day of walking.  The walk is full now of remembering.  Remembering all the people that I've shared a room with in the last months.  First I thought maybe hundreds but after recalling a couple of Albergues with over 200 people

I'm thinking thousands.  I'm remembering all the people who helped me on the way, both on the path and at home.

In O Pedrouzo tonight.  I went to look at the shower before gathering my things to get in. Many of the showers in the last month flashed across my mind.  All the ones that you first had to think about how to keep your things dry because there either was no place past the door to the shower to put clothes, or not enough for the clothes you were going to take off and the clothes you wanted to keep dry to put on.  In gender neutral shower rooms you want to figure out how to get into the shower without being seen.  At the Albergues this can be tricky.  Not tonight, the good size shower came with a glass door and a hand held shower head with more than two feet of changing space and four hooks plus a hanger to hang clothes.

I'm perty sure a lot of the food served in the remote villages along the way came out of the freezer, the food has improved since Sarria too.  Sarria is where a lot of people start, they stay in hotels more than the walkers who start in St Jean, and perhaps because there are a lot more of them restaurants can serve fresher food, be more frequent along the path and they're even opened earlier.  I got an espresso at the Albergue I stayed in last night before 7am instead of boiling water in the microwave adding instant coffee and eating prepackaged donuts because I want an early start.

Thinking about all the bad coffee.  I knew it was bad when I hoped for a coffee machine in the Albergue for morning coffee.  The thing is I needed coffee and a little something to eat before walking.  Since not all Albergues are the same, some locked their kitchens until 7 or 7:30 am some didn't even offer any kind of kitchen facilities.  So I bought instant coffee, kept donuts on hand for all occasions.  A couple of times I was so desperate I filled a water ball I'd saved got hot water out of the tap added the instant coffee shaking it real well before I drank it.  Looking back this must have been one of the low points.

Along the path I did a lot of forward thinking. I thought about my morning granola with fruit, sleeping in my own bed, sitting in the living room talking to Laura.  Wearing different clothes.  Yes I'm homesick.

Tomorrow night I'll be in a hotel in Santiago to hide out, rest and chill before I head to Madrid for a couple of days before heading home.

Noticing Galicia

First an update on the bike accident. I ran into the couple that helped, the man with his cell phone and the woman was a nurse said the ambulance came took the cyclist to the town.  Several hours later they saw the cyclist biking down the road.  News travels on the Camino fast.

As for the Galicia the culture has changed.  For one thing the graves are wrapped around the church instead of behind a stone wall just out of town.  The small churches have started to be open too.  A few towns ago I talked to a priest sitting

outside.  I asked him if he went around on Sunday mornings doing services in the small churches in the countryside.  He said only to some of the bigger churches.  In this area, he said, there's three of us at the main church in Palas de Rei.

Here's a picture of the graves to the right, they line one side of the church property like a fence.  Most of the graves have artificial flowers.

Galicia is a farming region. Almost every house had a structure I wondered about.  I took several pictures.  At one of the pilgrim stops I asked a local.  He

pointed to corn hanging from the roof and said storage.  These corn storage structures come in many different designs.  To me they looked like some kind of temple.  The points at the top are also on top of chimneys of houses. Definatly a Galicia design.

Two more days of walking. Then three nights in Santiago.

So Close and Still Enjoying the Camino

Last night we stumbled on a medieval music concert in the town's church. The instrument that interested me the most, a betsill or symphonies or primitive hurdy gurdy.  A woman accompanied them and with vocals.  The sound filled the church.  I left early to get some sleep.

With only 8 people in an Albergue that holds 32 it was a quiet night.  In the morning I could get hot water for coffee and out the door at 6:45am.  Yesterday day a guy passed me and said, "You keep a good pace." The same day day Laura emailed me saying "You might be slow but you sure do have endurance." I always tell people I'm slow but I can go for ever.

On the Camino the lat couple of days I've identified several different places I have during the day. There is a faster pace after I've gotten a rest and a bit to eat. My rhythm pace goes with the clicks of my hiking sticks, da do, da do, dada dada (repeat). Sometimes I even skip during the dada dada part, that's when I'm really enjoying myself.  My dilly-dally pace is just what a Google says it is a waste time through aimless wandering or indecision.  I day dream, think of all kinds of things, contemplate the blades of grass, or every stone on the path.  In this pace I might not even notice that someone is behind me.  As they say I'm in another world.

In the morning my dilly-dalling is disturbed by the Spanish cuckoo bird.  It seems like once they get going they go one for along time.  Makes cuckoo clocks seem tame.  The cuckoos drown out many morning birds with their loud chatter.

Many people joined the Camino in Sarria.  The new people now in their second day are starting to slow down, some even limping from sore muscles or blisters or both.  I even saw a bad bicycle fall.  An older gentleman fell his bicycle fell on top of him and both him and his bicycle slide down the hill.  Two people grabbed their cellphones but no device.  Some local person drove up in a car and said he take the person to the hospital if needed.  A pilgrim stepped forward, I'm a nurse she said as she started digging in her bag.  Seeing that the people around stepped to help I walked on.  A little while later I saw one of the local police cars go by followed by an ambulance.  I'd hoped it was the cyclist inside.

Stoked on the Camino

The Camino has stages.  Daily stages, geographic stages and for the walker's inner and physical stages too.  The inner physic gives the pilgrim elation the first day that they made it through that hurdle.  Then the day in and day out of walking takes a physical and mental toll causing hard times starting around the the fourth day and goes differently for each pilgrim.  During this stage doubt sets in, blisters and muscle aches dominate the pilgrim's daily life and conversations.  When the blisters clear, muscles get in better shape and the pilgrim realizes how far they've walked, life on the Camino lightens up.  This is when disappointing Albergues don't ruin the whole day.  This is when ol friends that have walked miles and miles checking in with each other are stoked on the Camino.

The people I've been following since St Jean have for the most part transitioned into the "stoked on the Camino" stage.  Sophie from Spokane first used the phrase this morning, every one at the table agreed, we are stoked on the Camino.  Since
Sophie powered ahead and I didn't pull out my camera at that moment here's the rest

of the crowd stoked on the Camino.

Just  before this conversation I walked enjoying the path, the birds and later when the sun came fully out the crickets that showed up almost the same time we entered Galicia clicked in the fields.  The path took us away from the road for  most of the day, leading us through forests, up and down hills, over streams.  What a great day.

Galicia

Yesterday evening I walked into Fonfria after carrying my pack for 11 miles.  Walking into the first Albergue I came to got me the last bottom bunk.  On the way in I noticed one of the Galicia architecture buildings across the street.  The structures distinguished by the round outer walls and the thatched roof. The proprietor covered me a regional dinner for 9 euros.  I signed up, pilgrim menus at restaurants usually cost 1o to 12 euros.

It turns out dinner was served in the Galicia building.  When I entered the pole

construction of the roof caught my attention.  Tables set up in a semi circle captured the round essence of the building as well.  First the wine and water arrived, then the soup.  A delicious vegetable dish, I think I had three bowls.  Then the rice and beef stew.  Beef that wasn't flattened to the point of not being recognized.  The stew included vegetables too, peas, mushrooms and pimentos.  For dessert, Tarta de Santiago almond cake to top ove a great day.

In the morning I got my two cups of coffee right at 7 am in the Albergue cafe.  Bought some oranges for the day, yogurt for breakfast and took off.  The path once again had more walkers than the road had cars. We walked, up hills down hills with great views of the Galicia.

Just about lunch time I came upon one of the
Camino's magical rest stops.  I walked in right away I saw a table with snacks, couches and a courtyard.  The sun shone bright by this time so I headed for the courtyard.  There in by the back wall sat some friends.  I walked over and sar down.

Took off the legs of my pants.  Met the people at the table I didn't know, enjoying the rest.












The best thing about the day, this photo

Changes Filled the Day

The morning started cold, very cold as we climbed up the mountains.  Slowly we went, as slowly as the clouds that rolled in over the end of the valley we climbed.  As the clouds rolled the wind picked up allowing the colder air to settle

in.  My hands never did get warm until O'cebreiro.  By this time the sun settled in for the day but as long as the wind stayed the coolness lingered.  During this beginning part of the walk the path enter the Galicia, an autonomous community in the Northwest part of Spain where Santiago is located.

I had my pack sent to O'cebreiro not sure how I'd feel after the climb.  My Pacific Northwest roots shined through and I was ready to head on, but wait my bag wasn't there.  I'd made the climb in two and half hours it was only 9:30am.  The pack might not arrive until noon if I'm lucky.  Tony and I got some

breakfast, he was waiting for two people he'd been walking with to continue the day, Jerome and April who I'd also hungout with.

We sat around for about an hour before they arrived.  April was having some problems and I was hoping if my pack came she would take it in the taxi with her and drop it off in Fonfria.  But that didn't happen so I hung with April until she secured a ride.  Then I went out to the main square, it had filled with pilgrims and tourists. O'cebreiro has the oldest extant church associated directly with the pilgrim way.  Most of the cafes had a wide range of pilgrim souvenirs.  Pilgrims walking through O'cebreiro stopped at a cafe to at least get a coffee.

The people who road the horses up the hill arrived so I sat them getting to know the "Horse Guy" I'd heard so much about.  You see that's how the Camino goes, word of mouth spreads faster than if the Camino had their own newspaper.  We tried the Galicia octopus, very good spices.  They left leaving Bret and I to wait for our bags.  I got mine first although later Bret said his had been there for while, no one knew where it was.  Any ways I started walking with my pack for the first time in a long time.  Eight miles later I arrived in Fonfria in good shape.

After yesterday's post I've rethought the title of the blog post, "Today a Walk Was Just A Walk."about how a walk is never just a walk.  A walk is never just a walk, a walk is a meditation, it's an observation, it's discovering, it's walking through life.  Ok Ok, I know it appears I'm getting spiritual on the Camino, but when on the Camino do the Camino. I'm within 150 kilometers of Santiago!

Today Was Just a Walk

Walked 13.1 miles from Villagranca del Bierzo to Herrerias through valleys and mountains though the walk was mostly flat.  Just beyond Harrerias rises a steep hill that goes on for quite a while.  I'll do the hill tomorrow for two short days after walking 14 - 19 miles a day for while.

In Spain the gardening season has begun.  Sprouts poke through in many places while the garlic and onions are tall and almost ready to harvest. I'm missing my garden particularly since I saw the weather prediction of sunny and in the 60's for the next week on Vashon.

Happy May Day

Spain celebrates May Day in style: The Galician gaiteiros (bagpipers) is the traditional instrument of Galicia Spain and northern Portugal.  We are about 50 miles from the Galicia region of Spain but then cultures are not stopped by boarders or maps.

I've got an evening routine mostly down.  I arrive at the Albergue, get my shower stuff, grab my after shower clothes and take shower.  This process wakes up my pores which somehow revitalizes me to have energy to do the rest.  Then I switch memory cards out between my tablet and camera to up load the days photos to Google photo galleries to keep a backup.  Next my favorite part, write my blog.  I usually do this before dinner.  At times we are all sitting around so I socialize while writing, tonight however I'm getting some alone time a rare thing on the Camino.

I wash at least a pair of underwear, if there is a spinner available I'll wash some other things because their guaranteed to dry over night.  I charge my tech stuff, Garmin watch, phone, tablet and camera battery.  Arranging the morning things to make sure I can be as quiet as possible, the head light needs to be available, if I'm making coffee in the morning and what ever I've drummed up to eat with my coffee is some how on top of things I won't need.

Some times I take a nap before dinner.  Dinner in the evenings has to be one of the most important tasks, hunger always lurks when you walk so much.  Tonight we're in a town with dinner options a special treat.  We spend many nights at Albergues that are the only place to eat in town.  

When things don't go quite right during the night's routine I may not know it until the next day.  Like the evening I searched for my my quick dryer towel I've had for nineteen years, somehow id misplaced it so I've been using my bandana for a towel.  Or today when I pulled out my camera and forgot to switch back memory cards.  Luckily for my camera, I had one stored in my fanny bag.  Taking pictures entertains me on my walk.

As for the towel I purchased one today.  In the town of Cacabelos I walked right into a street market as part of the May Day celebrations.  I got a small terrycloth towel for 3 Eros, two nylon short sleeve tshirts for 5 Eros, and a scarf to dress up evening dinners.  I've been tempted to order octopus on the menu when I've seen it, it is a delicacy in this region of Spain, but seeing it being cooked at the street market discouraged me.

All in all another great day.

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