Reflections on the Camino

28 days, 638 kilometers, 28 different beds, meals in at least 50 different restaurants, each of us getting at least one case of bed bug attack, at least two dozen flans for me, almost every kind of weather imaginable, more churches than one expects to see in a lifetime, countless new friends, each of us breaking our newer $150 boots, remnants of my $3 hat and gloves, PRICELESS!!!!

I have been very fortunate, to have had one tiny blister, to have slept and eaten well, to have not been sick at any time, to have had rich experiences, and to have had great company. I walked with a 79 year old Flemish woman walking in sandals because no shoes could contain her terrible bunions. I had to lance her blister the first night I met her. She hardly speaks any English so I point to her feet whenever I see her, she just shrugs as if to say, "What can I do, these are my only feet so I walk with them through rain, and mud, and snow." Simone says she is addicted to the Camino. It is her 15th and she is still walking.

I have read people's accounts of the Camino as a daily ritual of poor sleep, long mindless kilometers of walking, calorie packing dinners before collapsing to slumber only to wake up and do it over and over again, much like the movie 'Groundhog Day'. We have found ours to be beautiful. The miles keep getting easier and the hills more forgiving. The scenery is abundant and constantly changing. The birds speak to us and the wind whispers our song. The Camino is anything but boring. We are excited with each new town we end up in. We arrive, shower, and immediately do the last thing you'd expect-walk the whole town and enjoy it.

Everyone walks their own Camino. You get what you put into it. We have gotten our fair share and we love it.

Palas de Rei

I started out the day with my cold in full swing. It took about 8 kilometers of walking for me to feel better. It could be the first cafe con leche of the day that finally helped! Wonder what's going to happen when I get home and don't get either the walking or the delicious coffee to get me going in the morning!
Didn't take any photos today, but it was a day of walking through farm land and forests, very pleasant. Mom doesn't seem to be affected by her trio of blisters and Wig has been feeling great, I'm the slow poke of the group!
We just have 68 kilometers left...wow!

Portomarin

Woke up to snow covering our sky light, thought the weather was clearing as I stopped hearing the clatter of rain drops!
It was still another beautiful day, with just a little bit of rain, lots of cold wind and the occasional ray of sun!
There have been lots of big black slugs on the Camino, the whole way, I finally took a picture of one today. Wonder if they are pilgrims too. At least they make us feel fast!
We passed the marker for 100 kilometers left to get to Santiago, only a few more days.
The way is busier now. Lots of people just do the Camino from Sarria to Santiago, as its the minimum amount to do to be a real pilgrim! They all walk faster than us because they are fresh and excited. It's still fun. Wig has befriended a whole group of Americans on a luxury tour!

Sarria

My apologies for doing the blog yet again because Laura is tired. She thinks she is coming down with a cold. Poor girl, 24/7 with me for over 30 days now is just too much for her immune system to handle.
Todays journey involved an extra 6.5 km so we can avoid some uphills and downhills-NOT! It also included some sunshine, rain, wind, sleet and snow. With all the wardrobe changes, we felt like a one man Broadway act.
The longer route did take us over to Monasterio de Samos, one of the largest and oldest in Spain. To our dismay, we joined and paid money for a one hour tour in Spanish given by a local wanna be comedian monk who left all his Spanish understanding audience in stitches. I didn't even pretend to comprehend the guy because we were probably the topic of his jokes.
In any case, the bad weather took its toll on us. My $3 hat is trash after taking several flights in the wind, Laura is pooped with an aching knee and Nancy has added on a heel blister. To top things off, mom is staying at a 3 star hotel in the flat land with an elevator and a bath tub while Laura and I have an attic room on the 4th floor in a building where we have to climb over a hundred vertical steps just to get to where we can start climbing our 4 floors of narrow stairs. We would probably have an amazing view, except we don't have a window. On second thought, a third blister doesn't seem all that bad after all.
Dinner was far from disappointing as Laura and I had delicious rabbit and Nancy enjoyed her flattened boneless chicken. We are hoping to get better weather tomorrow in what looks like 23 km of ugly terrain. We have walked over 600 km and are on the final 100 km and hope to reach Santiago on Thursday, wish us luck.

Triacastella

Short 21 kilometer walk with downhill to the town of Triacastella began with thick morning fog. The author of our guidebook has definitely never walked the Camino. He describes today's walk as a short sustained downhill. All three of us certainly thought he was high on Galician weed when he wrote that description. We were thrown upon steep accents one after another to reach yet another alto before a somewhat cruel drop of 4 kilometers to our end town.
Congratulations to mom who is now a true pelegrino with two brand new blisters to add to her third day of walking the Camino. No dolor, no hay Gloria which translates to no pain, no glory. We were fortified partway down the hill with lasagna and callos con garbanzo (tripe with sausage and garbanzo. Dinner was paella with non remarkable lamb chops and delectable lengue (beef tongue) in such savory sauce that I wiped every drop of it with bread into my mouth. A visit to the pharmacy for some blister meds and a good night's rest should get mom set for our 25 km outing to a semi larger town of Sarria. I am in perigrino nirvana at the moment, full of energy with absolutely nothing aching but that can quickly change tomorrow.

O'Cebreira

Long day (10 hours) and 28 kilometers with 1200 meters of climbing. The last 8 kilometers was pure climbing. Nancy did great and got quite sunburned, most likely a photo sensitivity reaction with her med. My turn to feel good as I love to climb. This will be the biggest and longest climb of the trip.
Because of the ascent, we were constantly offered fantastic views of gorgeous landscape. Full mountains filled with purple heather and wild flowers abound next to constantly running cool rivers. Pictures show some of the fantastic local exercise equipment that we enjoy regularly.
At one time, I got the chance to run alongside twenty bulls within inches of me. No pictures were taken of this Pamplona tradition because I was ahead of Laura and her phone/camera. Okay they were all cows with udders but they all had horns.
O'Cebrero is a Gaelic mountain town reminiscent of Celtic lands much like Ireland with its small pastures with sheep, chickens and dogs running around town amid dimly lit taverns. We arrived with the skies clear and sunny with unending views surrounding us. Dinner awaited us with thick hot vegetable soup (caldo gallego) to provide inner warmth to a quickly freezing mountain air. Sleep awaits for the weary in anticipation to tomorrow's downhill.

Villafranca del Bierzo

Another beautiful day! Moms first day on the Camino, she seems to have survived despite a few spots of sunscreen failure.
We are walking through another wine region, so the rolling hills are covered with lots of old growth vines. I had a local bottle of wine with dinner and it was wonderful.
As we headed out for our usual evening stroll around the town we got too hot, so we found a big church to peek into. It was a fascinating old Romanesque structure. The ceiling was made of rocks. And it was nice and cool!
Resting up for a big climb tomorrow.